Five Pages a Day: A Writer's Journey

This is the second Peg Kehret book I've read. The other was Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, a book I read as research I was doing for a book of my own that dealt with polio. Because Peg's book was written in the first person, from her own experience, and absolutely from the heart, it turned out to be one of my most valuable resources. This book, Five Pages a Day, is the same kind of book. It is about as real as you can get in a book that is aimed at young people. The publisher's info says it's aimed at 4th through 8th graders, but hey, I'm a grandpa, and it worked for me. I would recommend it to any kid who thinks he/she would like to be a writer. Because Kehret is totally honest, about things like early failures and rejection show more letters, or "dejection" letters, as her small son called them back in her early, pre-success days. I'm a writer too, but not a rich, famous, or successful one like Kehret is. Well, maybe Peg would argue with the "rich" part. But the other two - hell, yes. Oops, I mean heck, yes. I read this book in just a couple of sittings today. It's almost worth the price just for the photo of Kehret at eight years old sitting primly on the couch in a pretty dress, knee stockings and patent leather pumps, legs crossed in a very adult fashion (feet dangling a good foot above the floor), engaged in her "favorite activity" - reading. If you've got a kid who loves to read and wants to write, buy this book. It's full of great advice, relevant stories and anecdotes, and is just plain fun to read. show less

Booktalk: You probably know Peg Kehret as the author of books such as (list). Did you also know that she won a brand-new car just for writing 25 words? She also won a trip to Hawaii, a gold coin, free groceries, and season tickets to the Seattle Mariners, each time for just writing 25 words or less. Ms Kehret always wanted to be a writer, ever since she was a girl and she talks about what it took for her to be successful. Entering contests where she had to write 25 words or less was one of the many ways she worked at becoming a writer. She worked on her high school newspaper and yearbook, and later she wrote radio ads and magazine articles. She wasn't always successful and not everything she wrote got published. But Ms Kehret kept show more working on it because she knew that writing was what she wanted to do. If writing is what YOU want to do, you'll want to read FIVE PAGES A DAY. show less