IRA Conference

I just got back from Atlanta (that's my book in Hyperion's booth!) where I had a ridiculous time talking about the book and meeting other authors and being impressed once again by how much teachers and librarians care about their students. I spoke on a panel with Jerry Spinelli (who was both legendary and gracious) Gail Giles (whose books pretty much scare the hell out of me) and E Lockhart (whose new book The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is great stuff, and not just because the narrator is named Frankie). I spent most of my time at the conference trying not to look over my shoulder for the reality police, who I was sure were going to jump from behind one of the booths to give me the old heave-ho.
At the panel, E (do I just call you E?) gave a fantastic response when we were asked what we'd say to parents who refuse to let their children read books because they object to the content, even if the books are within the publisher's suggested age range. Essentially, she said that the minute a parent refuses to talk to his or her child about the "mature" content of a certain book, that ensures that the child will never again bring up that "mature" content, even if it's something in the child's real life. Telling a kid he can't read something because of content effectively closes off the topic of conversation.
Not that I was able to recreate her eloquence, but the point is that I was on a fantastic panel with some incredibly smart writers and I couldn't believe it. Hyperion, if you're reading this, I'd be happy to go to more of those.