Christmas Letter 2010

Letters 7

‘Tis the night before Christmas… and I’m writing my Christmas letter.

The beautiful part is that if I do an electronic-only Christmas letter, then this is right on time!

It’s been a crazy year.  Definitely not one I’d want to live over again.  The big question of the year was:  Can God really work EVERYTHING out for the good of those who love him?  Really?  Even divorce and losing the job I love?

The answer of the year was a resounding: YES!

First, I’ll report that, as of today, my divorce from Steve is final.  Both condolences and congratulations are in order.  He was a very good husband for a very long time, and I’m very sad it came to this.

But I am seeing this was a good thing in my life right now.  It was time to let him go.  Clinging wasn’t going to bring about a change of heart, and it was time to settle legal and financial matters between us.  I’d better not say any more than that.

So I’ll only say that it feels incredibly freeing to be a single adult, responsible only for myself and my son.  There are some wonderful things about it.  Life is good!

The job situation didn’t work out at all like I hoped — at first.  At the start of the year, I was Youth Services Manager at Herndon Fortnightly Library, and loving it.  But library budget cuts were looming, and I knew I was likely to lose my job.  What I hoped God would do was give me a better, higher-paying job.  I put out about 30 applications, but only got two interviews, and didn’t win  those.

I also hoped the Board of Supervisors might realize how awful it is for the poor and the kids and the immigrants in the county to lose hours of library service.  And they might have a change of heart about budget cuts.  That didn’t happen either.

So, yes, in May I got a Reduction-in-Force notice.  But a couple weeks later they offered me a job in another county agency at the same pay grade.  So for half of this year, I was a Management Analyst in Childcare Provider Services.  Basically, I was a cog in the bureaucracy of adminstering the USDA Food Program.  (And it is mountainous bureaucracy!)  I did enjoy the job.  I loved not having to serve the public, and I loved getting to listen to music all day long.  And the people I worked with were fantastic.  I also learned that I am not only detail-oriented, I am freakishly detail-oriented.

But it did bother me that the job was much, much less responsibility and much, much less difficult than being a librarian — and didn’t require a Master’s degree like a Librarian job does — yet it was the same pay grade.  Something’s wrong with this picture.  (But working in a library is so great, they can get us to do it for lower pay than we deserve.)

So, the good that came to me through that job was a continued paycheck — and evenings and weekends off.  I used the time to go to several book-related conferences, which were the highlight of my year.  It confirmed that I am a Children’s Librarian by calling, and I had a wonderful time, learning librarian tips and making connections in the kidlit and book world.

The biggest highlight was the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet as part of the American Library Association Annual Conference.  A friend bought several tables, so I got to sit with friends, too.  And of course the highlight of ALA is meeting lots of incredible authors and hearing them speak.

Below, I’m meeting  Grace Lin, a Newbery Honoree:

Then here I am with Jessica Day George, whose books I love:

And I simply have to include John Green and David Levithan, joint authors of Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which I actually had on my bedside table with my bookmark a couple chapters in when I met them.

And of course the picture book genius, Mo Willems:

And the teen books genius, M. T. Anderson, who had nice things to say about how bad it is to cut library funding (in response to my shirt).

Okay, I’d better stop!  Other book events of the year were the National Book Festival, Author Talks by Garth Stein, Ann Patchett, and Jacqueline Woodson, the MAYALIG (Metro Area Young Adult Librarians’ Interest Group) conference with Catherine Gilbert Murdock, and finally the Horn Book Colloquium at Simmons in Boston.  I had a lovely October weekend in Boston for that trip, but the huge highlight was when, at the end of it, I ran into one of my absolute favorite authors, Megan Whalen Turner, in the airport.

We’d already talked a little bit — She knew I was a huge fan from some things I’d said online.  We both had some time before our flights left, and while we were waiting, she sat with me and we ate and talked for an hour.  It was just lovely, and I felt like I made a friend — with one of the most brilliant authors writing for children today!

Here I am with Megan Whalen Turner at the Horn Book Colloquium:

You get the idea!  Lots and lots of inspiring talks about books and meeting lots and lots of authors and feeling very much a part of the kidlit book community, even if I wasn’t currently working as a Librarian.

I also actually kept my New Year’s Resolution for 2010 — I worked on writing books for at least 30 minutes every single day (so far)!  And I’m happy to report that I finished a book, a middle grade novel, and I plan to start submitting it to agents right away in the new year.  I’m hoping that at last my time has come, and I will find a publisher!  So maybe next time I meet all those authors, I will be one of them.  We shall see….

But in November, everything seemed to turn around at once.

First, the afternoon before our scheduled court dates, Steve signed the agreement my lawyer had written — so we did not have to have a court battle, and I did not even have to face him in court.

Then two days later, Tim and I flew to California for Thanksgiving Break, where I got to spend time with my family and friends, and had a beautiful, restoring five days.  I was totally rested and rejuvenated.

Here I am with four of my wonderful sisters:

And I got to see my son Josh, who lives in North Hollywood and recently moved into an apartment with my brother Peter.  They both work for IQ Joe, making Zoom Math, software that makes graphing calculators much easier to use.

