World Read Aloud Day

Many teachers and parents stop reading aloud to children once they can read on their own. However, research shows that reading aloud to your students—even long after they're reading independently—benefits learners of all ages.

In that spirit, IRS participated in World Read Aloud Day by inviting authors to do live, virtual read alouds! They also gave us some insight about their experience as authors. They spoke about the writing process, including the time to get to the publishing stage. For Shawn Peters, it took 6 years to get his debut novel published, for Jessica Vitalis, it took 6 book rejections to get her first work published. Joshua Levy wrote almost 400,000 words that went nowhere and was rejected 119 times before he was published! The resounding advice was simply to read and write every day, and to write what you enjoy and are passionate about.

The Authors:

Shawn Peters, a local author from Massachusetts whose debut MG adventure novel, The Unforgettable Logan Foster, just hit the shelves! https://www.shawnpeterswrites.com/

Jessica Vitalis, author of The Wolf's Curse. Her next book, The Rabbit’s Gift, is set to be released in October. https://jessicavitalis.com/

Joshua Levy, former middle school teacher turned author (and lawyer) is the author of titles including The Jake Show, Seventh Grade vs. the Galaxy, and Eighth Grade vs. the Machines. https://www.joshuasimonlevy.com/