One step ahead: SLJ's latest leadership summit tackles the swiftly changing world of reading and ebooks.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

It was like a scene out of Oprah Suddenly, there was a collective gasp, followed by a heartfelt explosion of cheering, clapping, and ear-to-ear grins, as more than 200 librarians and educators found out they'd each receive an autographed copy of Brian Selznick's new, eagerly anticipated novel, Wonderstruck (Scholastic). Welcome to SLJ's two-day Leadership Summit, September 22-23 in Arlington, VA.

As the event's opening keynote speaker, Selznick told a captivated audience what went into creating his 608-page novel, which features 460 pages of the Caldecott Medal winner's trademark black-and-white drawings. In addition to sharing how he'd painstakingly researched the story, set in rural …