When I began work on The Alabaster Box my granddaughter, Amelia, was of enormous help. I tried chapters out on her and we talked through issues. It was like having a junior editor. I asked friends, Isaiah and his mother, Sarah VanTiem, if they would kindly read it once I had a good draft. Isaiah is a fourth grade student and I figured that if anybody could give me objective feedback, he could. Sarah is a poet and has a critical eye–just what I needed. When Isaiah said, “I really like your book,” when I saw him a week or two later, I was really pleased.
The next big trial came when Katie Schmidt read it to her fifth grade class at a public school. It was interesting to get feedback via Amelia as they progressed through it. They had good ideas, but best of all, they LIKED it–really LIKED it! It doesn’t get any better than that.
All this time while I am searching for an agent and not getting any enthusiasm, the kids are liking the book and wanting more. It was just the encouragement I needed. Somewhere out there is the sensible agent and publisher who will jump at the chance to support the book, because the kids already do. I got some wonderful thank you letters after I visited the class. The boys and girls in Mrs. Schmidt’s class are the ones who should be getting the thank you. Below are some of their letters: 
Okay, so you can’t see them that well. Zach says thanks for “letting us borrow your awesome book, ‘The Alabaster Box.’ Now I want to read the whole trilogy!”–even if I haven’t found a publisher by the time you finish The Red Abalone Shell, Zach, I’ll be sure you get the final book. It takes a long time to get a book into print. You shouldn’t have to wait that long.
Owen and Fisher say they hope the books get published–me too! Owen wrote, “Your first book was great and [I’ll] bet the second book and the third are even better.” Colin M. says, “your book held great things like the suspense, the adventure, and the excitement.” Sam says that the book, “got me more inspired to read more books this year.” That’s good, Sam. The world is full of wonderful books just waiting to be read.
Abby and Maddy both say they can’t wait to read my next books. Yea Abby and Maddy. That makes me feel great. Mary, who wasn’t one of the four who drew the chance to read one of the four manuscripts of The Red Abalone Shell that I left with the class, says that she can’t read it yet, “but I’m very excited to because I LOVED the first book.” So I hope you’ll like the second, Mary.
Colin K thought it was interesting and funny. Malena said that since a lot of students really liked The Alabaster Box it was nice for me to leave copies of the next book. I hope you like it Malena when you get to read it. Natasha says, “I really enjoyed your book and I thought it was AMAZING, I will definitely try to start reading the next one!” I hope your turn comes soon, Natasha.
Caroline, who was one of the four who drew first chance to read The Red Abalone Shell says, “I love the second book so far it is really good!” Eve says, “I am so EXCITED to read the new book!! I can’t wait to figure out what is going to happen to James and Little Grace…I LOVED the first book a whole lot so you can imagine how exited I am to get to read one of the books.” [One of the four copies I left.] Elise, who was also one of the four, says, “So far, The Red Abalone Shell is awesome! I also like The Alabaster Box! Caroline, Eve, and Elise, I’ll be very interested to hear your ideas as you finish the book.
From these excerpts, maybe you can see why I call this post “Reviews that count.” I treasure the excitement these girls and boys shared with me. But I also treasured their feedback. I took what they had to say very seriously.
