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Audio version

Page 2 • Cognotes 2014 Annual Conference

Lois Lowry to be Joined by Jeff Bridges at ALA President’s Program

The conversation just got even richer - legendary best-selling youth author and two-time Newbery Medal winner Lois Lowry will be joined by Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges at Barbara Stripling's ALA President's Program & Awards Presentation, 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 29. Stripling will interview Lowry, joined by Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges to talk about the movie version of “The Giver” in which he stars.

Lowry is one of the world’s most beloved and versatile authors for children and young adults. The author of more than 40 books, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series, she has also been honored with the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader’s Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. For her contribution as a children's writer, she was a finalist in 2000 (and U.S. nominee again in 2004) for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. In 2007 she received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her contribution to young adult literature.

Only four months old when he made his first screen appearance, Bridges is a popular award winning actor, producer, and musician. “I've been trying to make this movie for about 20 years,” he said about “The Giver.” Visitors to his website at www.jeffbridges.com can find out about his many artistic accomplishments as well as his commitment to the End Hunger Network that he helped found in 1983.

Lowry and Bridges’ appearance is sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.

The ALA Awards will be presented before Lowry's appearance. Daniel Handler himself will present the first ever Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity. This new award, administered by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, is described by Handler/ Lemony Snicket as follows: “It is of the opinion of Lemony Snicket, author, reader, and alleged malcontent, that librarians have suffered enough. Therefore he is establishing an annual prize honoring a librarian who has faced adversity with integrity and dignity intact. . . . It is Mr. Snicket's hope, and the ALA's, that the Snicket Prize will remind readers everywhere of the joyous importance of librarians and the trouble that is all too frequently unleashed upon them.”

Jeff Bridges

Lois Lowry
(photo by Matt McKee)

Daniel Handler
(photo by Meridith Hauer)


Auditorium Speakers

» from page 1

You, Your Body, Your Life (March 2014, Random House) is a frank, straightforward and thorough guide to the body, sexuality, pregnancy prevention and STIs, identity, friendship, family, feelings, and more. It is informed by Fonda's personal experience working in the field of adolescent sexuality and development with young people and experts at The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential, which she founded in 1994, and Emory University's Jane Fonda Center for Adolescent Reproductive Health, which she founded in 2001, as well as two years of independent research. It addresses her conviction that young people are still not getting the information they need.

Fonda also sits on the board of the Women & Foreign Policy Advisory Committee of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Women's Media Center (which she co-founded in 2004), and V-Day. A former UN Goodwill Ambassador, she is a frequent speaker on youth development, child sexual abuse, eating disorders, adolescent reproductive health, and more. Her appearance at 2014 ALA Annual Conference is sponsored by Random House.

Azar Nafisi Saturday, June 28 10:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Azar Nafisi, award-winning, critically acclaimed author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, the long-running New York Times bestseller published around the world in 32 languages, will offer insights into her work, including her engagement in promoting literacy and reading books of universal literary value.

Described as a master of modern memoir, Nafisi returns in her latest book, Things I've Been Silent About, to Iran and her childhood. The book is a personal reflection on women's choices, a portrait of a woman, a family, and a troubled homeland, her exploration of a young girl's pain over family secrets and a mother's lost life, a young woman's discovery of the power of sensuality in literature, and the price a family pays for freedom in a country beset by political upheaval. Attendees will also learn more about her forthcoming book, The Republic of Imagination: A Portrait of America in Three Books (Viking, October 2014).

Reading Lolita in Tehran received many awards, including the Nonfiction Book of the Year Award from Booksense, and was a finalist for the 2004 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Memoir. Nafisi has lectured and written extensively on the political implications of literature and culture, as well as on the important role Iranian women and girls continue to play in calling for change and pluralism in Iran.

Nafisi's appearance is sponsored by Viking.

Stan Lee Saturday, June 28 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Treat yourself to magical super-powers, a sinister conspiracy, and an unlikely hero with Stan Lee, known to millions as the man whose Super Heroes propelled Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry and whose co-creations include “Spider-Man™”, The Avengers ™, X-Men™, Iron Man™, The Incredible Hulk™, “The Fantastic Four™”, and hundreds of others.

Lee will talk, among other things, about his forthcoming action-packed

» see page 11

Jane Fonda (photo by Firooz Zahedi)

Azar Nafisi (photo by Stanley Staniski)

Stan Lee


Exhibits

» from page 1

features a brief welcome by ALA and local dignitaries. The Exhibits Opening Reception includes food, drink, and entertainment throughout the exhibit hall, giving exhibitors and attendees their first chance to network.

Variety of Activity

Whether it's meeting your favorite authors as they sign copies of their books, visiting the diverse themed Stages and specialty Pavilions, or reconnecting with colleagues and friends, the Exhibits offer a great chance to network, see new technologies and products, and otherwise round out your ALA conference experience.

Exhibits Closing & Wrap Up/Rev Up Celebration

Join us Monday, June 30 to close the Exhibits and rev up for the 2015 Midwinter Meeting. Exhibitors will offer discounts and special giveaways in their booths.

» see page 6 for floor plan, company listing » see page 19 for stages and pavilions