Looking Back #22: Mrs. Petersen!

I’m counting down to the publication of The Unbreakable Code with highlights from the past two years since Book Scavenger was published. So much has happened in such a short time, and I’ve been so busy trying to keep up, that I’ve neglected to share many of the big and small moments. So here we go, in no particular order . . .

* * *

Today’s flashback is a shoutout and thank you to all the wonderful teachers who work hard every day to grow readers and thinkers and daydreaming achievers in their classrooms.

This is one of my teachers who did that for me. Mrs. Petersen was my first grade teacher. I have very fond memories of story time in her class, when we gathered in the back of the room cross-legged on the rug, and she sat in a rocking chair and read aloud to us. There was a small rocking chair next to her which the student-of-the-day got to sit in.

Mrs. Petersen held a contest where we wrote down the names of books we read on construction paper circles and attached them together to make our own bookworm. At the end of the project, she laid out all our worms end-to-end and created one long path of book titles that went out our classroom door and down the hallway. My bookworm was the longest, and I was very excited and proud to win a copy of Little House in the Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I still have that book, and last spring when I knew I’d be seeing Mrs. Petersen again at my Kepler’s store event, I brought it with me so I could show her and let her know what a difference she made in my life.

In case you missed it:

Looking Back #1: Re-visiting my alma maters

Looking Back #2: Meeting my editor

Looking Back #3: Meeting Ann M. Martin

Looking Back #4: A Memorable San Francisco Trip

Looking Back #5: Steves and pencils

Looking Back #6: Atlanta Book Group

Looking Back #7: A Story Behind the Story

Looking Back #8: Battle of the Books

Looking Back #9: Detective Day

Looking Back #10: Hicklebee’s

Looking Back #11: All School Read