Parenthetical

The Simmons Children’s Literature Institute ended this morning. I spent the last few days hearing brilliant talks, picking apart my favorite novels, having literary discussions of Buffy over burritos, and meeting and reconnecting with lovely people.

It is a rare pleasure to have such intelligent discussion with people whose obscure references I get (and vice versa). My brain is deliciously full, and I took enough notes to fill months’ worth of blog posts. Place your over/under bets now on how many I actually get to.

I often spend the last weekend in July at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. The children’s lit community and the folk music community are similarly tight-knit and full of friendly, warm, intelligent people with a social conscience (and thanks to JonArno Lawson and Martha Brooks, we even had some live music) — so really, minus the camping and songs about penises, my weekend wasn’t so different after all.

Thank you, Simmons Center for the Study of Children’s Literature. Thank you Greater Boston Cooperative Library Association for the money to go — I’ll get working on my talk now. And hugs to Deborah, Kristin, Rebecca, Liz, and everyone else I spent time with this week.