It's a Beautiful Day, Brethren

Quick. What did your last two podcasts discuss? Mine? Comedian Kevin Hart talking with Jerry Seinfeld and the other? An interview with Bono and the Edge. Kevin and Jerry spent some time talking about the brotherhood/sisterhood of the comedian world. Reminded me of my book people. Lifelong friendships gained almost instantly. Hence the brethren. And well, today, was just a "beautiful day" connecting with my book people family.

My Sibert honor winning co-host, Steve. I knew Fallout would get a sticker today. My good friend, Alicia, chair of the Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults committee. Proud to call you my friend and co-presenter extraordinaire. My Sibert Smackdown mentor and now honor winner, Melissa. Former fifth grade now retired teacher, Mr. Reischer, who texted me at 4 in the morning sending me positive #ALAyma vibes. Jayce from Fort Worth who texted when Too Bright to See won Newbery honor reminding me that I called that early on. Jacquelyn from Alabama who was thrilled for Watercress and extra excited for Starfish because she knew it could be YA. Val, the stranger I met 15 years ago who suggested I get my school library degree, and texted tonight asking if I liked the Newbery winner. Newbery honor Rajani who has been on Author Fan Face-off, had a virtual visit with our Red, White and Whole book group and just has the most infectious smile and laugh (I imagine she has a beautiful permagrin happening now). My teachers and colleagues who know today is "my day." From getting excited themselves (and making posters and t-shirts) to helping me sticker the ice cream sandwiches to being photographers and videographers, they may not all be book people but they my brethren. My mom, who read and adored Fallout and watched the awards live this morning. And the latest member of my sisterhood, 4th grade teacher Galiah from Queens, who I met over Twitter and now are classes are meeting virtually tomorrow to debrief the Sibert awards. 

Now that the sun has set over this beautiful day I need to make a reading decision for the after. A 2022 book I missed or a January 2023 contender?

YMA 2021 version

Mrs. Warland was featured prominently in my dream last night. I'm sure it was because I was missing her being by my side this week. Monday wasn't the same without her keeping me sane cutting cake, leaping, screaming, crying and just sharing in the pure joy and excitement of Youth Media Awards.

But alas this was, and continues to be, a different year. There was a little applause, some shrieks but nothing like the past and no cake. The only Newbery book Mrs. Warland read was Rita Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer and that was this summer when she had to call me to tell me that it is SO good and deserves the Newbery. "Ummm...Doe? Do you see the stickers on the cover?" It did win! IN 2011! But honestly if it wasn’t for her reminding me how great that book was I wouldn’t have reached out to Rita to appear on Author Fan Face-off, so really nothing is lost. (Her filming is in a couple of weeks. I should probably reach out to Doe for some questions...)

I’m exhausted from my week long YMA parties and celebrations. I watched the Caldecott awards 10x; Sibert 14x (we had Honeybee on our Caldecott list), CSK 10x (hooray for Magnificent Homespun Brown).  And unbelievably Newbery only twice: once live in the 5th grade class I had while it was going on and then later that afternoon with the Newbery Navigators. Coincidentally, though, a 5th grader in that class was reading The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez and pulled it out of his backpack just after the Pura Belpre announcement. Woohoo!

I also read the Geisel winner (thank you JLG) multiple times to K and 1, when I had time. It is perfect and well deserving of the award says kinder Lilly. 

These kids didn’t miss the cake they never knew existed but I did. Instead they enjoyed a little treat of a gold medal (aka gelt in my world) or a gold kiss (yes, they actually make them gold without almonds). Cupcake love in the form of cupcake holder medals (which surprisingly went over very well!) and a gold photo booth! One group of second graders loved the photo booth so much they came back again and again for silly shots.

 

So happy for all the winners but especially two time Newbery and Sibert honor Christina Soontornvat, (ICYMI we posted a special AFF on Tuesday in her honor), HONEYBEE, Mr. Cc’s We Dream of Space, my second graders Outside In (which we celebrated a book birthday for) and the gorgeous We are Water Protectors (which we also celebrated a book birthday). Oh and Sunday night I downloaded Welcome to the Pity Party after attending a Jewish Libraries midwinter event (I kind of want to join as a librarian who is Jewish but doesn't work in a Jewish library. Is that kosher?) and was literally late for work this week because I had to finish it. Speaking of Sydney Taylor, A Place at the Table got a notable. Woohoo! Check out their AFF, too.

Yay, Christina!

Yay, Saadia!  Yay, Laura!

All in all a good week. The kids seemed genuinely sad when I said it was the last meeting of our Caldecott Committee. Hmmm...maybe it doesn’t have to be? We’re already a month into book releases eligible for 2022...

A slide from our Sibert voting day last week. Both of these won stickers!

Definitely going to be a future blog post if I can get my act together! 💓

2019 Youth Media Awards Recap

Third grade Everett with his teacher Mrs. DeMassio and their golden medal cookies.

