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Registration for the 2013 McConnell

Conference is now open! Make sure to

include the banquet and lunch session

with McConnell featured authors Jack

Gantos and Dan Yaccarino. There is

plenty of room left to hear these great

authors share their experiences.

https://ci.uky.edu/lis/mcconnell-

conference

Friday March 1, 2013

6:15 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Banquet Dinner featuring Jack Gantos

Saturday March 2, 2013

12:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Lunch Session featuring Dan Yaccarino

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March 23 at 7:00 p.m.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

http://bit.ly/OutofEasy2013

April 13 at 7:00 p.m.

McConnell Board Game Night

http://bit.ly/

McConnellBoardGameNight2013

Please RSVP on our Facebook pages or

using the form found here for these

events so we know approximately how

many are coming or if we need to

reschedule. ~Thanks!

After 4 years, the McConnell Listserv is now 300

subscribers strong. Not subscribed? Don't miss out

on McConnell Center and Conference news, sub-

scribe today. Please email Mercedes Hopewell at

Mercedes.Hopewell@gmail.com with your pre-

ferred name and email address.

The McConnell Conference will take

place on March 1-2, 2013. The confer-

ence is quickly approaching. There is

still time to register at https://

ci.uky.edu/lis/mcconnell-conference.

Below is a sneak peek for the breakout

sessions.

Geek Out with Graphic Novels

How do you go about establishing

graphic novels in your youth collec-

tion? This session will discuss how to

train staff on selecting graphic novel

and how to partner with local gaming

and comic book stores to build your

collection. As well, there will be an

overview of the best graphic novels and

comic series for preschool through

young adult. This session will also pro-

vide suggestions for graphic novel

themed programming (including Na-

tional Gaming Day @ Your Library

overview and Free Comic Book Day

give away outline).

Celebrate the Art of the Picture Book!

With the75th anniversary of the

Caldecott Medal right around the cor-

ner, this session will take a look at the

various mediums that illustrators use to

create all the magical, humorous,

poignant and beautiful things in picture

books. Anyone who works with or re-

views picture books will find a whole

new appreciation for the illustrators.

Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get

messy. No previous artistic experience

required, just your creative spirit.

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Why Each Hero Matters: YA Literature Heroes and the Young Adult

Everyone needs a hero, especially a developing young adult. Thankfully, Young Adult Literature offers four

main types of protagonists. Learning to identify these, and why each is essential to the developing young

adult can be a key method to interesting the developing readers in what the library can offer.

A Book That Looks Like Me

You have brown skin, brown eyes and black hair. You want a book about princesses and all you can find are

pictures of blue-eyed, blond haired princesses. What do you do? This session will present some recent picture

books featuring diverse races and cultures as well as some old favorites. You'll also learn of some resources

to help you in choosing multicultural literature for children.

Young Adult Awards Panel

Since 2000, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division of the American Library Asso-

ciation (ALA) has been honoring works of either fiction or nonfiction that exemplify the quality of Young

Adult Literature with the Michael L. Printz Award. This award has the unique distension of being an interna-

tional honor. In 2009, YALSA began awarding the William C. Morris Young Adult Debut Award. This ses-

sion will offer summaries of the Printz and William Morris Award winners for 2013. A question and answer

session will follow. Participants can offer their opinions about the award winners and discuss what other

books were considered award worthy.

Imagining Beyond the Skin I'm In: Creating Ethnic Authenticity in Children's and Young Adult Litera-

ture

Librarian Edith Campbell and author Ashley Hope Pérez team up in this session to highlight key issues in

writing and selecting books about ethnic authenticity. Pérez will discuss how she came to write about com-

munities she wasn’t born into and some of the work that goes into the responsible treatment of diverse ethnic

and cultural experiences in literature. She’ll also will talk about past work reviewing and selecting children’s

books for inclusion in bilingual/Spanish-language collections. Campbell will highlight examples of outstand-

ing books at all levels involving ethnicity without limiting treatment to color while developing stories that

revolve around contemporary storylines. Specific titles will be shared as well, where more books can be

found. The session will also include a set of “quick check” recommendations to help librarians and teachers

make informed decisions about titles to include in their collections.

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“A writer’s job is to turn his worst experiences into money.” This is Jack Henry’s philosophy about

life. He is trying to do everything in his power to create tragedy and suffering in his life. Jack Henry wants to

be a writer but his father thinks he is nuts. This is the fifth book in the Jack Henry series. It follows Jack in a

junior high school that use to be prison. Jack is just trying to pass shop class so he can have a summer to write

his first novel. However, his shop teacher has other ideas. What is Jack to do? Fail shop class or dig up the dog

coffin he made for his dog? No dog coffin no grade. No grade no summer vacation devoted to writing. Jack

Henry experiences many twists and turns in this final installment of the Jack Henry series. The first in the

series is Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade Without a Clue. Readers may want to start with that title. This book series

is full of laughter and adventure. Children of all ages will love Jack and his crazy family. While this book is

more than ten years old, it has a timeless quality. This book is recommended for ages nine and up.

