Last week, Hillel Italie of the Associated Press profiled Walter Dean Myers, one of a few authors to win both the Printz and Edwards awards from YALSA, on his enduring popularity with teen readers. Read on to see why YALSA chose Myers to be a featured speaker at Give Them What They Want: Reaching Reluctant Readers, YALSA’s half-day Annual preconference in New Orleans on June 24, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Among the kids at the Promise Academy and around the country, Walter Dean Myers is a must-read whose books have sold millions of copies and have a special appeal for the toughest of people to reach, boys. He is able, like few writers, to relate to his readers as they live today.
And he is old enough to be their grandfather.
Myers, 73, has written dozens of novels, plays and biographies. He has received three National Book Award nominations and won many prizes, including a lifetime achievement honor from the American Library Association and five Coretta Scott King awards for African-American fiction. He is also the most engaged of writers, spending hours with young people at schools, libraries and prisons, giving talks and advice on life and work, his own rise from high-school dropout to best-selling author, a story that translates across generations.
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The program below is one of many featured on ALA’s online clearinghouse for school/public library cooperation managed by the AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation. Visit the clearinghouse to learn more or share your own exemplary partnership!
Title of Program: Author Lecture
Type of Program: Special Events
Age level: Elementary & Secondary (middle school)
Description of Program: Author Lecture is a joint program organized and funded by the Multnomah County Library, The Library Foundation and Riverdale Grade School. This annual event, begun in 1998, explores the exciting and diverse world of books for children from the viewpoint of the books’ creators. Past guests include Jack Gantos, Christopher Paul Curtis, Sharon Creech, and Katherine Paterson. As part of the program, needy schools can apply to participate in the school exchange program. Students in the exchange receive complimentary tickets to the lecture, transportation, an autographed book by the author, and will meet with a class from Riverdale Grade School to discuss the author’s writing. URL: http://www.multcolib.org/kids/lecture/
Contact Information:
Katie O’Dell
Reading Promotions Coordinator
Multnomah County Library
205 NE Russell
Portland, OR 97212
503.988.6002
kodell@multcolib.org