Photo: Children’s Author Visits John Witherspoon Middle School

Children’s author Jerry Spinelli was the guest speaker at an assembly for sixth graders at John Witherspoon Middle School on Monday. Spinelli, whose book “Maniac Magee” won a Newberry Prize in 1991,
talked about what it is like to be an author and how he approaches the writing process. He said it often takes him a year to write one of his novels, revising as he goes and frequently asking his wife, fellow author Eileen Spinelli, for her input. He told the students he
thinks writer’s block is a flimsy excuse and should be ignored. “Teachers don’t wake up in the morning with teacher’s block, why should writers be able to claim writer’s block?” he said. “Write what you care about.” Spinelli also visited the Princeton Public Library
to discuss his new book, “The Warden’s Daugh.”