At Thursday's Celebration of Bookselling, many E.B. White Read-Aloud and Indies Choice Book Awards honor and winning authors appeared and spoke:
Jory John, author of Goodnight Already! (HarperCollins), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book honor book: "I want to thank the booksellers. This fall I got a chance to travel around and meet a lot of you. It was a choice experience. You feel like family in that I will come to stay with you."
Matt de la Peña, author of Last Stop on Market Street (Putnam), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book honor book: "I'm huge fan of independent bookstores. I have a local one in Brooklyn, the Community Bookstore."
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| The Special Events Hall was packed for the Celebration of Bookselling. | |
Richard T. Morris, author of This Is a Moose, an E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book honor book: "I have to thank so many of the independent bookstores I've been to. I had a moose that would come to all my readings. Sometimes it was my wife.... Getting your wife into a moose costume is a way to test a marriage. [But when she didn't come along], bookstores provided someone to become the moose. I want to apologize to the unfortunate gentleman at Books of Wonder who was attacked by the dog."
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, author and illustrator of Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (Candlewick), the E.B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book winner. Klassen called the book "a bit of a trust fall, and you guys caught us in a big way." Barnett expressed his thanks to booksellers "for reading through the book because it's a bit deceiving at first... and thank you for sharing this book in your stores." (The two then engaged in the funniest part of the event, playing, while denying that they wanted to, a game of one-upmanship in praise of booksellers.)
Kenneth Oppel, author of The Boundless (S&S), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader honor book. "Thank you for being purveyors of Yoda-like wisdom."
Jennifer L. Holm, author of The Fourteenth Goldfish (Random House), an E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader honor book, said she was going to channel Little Orphan Annie, then broke into this short song: "Booksellers, booksellers, I love you. Booksellers, you're always an edited book away."
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| Jory John signing on the show floor. | |
Jory John and Mac Barnett, authors of The Terrible Two (Amulet Books), E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader honor book. Barnett: "Your enthusiasm for The Terrible Two has blown us away. I don't think either of us have felt anything like this. It's changed both of our lives."
Jacqueline Woodson, author of Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen Books), winner of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader Award: "When we [writers and illustrators] visit indie bookstores, we want to buy books… It's amazing to be in the spaces and to know that these are owned by people who are welcoming of people who are people like me.... There's someone there who can tell us about the books. You give me recommendations for my daughter but won't let me buy them.... Let us buy your ding-dang books. We have the money and want to support you."
Sally McCloskey, daughter of Robert McCloskey, whose Blueberries for Sal (Viking) was inducted into the Picture Book Hall of Fame, and the inspiration for Sal: "One of the reasons that you folks have been so successful is because there are many, many, many book clubs around country who buy from our local booksellers.... I'm so proud of our bookstores. I patronize them, and they're not extinct."
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| Rob Dougherty of Clinton Bookshop, Clinton, N.J., with Jacqueline Woodson. | |
A.S. King, author of Glory O'Brien's History of the Future (Little, Brown), a Young Adult honor book: "If it wasn't for independent bookstores, I wouldn't have a career--from the day I went to visit Rob and Harvey [at the Clinton Bookshop] in Clinton. Now I live in a town because of Aaron's Books [Lititz, Pa.].... Your support throughout the years has meant the world to me."
Holly Black, author of The Darkest Part of the Forest (Little, Brown), winner of the Young Adult Indies Choice Award. "Thank you for taking me in this January, when I took an all-indie tour down the East Coast. My favorite part was visiting so many unique stories and buying books… I grew up with mall stores [and] it wasn't until I moved to Amherst, Mass., that I learned about local independent bookstores."
Roz Chast, author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (Bloomsbury), an Adult Nonfiction honor book: "I'm grateful for all the work you do to keep reading alive, especially my local bookstore, Books on the Common [Ridgefield, Conn].... To walk into an indie bookstore is one of the great pleasures of my life."
Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams (Graywolf), an Adult Nonfiction honor book: "I've had love and respect and gratitude for booksellers since I was a little girl, even before I knew what they were. They are magical spaces.... It's impossible to overestimate how much booksellers did to spread word about [my book] and bring it into being.... I'm buoyed by the energy of indie booksellers."
Atul Gawande, author of Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (Metropolitan Books), winner of the Adult Nonfiction Indies Choice Award. Via video: "This award means a lot to me because this book was very personal and a bit of a gamble.... I credit a lot to independent bookstores and the personal way you've encouraged people to look a book that's actually uplifting and could matter to them. It's a scary subject and something they might not want to jump into, especially before the holidays."
Andy Weir, author of The Martian (Crown), winner of the Adult Debut Indies Choice Award. Via video: "I really want to thank for the tremendous amount of support you gave. You punch above your weight. You're tastemakers.... There's nothing better than having a bunch of booksellers recommending your books.... Thanks for helping make this dorky computer programmer bundle into a bestselling author."
Lev Grossman, author of The Magician's Land (Viking), an Adult Fiction honor book: "Thank you for doing what us writers could on no account ever do for ourselves if our lives depended on it."
Alice Hoffman, author of The Museum of Extraordinary Things (Scribner), an Adult Fiction honor book: "I've been writing novels for 40 years and going to independent bookstores for 40 years.... For me, the most extraordinary things have been books. They changed my life, saved my life. [When I was growing up, my local bookstore and library] showed me I could look out from the place I lived and see another world out there."
Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot See (Scribner), winner of the Adult Fiction Indies Choice Award: "This book is reaching readers for one reason: because you're suggesting folks give it a try…Thank you for being enthusiasts. Thank you for honoring books. And thank you for honoring my favorite manmade institutions on earth: bookshops."
Douglas Preston, an Indie Champion nominee (and founder of Authors United): "You do not just sell books, you perform a most vital role in our society."
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, winners of the Indie Champion Award: (via video): Gaiman: "We're at Porter Square Books [Cambridge, Mass.], our favorite bookstore." Palmer: "The true thanks belongs to all these indie bookstores--you running the stores, ordering books, dealing with the strange, interesting people who buy books. Thank you."