For children of all ages, January 15th was a special day as two authors came to the library to read and talk about their books. Instead of the usual morning story time with a book read by Children's Librarian Denise Kofron, Hopkinton resident, and author of the story "Can't Get Me!" Lisa MacDonald read her book to the children. The story focuses on teaching kids about germs in a concrete way.
"Can't Get Me!" is MacDonald's first book and she based the characters on her own children. She hopes that the book provides parents a tool to teach their children about the importance of hand washing and covering their coughs.
To make the message stick, the kids made their own foam germs after the book reading to hang up in their homes.
And in the afternoon, the book club also got a chance to interact with a professional author. Southborough resident Susan Lubner was on hand to read and discuss her book "The Upside of Ordinary". The story, Lubner's first chapter book, focuses on a girl named Jermaine who wants to become famous by creating a reality television show.
As part of the discussion, Lubner talked about how most of her story ideas come from real life or everyday experiences. Her inspiration for "The Upside of Ordinary" came from overhearing a reality show that her daughters were watching.
Although Lubner doesn't set out with a message in mind when she writes, she says that the theme of the pros and cons of being famous developed organically with the story, which also served as the basis for the book group's discussion.
After the discussion, the group created their own "self-reality" posters of things and ideas that represented them.
Both MacDonald and Lubner hope that they inspired some of those in attendance to one day become writers themselves. Their advice to future authors is to practice and to not be afraid of sharing their ideas.
Both "Can't Get Me!" and "The Upside of Ordinary" are available at the library or can be purchased at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.
