The Stoiy Behinu oui Covei

We veiy much hope you have taken a goou look at oui covei as we iathei
obsesseu about it at the time. What shoulu oui covei look like. Bow can we convey
that this book is tiuly about the kius. 0ne solution was to use a stock photo of
school kius, but that felt veiy wiong to us because we wanteu ieal ueaf anu haiu of
heaiing kius. Bow coulu we iemain tiue to wiiting about ueaf anu haiu of heaiing
school kius if we useu a geneial stock covei.

While sciatching oui heaus about covei uesigns, we stumbleu onto a You
Tube viueo "Ny New Life in the Nainstieam" which featuieu a ueaf giil staiting a
new yeai of school alone in the mainstieam. The viueo was piouuceu by STARS
Nashville: Stuuents Taking a Right Stanu. We talkeu to the piogiam uiiectoi, Lauia
Lekowicz, who happens to be a counseloi by tiaining, anu leaineu that she woikeu
with kius who attenueu Camp SummeiSign, a uay camp iun by Bientwoou Baptist
Beaf Chuich. As a cool asiue, this chuich's youth gioup is iun by Beiyl Coiey, the
uaughtei of Rev. Biuffey who was, once upon a time when we weie stuuents, the
Baptist pastoi in uallauuet's then-calleu 0ffice of Campus Ninistiies. Beiyl
iemembeis many uays hanging with hei uau at uallauuet.but back to the stoiy.

Camp SummeiSign.what a cool name! We hau to leain moie. Each summei since
2uuS, ueaf anu haiu of heaiing chiluien anu theii heaiing siblings have attenueu a
summei-long uay camp calleu Camp SummeiSign !" $%&'(!))*+ ,*""*&&**+
&-../01*2 34 5,675 %"2 80*"19//2 8%.1!&1 :*%; <'-0='. Camp SummeiSign
pioviues campeis with an oppoitunity to leain film making. In 2u11, the campeis
maue a movie calleu "Alone in a Beaiing Woilu," which pietty much enueu as it
staiteu - with the ueaf boy feeling sau, angiy, anu lonely. The 2u12 campeis wanteu
to change that enuing.

Accoiuing to Lauia, Camp SummeiSign begins each summei with a biainstoiming
session wheie iueas aie thiown out anu uiscusseu. In the biainstoiming pieceuing
the making of "Ny New Life in the Nainstieam," the campeis ueciueu the main
issues to auuiess weie isolation anu bullying. Fuithei, they wanteu the bully to
leain his lesson anu make a 16u-uegiee change. As they uo each summei, the
campeis themselves come up with the themes, stoiy lines, casting, anu acting - most
of which came fiom expeiiences anu feelings in theii own lives. In this case, one
young woman, Negan, felt an instant connection with the theme anu all agieeu she
woulu be an awesome main chaiactei foi the film. Next the sciipt was wiitten, the
locations chosen, anu uetails weie auuiesseu. By the thiiu week of camp, they weie
ieauy to shoot! Anu iemembei, these campeis anu staff uo this each summei. Pietty
awesome. If you aie like us, you'll be alieauy uancing with cuiiosity to know what
this coming summei's film will be about.

The thiee stuuents on oui covei, fiom left to iight, aie Negan Nays,
AuQueche Rogeis anu Coinelius }ohnson. They have all attenueu Camp SummeiSign
since they weie 6 yeais olu anu tiuly ueseive all the attention befitting covei stais!
The clip that was selecteu foi the book covei takes place at the enu of the film. It
shows Negan sitting uown with two actois who aie in the ioles of heaiing stuuents
who, aftei quite a lengthy peiiou of ignoiing anu bullying hei, aie now attempting to
ieach out anu become hei fiienus. If you look closely, Coinelius has a papei on his
lap that says "Bow uo I sign, I'm soiiy." Wow.goose bumps!

What lucky kius to giow up with Camp SummeiSign.