ALA 2011 Wrap-up

I had a grand time at the American Library Association Annual Conference, held this year in New Orleans. I took the train down from Atlanta which was a truly wonderful way to travel. So relaxing and so much less stressful than taking a plane. I got a lot of reading done on the train! How can I possibly explain the whole conference in one post? It's not possible! This is more of a light recap, rather than a true report of everything. I know it probably sounds like a lot, but there's so much that I know I'm leaving out!

Saturday morning, I went to see Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. He was a mild-mannered yet funny speaker and talked about how he always wanted to be a newspaper cartoonist. He admitted that librarians scared him and joked that "reluctant reader" must be an educational term for "boys." Kinney said he liked keeping busy with his "day job" at poptropica, helping to create children's online video games. When asked how many Diary of a Wimpy Kid books he had planned he said that book six is coming out in the fall (obviously) and he's currently working on book seven. He said that he might want to do as many as ten books and he half-joked about running out of ideas. Kinney did say that he wanted to avoid the syndrome of adding more and more younger and cuter characters to keep things going (he cited Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch and new kids in later seasons of The Cosby Show as examples) which is why he decided to take things back to basics and have the Heffley family snowed-in for book six.

Saturday night I went to a YA Book Bloggers meet-up and was finally able to put faces to names for Parajunkee, Green Bean Teen Queen, Gone with the Words, Kate from YA Highway, Abby (the) Librarian, and The Elliot Review, among others. The highlight of the evening (for me at least) was seeing some 60 and 70 year-old couples tear up the dance floor with some smooth salsa moves. I hope I'm half as cool and in love when I get to be that age.

Sunday morning I went to the YA Coffee Klatch. It was so much bigger than I expected! It was held in a huge ballroom. How many people were there? I'm not sure, but it felt like hundreds. Just as everyone had warned me, the whole event went sooo fast. Even though we had nearly an hour, and five minutes with each author, it honestly felt like a blink of an eye and it was all over.

Just a few highlights... I loved meeting Franny Billingsly. She talked about her new book, Chime, and how and why she had such a gap from her last book, the beautiful and lyrical Folk Keeper. What I loved about Billingsly is the way that she jumped between talking about her real life, and talking about stories she'd written... she'd be mentioning some family vignette and a moment later, she'd offhandedly refer to an elf lord. It sort of made your head spin, trying to keep up with her conversation, and what was "real" and what wasn't... she definitely seemed like someone who had one foot firmly in another world.

I have to say, I felt terrible for author Joseph Lunievicz. His debut novel sounds like it's supposed to be a sober, gritty, coming-of-age story about an Errol Flynn obsessed boy in New York in the 1930's. I guess the cover kind of fits, but it just screams, "urban fantasy" to me, and I picture many readers throwing the book down in disgust once they learn there's no wizards, time-travel or enchanted swords to be had.

Jamie Kennedy came by and gave us an spirited recap of his book The Order of Odd-Fish and his latest project The 90-second Newbery Festival.

So many authors seem like natural-born storytellers, ready to spin a yarn, but others seem very shy... they write because they value their alone time. Brian Katcher, author of Almost Perfect seemed to be in the latter category. He told us that he wanted to write about a transgendered girl because he hadn't seen anything like it. He talked about how helpful being able to research this on the Internet was.

Just like I've been told, the whole event ends so quickly, and of course, there's always an author or two that you wished you could have seen, but just missed. Just as the final bell rang, Cassandra Clare was one table over, and Cheryl Rainfield was another table over... we would have had the chance to hear either of them if there'd only been one more session. Aargh!

I also went to the Newbery/Caldecott dinner, which was wonderful. School Library Journal was kind enough to offer me a spot at their table, and I had a great view of Erin Stead, the Caldecott winner, who gave a tearful and very humble speech, as well as Clare Vanderpool, author of the dark horse Newbery winner, Moon Over Manifest. Stead talked about e-books, and how a paper book will appear worn and loved after being read many times. She quoted The Velveteen Rabbit, about how being worn out will make something "real" ...maybe you had to be there, but it was a real tearjerker moment. Tomie dePaola won the Wilder Lifetime Achievement award and he gave a great speech, telling us at length how he got his first book published, and joked that he wouldn't describe the path to publication for each of his 200+ books in such detail. It was a really delightful evening, made all the better by hobnobbing with my former colleagues in California and Texas.

This was a great conference: I'm inspired by all the new ideas that I picked up. I feel energized, invigorated and recharged!

Weeding Wednesday 2

Weeding your book collection shouldn't be a big project that you devote yourself to, and then, after a few days (or weeks, depending on how long it's been put off) be able to pat yourself on the back, and walk away satisfied, knowing you won't have to tackle that yucky chore for another several months (or years, depending on how much of a hoarder you are). It's something that you should be doing bit by bit, every week, so that it doesn't pile up and get out of control.


