NCTE 2019

Though the panel (on empathy) I pitched for the 2019 National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention was not accepted, I got to go anyway.

Because Thirty Minutes Over Oregon was named a 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Book at NCTE 2018, its publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, kindly invited me to partake in the celebratory festivities of 11/23/19. 

This included, in rapid succession:

• 11 am-12 pm book signing 
• 12-2:30 pm luncheon for the Orbis Pictus (nonfiction) and Charlotte Huck (fiction) winners and honorees
• 2:45-5 pm panel of Orbis Pictus Honor Book authors/illustrators
• 7-10 pm dinner for all honorees, representatives from their publishers, and Orbis Pictus committee members

At 9:10 am, Melissa Iwai, the book's illustrator, emailed to ask me if I was already at the convention. NCTE was held in Baltimore, 45 minutes from where I live. I said I'd arrive in time for the luncheon (meaning I'd leave around 10:45 am), and she said "What about the signing at 11?"

On my schedule, my signing was at 4 pm. As you see above, my panel would also be in medias res at 4 pm...so HMH moved my signing to 11 am. 

But I did not get that update.

And so it was that I fast-forwarded my morning, arriving at the convention center around the time I originally planned to leave. HMH was covering my travel expenses, so I reasoned that would include any possible moving violation. Kidding. Children's authors never exceed the speed limit.

The award luncheon was lovely. Honorees simply walked across the stage and received our certificate, like a graduation. It was a privilege to listen to the speeches of the three winners, Sandra Neil Wallace and illustrator Bryan Collier for Between the Lines (Orbis Pictus) and Jonathan Auxier for Sweep (Charlotte Huck). 

I like panels under almost any circumstance, so though ours was sparsely attended, I had fun. 

Dinner was aptly held at a restaurant called Pen & Quill. Despite that name and the occupation of most of our party, no writing occurred during the meal. 

I had to duck out earlier than most to drive back in heavy rain to pick up my teenager from a post-musical-performance party.

Congrats again to the winners and other nominees and thanks again to the Orbis Pictus committee (Mary Ann Cappiello, Denise Davila, Seemi Aziz, Amina Chaudhri, Daryl Grabarek, Jennifer Graff, Julie Waugh, Suzanne Costner, and Sanjuana Rodriguez. Special thanks to my TMOO editor Jennifer Greene, who was at the luncheon and dinner. It was only the second time I'd spent time with her in person (first time was February 2016!). If you'd told us then the circumstance of our next meeting...

me, Jennifer Greene, Melissa Iwai;

first photo of Team TMOO!

NCTE 2018 and an Orbis Pictus Honor 2019

The 2018 National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention (held in Houston) featured many of the same beats as past NCTEs I have attended (only one of which I've documented here): it hosted a panel I pitched, I hung out with author and educator friends I see far too infrequently, I signed books, I made school visit inroads, I learned a thing or two.

But the event also surprised me with something new.

One of my books received an award.

The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children was first given out in 1989. My first Orbis Pictus award was given out 30 years later (not to imply I expect there will be more).

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story was one of the five titles named a 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Book.

Lisa DiSarro, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Director of School and Library Marketing, kindly accompanied me to the 11/17/18 luncheon where the two 2018 Orbis Pictus winners spoke and the new class was announced. HMH had invited me to attend the luncheon before they knew that Thirty Minutes Over Oregon would be among the honored there. They did find out a day beforehand, but chose not to tell me—which I so appreciated. It was so memorable to be surprised by the announcement made to the room of 35+ tables of 10 people apiece, including many author friends (some of whom were similarly honored, though many of the honorees were not there).

Lisa was at a table next to me and surreptitiously took photos of my reaction.

My panel was called "The Dirty Truth About Nonfiction." My co-stars were Don Tate, John Hendrix (whom I'd not met before), and Leah Henderson. (All of them are articulate and impressive, and all also have great radio voices. I do not.)

We were expertly moderated by Dylan Teut, who stepped in at the 11th hour when the moderator I'd originally lined up was no longer able to attend NCTE. I was thrilled at the turnout...if not quite standing-room-only, close enough that some people sat on the floor. (Wait, what? Sitting-room-only?)

