Scholastic Author Wants You to Help Save the Gorillas!

Did you know the African mountain gorillas are critically endangered? There are estimated to be only 720 left in the entire world! And Scholastic author Craig Hatkoff decided he wanted to do something about it.

You may know Craig Hatkoff as the co-author of the Owen & Mzee books and Knut: How One Little Polar Bear Captivated The World; he's also the Founder of the Owen & Mzee Foundation. Craig, along with the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation and Dr. Richard Leakey (Founder of Wildlife Direct), sponsored an Action Commitment at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative to help save the mountain gorillas (President Bill Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges) — and they are asking kids everywhere to help!

Part of this commitment includes the release of a Craig Hatkoff's latest book — Looking for Miza: The True Story of How a Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of their Own — which will be published by Scholastic and launched at the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Summit Sept 24-26. And that’s not all!

On the last day of the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative Summit, Scholastic will be hosting an event as well: the first-ever Kids Gorilla Summit! On Friday, September 26th, six classrooms (grades 5 and 6) from the greater New York area will come to Scholastic's headquarters to participate in three hours of discussion and activities about how to save the endangered African mountain gorillas. And even if you live somewhere else in the world, you can participate too! You will be able to watch the event live via webcast on scholastic.com (9/26, 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time)! And yes, we know you're in school that day  — so ask your teachers if you can watch part of the event as a class. If not, no worries, we'll be posting the video footage after the event.

Every Friday, leading up to the event, we'll also be posting news about the Kids Gorilla Summit, as well as information on the endangered mountain gorillas. Here is a sneak peek of what's to come:

• 9/12 – A surprise guest blogger with an inside scoop on the book Looking for Miza!
• 9/19 - A behind-the-scenes look at the event, including a preview of the special guest speakers!
• 9/26 – LIVE BLOGGING from the actual Kids Gorilla Summit!
• 10/3 – Post-Summit summary, including a call-to-action to kids and teens to help come up with a solution!

In the meantime, you can learn a lot more by visiting http://www.scholastic.com/miza/. If you have a question for the panel of experts who will be speaking at the Summit, feel free to post a comment to this blog or submit here — your question may be chosen for the event!

Before I go, I'd like to leave everyone with a quote from President Bill Clinton which is featured on the back cover of the book Looking for Miza:

"Looking for Miza not only tells the story of one gorilla’s struggle in the wild, it also shows the danger of human indifference. This book was written as part of a 2007 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) commitment to protect endangered gorillas, and it shows what can be accomplished when we dedicate ourselves to making a difference. Every member of CGI is expected to take action to make the world a better place, and this is a terrific example of the power we all have to help others." — President Bill Clinton

— Evan, from the Miza planning team