Gantos, J. (1997). Jack's black book. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Read A-likes

Gantos, J. (1998). Joey Pigza swallowed the key. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a wimpy kid: Greg Heffley's journal. New York: Amulet Books.

Pinkwater, D. M., & Brown, C. (2012). Bushman lives!. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Every month leading up to the 2013

McConnell Conference, the

McConnell newsletter will feature a

new book review from one of our

2013 featured presenters. These

reviews will introduce you to our

authors and some of their work. If

you have any books from our 2013

presenters you would like us to

review, please send suggestions to:

mercedes.hopewell@gmail.com

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“When am I getting my book back?”

“Never.”

This is the conversation one G.A. had with her best

friend recently. Easy by Tammara Webber is a book

we can’t stop talking about. This book was voted the

second best Young Adult Fiction novel of 2012 by

Goodreads. If you are looking for a book you can’t put

down, read Easy by Tammara Webber.

http://bit.ly/Easy2012

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the

college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a

breakup two months into sophomore year. After two

weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's

single, attending a state university instead of a music

conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends,

and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her

ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to

be in the right place at the right time, she wants

nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--

but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ

class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her

friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a

choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back.

Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of

his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and

knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

One Cool Friend illustrated by Da-

vid Small and written by Toni

Buzzeo

Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by

Pamela Zagarenski written by Mary

Logue

2013 Caldecott Medal Winner This is Not My Hat illustrated and

written by Jon Klassen

Honors Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter

Brown and written by Aaron Reyn-

olds

Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klas-

sen and written by Mac Barnett

Green illustrated and written by

Laura Vaccaro Seeger

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2013 Newbery Medal Winner The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Honors Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz

Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

Three Times Lucky by Shelia Turnage

2013 Printz Medal Winner In Darkness by Nick Lane

Honors

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

The White Bicycle by Beverley Brenna

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Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Available March 5, 2013

The Elite by Kiera Cass

Available April 23, 2013

Clockwork Princess by

Cassandra Clare

Available March 19, 2013

Scarlet: The Lunar Chroni-

cles by Marissa Meyer

Available February 5, 2013

Unravel Me by Tahereh

Mafi

Available February 5, 2013

Shards and Ashes stories

from Melissa Marr, Kelley

Armstrong, Veronica Roth,

Kami Garcia, Margaret

Stohl, Nancy Holder, Rachel

Caine, and Carrie Ryan.

Available February 19, 2013

Awaken by Meg Cabot

Available July 7, 2013

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Are you in LIS 614 or LIS 612 this

Spring? Come use the McConnell

Center! We can help you find books

to use for your class.

Our Spring 2013 hours

Monday & Wednesday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Tuesday & Thursday 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Or by appointment contact

mercedes.hopewell@gmail.com

Are you a current UK-SLIS student

who would you like to present a

poster at the 2013 McConnell

Conference? The 45th McConnell

Conference will be at the Lexington

Embassy Suites Hotel on March 1-2,

2013.

The deadline for sign ups

is February 14, 2013.

Please note that the McConnell

Conference is unable to absorb

program costs. Equipment needs

other than a screen are the

responsibility of the presenter(s).

While presenters are encouraged to

have handouts, printing services will

not be provided by the McConnell

Conference. Basic conference

registration is required of all

presenters. Please direct questions to

stephanie.reynolds@uky.edu.

STUDENT SECTION

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On the Blog:

ARC Read & Review 2012! We

have the following titles available

for anyone who wants to read and

review them for the McConnell

Center blog at http://

youthlitmatters.wordpress.com/

New Books in the Center:

Juvenile Fiction

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The

Third Wheel by Jeff Kinney

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Jinx by Sage Blackwoord

Amelia Bedelia: Means Business

by Herman Parish

A vital gathering place for books

and ideas, the McConnell Center

is committed to identifying

excellent literature for children

and adolescents and to bringing

this literature to the attention of

those adults who have an

academic, professional, career, or

personal interest in connecting

young readers with books.

We maintain two main, non-

circulating collections:

Our Current Collection includes all

books sent to us for review by

publishers during the current year.

The Permanent Collection is

several collections of books

maintained in the Center as a resource

for students and librarians. It includes

the Basic Collection, the Award-

winning Collection (Caldecott,

Newbery, Printz, Morris, Pura Belpré,

Sibert, and Orbis Pictus Awards), the

Kentucky Collection (notable

Kentucky authors and books about

Kentucky), the Reference Collection,

and the Periodical Collection.

Our Spring 2013 hours are:

Monday & Wednesday 10 a.m. - 3

p.m. and Tuesday & Thursday 12 p.m.

- 5 p.m.

Please visit our website for more

information:

https://ci.uky.edu/lis/mcconnellcenter

Young Adult

Prodigy: A Legend Novel by

Marie Lu

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

Scarlet by Melissa Meyer

The Madman’s Daughter by

Megan Shepherd

Picture Books

Perfectly Percy by Paul

Schmid

Nelson Mandela by Kadir

Nelson

Graphic Novels

A Wrinkle in Time: The

Graphic Novel by Madeleine

L’Engle

In the Center:

March 30 at 7:00 p.m.

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

April 20 at 7:00 p.m.

McConnell Board Game Night

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