Impact

This morning when I opened my email I found this in my inbox:

Subject: Hi from M and B

Dear Mrs. S, We miss you and love you! How is summer? Have you read any good books that you want to recommend? M and I are looking for more to read! How is Mr. S doing? Did he find a job in Maine yet? We hope you two are both well. Love you again! M and B P.S. Y says "HI!!!!!!!" too! It was an email from some of my 8th graders. I wasn't at all surprised because I have a very good relationship with this class. I was really touched that they were asking about my husband, and that they are still looking to me for recommendations of book. For two years I read aloud to this class and we built a genuine community around our reading. We traveled after school to meet Laurie Halse Anderson. We Skyped with Kate Messner twice, we had a special visit from Cindy Lord when she was in the area for NESCBWI, we swapped books and even had a pool party the day after school ended so that I could finish reading Matched to them. Several of these students, including "B", author of the email, became readers. I know that I have impacted them, but they have also impacted me. I sure am going to miss them!