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Hall noted that inclusivity was an
important part of putting together the book.
The book’s main character, Ace, is non-bi-
nary and uses they/them pronouns.
“It was important to me to have the
LGBTQ+ representation,” she said.
Hall polled her Instagram audience,
including teachers and librarians, asking
them what kids in their classrooms have
never seen their name in a book or souve-
nir shop.
“I got a lot of answers. And I used those
for my character names in the various puz-
zles,” she said.
Before transitioning her career to writ-
ing and game creation, Hall was an English
teacher for junior and high school students.
“I’ve been out of the classroom for four
or five years and I’ve been focused on mak-
ing games and teaching resources, and now
writing puzzle books,” Hall said.
Hall’s recent writing experience takes
the form of creating escape rooms for
kids, including a Romeo and Juliet-themed
escape room as well as one inspired by
Odyssey. Teachers would use these games in
their classrooms to engage students in these
texts in a new and exciting way.
“My idea was to combine the experience
in escape rooms with a book. I wanted to
expand and do more than just riddles, and
I knew I wanted an overall adventure this
time,” Hall said.
While the book is fun, it also is a learning
opportunity for kids. Hall wanted to create
some screen-free fun for kids during a time
when so much of their learning and social
interactions are on computers, she said.
“Computer screens used to be something
that for kids were an escape from school —
and then they became school, family, clubs
and church all at the same time,” Hall said.
Hall said she thinks kids having oppor-
tunities to play games like this will remind
kids how being clever and creative are fun,
and that school doesn’t always have to be a
grind in front of a screen.
From her teaching experience, Hall said
she understands how teachers don’t always
have the time to come up with engaging and
creative curriculum.
“As a teacher you want to do excit-
ing things with your students but you don’t
always have the time or emotional energy
to spend 30 hours making a game,” Hall
said. “So instead, I can spend 30 or 40 hours
making a game and then all teachers have to
do is print it out and play it.”
Last year, Hall released a children’s rid-
dle book.
Signed copies of “The 100 Best Brain
Teasers for Kids” will be available at Lucy’s
Books in Astoria. It is also available for pur-
chase on Amazon.
A page from the puzzle book.
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 // 5