During two afternoon talks on Saturday, Alabama-based author Randi Pink spoke to large and inquisitive crowds at Northern Tier Library in Richland. Her visit was arranged after the Pine-Richland School Board last month voted not to include her novel, “Angel of Greenwood,” in its ninth grade language arts classes.
The conversations, though they took place in the shadow of the board’s decision, focused mostly on Pink’s work and analyzing the themes of her novel.
“Angel of Greenwood,” a young adult romance set during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, was rejected 3-5-1 during the board’s meeting Jan. 13.
School directors Joseph Cassidy, Ashley Fortier and Amy Terchick voted in favor of the novel’s inclusion, while Phillip Morissette, Lisa Hillman, Marc Casciani, Christina Brussalis and Michael Wiethorn rejected it. Leslie Miller abstained.
Morissette and Brussalis expressed skepticism about whether the novel was at a high enough literary level for a ninth grade curriculum and its potential displacement of “classic” works.
Pink’s appearance Saturday at two sessions were organized in a matter of weeks by Pine-Richland parent Brittany Kindersmith with the help of district students and a fundraiser by another parent, Rebeccah Hoffman, that raised $5,676 for Pink’s travel expenses.
The first of the two talks was meant for Pine-Richland students and garnered several dozen young attendees. The latter, open to the public, brought nearly 200 people to the basement of Northern Tier as some stood in the back for want of space.
Pink’s discussions, which mostly operated in a question-and-answer format, ranged from personal experiences to literary dialogues punctuated by moments of humor and even singing.
Elise Duckworth, a Pine-Richland junior active at school board meetings, said the student discussion was “so inspirational.” Duckworth spoke several times in January urging the board to include “Angel of Greenwood” in classes.
“She has so many complexities to her as a person,” Duckworth said. “You think you’re just meeting an author, but then you meet an icon in a sense.”
Though Pink’s novel was rejected, Duckworth said it “warmed her heart” to see the number of students who turned out for the event.
That turnout may have been aided by Nedda Immen, whom Pink individually recognized during the discussion. The Pine-Richland senior contacted Macmillan, the book’s publisher, which sent her 100 copies for distribution.
Immen, who said she was “honored” to be recognized, gave away those 100 novels to high schoolers last week, many of whom came to the discussion equipped with their copies.
“By coming here today, it kind of solidifies the fact that these books have an impact,” Immen said.
Riverstone Books, which offered copies of “Angel of Greenwood” and some of Pink’s other works, sold out of its 60-book supply by the end of the public discussion.
That public discussion featured no talk of the school board, but students sometimes brought up the board’s rejection during the earlier event.
Pink, who said she deliberately wrote the novel with high school-age characters and high school readers in mind, said the board’s skepticism about its literary level was “smoke and mirrors.”
“When it’s suggested that it’s not challenging enough, that’s a hard thing for me to reconcile, since I know every page of that book was written for teenagers,” Pink said after the student event.
When one student attendee remarked that interacting with the school board often felt like speaking to “a brick wall,” Pink told students that “wall” represented fear. She encouraged them to keep up their work.
On her first visit to the Pittsburgh area, Pink said she had nothing but good impressions of the area. It reminded her of her native Birmingham, she said, for its “down home folk.” During the public discussion, she even professed her newfound love for the Primanti Bros. sandwich.
Kindersmith, the events’ main organizer, said it was fulfilling to see them so well attended. Though the community active at board meetings often feels small, Kindersmith said she felt the interest in Pink’s discussions indicated a more widespread support for books in Pine-Richland.
The lack of focus on the board’s rejection, she said, was intentional.
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Kindersmith said she wanted to create a “positive event for the community.”
And at least in the short term, she said she thinks more people are reading “Angel of Greenwood” than there would have been if the board has approved its inclusion in classes.
Only two board members, Fortier and Casciani, appeared at the public event. Fortier, who voted in favor of including Pink’s novel, said the author’s message about unity caused her to reflect on her often minority role on the school board, saying she does not want the group to be “adversarial.”
Casciani, who voted against including the novel, said he enjoyed the event. He voted against the novel, he said, because of the procedure that was used for its selection, not because of specific issues with the text. The longtime school board member said he hopes to read more of Pink’s work.
An avid gardener, Pink said she hopes her visit will be like the planting of a tuber. Though the tuber, she said, is ugly when planted — like the five-hour embittered board meeting during which her book was rejected — that same tuber can sprout something beautiful like a dahlia plant.
That dahlia at Pine-Richland, Pink hopes, will be some sort of book festival.
But for now, Pink said, she is inspired by the “special group” of students who connected with her work and helped bring her to the district.
“When they’re in charge,” Pink said, “we’re going to be all right.”