Keynote Speakers
Thursday Morning Keynote ~
Tom Bober
TOM BOBER is a librarian at RM Captain School in Clayton, Missouri who values the amazing learning students can achieve when working with primary sources.
He is a 2018 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, former Teacher in Residence at the Library of Congress, a DPLA Community Rep, and member of teacher advisory boards for the National Portrait Gallery and the American Archive of Public Broadcasting.
Tom writes about the use of primary sources for national publications and develops and runs workshops and webinars focusing on strategies for students’ uses of primary sources in learning.
Thursday Lunchtime Keynote ~
Ann Braden
Ann Braden Official Author Website
ANN BRADEN writes books about kids struggling to find their voice amidst the realities of life. Ann’s debut middle grade novel The Benefits of Being an Octopus was listed as one of NPR’s Best Books of 2018, received a starred review from School Library Journal, and was described by Newbery award-winner Karen Hesse as “a compassionate look at poverty, hard choices, and defending one’s right to be treated humanely.” Ann founded GunSenseVT, a grassroots group focused on championing the common ground on the issue of guns in Vermont, which recently helped pass landmark gun violence prevention legislation. She also founded the Local Love Brigade, which now has chapters all over the country sending love postcards to those who are facing hate. Ann is a former middle school teacher, the co-host of the children’s book podcast, “Lifelines: Books that Bridge the Divide,” along with Pakistani American author Saadia Faruqi, and recently one of the co-organizers of #KidsNeedMentors. Ann lives in southern Vermont with her husband, two children, and two insatiable cats named Boomer and Justice.
Friday Morning Keynote ~
Adib Khorram
Adib Khorram Official Author Website
ADIB KHORRAM is an author, a graphic designer, and a tea enthusiast. He was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. A theater kid in high school, he went on to study design and technical theater at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, with an emphasis in lighting design. He later attended one year of film school in Vancouver, BC.
He returned to Kansas City after school, and has worked in the event production industry ever since. His first novel, the DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY, was published in August 2018 by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and won YALSA’s William C. Morris Award for Best Debut Author Writing for Teens and the Asian/Pacific American Literature Association’s Young Adult Award.
When he's not writing or working at his day job, he enjoys swimming, ice skating, food, wine, video games, board games, and Kansas City barbecue.
You can find him on Twitter (@adibkhorram), Instagram (@adibkhorram), or on the web at adibkhorram.com.
Friday Lunchtime Keynote ~
Jason Chin
Jason Chin Official Author Website
JASON CHIN combines imaginative storytelling with intriguing science to create books that both enchant and educate. He is is the author and illustrator of Grand Canyon which received a 2018 Caldecott Honor, Sibert Honor and won the 2018 Orbis Pictus award. His other books, include Redwoods, Island: A Story of the Galápagos, Gravity, and most recently Pie is for Sharing by Stephanie Parsley Ledyard. While researching his books, he’s gone swimming with sharks, explored lava fields and camped with scorpions at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Jason was raised in New Hampshire, studied illustration at Syracuse University, and now lives with his family in Vermont.
