Gary Urey is the author of the SUPER SCHNOZ Series, which Kirkus called in its starred review “…a winner, especially for reluctant readers”, SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE GATES OF SMELL, SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE INVASION OF THE SNORE SNATCHERS, and SUPER SCHNOZ AND THE BOOGER BLASTER BREAKDOWN. These fun books introduce readers to Andy Whiffler, an eleven-year-old who was born with a humongous nose. The puns, references, and nose jokes abound, but themes of friendship, teamwork, and determination are also explored. His middle grade thriller series, SECRETS OF THE X-POINT (Book One—PURSUED) is scheduled for release February 2017. Gary is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He puts his professional theatre training to good use in every presentation he gives. 

 

Presentation Details

 

Suggested Audience Grades K-3

45-60 minutes

 

Gary begins his presentation with some lively conversation about what makes a super hero. He continues by introducing Super Schnoz in a PowerPoint presentation, showcasing how the very thing same thing people made fun of him for ended up being his super power. He then does an animated reading from his books, asks the kids to imagine what super power they might like to have and how they would use that power. Drawing and naming their super hero comes next. If time permits, Gary incorporates theatre games to explore finding the super power inside them.

 

Presentation Details

Suggested audience Grades 4-8

45-60 minutes

 

For older groups Gary begins with a brief talk about his path from being a reluctant reader/dyslexic/poor student to published author, continuing with a brief PowerPoint and reading from the book.

 

SECRETS OF THE X-POINT theme: The major plot device for SECRETS OF THE X-POINT is teleportation to any place on earth using a device that works only with GPS Latitude/Longitude coordinates. (The bad guys really, really want to take this technology from the kids and will do ANYTHING to get it!) For this presentation, Gary gives a brief lesson on how Latitude/Longitude work. He will then present an interactive game where kids work in pairs or groups to solve a puzzle using some of the many global locations from his book, SECRETS OF THE X-POINT.

OR

SUPER SCHNOZ theme: He can finish by introducing some character development techniques to design their own super hero and working on a story about their super hero. He also uses theatre games to explore imagination and story development.

 

AV Tech needs

Projector/screen

 

Honorarium

Maine: $500 per day

New England: $750 per day plus expenses

Out of state: $1,000 plus travel (airfare, hotel, taxi or car rental if necessary)

Skype 1 hour: $60