BEA Hangover

Not literally, of course. But I do have that head-hurting, body-aching, totally exhausted feeling after my BEA weekend. I blame the bowling. Here are the highlights:

- For a short time, SLJ has a picture up of the panel I was on during the Day of Dialog. A recap of the whole day is here.

- I went to a tea with children's authors where we sat at a table with an author and/or illustrator and had the opportunity to really discuss their work on a one-on-one basis. Among the authors in attendance were Jon Scieszka, Libba Bray, Suzanne Collins, Kristin Cashore, and many others (in particular, I heard glowing reviews from Sarah Dessen's table). I was fortunate enough to sit with Christopher and Walter Dean Myers, both of whom have books coming out with Egmont USA: Riot (written in the same screenplay format as Monster) and Looking Like Me, which is the picture book illustrated by Christopher Myers. It was a fun discussion with lots of good-natured jabbing across the table between father and son, as well as some interesting conversation about identity, race, and the human experience. Riot will be released in September 2009 and Looking Like Me is available in October.

- I saw Tiger Beat with Stacy and Jenn at Books of Wonder on Friday night and they killed. Libba Bray rocked both "Superstitious" and pink tights with Converse. Yes!

- Tiger Beat event was followed by KidLit Drink Night, which was SO much busier than previous KLDNs! But I had the awesome opportunity to meet Pink Me (yes!), MotherReader, and Rebecca Stead (who I talked to for waaaaay too brief a moment!). I also hung out with well-known friends and colleagues Bethany Hegedus, Kekla Magoon, Heather Scott, Molly O'Neill , Michael Santangelo, and Melanie Hope Greenberg.

But, wait! There's more!

- I attended a reception for Egmont USA's inaugural list at Hosfelt Gallery (swanky!). However, I was feeling rather anti-social by that point so I cornered Ellen Greene and made her talk to me the whole time. There was a fab band playing and a few authors even danced. Servers also passed around goodies and there was a fantastic mushroom flatbread that Ellen and I swooned over. Overall, a lovely soiree.

- My last event was bowling at Lucky Strike Lanes with Little, Brown in celebration of Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, their analogy edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castelluci (Jenn's review). Name a major YA author and they were there: Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, David Levithan, Holly Black, Sara Zarr, Barry Lyga...and those were just the ones I recognized! I also got to hang out with two of my favorite YA librarians, Jack Martin and Chris Shoemaker. The best part? Competing with Scott Westerfeld for last place honors - it's hard to be intimidated by your favorite authors when you're bowling with them!

Eat, drink, and thanks to all the publishers and authors who made BEA so much fun!

Queens Library's 2nd Annual Mock Caldecott Event!

Yesterday Queens Library held its 2nd Annual Mock Caldecott Event! As reported earlier, we discussed 6 books:

Baseball Hour by Bill Thomson

Before John Was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sean Qualls

Cat and Mouse by Ian Schoenherr

The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest, illustrated by Amy Bates
Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley

Wabi Sabi by Ed Young

And our two Mock Honor books are:

Cat and Mouse by Ian Schoenherr (Greenwillow)

and

Wabi Sabi by Ed Young (Little, Brown)

Our Mock Caldecott Award goes to...

Baseball Hour by Bill Thomson (Marshall Cavendish)

As we all know, this is anybody's year for the award and this was reflected in our voting: it was verrrrrry close. And I am thrilled with the results, as Baseball Hour is action-packed, dramatic, well-executed, and distinguished. It is stunning in its perspectives and it pulses with movement. Lastly, it has wild amounts of kid appeal, which is a nice bonus.

More than 60 librarians came together to discuss the books and vote on them. I was lucky enough to flit and float between the 7 groups and listen to what everyone had to say. The depth of the discussions, as well as the enthusiasm for the event, was thrilling and gave me much-needed inspiration to get through my day-to-day job. We used voting ballots and followed the actual voting criteria of the Caldecott committee (we took it straight from the handbook).

