Author Deborah Hopkinson describes her research process in her latest book for young readers, DIVE! World War II Stories of Sailors & Submarines in the Pacific. She shares the tremendous impact librarians and libraries played in shaping her childhood experiences. I received a complimentary ARC of DIVE! in preparation for this blog interview.
Category: Author Spotlight
Be Inspired By the 2016 ALSC Award Speeches!
Did you miss the ALSC media award acceptance speeches in Orlando? Or just want to enjoy them again at your leisure? PDFs of the Batchelder, Belpré, Caldecott, Carnegie, Geisel, Newbery, Sibert, and Wilder acceptance remarks are available below. Thanks to ALSC Marketing Intern Elizabeth Taft, we’ve also provided some images with quotes below. These inspiring quotes show the passion and dedication authors and illustrators bring to children’s literature. Download PDFs Download PDFs
Interview with Author Bridgette R. Alexander
Author Bridgette R. Alexander reflects on the mystery genre, her first book in a new series, Southern Gothic, and the influential impact of librarians and libraries. I received a complimentary copy of Southern Gothic: A Celine Caldwell Mystery in preparation for this interview. How would you describe your novel Southern Gothic: A Celine Caldwell Mystery? It’s intriguing. It’s passionate. It’s a contemporary urban Nancy Drew meets The Da Vinci Code. Southern Gothic introduces the reader to Celine Caldwell and the world of fine arts. Celine attends a private school on the Upper East Side, but more importantly has an internship in the Archives Department of the mighty Metropolitan Museum of Art, where her life suddenly changes with an explosive uncovering of an art theft; and in which her mother, the powerful curator of modern art at the Met, is accused of stealing paintings from her upcoming exhibition. How did the idea…
Apply to Host the 2017 Arbuthnot Lecture
Your library could host the 2017 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Jacquline Woodson! The 2017 Arbuthnot Committee is looking for a host site for next year’s annual lecture. The site would host roughly 250-700 attendees, depending on the selected venue. Audiences typically include: librarians, publishers, literary critics, intrigued local patrons, and others interested in children’s literature. The selected site will host Jacqueline Woodson, who is the 2014 National Book Award Winner for her New York Times bestselling memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming. The author of more than two dozen books for young readers, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a recipient of the NAACP Image Award, the 2014 National Book Award winner for young people’s literature, a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner and was recently named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. Applications are due Friday, June 10, 2016. Information about host site responsibilities is included in…
Jacqueline Woodson to Present Closing Session at #alsc16
ALSC announced that award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson will present the Closing General Session at the ALSC National Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. This event will take place at the Charlotte Marriott City Center on Saturday, September 17, 2016 and is sponsored by Penguin Young Readers Group. Woodson was recently named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She is the author of more than two dozen award-winning books for young adults, middle graders and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a three-time National Book Award finalist, and a two-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Other confirmed special events include a Breakfast for Bill program with Phil and Erin Stead, Laura Dronzek and Kevin Henkes. On Thursday, September 15, David Shannon will present the Opening General Session. Attendees will benefit from an on-site bookstore where they can buy books to have signed by…
Get Your Tickets for the 2016 Arbuthnot Lecture
ALSC and the Santa Barbara Public Library System announced that tickets for the 2016 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Pat Mora are now available. The lecture, titled “Bookjoy! ¡Alegría en los libros!,” will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 15, 2016 at the Santa Barbara City College’s Garvin theatre. Required tickets are free for the lecture and must be obtained through the Santa Barbara Public Library System. To learn more about acquiring tickets and event details, please visit the 2016 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture website. Hotel information is available on the Arbuthnot website. About Pat Mora Pioneering author and literacy advocate Pat Mora has written more than three dozen books for young people that represent the Mexican American experience. Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Mora grew up bilingual and bicultural. With degrees in English and speech, she was a teacher and university administrator before…
Celebrating 100 Years of Beverly Cleary
There are a lot of ways youth-serving library staff are different from each other, but there are usually at least three things we have in common: We love good books. We love good authors. We love good parties. This April we’ve all got a chance to combine all those things together! April 12 is the 100th birthday of beloved author Beverly Cleary, and we’ve got ideas for celebrating! While these days she lives in California, Mrs. Cleary’s stories of the kids, families, and pets populating Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon, live on in the imagination of readers everywhere. She was one of the first authors to write about everyday kids doing the things many kids can relate to, like dealing with bullies or pining after a new pet. She was also the first person to write about a mouse riding a motorcycle (as far as I can tell she’s the…
Breakfast for Bill at #alsc16 Announced
ALSC announced a very special Breakfast for Bill at the 2016 ALSC National Institute. This keynote celebration will include authors and illustrators Phil and Erin Stead, Laura Dronzek and Kevin Henkes. The National Institute takes place September 15-17, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. This star-studded panel includes two husband and wife pairs – Phil and Erin Stead, and Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek – who have two Caldecott Medals between them. They will discuss their latest collaborations, and give insights as to how the process of working creatively with a spouse differs from the process of creating individually. This event is sponsored by HarperCollins Children’s Books and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. The breakfast will honor the memory of William C. Morris, former vice-president and director of library promotion at HarperCollins Children’s Books by bringing librarians together with children’s book creators. Morris was a long time ALSC member and friend, recipient…