New York University Law School/ December 7, 2009: Mr. Beloff (8th grade ELA teacher from the Journalism Academy) and I attended a forum whereWalter Dean Myers (
Dopesick, Scorpions) and Deborah Ellis (
The Breadwinner) spoke as part of a panel discussion entitled, “Who Will Speak for the Child: Human Rights at Home and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” The evening was cosponsored by the PEN Children's & Young Adult Book Authors Committee, the event was moderated by Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, and included Uzodinma Iweala, whose debut novel, Beasts of No Nation (HarperCollins, 2005), depicted a child soldier in an unnamed African country.
Each speaker was given 6 minutes to answer Ms. Strossen's questions which centered around human rights for children and the importance of safeguards to ensure their safety. Some questions also addressed the role lawyers and policymakers play to protect the rights of children and how can writers and the arts contribute to ensuring that the children's rights.
We were thrilled to have the opportunity at the conclusion of the forum to actually meet Mr. Myers and Ms. Ellis and to have them autograph copies of
Dopesick and
The Breadwinner. Mr. Myers gave both of us his email and told us to pass it on to our 8th grade students for them to email him with any questions or comments about his books. See the class chart for his email address.
(Photo: Walter Dean MyersWinner of the Virginia Hamilton Literary AwardHere with Hamilton, holding the award – Kent State University before her death)
