Well, hello, long-lost friends of ShelfTalker! After 10 years of blogging for PW, I took a looong hiatus as we scrambled and pivoted and launched ourselves into this new world of Covid-era bookselling. It is lovely to be back—especially this week, when the ALA Youth Media Awards were announced and so many glorious books earned medals and a world of new readers. This post celebrates two Vermont winners, and then shares the most heartwarming story we’ve heard lately, from a customer involving a young person, art, and a gift inspired by Peter Reynolds.

Our own brave little state of Vermont saw two of its finest honored with multiple seals. Kekla Magoon‘s Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People from Candlewick Press has so many awards they barely fit on the book jacket: National Book Award Finalist, Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, Michael L. Printz Honor, and Walter Dean Myers Honor.

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Oh, hello! Welcome to the new year, but quietly, please. Just slip off your shoes and leave the door ajar, and try not to step on that squeaky floorboard, OK? We’ll keep our voices low and our movements slow, and we’ll just quietly sit and sip some tea, and catch our breath for a minute. Perhaps all the evil humors of 2021 just won’t hear us, and we can slip through the first quarter of 2022 before anyone notices our conversation and wants to join us. Sit all the way across the room, if you don’t mind, and there’s some hand sanitizer on the side table next to that box of N95 masks – of course, help yourself!

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As I entered the Glade of Years to interview The Year 2022, I made a startling discovery.

Kenny: Greetings, Year 2022.

Year 2022: Hello, Kenny.

Kenny: Um. I believe we’ve met before. Or else you bear a striking resemblance to the Year 2021.

Year 2022: Perhaps you are aware of the staffing and labor shortages which marked 2021?

Kenny: I am indeed. In fact, I feel most appreciative of having my wonderful DDG staff in place right now.

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