Here are my two sons together:

Tim, by the way, is doing great.  He got straight A’s first semester!  He’s a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, so that’s a noteworthy accomplishment.  I made a deal with him back in 9th grade that I wouldn’t hassle him about doing his homework if he would DO it — never dreaming that he would actually take me up on that offer!  He’s an easy-going person to live with, except when I try to wake him up in the morning.  He and I went to the Rally for Sanity in Washington, DC, on October 30, and both thoroughly enjoyed it.  (And he will be old enough to vote in the next presidential election!  Look out!)

When I got back from California, they told me I could step into the job of a librarian who had retired.

So for three weeks now, I have been a Librarian again!  And I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Librarian is the right job for me.  I’m currently not in the Youth Services department, but I still get to help kids who come to the Information Desk with questions.  I’m working at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, and I’m enjoying learning to use the Virginia Room, where we have a treasure trove of local history and genealogical materials.  I’m also processing reference books, which is quite different from what I did before, so I’m enjoying learning some new things.  And just reveling in being in the right place for me.

So — the year didn’t turn out at all like it would have if I were in charge of the world.  But I definitely like the way it turned out!

This Christmas, I even got to sing with a caroling group.  Thanks to all my years of being in choirs, singing at Christmas time is one of the most important parts of the holiday for me.  Tonight we sang in the Christmas Eve service.  It was a lovely service, with lots and lots of joyous music.  The theme was that Jesus was Emmanuel — God with us.  It reminded me, in a glorious way, that God has been with me this difficult year, and He has been wonderfully faithful.

Wishing you a Joyous Christmas!

Sondy Eklund

Christmas Havoc

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Some verses in Isaiah 54 and 55 have meant a lot to me during the whole divorce process.  Particularly Isaiah 54:15 and 17 whenever any mention of the trial came up.

So, in preparation for going to court, for the last few weeks, I’ve been having my quiet times in Isaiah 54 and 55.  Today it just so happened that the rather odd verse came up that is right in between those two powerful verses for facing a court case.

Isaiah 54:16 —

“See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame
and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc.”

Today, when I read those words about the destroyer working havoc, all I could think about is Christmas.

Last night, at Home Fellowship, one of the men mentioned that this week he told his kids,  “Kids, Christmas is going to break your mother.”  It became a saying, because we felt like it could apply to all the mothers present!

This morning I slept super late, and I was very discouraged — I had planned to do so much to prepare for Christmas today!  I’m working six days in a row next week.  Now how on earth will I get it all done?

So I thought about Christmas when I read, “It is I who have created the Destroyer to work havoc.”

Surely it’s true that God created Christmas.  But where did the havoc come from?  Why does Christmas destroy our peace of mind?

I think it’s American culture that heaps expectations on Christmas, especially on Moms.  We’re supposed to make everything perfect — gifts for everyone, parties, projects, decorations, baking and cooking, everything has to be just so.  In Germany, the Germans didn’t seem nearly so over-the-top about Christmas.  But Americans go overboard with everything.

Why would God allow all these expectations to grow up around the celebration of the birth of His Son?  Why would He let Christmas become so full of havoc?

I got to thinking that maybe we need it to be havoc in order to take a good look at all those expectations.  Maybe it’s God’s grace that the expectations have gotten to be more than any one person could ever possibly meet.  Maybe it forces us to take a look and decide only to do what we can, and what’s meaningful to us.

After all, who will be happy if we really do get everything absolutely perfect?  Will our kids really care?  Do our friends and family want us to go into debt?  Do they care if maybe our gifts are a few days late?  If our decorating causes more stress than smiles, is it really worth it?

Anyway, thinking about Christmas as a Destroyer working Havoc this morning made me smile.  It helped me take it all less seriously and lighten up.  I did what I could, and the rest will have to wait.  And if stress drives out joy, it’s just not worth it.

I don’t want to think of Christmas as Havoc.  I want to think of it as Joy.

2010 Printz Awards

ALA, Librarians, YA Authors 2

The final day of ALA Annual Conference — June 28, 2010 — was an exhausting frenzy of acquiring books!

I did go to some sessions:  One on Research and Statistics that I found interesting because of the practical use of math involved — but more applicable to academic librarians than it would be to me.

I also went to the ALSC  Poetry Blast, which was simply fun — hearing poets for children read and recite their own work.

I did catch several book signings.  One of the ones I was most excited about was M. T. Anderson.  I have been convinced he is brilliant ever since I read Feed, was further confirmed in that opinion when I heard his 2007 Printz Honor speech, and was absolutely convinced when I read Octavian Nothing.

I got to chat with him for a bit, and he had some insightful things to say about cuts to libraries.  I’m only a bigger fan now.  Here I am posing with him:

It was the last day of the exhibits, so prices on books got lower and lower until they were free.  I made three trips back to my car!  It was hot, so that was probably not smart — I was completely wiped out that night.  But it was a situation where I was simply incapable of resisting.

