Why should award-winning young adult author Patrick Ness visit Champaign?
The library’s answer to this question, entered in a publisher-sponsored competition, resulted in Ness talking to more than 700 Jefferson Middle School students last week. An American-born British author, Ness won Britain’s prestigious Carnegie Medal in both 2011 and 2012.
News of the winning entry came to teen librarian, Betsy Su, last spring. Jefferson Middle School offered to host an all-school assembly, maximizing the impact of the author’s visit.
In preparation, the school included his latest medal-winning novel, A Monster Calls, among its picks for summer reading. The Central High School book club also read the book and attended Ness’s presentation.
The library provided the school with 100 copies of books by Ness, made possible by funding from the Champaign Public Library Foundation.