2017 ALA Youth Media Awards news stories

Here are some exciting news stories from yesterday’s American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards. The full press release and award list can be found here.

Award sweep

March 3 won FOUR awards. That means that four separate committees in four separate rooms, across multiple ALA divisions (YALSA, ALSC and EMIERT) and multiple age group requirements all came to the same conclusion that March 3 was the very best of all their eligible books. Not one of the four committees gave it an honor; all four gave it their top prize. Unbelievable. And, don’t forget, March 3 also won the National Book Award. Truly, an unprecedented sweep.

Caldecott Hat Trick

The 2015 Caldecott Medal went to Beekle, published by Little, Brown.

The 2016 Caldecott Medal went to Finding Winnie, published by Little, Brown.

The 2017 Caldecott Medal went to Radiant Child, published by Little, Brown.

Sensing a pattern? It is a very big deal for a publisher to win the Caldecott Medal. To do it two years in a row is unbelievable. To do it three years in a row is mind-boggling. Truly Little, Brown has upped the ante. 

Graphic Novels

Ten years ago, when American Born Chinese won the Printz Medal, it was an enormous turning point. Yesterday, a decade after that moment, the second graphic novel won the Printz award. Also yesterday, a graphic novel won the Sibert, the Belpre, the YALSA Nonfiction Award and the Coretta Scott King Award. There was even an Odyssey (audio book) honor for a graphic novel. In the last few years, both the Newbery and Caldecott committees have honored graphic novels. Now, there are almost no awards left that haven’t recognized a graphic novel. It’s a new world. 

  

Small publishers

Yesterday was a big, big day for publishing houses that don’t usually win. It was so joyful to hear names like Chronicle, Charlesbridge, Abrams, Carolrhoda, Orca, Top Shelf Productions and Enchanted Lion be announced.

The biggest story was the Newbery Medal. Workman Publishing publishes terrific books, many of which you’ve probably heard of. But they only recently started published middle grade books and they never show up on the award lists. To see them carry off the biggest prize of the day was an absolutely incredible thing. I can’t begin to imagine what it means to the publisher.

Fathers and sons

Javaka Steptoe, who won the Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Medals yesterday, is the son of two-time Caldecott honor and Coretta Scott King recipient John Steptoe. John Steptoe died in 1989 but wouldn’t it be wonderful if he could find out what his son accomplished yesterday.

Prior to this, the one that has always impressed me was the Fleischmans. Sid Fleischman won the Newbery Medal in 1987, and then a mere 2 years later in 1989 his son Paul Fleischman won the Newbery Medal. What an amazing thing.

Popular authors

Bestselling and popular authors rarely win awards. It was so lovely to see Rick Riordan and Sarah Dessen get recognition yesterday.

Jason Reynolds

This talented new writer is gathering up hardware at an incredibly rapid pace. Only two years ago (although it seems like it’s been much longer), he was a debut author and won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Last year he won two Coretta Scott King honors. Yesterday, he added the Schneider Family Book Award, a Coretta Scott King honor and one of his audiobooks won an Odyssey honor.

I think he’s trying to collect the whole Youth Media Awards set.

Ashley Bryan

Speaking of collecting the whole set…

The nonagenarian took home one of the big prizes yesterday, a Newbery honor. He also picked up two additional Coretta Scott King Award honors, one for writing and one for illustration. For anyone keeping score at home, Ashley Bryan has also won the Wilder Medal, the Virginia Hamilton Award, the Arbuthnot, two Coretta Scott King Awards and seven CSK honors.  

It’s worth noting that both Ashley Bryan and Jason Reynolds have the same editor, Caitlyn Dlouhy of Atheneum, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

For all the hubbub last year over a picture book winning the Newbery Medal, it seems to be passing unnoticed that a poetry picture book won a Newbery Honor yesterday.

Elephant and Piggie

The Geisel domination of Elephant and Piggie isn’t quite over, even though the series is.  We Are Growing! A Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie Like Reading! book carried the day. The beloved pink and grey folks only make a cameo in this one, but it looks like their Geisel reign has not come to an end.

Non-Fiction

A picture book biography won the Caldecott for the second year in a row, but it doesn’t happen very often. Only a handful of non-fiction books have won the Caldecott, so it is still a big event.

Also, for only the second time, the same book won both the Sibert Medal (up to age 14) and the YALSA Nonfiction Award (ages 12-18). I think it’s an enormous thing that both nonfiction committees judged March 3 the best book of all their submissions, despite having different age requirements.

