After the "Make Your Own Yoda" event featuring Tom Angleburger, Dad had to leave but I stuck around. I went a session about "Contemporary Military Families" featuring Dana Reinhardt, author of The Things a Brother Knows and Sara Lewis Holmes, author of Operation Yes.
This was a great talk where each author talked about and read from their books. I haven't read either of them, but both are high up on my "to read" list.
And that was Saturday!
On Sunday I headed back to the festival to hear Louis Sachar speak. I was super excited! He gave a great talk about his newest book The Cardturner. He also answered questions. Did you know he had an extra role in the movie Holes? He was the guy that had onion juice poured on his head. He also discussed his writing style.
After his talk, I headed out to get my book signed.
Me and Louis Sachar! How awesome!!!
And here is my signed book. This is getting Newbery buzz...how cool would that be? I can't wait to read it.
Speaking of books to read, I came back with a long list of books I now want to read! I hope to get to them soon! I had a wonderful time at the Southern Festival of Books and am looking forward to next year!
Now...back to studying for comps. We're under three weeks away!
When we left off, I was heading back into the auditorum to hear Mo Willems speak. I missed the first little bit of his talk because I was waiting in line for Jon Scieszka to sign my book.
The part I got to see was AWESOME. Mo read his latest book Knuffle Bunny Free in its entirety.
Here is Mo reading his book Knuffle Bunny Free. Photo Credit: Brooke Brown.
Listening Mo Willems read his books aloud is simply one of the best things ever. I LOVE reading Mo's books aloud, but to hear HIM to it is just beyond awesome.
Why, you ask? Well, because of this...
Photo Credit: Brooke Brown
Here Mo is whispering into the Mike...it's the part of the story where Oma and Opa have a plan, and Mo was whispering into the microphone.
And this!
Photo Credit: Brooke Brown
Here Mo is doing a "blech" face after Trixie tries Opa's coffee in the book.
Sigh. I love Mo!
Okay, so after he finished his talk, we headed out and waited in line for Mo to sign books. He had a very long line...but well worth it!
Photo Credit: Brooke Brown
Here is my dad and I with Mo's extra large Knuffle Bunny he took with him on tour. Knuffle Bunny made the photo rounds!
And here is my autographed copy of Knuffle Bunny Free. The trilogy is now complete! Thanks Mo for signing my book!
Next we headed down into capital for our next session, which we missed about half of while waiting in line for Mo Willems. This session featured Tom Angleburger and Michael Buckley where they talked about the 21st Century Nerd. I really wished I could have caught it all because it was really neat. We got there during the Q&A session, where at times I was totally confused...especially with the video game talk and lots of Stars Wars discussion. But that was okay, it was still really great!
A little bit later, Dad and I headed over to the Youth Stage to learn how to make an Origami Yoda from Tom Angleburger, author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. You can check out my review here.
Tom is super fun and so great with the kids! It was a blast watching him juggle, talk about his book and then teach us all how to make a Yoda.
Here is mine! Isn't he fun?
Okay, that is enough for now! Be back later with more!
This weekend was the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN...an event I have been looking forward to for some time now! It finally arrived and it was just an amazing weekend.
I LOVE the Southern Festival of Books. It is so fun to listen to authors that I admire and discovering some new ones that I want to check out! The first time I went, my mom joined me for the fun and this year my dad came with me. That always makes the festival even more special!
Another aspect I really enjoy about the festival is striking up conversations with fellow book lovers while waiting to have books signed by the authors. I had wonderful conversations with an elementary school librarian from Nashville, a lovely family with a middle school student from Murfreesboro (and the mom has a personalized, autographed, 1st edition copy of Where the Wild Things Are...WOW!), and another fun family with two young children from Lawrenceburg. It's so fun to hear about the books they love and such.
So here's what happened this weekend...in parts! Sorry...I had so much to say that I broke up the weekend into a few posts.
First up, we checked out the book sale table.
Thanks to hubby for the copy of Knuffle Bunny Free and to my parents for Guys Read: Funny Business and The Cardturner. Happy Birthday to me!
Next, we headed into the auditorium for Jon Scieszka's talk. I was super pumped to get to hear him...I adore his books and especially of his Guys Read initiative. I did a huge project on it for a class! In addition, I am planning a "Trucktown" party in January for the library!
I knew his talk would be entertaining and funny...and I was right! I loved hearing about his childhood (if you haven't read Knucklehead you totally should!) as well as his different books. I now have an even great appreciation of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man. He discussed Guys Read and why he feels that initiative is so important.
Here is Jon Scieszka at the Southern Festival of Books on October 9, 2010 reading a bit from his Caldecott Honor Book The Stinky Cheese Man. Photo Credit: Brooke Brown.
