The jazz is hot as Trombone Shorty and his band wraps up the conference. Check out Brian Collier’s picture book biography of Trombone Shorty.
Category: ALA Midwinter 2015
Some themes from ALA Conferences
As I sit sadly at the airport and hope to make it home, after an exciting morning Twitter trawling about the Youth Media Awards, I’ve had the time to reflect for a sweet minute on a great conference. The blizzard was apparently the fifth largest in Chicago history, so that makes me feel pretty cool!
Diversity Matters at #alamw15
This wonderful session was a report back from Day of Diversity, a meeting of publishers, librarians, and other leaders in literacy. Check out the summary in comics! The hashtag #WeNeedDiverseBooks is blowing up with joy right now after the Youth Media Awards, make sure to check it out.
The YMAs have been announced at #alamw15
The 2015 Youth Media Awards have been announced at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. I could not be prouder of the hard work EVERY committee did in selecting a phenomenal list of winners! (And I can’t wipe this silly grin off my face. I love the YMAs!) Check out this press release from ALA for all the details of the winners and honor books which were announced this morning.
Heading back to the real world:)
#ALAMW15 It’s been an amazing conference, blizzard and all. I have just left the Youth Media Awards and have to say I am still wiping little tears out of the corners of my eyes. What an impressive statement. What an incredible group of people were on these committees. In case you missed it, the message of the utmost importance of diversity in our books for children and young adults was shouted through an enormous sound system… US! It rang through most of the categories and as each was announced I just got more and more thrilled and goosebumpy (apparently not a word but should be). This was history being made. This was a group of very courageous, savvy and smart librarians who stood up and said take a look at our winners… every child matters and every child deserves the Mirror Book. Wow… stunning. Wow…. so wonderful. Wow… takes my…
It’s Almost Time! @ #alamw15
In just a few minutes, the ALA Youth Media Awards will begin. The excitement is palpable!
The Limo Ride
#ALAMW15 It’s still dark this morning in Chicago. In about two hours we’ll all be sitting on the edge of our seats waiting to hear each one of the astounding committees announce the winners of this year’s Youth Media Awards. Right this minute though my mind is running back through last night. A fortunate crew gathered at The Gage restaurant on South Michigan Avenue..in the blizzard mind you…and spent the evening sharing books and stories with some very lovely people from Penguin. Everyone had to write their favorite book on their name tag as they came in the door…I chose A Wrinkle In Time. I saw Winnie the Pooh on Nancy Paulsen’s nametag. Ben Schrank of Razorbill had Arrow to the Sun..apparently he has been reading this to his own 3 1/2 year old. Susan from Putnam who sat next to me had Island of the Blue Dolphins, a woman…
How I Spent the Past Two Days of #alamw15
For the past two days I haven’t been live blogging. Why? Because, I’ve been in award deliberations. This year, I had the honor of serving on the GLBT-RT’s Stonewall Book Award Committee. Starting last March, I began to receive a whole slew of books- ranging from Children’s/Young Adult, to Non-Fiction, to Literature, and was tasked (along with other committee members) to highlight books that held merit. The award is the first, and most enduring award honoring the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender experience. This evening, we announced the Literature and Non-Fiction award and honor books- tomorrow morning we announce the winners in the Children’s/Young Adult category. Literature Winner: Prelude to a Bruise by Saeed Jones Literature Honor: The Two Hotels Francfort by David Leavitt Literature Honor: Bitter Eden by Tatamkhulu Afrika Literature Honor: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue Literature Honor: My Real Children by Jo Walton Non-Fiction Winner: Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Muslims by Scott…