Elementary libraries throughout the Westerville City School District are receiving copies of the first two books in the Sidney & Sydney series. Hawthorne Elementary children who have questions or comments about the popular stories can walk down the hall and talk to the author, Michele Jakubowski, school secretary.
Jakubowski’s stories feature school-age pals Sidney and Sydney, who have tackled first-day-of-school problems, avoided Halloween disasters, and proven that boys and girls can be friends. The rest of third grade should be easy, right? Wrong! From dodgeball fights to school play drama, these two friends have a lot to learn!
For her efforts, Jakubowski recently earned gold in the Juvenile Fiction - Early Reader/1st Chapter books category of the 2013 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards.
Raised in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates, Jakubowski thanks the teachers in her life for her love of reading and writing. Although she grumbled her way through algebra and chemistry while at Northern Illinois University, she loved her creative writing and literature courses. It was while completing her BA in English that a friend turned her on to the works of John Irving, a must-read author for her still today. While writing has always been a passion for Jakubowski, she believes it is the books she has read throughout the years, and the teachers that assigned them, that have made her the storyteller she is today. It is in appreciation of these great works and wonderful people that she strives to create relatable and entertaining characters that may one day inspire a budding new author.
The first four books in Jakubowski’s new series, Perfectly Poppy, which is geared towards readers aged 5 - 7, will be released in January, 2014. Book three in the Sidney & Sydney series comes out in summer 2014.
For further information, please visit www.michelejakubowski.com.