Students Meet With Author Via Skype

   The students in Mrs. Styker's sixth grade class got to converse with a popular author recently, even though he was many miles away from Ephrata at the time. Using Skype, a video conferencing software, the students held a video conference with Patrick Carman, a author of several books with which many of them were familiar. Mrs. Stryker summarzed the event and what led up to it as follows:
   "I was looking for a book to read out loud to my class.  In asking around, Deb Machonis and one of my students, Zach Rhine, both highly recommended Skeleton Creek, by Patrick Carman.  I read it, loved it, and began reading it to my class. The basic plot is that there is an old dredge in a small mining town that contains some secrets, notably several unexplained deaths.  The boy in the book, Ryan, journals his thoughts as he tries to unravel the mystery along with his friend, Sarah. Sarah prefers to video tape the goings on in the town. So as you read Ryan's journal in the book, you are given a password every so often, and you log onto a computer and watch Sarah's videos! Between the journal and the videos you get caught up in the mystery and can't wait to read/watch more."
   "Knowing how much my kids enjoyed the book and its sequel, The Ghost in the Machine, Deb looked at the author's web site.  She saw that he offered free Skype sessions to students, so she began the email chain that led us to our Skype session that you saw.  In preparation for it, my students worked to come up with questions about his writing process and the future of the series. Although we didn't have time to ask all our questions, we learned about how he developed as an author, and some interesting and funny things about Patrick Carman as a person.  I think his book sales will spike as a result.  I know I plan on getting his next book!"