Your reactions

What did you think? I would love to hear your thoughts. Did I miss something exciting or unprecedented that happened? Tell me in the comments.

Demystifying the phone calls

One of the exciting things about the ALA Youth Media Awards (including the Newbery and Caldecott Medals) is that after the winners have been decided, the committees pick up the phone and actually call the winners. These calls have long fascinated me and I’ve asked every honoree I’ve ever met what their phone call story is. Often, these stories are part of award acceptance speeches or featured in press interviews.

After hearing so many of these wonderful stories, one detail has emerged over and over. The people getting these calls really have no idea what to expect. They’ve heard rumors and they all think they know what time the call will happen, but the reality turns out very different.

Here’s a little information about the phone calls, in case you're wondering what they are like or are hoping to receive one. 

It's already over

If you are reading this post on Sunday, you can stop worrying about if they will pick your book. The decision has already been made. It needs to be made by Saturday night. On Sunday morning the committees work on the press release. On Sunday afternoon they keep their mouths shut while everyone asks them what won. On Sunday night they make a futile attempt to go to bed early to be up in time for the phone calls. 

They call when they call

I hear so frequently that people expect calls at a specific time, and when the phone doesn't ring at that time, they think all is lost. Don't worry so much about the exact time. There's a lot going on the morning of the press conference. Maybe at the time you were expecting the phone to ring the committee is getting their press photo taken. Maybe another committee is using the phone. Maybe your voicemail picked up and they decided to try you again after they finished calling everyone else. If your phone is supposed to ring, it will ring. 

The calls do not take your time zone into account

The press conference is typically at 8 am. So, let's say the committee you're hoping for makes their calls at 6:30 am. That's 6:30 am in whatever time zone the conference is being held. If the conference is on the east coast, and you are on the west coast, it is not out of the realm of possibility for you to get a call at 3:30 am. They call when they call. 

Not all of the committees call on Monday morning

The Caldecott and Newbery committees call on Monday morning before the press conference, but committees like the Sibert, Geisel, Schneider, Wilder, etc. call Sunday afternoon or evening and sometimes even on Saturday. Different committees are on different schedules.

The caller ID might surprise you

If ALA Midwinter is happening in Boston, you might reasonably expect your phone to say Boston Convention Center when the call comes through. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. The calls my committee made, which were placed from a phone in the convention center, came up as "Unknown Caller." Sometimes committees call from cell phones, so your caller ID will read whatever state the person who owns the phone is from. 

If you have an eligible book, answer your phone the whole weekend of Midwinter. Maybe you won't win a medal, but you might win a free cruise.

There are a lot of people on the phone
This is not an intimate chat. You are called by the chair of the committee, as the rest of the committee stands huddled around listening on speakerphone. The Newbery and Caldecott committees are each composed of 15 people; the other committees are smaller.

The calls are short
They tell you your book won or received an honor, listen to your wonderful reaction, congratulate you and then it’s time for them to call the next person. It’s not a half hour chat with the committee.

You get a call for each award
If your book wins a Geisel and a Coretta Scott King Award and a Caldecott (or an honor) expect three phone calls. Each committee works separately and doesn’t talk to the other committees. The committee calling you has no idea what other awards your book may have received until they find out at the press conference with everyone else.

The calls happen according to a script

Your part of the call and what you say is spontaneous, but what's happening on the other end of the line isn't. The chair of the committee is reading from a script. If you ask a question such as who else won or who you can tell, the chair reads the answer from the Q and A section of the script. That being said, the emotion coming from the committee is very real and genuine and shines through.

Here’s a glimpse at the phone calls I was lucky enough to be a part of in February 2015.

The other end of the phone
For me, this was one of the most magical parts of being on the committee. The committee I was on chose a record setting six honors, which meant that including the winner, we got to make seven phone calls. After a few calls, I felt like we were calling everyone in the world to tell them they had won a Caldecott Honor.

I later found out what was going on at the recipient’s ends of the phones- who was sound asleep, who had recently moved, who was on vacation, etc. but that morning those calls were about spreading pure joy. Being able to tell this enormous piece of good news to each person who picked up the phone was incredible and unforgettable.

The calls are just wonderful. If your phone rings, enjoy every second. And if it doesn’t ring, read this. 

ALA conference tips

Need some advice for the American Library Association conferences? Try these tips and tricks:

• If you ask anyone what their advice is for the annual conference, they will answer "wear comfortable shoes."
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• If there's an event/luncheon/ceremony that you really want to go to and it costs money..... go. Often, people who buy tickets for events are unable to attend because their plans change. It's easy to find free tickets to events during the conference… keep an eye open for listserv postings and ask people with similar interests if they have a ticket they're not using.
  
