School Library Journal Day of Dialog, October 26, 2019
317 On Rice Park
317 Washington Street, Saint Paul, MN


 

Join School Library Journal for a FREE Day of Dialog St. Paul, the most anticipated librarian-only gathering of the year! 

Be informed, inspired, and entertained by the industry’s leading authors, editors, and publishers. The program will take a deep dive into books and series that support social-emotional learning and engage striving readers, and attendees will explore the ways new authors and illustrators are bringing their unique points of view to children’s and young adult literature. 

You’ll enjoy a full day of panels and speaker presentations by celebrated authors. And thanks to our many publisher sponsors, attendees will receive free advanced reading copies and an opportunity to have complementary books signed by their authors. 

Network with colleagues from around the country in an intimate, library-centric setting; get a first look at exciting titles due out next season; and walk away with free books and stimulating ideas for your libraries and classrooms.

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Registration and Continental Breakfast
 
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM | Keynote: Duchess Harris, PhD (ABDO)
Dr. Duchess Harris is an academic, author, legal scholar, and a professor of American studies at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN, specializing in black feminism, U.S. law, and African American political movements. She is also the creator of the Duchess Harris Collection of series nonfiction titles from ABDO, which focus on issues of social justice, activism, and identity.
 
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM | Social Emotional Learning Panel
Social-emotional learning helps children recognize and manage their emotions, set positive goals, and develop lifelong interpersonal skills. In this panel, two authors and a children’s book editor will discuss how picture books can help support and extend social-emotional learning curricula.
Meg Bratsch, Acquiring Editor, Free Spirit 
Nancy Carlson, I Like Me, Henry and the Bully, It’s Okay to Ask; Puffin; Sometimes You Barf, It's Not My Fault (Lerner) 
Frank Murphy, A Boy Like You; Cherry Lake
Moderated by Kristine Wobbema, Library Media Specialist, Poplar Bridge Elementary, ISD 271, MN
 
11:30 AM - 11:35 AM | Five-Minute Mindfulness, Presented by Free Spirit
 
11:35 AM - 12:05 AM | Book Buzz #1
Jump
Cherry lake
Free Spirit
Quarto
 
12:05 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch
 
1:05 PM - 1:45 PM | Igniting Striving Readers
A perennial challenge for librarians and teachers is engaging readers—especially the kids for whom reading skills do not come easy, often referred to as “reluctant readers” or “struggling readers.” In this panel, a mix of experts will offer advice on connecting with readers—at whatever stage they may be—and discuss whether it’s time to reframe the conversation and adjust our definitions of what it means to be “a reader.”
Drew Ballanger, Teacher, Minneapolis Public Schools
Blake Hoena, MakerSpace Adventures, Jake Maddox; Capstone and Paranormal Mysteries; Bellwether
Jen Besel, Associate Publisher, Black Rabbit
Liz Lee Heinecke, Kitchen Science Lab for Kids, STEAM Lab for Kids; Quarto
Moderated by Abdul Wright, Minnesota Teacher of the Year
 
1:45 PM - 2:15 PM | Book Buzz #2
Mackin
Creative
Lerner
Bellwether
 
2:15 PM - 2:45 PM | Keynote: Spike Trotman, Iron Circus Comics
Spike Trotman is  the founder and creative visionary behind Iron Circus Comics, which publishes comics and graphic novels across a wide range of genres, for a diverse range of audiences. Some of their standout titles for teen readers include As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman and Banned Book Club by Hyun Sook Kim and Ryan Estrada, both of which earned SLJ starred reviews.
 
2:45 PM - 3:30 PM | Exploring Identity and Belonging in Stories for Youth
Whether it’s an interstellar space adventure, a poignant coming-of-age tale about surviving loss, or real-life stories from young immigrants, the depiction and construction of identity/identities in literature is crucial to connecting with and affirming the experiences of young readers. In this panel, three authors will talk about how they explore and uplift the perspectives of tweens and teens in their work.
J.N. Monk Topside, Lerner
Jane O’Reilly The Notations of Cooper Cameron, Lerner 
Dr. Tea Rozman-Clark Green Card Voices, Ingram
Moderated by Vanessa Willoughby, nonfiction editor, SLJ
 
3:30 PM - 3:35 PM | Five-Minute Yoga Stretch, Presented by JUMP
 
3:35 PM - 3:50 PM | Break
 
3:50 PM - 4:20 PM | Book Buzz #3
Bearport
Abdo
Capstone
IPS/Consortium
 
4:20 PM - 4:50 PM | Keynote: Bao Phi A Different Pond, My Footprints; Capstone
Bao Phi is a Vietnamese-American spoken word artist, writer, and community activist living in Minnesota. His picture book A Different Pond, illustrated by Thi Bui, received a Caldecott Honor.
 
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Author Signing

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