Author Alyson Gerber returned to Gaynor on December 6 to speak with the Green and Blue Clusters about her path to becoming a published author and the lessons she learned along the way. Gerber last visited Gaynor in 2019. Gerber’s novels resonate with Gaynor students, particularly Focused, which tells the story of a girl with ADHD who is hyper-focused on chess.
Gerber is the author of critically-acclaimed novels Taking Up Space, Focused, and Braced published by Scholastic. Her books have a total of five starred reviews among them, have been nominated for ten state book awards, are all Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections, and have been picked as Best Books of the Year by many publications, including The Today Show and Kirkus Reviews.
Gerber herself was diagnosed with ADHD as a young adult, and as she began her talk, told the students, “There’s something really special about these visits [to Gaynor] for me,” since the student population at Gaynor includes those with language-based learning differences such as ADHD and dyslexia.
Gerber related the issues she faced growing up, from behavioral issues in the classroom (due to undiagnosed ADHD) to scoliosis severe enough that it required wearing a back brace 23 hours a day, 7 days a week, for several years.
One piece of advice Gerber gave the students was that if something is really difficult for them or they are going through a hard time, that they should validate those feelings. Even if the adults in their lives are not seeing the world as they experience it, that their feelings have worth and are true to them.
After her lecture, students lined up to have their books signed by the author. She spent time with each of them individually, and the students were visibly grateful and inspired by her words and attention.
The first two books in Alyson’s new middle grade mystery series, The Emmett Society, pitched as The Baby-Sitters’ Club meets Gossip Girl set at a New England prep school, will be in stores Spring 2024.