On my way back from the American Library Association’s Midwinter Conference in Seattle yesterday, I was thinking about what my theme would be for the post-conference post. I wasn’t quite sure which is why it’s about 24 hours later. But on my way home from work today, I realized it had to be about getting involved. Honestly, it was kind of my theme for the conference itself.
Why was it my theme? Here’s what I did differently this time around.
- I volunteered at the YALSA booth for the first time. I told myself this year I would do it. Former committee members of mine had done it before and I thought I couldn’t do it because I didn’t know enough, but they set good examples of being involved. So I got involved. And it was delightful to chat up the organization and meet others volunteering as well.
- I made sure to connect with colleagues who I knew were attending from across the country because I realized at Annual last year, that if you didn’t make it a point, it wouldn’t happen serendipitously. So I reached out ahead of the conference and got involved in asking my colleagues what they were up to and when we could meet.
- I was on an award committee. Yeah, I know! It was a goal and I made it and it felt awesome and I’ll definitely do it again. In the meantime, I’m on selection committees to fill my need to read and share good books with the world.
- I book-talked at a publisher breakfast (and at 7:30am used taboo words but it was for the cause) to share my love for an upcoming book. Who better to hear from than colleagues (and kids when we can) about good books to read? Nevermind that yogurt squirt forth from the cup onto my dress a mere half hour before. My tip? Eat after you do your booktalk. So I got involved in sharing my love of books that publishers want us to love.
- I talked and smiled more. There were several people I met at activities then saw over and over again the rest of the conference. How nice to get out of our libraries and meet others and hear their opinions and perspectives and ask questions. So I got involved simply by being more open (but I still liked curling up in the hotel bed with cheesy TV at night).
If you haven’t been to a national conference, get to one soon. While none of this is groundbreaking, it does remind us all to use our talents and strengths and then share, share, share them with others.
Title: Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain
One of the systems I put in place years ago was that my lunch at work in a busy school library was to read. First (and this is aimed at every educator) was to take my lunch and the second was to use part or all of that time to read. It was astounding how many more books I read over the week, month, year when I began this practice. And for 2019, I vowed to capture more of my lunchtime reading by bookstagramming them and using the hashtag #literarylunchbox. 
On May 20, 2018, my family and I embarked on a journey of epic proportions inspired by the Alison Deering book illustrated by Bob Lentz called 
So when I began reading Arcos’ book and the first flashback chapter told from Zara’s mom, Nadja’s point of view in 1992 in Visegrad I knew there was something special. It took a little bit to build as there was an uncertainty between the dysfunction of Zara and Nadja’s mother-daughter relationship, but it ballooned once readers began to connect Nadja’s war-torn young adulthood and Zara’s discovery of Nadja’s hardships as Nadja lays comatose after a bomb detonates at the farmers market they were visiting. Zara is wounded and suffering from post-traumatic stress while again, her mother is hospitalized unable to communicate. It becomes less about the present day and more about Nadja’s survival against the atrocities of war while trying to hold on while the trauma of murder and rape burns through their family, neighborhood, and country.
What was I thinking? Plenty of us avid readers have felt sadness in the last book of a beloved series and this one was no different. Reynolds is the GOAT, period. Whoever designed the covers needs a raise. Reynolds’ ability to create deep characters with authentic middle grade voices has been spotlighted in this series and shines again with Lu, another track star under Coach’s tutelage who is helping his father right his wrongs while hopefully looking toward a future with a baby sister when his mother should have never even been able to have him. Rich with inspiration and motivation, it’s the power of our human experience through Lu whose Albinism hasn’t changed his perspective much, in fact his newest job as big brother has allowed him to grow as he passes through the awkwardness of youth.
Readers Be Advised 