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My Friday started early, with a rocky, bumpy ferry ride to Vermont for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference.  I don't think I've ever been on the lake when it was this rough.




This is my windshield.  There was no fog & It was not raining...just a sheet of lake water coming over the front of the boat.

Truth be told, it was kind of fun and exciting.  Part of me wanted to get out of the car, cling to a railing and shout, "Batten down the hatches!!"
But I'm not sure they have hatches on the ferry and I would have gotten my conference clothes all wet, so I refrained.

The conference was held at the Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, Vermont.  This has to be one of the prettiest views I've ever had from a workshop room.



I loved visiting with the teachers & librarians in my workshop, and one of them made me laugh at the end, when I shared the news that the nice folks at Bloomsbury/Walker had sent along ARCs of my new book, The Brilliant Fall of  Gianna Z, for everyone who attended my presentation.

"Oh!"  she said.  "It's just like Oprah!"

Not quite...but there was a celebrity on hand, of near-Oprah status.



Caldecott Medalist David Macauley, who gave the morning keynote address, was gracious enough to sign books for my kids.




We had David's new book, The Way We Work, out at the Messner house just last night.  We were talking about the swine flu, and my son was trying to explain to my daughter how a virus isn't really a living thing.  "Hold on," I said...and sure enough, we found a fantastic illustration of an influenza virus, along with a great explanation of why it needs a host cell to reproduce. 







Vermont's DCF Committee did a phenomenal job with this conference, and it was lovely to spend the whole day talking about books with people who love them so much.  Thanks, Vermont teachers & librarians, for a terrific day!