Heading to NCTE this year? Be sure to mark your calendars for the following author appearances, panels, and signings!
Scholastic Booth #200 features
Meet the Experts round-table discussions on comprehensive literacy, led by Pam Allyn and Donyall Dickey Ed.D.
The Scholastic Literacy Virtual Classroom Experience
New Spanish-Language Programs from Scholastic Education, including: Guided Reading en español, 2nd Edition, Pam Allyn’s LitCamp en español, and Spanish Classroom Libraries
Custom Classroom Libraries and Social-Emotional Learning Collections
In-booth giveaways, including advance reader copies, posters, stickers, discussion guides, and more!
Programming and Signings: Thursday, November 15
Latinx Experiences in Classrooms and Communities: Knowing Our Students through Text-Based Conversations across Picture Books, Middle Grade and YA Book Clubs | 1:00-2:15pm
362 DEF
Featured author: Daniel José Older
This session features teacher educators and authors with Latinx protagonists. Teacher educators present on how book clubs contribute to teachers’ self-concept and understandings of the Latinx students they teach. Authors discuss the experiences that shape the identities of their Latinx protagonists and using these texts as teaching tools.
Secondary Section Get-Together | 5:45-7:15pm
Convention Center, Grand Ballroom A
Keynote author: Daniel José Older
Gather with hundreds of other secondary teachers to kick off the Convention in this opening session that features a welcoming community, a keynote address from Daniel José Older, and refreshments! Daniel will sign copies of Dactyl Hill Squad following the event.
Programming and Signings: Friday, November 16
General Session | 8:00-9:15am
Convention Center, General Assembly Theatre ABC
Keynote speaker: Marley Dias
Friday’s General Session will be fast and full of energy. This session will be a celebration of students who are using their voices to change the world. Seven students ages 11 to 21 will share their passions with attendees. Speakers at this session include students who have created movements or organizations, raising their voices to create change.
Honoring the Refugee and the Immigrant Experience: Preparing Students and Teachers to Speak Out for Equity and Justice | 9:30-10:45am
Convention Center, Room 371 B
Featured author: Alan Gratz
Investigating social justice and equity issues for immigrant and refugee students can begin with reading acclaimed literature for children and young adults. Authors Margarita Engle and Alan Gratz along with educators share how critical literacy inquiries into award-winning Enchanted Air and Refugee can lead to social justice actions.
We Need Diverse Books Presents: “It’s Problematic, Now What?” | 9:30-10:45am
Convention Center, Room 350 D
Featured author: Varian Johnson
What do we do with literature that poorly represent People of Color, Native individuals, LGBTQIA+ folk, disabled people, immigrants, and other marginalized groups? Do we take them out of our lessons? Our libraries? Join us for a frank, practical discussion on why and how to curate a diverse, contemporary selection.
Más Fuerte Together | 11:00am-12:15pm
Convention Center, Room 352 DEF
Featured authors: Daniel José Older, Aida Salazar, Isabel Quintero, Diana Lopez
A roundtable on the state of Latinx publishing and readers and how educators and authors can work together to change students’ lives through writing and reading. In this roundtable session, Latinx authors will lead a vibrant, meaningful discussion about using books and writing to open doors.
Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Authors Share Writing Lessons that Help Our Students Raise Their Voices | 2:00-3:15pm
Convention Center, Room Grand Ballroom B
Featured Authors: Sayantani DasGupta, Eliot Schrefer
How can we amplify our students’ voices through the writing lessons and opportunities we provide? Participants are invited to be learners themselves as a diverse group of authors share writing lessons to take back to our classrooms that invite, encourage and amplify the stories we all have to tell.
Troubling the Mainstream: Diversifying Gender and Sexuality Representation in Middle Grade Fiction | 2:00-3:15pm
Convention Center, Room 350 C
Featured authors: Alex Gino, Aida Salazar
With bullying of gender and sexual minorities—particularly among children and teens—being so prevalent in schools still, this timely panel will allow for an important dialogue between educators and authors in an effort to better understand the roles of each within the lives of young LGBTQ students.
Author Signings in Booth #200:
- Daniel José Older (Dactyl Hill Squad) 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
- Isabel Quintero (Ugly Cat and Pablo andthe Missing Brother) 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
- Varian Johnson (The Parker Inheritance) 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
- Mary Knight (Saving Wonder) 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
- Michael Salinger and Sara Holbrook (From Striving to Thriving Writers) 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
- Alex Gino (You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P!) 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
- Aida Salazar (The Moon Within) 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
- Bill Konigsberg (The Music of What Happens) 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Programming and Signings: Saturday, November 17
Skin Color and Other Hues: Promoting Diversity and Honoring Student Voice | 8:00-9:15am
Convention Center, Room 382 A
Featured author: Andrea Davis Pinkney
In this interactive panel discussion, award-winning author Sharon G. Flake, joins New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds, and publisher/author Andrea Pinkney to explore strategies for introducing the complexities of race-related topics in today’s classrooms. The panel will also discuss the ability of culturally relevant literature to empower student voice.
