My media assistant has an ISBN

So when I came into my new job, I had no idea what my assistant would be like. Would we get along? Would we have the same goals? Would she like gardening, dogs, and food like me? Well, as it turns out, she is 100 shades of awesome. Betty runs circles around me each day, loves the kids, loves having a great library space AND she is a gardening goddess, has a sweet dog, and is ever down for a mini-Twix break.

Betty's main claim to fame is a tutoring program she founded in the media center for the many refugee children we have at our school. The program is wonderful and she describes its inception and challenges in the book. The real jewels are the personal stories of the children who have gone to our school. Not every story is happy, as the child only spends so many hours a week at school, but the insight into their lives is so valuable to me as an educator. Another significant part for me was the degree to which each group of refugees in different. Some remember their country, some were born in refugee camps, some have escaped through jungles, some attended school in the past, and others have never sat in a desk.

I scooped up a copy immediately, and mine was the first book she signed. I work each day alongside an author. Pretty dang cool.