21st annual BYU Symposium on Books for Young Readers

Candace Fleming, Jennifer Holm, X J Kennedy, Wendell Minor, Kenneth Oppel, and Vivan Vande Velde are on the program to be held in the Provo Public Library on Thursday and Friday, July 17 and 18.

Candace Fleming is the best-selling author of numerous critically acclaimed books for young children. Her works include Ben Franklin’s Almanac and Our Eleanor, both ALA Notable Books and ALA Best Books for Young Adults, as well as Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!, Gabriella’s Song, and When Agnes Caws, all ALA Notable Books. Her book Boxes for Katie was awarded Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2003. She lives in a suburb of Chicago.

Jennifer Holm is the Newbery Honor-winning author of Penny from Heaven and Our Only May Amelia. Jennifer is the author of several other highly praised books, including the Boston Jane trilogy, The Creek, Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf, and the Babymouse series, on which she collaborates with her brother. She lives in Maryland.

X J Kennedy, who received the 2000 National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Children’s Poetry, has written eighteen children’s books, among them The Beasts of Bethlehem, Brats, The Owlstone Crown, and Exploding Gravy. He and his wife, Dorothy, have coedited the popular children’s poetry anthologies Knock at a Star and Talking Like the Rain. They live in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Wendell Minor is the award-winning illustrator of over forty picture books for children, among them many classics by Newbery award-winning author Jean Craighead George. His most recent collaboration with Ms. George is The Wolves Are Back. His works also include the illustrations for Robert Burleigh’s Into the Woods, which won the 2004 Best Illustrated Children’s Picture Book, and illustrations for Buzz Aldrin’s Reaching for the Moon, which appeared on the list of Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12, and was a New York Times best seller. He lives in rural Connecticut with his wife and business partner, Florence.

Kenneth Oppel is the science fiction and fantasy author of the internationally best-selling Silverwing trilogy. His books also include Airborn, which won the 2004 Governor General’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature and was named a Michael L. Printz Honor book by the American Library Association (ALA). The sequel, Skybreaker, was a New York Times best seller and was selected as a 2006 Best Book for Young Adults by the ALA. He lives in Canada.

Vivian Vande Velde is the author of numerous fantasy and mystery novels for young adult readers. Her book Never Trust a Dead Man received the 2000 Edgar Award in the Young Adult category. Her books Being Dead, Companions of the Night, Heir Apparent, and Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird were all ALA Best Books for Young Adults. She lives in Rochester, New York.

Interested teachers can register to receive recertification credit through BYU. To receive more information or to register, call BYU Conferences and Workshops at 801-422-2568 or go to go to http://ce.byu.edu/cw/bfyr/index.cfm