Aspire Academy Archives - Elizabeth Maria Naranjo

Abigail Wins an Honorable Mention in the 2016 YAA Scholastic Writing Awards

Posted on April 18, 2016 ·

Abigail at the 2016 Young Authors of Arizona awards ceremony in Scottsdale

I mentioned last month that I was looking forward to sharing some wonderful and inspiring writerly news from a very special family member.

Well, here she is! For the second consecutive year, my daughter Abigail has won an honorable mention in the Young Authors of Arizona Scholastic Writing Awards. We attended a lovely ceremony and reception on Saturday at Desert Mountain High School, and I was so proud watching Abbey cross the stage and collect her award. It takes courage to share your writing, something I know most of you who read this blog can appreciate.

Crossing the stage at Desert Mountain High School

Abbey and her best friend, Grace

We learned about Young Authors of Arizona through Lisa Jones, the language arts teacher at Abbey’s middle school. Abbey adores Mrs. Jones—I think all of the students do. She was recently honored herself, as a finalist for the Tempe Diablos Excellence in Education Awards, in the category of Inspiration.

Not only does Mrs. Jones inspire her students to create, she encourages them to submit their work. Last year she helped them register and enter their writing in the Scholastic Writing Awards, and she looked every bit as proud of Abbey as I felt when we met in Glendale for the awards ceremony.

Abigail and Mrs. Jones at last year’s YAA awards ceremony

This year, the coordinator for ASPIRE Academy also came to the ceremony. Dr. Taylor is another teacher who’s been incredibly supportive of Abbey and her artistic dreams. She graduates middle school next month, and although she’s excited for high school, she is going to miss these amazing teachers who have encouraged her and cheered her on for the last three years.

Abbey with Dr. Gerald Taylor, coordinator for ASPIRE Academy at Connolly Middle School

Abigail with Dr. Gerald Taylor, coordinator for ASPIRE Academy

Congratulations, Abbey! You’ve always been an inspiration to me.

This Is Why We Write

Posted on March 19, 2015 ·

Image from Flickr by creativecupcakes

On Tuesday I was treated to a presentation of The Fourth Wall by a group of 7^th graders who chose the book for their quarterly language arts project.

That goes straight to the top of the list of amazing and utterly surreal moments in this author’s writing life, right up there with seeing my debut novel on bookshelves.

The kids were assigned individual and group projects; for the group project they decided to put on a talk show. One child was the talk show host, and in a series of interviews with “Marin,” “Frankie,” and “Tom,” he probed the characters with questions about each other that revealed individual strengths and weaknesses and gave insight into the plot.

Because the interviews were conducted before and after the novel’s resolution—separated by an amusing intermission—the audience could see how the characters changed and grew.

It was brilliant. The kids gave nothing away, focusing solely on the real-world aspects of the novel and leaving out the magical realism—which makes sense, as only one of these characters experiences it, and we all know Marin likes her secrets.

But Marin’s dream world is of course a vital part of the story, and the students represented this perfectly. They created a backdrop—a painting of the forest in Marin’s dreams—and displayed it on the wall behind our talk show host and his guests. So it is there all along—framing everything—yet none of the characters can see it.

Before staging the talk show, these 7^th graders gave a brief overview of The Fourth Wall for the audience, including the title, tone, and theme. Their take on the theme? Letting go of the past so you can move forward.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

A huge, heart-felt “Thank you” to Lisa Jones, 6th/7th grade Aspire Language Arts teacher at Connolly Middle School in Tempe, Arizona, and to her wonderful students, for reading my book and inviting me to watch Tuesday’s performance.

Also…thanks to everyone who came out to the Tucson Festival of Books! And a big welcome to my new subscribers. This was my first time participating in a book festival, and it was a blast. We sold a few books, handed out tons of bookmarks, and discovered organic cotton candy.

Really, that’s a thing.

Here are some pictures, and congrats to R.C. who won the giveaway for my husband’s hand-crafted feather earrings!