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February 9, 2009 by Betsy Bird

The Big Con: Comically Speaking

February 9, 2009 by Betsy Bird   7 comments

Hey, guys.

Just whopping big ole thanks to everyone who came out and saw me, Sophie Brookover, and the resident husband at ComicCon on Sunday.  Special thanks to Matt Holm for joining me for lunch, to Tim Travaglini for chatting, to Charise Mericle Harper for the new issues of Fashion Kitty, to Shawn Farrell for knowing that I even had a talk, and to Laurie Halse Anderson for sending her entirely delightful, charming, intelligent, and witty daughter.

Sophie and I will post the handouts to our talks online momentarily.  I will also make our talk into a lovely podcast for everyone’s use and entertainment.

I didn’t get to see as much of this year’s Con as I would have liked (doggone Saturday hours) but I did manage to randomly wander into a massive Jeff Kinney talk about Wimpy Kid.  It was lots of fun to hear him talk about selling the books before he hit it big.  And from the questions he received from kids I gathered two interesting facts:

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Fact #1:  When asked what kind of kid the movie studios were looking for in terms of the upcoming Wimpy Kid film, Kinney replied, "We’re looking for a young Larry David.  Ask your parents."

Fact #2:  A girl asked if there was a part for a girl in the film.  The surprising answer was that a "Daria-like character" had been added for the movie.  Those of you familiar with the MTV series will know what that means.

On the floor I gathered a couple materials on my person that I thought look particularly interesting.  For example, what do you think of when you see this cover?:


Do you think of politics?  I think of politics.  Yet this new Lane Smith book has nothing to do (insofar as I can determine, unless it’s being really sly) with politics.

That book was taken from the Hyperion booth.  And it was there that I got to read a little of the new Jellaby book Jellaby: Monster in the City.  They gave me the Smith picture book because they were closing up for the day.  I kind of wish I’d had the guts to ask for the new Jellaby too, but that seemed pushy.  Ah well.  It’ll be in bookstores in April anyway.

I’ve been enjoying talk of Rampant by Diana Peterfreund, the upcoming Harper Collins evil unicorn tale, coming out soon.  So I was a little surprised to find that this was being offered by Random House:

Spoiler Alert:  This unicorn is not evil.  Could you tell?  I think it was the eyelashes that gave it away for me.

And finally, the good people at First Second gave me a taste of one of their upcoming books, Adventures in Cartooning.  Which looks awesome.  And now I will be quiet so that I can review it soon.  Soon soon soon.

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About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brigid says

    February 9, 2009 at 11:11 am

    I heard that you would be at the con and I’m sorry I didn’t get to your panel. Maybe next year! (I’m your colleague from the Good Comics for Kids blog.)

  2. Dan Santat says

    February 9, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Yay for Derek Dirk Kim! So envious you got to see some of the new book

  3. Steph says

    February 9, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    Oh my god, Betsy, that unicorn is TOTALLY evil.

  4. Justine Larbalestier says

    February 9, 2009 at 4:43 pm

    Rampant is the best unicorn novel I’ve ever read. I think it’s probably the best book coming out this year. Definitely top ten.

    And that unicorn is too evil. Having read Rampant I have learned that they all are.

  5. Matt says

    February 9, 2009 at 5:18 pm

    Evil unicorn. You can tell by the JonBenet-styled tail and mane.

  6. Fuse #8 says

    February 9, 2009 at 5:59 pm

    I bow to public pressure. The unicorn is pure, unadulterated evil incarnate. And then some.

  7. janeyolen says

    February 9, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    Hoping to go next year with two GNs coming out in 2010.

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