Second-graders collaborate with author on book

I" thought it would be extremely hard (for our second-grade class) to write a book, and it would be a miracle if it happened." - Flynn Tedesco, current fourth-grader

"The Mystery of the 13th Coin" by Mary Gordon Kerr is the culmination and combination of several miracles.

The first miracle is Kerr herself, the book's author and the parent of Harrison Kerr, who was in Sue Hopkins' second-grade class two years ago at Mount Pleasant Academy.

Kerr, who has a degree in journalism, wrote the first chapter of the book. She read it to Hopkins' students and enlisted their help to brainstorm ideas for future chapters. She continued to meet with the class throughout its second-grade year, incorporating the students' ideas into each new chapter and reading it back to them.

When the book was finished and she couldn't find a publisher, she started a publishing company and published the book herself. It's a miracle to find a parent (or anyone else) with Kerr's creativity, gift for working with children, time commitment and perseverance.

The second miracle is Hopkins, the second-grade teacher. State standards, "No Child Left Behind" and inordinate testing seriously constrain teachers. Every minute of class time has to count toward established goals, such as improved scores on PACT. Undaunted, Hopkins welcomed Kerr into her classroom, where their collaboration paid tremendous dividends to the students.

Hopkins says, "I never thought twice about having Mary Gordon work with my class because the best way to show and model the writing process is to show the process in action. Writing this book empowered my students to believe anything is possible. These children now know they are writers. It's been especially rewarding to watch the students who were reluctant writers at the beginning of the year become more confident throughout the year."

The third miracle is the enthusiasm of the class itself. The students proudly gathered at two book signings to sign the books they'd eagerly awaited for two years. Caitlyn Liles said, "The class was always making up funny ideas. Ms. Kerr never discouraged our ideas, and she often found ways to incorporate them into the book." (Ideas such as "Pickle Breath" and "Hula Dog.") Gracie Mogul said she was fully engaged in the project because "there was always something new happening."

The best part for Lauren Wooddy? "Everyone worked together." (In itself, no small miracle.)

Harrison Kerr said, "It was fun to have my mom coming in every week. She was really helping us learn to write and edit our work. Everybody enjoyed it. No idea was too far-fetched to be allowed to be heard. This doesn't happen much in school. Besides my mom, we were really lucky to have an enthusiastic teacher."

The finished result is a tale about Trip and his best friend, Sam, who find a mysterious silver coin at an old, abandoned South Carolina plantation. With the help of friend Emily, they are thrust into a series of adventures that takes them back in time. A magic well, pirates, hidden treasure, a gigantic talking hawk and survival on a remote island in the Lowcountry are just a few of the things they face as they try to solve the mystery.

At the festive inaugural book signing, held at Teach in Mount Pleasant, Nicholas Tallarico summed up the work and the wait. As people lined up to have their books signed, and a student dressed as a pirate gave out gold chocolate coins, he said, "This is the best day of my life.'"

Reach Fran Hawk at franbooks@yahoo.com.