Back From SLJ and BEA!

So, technically I got back on Tuesday evening, and I never even mentioned I was going, but regardless of these facts, I'm back! Did you miss me? No? Oh well.

Anyhoot, I had a great few days up north, first visiting family and friends and then heading off to Monday's SLJ Day of Dialog and Tuesdays BEA.  It was a whirlwind trip that left me exhausted, but also excited about the plethora of upcoming releases and anxious for the next school year, even though this one hasn't quite ended just yet.  There's so much to say that I could blab on and on about it, but instead, I will limit myself to my Top 5 Takeaways for each of the two conference days.

Top 5 Takeaways from SLJ's Day of Dialog:
1. I don't think it is possible to have spent a better $29.99 (I'm an SLJ subscriber) on anything, ever. Breakfast, ARCs, author panels, lunch, author signings, a cocktail party AND the company of school librarians? Unbeatable.
2. Katherine Paterson's keynote shows she's quite the character.  And here I confess that I don't believe I've ever read any of her work.  Addressing this ASAP.
3. Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) is just as witty and sarcastic in person as he is on paper.  Moreover, though I think Tim Curry (a favorite of mine) does the voice work on his audiobooks, I highly recommend he do it himself, as his voice is rich and just simply amazing and his timing spot on.
4. Dave Roman and John Green (no, not THAT John Green, another one) are partnering to bring you the graphic novel Teen Boat.  It's inspired by the 80s cartoon Turbo Teen (think one part Night Rider, one part Teen Wolf, all parts awesome), which probably no one other than me and my three siblings has ever heard of, but I'm so excited about this that it's embarassing.
5. Adam Gidwitz looks like a young Edward Norton.  And more to the point, even though I haven't yet read A Tale Dark and Grimm, he's so approachable and funny that I'm going to look into having him come to my school next year.

Top 5 Takeaways from BEA:
1. People are ruthless and fairly ridiculous about getting free ARCs.  Most of them don't even seem to care what the book is, as long as it is free.
2. Speed Dating with Children's Authors was dizzyingly and amazingly fantastic.  I arrived early and scoped out the table that had stacks of bound sample pages from James Dashner's Death Cure and waited patiently for his arrival.  He was early and I got to chat with him for several minutes before the event began. Rock!
3. Lunch options at the Javitz Center are NOT tasty and are VERY expensive.  Next time, I'm registering for the Librarian's Lunch, which is free AND tasty.  Mad props to the SLJ/LJ Librarian's Lounge which picked up the Javitz Center food offerings slack by providing tasty nibbles and beverages, a place to sit and compose oneself and good company.
4. If you are nice and not grabby and greedy, the publisher staffs can be really great resources.  So friendly and helpful and willing to grab an ARC from the locked cabinet for you if you let them know you won't be there for the signing the next day, are really excited about a specific title and are both a school librarian and blogger.
5. The YA Editor's Buzz never fails to disappoint.  The only thing that could have made it better would be not forgetting to have someone put out the ARCs at the end.  They were stacked in the back in boxes, but no staff person manned the operation.  ARC craziness ensued.

The SLJ Day of Dialog and BEA are definitely two of my favorite book events.  I'll be writing more about the ARCs I picked up as soon as I get a chance to read them.  Until then, I'll be looking to see how everyone else enjoyed their SLJ Day of Dialog and BEA!

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