The Exhibits -- The Authors

Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia,
signing at Scholastic

Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Speak,
signing at Simon and Schuster

Patricia Polacco, a personal favorite,
drew the biggest crowds at Penguin

Skippyjon Jones at Penguin
He was on hand for pictures!

I got a ton of books signed by wonderful authors: John Green (Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns), Jaime Adoff (Jimi and Me, Names will Never Hurt Me), Elise Broach (Masterpiece, Shakespeare's Secret), Jerry Pallotta (The Ocean Alphabet Book, The Icky Bug Alphabet Book), Paul B. Janeczko (A Poke in the I, A Kick in the Head, A Foot in the Mouth) and more that I'm probably not remembering... Yikes.

The exhibits are great fun when it comes to discovering the latest children's book titles and getting advance reader copies. One of my favorite moments is when Disney Hyperion pressed a free brand new hardcover copy of Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian into my hands. Of course, I bought plenty books too. I think I left the conference with approximately 120 new books & advance reader copies.