Young adult author Mr. Paul Griffin stopped by the OHS library on Monday, Sept. 26. His visit was intended mainly to promote his three novels, but Griffin hoped to achieve more.

“There are obligations to the publisher to let people know about the stories,” said Griffin, who admitted to not being the best at selling books. “It’s more about being connected to kids who are resilient or doing great things.”

Griffin spoke to students from all grade levels for an hour. After being introduced by his agent, he began by reading from two of his published books, “Ten Mile River” and “Stay With Me.” Griffin aims to tell the stories of underdogs and those who are daring to do something different that not everyone may agree with.

“[I like] kids that do things that take a lot of courage,” Griffin said.

One student who particularly connected with Griffin was Hayden Patterson (12). Over the summer, Patterson completed an original screenplay, which impressed Griffin. He also recently created a new anti-bullying organization, Victim’s Voice.

“Kids trying to help other kids gets me excited,” Griffin said. “That’s inspiring. [The kids] who take risks, get back up [and are] resilient.”

Patterson was able to speak to Griffin and schedule a Skype discussion between the author and the club. The dialogue is intended to give students insight on what they can do to help their peers and to prevent bullying from occurring.

“It’s to get a different point of view, not just from a student or teacher,” Patterson said. “He had to deal with bullying when he was younger, so he knows where I’m coming from.”

Although the intent of the visit was to generally promote Griffin’s novels, the visit did much more as connections were able to form between the author and students.