CLCSC GALA AWARDS CEREMONY 2024

At the Luminarias Restaurant for the CLCSC Fall Gala.

A week ago I attended the gala awards ceremony of the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California, held at Luminarias Restaurant in Monterey Park in East Los Angeles. Many members of our Book Chat Thursday group were there helping to celebrate excellence in children's literature. 

Book Chat Thursday group: Ann Whitford Paul, Linda Guthrie, Dana Middleton, Colleen Paeff , Caroline Arnold

The event began with a delicious breakfast buffet and fund raising auction followed by the presentation of awards. Poet Mason Granger was an excellent Master of Ceremonies for the program. Awards were presented to Marla Frazee for In Every Life; Sally J. Pla for The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn; Tracy Badua for The Takeout; Abdi Nazemian for Only This Beautiful Moment; Dan Santat for a Distinguished Body of Work; to Stephanie Moran and Muammar Reed of MiJa Books for Distinguished Service in the Field of Children’s Literature; and to Olivia Bates who received the Caroline Gill Award for Exceptional Volunteer Service. After short introductions by members of the award committee, each of the winners gave engaging talks as they accepted the award. The morning ended with a book signing by the winners of the awards.

Book Signing. Dan Santat, Marla Frazee and other awardees.

I attend this event almost every year and enjoy the opportunity to see teachers and librarians and meet with other authors. I am always impressed by the talent and breadth of the children’s literature community in Southern California.

Colleen, Dana and Me

Many thanks to Dana Middleton for the photos.. 

BOOK CHAT THURSDAY: Authors, Illustrators, Teachers and Librarians Discuss Books

Once a month, usually on a Thursday evening, I join a group of writers, illustrators, teachers and librarians that meets in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles to discuss children's books. Usually we talk about one picture book and one middle grade or YA novel.  This past month we discussed Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein and Noah Webster and His Words by Jeri Ferris. After the meeting, Sandy Schuckett, a retired LAUSD librarian, summarizes our discussion. We have recently launched a blog called Book Chat Thursday with Sandy's reports of our thoughts about the books we have read.  (The posts are backdated for the last several years so you can see all the books we've read since 2007.) We'd love to have your comments too!
Our group enjoys eating as much as reading and our meetings always include a variety of delicious snacks.  A separate page on the blog lists some of the recipes we have enjoyed.  As time goes on, we will be adding more.
We have been meeting since 2007. The group was organized under the auspices of the Children's Literature Council of Southern California