Mr. Schu's Summer Road Trip

Hey, John? Remember when you had time to leisurely enjoy your summers? Read a ton of books? Travel around sharing them?

(Okay, you still do that last part!)

But a big thrill of my writing life was when you traveled to Mississippi on a summer roadtrip with GLORY BE on board.

Here's what popped up in my social media memory today.

                

CLICK HERE for lots more photos of Mr. Schu tripping all over Mississippi, including stops at the University of Southern Mississippi and the Welty Library. Cool beans!

(There's a Cactus Museum in Mississippi?)

School Library Month, Podcasts, and all sorts of fun stuff

This morning I ambled around my sunny neighborhood with earbuds and my podcasts. 
I chose randomly- I'm so far behind. But I picked perfectly.

Click here--> It's a MUST LISTEN: librarians talking about their own libraries- childhood, school, professional. How they came to love books.
A terrible, possible future for kids without libraries.

School Library Month was April, but we should always celebrate libraries and the connections librarians make between readers and books.

I smiled when John Schu said he'll always call himself a librarian, even though he's moved on(?), away(?), sideways for a bit.
I feel the same way. Once a librarian, always a librarian. Or media specialist. Or whatever we choose to call ourselves.

While you're here, note my new blog title. (Thanks, Eileen!)
And my own chapters: writer, book reviewer, librarian. 
(I've worn a lot of hats- haven't we all at this point!)
Okay, enough about me. Hurry on over to that podcast: 

Librarians: Making Hearts Large Through Story 

(John Schu, Scholastic librarian Deimosa Webber-Bey, and Kristina Holzweiss, the 2015 School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year)

 

MAKING FRIENDS WITH BILLY WONG

My book-to-be has a title and a cover and even a blogpost on Mr. Schu's WATCH CONNECT READ.

You can see them all by clicking HERE.
(Find a bit about the story, about the books I'm reading, and about my writing buddies there.) 

I'm so excited about the cover. There's even more on the back cover! I'll share it soon. 

The book's coming in August. Which will be here before I know it.
I think you can already pre-order it on all the usual places. 
It must be really happening!

Happy birthday, Ruby Bridges.

Thanks to John Schu's wonderful Book Calendar, I now know that September 8 is Ruby Bridges' birthday.

Her story inspired me to begin my own novel.
She spoke to the student body at Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, where I worked at the time. As I walked back to the library with a group of fifth graders, they were astounded. And in awe. And surprised by all she said.

Ruby Bridges was the first African American child to integrate the public schools in New Orleans.

Many knew I'd grown up in the South. A few asked if I had any of the same experiences.
I hadn't.
But I did have other memories.

That night I started scribbling some of my memories.
Almost ten years later, my book, GLORY BE, was sold.

That's a long journey!

But what a great inspiration. Thank you and happy birthday, Ruby Bridges.

Happy Book Birthday! THE WAY TO STAY IN DESTINY

A few days before Christmas, I got to actually hold the book in my hot little hands.
My fabulous, fantastic editor, Andrea Davis Pinkney, sent a few early copies, and such a sweet note.

 The best part about seeing the Real Deal? Besides the gorgeous cover, designed by Elizabeth Parisi and Sara Wood?

The great quote from Kirby Larson on the back. Wow, I'm swooning down here!

I think I'll spend the day appreciating all the amazing things that have happened to me since my brilliant agent, Linda Pratt, said let's do this! It's not often that we slow down and enjoy the moment, is it?

So happy Book Birthday to me and my book. I think I'll eat some cake.

But first, a HUGE thank-you to all my Scholastic team, my Twitter friends, Facebook buddies, and fellow Nerdy Book people who've embraced this book since it sneaked onto a few shelves over the weekend. And even before. It's scary birthing a book.
I can't thank you enough. (But I'm happy to share the cake.)


I think it was you, T.J. Shay, who got the first glance. And sent me scurrying off to my local Barnes & Noble to check it out.

(Okay, yes. My book is near the bottom. But they're alphabetical! And no way is a librarian going to mess with the ABCs of bookshelf arrangement.)

They had already sold a few, according to the nice guy who let me sign what was left.





There were others who caught a glimpse before today.

And shared on Twitter.

 John Scovill @Johnlit360  ·  Dec 31
Here it is @ARScattergood : ) 

Tweets! Too many to mention! 

Like:
Michele Knott ‏@knott_michele Jan 4

Last holiday #bookaday was an amazing one @ARScattergood The Way to Stay in Destiny. All kinds of awesome!!

Such fun seeing your book baby in amazing company, no? 
2015 is going to be a big reading year for me!

@CarrieGelson  Jan 3
My #mustreadin2015 list is great! http://bit.ly/1rQpD7k  @LieslShurtliff @ARScattergood @marburyjack @nielsenwriter

@MrSchuReads  Dec 31
. @ARScattergood You're hanging out next to @sharonmdraper

Hey, I love hanging out with Sharon Draper. 

He saw it at one of my favorite Indies: Anderson's! 

Another big thank-you to my fellow book bloggers who've said lovely things about this novel. 

And to Amazon for choosing it as a best January release for middle-grade readers.

I guess you could say THE WAY TO STAY IN DESTINY has been celebrating all week.
And I'm good with that.

Off to find cake.

Kate DiCamillo

I may be the last person on earth to hear Kate DiCamillo's amazing NEWBERY MEDAL acceptance speech.

I loved FLORA AND ULYSSES. If you don't know the book yet, you can read my review HERE.

Mr. Schu gave me an autographed copy, which I treasure. I blogged about that HERE.
(Sorry, you can't click on that link and hope to win the copy, unautographed, that I gave away. That's over.)

Now I want to read the
 William Maxwell short story that inspired this speech, THE THISTLES IN SWEDEN.

Our local library owns it.  I'm off to check it out!

Here's the text from Kate DiCamillo's lovely speech:
http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newbery-14.pdf

But truly, you need to listen.