Days of Dialog

Library Journal Day of Dialog Wednesday, May 31, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 545 W. 59th St.)

This annual event opens, as always, with the popular Editors’ Picks, which will feature a half dozen top editors discussing forthcoming titles. Among them will be Elizabeth Beier, Executive Editor, St. Martin’s; Tom Mayer, Senior Editor & VP, Norton; and Gail Winston, VP & Executive Editor, HarperCollins. “SF/Fantasy/Dystopia” ranges from io9 founder Annalee Newitz’s debut novel, Autonomous (Tor) to Holly Goddard Jones’s The Salt Line (Putnam) to Black Caucus of ALA Self-Publishing Award winner L. Penelope on her “Eternal Flame” series.

The afternoon kicks off with “Books To Buzz About,” which includes Nancy Pearl’s George and Lizzie (Touchstone), as well as LJ Best Book authors Tayari Jones (An American Marriage, Algonquin) and Gabrielle Zevin (Young Jane Young, Algonquin). The editors’ picks–style “Reading the World” features four publishers who have brought us major authors in translation, from Jan-Philipp Sendker and Karl Ove Knausgård to Elena Ferrante and Roberto Bolaño. Judith Gurewich, Other Press; Jill Schoolman, Archipelago; Michael Reynolds, Europa; and Declan Spring, New Directions, will be on hand to highlight their newest ­acquisitions.

“Top Nonfiction” ranges broadly from Danielle Allen’s Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A. (Liveright: Norton) to Khizr Khan’s An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice (Random) to Kate Moore’s The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women (Sourcebooks). The day wraps up with “The Second Time Around,” featuring five novelists whose first books were big hits. They include Marie Benedict (Carnegie’s Maid, Sourcebooks), Chloe Benjamin (The Immortalists, Putnam), ­Celeste Ng (Little Fires Everywhere, Penguin Pr.), Eleanor Henderson (The Twelve-Mile Straight, Ecco: HarperCollins), and Robin Sloan (Sourdough, MCD: Farrar).

School Library Journal Day of Dialog Wednesday, May 31, 9 a.m.–6. p.m. (NYU Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square S.)

The big day opens with a keynote address from the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Gene Luen Yang. The author and illustrator of such award-winning graphic novels as American Born Chinese and Boxers and Saints has just launched his “Reading Without Walls” challenge, which encourages participants to explore books from diverse voices, genres, and formats. Next, Christopher Lassen, youth material selector for BookOps shared library technical services of the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library, will moderate a panel on dynamic nonfiction featuring R. Gregory Christie (A Time To Act, NorthSouth), Sue Macy (Motor Girls, National Geographic), Michelle Markel (Balderdash!, Chronicle), Steve Sheinkin (Undefeated, Roaring Brook), and Alexandra Siy (Voyager’s Greatest Hits, Charlesbridge).

Following will be “The Sweet Spot: Captivating Middle Grade Readers,” moderated by Deborah Taylor, coordinator of school and student services for Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, and featuring Tracey Baptiste (The Rise of the Jumbies, Algonquin), Paul Griffin (Saving Marty, Dial), Katherine Paterson (My Brigadista Year, Candlewick), Jason Reynolds (Patina, S. & S.), and Karina Yan Glaser (The Vanderbeekers to 141st Street, Houghton Harcourt).

In an after lunch speech, we will hear from author Megan Whalen Turner on her long-awaited novel Thick as Thieves (HarperCollins). A powerhouse YA panel will follow, moderated by Monica Edinger, a teacher at the Dalton School and avid blogger. Panelists will include M.T. Anderson (Landscape with Invisible Hand, Candlewick), Gregory Scott Katsoulis (All Rights Reserved, Harlequin Teen), Nnedi Okorafor (Akata Warrior, Viking), and Mitali Perkins (You Bring the Distant Near, Macmillan).

The day’s final panel, “The Expansive Picture Book Universe,” will be led by Robin Gibson, youth services librarian at the Westerville PL, OH, and will feature commentary from Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (Libba, Chronicle), Sean Qualls and Selina Alko (Why Am I Me?, Dial), Sydney Smith (Town Is by the Sea, Groundwood), Philip Stead (The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine, Doubleday), and Brendan Wenzel (Life, S. & S.).

The closing keynote will be delivered by Kwame Alexander (Solo, Blink), who will then cohost the announcement of the 2017 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners with Horn Book editor Roger Sutton.