I’m ridiculous with a pen. - Christopher Myers
Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to the Bank Street Book Festival, and I couldn’t help but write the above quote down while listening to one of the panels! I heard Myers speak at ALA this summer, and I still remember the opening line of his Coretta Scott King award acceptance speech, “I’ve just about given up on the world.” This time Myers was quoting himself from a conversation with incarcerated youth, as he explained to us how he decides what medium to work in when illustrating, particularly the inspiration for My Pen. There were a lot more funny and insightful comments articulated by the authors and illustrators that presented at the Book Fest. Here are my favorites:
- "I can’t remember a time before I could read." Elizabeth Bluemle, “Teachers as Writers” panel
- "We’re making tools for kids to take with them into their worlds." Christopher Myers, “Artists and Mentors: Book...Making...101” panel, talking about books as a framework for understanding difference
- "She’s sort of an action girl tomboy mermaid." Liz Kessler, “Young Women in the (Plot) Driver's Seat”, describing the heroine of her middle-grade Emily Windsnap series
Participating in the discussion group "Diversity in YA Fantasy Literature" was both exciting and enlightening. Prior to the discussion, participants read Otherbound, The Wrath and the Dawn, and Shadowshaper. I was excited to talk about Shadowshaper, because it’s an Arthur A. Levine book, the author came to Scholastic's employee book club, and I’ve read it twice so far (note my overly-post-it-covered book). Regarding all three titles, we got into conversations about Brooklyn and gentrification, diversity as the frame for a story vs. diversity being central to the plot, and authentic portrayals of disability. Obviously this conversation warmed my nerdy double major English and African & African American Studies major’s heart. Later in the afternoon, Daniel José Older continued this thread as he discussed code switching on the "Pushing Narrative Boundaries in Teen Literature" panel.
I came back to work this Monday renewed and looking forward to this month’s employee book club meeting, where we talked about Drama and George. I was also curious to explore one of the points that came up in our break out discussion, an interest in recent Native American fantasy titles for young adults. Trail of the Dead, by Joseph Bruchac, just came out this month (sequel to Killer of Enemies). It is more dystopian sci-fi than fantasy, however, it’s Bruchac! Billy Buckhorn Supranormal, by Gary Robinson, was published over the summer. It is the third book in a series with Billy Buckhorn Abnormal and Billy Buckhorn Paranormal.
I left the Book Fest with another dozen+ titles on my to-read list.
So many good books, so little time…!