Scieszka discussed the new book Guys Read: Funny Business which is the first book in an anthology of short stories written by guys for guys of which he edited! This one is "humor" and then there will be several more featuring different genres: mystery/chiller, non-fiction, science fiction, etc. So there is something to look forward to! Jon read a bit from his section he wrote along with Kate DiCamillo.
After his talk ended, I hurried out to the signing colonnade and got in line for Scieszka to sign my book. Scieszka was very kind and even allowed us to have our picture taken!
Here is Jon signing my book.
Me and Jon Scieszka! Awesome!!!!(Thanks Dad for taking the photos!)
I then rushed back into the auditoruim to hear Mo Willems speak.
I am beyond excited for this event! This is one of my favorite weekends of the year, and when I saw the authors at this year's event...well I was as excited a sixteen year old getting a brand new shiny car for their sweet sixteen. Just ask the hubs...he was totally making fun of me.
But I don't care! Just LOOK at this lineup...could it be more spectacular? Seriously, I am counting the days until October!
It's November, and Emma and her best friend Annie are working to stretch out their stomachs so they have room for pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving Dinner.
A new girl arrives at school, Krysten, and Emma wants "Kry" to be HER friend, instead of being in Cynthia's group of friends.
Emma begins to be extra friendly to Kry, but in the process manages to hurt her friend Annie.
What I Thought: I think this is a cute story, and very appropriate for elementary kids, but I think girls will especially enjoy this book. This is a very important story about friendship, and what can happen when one is not very considerate of friends' feelings.
This is also just a fun story that kids will enjoy and relate to!
Best Friend Emma is the fourth book in the Emma series of books.
This weekend I attended the First YALSA Young Adult Literature Symposium in Nashville, TN. I had a super time and learned so much.
I have had a couple of days to mull it over and am excited to wrap up my weekend with you!
The theme for this year's symposium was "How We Read Now." I attended several sessions wrapped around this theme.
Session One: "Thrilling Young Adults: How to Keep the Attention of Today's Teens. In this session we discussed how young adult literature has changed over the years. No longer will teens sit through a book with long descriptive narratives (unless the setting is in a fictional world that must be described). They want action-packed, fast paced books that hold their attention.
The panelist for this session was Amy Alessio, author and teen coordinator for the Schaumburg Township Library in Illinois, Margaret Peterson Haddix, renowned author and has won numerous awards for her books, Deborah Noyes Wayshak, editor for Candlewick Press and author, and author Patrick Jones.
Session Two: "Reading: It's Not Just About Books Anymore" In this session, Linda Braun discussed a number of ways we read without using paper or conventional means. Think about it: you are reading this blog, may read text messages, use a Kindle or another electronic reader or even your cell phone. Braun demonstrated a number of other web resources that can be used to reach kids in this technological age.
We discussed Voice Thread presentations, a web based presentation tool where you can record your voice over the slides and all can see. Some other tools we discussed was Twitter and tumblr -microblog tools, wordle-a website to create very cool word clouds, and wordia-a place where you can view and post videos of word definitions.
Click below to check out the presentation that was presented during this session using Voice Thread.
Session Three: Fandom, Fan Life, and Participatory Culture In this session, Elizabeth Burns and Carlie Webber discussed fandom.
I had no idea what this concept was, and surprised to know that I am a member of several fandoms! Basically, a fandom is a group who love something and get together to discuss or celebrate that thing. Whether it be through discussion boards, websites, conferences, or whatever, it is neat to see people get behind a book, tv show or movie and dissect it to its core. They used the popular novel Twilight by Stephanie Meyer to illustrate this concept.
We also explored how we can use this in the library and I got all sorts of fun Teen program ideas to pass along. (Twilight Prom anyone??)
Session Four: "Just Keepin' It Real: Teen Reading Out of the Mainstream" Rollie Welch, Collection Manager at the Cleveland Public Library and former Teen Services Librarian discussed inner city teens and street lit in this very informative session.
Rollie gave a lot of great booktalks and even tested our knowledge in a fun game of Jeopardy! I came away with an extensive list of books to order for our library!
Session Five: Quickest of YALSA's Quick Picks Diana Herald and Diane Monnier discuss the process of YALSA's Quick Pick Awards and then booktalked a number of the titles on those lists or those being nominated for this year's list.
We had a special treat of hearing David Lubar, who has written a number of books and having a couple be on the Quick Picks list. Lubar is quite hilarious and I'm excited to order some of his books, as well as some on the Quick Picks list that we do not have, for our library quite soon.
We also were armed with titles to hand reluctant readers when they say "I don't like to read!" or "I'm too busy with school!" and how to spot a quick pick book. Very awesome.