Here’s my son amazed at my loot the next day:

If I remember right, I came home from the four days with 124 books, 27 of which were signed by the author!  Very cool!  Here’s a closer look at the titles:

The day finished off with the Printz Awards.  I found a seat right behind Diana Peterfreund, author of Ascendant, and Ally Carter.  John Green’s in the row ahead of them:

The speeches were inspiring.  I love that at the Printz Awards, all the Honor recipients also have to give a speech.  They do a fine job!  We heard speeches by Adam Rapp, Deborah Heiligman, Rick Yancey, John Barnes, and finally the Award winner, Libba Bray.

Libba is full of overflowing exuberance!

A couple of good quotes from her speech:

“There is a place where amazing parallel universes do exist.  It’s called the Library.”

Laughter is defiance, but also acceptance.

“Every time you read a book, it’s a strike against ignorance… unless you’re reading Sarah Palin.”

(Sorry for those who don’t like that last quote.  I loved it, myself.)

During the reception afterward, I got to congratulate most of the winners.

Here I am with Libba Bray:

Here is an Honor winner, Rick Yancey:

And another Honor winner, John Barnes:

Finally, here I am with John Green:

After that, alas! my camera batteries completely died.  But I had great conversations with more authors whom I am  in awe of like Nancy Werlin, Rebecca Stead, Libba Bray, Laurie Halse Anderson, Linda Sue Park, Diana Peterfreund, Ally Carter, John Green, MT Anderson, and more whom I’m afraid I’m forgetting because I didn’t get their picture.

As I mentioned above, I’m convinced that MT Anderson is brilliant.  Several of us librarians were standing around him talking to him, and I think John Green got kind of jealous.  He’s used to being the center of crazy fans!  Though we were more than happy to talk to him, too.  Of course, the last time I went to the Printz Awards, in 2007, I heard both of them speak and was very impressed.

I went home from ALA completely exhausted.  What with three trips to the car loaded down with all the books I could carry in the blazing heat, and not managing to find a place to buy dinner — so only having cake — I woke up in the middle of the night and almost fainted.  I suspected dehydration, but maybe it was just overexcitement from a truly fabulous and memorable and inspiring weekend.

When I went to ALA, I had just spent my first week not working at the library, after being RIF’d.  So I was feeling very sad and discouraged — but ALA picked me right back up.  It confirmed that, in my heart, I AM a Librarian, no matter what job I currently hold.

I also felt, more than ever, that I’m part of a fantastic community of children’s librarians and writers and readers and bloggers.  They are my people, and it’s getting where I actually know a lot of them.  And that feels great!

The 2010 Newbery/Caldecott Banquet

ALA, Books, Librarians 4

Sunday, June 27, 2010.  I drove back into DC for the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet and experienced the highlight of my whole year.

I went three years ago, sat in the back, didn’t really dress up, and didn’t see a soul I knew — but still loved it.  This year was totally different except the loving it part.  Susan Kusel, founder of the wonderful DC Kidlit Book Club, got TEN tables close to the front.  I talked four other Fairfax County Librarians into going and was surrounded by people I knew from the book club or by reputation for their books.  And I’d gotten bold during the week, happily introducing myself to authors everywhere I turned.

And I bought a dress!  I ordered it, so it was a bit of a risk, but I loved the color and the fact that it matched the shawl I’d knitted so beautifully.  Here I am after the banquet, completely happy:

The evening started with stars of the publishing world milling around with cocktails. 

Here are School Library Journal Bloggers Extraordinaire, the two Elizabeth B’s: Betsy Bird and Liz Burns.  They are helping with the ALA Red Carpet videos.

The first night of ALA, I bought Betsy’s book,  Children’s Literature Gems: Choosing and Using Them in Your Library Career, and I’d been carrying it around all weekend, hoping to meet her and have her sign it.  But alas!  Due to a sprained ankle, she didn’t get to the SCBWI Kidlit Drink Night, and the only time I saw her, at the Newbery Banquet, was the only time I hadn’t brought the book.

Betsy always wears tattoos in honor of the winners:

In honor of the Caldecott winner, The Lion and the Mouse, Betsy wore illustrations of lions and mice from classic children’s books.

In honor of the Newbery winner, When You Reach Me, Betsy has tattooed on important words that someone needed to remember from the book.

I hung out and watched the Red Carpet interviews for a bit, but they didn’t ask to interview me.  (Can you imagine?)

Here are two authors whose books I’ve enjoyed, Jim Averbeck and Laurie Halse Anderson:

I saw Richie Partington and introduced myself to him.  He’s one of my Facebook friends because we took an online class on the Newbery Medal together. 

Richie is also the sort of person editors walk up to and introduce authors to!  I was chatting with Richie when a Scholastic editor walked up to him and introduced the two authors she was with.  What was I to do?  I was NOT going to walk away, believe me!  So as the group was chatting, they naturally turned to me to begin chatting, too.  One of the authors was Brian Floca, a distinguished author and illustrator and author of the recent Moonshot:

By this time my friend and fellow librarian, Nancy Bronez, joined me and took the picture. 

Next, I saw Laurie Halse Anderson, whom I’d met at the YA Author Coffe Klatch that morning, so I introduced Nancy and myself to her.  Nancy and I both admire her work very much.

