ESK to Host Award-Winning Author Rita Williams-Garcia

The Episcopal School of Knoxville is pleased to welcome author Rita Williams-Garcia to campus Monday, April 4. Williams-Garcia is the award winning-author of such books as One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven and Gone Crazy in Alabama.

Williams-Garcia will speak to fourth through eighth grade students beginning at 10 a.m. in Googe Hall. Parents are invited to attend this presentation.

Known for their realistic portrayal of teens of color, Williams-Garcia’s works have been recognized by the Coretta Scott King Award Committee, PEN Norma Klein, American Library Association, and Parents’ Choice, among others. She recently served on the National Book Award Committee for Young People’s Literature and was featured in the PBS documentary “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.”

“I learned to read early, and was aware of events going on as I grew up in the 60s,” Williams-Garcia states on her website. “In the midst of real events, I daydreamed and wrote stories. Writing stories for young people is my passion and my mission. Teens will read. They hunger for stories that engage them and reflect their images and experiences.”

Select students in fourth and fifth grade have been participating in a weekly book club featuring One Crazy Summer. Led by lower school librarian Miranda Clark, students have thoroughly enjoyed discussing the story of Dephine and her sisters. Students who participated in the book club will have the opportunity to each lunch with Williams-Garcia following her presentation.