It's Tuesday. You Don't Have Plans. Come See Mr. Bellito.

It's a random Tuesday in March and you don't have anything to do except procrastinate doing your taxes. Sure, the kids have homework, but a field trip could do them some good. They could use a history lesson into what life was like before XBox 360.

So come out and hear your favorite high school English teacher, Mr. Bellito, read from his first novel, Ten Again, at the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. Do you remember all those stories he told us about riding his bike to Cock Robin on Northwest Highway, trips to Riverview, and life at Arlington High School? Those stories and many more have been compiled into Ten Again, a delightful book about being 10 in 1960s Arlington Heights. The book doesn't mention Arlington Heights and really could be any town in America. Although now that you know, you'll recognize all the hot spots if you grew up here.

As I've mentioned before, Mr. Bellito was one of my favorite English teachers in high school and was really the first who told me I could write. Ten Again was one of my favorite books in 2009, as I've written about here, here, here, and here. It's a wonderful book for kids of all ages.

Here's the important info:

Tuesday, March 9th
6:30-8pm
Arlington Heights Historical Museum
110 W. Fremont St.
Arlington Heights

Books will be available for purchase and signing after the program.

This book reading and signing is part of the museum's exhibit "Gone But Not Forgotten: Lost Arlington Heights" and the program is free.

Ten Again: Coming of Age in Arlington Heights Book Reading at Prospect Hts. Library

Hey kids! One of our favorite English teachers from Hersey, Mike Bellito, will be at the Prospect Heights Public Library TOMORROW (Thursday, September 10th) reading from his fantastic book Ten Again!

I've told you about this delightful book before (and here and here) and promised a review, which I swear is coming next week (really). So just trust me when I tell you that you don't want to miss this opportunity to hear Mr. Bellito read from my favorite book of the summer (oh, sorry, that might be a review spoiler!). I had the pleasure of attending his reading at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library in May. Listening to him read Ten Again, I was immediately taken back to my creative writing class at Hersey where Mr. Bellito first shared the stories of his childhood - riding bikes to Cock Robin, riding the roller coasters at Riverview, and watching matinees at the original Arlington Theatre.

From the Prospect Heights Public Library website:

Join author and former John Hersey High School Language Arts teacher, Michael Bellito to discuss his fictionalized memoir,"Ten Again", the endearing story of a young man’s coming of age set in Arlington Heights during the 60’s. Michael Bellito taught at Hersey High School for 32 years and currently teaches at Harper Community College. Book sale and signing after the program.

Location: Borland Meeting Room, PHPL, 12 N. Elm St., Prospect Heights
When: Thursday, September 10th at 7pm
Registration: Click here to register.

Call your friends and take your kids. It's a fun (and free) event. Trust me.

Oh, and buy some copies of his book. Trust me.