HELLO 2019 YOUTH MEDIA AWARDS!

I must believe that if I put off writing about our Youth Media Experience, that it didn't actually happen and therefore, it's not technically over.

HOWEVER, it has been nearly two weeks. Lives have changed. Kids have declared "my book won" and we must now emotionally be ready to move on.  I read my first 2020 contender in 2019 and am now working on my second. Wake up, Stacey (slaps face).  The 2019 award season is over and it is time to. move. on.

Here's a small recap:

Merci's #1 Fan!

The WHOLE day of January 28 was dedicated to the love of literature. We celebrated, cheered, leapt, held our breath, drum rolled, screamed, smiled, bit our nails...all in anticipation of the award announcements. We wore t-shirts expressing our favorite books and authors. Our friends hugged us when our books won and theirs didn't.  And we all ate golden medal cookies.

We watched performances from Newbery contending books (AND the Newbery medal book and honor book). We viewed sculptures and read reasons why books should win the Sibert medal and were thrilled when our books were announced for both the Sibert and the YALSA Nonfiction award.

SO many of the books we were championing won awards. Check out this bulletin board I made outside the library with EVERY book we read in one grade or another BEFORE the awards. Every book posted had at least one fan, most had more.

Last April we threw book birthday parties (with Skypes) for Alma and How She Got Her Name and Hello Lighthouse. I was informally observed in November while sharing one of the books that won a Caldecott Honor (A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin--gorgeous!). It was a win-win-win year all around!

January 28, 2019. It was a day to remember. I'm sure Meg, Sophie, Juana and many others will agree.

Look at Holden! "My book won! YEAH!"

Just a few of the 100+ photos from the day

 

Can it get much better than this--watching with ALL these kids?! I honestly don't think so!

When The Girl Who Drew Butterflies won the Sibert medal, Ari's friends attacked her!

Arianna's Sibert sculpture

Tyler was also a fan!

Another Sibert winner!

A taste of some other Sibert projects

Clearly, we had a lot of Out of Left Field love in Castleton.

HELLO!  This happened in September...

And seriously, now on to 2020. Happy Reading! Happy Leaping!

Twas the Night Before #ALAYMA19

Hey, Kiddo
My heart is racing.
Sleep is probably not in the cards tonight.

Tomorrow is
The biggest day in kidlit.
Life changing phone calls.
It's the Day You Begin dear winners.
High leaps.
Tight hugs.
Scratchy screams.

Imagine
Blue
Dreamers
Sweep
The Faithful Spy.

How did Alma get her name?
Did Mason Buttle tell the truth?
Maybe Otis and Will know.
Or Louisiana.
Until then I will rest next to my
Night Diary.

The Mason Buttle book group with our assistant principal book leader

Mrs. DeMassio's third grade Blue fans for Caldecott

An Alma fan

We have a lot of Otis and Will love at CES!

Another popular Sibert Smackdown contender

Consensus Club 2019

Hey, Seattle?
Are you ready?  The librarians are on their way.

3000 miles east, we are.
The books have been read.
The projects completed.
T-shirts almost made.
Golden cookies ordered.
Books debated.
Authors skyped.
Scripts written.
Consensus Club confirmed.
Monday 11:00 EST cannot come soon enough.

This afternoon the winners of Consensus Club were declared. They are...

SILVERS

 Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages

Sweep by Jonathan Auxier

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle by Christina Uss

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

GOLD

Resistance by Jennifer Nielsen

Wow.  As always it was an exciting afternoon locked behind closed doors in Mr. Reischer's room, drinking our "Starbucks" hot cocoa and enjoying a nice variety of salty and sweet snacks while discussing the best books of 2018. The kids were passionate and convincing, closely huddling around the board as we tallied votes time after time. Two kids were absent who were planning on attending.  I imagine one would have been pushing more for Mason Buttle and Parker Inheritance.  Or even Styx Malone.  The other definitely Faithful Spy.  That got me thinking about the real Newbery Committee. Every year I'm surprised, sometimes disappointed about the winning books.  You hear people say this and now I get it--it really comes down to the make up of the committee.  If Connor or Ava had been there today, maybe we would have had a different outcome.

This weekend, fifteen people are going to sit for countless hours in a meeting room in Seattle and discuss all the books we read and loved this year.  They will choose their winners based on who is in the room where it happens. What if Ava and Connor were there and Micah was sick? Would our Consensus results been different? Who knows? What I do know, is that, my students (and all the other Mock Committee members around the country) are the true winners.  They read the books. And they read some more.  And they read even more.  How is that not a winning combination?  And if one of their favorites actually does win?  Bonus.  Either way, I guarantee you will hear our screams from Castleton in Seattle.

     

Projected on the SmartBoard are all the books on our list from November.  

We discussed and eliminated, discussed and voted, discussed and 

voted some more until we came down to our final five. 

What an intense afternoon!

 

Sarah's Mason Buttle "rock" cookies. Yum!