The American Library Association announced today the winners of its annual awards for children's and young adult literature. Among them is the Newbery Award for the outstanding children's book of the year; this award is to children's books what the Oscar is to movies. Winning a Newbery means that every children's librarian in the country will buy your book, and keep on buying replacement copies for years to come; the award has been given since 1922, and only a handful of winners have gone out of print.

It was a particularly exciting day at the Los Angeles Public Library, where I work, because this year's Newbery was awarded to one of my co-workers, Susan Patron, for her book The Higher Power of Lucky.

It surprised me a bit how thrilled I was by the news; it's not as if I wrote the book or anything. But it is certainly the most prestigious award ever won by anyone I actually know, and I'm delighted that Susan's talent has been recognized in such grand fashion.