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From left: Dr. Stephanie D. Reynolds, Jack Gantos, Dan Yaccarino, Selene Castrovilla, and Mercedes Hopewell
The McConnell Conference this year was a great time! The conference began with breakout sessions including a presentation by Mary Lou White, Tyler Anderson, and Stephanie Sawyer on this year’s Young Adult Youth Media Awards. Dan Yaccarinno kicked off the conference with a breakout session where he answered the audience’s questions about his fabulous illustrations. Meggan Conway gave a breakout session on how to find multicultural literature for all children and Krista King-Oaks and Pamela Jayne geeked out with graphic novels. During the first round of breakout ses-
sions, the McConnell Conference sponsored its first SLIS Student Poster Session. Jessica Herrington, Desireé Perry, Heather Burke, and Danielle Gabbard presented an amazing poster session on marketing information to youth. On Saturday Heather Burke presented her poster session on her “Artists’ Books Access Project.” Thank you to all the participants from SLIS who contributed to the McConnell Conference’s first poster session. Friday night was concluded with the Toy Terhune Lecture featuring the author of the Joey Pigza and Jack Adrift books, the amazing Jack Gantos. The
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2012 Newbery Medal Winner for Deadend in Norvelt had the entire audience laughing at his childhood antics. On Saturday, the morning session began with author of the novel The Girl Next Door, Selene Castrovilla. Breakout sessions followed including a meet-the-author with Jack Gantos and a session by Karalea Lane discussing the virtues of heroes in young adult literature. Edith Campbell and author Ashley Hope Pérez presented a wonderful breakout session that discussed creating and finding ethnic authenticity in youth literature. From left: Dan Yaccarino and Jack Gantos
Our Saturday lunch session featured author/illustrator Dan Yaccarino. He has sold over 1.5 million books and has illustrated over 50 books! He is also the creator of Nickelodeon shows “Willa’s Wild Life” and “Oswald”. Yaccarino delivered a hilarious presentation about his struggles and rise to becoming an amazing illustrator for children. Following the lunch session, there were more breakout sessions during which some previous sessions were repeated and conference attendees could “meet the author” with Selene Castrovilla or celebrate the art of picture books with - our first hands-on session in many years - with Denise Vallandingham. Thank you to local treasures Martha Bennett Stiles and George Ella Lyon and to up-and-coming author Ashley Hope Pérez for participating in our signing sessions. If you have any photos you would like to share of the Conference please send them to mercedes.hopewell@gmail.com. This year was another wonderful Conference for us! Thank you to all who joined us.
Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America was on March 2 this year. Did you celebrate in anyway? Send us pictures and testimonial on how you spent Dr. Seuss’ birthday or Read Across America. We would love to see how you spent the day! Send all pictures and testimonials to mercedes.hopewell@gmail.com
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don’t mind." - Dr. Seuss
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The third annual Kentucky Literacy Celebration week will occur March 4-8, 2013.
Kentucky Literacy Celebration is a result of collaboration among several literacy/ education institutions and Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear. The intent of the event is to highlight literacy in Kentucky, celebrate the accomplishments and focus on the challenges still faced as a state. The week of March 4-8, 2013 is set aside for this event. There are several ways you can get involved. Visit the Kentucky Literacy Celebration website for more details. www.kentuckyliteracy.org/celebrate
March 23 at 7:00 p.m. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys http://bit.ly/OutofEasy2013 April 13 at 7:00 p.m. McConnell Board Game Night http://bit.ly/ McConnellBoardGameNight2013 Please RSVP on our Facebook pages or using the form found here for these events so we know approximately how many are coming or if we need to reschedule. ~Thanks!
After 4 years, the McConnell Listserv is now 300 subscribers strong. Not subscribed? Don't miss out on McConnell Center and Conference news, subscribe today. Please email Mercedes Hopewell at Mercedes.Hopewell@gmail.com with your preferred name and email address.
