NCBC Speakers

SPEAKERS

Eva Apelqvist has been a member of an online critique group and an in-person critique group for more than ten years. She is the author of a young adult novel, Swede Dreams, published by Penguin in 2007, and a nonfiction book for teens learning to drive, due out from Enslow in 2011. She has sold many short stories to children’s magazines such as Highlights for Children, Ladybug, Baby Bug, Spider, High Five, etc. She also freelances as a newspaper and magazine writer for adults. visit www.evaapelqvist.com

Avi has written more than 70 books since his first, Things That Sometime Happen, was published in 1970. He started out as a playwright, while working for many years as a librarian, until he began writing books for young people when the first of his kids came along. Winner of many awards, including the 2003 Newbery award for Crispin: the Cross of Lead (Hyperion), two Newbery Honors, Two Horn Book awards, and an O’Dell award, as well as many children’s choice awards, he frequently travels around the country to talk to his readers. Among his most popular books are Crispin: The Cross of Lead, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, the Poppy books, Midnight Magic, and The Fighting Ground. Learn more at Avi-writer.com.

Judy Geck shifted careers in 2002, transitioning from lifelong bookseller to Park Ranger for the National Park Service. Following completion of a graduate degree in Outdoor Recreation, she took a Ranger/Librarian position at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge located in the heart of the Twin Cities metro area. She feels it’s an ideal job that allows her to combine her skills and interests, and provides opportunities for interaction with a variety of audiences. Many of her public programs focus on the exploration of the abundant natural resources located in the midst our urban landscape, including how to ride the Light Rail to the Refuge. In her current position with the Visitor Services division, she teaches environmental education, operates the Bloomington Visitor Center, and manages the Resource Center collections. Her free time is spent outdoors, usually on or near water, or reading a good book near a window with a view.

David LaRochelle has been creating books for young people for over twenty years. His recent picture book titles include The Haunted Hamburger and Other Ghostly Stories, Minnesota's Hidden Alphabet, and 1 + 1 = 5 and Other Unlikely Additions. He is also the author of the young adult novel, Absolutely, Positively Not, winner of the Sid Fleischman Humor Award. A former elementary school teacher, David enjoys carving prize-winning jack-o'-lanterns, which can be viewed at his website.

Merri Lindgren is a librarian at the Cooperative Children's Book Center of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Merri is a regular contributor to the Wisconsin State Journal, writing a monthly column about books for children and young adults. She was the editor of The Multicolored Mirror: Cultural Substance in Literature for Children and Young Adults (Highsmith, 1991). She coauthored CCBC Choices during the years 1990 through 1993, while previously employed at the CCBC, and since 2002. Merri was a member of the American Library Association ALSC/YALSA 2008 Odyssey Award committee and is serving on the ALA/ALSC 2010 Caldecott Award Committee. Merri has worked as a youth services librarian at the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library in Lombard, Illinois, and as an instructor of Adolescent and Young Adult Literature at Edgewood College. Merri graduated from UW–Madison with a B.A. Degree in Psychology and has a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/

Nancy Michael is the executive director of AMAZE and has worked with or on behalf of children and adolescents for over 20 years. She served as the first Director of Education for SteppingStoneTheatre in St. Paul, as the founder and director of Kaleidoscope Performing Arts—a nationally recognized program of the Boys and Girls Club of Minneapolis, Development Director for Boys and Girls Club of Minneapolis and Youthlink. Nancy was a trainer for the Beyond Racism Dialogue Series, Boys and Girls Clubs of America Arts Education, and worked as a residency arts/educator throughout Minnesota. www.amazeworks.org.

Steve Palmquist is one of the founders of Children’s Literature Network, a national community of teachers, librarians, authors, illustrators, and children’s book enthusiasts who are passionate about encouraging young people to read. Steve is the co-owner of Winding Oak, a literary services firm which works with authors, illustrators, nonprofits, and small companies on promotion, web and print design. He is an avid reader, gardener, and collector of science fiction. www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org

Vicki Palmquist is one of the founders of Children’s Literature Network, a national community of teachers, librarians, authors, illustrators, and children’s book enthusiasts who are passionate about encouraging young people to read. Vicki is the co-owner of Winding Oak, a literary services firm which works with authors, illustrators, nonprofits, and small companies on promotion, web and print design. She is addicted to books, enjoys cooking organically, and collects children’s literature. www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org

Ann Rider is an executive editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She works out of her home in northern Minnesota and counts herself lucky to be able to work with such extraordinary Midwestern talents such as Rick Allen, Betsy Bowen, Jim Brandenburg, Kelly Dupre, Lise Lunge-Larsen, Jackie Briggs Martin, Beckie Prange, Joyce Sidman, Susan Marie Swanson, and Catherine Thimmesh. She likes to publish in all genres of children’s literature and some of the books she has edited are The House in the Night, Snowflake Bentley, Red Sings from Treetops, The Lemonade War, Team Moon, Gym Candy, and Breaking Through.

Megan Schliesman is a librarian at the Cooperative Children's Book Center of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With Kathleen Horning and Ginny Moore Kruse, Megan coauthored Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults, 1991-1996. She is currently a columnist for Library Sparks magazine. Megan served on the American Library Association/ALSC 2005 Newbery Award Committee and is chairing the ALA/ALSC 2011 Laura Ingalls Wilder Committee. She was a member of the committee that created the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s Planning Curriculum in English Language Arts (DPI, 2001) and created the bibliography for DPI’s Teaching Character Education Using Children’s Literature (DPI, 2001). She has a B.A. degree in English from UW-Whitewater and a Master's Degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/

Joyce Sidman is the author of many award-winning children’s poetry books, including the Newbery Honor-winning Dark Emporer and Other Poems of the Night, as well as Caldecott Honor books Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems (also a Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award winner) and Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors. She teaches poetry writing to schoolchildren in the Twin Cities area, and participates in many national poetry events, including the annual “Poetry Blast” at the American Library Association meeting. Her recent book, This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness, won the 2008 Claudia Lewis Poetry Award from the Bank Street College of New York. Joyce lives with her husband near a large woodland in Wayzata, Minnesota. www.joycesidman.com

Melissa Stewart is the award-winning author of more than 100 books for children. She has written everything from board books for preschoolers to reference books for teens. Melissa has also contributed articles on writing nonfiction and innovative ways of using nonfiction trade books in the classroom to Reading Today, Science Books & Films, Book Links, and The Writer. She is a member of the SCBWI Board of Advisors and a judge for the American Institute of Physics Children’s Science Writing Award. Melissa lives in Acton, MA. You can visit her on the web at www.melissa-stewart.com.

Susan Thurn is currently a fourth grade teacher in the Drummond Area School District. For twenty years she was the Director of Education at the Cable Natural History Museum, teaching science and environmental education to over 100,000 children in northwestern Wisconsin schools. A winner of two Wisconsin awards for Environmental Education, and a lover of literature, Thurn uses children's books as one way to teach the appreciation of the natural world.