Friends of Thorp is excited to welcome three authors as part of our Read-a-Thon!

Books purchased after 9/14/25, will be signed by the author but not personalized.

20% of the book sales will go back to Friends of Thorp thanks to City Lit Books.

9/16 - Gene Ha 6-8th grades
Comic Strip Writing Lesson
This program teaches kids to understand literature as a writer, not just a reader. Using examples from popular comic strips, Gene will lead the students to create their own comic strip by building a story. The story is set up, a dramatic question is faced, and the resolution answers the question with an entertaining payoff.

9/17 Alex Willan K - 2nd Grades
In this presentation, Alex will read your choice of his books, followed by a Draw Along of a character from the book, and ending with a Q&A where he shares more about himself and his work.

9/24 Liesl Shurtliff 3-5th grades
If you could time travel, where and when would you go? In this presentation, using a super fun game-show format, Liesl will share fun facts about science, history, and her process of writing her adventurous time-travel trilogy, Time Castaways. She'll talk about how to research, source, and fact-check, and how young readers can use these skills in their own schoolwork and everyday lives, as well as how to take real history and weave it with fiction while still keeping important facts intact.

2025 Read-a-Thon Book Sales