On November 10, for our most recent Fieldston Middle Literary Lunch, 50 students assembled in the Tate Library to attend the virtual Teen Press Conference for the National Book Award for Young Peopleâs Literature. Students had the opportunity to virtually meet six authors: Kwame Alexander, author of several much-loved books including âCrossover,â âRebound,â and âSwing;â as well as five Young Adult authors who are finalists for the National Book Award for Young Peopleâs Literature: Shing Yin Khor, author of âThe Legend of Auntie Po;â Malinda Lo, author of âLast Night at the Telegraph Club;â Kyle Lukoff, author of âToo Bright to See;â Kekla Magoon, author of âRevolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Partyâs Promise to the People;â and Amber McBride, author of âMe (Moth).â
Over the course of an hour, over the now-familiar Zoom format, Alexander asked the authors a series of questions and presented video clips of students asking the authors their own questions. Students asked the authors questions such as, âAs a writer, do you feel it is your responsibility to teach and inform, or just to entertain us?â âWhen did you become a full-time writer?â âWhere do you get your ideas?â For this last one, Lukoff explained how ideas can really come from anywhere. Seemingly off the top of his head, he gave this example: âIâm on the subway. And Iâll see someone in a weird hat. And Iâm like, oh, thatâs a weird hat. I wonder if that hat is actually sucking out that personâs brain!â
Fieldston Middle students had a terrific time participating in this event. Ben F. â28 found it to be âvery entertaining and informative.â Jade R. â27 âloved the part where each of the authors got to read a piece from their bookâ aloud to everyone. At the end of the conference, Clarke G. â27 borrowed âThe Legend of Auntie Poâ from the Tate Library so that she could read the rest of the book. âI don’t see many books about LGBTQ+ people in what I read, so it was really nice to basically have a whole book about it,â says Clarke.
At the beginning of the conference, Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, explained that the work of the National Book Foundation is âto connect people with books.â Itâs a simple and important mission, and itâs one we believe in at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. During this time, when itâs harder to have in-person visits with authors, the Fieldston Middle English Department and Tate Library are grateful to be able to keep finding ways â such as this conference â to connect the students with the amazing contemporary books that are being written especially for them, and with the authors who write them.
You can watch the recording of the Teen Press Conference for the National Book Award for Young Peopleâs Literature here.