The next person I accosted was Jon Scieszka.  I’m a huge fan of his — as you can tell by my attendance at his workshop Saturday and my lurking to take his picture earlier that afternoon.  Now I was thrilled at a chance to get my picture with him.

Looking at the picture above after the fact, it strikes me as hilarious that the sign behind Jon, with an arrow pointing to his head says, “Restrooms are to the Left.”  Since he has a little boy prankster’s heart, smile, and laugh, this struck me as wonderfully appropriate!

The doors opened, and we found our seats and connected with the other FCPL Librarians.  Since I had just been RIF’d and had begun working that week at the Office for Children instead of the library, it was very good to see them.

Here’s Nancy Ryan, my branch manager at Herndon:

Even though Nancy is not a children’s librarian, I have converted her into an even more devoted Mo Willems fan than I am myself.  So when I saw him at a nearby table, we had to go over and introduce ourselves and get pictures:

First, Nancy and Mo:

Next, me and Mo:

Here are the other ladies at our table, two of whom are members of the DC Kidlit Book Club, Patty Reeber, Genie Bailey, and Susan Sikorski.

And here are the other four librarians from Fairfax County Public Library, Nancy Ryan, Gena Bos, Susan Fay, and Nancy Bronez:

And here we are all together and looking at the camera:

Next, more schmoozing.  First, I snagged some authors who were also at Susan Kusel’s tables. 

Sara Lewis Holmes is a fellow member of the DC Kidlit Book Club and organized the SCBWI Kidlit Drink Night on Friday.  I’ve reviewed her book Letters from Rapunzel.

Then I introduced myself to Jim Averbeck.  When I reviewed his book, In a Blue Room, I had no idea he was so handsome!

And next, I had to introduce myself to Tanita Davis, author of this year’s Coretta Scott King Honor book, Mare’s War.

Then at a nearby table, I saw the warm and delightful Soroj Ghoting, a speaker for ALA who had just done a workshop I’d attended at FCPL:

Then the presentation of the awards began.  The speeches were fabulous and inspiring. 

First, here’s Jerry Pinkney speaking about the Caldecott Award:

I think everyone in that room was thrilled for Jerry.  He has won FIVE Caldecott Honor Awards — and The Lion and the Mouse was absolutely brilliant.  As you can tell from my review, I wanted it to win from the moment I first read it.  And once I’d heard this nice man speak, I was all the more happy for him!

Then came the Newbery Award and honors.  Here’s Rebecca Stead speaking:

Rebecca wrote When You Reach Me, another book I was very happy to see win the gold.  I loved Rebecca’s speech.  She talked about knee-knocking joy and helped all of us experience her humbled thrill of this incredible validation.  Again, I got the impression that a super nice person had won an incredible award, and I couldn’t help be thrilled for her.

Afterward, it was time for more pictures with the friends I’d shared the fabulous night with.  Here are the FCPL ladies again:

Here I am with Nancy Bronez:

Here I am with Nancy Ryan:

 

Here are some cute toes belonging to Nancy Ryan and Gena!

And here I am with the Banquet sign behind me:

On our way out of the banquet room, we saw Susan Kusel, who organized getting seats at TEN tables.  She was still pretty stressed out, though, and couldn’t stop for long:

The expressions on both our faces made me laugh!

We wrapped up a beautiful night by standing in the receiving line to congratulate the winners.  The ALSC folks were very nice, and had someone in front of each winner to tell you whom you were meeting!  I figured it wouldn’t be polite to flash a camera in their faces when I met them, so I took a couple pictures ahead of time:

And another part of the line that included Rebecca Stead:

The whole evening was a peak experience for me.  I was thrilled to meet these authors I so admired, proud to be a children’s librarian (whatever my current job), happy to be with fellow lovers of children’s books, and happy to be a writer and determined to keep at it.  All in all, I was inspired!

Sunday Schmoozing

ALA, Books, YA Authors 1

Well, I wanted to blog all about ALA — and now it’s been a couple of months.  However, I really do want to relive it and post all the pictures with authors I admire.

Sunday after the YA Author Coffee Klatch, I was in a mood for author signings!  I went to several and got signatures but not pictures, but did get a few pictures with authors whose books I’d already read and enjoyed:

Here I am with Jessica Day George:

Here’s the review I’d recently written of her latest book, Princess of Glass.  I was happy to get a signed copy!

Another author I met was Tom Angleberger, author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.

One session I did want to be sure to go to was to hear Will Shortz speak.  Yes, he’s a big famous puzzle guy now, but I remember doing his puzzles in Dell Magazines when I was a little girl.  (Sure enough!  When they talked about his bio, he worked for Dell Magazines in the 70s.)

