We Came, We Saw, We Talked, We Stalked: Christie’s ALA Highlights
We Came
I had a blast at ALA Annual in Chicago. Buses and transportation got a little weird, but I loved the energy with the Blackhawks celebration and the Pride Celebration and everything else going on. So much fun! And add into the mix all the authors and librarians and the craziness that we have anyways, and it’s always a good time!
We Saw
There were some sessions that I missed due to the rooms being overfull past the point of fire codes (YA Dystopian Authors, Cory Doctorow and DRM) which is something that needs worked on. I did run into a lot of my conference family and even people I’ve worked with in the past that I never see except for conferences which is always a wonderful time. I attended a wonderful session on graphic novels entitled Let’s Discuss This: A Roundtable Discussion which featured Gail Simone, John Green (from Disney’s Phineas and Ferb and Teenboat), Paul Pope, Gregg Hurwitz, and Jeffrey Brown talking about the comic industry.
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| John Green and Gail Simone |
And I was also able to attend the Scholastic Brunch, where I was treated to reader theater and learned about new titles by Gordan Korman and others…
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| Gordon Korman with his new series The Hypnotists |
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| Kat Falls and her new book Inhuman |
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| Brandon Mull and Spirit Animals #1: Wild Born, a multiplatform series |
We Talked
I represented the Rainbow Project (of which I am chair this year) at the SRRT All Committee meeting and on the exhibits floor to help find titles for this year’s list. Karen and I also spoke about Free Comic Book Day on the Graphic Novel Stage.
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| Free Comic Book Day Panel |
We Stalked
And then there were the authors…. I got to talk to Marie Lu (Prodigy/Legend) and SJ Adams (Sparks), Malinda Lo (Ash, Adaptation), and then got mutually stalked by Tim Federle (Better Nate than Never, Tequila Mockingbird). That Guy got to talk with Cory Doctorow (Homeland, Big Brother) and they are sharing emails.
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| Me and SJ Adams (Adam Selzer) |
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| Me and Marie Lu |
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| Me, That Guy, and his side of the family |
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| Heather, Karen, and me |
And I got to meet Heather in person and part of our family came over, so a good time was had by all! What were your highlights of ALA?
Filed under: ALA Annual 2013, Brandon Mull, Cory Doctorow, gail simone, Gordon Korman, john green (art), Kat Falls, Malinda Lo, Marie Lu, SJ Adams, tim federle
About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 30 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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