We’re going to ALA Annual next week!  Who could resist the opportunity to meet with tens of thousands of librarians all in the same (extremely large) room?

First Second will be exhibiting with our parent company, MacKids, at booths 2534/2535.  We will have books for you to look at!  I will be there in person to speak to you (if I’m not running around with our many authors for their programming)!!

Quite a number of First Second authors are exhibiting in the Graphic Novel Artists Alley that ALA organizes – it’s a showcase for graphic novelists who have interesting and cool books coming up.  There’s typically original art, and graphic novelists to talk about it – how neat is that?

:01 Creators exhibiting in the ALA Artists Alley this year include:

Cecil Castellucci (Odd Duck; forthcoming Spring 2013)
Faith Erin Hicks (Friends With Boys)
Derek Kirk Kim (Same Difference, Tune)
Thien Pham (Level Up, Sumo)
Lark Pien (Nursery Rhyme Comics)
MK Reed (Americus)
Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy)
Mark Siegel (Sailor Twain)
Jen Wang (Koko Be Good)
Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese, Level Up)

You should definitely stop by and visit them!

Here’s our ALA schedule of panels and signings:

^{SATURDAY, JUNE 23rd}

Panel
Title: Graphic Novels: The New Visual Literacy
Time: Sat 9:30am – 10:00am
Location: GN Stage
Description: Graphic novels are the new cool thing – gaining in popularity in schools and libraries across the US.  But what is it about them that readers are so drawn to?  First Second Editorial Director Mark Siegel discusses the attraction of the visual medium in this modern age.
Speaker: Mark Siegel

Mark Siegel Signing
Time: 11:00 – 11:30am
Location: MacKids Booth 2534 and 2535

Panel
True Stories of Graphic Fiction
ALA GN Stage
12:00 – 12:30pm
Description: Despite featuring aliens, ghosts, and square-headed sumo wrestlers, today’s young adult graphic novels often draw inspiration from their creators’ real lives.  Four of today’s most successful graphic novelists talk about how their personal experiences shaped their most recent works of fiction.
Panelists: Derek Kirk Kim, Thien Pham, Raina Telgemeier, Faith Erin Hicks
Moderator: Gene Luen Yang

^{SUNDAY, JUNE 24th}

Panel
Women in Comics
ALA GN Stage
10:00 – 10:30am
Description: Once again, gender politics has reared its ugly head, this time into the realm of comics and graphic novels. But when the role of libraries is introduced into the story, the focus changes from men as the dominant gatekeepers to women as the primary deciders of what gets collected and why. Join us as our panelists discuss the history of women in comics as readers, creators, and collectors, and how women are shaping the comics market of today.
Panelists: Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Drama) Faith Erin Hicks (Friends with Boys), Johanne Matte (Flight), Gina Gagliano (First Second), Janet Weber (Tigard Public Library), Leigh Walton, (Top Shelf), Robin Brenner (Brookline Public Library),
Moderator: Eva Volin

Panel
Faith Erin Hicks Spotlight
ALA GN Stage
11:00 – 11:30am
Description: Faith Erin Hicks’ graphic novel Friends With Boys has been called “smart” (Paste), “wonderful” (Wired) and “top-notch” (BoingBoing).  Interviewed by librarian Robin Brenner, Hicks will discuss the creation process for her book, her thoughts on YA literature, and her belief that there’s a graphic novel out there for every reader.
Moderator: Robin Brenner

Panel
Title: Mark Siegel, Sailor Twain
Time: Sun 11:30 – 12:00pm
Location: GN Stage
Description: Mermaids, steamboats, mysteries – all these run through Sailor Twain, the upcoming graphic novel by Mark Siegel (award-winning illustrator of Sea Dogs and To Dance).  Interviewed by Eva Volin (Alameda Free Library), Siegel will discuss the creation process, historical setting, and his vision of the online comic as the new serial novel.
Panelist: Mark Siegel
Moderator: Eva Volin

