On January 20, members of the Nyack High School Book Club had the opportunity to attend an exclusive event during which they met best-selling author Marieke Nijkamp.
How did this come to be?
“I received an email from the publishing company, Sourcebooks, about entering for a chance to win ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) of At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp, with the chance to do a live Zoom with the author,” said NHS librarian Ms. Birro. “I receive many emails from publishers and vendors and occasionally enter myself/the library for a chance to win something, and almost never do. So I was very surprised to learn that I won this.”
What is At the End of Everything about?
“The Hope juvenile treatment center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely knows they exist,” wrote Nijkamp.
“Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day… They don't show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates. There's a rapidly spreading infectious disease outside, and no one can leave their houses or travel without a permit. Which means the group is stuck at Hope. And this time, no one is watching out for them at all."
“As supplies quickly dwindle and a deadly plague tears through their ranks, the group has to decide whom among them they can trust and figure out how they can survive in a world that has never wanted them in the first place.”
How did students meet the author?
“The author lives in the Netherlands, so because of the time difference, the publishing company offered a few different dates/times to choose from and fortunately one of them fell during our lunch time,” said Ms. Birro.
What made this event so special?
According to Ms. Birro, “This was a chance for students to read a book before it was officially published. Students who participated were some of the first people to read this book ever!”
How can other interested students join the book club?
New members are always welcome to join the NHS Book Club. Anyone interested can see meeting dates and more information on the Library Schoology Page.