#ALAAC15 – Day 2 – Woohoo

I was up early to see how my Dad was doing. He isn’t out of the woods yet, but his blood levels were good and he was awake while my twin sister was in for a visit. Knowing that the news was a bit better, I decided to take a morning stroll to the Embarcadero, after checking in at the conference registration area, to see if I could get some postcards to send to my students. It was a longish walk, but the day was beautiful. I wandered through the Ferry building and discovered a lovely little bookstore called Book Passage that had a n excellent supply of inexpensive postcards. So, I bought 23 and went outside to watch the ferries as I started to write to my students. It was a perfect day for some outdoors writing.

My first conference event came in the afternoon: a tea sponsored by Bloomsbury books. I was fortunate enough to be at the table with the featured author, Leah Thomas. We were greeted with a glass of champagne and, once inside the room, had a choice of teas, little sandwiches, scones and other treats appropriate for an afternoon tea. I also, finally, met some of my Morris committee colleagues. We’d only met online until today and there are still a few I have yet to meet. Each attendee was also given a bag of books containing 4 middle grade/YA novels.

From there, it took a little quiet time back in Yerba Buena Gardens (which, I discovered this morning, is on the other side of the Moscone Center!) before heading off to event number 2: the Simon & Schuster YA Debut Author Panel & Dinner. This was the most fun event of the day. First, they fed us. Then Jason Reynolds, author of The Boy in the Black Suit  and When I Was the Greatest, hosted a panel with 6 debut authors. And, you guessed it, we each got a bag with signed copies of each author’s book. Here is a haul I came away with today (and I haven’t even made it to the exhibition hall yet).

Then the real fun began. We “speed dated” each author. All the conference attendees sat at a table and each author came to talk to your table for about 10 minutes. When time was called they moved on to the next table and we got a new author.

That ended around 7:30, just in time for me to hop on over to the Printz Award Presentation & reception. It started off with the presentation of the awards to the 2015 Honor Books. Then, Jandy Nelson, author of the winner,  I’ll Give You the Sun, gave her speech, which was truly wonderful. She is a gifted writer and her speech was as beautiful as her book. This was followed by questions to the panel.

I skipped the reception part. I was pooped.

I did manage to meet up with two of the district librarians from Beaverton, and some old friends from OASL.

Tomorrow promises to be another faction packed day.

When Twins Don’t Get Along

I recently reread Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson, which I have always said is my favorite KP book. It wasn’t quite the book I remembered, but I still enjoyed it.

 The main character, Sara Louise Bradshaw, has a twin sister, Caroline, who is prettier and more talented, and better at social situations. The book is essentially Louise’s attempt to break free of her sister’s shadow.

As a twin, I find this a fascinating book and I remember now why I liked it so much. My sister and I got along very well, and still do. I was the quieter, shyer twin and sometimes felt like I lived In my sister’s shadow. Sometimes that was a safer, more comfortable place to be. I could let her take the lead in social situations where I felt uncomfortable, and often let her speak for both of us.

I am currently reading I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson.

It features boy-girl twins, Noah and Jude who are very close until around age 13. Noah is artistic and solitary, Jude is much more outgoing. The story is narrated in an alternating pattern, with Noah telling the early years, and Jude telling about life at age 16. As each chapter unfolds you find out what happened to break their connection, and what helps put it back together.

Even if you are not a twin, both stories explore complex sibling relationships that most people can connect to.