Instagramming ALA 2024 (Part I)

I’m back from the 2024 American Library Association Annual Conference and I have the pictures to prove it.

Click here for Instagramming ALA 2024 (Part II)

We must begin with the obligatory packing photo. I was nervous this year. ALA was in San Diego and in the lead up I kept getting emails from my airline that they would only allow tiny backpacks as carry-on items. Since I am dedicated to the carry-on only lifestyle, I went with the smallest bag I had ever taken to ALA. The thing that really freed up space this year was my decision to wear one pair of shoes for the entire weekend.

The first of many Sad Convenience Meals. This was a McDonald’s cheeseburger eaten minutes before my flight boarded.

Let me just get a drink of water before getting on the airplane and – oh! The water pressure at O’Hare airport was hilariously low. So unless I was willing to go full-on Parks & Rec with this water fountain, I was going to go thirsty.

I went thirsty.

Okay. Confession time. When I try to read a book on a plane, I instantly want to fall asleep. But I can’t sleep on a plane so I just sort of go into this miserable drowsy state where time slows down and I can’t get comfortable. So (solution!) I usually use the internet or watch a movie instead.

If you haven’t watched just the middle third of Shawshank Redemption in a while, I recommend it. I can’t vouch for the first third or the third third, but the second third? Solid.

Landed and headed to the hotel. Coming from Michigan, palm trees never fail to be an amazing sight.

I am slowly becoming the guy who posts his hotel view photos. Live, laugh, and embrace the hotel view photo is a sign I intend to hang in my kitchen as soon as I can find the time to make it.

The next morning (Saturday) I headed over to the convention center bright and early for a PopTop Stage panel I was moderating. I’m always curious to see the big book banners on the way to the exhibits. Wimpy Kid is a staple.

Loren Long’s Yellow Bus got some love.

And cool to see Kyle Lukoff here too.

It was a little eerie being in the empty exhibits. It’s usually so loud and packed with people. But at 8:00 a.m. it was quiet. Too quiet.

Then I turned the corner and saw something I wish I could unsee:

Ah!! I’m not sure what this creepily dormant AI robot is for, but it’s sure to be a prominent character in my next nightmare.

Here I am at the PopTop Stage, trying to smile, but clearly still shaken from the whole creepily-dormant-AI-robot thing:

It was an honor and a thrill to moderate a panel of the 2024 Newbery Honor winners.

From left to right we have Erin Bow, M.T. Anderson, Daniel Nayeri, me, Pedro Martín, and Nasugraq Rainey Hopson. It was a blast, and we recorded the whole thing to be released soon as an episode of The Yarn podcast.

After that I signed for my upcoming book (with the great Ruth Chan) Caboose! It comes out on February 4th, and you can pre-order it here.

Most of my time at ALA was spent recording interviews for The Yarn. So after the signing, I picked up another Sad Convenience meal of a soft pretzel with cheeze sauce . . .

. . . before getting to talk with Jing Jing Tsong, creator of the new graphic novel Fake Chinese Sounds.

After that, I interviewed the creators of 2024 Caldecott Honor book, Jovita Wore Pants.

That’s Molly Mendoza on the left and Aida Salazar on the right.

And to cap things off, author/illustrator Ruth Chan:

We talked about her upcoming graphic novel Uprooted, but we had to talk about Caboose as well.

From there, I wandered the streets until morning, too afraid to go to sleep after seeing that creepily dormant AI robot earlier in the day.

But this just the beginning! Check back tomorrow for Instagramming ALA 2024 (Part II)

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