I’m in cleaning frenzy mode before the NYC trip. This morning’s task is to clean up all the open tabs. I hope you are feeling in a clickety-linkety mood this morning.
A day this beautiful should begin on a note of poetry perfectly balanced between joy and melancholy. Read "Some Me of Beauty" by Carolyn M. Rodgers.
My favorite lines are:
"I saw a woman. Human and Black. I felt a spiritual Transformation A root revival of Love And I knew that many Things Were Over And some me of Beauty Was About to begin."
That line: "some me of beauty was about to begin" makes my heart race and my palms sweat. THAT, my friends, is the mark of a good poem. What do you think about it?
Recently I was privileged to send some love and best wishes to one of my childhood heroes (seen below) Beverly Cleary on the occasion of her 94th birthday!! Judy Blume sent greetings too, and Lauren Myracle, and other truly splendiferous authors. Read the whole thing and bask in the goodness that is the World Of Cleary.
(photo from the SLJ website, photo credit to Kate Ward)
<=== That is the United Kingdom paperback version of CHAINS, published by Bloomsbury. I adore this cover. CHAINS has been named nominated for SPELLBINDING, the Cumbrian Primary School Book Award, in England.
Are you a school librarian? Make a video and change the world! The AASL is sponsoring a video contest "in conjunction with School Library Month (SLM) for members and their students to share how their school library program helps their community thrive." Details here!
My self-imposed limited-blogging month is almost at an end. Am looking forward to hearing what, if anything, you got out of this month. While we’re waiting for March 1st, check out a new interview with me over at Birth of a Novel.
I spent yesterday snoring on the couch, recovering from the wonderful, high-energy weekend at the National Council of English Teachers Annual Conference. Thank you, thank you to everyone who stood in the long lines and who shared their stories of the impact my books have had on their students. You guys made me cry more than once – happy tears. Those stories humbled and honored me.
I am still fairly wiped out from the whole shebang, so let me pull my photos out of my back pocket and share them.
Melinda Campbell from Tuczon, AZ had her students create a tree of students reactions to SPEAK, and she brought it all the way to Philly to share with me.
I did not take a picture from the podium of the 600+ people who listened to me at the ALAN breakfast because I was too nervous. Thank you for not laughing at my poem!
I went hunting for my friends on the convention floor before my signing. Here is Jerry Spinelli with editor Alvina Ling.
I spoke on the panel about author blogging with Justine Larbalestier, Maureen Johnson, Lisa Yee, and Barbara O’Conner. It was a fantastic panel!! I raised a point for all teachers to contemplate: Should we continue to spend classroom time on letter writing or has the time come to teach children how to compose appropriate email communication? What do you think?
I was honored to meet Risha Mullins, the KY teacher who has had books (including TWISTED) pulled from her classroom by her district superintendent and NOT returned, even though the review committee approved them. Risha received oodles of support from her fellow teachers. I am sure there will be more details soon about the progress of this challenge.
Along with all the speechifying and booksignings and panel and friend-stalking, I had three bookstore events in the Philly area with other authors. Here is the crowd that came out to the Doylestown Bookshop to hear Jay Asher, Lauren Myracle, and me. Actually, the crowd was about three times as many people as you can see here – my phone couldn’t get everyone in one pic.
On Sunday morning, Sarah Dessen and I had breakfast with 100 fans at Chester County Book & Music Company. Here we are with the members of a writer’s group,The First Novels Club, who followed us to the enormous, weekend ending last event:
It was an epic signing at Children’s Book World In Haverford, PA with T.A. Barron, Sarah Dessen, Steve Kluger, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Lauren Myracle, Scott Westerfeld & Jacqueline Woodson. And me.
Yeah – it was a whirlwind. Exhausting. And wonderful and fun and energizing!
I revised all weekend. What about you? If you are working on NaNoWriMo or just putting pedal to the medal to finish a draft, you might want to read the Tips on Writer’s Block I wrote for the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program.
