I completely failed to take ANY PHOTOS at the Printz awards.
At the Newbery awards, I failed to meet Sherman Alexie, whose book I hugely love, even though he came up and chatted with the person with whom I was in conversation.
But otherwise, it was not a weekend of failure at all!
I gave a speech. I wore an outfit. I got a prize and a beautiful red pin from the Printz commitee. I met Melina Marchetta, whom I have long admired, and the wonderful Margo Lanagan. MT Anderson was super dapper and mentioned me in his speech!
His talk was an impassioned argument in favor of fearless intellectual content in books for teenagers. He pointed out how voracious teens are in wanting to know about the stuff they want to know about -- and how if we assume they are afraid of challenging content, we will end up raising a nation of people ill-equipped to handle difficult ideas. Which would obviously suck.
Well. He said it better than that. But that was part of his point. Huzzah for complexity!
Now I am home. Feeling very lucky.
E
Congrats,Emily!
Posted by: Diane | July 14, 2009 at 11:06 PM
that sounds so fun!
Posted by: ashley | July 15, 2009 at 09:31 AM
Melina Marchetta! She wrote Saving Francesca...and I wish there were a sequel to it! I agree with MT Anderson-literature should expand our teenage minds and make us more receptive to what's going on...
Btw, I got one of the ARCs for Treasure Map. I'm SUPER EXCITED. So thanks for that. :)
Posted by: Sandy | July 16, 2009 at 07:09 PM
Hey, E.!!
I wrote a note about Treasure Map on facebook. Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/note.php?note_id=216975445482&comments
Umm, not sure if you can read it...but GREAT book!
Posted by: Kristin | July 21, 2009 at 12:36 AM
I have looked all over for your new book "Real Live Boyfriends" and I cant find it,,can you tell me if theres a web site or something that I can get it from?
-Sincerly Samantha
Posted by: Samantha | January 03, 2010 at 02:57 PM