I thoroughly enjoyed his talk.  He told some secrets about making puzzles, and ended off with a competition between the two sides of the room.  (My side won!  Woo-hoo!)  I had some signings I wanted to get to and didn’t want to wait in the long line after that, and he was signing crossword books, not logic puzzles or the types of puzzles I prefer, so I went back down to the exhibits.  But here he is signing books:

Back at the exhibits, I almost ran into Mo Willems and Jon Scieszka.  I couldn’t stay away from that!  I did some serious lurking and picture snapping.  I got to tell Jon Scieszka that I have more brothers than he does.  (Hey, you think of whatever you can say.)  And I told Mo Willems that I was wearing his Elephant and Piggie design t-shirt yesterday.  (Oh well.  He said he would have signed it.)  Oh, and I talked to Casey, Jon Scieszka’s daughter.  She was very nice, and I’m going to watch for her graphic novel coming out soon.

Here are the pictures I took while lurking:

Mo’s on the left, Jon’s on the right, and Casey’s wearing purple.

I always say that Jon has the smile and laugh of a mischievous little boy.  His daughter agrees that he never grew up.

I think they were discussing the Book Cart Drill Team Championships that afternoon, which they would host.  I saw them host it three years ago, and was very very sorry to miss it this time — but I was scheduled to go home and get the shawl I accidentally left at home, but while I was at it take a little nap and change clothes for the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet.

On the way back to the car, I stopped at a Bookmobile that had been set up with a project to record hundreds of people’s voices reading The Wizard of Oz.  It was a lot of fun — I’ve read the book aloud to both my boys and loved it as a child myself.

Imagine my delight, though, when the person who walked into the booth after me was Grace Lin, scheduled to receive her Newbery Honor Award that very night!  For the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.  I was so excited to meet her, the person reading ahead of me had to do a couple extra takes because I was too noisy.  But when the production is finished, I’m reading the page right before Grace Lin!

Here I am with her, thrilled to meet her:

And here she is reading her page from The Wizard of Oz:

So, like I said, I’m disappointed it’s taking me so long to post about ALA, but now I’m up to the highlight of the whole weekend.  My next post will be about the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet.

YA Author Coffee Klatch

ALA, Books, YA Authors 0

I’m taking a long time to write about ALA because life is interfering.

I got RIF’d from my job as a Youth Services Librarian, but I was fortunate enough that the county found me a job as part of the RIF process.  I’m a Management Analyst for the Office for Children, Provider Services.  I’ll be managing data, but I will probably also get to talk to providers about Early Literacy and how the libraries can help them serve the children under their care.

I’m a little bit annoyed that my new job is at the same paygrade as the Librarian position.  It does not require a Master’s degree, like the Librarian position did.  It doesn’t supervise anyone.  It doesn’t deal with the public.  It’s much less stress and much better hours.  The catch, of course, is that I feel a tremendous calling as a children’s librarian — ALA confirmed that strongly.

It turns out that the county sets the pay grade based on what the surrounding counties pay the same position.  So it’s not that this county undervalues librarians — it’s that librarians are undervalued as a profession.  However, it is enough to get by on, as long as I’m still getting child support, and my Dad is helping me pay my student loans.  But the nice part of keeping paychecks coming is that I can pay rent.  Yay!

And in the meantime, I’ve been applying for corporate and school librarian positions, and now have an interview for a Youth Services Manager position in a neighboring county!  So we’ll see…  Maybe I can get back to being a children’s librarian.

And I love meeting authors!  That’s what the YA Author Coffee Klatch is all about.

I admit that Sunday morning, I had a lot of trouble getting out of bed.  I had very much wanted to go to the first hour of the session “Children’s and YA Book Blogs: Enhancing Library Services.”  But alas!  Trying to get there by 8:00 only meant that I was there on time for the 9:00 YA Author Coffee Klatch, which I’d bought a ticket for.

The worst thing was that they didn’t even bring coffee to the tables — you had to stand in line.  I wasn’t early enough to want to risk not meeting an author for the sake of coffee.

Basically, we had an extra seat at each table, and we had 6 authors spend 10 minutes with us.  It wasn’t time to really talk to them — they talked about their books.  But it was cool to meet them, and they talked me into reading some of their books.  Here are the authors I met that morning:

Carrie Jones was tremendously nice and did talk me into getting a signed copy of her book later.

James Kennedy was a lot of fun.  His book sounds quite bizarre — the perfect thing to give my son for his 16th birthday.  I decided then and there to be sure to go to the author’s book signing and purchase a copy.  I thoroughly enjoyed James Kennedy’s sense of humor, and am looking forward to reading the book myself.

Next, we met Simone Elkeles.  I later saw her book signing and bought a copy of her latest book.

Next was Holly Black.  I already had her latest book, White Cat, in one of the piles in my bedroom.  After she talked about the book, I planned to put it on the top of the pile.  Sure enough, since then I have read it, and it’s intriguing and fabulous.  Holly talked about how in that world, people can curse you by touching your skin with their hand.  So everyone wears gloves, and seeing bare hands feels far too intimate.  Fascinating!  My review is coming soon.

Here’s Richard Smith, pitching The Marbury Lens.  He made it sound fascinating, but a little on the scary side for me.

This is the amazing Laurie Halse Anderson, who just keeps winning awards.  She pitched Wintergirls, telling us some background behind it, and also the upcoming sequel to Chains.

