If I had been at American Library Association this past weekend there are several events that I would have wanted to participate in.
1. Meet Laura whose fabulous blog and reading ventures I follow.
2. Attend Newbery Caldecott Banquet (I've only been to 1 of those and it was repeatable!)
3. Attend the Margaret A. Edwards Award for "significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens".
I've never attended the Margaret A. Edwards Award Banquet but this would have been a great one to take in since winner, Jim Murphy is the author of numerous history books! To be honest, I haven't read his books. Shameful admission I know! But I will be checking them out. And you may want to also.
Murphy writes about some of the same themes that I do - disease and war. Oh, and have I mentioned Fire! Not sure I could face that one. He writes non-fiction so just imagine how useful they are in the classroom and how helpful for those of us who have forgotten a wee bit of what we learned in school.
He has an insightful blog post on the subject of writing about war and peace. My work-in-progress just happens to be about those two contrasts. And I have a feeling we are working on two entirely different approaches to the subject which is always a good thing.
I simply can't wait to pick up his books and wonder why I haven't read them before. So many books...
And that's always a good thing too.
Jim Murphy is one of the masters of nonfiction books for kids. I particularly like the way he uses real people and drama to build suspense and weave his story. He is a great role model. I'm not as fond of his fiction. BTW, he comes from the same town as I do.
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