School Library Journal's Day of Dialog

@School Library Journal's Annual Day of Dialog: from left to right: Anne Lotito Schuh, Paul Griffin, Lisa Von Drasek, and Jessica Fenster-Sparber.  Photo credit: Joan Slattery

 

On March 31st two of us (Anne and Jessica) attended School Library Journal’s Day of Dialog. Highlights of the day included the keynote speech by National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Gene Luen Yang; author panels on non-fiction, middle grade readers, and YA fiction; lunch with one of Passages’ favorite visiting authors, Paul Griffin; and the opportunity to scout out forthcoming titles for Passages students and teachers.  

Lunchtime bonus: we met the famous Lisa Von Drasek, formerly of Bank Street College, who, among many other things, turns out to be the keeper of the Monster manuscript.  Stay tuned for more on this apocryphal document.

The Middle Passage by Tom Feelings

"No one can experience it and remain unmoved" reads the inside flap. There are no better words to characterize the power of this visceral, searing, brilliant work. This large format book powerfully conveys more about the horror of this experience through wordless images than any textbook ever could. Feelings, a Brooklyn native whose work hangs behind Crossroads' closed doors, explains his decades-long process efforts to research and create the book in a four-page introduction which may well fascinate a would-be artist. For others, skip the words and dive right into the first image. The volume concludes with a bibliography and a handy map of the African diaspora in the Americas to furnish geographical context. Pair with Spielberg's Amistad (Feelings first, Spielberg second) and Lester's From Slave Ship to Freedom Road and Day of Tears. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber