Celebrate excellence in children’s and young adult literature at the 2012 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast

CHICAGO — The Ethnic and Multicultural Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) and the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee will celebrate the best in children’s and young adult literature representing the African-American experience at the 2012 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast from 7 – 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 24 in the Hilton Anaheim Pacific Ballroom D during ALA’s 2012 Annual Conference.

This year’s celebration will honor Coretta Scott King Author Award winner and Illustrator honor book recipient Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans” (Balzer + Bray, 2011) and Illustrator Award winner Shane W. Evans, illustrator of “Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom” (A Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press, 2011).

The 2012 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Honor recipients will also be recognized, including Eloise Greenfield, “The Great Migration: Journey to the North,” illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Amistad, 2011) and Patricia C. McKissack, “Never Forgotten,” illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon (Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011).

Ashley Bryan, storyteller, artist, author, poet, musician and recipient of the 2012 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement will also be honored. A native of the Bronx, Bryan created his first children’s book in first grade. In 1962, he became the first African-American to both write and illustrate a children’s book. After a successful teaching career, Bryan left academia to pursue creation of his own artwork. He has since garnered numerous awards for his significant and lasting literary contribution of poetry, spirituals and story.

Individual tickets may be purchased for $50 each prior to the Early-Bird Registration deadline of May 13, 2012, and for $60 between May 14 and June 14, 2012. All tickets must be purchased before June 14; tickets will not be available at Annual Conference. To register, visit www.alaannual.org, registration code EMT1.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of the ALA’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) to African-American authors and illustrators to encourage the artistic expression of the African-American experience via literature and the graphic arts.

To learn more about the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, please visit www.ala.org/csk.