It’s been some time since I’ve been to an ALA conference (Orlando, I think and maybe Chicago before that). But in my new role as Editorial Director of Bushel & Peck Books, I was happy to cross the entire country and spend a week in San Diego. Here’s some of what I saw and did. Enjoy!

**This is not a chronological accounting but rather organized by how/​when I found the photos I wanted to share.**

 

Wizards of the Coast had some GREAT swag. I even scored a physical copy of Monster Manual on the final day!

 

Here’s the Bushel & Peck Books booth, with the bus that drew crowds nonstop. Yes, we bought a bus from the city of Fresno and remade it into a bookmobile. We had a constant flow of people popping in to see what it looked like inside.

 

Rebecca Walker was signing Time for Us, a picture book about children’s caregivers.

 

Of course, Dan Santat was there doing a ton of signings. We chatted a bit about him doing an OPB interview at some point. Fingers crossed that his schedule permits that! (Sidekicks is a fun, fun book.)

 

Yep, there were robot things buzzing around.

 

Here’s Vicki Johnson, the author of Molly’s Tuxedo.

 

Here’s author/​illustrator Steve Breen signing copies of Sky & Ty.

 

Kate Messner signed copies of The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class: Emma McKenna, Full Out.

 

Sophie Blackall signed copies of her picture book Farmhouse.

 

Blink-​182 was playing a show one of the conference nights, and Petco Park was right by my hotel, so I sat outside and heard a couple of songs while watching the evening go by.

 

Bushel & Peck had a Pop Top Stage event with a lot of their authors. This is David & Stephanie Miles–the owners–introducing the event.

 

The author of the Stormbringer series (G.R. Boden) did a signing.

 

UNLV professor and literary rock star Jarret Keene signed copies of Decide & Survive: The Attack on Pearl Harbor and Heroes of World War II: 25 True Stories of Unsung Heroes Who Fought for Freedom while charming the crowd.

 

Carole Boston Weatherford was there, too, signing Bros and other books.

 

It was hard to miss the promo for Sherri’s cool-​looking new picture book.

 

I got to see parts of some of the Chapter One Stage events as I hustled from meeting to meeting. Wish I could’ve stayed longer at this one!

 

Have you read The Maid and the Crocodile? Jordan Ifueko was signing copies at ALA.

 

Ngozi Ukazu was signing as well. Barda is terrific!

 

Lee Wind was signing copies of The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie: Infinite Identities around the World.

 

Kwame Alexander stopped by the Bushel & Peck Books booth and chatted for a while. He’s a hoot!

 

Lesa Cline-​Ransome mugs for the camera with a fan whose copy of One Big Open Sky just got signed.

 

This was one of the coolest booths going–Fred Koehler’s Ready Chapter One is worth checking out if you don’t already know about it.

 

Here’s Joyce Uglow (in the dino mask/​hat), a new Bushel & Peck Books author doing a signing with the ARCs of the picture book STUCK!, which is about the La Brea Tar Pits. I was working on the final edits for this right up until I got on the plane to head to CA.

 

Kemper Donovan signed copies of Loose Lips.

 

Kate DePalma signed copies of Let’s Celebrate! Special Days Around the World. Like a pro, she blew the ink dry before handing over a signed book to a fan.

 

Jenni L. Wash was signing copies of Ace, Marvel, Spy: A Novel of Alice Marble.

 

Ellen had another good book to launch. Her fans were everywhere!

 

Yep, San Diego is a sports city. Confirmed!

 

And I thought gas was expensive in Florida.…

 

I made it fairly far from the conference center in my quest to find great local food. There were tons of fantastic options here.

 

I made it to Balboa Park and visited a lot of the museums (after the conference). Here’s the Old Globe Theater, which wasn’t running anything the week I was there. 🙁

 

The Gaslamp District was right next to the conference center, so I visited this area many, many times for food, meetings, and just ambiance.

 

Here’s a cool LEGO sculpture at one of the Balboa park museums. I think this was at the Fleet Science Center.

 

Loved seeing this promo for Loren Long’s The Yellow Bus. (OPB created some activities to pair with it–check those out right here.)

 

And here’s the Bushel & Peck Books bookmobile, driving away from the convention center and heading back home to Fresno.

 

And that’s pretty much it, folks. Maybe next time I’ll get away from my press’ booth a bit more to get a wider range of photos. We’ll see!