i think you should write a sequel to going for the record because the
book Going for the Record leaves alot of people hanging and i would
really like to find out what she is going to do about college and her
and Clay. You should make Going for the Record a series.
I'm thinking about it... :)
One question, is it possible for you to make a part 2 to Going For the
Record? I really enjoyed reading this book and I was hoping that Clay
and her would get together. If you did make a part 2, I think it should
be about the after affects of the story.
If you scroll down on this page, you'll see that a couple other
people asked this same question about a sequel (I'm going to have to
put it on my FAQ page!) and I answered it there. It's kind of a long
answer and I'm too lazy to retype it!
where did this book take place and why it is important? And also why it is a fiction book?
This story is set in Traverse City, Mi. It's not really important
except that I wanted to have the story take place near where I grew up,
because I know the area well and love it. The book is considered
fiction because although it's based on my dad's death and things my
family and I experienced during that time, almost everything in the
story is made up or is somehow different than our actual family and
circumstances. For instance, my dad died when I was an adult and not a
teen, I never played soccer in high school, I did not live in Traverse
City, I was not the baby of my family, I had 3 siblings instead of 2,
my dad did not own a restaurant, there are characters in the story who
are not based on any real person and are purely from my imagination,
the names and ages of characters based on real people were changed...
Almost everything was changed, except my feelings for my dad and the
emotions surrounding his death. If the story were non-fiction,
everything in the story would have to be a true account based on fact.
Julie are you ever going to write a sequel to going for the record? do you have any other books published? meaghan
hey Julie. Are you ever going to write a sequel to going for the
record? I'm in Mr Stimers English class and i finished your book.the
ending seemed professional but good, almost like it needed a sequel.
--Luke W.
Meaghan and Luke--
Another reader asked if I was going to write a sequel and if you scroll
down on this page you can read our full discussion about that. Thanks
for your notes! As for your other question, Meaghan, no, none of my
other books have been published yet.
why did you chouse socer as a sport Aaron M
Aaron--
I answer this question in the Frequently Asked Questions part of my
website, so click My Works/FAQ and then scroll down on that page.
Hi julie. i hve a past teacher of yours- mr stimer he is letting us read your book, please comment back
youu rule*
Hi there. Glad to hear you're reading my book. Thanks for letting me know and hello to Mr. Stimers!
Julie! I am so happy for you! I read every word on your webpage it was
all so interesting. And I REALLY enjoyed seeing the pictures of you
when you were little. Mellon
Not THE Mellon, the one and only Mellon!? Soccer Mellon, Dartmouth
Mellon? Where are you, how are you? Good to hear from you and thanks
for the note!
I had to read this for Summer Reading, and I felt like the point in the
end(that Leah realizes relationships were more important than
sports...) didn't come across clearly at the end, since you made her
play soccer again, and made her like it. I first thought it meant not
to give up your dreams....but it didnt..
Well, she did go back to playing at the end, but then she was
playing for the pure joy of it, the simple pleasure of the game and the
moment, not because she was trying to impress a coach and earn a
scholarship. What I meant by showing her going back to playing is that
there's no reason to give up something you love so long as you can go
back to doing it for the right reasons and with the proper perspective.
Sometimes if you can remember why you started doing something in the
first place, that helps. And I think Leah was realizing what she really
loves about soccer and that there is still joy in these simple things
in life.
I may be able to go, I live in Pennsylvania, but that is the day we take my sister to college I think.
I would love to go to Notre Dame. This summer I went to a soccer camp
there with four of my friends. We had a great time. It is such an
amazing school with so many things that make it different from a lot of
colleges. Where did you go to college?
I went to Michigan State but Notre Dame was one of the colleges I
was interested in, too. It's still a very interesting place to me. The
University of Virginia women's soccer team will be playing Notre Dame
in a preseason game in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on Aug.23rd at 7 pm. if you
live anywhere near there--my husband is the UVa coach but unfortunately
I won't be able to go.
.
Mrs. Swanson, thank you for writing back to me. I think that it would
be a great idea to skip the senior year in Leah's life and go onto her
college years. I have a brother and a sister who have both gone through
the process of applying to college and are now attending Notre Dame. I
think it would be interesting to hear about Leah's senior year, but you
could start out the book with how she decided what college she was
attending and her getting her acceptance letters. As I know that is one
of the most exciting experiences! ( I think if you write the sequel
Leah should attend Notre Dame)--Leah
Well, I'm glad to hear you don't have a problem with skipping Leah's
senior year, and it would be fun to bounce more of my ideas off of you,
but I don't want to let on any more about where Leah goes to college or
what the story would be about. ...Are you hoping to follow your brother
and sister to Notre Dame?
Hi Mrs. Swanson! My name is Leah also and I just wanted to tell you
that I loved your book. It really hit home for me because I realized
how much I was like Leah Weiczynkowski. Do you think that you could try
to write a sequel for Going For The Record?
