Chicago, Chicago, That Wonderful Town!

What could be better than Chicago in the summertime? That’s what thousands of librarians and teachers must have asked themselves before setting out for the 2009 ALA Annual Conference. (Below: Katie sets up our booth.)

The Annick booth was a busy place as people stopped by to see what was new. It was great to hear so many say that they had a number of Annick books in their collections. We also heard many comment on how innovative our titles are, and how they look forward to getting our catalog. Our featured titles for the fall—Adventures on the Ancient Silk Road, The Kids @ the Crossroads series, and Camp Fossil Eyes—attracted a lot of attention. And the fortune cookies we gave away to promote The Chinese Thought of It were a big hit.

Backlist titles got a lot of attention, too—both the Little Black Book for Boys and the Little Black Book for Girlz drew enthusiastic responses and generated lots of discussion around the booth for their frank and honest approach to often controversial subject matter. But it wasn’t all work. We managed to take in an architectural tour of the fabulous Chicago skyline, explore the Magnificent Mile, and had some great meals. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again in Boston for the Midwinter Meeting.

For more photos, check out our ALA 2009 album on Flickr.

Video: The Little Black Books

The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality

The Little Black Book for Guys: Guys Talk About Sex

by St. Stephen's Community House

It's all about sex, baby...

Well, that's not absolutely true. It's also about relationships, youth culture, and staying healthy. That was the message when The Little Black Book for Girlz: A Book on Healthy Sexuality and The Little Black Book for Guys: Guys Talk About Sex, were officially launched last Thursday at St. Stephen's Community House in downtown Toronto. Hailed as "necessary," "honest," "frank," and "empowering," these two books are the result of an amazing collaboration among teens who would drop in regularly to The Youth Arcade at the community-based St. Stephen's. The combination of well-researched facts, personal stories, poetry and art makes these two books ground-breaking in their ability to reach young adults. Many of the youth who wrote the books came out to celebrate, as well as people from other social service agencies, The Hospital for Sick Children, St. Stephen's Board of Directors and the media. After speeches, the crowd was treated to an original song beautifully sung by one of the teen contributors to The Little Black Book for Guys. This launch was the culmination of many years of hard work, persistence and the knowledge that these books have the potential to change, and perhaps save, young lives.