At my signing later that day, HMH had already blinged out the book with the official Orbis Pictus sticker and a starbust.

Last year, I did a panel with Audrey Vernick, but this year saw her only in passing. In that passing, in a symbolic passing of the torch (but not really), I posed for a photo with her and Don (who, as you'll recall, was on my panel this year).

The other highlight of NCTE for me was an activity I did not participate in (or even witness). At 6:15 am on Saturday morning, a group of authors and educators met for a game of basketball. I would've joined them but I was picked last enough in high school.

The ones I can name (L-R): 

Laurie Halse Anderson, Loren Long (mostly obscured), 

Chad Everett, Phil Bildner, ?, Cornelius Minor,

Colby Sharp, Travis Jonker, Sara Ahmed, ?

Kwame Alexander, ?, Matt de la Peña

Thank you again to HMH and NCTE for a humbling experience. 

Teachers eating crickets at NCTE

I covered this in my roundup of a whirlwind of a trip—six states in ten days. But of the many highlights, this 30-minute event was so fun that I had to spin it off into its own post as well:

At my book signing at the National Council of Teachers of English convention, at least ten teachers ate crickets.

Yes, I brought crickets (three flavors: salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, bacon and cheese) to NCTE. 

During my book signing on 11/17/17, I displayed them tastefully in three Starbucks oatmeal cups and offered any teacher who ate one a second free book. (Though turns out we didn't have enough, so we instead offered bragging rights.) My editor Nancy Paulsen was my right-hand woman. 

The inspiration for this promotional dare was the title character in The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra, whose unconventional appetite includes an insect that is even more repellent to the average human: the cucaracha (cockroach).

The hashtag #bugforbook took over Twitter.

A four-part sequence:

This woman agreed to do it...only if I did it with her: 

It was wonderful that one teacher tweeted that he would do anything to get kids reading, and this teacher expressed a similarly wonderful sentiment:

#notreally 

But Nancy and I were pleasantly surprised at how many people were willing. Huge props to these good sports and others we may not have captured.

Six states in ten days: AZ, MA, CT, RI, MO, TN

In mid-November, I ping-ponged between six states to speak at seven venues over ten days. It was supposed to be seven states, but the day before I was scheduled to set out, what was to be the first stop, a young author's festival in Pennsylvania, was canceled.

The rundown:

11/9/17 screening of Batman & Bill at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) conference, Phoenix, AZ
11/10/17 travel day
11/11/17 morning: speak at a B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) convention, Marlborough, MA
11/11/17 evening: speak to adults at a synagogue (in fact the synagogue where I became a bar mitzvah in 1985, Temple Beth David), Cheshire, CT
11/12/17 morning: speak to kids at the same synagogue
11/13/17 school visit, Providence, RI
11/14/17 school visit, North Dartmouth, MA
11/15/17 travel day
11/16/17 desk day
11/17/17 panel/signing at the National Council of Teachers of English convention, St. Louis, MO
11/18/17 screening of Batman & Bill at the Memphis Fantasy and Comic Convention, Memphis, TN

In sum: librarian conference to Jewish youth group to synagogue to schools to teacher conference to comicon.

The breakdown:

AASL

Getting there was less exhausting than the last time I went.

Before the conference, I was interviewed on air by Dan Spindle, an ABC affiliate news anchor who earlier in the year had tweeted love for Batman & Bill.

My only commitment at the conference was to introduce the first kidlit conference screening of Batman & Bill, the first documentary based on kidlit, and do a Q&A after. This was a huge honor. Thank you to all who attended, especially for not leaving when you learned there was no popcorn. Here is the room while people were still trickling in:

After the 7:30 pm screening, I met up with fellow kidlitters Jenni Holm and Dan Santat simply to pose for this almost-midnight photo.

BBYO

This organization was the defining experience of my high school years. This was the third time I've had the privilege of speaking at a BBYO event. I love telling the teens that my best friends in BBYO are still my best friends today—and they loved it, too.

synagogue

I was the two-day writer-in-residence for Temple Beth David, the synagogue my family belonged to when I was growing up. Another honor. The one night I was in town happened to coincide with an annual Cheshire fundraiser called Lights of Hope.