Because of the intense revision schedule I’m on, I need to issue a blanket apology to all my friends for not answering email or phone calls right now. I’d grovel too, except I’m too busy writing.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009 All Events open to Conference attendees ONLY
7–9:15 amKeynote Speaker at ALAN Breakfast (Ticketed Event)
Philadelphia Marriot 1201 Market St, Grand Ballroom, Salon A (5th floor)
10–11:00 amBOOK SIGNING AT PENGUIN YOUNG READERS GROUP, Booth #318
Pennsylvania Convention Center 1101 Arch St Philadelphia, PA 19107
1–2:00 pmBOOK SIGNING AT SIMON & SCHUSTER, Booth #419
4:15–5:30 pmPanel: "Authors’ Blogs: Connections, Collaboration, and Creativity"
Other authors on panel: Maureen Johnson, Justine Larbalestier, Barbara O’Connor & Lisa Yee
Convention Center, Street Level, Room 103A
More authors than you can count at this one: Jay Asher, T.A. Barron, Sarah Dessen, Steve Kluger, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Lauren Myracle, Scott Westerfeld & Jacqueline Woodson. And me!
Children’s Book World 17 Haverford Station Road Haverford, PA 19041 (610) 642-6274
My husband did a little more tweeking on the exterior of the cottage and he wanted me to post this picture to prove you can’t see the Tyvek anymore:
This is how to start the week off with a smile: CHAINS has been nominated to the longlist of the Carnegie Medal! What is the Carnegie Medal, you ask? It is the top award for children’s novels in England, sort of a combination of the Newbery and the National Book Awards. I am completely blown away by this – honored, stunned and very, very happy.
British hardcover British paperback
I had a blast at the American Association of School Librarians conference this weekend. I signed thousands of books, met countless friendly and passionate librarians and gave a speech. Thank you to everyone who made my conference so much fun.
Half a ballroom of librarians. (The other half of the room was filled, too!)
Many people asked me to post my speech online. We will be doing that soon. Here are a couple of snippets that people responded to the most. Permission is granted to reproduce, with proper acknowledgments, of course.
I talked about the recent censorship challenges my books have faced and then said this:
"I believe that every time a library budget is cut, every time a librarian’s hours are cut – or the position is eliminated completely – it is another form of censorship. It is stealing from children and interfering with their education.
Taking books out of libraries and taking librarians out of libraries are just like ripping the roof off of a school. And maybe that’s how we need to describe it, in the dire, stark terms of reality. You can’t run a school that doesn’t have a roof. You can’t run a school without librarians and libraries.
Book people – like you and me – tend to be a little uncomfortable with conflict. We value discussion, we respect other opinions. We avoid fights.
When I was kid, I was not allowed to start fights. If I did, I knew that I’d be in a whole lot more trouble when I got home than I could ever be at school.But my mother – she of the hats and gloves and ugly purses – told me that if anybody ever hit me first, I was allowed to punch back as hard as I could.
“Don’t you ever start a fight,” Mother said. “But if somebody picks a fight with you, by God, you finish it.”
The people who do not value books or librarians have picked a fight with me. That was a mistake.
They are ripping the roof off our libraries, off our schools. They are exposing our children to ignorance and condemning them to poverty. When they rip the roof off of libraries, they weaken our country."
[I’m cutting out a little from this section]
"Those of us who truly, deeply care about the health and happiness of kids and teenagers have a sacred obligation to help them along their path to adulthood. We are charged to create and to find the very best books for these children.
To hand a book to a child or a gawky adolescent is to rescue her from the unforgiving isolation of illiteracy and transport her to the joyful and rewarding kingdom of an open mind.
I cannot think of a job more difficult or more important than yours. Reading is not a subject matter. It is a survival tool, the requirement of modern living. Libraries are not luxuries. Libraries are the lifeblood of our schools and the foundation of our culture."
I hope my words might help, a little.
One last conference note. The other banquet speaker was Charles R. Smith Jr. Do you know his work? Have you heard him speak? If not, go out RIGHT NOW and pick up some of his books. Then arrange to have him visit your school – he is the best speaker I have seen in a very long time.
Charles and I sitting on chairs that look like thrones…. it was approaching midnight and we had just finished signing a kajillion books and so we look a bit tired. But how can you turn down the chance to be photographed in a chair that looks like a throne?
(photo from the SLJ website, photo credit to Kate Ward)
And, drum roll please, for in addition to winning the 2010 Milwaukee County Teen Book Award, WINTERGIRLS has been nominated for the YALSA Teens’ Top Ten of 2010!!!!! Voting takes place in August and September. Get ready!!!
Melinda Campbell from Tuczon, AZ had her students create a tree of students reactions to SPEAK, and she brought it all the way to Philly to share with me.
