This article accompanies Serena Z’s story Magic Shell. Ms. Shulman writes about magic and so does Serena Z.
In November, we had the first of the Fieldston Middle School Literary Lunches, hosted by the English Department and the Tate Library. In Literary Lunches, students from the entire Middle School are offered the opportunity to sign up to meet a visiting author. Twenty-one students got to meet Polly Shulman, the author of Enthusiasm, The Grimm Legacy and The Wells Bequest.
I was a student who attended Polly Shulman’s Literary Lunch and I was greatly excited. I had even started counting down the days until I got to meet her. When it finally came to that day, I started jumping up and down. Yes, I know that sounds babyish, but I couldn’t help it. I was that excited. I ran to the lunch when it was time. When I got to the lunch, I was super energetic and I sat down next to her. I asked her to sign my books, and she signed them with a little message that said “To Serena, a fellow writer, Polly Shulman.” I was just like, “Oh my god, that is so cool!” I couldn’t believe I got a personal message from one of my favorite authors.
After grabbing a quick lunch, students listened to Ms. Shulman talk about her writing experiences. We asked Ms. Shulman questions about her writing life, how she became a writer, what her childhood was like, and many more. After answering all the students’ questions, she passed out some magical objects and gave us the chance to use our imaginations by writing down what the magical objects did. This excited the students very much, and we immediately began writing down short stories about our objects and talking amongst ourselves about them. Ms. Shulman went around to all the students and signed our books and the bookmarks English Department Chair Laurie Hornik had passed out. She gave each of the students a pencil with her name and the title of either The Grimm Legacy or The Wells Bequest, and told us, “These pencils are not magical right now, but once you start writing with them they will become magical because they will write magical words.”
Ms. Shulman’s books are magical, which intrigued all of the students. During the discussion, we asked why the themes of her books are magical. She explained that she had always loved magical books, and this made her have a great dream of providing that same experience through her own writing for other kids. “When [she] was a page at the New York Public Library, they had a locked collection for only pages 18+, so [she] was not allowed, and that is what inspired [her] to have a locked Special Collection.” The students wanted to know if she had a favorite book that she had written. This got a laugh out of Ms. Shulman. “No,” she replied. “How can I have a favorite book? That would just be like having a favorite child!”
Author’s note: I really have to thank the Tate Library and the English Department for this wonderful opportunity! They introduced me to this series of books which I now love, and they let me get to talk to the author and sign my books. This was one experience that I will never forget.