Deborah Heiligman had one of the most interesting stories-behind-the-book to tell.  She was a religious studies major, and her husband had written an award-winning book about evolution.  Charles and Emma is the story of Charles Darwin’s marriage to a deeply religious woman, and how their partnership made both of them better people.  Deborah Heiligman convinced me to be sure to pick up a signed copy later.

 

 

Then came Carol Lynch Williams, pitching her new book, Glimpse.  I have heard good things about her earlier book, Chosen, and was convinced to give her books a try.

Finally, our table was visited by Kekla Magoon, another author whose book, The Rock and the River, I’ve heard great things about.  That’s the only problem with ALA:  My list of books I really want to read gets so much longer!

After the authors had visited tables, all the authors (there were lots more) posed for a group shot:

I was thrilled to meet some of them, like Rebecca Stead (!) in the milling around afterward.

All in all, it was a great time to meet people who have done it — they have gotten published!  And they are nice people, who enjoy talking about their work.  I wanted to read books by all of them!

First Full Day of ALA 2010

ALA, Books, YA Authors 0

Saturday, June 26, 2010, I woke up bright and early and excited to go to ALA.  I drove in — funny thing, but there’s no traffic early on a Saturday — and had no trouble and even made it to the 8:00 session! 

Saturday was a day of lots of great sessions of learning and inspiration.  First up, at 8:00, I went to a session called “Listen Up!  Using Audiobooks to Motivate Boys to Become Readers” featuring a panel that included the illustrious Ambassador Emeritus of Children’s Literature, the hilarious Jon Scieszka, He Who Laughs Like a Little Boy Getting into Trouble.

Jon and the rest of the panel talked about how audiobooks can help reluctant readers (particularly boys) see themselves as readers.   They talked about all the great things that happen when children listen to audiobooks.  Jon is adding a new part to his Guys Read website called Guys Listen.  It has some great resources.  If I become an elementary school librarian, or even if I go back to being a public librarian, I want to come back to this site and this information to convince parents and teachers how great audiobooks can be for kids. 

Oh, they also showed the hilarious clip which you’ll find on the Guys Listen site that promotes Jon’s new Guys Read collection of funny stories.  The clip is of the writers of the funny stories all telling parts of a joke.  I want that book!

After that session, I tried to get to the session called Move Over Dick and Jane: Reconsidering Books for Beginning Readers, about how beginning readers are changing.  However, in that room, there were no seats left, and I learned three years ago that it’s no fun to go to an ALA session and sit on the floor.

So instead, I went to hear Sue Monk Kidd and Anne Kidd Taylor talk about collaborating together on their book Traveling With Pomegranates.  It was wonderful!  I’ve recently been reading several meditative books by Sue Monk Kidd, so it was a thrill to meet her.

Some things she said that I liked:

Memoir is about backward understanding.

It’s always a reach for wholeness when you write memoir.

Memoir can create wholeness in the reader as well.  [That says it for me.  When I join an author on her journey seeking wholeness, it indeed helps me find it myself.]

To write memoir, you need an authentic willingness to be known, a unilateral disarming.

Aging is about the process of letting go of what is leaving anyway and letting something new grow.

After their talk, I got in line, and the publisher gave everyone a free copy of Traveling with Pomegranates, which both authors signed.  I was completely inspired and uplifted by the time I walked away.

Next on my schedule was the Margaret Edwards Award Luncheon, honoring Jim Murphy for his lifetime achievement in the field of literature for young people.  Jim Murphy writes amazingly immediate nonfiction for children.  There was a copy of one of his books on our chairs.  I got to sit next to blogger Liz Burns, and Fairfax County Librarian Shannon Seglin was nearby, sitting at the School Library Journal table.

After a yummy lunch, Jim Murphy spoke about his process of writing and getting at primary sources, and his innate curiosity that fuels his great books.  He had some nice stories of serendipitously discovering material that later became the meat of his classic books.

After lunch, I went to a session called, “Everyone’s a Critic: The Future of Book Reviewing.”  The panel included the founder of GoodReads, a New York Times Book Critic, and a blogger and librarian, moderated by a reviewer from Booklist.

The session was interesting and fun to listen to.  All the panelists agreed that there is room for everyone, that the different review sources have different purposes.  They did point out that one of the strong points of professional book reviewers is that they are excellent essayists.  Their reviews are good reading, whether you want to read the book or not.

Next, I rushed down to the exhibits and got two books signed by Diana Peterfreund.  I met her back in October at the Kidlitosphere Conference, a few days after I had written a review raving about Rampant.  One of the Advance Reader Copies I was the very most excited to get was her sequel, Ascendant.  It’s not out until October, and now I don’t have to wait!  I also bought my own personal copy of Rampant for her to sign since I liked it so much. Killer unicorns rule!

And right next to Diana, who should be signing but Sarah Blake, the author of the excellent book sitting on my bedside table at the time, about three-quarters done, The Postmistress.  While I was there, I got a signed copy.  Very cool!

After that, I went to “Science Fiction and Fantasy: Informing the Present by Imagining the Future.”  This wasn’t so much a panel discussion as it was five distinguished authors speaking on that topic.  They were good!

Here are some things I particularly liked that they said:

Dom Testa  (He’s on the far right behind a fan.)

