Schools

Award-Winning Author Speaks with Tenth Street Elementary Students

Author Sharon Creech spent time speaking with students in Oakmont and the Pittsburgh area on Monday morning.

Fifth and sixth grade students at Tenth Street Elementary School in Oakmont have read numerous books by Sharon Creech. On Monday, they had the opportunity to talk with her.

Tenth Street served as the host school for a question-and-answer session with Creech, a Newbery Medal winning author. Other Pittsburgh-area schools joined in via video conference to meet one of the students' favorite authors.

Students asked her about characters in her books, what she loves about writing and how long it takes for her to write a book (she said it takes about a year of writing and editing for each novel).

Find out what's happening in Plum-Oakmontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

An Ohio native Creech, who has a teaching background, said she began writing for adults while she was living in England years ago. In the 1990s, she wrote "Abosultely Normal Chaos," her first novel about young people and never turned back.

She has since written more than 15 novels for children. Two of them—"Walk Two Moons" and "Love That Dog"—are part of the fifth grade curriculum at Tenth Street.

Find out what's happening in Plum-Oakmontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's so much more fun writing about young people," Creech told the students.

The author won the Newbery Medal, a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, for "Walk Two Moons," her first book published in the U.S. in 1994.

"I thought my brother was pranking me when I received the call," she said. "I realized what an amazing this it was, and it gave me the encouragement to do what I love to do."

Creech's next book, "The Boy on the Porch," is in the development process. She said she's going to take a little break from writing to move into a new house in Maine.

_____________________

Plum-Oakmont Patch is on Facebook and on Twitter. Don't forget to sign up for our daily email newsletter by clicking here.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here