People
February 11, 2022 •The Week Junior 9
Actress’s star turn
A
ctress Saniyya Sidney, 15, has appeared on
screen with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Now she’s been nominated for Best Young Actor/
Actress at the 2022 Critics Choice Awards for her
role as tennis champion Venus Williams in the
2021 fi lm King Richard. In the upcoming Showtime
series The First Lady, Sidney will play Sasha Obama,
the younger daughter of Barack and Michelle
Obama (played by Viola Davis). Sidney said the
series will show what the family’s life was like in
the White House. “I think it’s going to be a
beautiful story,” she told Women’s Wear Daily.From sports to chef
P
ro football player Jared Veldheer has taken on a
new challenge after retiring from the National
Football League. His kids’ school in Grand Rapids,
Michigan, needed someone to cook lunch for
about 260 students. Veldheer, who is passionate
about nutrition, took the job and updated the
menu. Greasy pizza and chicken nuggets were out,
and smoked carnitas and mashed caulifl ower were
in. His changes are a hit. “It took a while to capture
some trust from the kids,” he told The Washington
Post. “Kindergartners are my toughest critics.”ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES (3)
Saniyya SidneyJared VeldheerK
ate DiCamillo, author of award-winning
novels like The Tale of Despereaux and
Flora & Ulysses, didn’t always dream of
becoming a famous writer. “I wanted to be
a veterinarian,” she told The Week Junior.
While growing up in Florida,
however, she was always a big
reader, she said. DiCamillo was
frequently sick with a condition
called chronic pneumonia. As
she rested in bed, she sought
adventure through books.
In college, an English
professor said DiCamillo had a
way with words. Her path to
becoming a writer didn’t happen quickly,
though. It took her 10 years before she
began writing. She started with short
stories for adults.
A job in the children’s department at a
book warehouse introduced her to The
Watsons Go to Birmingham— 1963 , ahistorical-fi ction novel that inspired her to
start writing for children. “I was so taken
with that book that I wanted to try to do
something like it,” she said.
DiCamillo has now written more than 25
children’s novels. Her fi rst book,
Because of Winn-Dixie, about the
relationship between a lonely girl
and a stray dog, was turned into a
major motion picture in 2005. Her
second novel, The Tiger Rising, is
about a boy who fi nds a caged
tiger in the woods near his home.
The book is now a new fi lm
starring Queen Latifah and
Katharine McPhee.
While DiCamillo enjoys seeing her work
on the big screen, it’s never been her main
goal. She writes what she sees and is still
astonished that her work has been
published so many times. “I’m always trying
to tell the story as well as I can,” she said.Hollywood has taken notice of author Kate DiCamillo’s novels.
Writing from the heart
Kate DiCamilloOVERHEARD
“The present moment is fi lled
with joy and happiness. If you
are att entive, you will see it.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk
and peace activist who died on January 22 at
age 95. Known as “the Zen master,” he spread
messages of mindfulness, compassion, and
nonviolence throughout the world.TOP PRIZE
The Newbery Medal,
which Kate DiCamillo has
won twice, is considered
the fi rst children’s book
award in the world.The new
fi lm