Story Architects: Using Design Thinking to Inspire Creative Writing & Build Empathy | 8:00-9:15am
Convention Center, Room 350 E
Featured author: Varian Johnson
Thinking like a designer can transform the way we approach creative writing. Using five principles of Design Thinking (discovery, interpretation, ideation, experimentation, evolution), a panel of authors with backgrounds in architecture and design will share innovative storytelling strategies to help empower student expression. Come prepared to try some engaging activities!
Brave Conversations: Sharing Stories that Empower Student Voices in the Real World | 11:00-12:15pm
Convention Center, Room 351 B
Featured author: Sabina Khan
Stories are gateways for exploring big topics students are encountering today and serve as safe pathways to discovery and empowerment through brave conversations. Join this author/educator panel for conversation and ideas for fostering dialogue and self-discovery through story that inspires students to raise their voices and act with empathy.
Becoming the Leaders: The Power of Female Protagonists to Empower All Student Voices | 12:30-1:45pm
Convention Center, Room 370 D
Featured author: Alex Gino
In nurturing leaders, we must advocate for complex portrayals of females in stories to model resilience, empathy, and inclusion across the gender spectrum. We’ll examine why all readers need strong girl protagonists and how to encourage critical thinking about how gender roles are portrayed, and challenged, in middle grade books.
Fierce: A Conversation with Five Authors Writing Strong Latinas | 12:30-1:45pm
Convention Center, Room 361 F
Featured author: Isabel Quintero
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Latinas are set to comprise nearly one-third of the country’s female population by 2060. In this panel, award-winning Latina authors will discuss their journeys in creating well-rounded characters who break stereotypes while providing educators with universal exercises to incorporate in their classrooms.
Beyond Baseball, Basketball and Día de los Muertos: Normalizing Representations of Diverse Families in Children’s Literature | 2:45-4:00pm
Convention Center, Room 362 ABC
Featured author: Rashin Kheiriyeh
Award-winning authors and illustrators Meg Medina, Matt de la Peña, Dan Santat, and Rashin Kheiriyeh will showcase humanizing portrayals of diverse families through their picture books. Participants will experience both the unique and the universal experiences that connect and impact who all readers are and who they can become.
Disproportionately Censored: A Conversation with YA Authors Who Write About Race, Gender, and Sexuality | 4:15-5:30pm
Convention Center, Room 362 ABC
Featured authors: Bill Konigsberg, Sabina Khan
Book bans and challenges tend to disproportionately target books that speak to the experiences of the LGBTQ people and people of color. Join us in conversation with YA authors who write about race, gender, and sexuality as they discuss the need for diverse books and the disproportionality in the book challenges.
Author Signings in Booth #200:
- Lamar Giles (Spin) 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
- Andrea Davis Pinkney (Martin Rising: A Requiem for a King) 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
- Angela Cervantes (Lety Out Loud) 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
- Diana Lopez (Lucky Luna) 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
- Lisa Schroeder (See You On a Starry Night) 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
- Erin Dionne (Lights, Camera, Disaster) 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
- Stephanie Harvey and Annie Ward (From Striving to Thriving) 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
- Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp (Game Changer!) 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM
- Elly Swartz (Smart Cookie) 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
- Kate Messner (Hurricane Katrina Rescue) 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Programming and Signings: Sunday, November 18
Eradicating Bias in Childhood: Teaching Social Justice through Children's Literature | 9:00-10:15am
Convention Center, Room 370 F
Featured author: Sayantani DasGupta
This panel will give teachers the opportunity to engage with and ask questions of educators, illustrators, authors, and a publisher, opening opportunities for teachers to incorporate more children's literature with social justice themes into their classrooms and understand the processes of making this work available in the first place.
Transforming Student Achievement through Common Instructional Knowledge, Language, and Tools | 9:00-10:15 am
Convention Center, Room 382C
Featured speaker: Donyall Dickey, Ed.D.
Scholastic Literary Brunch: The Power of Story | 10:30pm-12:00pm
Marriott Marquis, Texas Ballroom D, 1777 Walker St
Featured authors: Sayantani DasGupta, Alda Salazar, Cynthia Lord, Natalie Lloyd, Bill Konigsberg
Our event will highlight and feature our authors who will each speak about their new titles, focusing on their inspiration for the story and why it was important for them to tell this story now. Following their talk, they will read a short scene (reader's theatre format) from their book.
Closing General Session | 12:00-1:30pm
Convention Center, General Assembly Theatre ABC
Keynote speaker: Peter H. Reynolds (with Paul Reynolds)
A keynote speech focusing on Peter Reynold's upcoming picture book Say Something! He will be signing a select number of F&Gs of Say Something! directly following the event.
Author Signings in Booth #200:
- Peter H. Reynolds (Say Something) 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
