Day 18 - Fashion Design Class Collaborates with Local Author - Mr. Mistler - BHS Art Dept.

This post first appeared on Mr. Mistler's Blog

The Fashion Design class at Burlington High School poses with local author Johanna Hartford (center, in black)

Young Adult Novel, The Ivory Rite 

Johanna Hartford is a local author releasing her first young adult novel titled "The Ivory Rite."



Local author Johanna Hartford stopped by the fashion design class at Burlington High School this year to talk about her new young adult fantasy novel, "The Ivory Rite," which tells the tale of Queen Diem.

"QUEEN DIEM HAS A DEADLY SECRET—ONE THAT SHE NEVER ASKED FOR, AND ONE THAT COULD COST HER EVERYTHING. AS SHE STRUGGLES TO DECIDE WHO IS WORTHY OF HER TRUST, AN OMINOUS PROPHECY AND THE RESURRECTION OF A GHOST FROM HER PAST WILL CAUSE HER TO QUESTION EVERYTHING SHE THOUGHT SHE KNEW."

Johanna and I thought working with the fashion class would make for a great collaboration. We tasked the fashion class with creating the iconic fashions from the novel. Johanna gave the students detailed descriptions taken from the text and students interpreted the excerpts to create these designs. This was the students' final project and was heavily weighted on their final grade. Ms. Hartford was thrilled when presented these designs by the class! Students took time to describe their designs and discuss how they made their artistic decisions. Johanna will be using some of the images below on social media to give readers a sense of the imagery from the book.


I have known Johanna for about 20 years and have seen her grow as an author. She has been featured in sites like Cosmopolitan, Mogul, and Huffington Post for her riveting commentaries. The Ivory Rite is her debut novel.
The Ivory Rite is now out! You can order it here on Amazon.