• You have to pay for the books at the author signings. Hardcovers are $10, paperbacks are $5. If there's an author you love, it's worth it to lug their book with you from home so you don't have to buy it at the conference. If your favorite author is sitting right in front of you signing books (even if you own the book and forgot to bring it)- buy the book and get it signed. It's worth the $10.
• Try to say something to authors that they don't hear all the time. The more specific you can be the better. Instead of saying to a picture book author "I love your illustrations," say "I love the detailed tiger picture in this book. How long did it take you to draw that?" "Why did you dedicate the book to your brother-in-law?" If you know any of their previous lesser known books- definitely mention them.
• Make a list of author signings, and a list of publisher booths that you really want to see. To get an extremely hot or popular book, arrive at the booth 15-30 minutes before the signing.
• Put everything that sounds interesting to you on your schedule. You never know where you'll end up and it's good to know the locations and room numbers of all possible events.
• Take pictures of the authors you see- no matter how stupid you feel about doing it- you'll be grateful ten years later when they win the Caldecott or the Pultizer.
• Even if you're not looking for a job right now, get your resume reviewed at the Placement Center. It's always good to have a current copy of your resume handy, and it's great to get such wonderful, professional advice from library managers. If you plan to get your resume reviewed, go immediately to sign up for a slot..... even before you pick up your registration badge. All the weekend's sessions can fill up by the end of Friday.Plan lunch and dinner breaks, otherwise it's really easy to skip meals and wind up hungry and exhausted. Go to lunch and dinner with an old (or new) friend.
• Soak it all in and don't be shy. Talk to everyone.... lines are great places to meet people. Go to the informal happy hours, get-togethers for your college, interest group, etc. Collect all the ribbons for your badge you can- for all the divisions you belong to. Makes a great talking point.
• Use the bag check at the convention center religiously so you're not lugging so many books around. Keep coming back to it to dump your books. At the end of the day, sort through all the books and freebies you've picked up and take the ones you really want. Ship everything home (even if you're local).
• You don't have to do every last thing on your schedule. Make sure to linger to talk to your favorite authors. Place hooky from a session or two. Go sightseeing. Take a nap if you need one.
• Go to the booths of the large publishers. You'll find multiple copies of books laid out on the floor or on tables in big stacks. These are free and you can take them. Be sure to check back at the booths several times during the conference because, they'll put out different books on different days. Smaller publishers are unlikely to have free books available.
• Ask for books you're interested in. Publishers bring tons of books with them, but don't have the quantities to put every book out in a stack for everyone to take. If there's a book you're dying to read, find out who the publisher is, go to their booth and tell them what book you're looking for. If they don't have a copy with them, they may be able to send you one after the conference is over. Or not. But, it's always worth it to ask. And, even if you don't get to walk away with one, they'll probably have a copy on display that you can take a look at (which is particularly useful for picture books).
• Don't take everything you see. There are tons of free handouts available at ALA. Take only what you're interested in (or what a friend or colleague who didn't get to go would be interested in). If there's a free book or an ARC (advance review copy) that you already have access to, or have absolutely no interest in or use for... leave it for someone else. The same rule applies for fliers, tote bags, pens, and all the other freebies you'll see. Don't worry; you'll still acquire tons of free stuff.
• Talk to the vendors. Don't just look at them as a source of free books. ALA gives you a chance to share your opinions with the publishers and ask them about your favorite and forthcoming books. The exhibit booths are staffed by editors, publishers, owners and salespeople. They may know an interesting detail about an author or the creation of a book that will help you "sell" a book when you get back home. And they'll be interested to hear your feedback about their books and products. And ask them any questions you have. They know a lot more about their books than what's in the catalogs.
• ALA has a free shuttle bus service runs from the convention center to every conference hotel. It's invaluable. Use public transit too, of course… but give yourself permission to take cabs too. Sometimes, the time savings really makes it worth it.
• You can never have too many business cards. Even if you have a professional card (and especially if you don't) make cheap personal ones to pass out. You can buy ready to print blank cards from Staples or Office Depot.
• Don't enter a drawing, raffle, fill out a coupon or hand over your Expo Card to be scanned, unless you want to be on that company's mailing list. If you do, it's a great way to get their catalogs, and get a free gift.
  
• Enjoy every minute and go again next year.
• Ask everyone you see for more advice. You never know what hidden gems you'll uncover.
  

Got some advice of your own? Please share it in the comments!