Written by: Ainsley Hall and published in The Martinsburg Journal on March 19, 2025, link to the article.
SPRING MILLS — Author Jordan Sonnenblick visited Spring Mills Middle School on Tuesday, where he inspired students to follow their dreams by sharing his own story.
Sonnenblick’s young adult fiction works include “Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie,” “Dodger and Me,” “The Boy Who Failed Show and Tell” and many more.
Sonnenblick was invited by library media specialist Karen Greenfield, who wanted to find an author for the students to meet in person. After talking with the reading teachers for ideas, Greenfield got in touch with Sonnenblick, who was able to visit on his way home from another event in Ohio.
When Sonnenblick was a high school student at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, he had a creative writing teacher named Frank McCourt. McCourt told Sonnenblick that he could become an author, and it became his dream.
“I realized I could be an author,” Sonnenblick said. “I want to show the students that authors are just regular people who decided to write a book. Maybe, by seeing the author, they will realize they can do the same.”
During his visit, he talked with students about how he wrote his first book. Sonnenblick taught English for several years before finally writing his book. He was inspired by a student in his class named Emily, who had a brother getting cancer treatment. Sonnenblick wanted to find a book for her to read about other kids in her situation and realized a book like that didn’t exist. So, he wrote one himself.
This led to his first book, “Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie,” which came out in 2004. Sonnenblick shared how nervous he was to share the story with Emily and her family, but when he got a call from Emily’s mother, she told him he got it right. Since then, Sonnenblick has focused on writing books about kids in certain situations to help them realize they aren’t alone.
Sonnenblick gave the students two steps to becoming a happy adult — first, find something you like to do and start practicing it, and second, use that thing to make a difference in someone’s life. He challenged them to find what they are passionate about and keep chasing their dreams. The worst thing they could do is sit on the couch and do nothing.
After his presentation, Greenfield said that Sonnenblick’s message was fabulous and was exactly what she wants students to take away from meeting an author.
“He hit it spot on,” Greenfield said. “These are just regular adults reaching their dream and something they can do, too.”
Students also got to ask Sonnenblick questions about being an author and what his writing process looks like. Many of the students read one of his books for class, making his visit extra special.