It was a fantastic day, and I look forward to doing it again next year!

Laura: A Week in the Life

So here has been my week:

Monday: Children’s Book Week kick-off breakfast, hosted by the Children’s Book Council. It was held in a bank. Really. Then I ran around NYU, trying to get registered for a Food Studies class in the fall as a non-matriculated student (I failed). In the afternoon, a preview at Little, Brown. That night, my last French class of the semester. Voila! Le fin!

Tuesday: Work. Homework. Dinner. Watch “Dancing with the Stars.”

Wednesday: Work. Homework. Dinner. Bath. Call Mom.

Thursday: Preview at Random House in morning. Back to work by 1:00 for meeting. Leave work at 3:00 to go to Kew Gardens Hills to see program with Kirsten Miller (she’s awesome). Come home. Make dinner. Homework.

Friday: Career Day at the kiddo’s school where I try to make Queens Library sound cooler than Google (Adam is representin’, too – I’m gonna smoke him!). Work. Dinner. Week over.

It’s been one of those weeks. And here was my dinner menu this week:

Monday: Adam flew by the seat of his pants while I was at French class.

Tuesday: Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe (thanks, Giada)

Wednesday: Grilled Shrimp and Spinach Salad with Honey Vinaigrette (courtesy of Cooking Light - some of the best-flavored shrimp I've had to date)

Thursday: Penne with Vodka Sauce (thanks again, Giada…I hadn’t cooked Giada in ages so I thought I’d revisit some of my old faves from when I was just starting to cook)

Friday: Friday is the one night a week we eat in front of the TV, and we uncreatively call it “TV Dinner Night” and it’s sort of become a family ritual. Not to mention that it’s become a fun challenge to design a dinner that can be eaten picnic-style in front of the TV. So this Friday, it’s nachos.

Stick a fork in me. I’m so done with this week.

Eat, drink, and rejoice in Friday

Little, Brown Spring 2008 Preview: Day Two

So we're on Day Two and Editor Two of last Wednesday's Little, Brown preview:

Next was Alvina, who of course has her own blog as well. She started out of the gate with Sergio Makes a Splash, written and illustrated by Edel Rodriguez, who also illustrated Oye, Celia! This is the first book that Rodriguez has written; it features a penguin who is scared to go swimming. The colors are very simple with a retro feel, and it’ll be a great storytime book (I asked Alvina if I could just take it to the library now). Another Sergio book is in the works.

Alvina also mentioned The Postcard by Tony Abbott (of Firegirl and Secrets of Droon fame), describing it as “Carl Hiaasen meets Chasing Vermeer meets Holes.” Intriguing. But will it be boy-friendly? Let’s hope so.

Alvina also presented The Blue Stone by Jimmy Liao, which is originally published in Chinese. It’s full-color and has been cut down from the original 160 pages to 80 pages to make it marketable in the States. It’s being advertised as “all ages”, which is always met with skepticism (which I told Alvina). It really isn’t for the picture book crowd, though some kids may enjoy browsing the illustrations. It’s really ideal for older kids, and it’ll be a good graduation gift, as reflected in the subtitle being added: “A Journey Through Life.” (Note: I believe this is the cover the Chinese edition - the new version Alvina showed us had a slightly different design)

PUB DATES: Sergio – 5.08, The Postcard – 4.08, The Blue Stone – 4.08

Little, Brown Spring 2008 Preview: Day One

As I said in yesterday's post, you're getting an update each day - a different editor each day. So this here is Day One. (Note: I apologize for the lack of up-to-date cover art for the titles mentioned - they just aren't available yet. I've included links where possible).

First up at our table was Nancy. Unfortunately, her last name has escaped me but, no matter, because all you need to know is that she’s one of the most gorgeous editors you’ll meet. And as sweet as can be.

