Two awards to celebrate!
This past Saturday I was awarded the Rip Van Winkle award from SLMSSENY. Here is what their website has to say about their organization and the award:
“SLMSSENY is a professional organization comprised of over 250 school library media specialists in southeastern New York. We are one of eight regional affiliates, which make up the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association.
Our mission is to advocate for and promote the interests of the school library media specialists in southeastern New York so that they can enable students to become independent learners and avid readers. We facilitate this mission by assisting and encouraging our members, actively lobbying for increased support of school library media programs and school library systems, presenting a dynamic Spring Conference, and providing opportunities for professional development. In addition, we give the annual Rip Van Winkle Award for outstanding contributions in the field of children’s literature by an author/illustrator residing in the seven county SLMSSENY region and keep intellectual freedom alive in every school library media center.”
Cool, huh? I especially like the part about keeping intellectual freedom alive in every school library media center. I am honored to have been chosen as this year’s recipient, and it was great fun to attend the banquet, sign books, and get a chance to meet a fabulous group of people.
The second award is one I don’t know much about yet, but I’m hoping to learn all the details soon. Apparently The Liberation of Gabriel King won a prestigious award in Italy. My Italian translator was kind enough to send me a note via Facebook, along with a link to the official site announcing this award. It’s the 2008 Andersen Award for Best Book for 9 - 12 year olds. I’d love to know more about this, but since I can’t read the Italian in the link, I sent an e-mail to my foreign rights agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd and asked him to see what he could find out for me. One way or another, it’s very cool news. There’s something amazing about the fact that my books have lives in different countries, reaching out to people I will most likely never meet.
Of course, should they offer to fly me to Italy for an awards banquet I would SO be there! Pregnancy or no pregnancy, I’d be on my way.
June 8th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Congratulations, Kelly! The SLMSSNEY award is a really nice honor! And Brava! for the Italian award.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I hope that you have funn with your new baby. I wish you both the best and your husband too. (If he is still in the picture). Your book “Saint Iggy” is one of my favorite books that you have written so far. I can’t wait to read “The Garden of Eve”!!!!