Here's a look at what I weeded earlier this week.

Wow, that cover has seen better days, hasn't it? Pretty dogeared, and as you can see, the title has been ripped off. It's an adventure, we know that much!
Let's take a look at the back cover.

Oh my. This book has literally been loved to death. There are holes in the back of this paperback. The pages look pretty yellow, too.


What prompted this weed? A nearly-new donation of a few Goosebumps titles to take the place of this busted-up bad boy. Although, in truth, this is something that could have been deselected a while ago, just based on condition. Shabby looking shelves are never good for business.

Memoirs of a Goldfish review

Memoirs of a Goldfish
by Devin Scillian, illustrated by Tim Bowers
Sleeping Bear Press
April 2010

I recently acquired a 10-gallon aquarium and have stocked it with some adorable cherry barbs. Now I've got fish on the brain - PH levels, nitrate cycle, potential future tankmates for my fish. This book caught my attention right away and I enjoyed the story a lot. A goldfish lives a solitary existence in a small, boring bowl. Soon, he's joined by a tankmate or two: first a diving man bubbler, then some plants, next a snail named Mervin. The goldfish's deadpan delivery comes across in lines like these:

"Day Five.
Mr. Bubbles still hasn't said a word.
He just looks at me. I said 'Hello' today.
And he said, "Ggggllllggggllll."
He's creepy."

Pretty soon they're joined by a crab, a glamorous angelfish, a sunken pirate ship and two guppies (with more on the way). The goldfish can't wait to get out of there, but when he's transferred to a new bowl, he finds he misses the whole crazy crew after all. And he's super relieved to be returned to them... this time in a huge new aquarium, with a new friend, Gracie, another goldfish. Pair this book with any version of the Jewish folktale Too Much Noise for a humorous look at how sometimes the people that drive you nutty are the people you want around the most.


I borrowed this book from the library.

Pig Feltboard

I was getting ready for storytime the other week, and suddenly realized that I don't have a pig for my feltboard. I created this guy in a jiffy -- maybe if I'd had a little more time, I would have tried something different. Still, this did the trick!

Authors: It Gets Better

How cool is this? Plenty of authors and illustrators getting together to remind gay teens (or anyone who is being bullied) that "it gets better."

Cover Trend: Swooning

Apparently fainting, swooning and lounging is a popular trend in YA book covers these days. Check it out!

The Dark and Hollow Places
by Carrie Ryan
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
March 2011

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters. Annah's world stopped that day and she's been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn't feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.  Except, Catcher has his own secrets - dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah's longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah - can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction? -from the publisher

 

Falling Under
by Gwen Hayes
New American Library
March 2011

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before - not around town, but in her dreams.
As the Haden of both the night and the day beckons her closer one moment and pushes her away the next, the only thing Theia knows for sure is that the incredible pull she feels towards him is stronger than her fear. And when she discovers what Haden truly is, Theia's not sure if she wants to resist him, even if the cost is her soul. -from the publisher

Abandon
by Meg Cabot
Point
April 2011

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone... because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid. Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away... especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld -from the publisher

The Day Before
by Lisa Schroeder
Simon Pulse
June 2011

Amber's life is spinning out of control. All she wants is to turn up the volume on her iPod until all of the demands of family and friends fade away. So she sneaks off to the beach to spend a day by herself.
Then Amber meets Cade. Their attraction is instant, and Amber can tell he’s also looking for an escape. Together they decide to share a perfect day: no pasts, no fears, no regrets. The more time that Amber spends with Cade, the more she’s drawn to him. And the more she’s troubled by his darkness. Because Cade’s not just living in the now - he’s living each moment like it’s his last. -from the publisher

Haunting Violet
by Alyxandra Harvey
Walker Children's
June 2011

Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose. Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies? -from the publisher

Shattered Souls
by Mary Lindsey
Philomel/Penguin
December 2011

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries. Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon. -from the publisher 

Any that I've missed? Let me know in the comments.

ALA'ing 2011

I'm going to be at the American Library Association's Annual Conference this whole weekend. I'm looking forward to hearing Dan Savage speak about the "It Gets Better" project and going to the YA Coffee Klatch where I'll get the chance to have coffee with over 25 YA authors including Cassandra Clare, Sarah Dessen, Claudia Gray, John Green, Maureen Johnson, Cheryl Rainfield and Maggie Stiefvater (I promise myself I will not oversleep and miss it like I did last year!) I'm also attending the Caldecott and Newbery banquet, and of course, I'm looking forward to hitting the Expo room, meeting publishers and seeing all the great things that are about to be published.

Just like last year, I'll be livetweeting @madiganreads which is an awesome way to meet up with folks, keep up with events and panels that I can't make it to (since I can't be everywhere at once) and record my own thoughts and impressions throughout the weekend.