Marietta City Schools hosted “Literacy Day” on Thursday, February 15th, from 2-7 p.m. at the Marietta Elementary School Cafeteria. As part of the event MES students were given a free book from one of two children's authors Jared Perrine and Dustin Brady. It ran simultaneously with parent teacher conferences and allowed families in attendance to have conversation with the authors and have their students book signed. Dustin also spoke at a student assembly during their school day.
Brady is an accomplished author whose most famous series titled, “Trapped in a Video Game”, has sold over two million copies. He has written for newspapers and magazines since graduating college in 2008 and started writing children’s books in 2016. Brady resides in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, children, and a small dog named Nugget who, along with his daughter, features in his book series “Leila and Nugget Mysteries.” Brady enjoys visiting schools to speak with kids about the importance of reading and writing. He has attended many schools around Ohio with his furthest visit being in Texas. He has visits in New Jersey and Virginia scheduled for next month along with a virtual visit this week with students in Turkey.
Brady loved reading funny and adventurous books as a kid and always wanted to pursue writing these same stories as an adult. He discussed his inspiration for his books and where he got the ideas for his first book. “I always go back to things I loved when I was a kid. For Trapped in a Video Game, I thought about the show Nickelodeon Arcade where real kids got to go inside of a real video game. That show blew my mind as a kid! I write every book to be my 10-year-old self's favorite book ever.”
Brady’s current work in progress includes his third and final book in his “World’s Worst Time Machine” series which will be published next year. The second book in that series comes out in April and a new series called “Adventures in a Video Game” will be released later this year.
You can contact Dustin Brady about an author visit and learn more about or purchase his books at https://dustinbradybooks.com/.
Perrine is a former Marietta student who now resides in Massachusetts, where he serves as a Technology Director for a school district. He became an educator because he enjoyed working with students and now, as an administrator he enjoys creating systems that protect students and prioritize teaching and learning. Perrine wrote several children's books including, “The Art of Playing on the Ceiling,” “Era Chimera,” and “See You Soon.” Perrine wrote most his books for and about his family and also found inspiration for his other books from a keynote speaker during an EdTech conference. The concepts in these books range from hidden talents, unique world views, and meeting up with loved ones in Heaven.
Perrine discussed his passion for writing and how he believes that anyone can be a writer. “Writing, for me, has always been a great outlet for my thoughts, emotions, and creative ideas. I hope the kids at MES can see that anyone can be a writer. I hope they realize that writing is an excellent way to get out sad and happy thoughts. I hope they see that writing notes and letters are great ways to show that you care about someone. And lastly, that writing is a great way to record and remember specific moments in your life.”
You purchase Jared's books or leave him a review by visiting http://tinyurl.com/cfys5rtz.
In addition to speaking with the authors, those in attendance were able to sit down and play a number of board games and snacks were available for families to enjoy.
Mollie Huffman, a Title 1 Teacher at Marietta Elementary School, organized the event and hared that working with these two authors was a rewarding experience that sparked students' interest in reading and writing. She hopes this “Literacy Day” will be an annual occurrence and has already started reaching out to more authors. Huffman believed this event will have a major impact on many of the students at MES. “I think my favorite thing about our event this year was that our district was able to provide a book for each student in our building to take home. The kids were so excited to get their books signed by the actual author. It meant so much to them that these talented writers took the time to speak with them about their writing process. Both authors were incredibly kind and personable.”
Marietta City Schools would like to thank these two authors for taking the time and sharing their insights and experiences with students.