After three full days in DC I was beginning to get worn out. I'd been going to bed late and waking up early, but there's not much I could do about it. My body would not sleep for more than 5 hours. It was hot, and there was a lot of noise on the street at night plus my adrenaline was pumping. I know that I'm a total geek, but all of the recent events (Newbery/Caldecott awards, talking with authors, meeting librarians from all over the country who understand the job) make me wired. Thus, I couldn't sleep.
On the fourth day I decided to stop thinking about the school library and children's books for a couple of hours. I'm a big fan of Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island), so I went to hear him speak. Dennis was exactly how I thought he we would be. He's brilliant, yet down-to-earth. He's educated, yet tough (in a South Boston way). Dennis read from his latest book then took questions. I loved his comments about libraries:
"Libraries made me a writer. Libraries say to working-class and poor kids- you matter."
Dennis gave away free advanced copies of his new book. After having him sign my copy, I stood in line at the FedEx store in the Convention Center. I mailed a box of books home then hurried off to my next session. This session focused on how school librarians help teach reading and support teachers and students with reading. The presenters were dynamic and knowledgeable, but I was starting to fade. I already knew about comprehension reading strategies from my days as a teacher, and I needed to find some food. It's easy to keep going to new sessions and forget to eat or drink water.
I snuck out of the session early and walked down to Chinatown for a bite to eat. After lunch I went back to the hotel for a power nap. Do you spot a trend here? Now it was with mixed emotions that I took my power nap because I missed seeing John Grisham speak about his new children's book. However, I had to listen to my body, and I couldn't keep going.
The nap helped a lot because I had enough energy to do one last sweep of the exhibit floor during the closing hours. Exhibitors don't want to pack up all of the books they brought, so they sell them at a deep discount (hardcovers are $5 and paperbacks are $2). While I was snatching up bargains, I saw Barbara Christiansen signing copies of Django, so I picked up copy for the library and chatted with her.
The day was coming to a close, but I had one more important event. Natalie Merchant was hired by Baker & Taylor to perform for us. I scored a seat in the third row. For an hour and a half I forgot how tired I was and enjoyed the concert. She was amazing!!! The concert went long, so I missed the last shuttle. It was worth it. I took the Metro back to the hotel and began packing for my last day.
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