
I would scan that cheat sheet, and sure enough, I would find the perfect word that worked. And as I was working on the story, whenever it felt like it was time for a dollar word, I would pull out that cheat sheet that I ended up with thanks to Ryan and his father.

I kept it, and I had it in my writing folder. All seven showed up, telling me about the first day of school."Īnd so I took that piece of paper and I kept it.

All of a sudden, I had these characters come to me. I was thinking about the school year, my students, the projects we had done, the things that had happened along the way. I think this was maybe a day when I was being a good son and helping my mom. "I was in my mother's garden," he tells NPR's Michele Norris. He keeps the students and his readers on their toes with a steady stream of math puzzles and wordplay.īuyea said the idea for a story with seven swirling voices came to him one day while he was working outside. Terupt's compassion shines through without turning sappy. His ear for schoolyard patter is spot on. And for seven students in particular, he is the center of their universe - a sage who gives them advice and confidence and helps them overcome obstacles and rivalries.Īuthor Rob Buyea spent six years teaching in an elementary classroom, where he had a front-row seat on student life. Terupt is a popular fifth-grade teacher at Snow Hill elementary school. It shows two mittened hands holding a snowball - a snowball responsible for a life-altering accident.

Terupt and you'll see it is the perfect book for December. Not to judge a book by its cover, but just take one look at the jacket of Because of Mr. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Because of Mr.
