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
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| 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
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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.
Middle of Nowhere
