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Join us for a night of writing teams. The North Carolina based writing team of Lexi and Susan Haas join us to talk the advantages and pitfalls of having a co-writer. As a team they are close as they are mother and daughter. This night will be especially insightful as Lexi because of cerebal palsy is nonverbal. Yet her sense of humor with the flair of storytelling shines through their books. Susan started out as a medical writer. She embraced writing with Lexi to help Lexi achieve independence. We will explore their orgins as a team. We will also find out how disability frames their stories from the outline to the final draft. How they have used storytelling as a tool for advocacy. 

Susan and Lexi Haas are a mother and daughter writing team focusing on disability education and advocacy. They are the authors of The Year of the Buttered Cat (a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) and Fooled. Lexi has a rare and severe form of cerebral palsy. While she can’t walk or talk, she was reading by ten months old, has an impressive memory, a keen sense of humor, and an invincible spirit. Recognizing her young daughter’s gift for words, Susan began writing with Lexi to help foster independence and develop communication, but soon learned that Lexi’s fresh perspective needed to be shared with others. In addition to writing together, Susan and Lexi also enjoy presenting to schools and organizations around the world, helping others learn about disability from a first-person narrative. They live in Charlotte, NC.