As Fast as Words Could Fly

The story of Mason Steele, an African American boy in 1960s Greenville, North Carolina, who relies on his inner strength and his typing skills to break racial barriers after he begins attending a "whites-only" high school.

Young Mason Steele takes pride in turning his father's excited ramblings about the latest civil rights incidents into handwritten business letters. One day Pa comes home with a gift from his civil rights group: a typewriter. Thrilled with the present, Mason spends all his spare time teaching himself to type. Soon he knows where every letter on the keyboard is located.

When the civil rights group wins a school desegregation case, Mason learns that now he will be attending a formerly all-white high school. Despite his fears and injustice from the students and faculty, Mason perseveres. He does well in school-especially in his typing class. And when he competes in the county typing tournament, Mason decides to take a stand, using his skills to triumph over prejudice and break racial barriers.

Winner of Lee & Low's New Voices Award, As Fast As Words Could Fly is an inspiring testament to the power of hard work, determination, and belief in yourself to overcome life's challenges.

Pamela M. Tuck won Lee & Low's New Voices Award for the manuscript for As Fast As Words Could Fly, her first picture book. She gets her love of storytelling from her grandfather, whose "jaw-dropping, eye-popping" stories enchanted her as a child. Tuck was inspired to write As Fast As Words Could Fly by her father's experiences growing up in the 1960s in a family of civil rights activists. She lives in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, with her husband and their children. You can visit her online at pamelamtuck.com.

Eric Velasquez has illustrated numerous award-winning books for children, and has authored some picture books as well. Among the awards he has received for his work are the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, the Carter G. Woodson Award, an NAACP Image Award, and the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. When not illustrating book projects, Velasquez teaches book illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. He lives in Hartsdale, New York. You can visit him online at ericvelasquez.com.