What’s better than meeting legendary authors like Erin Estrada Kelly, Jennifer L. Holm, and Alan Gratz at #alaac25 ? Why, a free reader’s theatre performance from the authors themselves!
At this year’s Scholastic Luncheon, each book’s author becomes the narrator, while their esteemed colleagues took on different character roles.
(Erin Estrada Kelly, Jennifer L. Holm, Ruchira Gupta, Alan Gratz, Ryan La Sala.)
Instead of the typical book pitches, librarians were treated to live performances featuring some of our favorite writers. Scripts in hand, it was a delight to see authors come alive and relish supporting each other in this collaborative event.
Their latest titles ran the gamut of fiction including horror, fantasy, realistic, and historical. Favorite moments included Entrada Kelly’s heightened tension, Ryan La Sala’s German accent, and Gratz’ inclusion of the phrase, “Hitler’s secret underpants.”
(Photos courtesy of Maria Paz Alegre)
Maria Paz Alegre (she/her/hers) is happily based in New York City where she works as a culture writer and as the elementary school librarian at the Allen-Stevenson School. When she’s not in the library, classroom or stage, she enjoys presenting and creating workshops for national and regional education conferences centered around creating diverse, equitable and inclusive curriculum. As a librarian, she served on the EELDM Committee (2020 & 2021) as well as the 2024 Randolph Caldecott Award Committee. She is a proud and longtime member of ALSC and APALA where she has volunteered as a mentor to up-and-coming librarians at both organizations. She has a soft spot for Philadelphia and can’t wait to hit up Reading Terminal for a pretzel, pork roll and water ice!
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.
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