TLA in San Antonio: 2010

Another fantastic time with librarians and authors and publishers at Texas Library Association's Annual Convention. It was a rainy time in San Antonio, but you know librarians: they deal with whatever issue when it comes to books and their readers' literacy well-being. I got quite a few ARCs and FnGs of some very awesome stuff, hung out with some great people, and ate some good food.

One ARC I got and read and enjoyed immensely is Charlie Price's The Interrogation of Gabriel James, a pretty cool thriller told in alternating perspectives: one is in the form of an official police interrogation; the other is in the first person, past tense from Gabriel's POV. There's been two killings, and Gabriel finds himself smack dab in the middle of the investigation. What gets him there is either caring too much for people and trying to help, in spite of his reverse midas touch, where everything he touches goes to pot; or, his hyper-curiosity, which also leads to trouble. It's due out in August and it'll be a hit with young adult readers.

The prize FnG, for me, is Charles Smith's picture book titled Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson. The story of the first black heavy weight champion is awesome; there's references to his childhood, his youth, and his traveling around the world challenging the champion, who always blew him off, since blacks and whites didn't mix, even in the ring. The artwork is very cool, too, though the illustrator's name, at present, escapes me.

I got a chance to present on a pre-conference panel with Sarah Cortez (editor of HITLIST, a fantastic anthology of Latino/a mystery) and Ray Villarreal (author of Who's Buried in the Garden?). We were all overjoyed to see the hall full of librarians. It was also nice to sit and talk with Ray over hamburgers at the Fuddruckers and with Sarah at Arte Publico's booth. Also got a good chance to hang out with Diane Bertrand. Carmen Abrego also provided some great conversation. She knows the Arte Publico/Piñata Books list backwards and forwards. And on top of it all, she's hilarious.

Others I hung out with: Sonya Sones, Sara Pennypacker, Kadir Nelson, Chris Crutcher, and Matt de la Peña. It was nice to have that time with them (thanks Sonya and Sara for the get-together).

Also spent a good half hour or so with best South Texas friends and librarians, Albert and Patricia Ramos.

Adrienne and Tracy, as always, were super cool at the Random House booth.

And librarians: would that I had enough time and space and memory to name them all. They deserve it, though.

IRA next. 

Long Time No Blog

So, I've checked in now and again, but have failed miserably to update my blog. I feel badly because I do feel the blog as a forum is a very useful tool on many levels. In many ways. What else I've dropped the ball on is upkeeping my Notches on the Reading Stick list. Trust me, I've read much, but have not kept track, and so I'll pick up again tonight inputing the info of a fantastic graphic biography/memoir that is a must read in any middle school classroom across the U.S. It's called Smile, and the author/illustrator is Raina Telgemeier. It's a seemingly simple story about a girl, the author, whose problems begin at the news of having to wear braces. Oh, the horror. But before they even go on, she falls on her face, literally, and breaks a front tooth clear off and jams the other up into the top gums. The next four years are one visit to her dentist after another, and beyond that, a girl having to learn who she is, who her friends are, and where she belongs. All in all, it's an awesome read, textually and visually. I will certainly require my next Adolescent lit class read it.

Others I've read but w/o a definite date when: Stitches: A Memoir by David Small (such a deep and touching and dark graphic story), Eternal Smile by Gene Yang (a great collection of graphic short stories), Zippy Fix by Graham Salisbury (a follow-up to his first Calvin Coconut shortish novel, Trouble Magnet). Some more Henning Mankell. Some Vince Flynn. Lots of picture books.

Tomorrow, too, is TTU's 6th Annual Children's Literature Festival: authors invited to meet and present to our students are Chris Crowe, Ann Bausum, and Nic Bishop. It's an exciting list of folks, and if you visit my other blog, chatandchewbooktalks.blogspot.com you'll see what all my students in Adolescent lit have researched on Chris Crowe specifically.

Also, the boys are doing very well, in spite of winter time illnesses. Finn had the croup (spelling very questionable), infected ears, and he's having a hard time kicking the congestion; Mikah's had a cold, on and off, but he's a tough kid; and Lukas is a trooper: he wakes up mornings early to get ready for school, he takes his little AR quizzes and chooses the "this is my favorite book so far" option on the quizzes every time, every book. Trust me, though: I know what AR can do to a reader, and so as soon as he says the passion for quizzes is gone, I'll opt him out. 

It's been cold in Lubbock. We've gotten our share of snow this winter. With another front coming in tonight, according to the weatherman.

In March, I'm travelling down to the Valley again to do some work with Reading Rockstars, a wonderful literacy-advocacy program tied to the Texas Book Festival. I'll visit two schools and another reading that's popped up by chance is one at, get this, Peñitas Public Library. Dig it: my little ranchito's got a reading haven. How cool is that!

Homework for Children's Lit

I'd like as many of you as visit the blog here this weekend to say something very nice about my son and drop me a line or two in the comments section here about where you are in terms of your children's lit narrative, the poetry packet, or your lesson plan. 

Sorry I didn't give you advance notice about the class getting a project/work day last Thursday. Things progressed quicker than we'd expected and we found out at noon or so that we had a couple of hours to get our "house in order," literally before having to be at the hospital for my wife's c-section. Thanks for being understanding.

The Latest Saldaña!

10/15/09: Jakob Finn Henning: 20 inches long, 7 lbs. & 3 oz. So there!

We Were Here by Matt de la Peña

Today Matt de la Peña's third novel for teens is out. It's called We Were Here, and well worth reading. Three unlikely friends are brought together in a juvie home, each of whom is dealing with some pretty hardcore demons. They hatch a plan to escape their present circumstances and head to Mexico, where they think they'll find solace and peace. There is some violence in the book, the language at times is rough, and there is alcohol abuse. The three boys become the best of friends, or as best as you can become under such circumstances, but it takes running away for them to find their ways back or out. READ IT!!!

Also check out his other books: Ball Don't Lie and Mexican WhiteBoy. And check out de la Peña's website: www.mattdelapena.com.

Where My Tic Tac Toe Be At, Mimi? (2)

 

Mimi: Where's My Tic Tac Toe?