WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN recently got a makeover--a new cover and a new available format as an e-book. A lot happens in a dozen years. When the book came out in 1999 I didn't realize I'd written a story that would take me on such a wonderful journey. I've visited schools and stood at the podium at conferences all over this country and beyond the United States. To think, it began with a moment in my childhood.
At thirteen, I visited the Louisiana State Fair and paid two dollars extra to see a sideshow boy. The young man was billed as "The Fattest Teenage Boy in the World." I was fascinated by the experience, but I didn't know twenty-five years later I'd write a story inspired by that moment. In a strange way, the book began there--a thirteen-year-old girl visiting a sideshow. Today I share that story with kids, telling them how powerful their lives are. They might see something today that they write about tomorrow or in a few decades.
I'm thankful for that moment and I'm thankful for a book that has opened doors for me all over this planet. Hopefully that story will continue to stir imaginations. Maybe some kid is downloading that book right now and meeting Zachary Beaver for the very first time. Or maybe he's turning to the last page. Either way, I'm grateful.
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