National Ambassador
for Young People's Literature: 2014-15Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo Named New National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.
“Stories Connect Us” to Be Her Platform
Kate DiCamillo, Newbery Medal Award-winner and honoree, today was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. DiCamillo will serve in the position during 2014 and 2015, succeeding Walter Dean Myers. She has chosen "Stories Connect Us" for her platform. The inauguration ceremony will take place Jan. 10 at 11 a.m. in Room LJ-119 of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C.
The theme of hope and belief amid impossible circumstances is a common thread in much of Kate DiCamillo’s writing. In her instant No. 1 New York Times best-seller “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” (2006), a haughty china rabbit undergoes a profound transformation after finding himself face down on the ocean floor -- lost and waiting to be found. “The Tale of Despereaux" (2003), the Newbery Medal-winning novel that later inspired an animated adventure from Universal Pictures, stars a tiny mouse with exceptionally large ears who is driven by love to become an unlikely hero. And “The Magician’s Elephant” (2009), an acclaimed and exquisitely paced fable, dares to ask the question, What if?
Kate DiCamillo’s own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her 20s, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire “Because of Winn-Dixie” (2000), her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway best-seller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. “After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls,” she says. “I was stunned. And very, very happy.” READ MORE !
The National Ambassador program was established in 2008
Jon Scieszka, 2008-2009.
Katherine Paterson, 2010-2011
Walter Dean Myers, 2012-2013
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