Free reading for students
Author donates 26,000 books.
Best-selling author James Patterson endeared himself to a cafeteria full of Boynton Beach middle school students on Wednesday when he answered a question by saying: “I make more money than Lebron James does.”
The Congress Middle School students erupted with a collective teenage scream. After all, Lebron James earned more than $30 million last year, according to espn.com.
Patterson, who lives in Palm Beach, this week is donating 26,000 of his books to Palm Beach County schools. Every sixth-grader will receive his “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life,” while seventhwill take home “Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment.” Both books were written for students their age.
The author, 70, donated the books, worth about $500,000, out of his own pocket, said Erinn McGrath, spokeswoman for Little, Brown and Company, his publisher.
He said he did it to prevent “summer slide,” when students’ academic skills tend to deteriorate.
Patterson, author of 140 thrillers, romance novels and young adult books, as well as the current New York Times best-seller, “The Black Book,” told the students he came from a poor family in Newburgh, N.Y., but was able to become a successful author through perseverance and a love of reading.
“Iwant you guys to read this summer, but I don’t want it to be work,” Patterson said. “In the summer, you can read stuff that’s fun. It’s like you eat your broccoli but it tastes like ice
cream.”
Patterson has made several large donations of books — to soldiers, independent bookstores and to schools, McGrath said. She called this giveaway among his largest. He also has endowed several college scholarships. This year, he will donate $1.75 million to classroom libraries across the country.
The Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County connected the author with Congress Middle School. The coalition has several programs at the school that encourage students to read, said Chief Executive Officer Kristin Calder.
Seventh-grader Abigael Enelus said shewas thrilled to get her own copy of “The Angel Experiment.” She said she had read it and loved its teen protagonist, Max, a 14-year-old girl who has wings and sets out with fellow fliers to save a kidnapped friend.
“This girl is very brave and saved the other kids,” she said. “I can’t believe I got to meet James Patterson! This is the best thing ever.”