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The McConnell Center’s 4th Connecting with Characters Contest was organized in conjunction with the 2013 McConnell Conference for Youth Literature featuring Jack Gantos, Dan Yaccarino and Selene Castrovilla. The Contest provides an opportunity for the youth of Kentucky and the surrounding states to connect with the characters in the works of these wonderful contributors to the world of literature for youth. Congratulations to the winners for 2013:
Brittany Kay Allen, Age 6, Kindergarten, Gallatin County Lower Elementary, Donna Kannady, Librarian, Warsaw, KY (The Belly Book by Dan Yaccarino) Aaliyah Schave, Age 7, 1st Grade, Gallatin County Lower Elementary, Donna Kannady, Librarian, Warsaw, KY (The Belly Book by Dan Yaccarino) Kaley Mills, Age 6, 1st Grade, Goose Rock Elementary, Lainie Miller, Teacher, Manchester, KY (Every Friday by Dan Yaccarino). Hannah Roper, Age 6, 1st Grade, Yates Elementary, Emily Pike, Librarian, Lexington, KY (Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos) Olivia Thompson, Age 8, 2nd Grade, Hearn Elementary, Becky B. Nelson, Librarian, Frankfort, KY (Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos) Brookelynn Gail Perkins, Age 7, 2nd Grade, Gallatin County Lower Elementary, Donna Kannady, Librarian, Warsaw, KY (The Belly Book by Dan Yaccarino) Averie Thress, Age 8, 2nd Grade, Hearn Elementary, Becky B. Nelson, Librarian, Frankfort, KY (Best In Show For Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos) Katherine Nolan, Age 9, 3rd Grade, Hearn Elementary, Becky B. Nelson, Librarian, Frankfort, KY (Best In Show For Rotten Ralph by Jack Gantos) Cameron Hubbard, Age 9, 4th Grade, Goose Rock Elementary, Emily Jackson, Librarian, Manchester, KY (Joey Pigza Loses Control by Jack Gantos) Dylan Jamison, Age 11, 5th Grade, Hearn Elementary, Becky B. Nelson, Librarian, Frankfort, KY, (Jack On The Tracks by Jack Gantos)
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If you haven’t heard about the “New Adult” category for YA lit, you will be soon. It is being pegged by the media as racy books for teenagers. In reality these books are not much different than the fiction that has been out for years. Check out Nightlines spot on the “New Adult” genre for young adults at http://abcn.ws/Wv3JXI and judge for yourself if this is a new genre. The McConnell Center staff has compiled their own list of some of our favorites from this new “genre” below.
1) 2) 3) 4) 5)
Slammed by Colleen Hoover Hopeless by Colleen Hoover Easy by Tammara Webber Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan
Let us know about what you think of the “New Adult” genre or email us book suggestions at mercedes.hopewell@gmail.com
Be sure to save the date for the McConnell Center Board Game Night on April 13 at 7:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing everyone there! As always you can access Mercedes’ Board Game spreadsheet at http://bit.ly/ MercedesBoardGames Be sure to send all of your suggestions to mercedes.hopewell@gmail.com before April 10th.
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STUDENT SECTION Are you in LIS 614 or LIS 612 this Spring? Come use the McConnell Center! We can help you find books to use for your class. Our Spring 2013 hours Monday & Wednesday, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Tuesday & Thursday, 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Or by appointment contact mercedes.hopewell@gmail.com
Mary Landrum is a former McConnell Center Graduate Assistant. This March we interviewed her. What job do you currently hold? Children's librarian at Lexington Public Library. What is your favorite part of the job? Storytime! yay! How has your education prepared you for your job? Yes, absolutely. What classes from SLIS have been instrumental in laying the success in your new job?
The children's lit classes helped me learn how to identify good books for children, and how to match the right book with the right child. The library services for youth class also gave me practical experience in doing programs in a library setting. What parts of your job have only
been learned by real world experience? Using the library's circulation systems has definitely been a real-world learning experience. There's also a wealth of things you just can't learn in library school: how to give refunds from the copier, or what to do when the games computers don't work.
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On the Blog: ARC Read & Review 2012! We have the following titles available for anyone who wants to read and review them for the McConnell Center blog at http:// youthlitmatters.wordpress.com/
Young Adult
Prodigy: A Legend Novel by Marie Lu
Dodger by Terry Pratchett
Scarlet by Melissa Meyer
The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd
New Books in the Center: Juvenile Fiction
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Picture Books
Jinx by Sage Blackwoord Amelia Bedelia: Means Business by Herman Parish
A vital gathering place for books and ideas, the McConnell Center is committed to identifying excellent literature for children and adolescents and to bringing this literature to the attention of those adults who have an academic, professional, career, or personal interest in connecting young readers with books. We maintain two main, non-
Perfectly Percy by Paul Schmid
Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson
circulating collections: Our Current Collection includes all books sent to us for review by publishers during the current year. The Permanent Collection is several collections of books maintained in the Center as a resource for students and librarians. It includes the Basic Collection, the Awardwinning Collection (Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, Morris, Pura Belpré, Sibert, and Orbis Pictus Awards), the Kentucky Collection (notable Kentucky authors and books about Kentucky), the Reference Collection, and the Periodical Collection. Please visit our website for more information: https://ci.uky.edu/lis/mcconnellcenter
Graphic Novels
A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel by Madeleine L’Engle
In the Center: March 23 at 7:00 p.m. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys http://bit.ly/OutofEasy2013 April 13 at 7:00 p.m. McConnell Board Game Night http://bit.ly/ McConnellBoardGameNight2013
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