Packing my bags again

This afternoon, I'm off to Bellingham, Washington, to participate in an amazing event called Compass to Campus. Essentially, the program brings 900 at risk 5th graders onto the Western Washington University campus, arranges for them to attend "classes" and get paired up with college student mentors -- each 5th grader will have a mentor until he/she graduates from high school! 

I'm especially honored because many of those 5th graders have read either Duke or Dash and I will get to share the story behind those stories with them. How fun is that?

Then I zoom home from Bellingham, pack my bag and jet off to Tennessee. My BFF Mary Nethery and I will be speaking at a school on Thursday and then attending the Tennessee School Library Association conference, where we will accept the Volunteer State Book Award for Nubs (which now has 13 state young reader award medals!).

I am one lucky dog.