Last week, I flew to San Diego to officially accept the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award for my middle grade novel at the Association of Jewish Libraries annual conference. I had a great time! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, my speech went over well (after a lovely introduction by incoming Manuscript Committee coordinator Talya Sokoll), the panels I attended were really interesting, and several of the attendees told me they hoped to see my book published. Plus name-checking Lord of the Rings in my speech prompted a couple of librarians to nerd out about Tolkien with me afterward.

I also got to meet a number of authors in person I only knew online or had interviewed by phone for my SLJ article, which was a lot of fun.

I’m not frequently in a space with a lot of other Jews at once, so I appreciated that—especially seeing how inclusive a space it was, from observant Orthodox Jews with their hair covered to more secular types like me (and my not-Jewish husband). There was a space set aside in the hall for people to ritually wash their hands and say the blessing over the bread before dinner, but that was optional, not required of everyone. (Many Jews will say the blessing over the bread to include the entire meal, before they touch any other part of the food.)

I’d been worried about the safety of the event, given current events, but there were security guards everywhere at all times. Should any gathering of Jews need that much security? No. Was it reassuring to see them? Yes. Plus they were super friendly.

And we even got in some sightseeing before we headed home. Pics below, from the awards night and from playing tourist:

Around Balboa Park.