It was one of the most peaceful and beautiful public displays I've seen—all the more special because it takes place in my hometown. 

school visit #1: Wheeler School, Providence, RI

This was my third visit to this handsome school; the first two were in 2010, when arose a most curious situation involving the most valuable comic book of all time. 

I'm on way to becoming a regular! Thank you again, Dana Hahn and Liz MacMillan, for making it happen.

school visit #2: Friends Academy, North Dartmouth, MA

Something happened at this school that caught me (and everyone else there) by surprise and will keep the community buzzing for a while.

After an assembly during which I told the Bill Finger story (culminating in the surprise discovery of Bill's granddaughter Athena Finger and the subsequent fight for credit), a teacher said she can add another twist: Athena was her student...in 1984...at this school! 

with teacher Gayle Balestracci 

Then a second teacher told me she taught Athena (and her sister Alethia). Yet another teacher showed me Athena's photos in archived yearbooks. Hundreds of student-made tiles bedeck the walls of the school (an annual tradition), and we found the one Athena designed many moons ago. My new young friend Beckett escorted me to it.

They sold a lot of books:

And drew a lot of chupacabras:

I'm particularly excited about instances where a nonfiction story I wrote leads to a nonfiction story I'm a firsthand witness to or, similarly, when I'm part of any author-related happening that becomes a story in and of itself.

Thank you again, Janice Griffin, for your efforts to bring me to your wonderful school.

NCTE

At my book signing, at least ten teachers ate crickets.

Yes, I brought crickets (three flavors: salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, bacon and cheese) to NCTE. 

During my book signing on 11/17/17, I displayed them tastefully in three Starbucks oatmeal cups and offered any teacher who ate one a second free book. (Though turns out we didn't have enough, so we instead offered bragging rights.) My editor Nancy Paulsen was my right-hand woman. 

The inspiration for this promotional dare was the title character in The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra, whose unconventional appetite includes an insect that is even more repellent to the average human: the cucaracha (cockroach).

The hashtag #bugforbook took over Twitter.

A four-part sequence:

This woman agreed to do it...only if I did it with her:

It was wonderful that one teacher tweeted that he would do anything to get kids reading, and this teacher expressed a similarly wonderful sentiment:

#notreally 

But Nancy and I were pleasantly surprised at how many people were willing. Huge props to these good sports and others we may not have captured.

But the inciting incident that got me to NCTE was not the prospect of forcing unsuspecting educators to swallow bugs but rather a panel I proposed called "Funny, You Don't Seem Educational!" Its purpose: discuss the educational value of humorous picture books. My partners, my posse, my people: Erica Perl, Audrey Vernick, Tammi Sauer, Liz Garton Scanlon, and Josh Funk. Our moderator: Susannah Richards, who is so tireless I think she was moderating another panel in another room at the same time.

We laughed and we learned from each other.

The only time I've been the tallest except 

when posing (as an adult) with third graders

The evening festivities: back-to-back events hosted by Penguin Young Readers. 

First was a cocktail party with authors and teachers in which teachers had to play "Two Truths and a Lie." Not many guessed my lie:

Answer hint: Dr. Seuss did not have children.

Then a lovely dinner.

The arch, from farthest to closest:

On 11/16/17, I enjoyed dinner with Chris Barton, Jenny Ziegler, Dan Santat, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Lisa Yee (first time meeting in person after being connected online for years), and Christina Soontornvat (first time meeting in person). The restaurant:

When making plans and coming from different hotels, Chris texted "Together or separate, we can all make our way toward Polite Society." I think he may have been talking about more than a restaurant…

comicon

We screened the film, I signed movie posters, and I gave a talk to a receptive audience.

Thank you again to Joe Thordarson and the folks at 901 Comics for your interest and hospitality!

Six states + seven venues + ten days would normally equal 23 hours of sleep needed to recover, but not me. Not this time.

I powered through, in large part thanks to the protein I got from eating two crickets.