The visionaries provoke us into thinking.  Their greatest contributions are their ideas.

Science Fiction can be the driving force behind good things, not just defense against bad things.

Jane Lindskold (on the far right at the table — the rest proceed across to the left.)

Give kids something a little different: Imagination is key in any endeavor.

Libraries are the best place for the combination of knowledge and imagination to happen.

Cory Doctorow

Science Fiction writers are always really writing about the present.

Writers also inspire the future.

Science Fiction allows people to vividly imagine the future consequences of their decisions today.

Science Fiction today is an inherently activist literature.

Cherie Priest

Science Fiction and Fantasy is talking about us right now — especially Steampunk.

“Steampunk is what happens when Goths discover brown.”

With Steampunk, you get to go back and change the rules that bound you.

In Steampunk, if you’re not having fun you’re not doing it right.

It looks to the future by looking to the past.

Brandon Sanderson

Our culture has a fetish for the “real.”

SF and Fantasy write about real things “with dragons” or “in space.”

Fantasy writers are talking about NOW.

When people are more important than ideas, that brings people together and does great things for our world.

***

Alas!  The only thing I didn’t like about that session was that even though I got there before they started, I did not get one of the bags of books the publishers were passing out, to get signed after the talk.  They definitely got me wanting to read their work.  (Brandon Sanderson is the only one of them whose work I have read — and I did get a signed copy of his second Alcatraz book that morning.)

After so much inspiration, I finished the day off by going to the Opening General Session with Toni Morrison speaking.  Good stuff!

I didn’t stay for evening programs, because I was hoping to get plenty of sleep and get there bright and early the next morning for the bloggers’ session.  Unfortunately, I got to posting pictures on Facebook and was way too excited to sleep.  The next day was the pinnacle of the conference…

ALA Annual Conference 2010

ALA, Books, Photos, YA Authors 1

It’s been more than a week since ALA finished, and I had a wonderful time.  Time to report!

I’d had four days at my new job as a Management Analyst for the Office for Children, Provider Services.  It’s a nice job, very peaceful, but it’s not a librarian position.

Going to ALA Annual Conference this year was a no-brainer, since I wouldn’t have to pay for travel (except parking) or a hotel.  And it ended up being a peak experience.  Three years ago, ALA Annual was in DC and I went and was inspired.  But that time, I didn’t see a soul I knew.  This time, every day I saw librarians I’d worked with, bloggers I’d met, and authors whose books I’d reviewed.  I felt like part of the great big wonderful Kidlit community, and it felt good.  I did realize that I am a Librarian by calling, not just by job.

The first night, the main thing going on was the opening of the Exhibits.  I happily filled my bag with free books.  And then I looked up and saw an author I admire, whose newest book was sitting on my bedside stand, a few chapters in:  John Green.

I didn’t come up with anything especially clever to say, but I managed to ask if I could get a picture with him and with his co-author (of that book on my bedside stand) David Levithan:

(David’s on the left, John’s on the right.)

I also went to see the Peachtree book and found my friend and Writing Sister Kristin Wolden Nitz’s new book Suspect prominently displayed.  It will be out in the Fall, and they were giving away Advance Reader Copies.

I finished up the night at the SCBWI sponsored KidLit Drink Night.  Right away, I met Karen Cushman!  Author of The Midwife’s Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy, among other great books.

I met lots more authors, some published and some unpublished (like me), and many whom I knew from the DC KidLit Book Club.  I was hoping to meet Betsy Bird of the Fuse #8 Blog, but unfortunately she was in the Emergency Room with a sprained ankle.  I did meet my friend Kristin’s agent and lots of other fascinating people. 

Then I lugged my books home on the Metro and resolved to drive for the rest of the conference.  It was a nice beginning!  Already I’d gotten lots of cool books, met wonderful people, and schmoozed with authors and bloggers and agents and librarians.  And that was in only a few hours.  There were three more long days to come!

A Job!

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So, I told about my RIF Notice, but I never told about the happy follow-up.  I was granted a placement.  Human Resources looks for a vacancy at the same pay grade in another county agency and looks at your resume to find one where you might possibly be able to fit.

It was a big surprise.  The day before, they had offered me a half-time Librarian I position.  I had to do a lot of agonizing.  Is half a job better than no job?  I’d need Unemployment compensation either way — I definitely can’t make ends meet in a half-time job.

I decided to turn it down, so they asked me to come in to the office and sign off that I was not interested in any part-time placement.  When I did, they showed me two Management Analyst I positions!  Now, admittedly I was a little annoyed that these were the same paygrade as a Librarian I, yet they don’t require a Master’s degree (like a Librarian position does) and they don’t supervise anyone (like my position did).  However, I did feel like I could do the work — and my paychecks would continue!

So — for three days now, I’ve been working as a Management Analyst I for Family Services, the Office for Children, Community Education and Provider Services.  Basically, we issue permits for family day care homes that have too few children to be licensed by the state.  We also manage the USDA Food Program for all the providers in the county, including School Age Childcare Centers and Head Start programs.

It looks like my job will mainly be managing data, which I admit I find interesting.  I’ll also do quite a bit of unannounced visits to monitor compliance with the USDA Food Program.  So maybe I’ll get to see kids after all.

