What a grand day. It began with Jackie Woodson and ended with Christopher Paul Curtis. In between, I had the chance to talk to friends, colleagues, former and current students. Here are a couple of photos from the day.

Dinner last night was with Victoria Stapleton and the rest of the Little Brown folks. We were at the new Discovery Park right next to the Convention Center at the GROVE restaurant (thanks, Zoe for the incredible dinner menu and the lovely setting). Justin Somper, Justina (call me Tina) Chen Headley, Sara Zarr, and Svetlana Chmakova were all there in addition to some of the most talented women of Texas school libraries. Lots of laughter and loud talk and more wine and more laughter and terrific food and then autographs. I now am the proud owner of a geo cache from Tina (read NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL) to understand the significance. Am exhausted now but after coffee will head back for couple of hours of booth duty before home.

Next year we are in San Antonio. Come. Come. Enjoy being with people who know and love books.


Hope Scout is waiting for me.

Scholastic served up a tasty treat this morning with Suzanne Collins, Rodman Philbrick, Tammy Pierce, Elvira Woodruff, and Susan Campbell Bartoletti reading from their latest or forthcoming books. Then, a nice backpack (with the 30 CLUES logo) packed with their books and a cool calendar. Nice way to start the day. Tonight is the ALAN reception and then dinner with the lovely Victoria Stapleton and Little Brown.

Dinner last night with Joan Bauer, Tomie dePaola, Laurie Halse Anderson, Greg Mortenson, Paul Volponi, John Green and others was lovely and fun with more readings. I will return home laden with books and extra pounds, too.

Let's see, what day is this anyway? Yes, Saturday. OK. The day began at 5:30 so we could make the ALAN Breakfast at 7 am at the Marriott. I gulped down some food after lots of hugs from ALAN friends and Sharon Creech (love that author). Rushed to the convention center to do an audio panel with pals Sylvia Vardell and Rose Brock. We had a very small group who were more than happy to cart off more than 100 free audiobooks (thanks to Listening Library and Cheryl Herman). Then, it was time to chair a session with Lois Buckman and Suzanne Metcalfe, librarians extraordinnaire. I learned new stuff as I always do when I listen to these two ladies talk. From there, I hotfooted it to do the intro for Greg Mortenson (THREE CUPS OF TEA). The hall was packed for this incredible man. I left the session feeling uplifted. Finally, it was time to tour exhibits. Yummy ARCs and tons of terrific authors: John Green, Terry Trueman, David Gill (hey thunderchikin), Sean Beaudoin, and too many others. Now I am catching up on email and grading before heading off to dinner.

Last night's dinner, BTW, with the lovely ladies of Random House (hi Adrienne and Lisa) was fabulous. I had the great treat of sitting with Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart and had a wonderful time listening to their stories of road trips here in the states.

So, friends, I need to go kick back and see what my students are doing online. I hope to have the chance to do an update tomorrow, too.