Popular author of young adult books visits Sisters Middle School

What does it take to become one of those successful authors whose books grace library shelves? Sisters Middle School students can answer that question with some authority, thanks to Wendelin Van Draanen's visit last week. With 27 books to her credit, including the 14-book Sammy Keyes mystery series, which scored her the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Children's Mystery, Van Draanen held students at rapt attention with a lively account of her uphill journey to success.

One of her novels, "Flipped," a teen romance told from two points of view, earned the California Young Reader Medal and was optioned for a 2010 movie directed by Rob Reiner. Another story was made into a Nickelodeon movie, "Shredderman Rules." Van Draanen's books have been translated into twenty different languages.

But, growing up as the child of Dutch immigrants in Chicago, she never aspired to be a writer. "When I was a kid I'd never met an author, so I thought authors were either old or dead," she said, drawing laughter.

Writing was not her best subject in school. "There were all these rules. And you have to sit down to write, and I'm really, really hyper."

A series of tragedies struck Van Draanen's family while she was young. Her father died of a brain tumor, just six months after an arsonist burned her family's business to the ground.

"I was ticked off," she says. Later, as an adult, writing became a welcome outlet for her pent-up anger. "I discovered the wonderful world of fiction. You can make stuff up. You can make up bad guys, and you can kill them off without going to jail!"

She assumed she hit pay dirt when she banged out her first manuscript. "I thought I'd be a millionaire. But then those people in New York City started sending me these rejection slips."

After several books written for an adult audience were turned down, Van Draanen became a high school teacher, got married and had two children. But she continued getting up at five a.m. to write stories.

Reading Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" inspired her to start writing from a child's perspective. She discovered she could revisit her own middle school travails and answer them back. "I'm stuck at thirteen," she says.

A real-life bully who haunted Van Draanen in seventh grade became fodder for the cruel antagonist Heather in her "Sammy Keyes" novels.

Her first three youth books were rejected, but she remained undaunted. When finally Random House phoned her at work to say they wanted to publish the fourth, plus the three that had been rejected, she jumped onto her desk screaming "like a crazy person."

Despite her success, she says she chose to publish all 27 titles with the same publishing house instead of chasing after the biggest contract. "I'll always be grateful to the woman (editor) who pulled me out of the slush pile."

Her latest book, "The Running Dream," tells of a girl who thinks her life is over after losing her leg in a car accident.

What does she tell students about surviving 10 years of rejections?

Says Van Draanen, "That's the thing about dreams. Sometimes they don't come true right away."

Paige Bentley-Flannery, community librarian with Deschutes Public Library (DPL), introduced Van Draanen to the audience of seventh- and eighth-graders. DPL sponsored and made arrangements for the author visit. Van Draanen visited nine Central Oregon schools over her four-day tour.

"It's a huge deal," said Bentley-Flannery. "We were really excited to invite her to visit. It's an amazing opportunity to bring a children's or teen's author to our area."