No More Potter

Okay, Okay (hey- when do you use "okay" vs. "OK? I usually use "OK."), enough with the Potter. From the lack of posts, I can see the majority of my readers aren't Potterheads. Ah well. I can still dream of life in Hogwarts, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum on my blog. The contest will still continue through Monday, so if you do feel like commenting on the Potter posts, you have until Monday to be entered into the autographed Get Well Soon drawing.

I'm going to Philadelphia this weekend for the American Library Association Midwinter conference (I may have said some of this before, but I don't feel like re-reading my blog, so consider this a recap). I am on the YALSA Selected Audiobooks Committee, and this will be my last meeting with the group. There are nine of us, and all year we listen to hours and hours of teen audiobooks in order to come up with our final list of favorites at Midwinter. We have a firecracker or two on the committee this year, so there may be some battling. I'm not looking forward to that part of it, but it's fun to talk about all of the books we've been spending so much time with all year. I was actually asked to be on the committee for another two year term, which I was so honored about, but I said no. I don't know how much money we'll have to travel to conferences twice a year (it adds up!), plus-- do do do doooo!-- there is going to be an audiobook of Get Well Soon!!! I don't have any info on it, mostly because Listening Library didn't want to do anything until I was done with the committee (that wouldn't be kosher). I am so stoked. I would love to read it myself, as I am an excellent reader, but I have a pretty nasally Chicago accent. Plus, it will be really cool to hear a professional do it.

ALA also announces the winners of all of the big awards this Monday (my birthday), like the Caldecott and Newberry and PRINTZ (the mother of all young adult literature awards). Every YA author out there is probably feeling a tiny bit of hope right now that maybe, just maybe, they'll pick their book to win. I can't help but wish and hope. I mean, one of my favorite funny books, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, won a Printz honor, so why not me? Oy. But that's such a dream. It all depends on who's on the committee (as I know from my own committee experience) what types of books they'll fight for. And is my book even good enough? It's almost worse to be a librarian at these conferences because I'm SO AWARE of all of these committees and all of these awards. Think good thoughts for me this weekend, please.

See y'all Monday!