ALA Press Release

NEWS

For Immediate Release

June 8, 2012

CHICAGO - Attendees at this year’s American Library Association’s (ALA) Annual Conference, held June 21-26 at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center, will get a chance to visit with someone whose name occupies a very special place on their bookshelves.

Readers of modern fiction are very familiar with Jodi Picoult. Her 18 novels are consistently listed among the best-selling books. They include the #1 New York Times best-sellers “House Rules,” “Handle With Care,” “Change of Heart,” “Nineteen Minutes” and “My Sister’s Keeper,” which was made into a major motion picture by New Line Cinema in 2009 starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva and Alec Baldwin.

Picoult and daughter Samantha Van Leer will keynote the American Library Association (ALA) President’s Program from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 24. Recently, Picoult co-wrote a young adult novel with her daughter, titled “Between the Lines,” which will be published in June 2012.

A junior in high school, Van Leer conceived the idea for “Between the Lines” and pitched it to her mother while she (Picoult) was in the middle of a book tour. In her spare time, she plays softball, does contemporary dance and acts and sings in musicals.

The American Library Association is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with approximately 60,000 members. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information.

For more information on the 2012 ALA Annual Conference, please visit the ALA Conference Web site at www.ala.org/annual, or contact ALA Media Relations Manager Macey Morales at (312) 280-4393, mmorales@ala.org, or ALA PR Coordinator Jennifer Petersen at (312) 280-5043,jpetersen@ala.org.

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CONTACT:

Jennifer Petersen

ALA Media Relations

312-280-5043

jpetersen@ala.org