
Friday night we gathered upstairs, then traipsed into the auditorium for the 
LA  Times Book Prize ceremony, lead by the Times book editor, David  Ulin. We got nervous, winning authors were announced one by one, short  speeches were given. 
Marching For Freedom won for Young Adult Literature.  I stood  up and spoke. 

In the middle of naming the wonderful Selmians, who as  children and young adults marched and were jailed and beaten and did it  all again the next day, I was so filled with gratitude and tears and  absolute overwhelm that I had to stop, take a couple of deep breaths,  and finish in a rush.
Cecil Castellucci gave the greatest intro  to the Young Adult Prize. She's an awesome, energetic, smart woman, with a deep love of children's literature.
After all the awards were announced, we all traipsed off to another room, where we ate and laughed and decompressed.

Here I am with my publisher, Regina Hayes. Are you catching on to my evening's look? The Deer-in-the-Headlights Look? That's still how I feel.
 
No comments:
Post a Comment