Tanya Lloyd Kyi, World Book Week Author Visit

During last week's World Book Week, three distinguished authors visited our school to talk to WPGA students. On Thursday, April 24, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, author of Me and Banksy, The Best Way To Get Your Way, and several other bestselling children’s books, visited grades 6 and 7 for the third year in a row.

Ms. Kyi shared her writing process, told hilarious stories from her life, and even had us act out famous events from history—like the complex story of Rosalind Franklin, who played an important role in discovering the structure of DNA but wasn’t recognized for it until many years after she passed away.

Ms. Kyi also gave us a behind-the-scenes look at how she came up with her novel Mya’s Strategy to Save the World. The book follows a fictional character named Mya Parsons, who runs her school's social justice club with her best friend, Cleo. Mya’s dream is to work for the United Nations and help make the world a better place. Ms. Kyi explained that the story was inspired by conversations with her daughter during her early teen years. Many of her daughter’s experiences and opinions helped shape the plot and characters, making the story both engaging and relatable to readers like us.

Next year, in grade 7, we will read one of Ms. Kyi’s most well-known books for our novel study, called Me and Banksy. It’s about a school that installs surveillance cameras everywhere—until someone begins hacking into the system and sharing embarrassing footage online for everyone to see. We’re excited to dive into it next year!

Grades 6 and 7 students truly appreciated Ms. Kyi’s energy, storytelling, and insight. WPGA is looking forward to welcoming her visits in the years to come.