For the first time ever, I went to the ALA Youth Media Awards, which really is like the Academy Awards for book geeks. It was amazing, and because we were clueless, Kathy Lowe, Anita Cellucci and I marched right in and sat in the third row from the front, finding ourselves plunked among the Caldecott Committee, famous authors winning prizes, and the literary illuminati (Kathleen T. Horning was sitting just a few seats away and when they announced that Pat Mora had won the Arbuthnot lecuture award, we heard a squeal and turned around to find she was sitting in the seat behind us). Of course, you can see the whole list of winners here.
After that, we went into the enormous vendor hall and just began gobbling up free books. Publishers bring ARCs and giveaways of titles that they hope will catch the eye of librarians. As people hand you titles, they casually let you know that the author is signing in an hour, or "I think this is Avi's best book in years," while you frantically look for more free canvas bags to stuff them into and wonder how many you can carry before you keel over.
On Friday, I got my first shipment of 8 boxes of books I sent home. These are going into tote bags to bring to our MSLA conference in March. As we wrap up our unconference on Sunday, we plan to share our goodies with those attending, so expect there is a good chance you'll be heading home with great new reads to share with your students! Here's my haul:
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