Dr. Margaret Read MacDonald speaks to all students at Eagle Creek Elementary School May 28 as an alternative to sending a few students to a young authors conference in Anacortes, according to the teacher who coordinated the project, Vicki Grende. For the past four years weve had published authors and illustrators of childrens books come to Eagle Creek Elementary School for our own Young Authors Day, Grende said. A resident of Kirkland, MacDonald has traveled all over the world and collected folktales. She brought along with her to Arlington a Thai storyteller named Wajuppa. The students participated in sessions in the library with the author and storyteller, sharing the books they had written with their grade level peers. Some students entered a contest by writing letters explaining why theyd like to eat lunch with guest authors. The two students who won the contest were Makenna Herring in Grendes third grade-class and Brady Blacker in second-grade. Both Herring and Blacker each brought a friend of their choice for lunch with MacDonald.