A one-of-a-kind conference, AASL25 will feature daily keynotes, more than 150 concurrent sessions, author panels, research into practice sessions, more than 150 exhibitors, the best practice IdeaLab, Poster presentations, author signings, and endless networking opportunities.
Join me for two fantastic panels on Friday, 7/25 at Comic Con!
Toddlers to Teens: Writing Kidlit, from Picture Books to Young Adult and Everything In Between
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Room 9
Bestselling and award-winning kidlit authors discuss the craft and business of writing for young audiences, with Marcie Colleen (Kitten Ninja, Penguinaut), Dan Santat (All The Hulk Feels, A First Time for Everything), Leanne Schwartz (A Prayer for Vengeance, To a Darker Shore), Sherri L. Smith (Pearl, American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and The Race For Equality In The Sky), and Greg van Eekhout (Happy Town, Voyage of the Dogs).
Joy and Resistance
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, Room 24ABC
“Joy is an act of resistance”—poet Toi Derricotte. Writers explore the ways their characters experience joy in challenging times and how resistance can spark joy. Embrace celebration and determination with Sherri L. Smith (Candace, the Universe, and Everything), Danica Nava (Love Is a War Song), C. B Lee (Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe), Sarah Beth Durst (The Enchanted Greenhouse), and Veronica Bane (Difficult Girls), in conversation with bookseller Maryelizabeth Yturralde.
Signing to follow, 2pm, Sails Pavillion
Join Sherri and her co-author on American Wings, Elizabeth Wein in celebrating women in aviation, and the induction of Willa Brown and Janet Harmon Bragg into the Pioneer Hall of Fame.
3/28 - Panel: The Race for Equality in the Sky: Bessie Coleman, Janet Harmon Bragg, and Willa Brown
3/29 - Pioneer Hall of Fame Celebration and Ceremony
See the WAI schedule for other events and book signings.
Come participate in this exciting chance to meet and greet Illinois Reads Authors as they share the inspiration for their stories and current projects they are working on, and ask questions you’ve been anxious to know about your favorite characters. Following the sessions, authors will also be autographing their books in the Exhibit Hall at the Bank of Springfield Center. Books will also be available for purchase in the exhibit hall
BOS Center B-11A
11:00 - 11:30 AM
Join authors Sherri L. Smith and Liz Davidson as they read from their children’s books, Who Were the Tuskegee Airmen? and Cleared for Bedtime. Short meet and greet to follow reading.
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Acclaimed author Sherri L. Smith will share her newest book, American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky. The book tells the story of a group of determined Black Americans who created an integrated airfield and flight school in Chicago during the 1930s, proving successful integration was possible.
Bel Canto Books is delighted to host children's book author Sherri L. Smith for her new graphic novel, PEARL.
Kindly RSVP so we can plan accordingly. Please stay home if you feel sick.
This event will be held indoors at KUBO LB (3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach CA).
Join Sherri in celebrating the launch of her new graphic novel, PEARL at Once Upon a Time Bookstore— the oldest children’s bookstore in the United States! If you’re a WWII buff, curious about history, or about writing graphic novels, this is the place to be!
In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where some previous Black aviators like Bessie
Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?
American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield on Chicago's South Side. As the U.S. hurtled toward World War II, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful integration was possible.
Complete with black-and-white photographs throughout, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons for Young Readers)
Join Sherri for a raucous round of Story Improv at the Henderson Reads Book Festival, “A stupendous literary showcase featuring award-winning and notable picture book, middle grade and young adult authors. Authors will present their selected books in addition to a book signing session. See below more author details. So many children's authors all in one place! This is not to be missed!
Live readings and discussions
Book signings
Interactive activities
Where's Waldo?
Face Painting
And MUCH More!”
I’ll be at #NCTE22 this Saturday and Sunday! Look for me at the Penguin Young Readers Booth #825 booth Saturday at 4pm for a book signing. Sunday at 10:30 am join me, @deborah_hopkinson @candaceflemingbooks #marielejeune and #cyndigiorgis for Illuminating the Power of Long-Form Nonfiction to Build Reading Stamina. Room 203-A. It should be a great conversation with plenty of inspiration to bring back to the classroom. See you soon!
Sherri L. Smith will spend an evening in conversation about her book, FLYGIRL, the 2022 Howard County Read. FLYGIRL tells the story of a light-skinned African American woman who passes for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II. FLYGIRL is the winner of the California Book Awards gold medal, and was selected as a Best Book for Young People by the American Library Association. Book signing to follow.
Tickets are free to the public.
“This well-told, interesting story moves along at a good clip, as Smith paints a vivid picture of the WASPs, with the suspense of Ida Mae’s deception always lurking beneath the surface…A vibrant picture of WWII women and of Jim Crow as it was then.”
—Kirkus Review
What better way to celebrate than with the launch of Christine Heppermann's new novel in verse What Goes Up! Joining Christine with their fantastic new novels will be authors Laura Ruby, Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All - a National Book Award Finalist; Sherri L. Smith, The Blossom and the Firefly and Brandy Colbert, The Voting Booth.
With Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty and Ask Me How I Got Here, Christine Heppermann established herself as a vital voice in thought-provoking and powerful feminist writing for teens. Her poetry is surprising, wry, emotional, and searing. What Goes Up is by turns a scorchingly funny and deeply emotional story that asks whether it’s possible to support and love someone despite the risk of being hurt. Readers will find a complicated heroine they won’t soon forget.
From Laura Ruby, author of Printz Medal winner Bone Gap comes Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All the unforgettable story of two young women—one living, one dead—dealing with loss, desire, and the fragility of the American dream during WWII.
Also set in WWII, from the award-winning author of Flygirl Sherri L. Smith, The Blossom and the Firefly is a powerful romance between two Japanese teens caught in the cogs of an unwinnable war, perfect for fans of Salt to the Sea, Lovely War, and Code Name,Verity.
In Brandy Colbert's The Voting Booth Marva Sheridan was born ready to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn't spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right!
REGISTER AT OBLONGBOOKS.COM
Join Sherri and Julie as they discuss Sherri’s World War II love story, The Blossom and the FIrefly, and Julie’s World War I romance, Lovely War.
Join Sherri at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena for a reading from her newest novel, The Blossom and the Firefly. The evening will include a reading and discussion of the novel, as well as a special performance of koto and violin featuring music from the book.
