Third Time's A Charm

Our phones (all two of them) have been ringing off the hook with people excited about our 3rd annual Young Writers Summer Camps.  We're at it once again with five weeks of camps during which 75 children (grades 1 through 9) will take home a beautiful book of their own creation.  Just like last year, songwriters, illustrators, authors and other creative professionals will be brought in to provide extra inspiration.  And also like last year, our students were nominated by their teachers based on creative and financial need, and nearly all our students' tuition is sponsored by members of the community.
 

For more information on how you can "SPONSOR A SCRIBE", click here.

Spring Brings Budding Poets

Our first ever Spring Break Slam Camp was a great success. Eighteen campers from seven Orlando high schools worked all week under the guidance of the talented Shawn Welcome to perfect a piece of poetry to perform at the end of the week. The combination of thought and skill that came out of this group was enough to forever silence any doubters of the upcoming generation. Click here to view photos from the camp. Coming soon: complete footage of the final performance that will blow your mind! Figuratively!

Goodbye, but not for long.

You may have heard or read about Urban Think! Bookstore closing its doors at the end of March. The news is true and sad, but there's always a silver lining. Urban Think! Foundation, of which Page 15 is the flagship program, is currently considering taking over the space in an effort to enhance its overall mission: to support educational programs, foster community spirit, and facilitate creative opportunities for greater Orlando. More details on what the space will become (other than awesome) will be released in the next couple of months.

Despite the closing, we'll still be holding our third annual Young Writers Camp in the bookstore space.

We are famous!

Page 15 founder, Julia Young, was recently featured on Fox 35's morning news. Watch the video here.

An Interview with Edward Bloor

Who said the long-form interview was dead? The staff of Page 15's online school newspaper program, The Howard Hype, recently sat down with YA author Edward Bloor for an extensive interview about being a writer, success and failure in the industry, and the annoying trend of vampires in YA fiction. Bloor gained recognition for his debut novel, Tangerine, and has since written six more books. His latest, Journal of the Plague Year, is due out from Random House in the spring of 2011. Read part one of the interview here. Part two can be found here. Enjoy!

Disney says, "Give a Day" to Page 15

As we're sure you already know, Page 15 could not run without its volunteers. There are many reasons to get involved, and now there is one more.  Disney wants to inspire one million people to volunteer a day of service in their communities. To celebrate these volunteers' good works, they are giving each of them a 1-day, 1-theme park ticket to Walt Disney World, free.
Page 15 has been selected to be a part of this great gesture of volunteer appreciation. If you are an existing volunteer, or would like to join our ever-growing roster of dedicated do-gooders, click here to register with Disney.

The Holiday Book Guide is Here!

'Tis the season to buy stuff for other people--the Holiday Season--and the sooner you start thinking about gifts the better.  Well, hold that thought.  We at Page 15 have done the thinking for you.
What makes an economical, lasting, and meaningful gift?  Books!  That's right.  Books!  That part was easy.  The hard part was narrowing down¹ the perfect selection of books-as-gifts for everyone you have to buy for this year.

So after some strenuous brainstorming, coffee, debate, coffee, and a few reading breaks in between, we created what we think is the ultimate gift guide for the holidays.  Books for everyone!

*** The Page 15 Holiday Book Guide is still available!  Please click here to view our awesome collection of must reads. *** 

Oh What a Day!

Thanks to the hundreds (!) of parents, kids and friends who made it out to BOOK BOUND, Page 15's first ever FREE book giveaway at the Lake Eola's Farmers Market on Sunday, Oct. 18th.

The day could not have been more perfect, with children and families coming from all over Central Florida to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather and to celebrate the love and power of reading with their community.  Lines began forming 30 minutes before starting time and, once registration was officially open, our tent was flooded with little hands grabbing for books.  Our "Make Your Own Bookmark" craft table and story-telling area were crowded all day as more and more families made their way in.

Overall, 122 adults attended BOOK BOUND, registering 174 kids and donating over $400 to Page 15 programs.  At the end of the day, we put over 800 books directly into kids' hands. 

An outdoor FREE event for children and families, that celebrates and inspires reading for fun!

WHEN?     Sunday, October 18th, FROM 11am - 2pm
WHERE?    Page 15's BOOK BOUND READING NOOK at the Lake Eola Farmer's Market (Corner of Central Blvd. & Eola Dr.)

Earlier this summer Page 15 partnered with Barnie's Coffee & Tea to raise awareness for children's literacy and collect children's books.  Barnie's collected over 800 books for Page 15 and now it's time to get them into the kid's hands! 

All children are invited to come down and pick out a FREE book of their choice from our massive collection (while supplies last!).  They are also encouraged to grab a comfortable spot in our Book Nook and enjoy the book right on the spot! 

Don't miss the storytelling corner, great raffle giveaways & special guest appearances from some very MAGICal friends!

For more information please call 407-963-5350 or email info@page15.org 

All Good Things Must Come to an End

As summer comes to an end, Page 15's army of young writers are preparing to enter a new school year with more confidence and imagination thanks to five amazing weeks at the 2009 Young Writers Camp.  With more students participating than ever before, this year's camp was a huge success.  A big THANK YOU to the volunteers and sponsors that allowed these students to enjoy camp at no cost to their families.  We'll close this chapter with a word from one of our students:

Look Out For Pirates!

Hey there!  We've just wrapped up our third week of the second annual Young Writers Summer Camp!

Our first two weeks of camp involved writing pirate stories. Students entering first, second and third grade explored the elements of storytelling by studying Captain Inkwell's Search for the Pirate Plot, a map illustrated by one of our many fantastic volunteers. By the end of the second week, every conceivable type of pirate had been invented. We had lion pirates, tiger pirates and (panda) bear pirates--oh my! At the end of camp, each student took home a copy of their very own creation, bound and custom-illustrated by local childrens' book illustrator Jim Steck.


For our third week we decided to twist up some fairy tales.  The students had a great time manipulating the tired old plots, yeilding titles such as The Lizard of Oz and, a Page 15 original fairy tale, FBI & Ninja.  

Never have so many young people repeatedly uttered words such as conflict and backstory in such a short interval of time. We know that these girls and boys are going to take this experience with them and continue to pursue reading and writing.

Most importantly, these students, nominated by their teachers based on financial and educational need, got to experience all of the above for free thanks to your generous sponsorship.
 

What's All the Hype About?

Another amazing in-school program launched by Page 15. We have been working with Howard Middle School to create their first ever online school newspaper. After much thought, writing and design, we are proud to unleash The Howard Hype. The fully-online newspaper features interviews, polls, entertainment and news, as well as art and creative writing from the Howard student body. This program, like all Page 15 programs, was offered to Howard for FREE. And finally, a huge thank you to Planet Digital who designed the site. Now go see what the hype's about!