This week, Jarrett J. Krosoczka and team are honored at the Audie Awards; Meredith Davis and Rebeka Uwitonze celebrate black excellence; Isaac Fitzgerald and Brigette Barrager rally the buccaneers for their picture book launch; and Vikki VanSickle has a beary fun time in Nashville.
Congrats, Kiddo
On Monday, March 2, the audio adaptation of Jarrett J. Krosoczka’s graphic memoir Hey, Kiddo (Scholastic Audio) won the Audie Award for Best Young Adult audiobook. Pictured here, some of the team behind the work and a few members of the cast (from l.): John Pels, Steve Syarto, Paul Gagne, Mellissa Reilly Ellard (from Scholastic Audio); Gina, Jarrett, and Zoe Krosoczka; Jeanne Birdsall, Patrick Hanlan, Seamus Hanlan, Jaiden Meltzer, and Jennifer Meltzer.
Outstanding Work
Her Own Two Feet co-authors Meredith Davis and Rebeka Uwitonze (Scholastic Focus) recently attended the 51st National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards at the Pasadena Civic Center Auditorium in California. Her Own Two Feet was nominated for the Outstanding Literary Work–Youth/Teens category, and Uwitonze visited the U.S. from Rwanda for the occasion. Here, Uwitonze (l.) poses with Davis’s daughter, Alayna.
A Pirate’s Life for Me
On March 1, author Isaac Fitzgerald and illustrator Brigette Barrager launched their picture book collaboration, How to Be a Pirate (Bloomsbury). The event took place at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn, N.Y., with Barrager flying in from Los Angeles for the celebration. The picture book features CeCe, a girl who learns a pirate’s best qualities from her grandfather’s tattoos when the boys refuse to let her play with them.
Unbearably Cute
In town for the Public Library Association conference, Vikki VanSickle dropped by Parnassus Books in Nashville to read her picture book, Teddy Bear of the Year (Tundra). The bookstore hosted a morning teddy bear storytime on February 29, encouraging guests to bring their stuffed animals and participate in crafts and activities.
