The 19th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held in Washington, DC, Saturday, August 31. The festival brings the nation’s leading authors, poets and illustrators together for one day to read and discuss their works. Each year a list of books representing the literary heritage of the 53 affiliates of the Library of Congress Center for the Book is distributed during the festival. The book list is “Discover Great Places Through Reading” and lists books by authors representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the newly-designated Center for the Book in Puerto Rico.
Programs for the 2019 festival are dedicated to discovering America’s changemakers. Reflecting this year’s theme, the Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library has selected Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber. Written by Sue Macy and illustrated by Ohio’s C. F. Payne, the book highlights how everyday citizens–strengthened with knowledge, passion and commitment–can become trailblazers and history makers that shape America.
About the Book. Sue Macy and C. F. Payne tell the story of sportswriter Mary Garber who was a legend in North Carolina and national sports journalism circles. This informative and engaging picture-book biography delves into the life and career of one trailblazing woman who challenged the status quo of male-dominated sports reporting and sports writing at a time when women were rarely a part of the newspaper business. Mary Garber was the first full-time woman sportswriter at a daily newspaper in the United States and went on to have a career spanning nearly sixty years. In 2005, Garber was also the first woman to receive the Associated Press Sports Editors’ Red Smith Award, presented for major contributions in sports journalism. It is an inspiring book that all ages will enjoy.
Acclaimed artist C. F. Payne has illustrated more than a dozen picture books including the New York Times bestselling Mousetronaut by astronaut Mark Kelly; the Texas Bluebonnet winner Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy written by Phil Bildner; and the New York Times bestsellers The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, both by John Lithgow. Payne teaches at the Columbus College of Design where he is the chair of the Illustration Department. Payne lives with his wife and children in Cincinnati, Ohio. Visit him online at CFPayne.com. Sue Macy is the acclaimed author of many books for young readers including the award-winning Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom; Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women’s Hoops on the Map; and Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly. A former editor at Scholastic, Macy lives in Englewood, New Jersey.
The 19th Library of Congress National Book Festival will take place on Saturday, August 31, from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. This event is free and open to the public.
About the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Established by Congress in 1977 to “stimulate public interest in books and reading,” the Library of Congress Center for the Book is a national force for reading and literacy promotion. It sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages through its affiliated state centers and collaborations with nonprofit reading-promotion partners and through the Young Readers Center and Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress.
Click here to download past Discover Great Places Through Reading book lists.