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The Library of Congress

AppearancesThe Writing LifeWhat I'm reading
March 18, 2016

Why I Wish I Could Be Split in Two

It’s too early to be in this airport, but I'm on the way to the Southwest Florida Reading Festival. I’ll step off the plane and head to right to a school to read Mango, Abuela and Me. Then, it’s all preparation for my time outside tomorrow. The downside to being in the Florida sunshine, though, is that I'll miss the presentation of the inaugural Walter Award at the Library of Congress. We Need Diverse Books's judges picked three of my favorite reads of 2015. I want to send a huge congratulations to winners Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (All-American Boys), and honor winners Margarita Engle (Enchanted Air); Kekla Magoon and Ilyasa Shabazz (X). I am in DC in spirit!
AppearancesCommunity work
April 27, 2014

Wanted: Your Best Pix in Support of Diverse Books

It's a great week for thinking about books for all kids. On Tuesday, I'll finally be at the Library of Congress to celebrate DIA, the American Library Association's celebration of multicultural books for young readers. (If you're unfamiliar with that event, go here and get on board: Dia fact sheet_0) But it's also a week where I'll get to hear from you - I hope. A few weeks ago, I pointed you to CBC Diversity as a place to stay informed about advocating for representative children's books. Today, I offer you another way to help make diverse books more available in classroom and community libraries – and to help get more authors of color at literary conferences. All you need is a smart phone and a magic marker. Why do you think we need diverse books for kids? Please answer the question, take a quick photo of your written response, and send it to weneeddiversebooks@yahoo.com before Thursday, May 1. All the images will be hosted on the event's Tumblr page. Check out the details of the campaign on Facebook, if you prefer, and if you're a twitter person, please join the chat. Here's mine, with just a few of the titles I grabbed off my bookshelf in a hurry. Nothing fancy. See some of your favorites?   Meg's next appearance:  Young Readers Center at The Library of Congress, April 30 for Dia celebration, 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. 
AppearancesLatino Life
October 8, 2013

A happy week, except when Congress socks it to the little guys

A bitter-sweet week. The sweet: Spent yesterday in the company of EE Charlton Trujillo (FAT ANGIE, Candlewick Press), and Kathy Erskine (MOCKINGBIRD; SEEING RED). EE is filming a documentary of her book tour,  which has featured  rental cars, buzzards, near tornadoes, and a chance to meet with authors and kids across the country. A blast, but I don't want to say more because she'll  be chatting with me on this blog next week. More soon. All I can say, is buckle in. I love beautiful libraries... I'll be at the Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library this Thursday night as part of their anti-bullying event and also as a tie in to their celebration of Hispanic Heritage month. Teens and social workers in the know will be on hand, and then we'll talk about how an abusóna became the inspiration for Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. (And, yes, I will be allowed to say "ass," amigos.) Really looking forward to visiting this cool library and also checking out their exhibit called Héroes of the LGBTQ Community. Why, Congress, why? But here is the bitter:  It boils down to two words: government shutdown.  I was so excited to visit with K - 2nd grade students from four DC area public schools at the beautiful  Young Readers Center. Unfortunately,  the shutdown closed the Library of Congress.  It's definitely not as important as the many families who are now struggling financially or the Head Start programs now scrambling or the WIC programs being zapped or any number…