Author Nancy Cavanaugh Visits Mark DeLay School

On March 11th, second grade students at Mark DeLay School in Darien School District #61 were invited to meet Nancy Cavanaugh, author of This Journal Belongs to Ratchet. Formerly a teacher and school library media specialist, Nancy is now the author of an award winning book for middle grade readers. Penned in a creative journal-style format, the story is about an 11 year old girl who is home schooled by her father who works on engines for a living. Ratchet works in the garage with him repairing motors but she longs for something to change in her life and dreams about being like other kids in her neighborhood.

Nancy spoke to the students about how to improve their writing skills by taking apart their writing and then putting it back together by using small engine parts as a metaphor. Using the story elements of character, idea, setting, and problem, students could understand the different ingredients needed for writing a great story.

Holding up a spark plug, Nancy told the students that it represented the story’s concept. “Your idea is like the spark in an engine. It’s what gets your story going,” Nancy explained. The piston represents characters who get up and move throughout the story. The engine block represents the setting. It holds all the parts together. Finally, the fuel represents the character’s problems. Just as your engine needs gas to run, your story needs interesting problems to be interesting.

Nancy has a personal connection to Mark DeLay School - she was the third grade teacher of reading specialist Krisitn Shell. Nancy and Kristin have stayed in touch throughout the years and Nancy was an inspiration for Kristen to become a teacher. Recently, Krisitn met Nancy at a book signing and met Kristin’s children.

Nancy’s next book, Always Abigail, will be published in October 2014. It also uses an alternative writing format utilizing lists and letters to tell the story. You can read more about Nancy Cavanaugh at her webpage at http://www.nancyjcavanaugh.com.