Journalist and Novelist Michael Scott Moore Captivates Middle School Audience
Michael Scott Moore is a journalist and novelist. His memoir The Desert and the Sea, became an international bestseller, and his work Sweetness and Blood, was named best book of 2010 by the Economist. He is a visiting professor at UC Riverside and the Columbia School of the Arts.
Approximately 300 middle school students at Buttonwillow School listened closely as Moore retold his harrowing account of being held captive for 977 days by Somali pirates. Moore was kidnapped in 2012 while on a reporting trip to Somalia and was ultimately released after almost three years. Moore spoke not only about the ordeal, but about what he ultimately learned through his experience. Students and educators alike took great interest in the talk. Many of them stayed behind with additional questions. Students from Paul Arreola’s ELA class were diligently taking notes for a writing exercise that correlated with this visit.
