The Korman

Writer Gordon Korman came to speak today. I loved watching the sixers change from glowering gaping drones to nervous surprised gigglers to outright cavorting chucklers as Korman moved through a hilarious forty minute talk. He’s a gifted speaker and he had hundreds of kids in the palm of his hand.
After he wrapped it up, he uttered the words that cause dread in most teacher’s hearts: “We have time for some questions.” 100 kids raised their hands. Out of the 20 questions asked, 12 had been answered during his talk, or during another kid’s question. But Gordon simply pretended that each kid asked an altogether different question and he launched into a brand new brilliant story each time.
I wanted to ask about his work with an editor, but a kid near me was having a meltdown about her untied shoelaces. “Two times!” She started screaming, and I swooped in to attempt the required double knots. Lucky for me, pal Judy asked the question for me and I heard most of the answer. I’m hoping Judy got the rest.