On Wednesday morning, April 8th, students in grades 1-6 welcomed alumna Lauren Baratz-Logsted, class of 1976, back to Unquowa. Lauren was very comfortable sitting in the library with our students and reminiscing about her experiences here. Mrs. Joan L. Miano was our Head of School, she took Latin as a foreign language, field day was the most popular special event day and there was no wall between the gym and the dining room when she was here. Our students got a chuckle over the idea of basketballs interrupting a meal. She also spoke about her English teacher, Mr. Chester Schnepf, who inspired her to write stories. He told her that writing is very powerful. Writing lets you express your ideas and is a good form of entertainment.
Entertainment is what Lauren needed in December 2006 when she was snowed in during a Colorado vacation. She asked her daughter, Jackie, if she were going to write a book, what would it be about? Jackie wanted a sister story about girls ranging from 1-8, but Lauren said, “What if we make them octuplets?” Jackie agreed and along with the help of her dad, the Sisters 8 series was born.
The series begins on New Year’s Eve 2007 when the eight sisters are at home with their parents, who soon disappear. Throughout each book the girls are challenged to figure out the mystery of what happened to their parents, while keeping the rest of the world from realizing that they’re living alone. We were very excited to hear first hand how the girls were named and how it was determined what characteristics they each have. To date there are four volumes published. Lauren and her family were set to start the 5th after her Unquowa visit. We eagerly await the rest of the series and the special 9th volume that will tell us how the mysteries of all the adventures sort themselves out. After reading the Sisters 8 you can visit their site at www.sisterseight.com and take the quiz to find out which octuplet you are most like!
You can also visit Lauren’s website to get a current list of all of Lauren’s books.