Everywhere Book Fest!

There are a lot of negatives right now with being "quarantined" and asked to stay home.  There is not any place open to go and do something even if you wanted to!  But let's be thankful we live in a time where we can all still be connected in so many ways thanks to technology.  And let's be thankful that so many of the creative minds in the world have come together to offer up some amazing things to us during this time.

The Everywhere Book Fest encapsulates this.  Their mission:
"The Everywhere Book Fest is a virtual celebration of authors, books, and readers that brings the book festival experience to everyone!

On May 1-2, the book festival will open its virtual doors and unveil two free full days of live and pre-recorded sessions with your favorite picture book, middle grade, and young adult authors."

From their FAQ page:
Who is the intended audience for this festival?
The Everywhere Book Fest panels are perfect for readers of all ages, including kids, teens, families, teachers, and librarians! The few panels that contain content best for mature audiences will include a warning in the video description and onscreen.

How do I watch the festival panels?
All festival content is FREE to view! You can watch all the festival panels in your browser or through YouTube. We will post the links to each session on their festival schedule page. All video content will be archived after the festival and available to view on our YouTube channel!

You can find the schedule of who is going to be there and presenting by clicking here. And if you can't make it to the "live" session, thy will be archived for viewing later as mentioned above.

What I'm super excited about is that Jason Reynolds (author of Ghost, Long Way Down, All American Boys, etc) will be highlighted each day!  If you can't tell, I'm a huge fan... and you should be too!

At 11am EST - so 10am our time - on Friday May 1, he will be discussing "his respect for young readers, what it means to be honest as an artist, and opens up about meaningful events in his youth."

Then on Saturday, May 2 at 12pm EST, so 11am our time - he will be included in the Black Voices Matter panel where he and other Black authors will be discussing their "new fiction and non-fiction titles alike [that] shed insightful spotlights on African-American history and identity, as well as timely issues like racism, colorism, and microaggression."

Acclaimed graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang will give the opening keynote and Nic Stone author of Dear Martin and new book Clean Getaway will be the closing keynote on Saturday.  There are so many great authors (Jacqueline Woodson, Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, Marie Lu, Nathan Hale, Renee Watson, Sayantani DasGupta, and so many others) participating in this amazing event in various ways. And so many great sessions like, Putting the STORY in History: a historical-fiction panel; Draw Me Like One of Your Graphic Novels; Marvel: Heroes of Tomorrow; Black Voices Matter; Magic in Queer YA; and Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope, that you are sure to find at least one session that will interest you.

I hope you are able to "attend" one of these sessions... either on the day they are offered live, or visiting them after they have been archived on YouTube.

One thing I know is true... books and authors rarely let you down and always seem to find a way to make you think. In these times, YA and children's authors and illustrators have done an amazing job in offering content online to teach and or entertain us and I for one an so appreciative of what they have done and are doing.