Gene Luen Yang at TLA!

I'm preparing for TLA's Annual Conference next week, printing fliers, picking out sessions to attend, and jotting down oh so many meetings on my schedule. (Speaking of which, I'm particularly happy it's in Dallas this year. I get to sleep in my own bed, see my husband each night, and I'm finally going to get to make use of Dallas's growing public transportation system. Yay!)



I was looking through the Friday 10am sessions, and blinked a bit when I saw a session, not only on graphic novels, but featuring Gene Luen Yang, the author of American Born Chinese, one of the best comics I've ever read, and the first graphic novel to win ALA's Printz Award, as well as to be nominated for the National Book Award, as a speaker!

I first read this novel a year ago, and was lucky enough to finish it while on vacation in the Bay Area--after which we promptly visited San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum, where a few panels of Yang's work were on display.

I can't really explain the wonder of this work--you'll just have to find out yourself. I highly recommend purchasing a copy for yourself, and one for your YA or graphic novel collection; its clever weaving of three narratives makes it as suitable for college and adult reading as it is for teens.