I am packing again – this time for a trip to New York City for the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention and the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents. These are the conferences organized and attended by the best of the best English/Language Arts/Literature/Reading teachers *** in the country. They are the smart ones – the passionate ones, the ones who get to school early and stay wicked late to help their students. I love them.
*** note: some of the best of the best can’t make it to this critically important professional development conference because their school districts won’t pay for it. Some folks pay out-of-pocket (on a teacher’s salary!) because that’s how important this conference is.
Will any of youse guys be there? Here is where you will find me:
Thursday, November 15th
Spending the day in comfort riding the train and writing instead of suffering the hassles of the airport.
Dinner with a group of teachers.
Friday, November 16th
9:30–10:45 a.m. Panel: “Adolescent Literacy at the Crossroads: Redefining Sex and Sexuality in YA Fiction”. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street (at 11th Avenue) | Room TBA
This panel has a YA killer line-up: me, Brent Hartinger, E. Lockhart, Laura Ruby, Tanya Lee Stone & Lara Zeises, and will be chaired by She Who Knows Most Everything, Teri Lesesne. You really, really, really want to come to this one. I imagine the conversation will continue in the hall long after the session is over.
2:00–3:00 p.m. Book signing at Penguin Young Readers Group, Booth #202, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street (at 11th Avenue) | Hall C, Level 1
3:00–4:00 p.m. Book signing at Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Booth #442, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street (at 11th Avenue) | Hall C, Level 1
Dinner with a group of teachers.
Saturday, November 17th
9:00–10:00 a.m. Book signing at Anderson’s Bookshop, Booth #479, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street (at 11th Avenue) | Hall C, Level 1
10:00–11:30 a.m. Book signing at PermaBound, Booth #357, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 655 West 34th Street (at 11th Avenue) | Hall C, Level 1
12:30–2:15 p.m. Books for Children Luncheon at the Marriott Marquis Times Square, 1535 Broadway | Westside Ballroom Salon ½. Andrea & Brian Pinkney will be speaking – this should be awesome.
Afternoon – I might hang at the convention or I might run in Central Park (if the weather is decent). Anybody want to join me? I’ll run 6-7 miles, probably at a 10-minute mile pace. You are welcome to join me for some or all of it. If you’re interested, let me know in the comments section and I’ll get more details to you.
Evening – I need to write.
Sunday, November 18th
Daytime – holed up in hotel, writing. Might sneak out to attend a few sessions. We’ll see.
6:00–7:30 p.m. ALAN Reception, Marriott Marquis Times Square , 1535 Broadway (at 45th Street) | Astor Ballroom, 7th Floor – I think I am going to wear my new shoes, so I will be the one limping.
Dinner with my publishers.
Monday, November 19th
Breakfast with my agent.
Daytime – hanging out at ALAN and meeting with an editor
Evening – a party and dinner
Tuesday, November 20th
10:30–11:05 a.m. ALAN Program: “Brown-Bagging It with Mattie and Hank: What does Testing have to do with lunch?” Marriott Marquis Times Square, 1535 Broadway | West Side Ballroom, Salon 1, 5th Floor
This should be really interesting. Professor Denise Ousley will demonstrate a fascinating classroom technique – giving students brown paper bags that are filled with objects that relate to a historical novel, and allowing students to respond to the objects. L.M. Elliott will talk about how this technique works with her book, UNDER A WAR-TORN SKY. I will be talking about it in relation to FEVER 1793. I’ll also be talking about the research for my new historical CHAINS (it will be published September, 2008). Please join us!
11:15–11:45 a.m. “Silent book” signing (as other authors will still be speaking) Marriot Marquis Times Square, 1535 Broadway | Room TK
Afternoon – fight the mid-town crowds trying to escape the city for Thanksgiving. If the Turkey God smiles on me, I will make my train and I will get a seat and I will trundle on home where our brood and all of their beloveds and the dog and my husband, who is the bestest Thanksgiving cook ever, will be waiting.
I set up a little office for myself in my seat and worked for six hours in utter peace. If I were rich, I might just ride the train all over the country and write.
Dinner Thursday was with a group of teachers from Florida, including Professor Joan Kaywell whose book Dear Author: Letters of Hope continues to get rave reviews. I got to meet this wonderful family at dinner: from the left, (grandma) Barbara, (daughter) Bree, and (mom) Tamara who is the Florida English Teacher of the Year.
It’s nice to see an actual teenager at these things.
Robert Lipsyte and Neal Shusterman were also at dinner.
Yesterday started with a great walk down 9th Avenue to the Javits Center for the panel on YA fiction and Sexuality, chaired by She Who Knows Most Everything, Teri Lesesne, aka 
We spoke to a huge crowd.
It was standing room only. We could have talked all morning. Thank you everyone for the great questions and for sharing your stories about using our books in the classroom.
Highlight of the day for me was finally meeting Rita Williams-Garcia!!
When I wasn’t signing books, I was stalking other authors, like Scott Westerfeld.
And Avi.