Speaking Up for Literacy
Singer Taylor Swift talked with children about the importance of reading and writing at Scholastic’s headquarters in New York on October 28 as part of Scholastic’s “Open a World of Possible” literacy initiative. The New York kids in attendance shared their favorite books with Taylor, while she spoke about how much reading and writing have meant to her throughout her life. The video recording of Swift aired on October 29 at www.scholastic.com/taylorswift. (Photo by Stuart Ramson/Invision for Scholastic, Inc./AP Images)
Getting Scary in the Stacks
On October 25, Betsy Bird of the NYPL moderated a middle-grade author panel, Telling Tales, with Aaron Starmer (The Riverman, FSG); Kate Milford (Greenglass House, Clarion); and Jonathan Auxier (The Night Gardener, Abrams). Each of the authors write stories with dark, sci-fi, and fantastical elements, and Bird is the co-author of Wild Things! Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature, with Julie Danielson and Peter Sieruta (Candlewick). Here, the authors (who read from their books and told a few other tales) strike their scariest poses – as scary as you can be in the foreign-language section of a bookstore (in this case, Manhattan’s McNally Jackson). Seen here (l. to r.): Bird, Starmer, Milford, and Auxier.
To Vegas and Beyond!
Four Skyscape authors – who renamed themselves skYAuthors – hit the road for a Nevada to Utah tour to promote their novels. Christina Farley (the Gilded series), Jessie Humphries (the Killing Ruby Rose series), Lori M. Lee (Gates of Thread and Stone), and Meredith McCardle (The Eighth Guardian), visited nine schools, plus Main Street Bookstore in Cedar City, Utah, and Vegas Valley Book Festival. The tour concluded with a launch party for Humphries’s Resisting Ruby Rose in downtown Las Vegas, where the authors also chilled with a giant praying mantis: (l to r) Lee, McCardle, Humphries, and Farley. In addition to reading and greeting fans, the authors promoted a Skyscape writing contest, which invites readers in grades 6-12 to submit the first 250 words of a story inspired by the theme “The Sky’s the Limit.” For more info on the contest, click here.
Shouldn’t You Be in School?
Lemony Snicket visited Barnes & Noble Anchorage on October 27 to promote the third book in his All the Wrong Questions series, Shouldn’t You Be in School? (Little, Brown). Store staff members have Snicket’s back, as the author is ready to leap into action should any new mystery arise - no questions asked.
