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I Got To Be In the Room Where It Happens

Friday, February 3, 2017

A few weeks ago, the American Library Association held its annual midwinter meeting in Atlanta. I spent the first 30 years of my life in this district, so I volunteered as tribute and headed down south to eat grits and talk books. On Friday, I attended a mini institute hosted by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) where authors and illustrators spoke about their writing and art-making processes. In the morning, we heard from creative partners in life and work Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek, alongside Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead. At lunch local author and storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy shared tales both funny and poignant. To close the day, Jacqueline Woodson spoke about how memory had affected so much of her writing. In between, I attended sessions with librarians from across the country, learning about ideas for incorporating STEAM (= science/technology/engineering/art/math), music, and unique forms of outreach into children’s programming. 

On Monday I returned to the Georgia World Congress Center bright and early for the BIG day; this is where the Youth Media Awards, the “Oscars” for children’s and young adult literature, are revealed. Unlike the Academy Awards, there are no pre-announced nominations, but libraries nationwide often hold mock award ceremonies making hopeful guesses at the potential medalists. I had been to one such event a week earlier, and I’m pleased to report that my team accurately predicted the winner and two honor titles for the Michael L. Printz Award for literary excellence in young adult literature.

The awards ceremony began just after 8 AM in an auditorium abuzz with excitement. There was much cheering from the audience as favorites were announced. 


Photo credit: SLJ

The third and final installment of Georgia congressman John Lewis’s graphic memoir March (co-created with his policy advisor Andrew Aydin and illustrator Nate Powell) swept across the young adult categories, earning the precious medallion stickers from the Printz, Coretta Scott King, Sibert, and YALSA Nonfiction selection committees. 


Photo credit: Top Shelf Productions

The Library holds this title (and the two preceding volumes) and you can find them on our new Young Adult shelf in the lobby just beside front door. Also check there for these other 2017 award-winning Young Adult books:

Printz honor titles: The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry, The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, and Scythe by Neal Shusterman 

William C. Morris debut novel winner: The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Stonewall honor title: When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore

On the third floor in the Children’s Library, we invite you to seek out these award winners: 

Caldecott medalist: Radiant Child by Javaka Steptoe (also the Coretta Scott King Illustrator winner)

Caldecott honor: They All Saw a Cat by Brendan Wenzel

Newbery medalist: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Newbery honors: Freedom over Me by Ashley Bryan, The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz, and Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Coretta Scott King author honor: Jason Reynolds’s As Brave As You (also the Schneider Family middle grade award winner)

Coretta Scott King illustrator honor: Jerry Pinkney’s In Plain Sight

Pura Belpré Author Award winner: Juana & Lucas by Juana Medina

Sibert Honor: Giant Squid by Candace Fleming

Theodore Seuss Geisel medalist: We are Growing by Laurie Keller

Geisel Honor titles: Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run by Mike Twohy and Go Otto Go! by David Milgrim


Photo credit: ALA

Believe it or not, the slides revealing all these awards flashed across the screen in about an hour. Just as the future of a young nation’s treasury was cemented over dinner by Alexander Hamilton and company, the top honors in children’s and young adult literature were announced before breakfast. Afterwards, as we munched on muffins and scones, we raptly listened to speeches given by the finalists in the William C. Morris debut fiction and the YALSA Nonfiction categories. All the authors in the room were honored to have Rep. Lewis join us, as evidenced by the several moving speeches that acknowledged his presence. The congressman then took the mic and told us how much regard he had for librarians, especially as his late wife had been one.


Photo credit: Santa Monica Observer

Following this moving experience, I dashed across the convention center, returning to the auditorium for the closing keynote delivered by Neil Patrick Harris. The actor, best known to today’s young readers as Count Olaf in the new page-to-small-screen adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events, will make his first foray into children’s literature later this year, and he promised a book full of puzzles and secret codes. Then, after entertaining questions from the audience, he closed with a magic trick that left us speechless, in part because he insisted that his assistant rip a page out of a book (his own autobiography) and set it on fire! 


Photo credit: American Libraries Magazine

That was certainly a dramatic ending to a wonderful long weekend in my home state. It was a fun midwinter escape, but as long as the snow doesn’t bury us in New York, the Children’s Library staff will continue to research the rest of the award winning titles and likely add several more to our children’s and young adult collections. Drop by the children’s reference desk on the third floor and ask for an update on what’s new and notable.

 

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