2011 Washington Evergreen YA Book Award

Got some good news today and just had to share the short-list for this award.

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Last Exit to Normal by Michael Harmon
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Knucklead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka featuring Jon Scieszka
Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

I lived in Washington when I wrote The Compound, so this is pretty cool.

Stephanie

The Day After the Conference

I could not have written this post two days ago or even last night, but today--a day after the first SCBWI conference I have planned as the MD/DE/WV Regional Advisor--I can breathe a big sigh of relief and think of it as a success. The theme was "Creating Diversity in Children's Literature."

Of course there were glitches, including a last minute change of venue (to my house!) for the speaker dinner Friday night, a few audio visual problems, and too much light to see the powerpoint presentations properly. But the attendees were patient, understanding, and complimentary, our critiquers were thorough and helpful, and our speakers carried the day.

In the photo of the final Q & A panel above from left to right are author Linda Trice ("Building Blocks: First Steps Toward a Writing Career), keynote author Carole Boston Weatherford ("Genre-bending Children's Books"), author Mary Quattlebaum ("Catch an Editor's Eye, an Agent's Ear, and a Reader's Heart), illustrator/author/art director Christy Hale ("Creating a Space for Everyone"), Tricycle Press editor Abigail Samoun ("Tell Me a Story: Lessons from Five Masters of Plot"), and agent Mark McVeigh ("Cracking the Agent Code: How to Get an Agent's Attention in a Letter").

I owe heaps of thanks to my hardworking and supportive planning committee: Asst. RA Laura Shovan, Susan Detwiler, Naomi Milliner, Sue Poduska, Mary Bowman-Kruhm, and Lois Szymanski.

P.S. I'm hoping to get each one of our "potatoes" as conference speakers over the next couple of years--if not all together, then one by one!

Teens Read Too!

Visit me today over at Teens Read Too Book Club, where I'm the featured author. Post a comment and you can win a signed ARC of The Gardener or a signed copy of The Compound. Go check it out:

http://trtbookclub.blogspot.com/2010/03/visit-with-sa-bodeen.html



Stephanie