She started her presentation with Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (of Lily B fame). The main character’s mom is a supernatural medium and then the girl (Kat) realizes that she also has the power. The book is about friendships and mother-and-daughter relationships. A sequel is also planned, Scaredy Kat, due out next season.

We were also told about a novel by Alan Madison, 100 Days, 99 Nights, which is about a father who goes on a tour-of-duty, leaving a family behind. This is Alan Madison's first novel, though he is a prolific picture book author (Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly is one of my sentimental favorites of 2007). In this book, Iraq isn’t specifically named, though the war is taking place in a desert. Nancy stressed that it wasn’t political, and the illustrations intentionally have a very timeless, warm, endearing feeling to them. The book is recommended for ages 8-12, though it could go as low as 7. It will be interesting to see how this title does; while it looked really gorgeous – I just adored the illustrations – I’m thinking the audience could be rather limited.

Nancy also presented an ultra-cool-looking YA book called Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley, a debut novelist. It was described as a mix of Heathers and Mean Girls, which automatically pricked up my ears. Underneath that, though, it’s “about being invisible and wanting people to notice you.” Awwww. Before it was a book, it was a website – Ghostgirl – so check that out.

Lastly, Nancy presented the sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey! This is going to make some kids very happy.

PUB DATES: Suddenly Supernatural - 6.08, 100 Days, 99 Nights - 5.08, Ghostgirl – 8.08, Perilous Journey – 5.08

Spooky Affair: Little, Brown's Spring 2008 Preview

So last Wednesday was a big day: Halloween; the NYT Dining Section; Little, Brown’s preview. I spent the whole day dressed up as an anti-social butterfly (thanks, Allison!), even though my butterfly wings broke at the preview.

So let’s talk about the preview. I started writing my post and it just got ridiculously long. Seriously. I couldn’t shut up and be more succinct, apparently. So I’m going to try something new – I’m spreading out my posts. Each day this week, I’ll cover a new editor’s presentation, and today I’ll just do a general description. So here’s the line-up for the week:

Monday: Nancy Whose-Last-Name-I-Can’t-Remember
Tuesday: Alvina Ling
Wednesday: Andrea Spooner
Thursday: Jennifer Hunt
Friday: Rich Johnson

So check out this blog on each of those days to find out about the new books these editors are publishing – there are some rather exciting prospects coming up.

I think I can say this without burning any bridges, but Little, Brown is my favorite preview to go to, which is not to say that I don’t enjoy the others, of course. But Victoria is so delightfully feisty, not to mention that I stood at the window of the Luce Room, looking at Radio City Music Hall, which was already decorated in its holiday regalia.


As I said, I was dressed up as an anti-social butterfly, and there were a few others dressed up as well. Betsy Bird had on some fun orange-and-black striped tights, which were perfect for the holidays, though I remember years ago the “grunge” crowd wore stuff like that on a daily basis. Thank goodness the “Seattle sound” is over. Amy Sears wore a Red Sox jersey but, no worries, her life was not in danger – there seemed to be quite a few Red Sox fans in the group. Carlie Webber was dressed up as Avril Lavigne, which was pretty fun, though she did complain that most people didn’t know who she was supposed to be…and she got some weird looks on the train.

At Little, Brown the editors circulate around the room, while you get to sit in one place, sipping coffee and munching some of the best snackies provided in the publishing biz. To celebrate the holiday, at the break, enormous Halloween cupcakes were brought out, in both vanilla and chocolate. Alas, I didn’t have one – it’s impossible to eat cupcakes gracefully and I didn’t want to make a total ass of myself, as I’m prone to do.

Each editor only presents about 3 books so you don’t ever feel rushed – there’s actually time for discussion! How novel! Though I suppose that also invites criticism from the peanut gallery, but the editors always seem to handle it graciously and take what is said to heart. As a result of this method of presentation, you definitely get a personal relationship going with each editor – more so than other houses, I think.

Okey dokey, stay tuned for the rest of the round-up this coming week!