Roland Smith was treated like a celebrity when he came to Bethel, AK.Getting authors to this remote site is prohibitive because of the cost of flying here, so having an author in town is a rare and special occasion.

Roland Smith did two presentations at Gladys Jung Elementary School and one at Bethel Youth Facility. Fifteen students from the junior high and 5-6th grade were randomly drawn to "eat lunch with an author" after his presentations. It was quite a spread with lasagna, french bread, dried fish strips, agutak and cookie. Students were able to sit and ask questions to Mr. Smith in a very casual and comfortable setting.

Roland saw his biggest crowds when visiting Bethel. He presented first to approximately 190 kindergarten through third graders and gave a second presentation to 500 fourth through eighth graders. Librarian Suzanne Richards reported that students were very excited about having an author visit their town, a rare occurrence that left students wondering when JK Rowling could come by!