OK I admit it --- I’m writing about a conference that happened at the end of November, when everyone was abuzz about another holiday. However, going to the ALAN conference --- a two-day event that celebrates young adult literature --- was so incredible that even though I’m a bit behind (whoops!) I thought it would be worthwhile to share some of my favorite moments & author quotes. Check them out, below!
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Jack Gantos’ opener --- Jack explained how the books you read as a child make up a central pillar inside you, and walked us through a list of important children’s books that nearly everyone encounters as they grow up. Of THE HUNGRY, HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, he said: “the book has a bellybutton, you have a bellybutton, it might be a human, you might be a book.” His dry sense of humor is delightful, and I absolutely plan on reading his award-winning memoir HOLE IN MY LIFE.
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Joan Bauer gave an inspiring metaphor about coming of age --- she said that in Asian pottery, when something breaks, they don’t try to glue it together so you can’t see the cracks. Instead they fill it with “golden strands” --- paint that has flecks of real gold” --- and the vase becomes far more valuable. She said teens are the same way; they shouldn’t try to hide their brokenness, because it’s that very brokenness that they can use as soil to become something better.
- Lauren Myracle’s and Sarah Dessen’s banter on stage: These two are clearly friends, and it was hilarious to watch Lauren poke fun at some of the edgier scenes Sarah includes in her books, as well as how cute and nervous Sarah was at her first ALAN (when she was wearing her signature pearls).
- Talking THE HUNGER GAMES with librarians at Catching Fire--- seriously, there is no better group to watch this movie with. Every single person in the theater was an evangelist for the book (and whooped with joy when it was introduced by the book’s editor, David Levithan).
- Meg Rosoff’s quotes – Meg, the author of PICTURE ME GONE, is dry, witty and absolutely hilarious. She said she doesn’t write for children, she writes for middle-aged women, and doesn’t know why children like her books. Of course she was half-kidding, but I love her dead-pan attitude. She also said “Giving hope is ridiculous” --- she tells it like it is.
- Swati Avasthi’s favorite part of researching CHASING SHADOWS? Watching Parkour practice at her local gym! “A straight woman watching men fly through the air…” you get the picture.
- A.S. King’s acceptance of the Amelia Elizabeth Warden Award --- she told the audience that whenever she’s in airplanes and supermarket lines, she sends love to those around her.
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Eliot Schrefer on bonobos v. chimps --- Turns out chimps practice infanticide, there’s plenty of male to women violence and once their clan grows to 32 chimps, they split in half, go to war and start growing their clan all over again. On the other hand, in the bonobo community, females are in charge and defend each other. I know who I pick!
- Jessica Verdi got her inspiration for THE SUMMER I WASN’T ME from a Lady Gaga song --- Specifically, the Hair lyric that goes “I just wanna be myself, and I want you to love me for who I am.”
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The intro to the Celebrating Horror and Supernatural Panel --- each author described their book as if it were a recipe. Hilarious (and oddly appetite-inducing, even though they were talking about boiling Greek Gods with a pinch of salt).
- Tara Sullivan talking about researching GOLDEN BOY, a story that focuses on albinism in Tanzania (body parts from albinos are considered good luck there, so albino people are hunted and killed). She said she interviewed an albino woman from Tanzania about what she wanted out of GOLDEN BOY, and the woman simply asked her to “write a story where I’m human”
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Getting Paul Rudnick’s autograph --- I’ll be honest, he was there presenting his latest book, GORGEOUS, but I was most excited because he wrote the screenplay for Sister Act, arguably one of my favorite movies of all time.
- And last but not least…MEETING JUDY BLUME! I went to a dinner that featured six Random House authors, plus honoree Judy Blume. Having read her books more times than I can count, this was huge for me. I was thrilled that she signed my business card (I left my childhood copy of ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET at home, and was infuriated with myself for it), but what was even more incredible was that nearly everyone at the dinner was excited as I was --- including published authors and children’s literature professors. Also, talk of Judy Blume dominated my table’s dinner conversation that night. We were all different ages, ranging from mid-20s to mid-50s, but we had each deeply connected to her books growing up (and shockingly, each had a different personal favorite!) It was amazing seeing how one author could bring so many people together
