Bank Street, Plus Video!

Vanessa and Debbie with ESOL students at GBF 2014

Vanessa and Debbie at MLK Memorial

Good news for We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song--it's been selected as a Bank Street College Best Children's Book of 2013.  Makes me feel like singing!Speaking of which. . . . I finally got to meet Vanessa Brantley-Newton, the illustrator of We Shall Overcome, last month when she came to visit so we could present together at the Gaithersburg Book Festival.  It was like meeting a long-lost best friend or sister--for the first time.  These photos give you a sense of how much we enjoyed ourselves: (Vanessa's real sister, Coy Brantley Curry, also came to Maryland for the festival and helped make the weekend even more enjoyable.  Plus, she took lots of great pictures, including these.)The good people at the festival put together a video of our presentation.  We had 30 minutes or so to talk and sing about our book.  You may not have 30 minutes to watch this video, even if you know and like us.  So since the Bank Street honor makes me feel like singing, I'll  direct you to the juiciest parts, by which I mean the parts where Vanessa is singing.  Advance the video to minute 10:04 and also to 22:46.  And enjoy.http://youtu.be/7PwIkIxy77k