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Dear Gordon,
I have now been teaching third grade in New Hampshire for 16 years and your Swindle series has changed my life in the classroom! Not only do I love all of your figurative language throughout, but I also find the plots and story-lines in each of the books to be exceptional.
I began reading Swindle back in 2007, when I first became a third grade teacher. At the time, I had just found the one (and only) book in the — unbeknownst to me, SERIES that was to come — during my visit to the school book fair, right down the hall from my classroom. I remember to this day, picking it up (because I liked the front cover), and reading the back cover… I was hooked! So, I tried it with my very first group of third graders, and they LOVED IT!
The way you write and show so much emotion and mood with your characters (specifically “The Team”), it really allows me to be my wild, animated self! And because I am so animated, I find my students to be very extremely intrigued and invested in this series. Whenever your characters are doing something in the books where I have an opportunity to both get the kids to connect to the characters, but also to give them a quick energizer (due to sitting for a while for the read aloud), I take advantage! And as for those wonderful characters, like Dimitri Trebezhov, I always look forward to doing his Russian accent (and the kids love it ;)!
From 2007, when I first discovered your wonderful realistic fiction book called Swindle, and then every year after for the next seven years (with, I think… maybe a year or two between books until the culmination of Jingle, I have designated Swindle “My Sacred Series.” And even when demands are so great and there is no more time for additional read alouds, I say… I don’t care! This is MY read aloud, that the kids go crazy for every year! I have created SO MANY fans of your series, all because of my true adoration for your writing style!
A quick funny story: After my first year of teaching, a student came back to visit me and gifted me a signed copy of Swindle! Evidently, you had come to her school for an author visit and she clearly remembered just how much passion I had for your Swindle book. So, long story short, I put it in one of those hard plastic cube hat cases, and propped it up inside, for all my future students to see and appreciate.
Currently, year 16 for me as a classroom teacher in the same district, I am just starting Hideout tomorrow and my students are absolutely ENTHRALLED! I usually only make it to Jackpot by the end of the school year, just because of all the curriculum demands and lack of time for beautiful enrichment.
As an educator and fellow writer (of mostly songs and poetry), I just want to THANK YOU, Gordon, from the bottom of my heart, for writing this INCREDIBLE series =).
Zach Cary (Mr. “Z”)