OLA Super Conference 2013

This past week the Ontario Library Association held its annual conference in Toronto.  Known as Super Conference for the past nineteen years, the conference provides an opportunity for library professionals and those who contribute to library collections, technology, etc.  Several sessions in which I was involved might be of interest to readers of youngCanLit.

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Authors' Showcase

Rebecca Bender, Jan Andrews, Kevin Sylvester, Kenneth Oppel, Maxim Cyr and Cindy Watson

Some of the 2012 Forest of Reading award-winning authors and illustrators attended an Authors' Showcase at Super Conference.  Each author shared anecdotes and views about their awards and the Forest of Reading, and answered questions from the audience.  These are the authors/illustrators that attended with the title of the book that won a Forest of Reading award in 2012, as well as any additional notes I could remember from the session:

Rebecca Bender

author and illustrator of Blue Spruce award winner for Giraffe and Bird (Dancing Cat Books)

Jan Andrews
author of Silver Birch Express winner When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean (Groundwood Books)

Kevin Sylvester
illustrator of Silver Birch Non-Fiction award winner Don't Touch that Toad and Other Strange Things Adults Tell You (Kids Can Press)

Kenneth Oppel
author of Red Maple winning title Half Brother (HarperCollins Canada)

Maxim Cyr 
illustrator of Le Prix Tamarac Express winning book Les Dragouilles: Les Rouges de Tokyo (Éditions Michel Quintin)

Cindy Watson
author of Golden Oak award winner Out of the Darkness: The Jeff Healey Story (Dundurn)
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Seven: The Series

Helen Kubiw with Seven authors (L to R) Shane Peacock, Ted Staunton, Richard Scrimger, Eric Walters and Sigmund Brouwer February 1, 2013

Five of the seven authors of Orca's Seven: The Series came together to share the flavour of their books with a rapt audience and entertain us with clever repartee, humour, and even music. 

The big news reveal was the announcement that Seven: The Series will have a sequel series.  Eric Walters shared an excerpt that has five of the grandsons at their grandfather's cottage discovering a hidden cache which includes American, Canadian, British and Russian money and a bag of golfballs. There's even been interest in bringing Seven to film!

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Authors in Attendance

Based only on who I noticed or knew about, here is a partial but impressive list of youngCanLit authors who attended Super Conference and made themselves available to talk with delegates (and fans!), as well as sign books:

Jan Andrews
When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean
upcoming: The Silent Summer of Kyle McGinley

Kelley Armstrong

The Gathering; The Calling

upcoming: The Rising; Shards and Ashes

 
Rebecca Bender
Giraffe and Bird; Don't Laugh at Giraffe

Helene Boudreau

Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings; Real Mermaids Don't Hold Their Breath

upcoming: Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels; I Dare You Not to Yawn

Sigmund Brouwer
Devil's Pass
upcoming: Dead Man's Switch; Justine McKeen, Eat Your Beets

Lena Coakley

Witchlanders

Maxim Cyr
Les Dragouilles: Les Rouges de Tokyo


 




Heather Hartt-Sussman
Here Comes Hortense!
upcoming: Nana's Summer Surprise; Nona is Nervous

 Monica Kulling

Lumpito and the Artist from Spain, In the Bag

upcoming:  Mister Dash and the Cupcake Calamity

 
Dennis Lee

Alligator Pie Classic Edition
upcoming: The Cat and the Wizard

Sylvia McNicoll

crush.candy.corpse

upcoming: Dying to Go Viral

Mireille Messier

Chapeau Charlotte!; Fatima et les voleurs de clémentines

Evan Munday

The Dead Kid Detective Agency

 
Mahtab Narsimhan

The Tiffin

Kenneth Oppel

Half Brother; This Dark Endeavour

Karen Patkau

Who Needs a Swamp?; Who Needs an Iceberg?; Who Needs A Jungle?; A Good Trade

 
Shane Peacock

Last Message; The Dragon Turn; Becoming Holmes

Karen Reszuch
(whose last name I will finally remember is pronounced ray-check)
Loon

Catherine Rondina

Don't Touch That Toad and Other Strange Things That Adults Tell You; Lighting Our World: A Year of Celebrations

Lorna Schultz Nicholson
Puckster's First Hockey Tournament
upcoming: Forward Pass

Richard Scrimger

Ink Me

upcoming: Zomboy

Valerie Sherrard
Testify; Accomplice

Gail Sidonie Sobat

(who sang in her CANSCAIP presentation)

Not With a Bang

 

Marsha Skrypuch
Making Bombs for Hitler; Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue from War
upcoming: The Best Gifts

Ted Staunton

Jump Cut

Bill Swan
Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death
upcoming: Real Justice: Convicted for Being Mi'kmaq: The Story of Donald Marshall Jr.

Kevin Sylvester

Neil Flambé and the Crusader's Curse; Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure; Don't Touch That Toad and Other Strange Things Adults Tell You; Splinters

upcoming: Follow Your Money: Who Gets It, Who Spends It, Where Does It Go?; Showtime: Meet the People Behind the Scenes

Teresa Toten
The Taming
upcoming: The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

Rebecca Upjohn

The Last Loon; The Secret of the Village Fool

 
Vikki VanSickle 
(who had the honour of accompanying Gruffalo on a walk around the Expo)
Love is a Four-Letter Word
upcoming: Days That End in Y

Eric Walters

Between Heaven and Earth; The Matatu

upcoming: Power Play

Cindy Watson
Out of the Darkness: The Jeff Healey Story

 
Janet Wilson

Shannen and the Dream for a School

upcoming: Our Rights: How Kids Are Changing the World

Frieda Wishinsky
Explorers Who Made It...Or Died Trying; No Frogs for Dinner








Although Canadian authors are rarely recognizable, perhaps they should be, or at least their names should be.  With these authors in attendance at Super Conference, I thought it would be a good place to start promoting their names so they become recognizable to all readers of children's literature.

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For the past month, I had the image at the left, indicating that I would be speaking at the OLA Super Conference.  On Friday, February 1, 2013, I presented a talk called Be Fair: Using CanLit to Embed Social Justice.  My audience was attentive and complimentary and I appreciated their feedback and kind words.  In a series of posts, I will share some of youngCanLit titles that I have selected as useful for helping to teach social justice issues.