::Squee!::

I had the incredible privilege of spending today at the Scholastic Reading Summit surrounded by administrators, librarians, and teachers dedicated to lighting the spark that will allow young people to become lifelong readers. 
Best of all, the keynote speakers were two of my heroes: Donalyn Miller, whose blog The Book Whisperer inspired me as I worked to create a culture of reading in my classroom and who is a founding member of another of my favorite blogs, The Nerdy Book Club; and Walter Dean Myers.  Yes, you read that right, WALTER DEAN MYERS!!! (Go ahead, open them both.  Different links, all kinds of awesomeness.)  Walter Dean Myers has been one of my heroes ever since I did a research project about banned and challenged books for young people.  He's a fearless writer, and his life story -- which I just heard about today during his talk -- blows my mind.  In fact, I have a new book to add to my summer reading list: Bad Boy, his memoir.  Here's the man in action:

Walter Dean Myers, Scholastic Reading Summit
July 17, 2012
Photo credit C. Alaniz, @utalaniz