Panel
Imagining the Fantastic
ALA GN Stage
12:00 – 12:30am
Description: Comics can reflect any kind of genre, from realism to fantasy, with the only limits being the creators imaginations and their tools for creation.  Join creators Kazu Kibuishi, Faith Erin Hicks, and Nathan Hale to discuss how creators imagine the unknown, build alternate worlds, and bring to life to imagined and supernatural creatures and societies.
Panelists: Kazu Kibuishi, Faith Erin Hicks, Nathan Hale
Moderator: Robin Brenner

Faith Erin Hicks Signing
MacKids Booth 2534 / 2535
1:00 – 1:30pm

Panel
Title: The Future of Graphic Novels
Time: Sun 2pm – 2:30pm
Location: GN Stage
Description: The comics industry has gone through extreme changes in the past ten years, with the entrance of manga into the market, the growing market share for the graphic novel, and the internet and digital comics coming into the scene as a major player.  How will the comics industry change in the future?  Four industry professionals discuss.
Panelists: Mark Siegel, Kazu Kibuishi, Traci Todd
Moderator: Gene Ambaum, Unshelved

Panel
Title: The Making of a Graphic Novel
Time: Sun 2:30pm – 3:00pm
Location: GN Stage
Description: Mark Siegel, author of the upcoming graphic novel Sailor Twain, takes you through the process of making a graphic novel, from idea to script to thumbnails, pencils, inks, and the finished book!  He and his editor, Roaring Brook Publisher Simon Boughton, will discuss the steps a book takes on the publication process, providing librarians a deeper understanding of the process that goes into making graphic novels.
Panelists: Mark Siegel, Simon Boughton

Panel
Comics Quickfire
ALA GN Stage
3:00 – 4:00pm
Description: Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Attendees of the Comics Quickfire are encouraged to participate, even if they can only draw stick figures or make silly suggestions. Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Jerzy Drozd (The Front),  Dan Santat (Sidekicks), and more!
Moderator: Dave Roman

Panel
(Re) telling Stories
Hilton Anaheim / Avila Room B / 777 West Convention Way
4:00 – 5:30pm
Description:  Fanart, authorship, and how stories are shared, reconstructed, and retold Fan created works, from fan fiction to fan comics, are an increasingly visible and a richly rewarding way for fans to interact with their favorite stories from books, movies, and TV shows. At the same time, fan works raise a variety of sticky questions concerning copyright, the place of transformative work in literature, authorship, and what it means to be a writer and a reader. The ability to rewrite, recast, or redo a story or character has dramatically shifted the way readers process, share, and connect with works, authors, and other fans.  Writers, artists, and editors who have started out in the fandom world are making the transition to more traditional publishing. Is fan culture a boon to creators? A transgression against the original author’s intent and intellectual ownership? Is it hovering somewhere in between? Join a panel of authors, artists, librarians, and yes, fans, to explore the impact participatory fan culture has had and will continue to have on reading, literature, and how we encounter stories.
Panelists: Marissa Meyer, Faith Erin Hicks, Liz Burns, Deborah Kaplan, Cecil Castellucci, Josh Wattles
Moderator: Robin Brenner

^{MONDAY, JUNE 25th}

Panel

Graphic Novels Open Forum
ALA GN Stage
11:30 – 12:30pm
Description: A unique opportunity to not only ask questions of several graphic novel authors, but have them ask questions of you! Come and share anecdotes about how graphic novels have (or haven’t) worked in your library, what you’d like to see more of, and what kinds of books your patrons really respond to. The authors will also share stories about library visits and other cool stuff they do to get kids excited about reading. Featuring Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Baby-sitters Club), Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy, Teen Boat!) Jerzy Drozd (Comics Are Great) and Faith Erin Hicks (Friends With Boys, Brain Camp).
Panelists: Raina Telgemeier, Jerzy Drozd, Faith Erin Hicks
Moderator: Dave Roman

We’ll see you there!