By this point, I already had way too many books and was worried that my bag was going to be over the 50 pound limit for checked baggage (it turned out to only be 37 pounds, I could have gotten more!). Also, I don't really like being at the exhibits the last day they're open, because things can get vicious! As the day goes on, vendors start selling off everything they have for pretty low prices that get lower and lower. I understand that this can be a great opportunity for librarians to get books for their libraries, especially if you don't have a lot of funding. It's just...it can be a little scary. So Anna and I only went for a bit, and then we got the hell out of there before anyone got hurt.
We saw Thanhha Lai, who wrote Inside Out & Back Again, a Newbery honor book.
Eugene Yelchin, author of Breaking Stalin's Nose, also a Newbery honor book.
I also went to the Penguin Book Buzz. There were book buzzes from different publishers all throughout the conference, where you can hear about what will be coming out in the fall. Unfortunately there was so much crossover, this was the only one I was able to get too. I was excited to hear the there's a new Patricia Polacco book coming out called Bully. I love Patricia Polacco books. She's really quite wonderful.
Other books I thought sounded worth looking in to were
Almost Home by Joan Bauer, out in September;
Darkwater, the new book from Catherine Fisher, author of
Incarceron, also out in September;
Burning Blue by Paul Griffin, out in October.
Oh man. I was doing pretty well the first few days with not overdoing it, but now it's all ruined, and it's all the fault of the lady at MacMillan. Today I went around to the publishers saying how I worked in an all girls' school and to tell me about what was coming out soon that was new and exciting that would appeal to them. I would hear about various books and they'd usually give me two-four ARCs, which was perfect. But then! I went to MacMillan and the woman was so enthusiastic and excited about all the stuff that was coming out she loaded me down wih TWELEVE books. Oy. And so, with one fell swoop, my brilliant plan of not heading home with three million books was ruined. It's very hard to discard them once you have them, you see. I will do my best.
Without a doubt, the highlight of the day for both me and Anna was getting to meet Sharon Creech, author of Walk Two Moons and Chasing Red Bird and many others. She was my favorite author in middle school. I read Walk Two Moons over and over again. To my delight, Sharon was incredibly nice and sweet and insisted we get in the pictures with her. Her new book is The Great Unexpected, which I got an ARC of.
