0 This and that

Things have been very busy in our Batcave. Wait, that's probably trademarked. League cave? Super-secret hideout? Let's go with that one for now. We'll come up with something better later. There have been author visits, festivals, signings, gearing up for my Printz Watch 2013 (click here to read through Printz Watch 2012), programs, committee meetings, planning for conferences...it could wear a league member (or two) out. Really, let's be honest: Emily has been a rockstar the last couple of weeks and she's worn herself positively ragged making awesome things happen for the children that live in our neck of the woods.  Suffice it to say, The League has been fighting crime...er...advocating children's books...all over the place.  You'll hear about it soon, I swear. This is our life and we love it.  But to tide you over, here's a peek of what's been happening lately.




This is Anna Dewdney of Llama Llama fame at her reading/signing at Emily's store.  She was so much fun! And very good with the kids, not even batting an eye when a three-year-old asked her how old she is.



The League with Anna Dewdney. What a lovely person, even after she had terrible travel trouble and her luggage was misplaced.



Emily's store has a children's first editions club, and this month all the members not only received signed copies of Llama Llama Time to Share, we also got this adorable print of Llama Llama wearing a shirt with the store logo! My print is also signed...can't wait to get it framed!!

 


This is the League with Obert Skye, who wrote the Leven Thumps series and is now promoting his Creatures from my Closet series. Emily and I coordinated to bring him to one of the elementary schools that's in the town where my library is.  He was wonderful with the kids at this visit (pictures of him and the kids not shown to preserve the privacy of my sweet little patrons!), and I hope we can have him back sometime soon!


So you see, minions, we've been keeping busy. Questions? Concerns? General declarations of our excellence? Lay 'em on us in the comments.

Happy reading!

0 Lest you think we forgot you

Greetings, minions. The bookselling and library businesses are quite busy in the fall with events, programming, signings, collection development, committee meetings.  More on all of these things when The League has a chance to catch our collective breaths.  But for now, we leave you with this picture of The League with the lovely author Myra McEntire at a school visit this past week. Myra (whose books we both adore) is part of our Origins story, too. Which we will reveal, in due time.  Enjoy your weekend!

0 A League Event

Ally wrote about this week's awesome Shannon Hale school event over at her library's blog.  You should check it out.  This was such a fun event that we did together.  We partnered with the school to bring this author to the kids, and they had a blast. Stay tuned for Emily's post about the Shannon Hale event at the bookstore. Happy reading, minions!

Shannon Hale School Event at Upper Elementary

0 Humble Beginnings

Welcome to the lair of The League. If you are reading this, you have been cleared to view the innermost workings of the most diabolical movement in the book world: The League. We will be discussing our sinister plans for World Domination, as well as how you, our loyal minions, can mimic our aspirations.

But seriously. We're a bookseller (Emily) and a librarian (Ally) in the great landmass of Mississippi. We bonded over our mutual love of children's and young adult literature. Every time our paths crossed (which is a lot, because did we mention we live in Mississippi? we're all about the community here, y'all.), we swapped recommendations, compared reviewing sources, and generally gushed about our newest favorites and timeless loves (JELLICOE!).  As time passed, we realized that our friendship could blossom into an awesome working relationship and could produce a beneficial partnership for both of our institutions.  Libraries and independent bookstores serve very different but equally important roles in the community. We wanted to show our patrons and customers that we aren't competitors--we're co-conspirators, two people and groups working towards a common goal.  So we decided to put it to the test.  As for the name? Well, the awesome Shannon Hale called us superheroes for our work with children and books, and what's a superhero without a league of allies?

Recently we collaborated on two amazing projects: bringing Peter Brown and Shannon Hale to the grand city of Jackson. And wouldn't you know it, they will be debuting at #7 and #8 respectively on the NYT bestseller list this weekend. Coincidence? The League thinks not!

Join us as we review books, discuss events and programming (on the solo and collaborative levels), and basically show you how we will soon rule the world. Which is of course the book world because what other world matters.

As a side note, we wouldn't be The League without having a few things just for kids. We here at The League HQ understand that there can, upon occasion, be a disconnect between the adults that write, review, and recommend children's literature and the children who read it. The League is on the frontlines. We deal with the kids on a daily basis, and we love them and their perspective on the books written for them.

Thanks for joining us.


THE LEAGUE