Before I post the photos from BEA and BookCon in New York, I have to show you what I got in my inbox. It’s a project based on Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. My librarian friend, Shelley Armstrong, sent me the work of Jordan, Kasey, Myles, and Nick from Dr. Lee Bloxom’s 9th grade English class at the Thomas Dale High School West Campus in Richmond, VA. What better way to teach the impact of audience on writing, than to have a group of kids adapt a story for another age group? Here’s my bad-ass YA novel as a picture book. TDHS Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Butt. (Thanks for sending this Shelley!)
Okay, the photos I managed to get my hands on.
Next time you’re in the city, I recommend staying at the Library Hotel, at 41 and Madison Ave., just up the block from NYPL’s famous stone lions. The entire decor in the hotel is based on the Dewey decimal system, complete with an old card catalog at the reception desk. Each floor houses different categories. You can stay in the paranormal section, romance languages, botany. Even the street outside is decorated with brass plaques featuring quotes by famous literary figures. So strange and fun!
I fell in love with a little gem of a school in the East Village called the Cornelia Connelly Center. Sweet, smart students – with great questions. Looking for a place to make a meaningful donation? This is it. Thank you CCC!
Thanks go to Candlewick for offering F&Gs of my new picture book and free copies of the paperback of YAQUI. I’m also psyched to read titles by my C’wick siblings. (So far, I peeked at the graphic memoir Honor Girl by Maggie Thasher. Amazing.) Look for them this fall.
And finally, here is a shot of the Book Con panel on diversity. What can I say? This is what happens when you leave tired authors unattended backstage.
Filed under: Appearances, The Writing Life Tagged: Aisha Saeed, Book Con 2015, Book Expo 2015, Candlewick, IW Gregorio, Jacqueline Woodson, Laura Amy Schlitz, Libba Bray, literary sites in New York City, Maggie Thrasher, Mango Abuela and Me, Meg Medina, Pat Schmatz, Shelley Armstrong, Soman Chainani, the Library Hotel, Thomas Dale High School, Todd Strasser, We Need Diverse Books, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass