Monday morning, I got up before the sun rose to sit in a room with thousands of other librarians to listen to the live announcement of the 2012 Youth Media Awards.  While I will have more in-depth thoughts about the winners (and those that didn’t win…) I wanted to do both a quick recap and overview of  both the ceremony and the winners.  This isn’t a post about who “should’ve” won and who were the “right” winners because, well, I know just how hard it is to be on committee (I’ve written about that before)  and I am eternally in awe and thankful for all the work committees do.

This is about what it’s like to be there in the second when everything in your professional life changes.  Even if I didn’t attend ALA’s Midwinter conference for the business and committee work that makes it so satisfying, I think I might go just for the live YMA announcements.  It’s truly a magical moment: this was the first year I got to sit with a big crowd of friends and colleagues that I’ve spent so long discussing this literature with and just even knowing you’re surrounded by people who care as much as you, who love as much as you, know as much as you – that alone is a gift.  MUCH LESS the anticipation, the life-changing moments, the roll of excitement and cheers that electrify the crowd – there’s just nothing like it.  Honest and truly nothing compares.

The YMA announcements are always a roller coaster of emotion.  You can’t take the thrill of a personal favorite winning in one second and are heartbroken another favorite was ignored the next.   It changes everything: makes you excited, frustrated, confused, curious, ready to read and explore and discuss books deeply.  And that’s pretty fucking great, ain’t it?

• I could not be happier with the Printz winner Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley.  I screamed SO LOUDLY when they announced it I think I burst some eardrums and I definitely had a second of going numb with joy.  I’ve been preaching about this book to anyone who will listen and wishing the Printz for it since I finished it a few months ago (I’ve read it twice) so to actually have that happen – OH, ALL MY DREAMS COMING TRUE!!  This is a truly beautiful and special YA book  - the kind for all your non-reluctant readers, the kind to grow into, the kind that will mean so much to the right reader.  And it’s literary and deep and worthy of this big award and LORDY, HOW I SCREAMED!
• Truly, no moment was more special than when Ashley Bryan was announced as the recipient of the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.  I wish I had a recording of the explosion of sheer joy in the room.  The cheers and applause were overwhelming.  When I tweeted about it I referred to Bryan as “our beloved Ashley Bryan” because, seriously, I’ve never heard anything like that.  And, as anyone who has ever been lucky enough to hear Ashley Bryan speak knows, if there’s anyone who’d love and revel in an explosion of sheer joy?  It’s him.  It’s a well-deserved honor for a very special talent.
• I was particularly excited about the Coretta Scott King and Pura Belpré Illustrator winners.  Shane Evans’s Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom is absolutely beautiful.  The way Evans’s uses color is something else.  A band of slaves flee into the blue-black night and stars light their way on every page.  It’s stunning and powerful. This is the kind of story that the picture book format really brings to life, really gives some import to.  Meanwhile, in Diego Rivera: His World and Ours, Duncan Tonatiuh creates one of the best artist biographies I’ve ever read.  It’s not just the way Tonatiuh’s very specific style makes the story entirely his, it’s how he talks about what Rivera’s work might look like in our world, how he explains to children what Rivera strove to create and capture with his art. Tonatiuh never talks down to children, instead, he brings Rivera’s world, the artist’s world, to life.   I was just in love with these selections and am so happy this is going to get this original and daring picture books in even more libraries.
• There was a gasp of surprise and disappointment when it was revealed that the Schneider committee had elected not to name a picture book winner.  But should we have been surprised?  The Schenider goes to the book that best “embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience” and, well, the disability experience is usually no where to be found in picture books!   Think of the last time you prepared for a baby storytime and went to get a bunch of picture books about, say, body identification.  Think of the Mem Fox refrain, from a book that ostensibly about the wide diversity of human life: “And both of these babies, as everyone knows, had ten little fingers and ten little toes.”  Everyone knows, eh? Think of allllll those books you have about heads, toes, fingers, legs, arms – and think how many feature babies or parents without fingers or eyes or legs.  Can you think of one?  Any one?  A single one?  Of course not!  Because, as everyone knows, we all have ten little fingers and ten little toes, right?  And that’s just a single example, of course, the disability experience is much larger.  But you wouldn’t know that from picture books, would you?  I was proud that the Schneider committee held out on principle and I hope that if ANYONE took a lesson from Monday morning it was publishers.  We want, we desperately need, more portrayals of disability in picture books.  Start publishing them, we’ll start buying them.
• Love the Alex list and having a reason to read grown-up books!  I was quite beyond thrilled to see the two books I was most crossing my fingers for: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern on the Alex list.  These are deliriously perfect books for teen readers who are dipping their toes in adult fiction.  I was first sold on The Night Circus by a rapturous teen girl who promised me it was the most amazing book ever.   I can’t wait to read all the other books on the list!
• SO HAPPY to see Money Boy by Paul Yee as a Stonewall Honor book!  I read this book in one sitting in a Indigo bookstore in Canada back in September.  It’s utterly unlike anything I have ever read in queer YA lit.  Ray is a Chinese immigrant in Toronto having a hard enough time fitting in as he struggles with his father’s expectations and learning English but being gay on top of that?  He knows what will happen if his father finds out and, soon enough, Ray finds himself alone and broke on the streets of Toronto.  How is he going to survive?  There’s so much I love about this book: the concise writing that SO accurately sounds like an ESL immigrant teen, Ray’s family situation and the realistic pressures in his life, the pacing, the gay adults Ray meets who are good and bad and unlike he expected, the way things are worse than Ray imagined and better than he could have hoped – it’s just the kind of fresh, original story that queer YA lit needs.  I hope the Stonewall helps get this book even wider recognition – go out and get a copy!

You can read about ALL the ALA Youth Media Awards and even see an archive of the webcast (listen for those Ashley Bryan cheers!) at ALA’s website.  There’s much more to be discussed, like all the amazing lists ALA committees created and my deeper thoughts on some of the winners, including a more in-depth love letter to the brilliance of Where Things Come Back but I wanted to get a first reaction post done before the week was out.  It’s good to capture those once in a lifetime moments when you can, after all.  At least until next year, when we get to have them all over again!

Are you a member of ALA?  Have you voted yet in our annual election?  It really couldn’t be simpler, they’ve already emailed us links to our ballots twice.  You can also just visit https://www.alavote.org/2011/ where you’ll find more info on how to vote.

The polls close this Friday and getting out the vote is just as hard for ALA as it is in the USA in general so I am guessing that some of you haven’t yet voted.  Luckily, that means this post can still be topical, because this is the post where I tell you who you should vote for!

ALA Council

• Vote for Wendy Steadman Stephens.  I’ve worked with Wendy through YALSA before and she is one of the most committed and intelligent librarians I have ever met.  She’s interested in teen literature, her students, and all aspects of libraries and technology.  She is currently a school librarian in Alabama working on her PhD in Information.  This is just one example of her  amazing ability to think across disciplines and look at the BIG picture, something I think is vital to being a successful, effective member of Council.
• Vote for Ed Garcia, JP Porcaro, and Jennifer Wann Walker.  Ed, JP, and Jenn were all ALA Emerging Leaders and Library Journal Movers and Shakers.  That’s the party line and it’s important to know! But I think you should vote for them because I know Jenn personally and I have seen, first-hand, the unbelievable work she has done for Mississippi libraries and librarians.   The Librarianship 101 and 201 institutes for paraprofessionals that she has spearheaded, programmed, and ran at the Mississippi Library Commission are innovative, empowering programs that give paraprofessionals the tools to be more effective librarians.  EVERY state, especially those with many rural libraries, should have a similar program in place.  When I speak with Librarianship 101 and 201 graduates, they practically glow when talking about everything they learned in the program and how much it’s helped them.  I don’t know as much about Ed and JP, though I have read pieces about and by them, but I know that if Jenn’s running with them, they must have the same kind of dedication and commitment to innovation that Jenn has.  I DO know that Jenn is inspiration, especially to anyone working in a state that struggles to make sure all its librarians are well-trained and confident in their professional abilities.  If she can do for the ALA Council what she does for Mississippi librarians and libraries, we’ll ALL be better off.

Are you ALSO a member of YALSA?  For YALSA offices, one of the big factors for me is a commitment to YALSA.  I honestly think you should “work your way up” as the saying goes.  So, for me, I look for people I know are committed to YALSA and have done a variety of work with/for them.

Nonfiction Award Committee

• Vote for Adela Peskorz and Angela Frederick.  I worked with Adela on the Morris and she’s just brilliant – one of the most incisive and critical readers I’ve ever worked with.  Sometimes I would read one of her emails and just sit back and say “Wow.”  I haven’t met Angela in person, but I follow her on Twitter and we’ve had some great conversations, I think she has a really sharp perspective on the field of YA lit and culture in general, so I think she’d be a good fit for this committee.
• ALSO  … I’d really like it if you’d vote for ME! Yes, I’m running for the Non-Fiction committee this year and I’d love your vote.  You can read my “official” bio at the voting site (another cool thing ALA does that gives you no reason not to vote and be informed – you can read up on all the candidates right there on the site!) but I will say here that I would love to be on the Non-Fiction committee.  Having just completed a term on the Morris, I feel like I’m prepared to be a rigorous, attentive committee member and I’m currently in love with and utterly excited by what’s being published in NF for young adults, so having a year to discuss and analyze it would be sheer heaven for me.

Printz Committee

• Vote for Sarah Bean Thompson! Sarah is one of the most dedicated and talented  bloggers I know/read.  She has a great grasp of the nuances and breadth of YAlit and she can stick to a schedule like no one I know!  In other words: she’s an ideal Printz candidate!  She generously agreed to answer some of my questions about YA lit, why she wanted to be on the Printz, and her involvement with YALSA.
  

“Sympathizers are spectators; empathizers wear game shoes.” -John Eyberg

I have been so lucky in my professional life.  From the tight band of women who were my grad school friends and are now librarians and archivists all over the US to the friends and connections I made through my work in YALSA to the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with in my day-to-day librarianship, I’ve found nothing but support and encouragement from my professional colleagues and it’s made me even more excited to do what I do.

And, of course, there’s the online world of connections, another place I’ve found a warm welcome.  (waves to all my blog readers and twitter followers.)

Today, I wanted to start by talking specifically about a group of fantastic, inspirational colleagues (and friends!) I connected with at Midwinter this year, thanks to an amazing event organized by the dynamic and amazing Kelly.  This group stayed in contact after Midwinter.  Boy, did we ever stay in contact!

Kelly, Andrea, Katie, Sarah, Abby, and me formed an email chain after Midwinter and it took on a life of its own.   I cannot even tell you how much inspiration and support this group has given me over the past three months.  Booklists, summer reading strategies, dealing with our administration, plans for outreach, sharing our success to inspire each other, venting about bad days so we feel less alone – it’s a group of people ready with encouragement, ideas, humor, experience and always there to jump into the game.  I’m so lucky to even be part of this group and to have these girls in the game with me.  It makes me better and it makes me try harder.

For me, one of the most important parts, one of the best parts, of having empathizers there with you is for the moments of outrage: the moment when you find someone who has the same outrage as you, feels the same injustice and wants to raise their voice in the same way you do.

Just about a week ago,  author Brendan Halpin posted some commentary on a Washington Post article about the “gender divide” in YA fic. (and, yes, that totally means “boys don’t read!  there’s all these supernatural books for girls!”  Which is a totally legit point, because we all know boys won’t/don’t/can’t read paranormal books and it’s not like 4 of the 7 children’s/YA titles that sold over 1,000,000 copies in 2010 had male protagonists and were written by men. )

First of all, the Washington Post article had good intentions, I guess, and was at least semi-researched and really wasn’t that bad.  But, I swear to GOD it just made me want to pull my hair out.  OH GOOD, LET’S HAVE THIS DISCUSSION AGAIN!

SO GLAD this issue is getting coverage and being brought up yet again because, WOW, there’s just not enough discussion about it.  It’s not like there are numerous professional titles about engaging boys with libraries and literacy, blogs written by and centered on boys reading, or a monthly column in VOYA about books and programming for boys, or that over half the Printz winners have been written by men and feature teen boy lead characters.  Oh, wait! It’s exactly like that.

So, yes, I had issues with the Washington Post article … but then came Halpin’s post which took things to a whole other level.

And that level is: Really?!

Let’s start with: “we’d better find more books for boys because boys need books that reflect their realities.” Which, you know, that’s an issue close to my heart.  I am totally a person that speaks up for the importance of that, OK?  But really?  Really? There aren’t enough young adult/childrens books out there that reflect boy’s/men’s reality?  Really?  I know, what a stirring point, but honestly!  If you can look around our culture, around every single part of our contemporary culture (and, yes, publishing is included as part of said culture) and still say to yourself: “Women are the machine and they are bringing an unconscious bias towards men to their gatekeeping!!” I honestly can’t say more to you than: Really?!

MUCH LESS than the unspoken end of that is “because boys can’t relate to girl’s experiences, you know the way girls can so easily relate to boys.”  You know, there’s a real gender divide happening and that gender divide is: girls love books with boy protagonists because of course they can relate but no boy in his right mind would be caught dead reading a book with a girl protagonist.  How’s he expected to relate???!

This is what we might think of as the Twilight/Harry Potter faux-dichotomy: Harry Potter sells well?  Gee, that’s because it’s such a universal, magical, epic story we can all relate to and lose ourselves in!  Twilight sells well?  Teenage girls and middle age women are buying them all because NO boys or men are interested in stuff like vampires and werewolves and love stories.  Gross-out!  WOMEN: RUINING THINGS BY BUYING TWILIGHT, WAY TO GO.

While I read Halpin’s post, my mouth dangled open in disbelief.  It wasn’t just about the Washington Post article, it wasn’t just about getting boys to read – it was about how “women of twitter” weren’t taking the issue seriously enough, about how further that in children’s publishing “women are the machine”, about how women, i.e. the machine, do not serve everyone equally.  Halpin’s post was an exquisite experience in privilege, a perfect illustration of it, really, because it used privilege to deny privilege.

I knew I had to respond, to try to point out how problematic Halpin’s blog was.  I knew I had to voice my outrage.  And just as I started to wrestle with how I was going to do this: how I was going to approach the inherent privilege and straw man logic in his post, how I was going to address all of the coverage this issue consistently receives, so to approach it as if it were entirely novel was ridiculous. Believe me, I wasn’t relishing this.  I didn’t want to start a “fight”, I didn’t want to be “unfun“, I have a thousand other blogs I need to write so I didn’t want to be writing this one.  But … well, some things you just have to address.

And then?  Just like that – I found out that Jodi, AKA bookgazing, had written the perfect, comprehensive response over at Lady Business.   Said response had everything I wanted to say only said better.

It wasn’t just relief that now I didn’t “have” to write a response, it wasn’t just knowing that there was someone out there as outraged about a particular issue as I was: it was knowing that there was someone else in the game with me.

I am so grateful for all the empathizers in my life: the people like Kelly, the bloggers at Lady Business, and so many more people than I could possibly list, both within my professional field and just in my life:  the people who share my outrage and speak out about it.

All of them make me so glad I’m in the game and I am eternally grateful for the reminders and the assists.

(who are some of your empathizers and inspirations?)

It’s me!  A wonderful, blurry picture of me, snapped by the fabulous Allen Zadoff at the beginning of my pre-conference.  (I didn’t take any pictures because I wasn’t really thinking …)

The YA Lit Symposium was a great time, especially once I survived my pre-conference!  I attended some really interesting and exciting sessions.  (and only one that I felt was really, really frustrating.)  I also had the chance to catch up with some of my fantastic librarian colleagues/friends (Wendy, Liz, Melissa, and Gretchen chief among them!) and network and feel the power of YALSA.  (I just think we’re the most fun.  I just think no one has more fun than us!)  There was A LOT of tweeting happening, which was a great way to both take notes and keep up with what was happening in other panels.

I’ll blog a little more about the symposium and the sessions I attended later this week, but in the meantime, I wanted to get all the information from my pre-conference up here for anyone who was looking.  This is all the material and links we covered at the session, you’re  free to use it in your programming or booklists as you see fit.  I’m not sure how much sense this will make to people who weren’t at the pre-conference, but definitely feel free to take a look either way.  And, OF COURSE, if you have any questions or want any more information, please let me know.

Two recaps of the session can be found at the YALSA blog (thanks Meredith!) and at Librarified. (thanks, Gretchen!)  If there’s any other reviews/wrap-ups out there, please let me know so I can link to them!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who attended the pre-conference: thanks for caring and paying extra to attend and being so attentive and interesting and fun to bounce ideas off of!  Thanks to the outstanding and talented authors Megan Frazer, Madeleine George, Susan Vaught, and Allen Zadoff, who agreed to talk about their excellent books and be part of the story.  Thanks to all of you for showing up and listening and inspiring me!   I really feel like we had a great session and, as I said, started a really important conversation.  I hope all of you will continue that conversation, and that work, with me here on the blog and in your libraries with your teen patrons!

The literature review in Powerpoint format. (through Slideshare … all those covers!)
The literature review as a Word doc. (through Google docs)

YouTube Videos
Fat Talk Free Week #1
Fat Talk Free Week #2
Operation Beautiful #1
Operation Beautiful #2
Joy Nash’s FAT RANT (we didn’t get to watch this in session, but it’s great and HIGHLY recommended for those who haven’t yet seen the awesomeness!)

Web Resources
Reflections: The Body Image Program
(Remember this program was started by a college sorority, Tri Delta, so some of these activities obviously need to be modified for use in a teen/library setting: Activities, More Activities)
The Illustrated BMI Project
Operation Beautiful

And, of course, remember that any time you have questions, want to continue the conversation, or share ideas, you can contact me via e-mail, (fatgirlreading at sign gmail) through this site, or follow me on Twitter.

The pre-conference was truly an amazing experience.  Together, I hope we can make it just the beginning of something great.