Cheers for ALA Youth Media Winners!

There was much cheering in the Messner house this morning, once we finally figured out how to get the live feed of the ALA Youth Media Awards announcements from Boston.  So happy for all of the winners, but particularly some friends whose books we loved…

Tanya Lee Stone’s brave and brilliant ALMOST ASTRONAUTS won the Sibert Medal.  If you haven’t already read this story of the "Mercury 13" women who secretly went through astronaut testing before NASA was ready to consider women in space, you are missing an amazing story. And if you’re a teacher, know that Tanya does an incredible job with school visits; she was our visiting author last year, and the kids were fascinated by the story behind this book.

Rebecca Stead’s WHEN YOU REACH ME won the Newbery Medal, and my eight-year-old shouted "YES!" so loudly she woke up her brother. WYRM is one of those books that is just so, so special you want to hug it.  I picked up a copy at last summer’s ALA conference, read it, wrote a blog recommendation, and immediately emailed Rebecca to see if she’d be my school’s visiting author for the 2009-2010 school year.  She said yes, so in March, we’ll have our first-ever visit from a Newbery Medal author.  I believe that she may also be making a stop at Flying Pig Books, so if you’re a Vermonter, be sure to check the Flying Pig Events page for the official announcement so you don’t miss it!

Time to get some writing done, because if this morning’s feast of great books wasn’t inspiration, I don’t know what is.

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