Gail Langer Karwoski, Georgia children’s author and former public school teacher, was on campus Friday, Aug. 31 for the first-ever Middle School author visit. She conducted writing workshops with each grade and discussed her book, “The Tree that Owns Itself; and Other Adventure Tales from Georgia’s Past,” the required summer reading book for the Middle School this year.
“We chose this particular book because we thought all Middle School students could understand and appreciate the Georgia history that is reflected in it,” said Sally Muschamp, sixth-grade English teacher. “We are really excited that we were able to bring Gail to Darlington so that our students could meet her. In her writing workshops, she showed them how to take a primary source and turn it into historical fiction.”
After spending 13 years teaching high school, middle school, and elementary school in Clarke and Oconee counties, Karwoski decided to become a full-time author. She frequently returns to schools as a visiting author, and is a regular speaker at various conferences throughout the country.
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Karwoski has authored seven award-winning children’s books during the past 10 years. Her most recent, “Tsunami: The True Story of an April Fool’s Day Disaster,” a non-fiction narrative about the 1946 tsunami that hit a school and town in Hawaii, was named a 2007 Notable Book by the National Council of Social Studies.
She has also received the Colonial Williamsburg & Williamsburg Library Beacon of Freedom Award, the Learning Magazine Teacher’s Choice Award, the Just for Moms Foundation Most Outstanding Author of the Year Award, and the Georgia Writers Association Children’s/Young Adult Author of the Year Award, among others.
Karwoski currently resides in Watkinsville, Ga., with her husband, Chester. They have two grown daughters.
According to Muschamp, the Middle School plans to make this an annual event, with a different visiting author each year. This year’s visit is possible thanks to the generous support of Darlington’s Parents Association.
