Miami On My Mind

It's cold and blustery here in Maryland today, which has me thinking of Miami, where it isn't.  These photos and links from the Miami Book Fair--which I attended in November--aren't exactly news flashes at this point.  But I have Miami on my mind, so here goes:

First, while at the fair, I did a radio interview with Marc Bernier of WNDB radio of Daytona Beach.  Who knew a video of it would be posted on YouTube?  Click here, if you wish:  Debbie Levy - The Year of Goodbyes.  Question:  Will anybody who is not closely related to me listen to a 20 minute interview?  (Will anybody who is closely related?)  Maybe if I were to throw a contest with prizes. . . .

Second, I talked to hundreds of students and teachers as part of my book fair events, and visited two schools, Rockway Middle and Glades Middle. They could not have been more hospitable. And a bonus: Swag! Have a look:

That, in case you can't tell, would be a Glades M.S. briefcase and a Rockway M.S. jacket. I love them both.

Third, I shared a podium in Miami with the talented and personable Linda Urban and Tom Angleberger.  The photo gives a small inkling of what a KID MAGNET Tom is!  He calls everybody "Larry," and this just cracks the kids up.  

That's Linda on the right in the photo, looking on, as I did, in awe and delight.  I hope you'll check out both Linda's and Tom's books.

Texas Tidings

I've just learned that The Year of Goodbyes has been nominated for the 2012 Texas Lone Star Reading List--welcome news.  Wouldn't I just love for the nomination to lead to a place on the final Lone Star List!  There are plenty of great books on the nominations roster, including one of my favorites, Kathy Erskine's Mockingbird (read it if you haven't yet!), so I may well have to be satisfied with the nomination alone.  And that wouldn't be bad--whatever spreads word of this book, so close to my heart.

Out and About

I've had a fine time recently talking about The Year of Goodbyes at a variety of events.  The audiences have been wonderfully engaged, which is any speaker's dream.  And a bonus for me has been sharing the podium with other writers who have great stories to tell, and the talent to tell them. 

Last month, for example, Jan Elvin and I did a joint reading at the Fall For The Book Festival in Virginia.  Jan is the author of The Box from Braunau: In Search of my Father’s War.  We hadn't met before the festival.  Jan and I were amazed at the parallels our journeys to publication shared, including most notably the discovery of an artifact of personal history--in my case, my mother's poesiealbum; in her case, a tin box her father brought home from World War II.  In her presentation, as in her book, Jan addressed the demons of war that dogged her father for the rest of his life as a veteran, a subject that is painfully relevant today as we welcome soldiers home from today's wars.  And on a lighter note, Jan and I discovered that we share a passion for all things Eastern Shore--that's Maryland's Eastern Shore, where she and her husband just moved, and where my husband and I spend as much time as we can.  I'm hoping to see her out and about on the Chesapeake Bay.

And last week, at the Brandeis National Committee's Book and Author Luncheon in the Washington, D.C. area, after talking about The Year of Goodbyes with a very warm audience, I was captivated by Lisa McCubbin and Clint Hill when they discussed The Kennedy Detail, the story of the Secret Service agents who were with President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963.  What a slide show!  Mr. Hill, the agent assigned to Mrs. Kennedy, was just a fount of fascinating detail and insight.  After lunch, we heard from James Zogby, whose book, Arab Voices:  What They Are Saying To Us, and Why It Matters, was the springboard for his passionate talk about the importance (and difficulty) of listening, really listening, across cultural, religious, and physical boundaries.  When the day was over, I wasn't quite ready to go. . . .

Here's a photo from the Brandeis event; to my right is Mr. Zogby with his book:

Thanks to The DC Moms!

A shout out to The DC Moms blog for including Maybe I'll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight and Other Funny Bedtime Poems as one of "8 Great Children's Books by Washington-Area Writers"! 

I love the company the book is with on that list, too, including friend and fellow Children's Book Guild member Susan Stockdale (for her gorgeous Bring on the Birds), the incomparable Katherine Paterson (also a Guild member) for The Great Gilly Hopkins, and Judith Viorst, whom I've admired for years, for her If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries. 

Click on over to TheDCMoms!

Loving the Summer Lists

Learning that The Year of Goodbyes is on recommended summer reading lists at schools and libraries across the country this season--what a wonderful feeling.

Places such as:  Old Town, Maine.  Orleans, Massachussetts.  Southold, New York.  Demarest, New Jersey.  Carroll County, Maryland.  Martin County, Florida.  The Iowa City Consolidated School District.  Fremont, Nebraska.  And more!

And I don't want to leave out Mrs. Dalloway's bookstore in Berkeley, California.  Thanks to the staff there for spreading the word.  

I love thinking of this book in the hands of readers from sea to shining sea!

VOYA's Honor List

I'm happy to learn today that The Year of Goodbyes has been selected for VOYA'S Nonfiction Honor List 2010.  The list was put together this year, as always, by the Voice of Youth Advocates after "invigorating" discussion (according to VOYA!) among the librarians, teachers, and middle grade students involved in the process.  You can see the entire list here; I'm thrilled to find my book in such excellent company.

We Need This Ice Cream

I made an unexpected discovery at the Gaithersburg Book Festival last Saturday:  the best ice cream I have ever eaten.  Anywhere, anytime. 

This ice cream is made by BOSS Foods, the creation of Valerie W. Ross.  Valerie's a recent graduate of Women Entrepreneurs of Baltimore.  She may have picked up pointers on how to run a small business from WEB, but it's clear from the first bite that culinary skills are in her DNA.  At the book festival, Valerie and her daughter Janee Ross were on hand with a cart stocked with their made-fresh-in-Gaithersburg confection.  My mother and I sampled the French vanilla and the macadamia nut, and, oh my.


From left to right, Valerie Ross, Mom (Jutta Levy) and Janee Ross.  

Valerie tells me the Gaithersburg Whole Foods store (Kentlands) has just agreed to carry BOSS ice cream.  You lucky Gaithersburgers!  Now the rest of us Marylanders might want to run to wherever we buy groceries to spread the word.  We need this ice cream.

My mother and I were at the festival to present and sign The Year of Goodbyes, which was lovely, but--let me tell you about this ice cream we discovered. . . .