I am really sad to be away from the books and book lovers of the library, and the sweet children with their parents.  (The not sweet ones?  Not so much!)  However, there are some perks.  The biggest is that I am still getting paid!  But also the hours are much much nicer — 8:00 to 4:30, instead of two days a week 12:30 to 9:00 pm, as I would have to do at the library once the hours are changed.  No more weekends either. 

It was strange to come into work and not have to scramble to get the library open!  And I don’t have to worry about problems with the building or customer complaints!  I’m laughing afresh at people who think the library is a calm and peaceful and quiet place to work.  Working in an office is about a hundred times quieter!  And without having to be open to the public, they are very flexible about working hours, so I could change my schedule if I found it was too hard to get there by 8:00.  (So far, I’m almost making it!)

Now, I admit that I will still be looking for a librarian position.  I got that Master’s in Library Science to become a librarian.  However, it’s nice to be looking while I actually have a job — and it looks like I’m going to enjoy this job very much while I have it.   So who could ask for anything more?

Words of Comfort

God's Love, Guidance 0

This weekend, I’m doing Mother Reader‘s 48-Hour Book Challenge.  The Challenge is to spend as much time as possible in a 48-hour period reading and blogging.  Though the challenge is targeted to book bloggers, I didn’t see anything in the rules that declared you had to confine your blogging to blogging about books.  So I think this will be a good time to blog about my last eventful few weeks.

On Tuesday, May 11, what I feared happened — I got a RIF notice.  Due to the library budget cuts, they were having a “Reduction in Force.”  The people who got notices were determined by seniority.  I knew that I was right around the cut-off of who would get RIF’d.  And, sure enough, when they gave me the RIF packet, I was told that I was the most senior Librarian I to get RIF’d.  That’s actually rather a good thing — it gives me a better chance of getting placed somewhere else in the county, since placement is also done in order of seniority.

I half-expected it, but there was no denying that I was sad.  I loved my job as a youth services manager — a children’s librarian.  My co-workers at Herndon Fortnightly Library were wonderful.  I worked there more than two years, and it was a wonderful job.  I had a Mother Goose program with babies a few days later, and it dawned on me how much I will miss those sweet babies.

But God provided me with three most gracious things in the day after I got the notice.

First, on the morning of the day I got the notice, when I strongly suspected that my boss had gotten a call from Library Human Resources, and I was going to get a notice that day, a song I’d heard on the radio kept going through my head.  Here’s the song:

One of the primary emotions I was feeling was fear. How would I pay my rent? What if I didn’t find a job? Would I have to give up having work that was so meaningful to me, that did good for the community, that helped people, including small children and families?

When I was driving home from work after getting the RIF notice, I was listening to a book on CD. When the book finished, the radio came on — and they were playing that exact same song, right at the start.

With words like “Be strong in the Lord.  Don’t give up hope,” “Don’t live life in fear,” and “God’s got his hand on you,” “You’re gonna do great things,” and “Take your time and pray,” the song was just exactly what I needed to hear. God was still in control, I was still in His plan, and things were going to be okay.

The second comforting message from God was in a card from my boss, which showed up on my desk after she left work.  The Sunday before was Mother’s Day, and our pastor had three women from the church give the message.  One of them, a friend of mine, has gone through similar things to what God’s been bringing me through.  She talked about how her life fell completely apart, but God found a way to tell her:  Be still.  Listen to me.  That part of the message truly resonated for me.

Then, on the card from my boss, it said: 

“All the truth and beauty,
all the peace and strength you are seeking
are right there in your heart…
Be still and listen.
Be brave and believe.”

The “Be still and listen” resonated with Sunday’s message, and the next line, “Be brave and believe” reminded me that the reason I do not need to fear is that I truly believe that God can work even this out for good.

A third thing truly touched my heart and felt like it was coming straight to my heart from God.  That was in an e-mail from my friend Mabel who is in my Life Group (a small group from my church that meets weekly to share our lives together).

I read her e-mail the day after I got the RIF notice.  I had been having a low-grade headache since I got the news.  I hadn’t been able to sleep much at all that night, and I was feeling tired and sad and beaten down.

She gave me the verse Revelation 3:8 — “I know your deeds.  See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.  I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

She talked about the verse in the e-mail, and how encouraging that was!  Yes, I felt that I had absolutely no strength left.  I had applied to 18 different places, and hadn’t heard anything back except a few rejections.  I had a job that I felt was following God’s calling for me — but now I was losing it.

As God reminded me through Mabel — I am still in God’s hands.

I was a little proud that, after my husband left me, I got my Master’s in Library and Information Science and landed a good job as a librarian.  Now this RIF notice reminded me that this job, was a gift from God, coming exactly when I needed it.  Losing my job felt like a door closing, and I was applying for some jobs that simply didn’t sound as inspiring.  But God was going to open a door for me that no one can shut.  I am safe in His hands.

How good to be reminded of that!

So, God allowed me to go through a dark valley, but He sent me three special words of comfort at the same time.  He is good, and He is loving.