Leah--
I've thought about writing a sequel, but the problem is that it would
be much the same as another story I'm planning on writing as one of the
books in a series of basketball stories. I'm just really into writing
this basketball series and would prefer to include the story in it. But
if my basketball series doesn't end up going anywhere, I may use this
story idea as a sequel to GFR. I'm interested to know, though, what
sort of sequel you're imagining. The one I had in mind would skip a
year, and have Leah leaving home to go to college and play soccer. And
I've wondered if that would disappoint readers, to have her skip her
senior year in high school and the whole "do I go away to college or
don't I?" dilemma she would undoubtedly have, as well as the college
recruitment/selection process, which can be pretty interesting, too. I
also imagine readers would want to know what happens with Leah and
Clay, and I'm not sure I want the sequel to be about that. So I'm
afraid I might disappoint using the story idea I currently have in
mind. But I will give it some more thought... Thanks for your note!
Hi Mrs. Swanson! I am one of Kelsey's friends, although I won't say my
name just because it is the internet and stuff. I was talking to Kelsey
about your book ( because I think it is really cool how you wrote a
book about soccer, and Kelsey plays soccer, and Mr. Swanson coaches UVA
soccer)and I asked her why you wrote it, ( don't share this next part
with her) and she said, " I have no idea actually. I mean she never
played soccer. She wasn't really into sports. I mean she did play some
basketball though..." Then when I some how come across this website,
and I read the part about your resons for writing the book, I was
really glad I had found out. I love your book by the way...! - Kelsey's
friend.
Kelsey's Friend--
Your parents would be proud of you for being so careful on the
internet! And I'm glad you figured out why I wrote the book. I won't
share your post with her, but if she finds it on her own, I'm not to
blame. Glad you liked my book. Thanks for telling me so. Now I'm
curious who you are...
Julie, I am doing a book talk on this book because it is my most
favorite book. I love to read and I can read a book over 250 pages in
about 1 hour so I have read a bunch of books (a little over about 250
books and yours is my all time favorite book!) I am 12 1/2 and my great
aunt died 2 years ago of cancer and since my mom didn't really have a
mom there for here she was my moms mom. My aunt had breast cancer since
she was 25 then when she was 57 she got regular cancer then got bone
cancer at age 59 she died after long days and then one night she got up
to get a drink of water and hit the wall and died. My mom is always sad
when she comes up or it is her birthday. I loved her and we all miss
her dearly but my mom made contact with her mom after my aunt died so
there was a gain and a loss to her death. I want to say that I read
your book in 1 day but because of how sad it was I would have to wait
awhile to start again. Thank you so much for letting me have such a
great book to read. Thanx Very Much, Meghan Johnson
Thanks, Meghan! I'm glad you liked my book. It's strange, isn't it,
how something can be so sad yet still be our "favorite"? I guess it's
because the sadness in this case is about love. Anytime you really love
something, there's the risk of losing that thing and then being sad.
But it's worth it, and you always have your memories and the love for
that person. I think of this kind of sadness as "touching", which is
different than a lot of other sadnesses (like ones produced by voilence
or cruelty). There's something beautiful and happy about it, too, or at
least sacred. Sorry to hear about your aunt.
I appreciated your note--keep up the reading!
Thanks. :] Yeah, Me and my Dad were super close. Losing him has taught
me many lessons about life, and how you should live it to the fullest,
because you never know whats going to happen next. But i must say right
now, hands down, "Going For The Record," is my all time favorite book.
You are an excellent author, and should really continue with your work.
Oh, and one last thing. Thank You, for writting back to me, it really
means alot. -- KarLee Dipzinski
Well, thank you. It means a lot that you wrote me in the first place.
[- KarLee Dipzinski]
haha. well Thank You. :] So im in Mr. Stimers English class, and we had
to write letters to "Leah." Then he picked like 4 or 5 to send to you.
Mine was one of them chosen. Did you ever read it/them ?
No, really, I like your name, not teasing. Yes, I read your letter.
I'm sorry you lost your dad so young. It sounds like you were as close
or even closer than Leah and her dad.
In your book "Going For The Record" Leah is super close with her dad. Were you and your dad ever that close ? KarLee Dipzinski
KarLee (love your last name)--
My dad and I had much the same relationship as Leah and her dad did in
the book, at least at the end of his life when he was dying, that is.
But he was never as into my sport as Leah's dad was. He liked
basketball and the fact that I liked it so much, and he came to most of
my games, but he really left it to be "my" thing and was not so
involved in it (he never talked about my getting a scholarship or
anything; that was no goal of his for me), which I'm thankful for! And
before he got sick, he and I never talked about deep things together. I
never really confided in him or anything. Although we were affectionate
with one another, our closeness when I was young was more of an
unspoken thing.
Did you face any criticism from the girls of your school since you were
more like a boy and enjoyed sports? Did you face any difficulties
having to live them? How so?
In elementary school I had a hard time making friends. I wanted to
be friends with the boys but would get teased that they were my
"boyfriends" if I hung out with them, so I made do with a couple girls
in my class who I found the most interesting. But I was the "odd one
out" in that group of three. It wasn't until jr. high that I found a
true friend and I never faced much criticism for being a tomboy after
that--just gentle teasing.
You said you coached varsity girl's basketball, was your team any good?
No! That was in Iowa and our school had just changed over from the
old 3-on-3 game that most of the schools in Iowa had been playing up
until that point, so they weren't used to the new rules, including
being able to dribble more than two times before passing off (many of
the schools they played against already played the modern game.). But
they improved a lot and the year after I left they had a great season.
Your web site was cool. Love, Jake Polakowski
Thanks Jake! (Jake's my nephew)
