Award-Winning Author Visits John Witherspoon Middle School Students In Princeton

PRINCETON, NJ — In 1991, Jerry Spinelli won a Newberry Prize for his book “Maniac Magee.” And every time he finishes a book, he jumps up from his desk, does an end zone dance, and spikes his pencil.

At least, that’s what he told sixth-grade students at John Witherspoon Middle School during an assembly on Monday, Jan. 23.

Spinelli visited the school this week to tell sixth graders what it’s like to be an author and how he approaches the writing process, the Princeton School District said this week.

“It is wonderful to see kids so engaged in asking questions and listening intently to a renowned author tell stories of how he gets ideas for his books,” John Witherspoon Middle School Principal Jason Burr said.

Spinelli said it often takes him a year to write one of his novels, revising continually as he goes and frequently asking his wife for her input. His wife has some experience on the subject, as Eileen Spinelli is also an author.
He called writing a book “an incredible experience.”

“Where there were just blank pieces of paper, I created something called a story,” Spinelli said, adding that the only feeling equal to writing a book is when someone reads it.

Sixth-grader Wolfgang Dorman-Schroeder told Spineli his books have been an important part of his life. One of his all-time favorite books is “Stargirl.”

“Maniac Magee was one of the first books where I read the whole book,” Dorman-Schroeder said.

Spinelli told students that in his mind, there’s no such thing as writer’s block. Teachers don’t wake up in the morning with teacher’s block, why should writers be able to claim writer’s block, he said. He then told students that when they feel writer’s block, they should persevere and continue writing.

The students also learned Spinelli’s favorite baseball team (the Phillies), the book he’s currently reading (The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead), his favorite food (Dutch chocolate almond ice cream or Ben & Jerry’s Super Fudge Chunk), his favorite movie (Anne of Green Gables), and his favorite book (one of his wife’s called When You Are Happy).

As the assembly came to a close, Spinelli was faced with a first, when a student asked him, “Which do you enjoy more: reading or writing?”Out of all the assemblies, book signings, and guest speaking engagements Spinelli has done in the course of his 35-year career, this question was a first.

He told the students that writing, when he isn’t enjoying it, is a lot of work. But there is never a time when that is true with reading.

“It’s always enlightening, entertaining, or fun,” he explained.

Spinelli left the students with a single piece of advice for becoming authors themselves: “Write what you care about.”

He explained that if you care about what you are writing about, you will put forth your best effort.

“We are always looking for ways to help fuel our students’ passions,” Burr said. “So that was great advice for our students to hear.”

As part of his visit to Princeton, Spinelli also visited the Princeton Public Library to promote his new book, “The Warden’s Daughter.”

The attached images from Jerry Spinelli’s visit to John Witherspoon Middle School were provided by the Princeton School District.