 (From Left to Right) Kaye Turner, Samuel Zamora, Tom Shefelman and Janice Shefelman. Zamora´s correspondence with Janice Shefelman eventually lead to the publication of a new book.
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It's not your typical love story, a boy falling headlong for a book. But, if you ask middle school student Samuel Zamora about the first "Young Wolf" book by Janice Shefelman, he'll tell you how that story started his love affair with reading.
It also started a three year communication with the book's author that brought her and illustrator-husband Tom Shefelman to the ISU campus and Pocatello community last week. The audience members attending Tuesday night's Bellon Visiting Author's Conference presentation at the Pond Student Union were treated to a true story about how readers can provide the impetus an author needs to send their next manuscript one more time to a publisher. In this case, the eager reader was ten year old Zamora.
Shefelman's young Comanche character, Young Wolf, makes choices in the story series that early readers can identify with, admire and emulate. It brings friendship, family and the lessons of growing up from a Comanche boy's viewpoint to modern day children looking for realistic stories to read on their own.
"It's the first story I ever read that seemed like it really happened," related Zamora speaking at the Visiting Authors event about "A Mare for Young Wolf." After reading Shefelman's second book, "Young Wolf's First Hunt," he wanted to know what happened next to the character and asked his school librarian, Kaye Turner, if she would get some more books about Young Wolf. Recognizing this student's new passion for reading, Turner quickly found and bought the third book in the collection without the delay of filling out the Jefferson Elementary School requisition. Young Zamora was soon back at the library after reading "Young Wolf and Spirit Horse," anticipating his next read. Turner checked the book listings and regretfully relayed the news to the boy that no other books had been published about Young Wolf by Shefelman. The fifth-grader was disheartened but then revived when Turner suggested he dictate a letter to the author for her to send. He wrote, ". . . your books are the best books I have ever read. They are the first ones I loved. I am driving my librarian crazy because I want her to order more of your books and she keeps telling me there aren't any. Please help!"
