Away to the conference I go...

I'm spending today getting ready for the New Hampshire Educational Media Association Conference that starts on Tuesday. I love going to the state conference. I get to reconnect with people I only see once a year. And I get to meet new and interesting people. This year will be bittersweet because several of my long time buddies are retiring and this may be their last conference. The state of NH is eliminating their medical subsidy for retirees this year so it is now or never for those eligible. What a shame.

I am giving two workshops at the conference. On Tuesday, my buddy Mike Sullivan and I will be presenting our He Said, She Said program. Mike highlight the latest "boy" books while I concentrate on the new "chicklit". And we try to see who can outspeak the other! On Wednesday, I'll be doing my Tech Savvy Booktalker program. I've jazzed it up a bit and hope it will work!

Other speakers at the conference include Toni Buzzeo (who I ran into in the hotel lobby in Texas last month), Stephen Abram (I get to introduce him!), author Cynthia Lord, Reg Aubrey from Google, and of course Dr. Cathy Higgins (congrats on the new title!)

My packing is not up to Joyce Valenza's. If you haven't seen her shoe video, check it out here. What a hoot! I'm glad I don't have those dilemmas. I'll just throw on my pair of crocs and away I go. I might bring two pairs just to have some variety.

Today's podcast is for Carol Plum-Ucci's new book. It is a bit of a departure from her usual mysteries but it is grippinng. I guess I just like the terrorists are going to get us type of book. I presented at a workshop in NH last month and a couple of the evaluations commented on the number of dark books I used as examples. I can't help it. I love them!

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/plum_streams.mp3

Plum-Ucci, Carol. STREAMS OF BABEL
Trinity Falls, is just a small suburban town in southern New Jersey. It is not any place you would expect to find anything interesting. But now four teens have come down with a mysterious flu. A flu that has killed two people already. The doctors can't figure out what is causing the illness. Even the CDC isn't sure what is going on. But the kids seem to be getting worse. Can a teen from the other side of the world help figure out what is going on?