There is nothing quite like meeting an author. While human, of course, they take on this extra-human quality as a being that wrote a book. That you read. And liked. And then they come to your town. Squee!

This evening, Rebecca Stead visited one of my local libraries. My friend and book-hero, Suey at It’s All About Books, got me a ticket to the event! And we went, along with Suey’s daughter and the talented Jenny from Alternate Readality.

In preparation, I read A Wrinkle in Time (mentioned often in When You Reach Me), reread When You Reach Me (her second, Newbery-winning book), and read First Light (her first book). I have to say that I loved A Wrinkle in Time (though I wish I had read it as a child) and was even more impressed with When You Reach Me on the second read than I was on the first. And First Light kind of snuck up behind me and made me love it.

Anyway, back to the event. Ms. Stead spoke for about half an hour and then took questions. Along the way she shared insights into the inspiration for When You Reach Me (a New York Times article about a man with amnesia), a mistake she made in First Light (even when the sun sets in Greenland, it doesn’t necessarily get dark), and an amazing antecdote about her childhood (she bought forbidden “junk cereal” on her way home from school, scarfed it down until her mom came home, and then hurriedly tossed it out her bedroom window).

And then there was, of course, the signing. Ah. I love signings. We were in the first signing group, and we spent a few moments chatting with Ms. Stead about the books. Then she and I commiserated briefly about practicing law. And I got my books signed:

Sigh. Lovely evening. Oh wait. I left out the bit about winning an extra copy of When You Reach Me from the library. And Rebecca Stead signed it! And I’m going to give it away to one lucky reader. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. U.S. and Canadian addresses only please. I’ll announce the winner on Friday, February 10, 2012.

And the 2012 John Newbery Medal goes to:

Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos

And the 2012 Michael L. Printz Award goes to:

Where Things Come Back, by John Corey Whaley

(I’ve already updated the Printz Project with the winner and honor books. Head on over to check it out.)

And the 2012 Caldecott Medal goes to:

A Ball for Daisy, by Chris Raschka

For the rest of the winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards, check out this ALA press release. Here’s a list of all the awards given out today:

Alex Awards
Andrew Carnegie Medal
Coretta Scott King Book Awards
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
John Newbery Medal
Margaret A. Edwards Award
May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture
Michael L. Printz Award
Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Odyssey Award
Pura Belpré Awards
Randolph Caldecott Medal
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
Schneider Family Book Award
Stonewall Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award
Theodore Seuss Geisel Award
William C. Morris Award
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

And here’s a link to the post of last year’s winners.

Gotta go! I have to go to the bookstore (or, more likely, order them online)!

Okay, dozens of readers entered my mini-challenge on rereading! Thank you so much to everyone who entered. I’ll be working on reading and responding to all of your posts and comments in the coming days.

For now, though, I’d like to announce the winner. Random.org selected Kimberly of The Bookie as the winner, so she is the recipient of a $15 gift certificate to Amazon.com. Congratulations, Kimberly!

*UPDATE* MINI-CHALLENGE CLOSED

Congratulations on making it to hour 16 of the read-a-thon! Here’s a mini-challenge to give your mind a little break.

“Once we know the plot and its surprises, we can appreciate a book’s artistry without the usual confusion and sap flow of emotion, content to follow the action with tenderness and interest, all passion spent. Rather than surrender to the story or the characters – as a good first reader ought – we can now look at how the book works, and instead of swooning over it like a besotted lover begin to appreciate its intricacy and craftmanship. Surprisingly, such dissection doesn’t murder the experience. Just the opposite: Only then does a work of art fully live.” – Michael Dirda in Book by Book

Here’s the challenge:

1. Go back to your blog, and tell us about a book you’re rereading during the read-a-thon. Maybe post a picture of the book and describe why you love it enough to reread it.

OR

2. Go back to your blog, and give us a list of your top favorite rereads of all time. You know, those books that you can go to time and time again for comfort and escape. Again, pictures are always good but not required.

Once you’ve posted, come back here, and leave a comment with a link to your blog post. (Or, if you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave your entry in the comments.) This mini-challenge will stay open for two hours.

I’ll select one lucky reader to receive an Amazon gift certificate for $15, perhaps to fund the purchase of a rereadable tome. Thanks for playing!

It’s that time of year again! The October 2011 24-Hour Read-A-Thon is taking place this Saturday, October 22, 2011. Head on over to the official website for more information. You know you want to read for 24-hours straight. :)

MINI-CHALLENGE PLEA
This year, I’m helping organize the Read-A-Thon as the Mini-Challenge Committee Chair. We already have a great lineup of mini-challenges for you, but there are four more open spots!! If you’d be willing to host one, please sign-up here! Pretty please!

UPDATE: All slots are now filled for mini-challenge hosts! Thank you so much!