As you can see, I learned a lot and am armed with more knowledge to efficiently do my job. A highlight of the weekend was getting to visit with some of my classmates from UT-Knoxville who were there as well.
Thanks to YALSA for a fun weekend, the books, the food, and the cool loot. Check out this cool bag they gave us at sign in:
The next Literature symposium is in Albuquerque, NM in 2010. Road trip anyone??
This weekend I will be attending the YALSA Young Adult Literature Symposium in Nashville, TN. I am SO excited to get to hang out with some YA book lovers and hear what is the latest and greatest in that world. I'm looking forward to some great informative sessions and meeting some great YA authors!
Check back early next week for a wrap-up of my experience!!
As promised, here is a review of The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.
Arnold Spirit (Junior) is a fourteen-year-old oddball living on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. He was born with hydrocephalus thus leaving him with some physical attributes that are different from everyone else…leaving him a prime target for teasing. His family is very poor, which not uncommon on the “rez.” Everyone is poor on the reservation. Alcoholism is rampant as well, making the rez a very violent place as tempers often flare and fistfights are very common.
When Arnold decides to transfer schools –off the reservation—he is faced with not only fitting into a new school where Indians are not revered, but he is also seen as a traitor to his Indian friends. Slowly, Arnold finds a group of friends and his niche – basketball.
Arnold learns to balance his Indian life along with his “white” life, and comes to term with himself in the process. Arnold tells his story through a touching narrative and lighthearted cartoons as he provides an insightful peek inside life as a reservation Indian.
What I Thought: I simply adore this book! Especially since I had the opportunity to hear the author speak recently at the Southern Festival of Books, and he signed my copy.
I think this is an excellent book for all teens. Junior is such a great character and Alexie writes the teenage experience so well it is scary. (But this book is semi-autobiographical, so maybe it isn't so scary after all.)
I HIGHLY recommend this book to all.
This book is the recipient of a number of awards including the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and 2008 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature in Fiction .
Today my mom and I headed to the Southern Festival of Books at the War Memorial Plaza in Nashville. I have been looking forward to this event for some time now, and was seriously pumped the day was here!
I was looking forward to listening to a few authors in particular: Sherman Alexie, Patricia and Frederick McKissack, and Gloria Jean Pinkney. I was not disappointed in any of their presentations.
The first session we attended was entitled "Two Award-Winning Picture Book Authors Present Their Latest Works : Gloria Jean Pinkney, Patricia McKissack." Basically, these two incredible authors discussed their writings and other fun facts, such as the book business, their backgrounds and their writing process. Mrs. Pinkney even sang a little! It was incredible.
We stopped by the book sale table and picked up some books and both ladies personalized and signed the copies. These books are now treasured additions to my library!
The second session we attended was entitled "Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out: Mary Brigid Barrett, Patricia McKissack, Fredrick McKissack, Lynda Johnson Robb." This book is a collection of works from 108 different children's authors and illustrators around the theme of the US White House throughout history. Each president that resided in the White House is represented in the book, along with an abundance of White House facts. The four contributors that were present read their submission to the book as well as some other parts as well.
I had purchased this book earlier in the day and each of the contributors present signed my copy on the page their story was located. What is especially special about this book is a project of the National Children's Book and Literary Alliance, a not-for-profit literacy organization created in 1997 by award-winning children's book authors and illustrators. The talent that participated in the book will forgo all royalties and that money will go back into the coalition for future endeavors. (Which is reason enough to go get a copy now, not to mention how utterly awesome this book is!)
Finally, we attended the session entitled "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian : Sherman Alexie" where Alexie shared this book. This was the event I had been looking most forward to as I had read this book over the summer and absolutely adored it! (My mom is even reading the book now as I type!)
Alexie was absolutely hilarious as he shared his experiences and the audience seemed to be enthralled the entire time he spoke. I had my books signed, which was totally awesome.
So, overall it was an amazing day. There was so much to see, so much to do! We only saw a small percentage of the authors who were sharing, but felt like we saw the ones that mattered most to us. I cannot wait to go next year!
I can't NOT go into a store that sells books and NOT buy one. Seriously.
So when hubs and I went on a date tonight and we stopped by Books-A-Million, I had to purchase something.
As I was browsing through the Teen section, I suddenly knew what book I just had to have.
Okay, I'm so bad. I just can't help myself. It's a problem.
Next week is the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN and I am so there. It's been on my calendar for months, and the event is just about here!
The author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is Sherman Alexie, who JUST SO HAPPENS to be one of the featured authors at the Southern Festival of Books. I'm looking to get bad boy signed!
While I link each book to Amazon, I receive no funds from them for this action. I simply do this as a service in case anyone would like to read further reviews (professional or otherwise) for more information. Thank You!
