Ach. You leave NYC, you deal with the consequences. No BookFest for me this year. Some of you, however, might be a bit luckier. It’s worth it.  I mean, did you see that they have Laura Amy Schlitz with Jeanne Birdsall in conversation?!?  Right there.  Here are the details:

Saturday, October 24, 2015

BookFest @ Bank Street 2015
Bank Street College Center for Children’s Literature
Saturday, October 24, 2015 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM (EDT)

BookFest @ Bank Street is an event devoted to the celebration, discovery, and discussion of books for children and teens. This event, intended for adults, features luminaries from the children’s literature community. Authors, illustrators, editors, reviewers, and scholars will take part on panel discussions and breakout sessions, which allow participants a closer look at a specific genre or topic in children’s literature.

Tickets: $75.00 ››

9:00am – Arrive, register, and drink coffee

9:30 – Welcome

9:35 – 10:15am – “Teachers as Writers”: Adam Gidwitz, Bank Street GS ’08, A Tale
Dark and Grimm, Elizabeth Bluemle, Bank Street GS ’98, Tap! Tap! Boom! Boom!,
and Cynthia Weill, Columbia Teachers College, Bank Street Writers Lab, Opuestos/Opposites.
Moderator: Leonard S. Marcus, children’s literature scholar and Honorary Degree
holder from Bank Street College of Education

10:15 – 11:00am – “Artists and Mentors: Book…Making…101″: Christopher Myers (Jake Makes the World; My Pen), Shadra Strickland (Bird; Please, Louise), Raúl Colón (Draw!), and Sara Varon (Robot Dreams; Bake Sale).
Moderator: Joe Rogers, Jr., Founder & Facilitator of Total Equity Now

11:00 – 11:15am – Break

11:15 – 12:15pm – “Young Women in the (Plot) Driver’s Seat”: Laura Amy Schlitz (The Hired Girl), Jeanne Birdsall (The Penderwicks in Spring), Kat Yeh (The Truth about Twinkie Pie), and Liz Kessler (Emily Windsnap and the Ship of Lost)
Moderator: Monica Edinger, The Dalton School

12:15 – 1:15pm – Book Discussions (Discussion Group Leaders and Book Lists)

1:15 – 2:00pm – Lunch and Book Autographing

2:05 – 3:00pm – “Pushing Narrative Boundaries in Teen Literature”: Tim Wynne-Jones (The Emperor of Anyplace), Beth Kephart (One
Thing Stolen), Daniel José Older (Shadowshaper)
Moderator: Vicky Smith, reviews editor, Kirkus Reviews

3:00 – 3:30pm – Closing keynote: Rita Williams-Garcia (Gone Crazy in Alabama)

3:30 – 4:00pm – Autographing in the lobby – books for sale from the Bank Street Book Store team