'Empowering Young People with Stories' set for April 11.
Ann M. Martin
The author of a children’s book series which became one of the most successful series in publishing history will headline a four-person panel at Smith College in Northampton on April 11 entitled, “Empowering Young People with Stories.”
Ann M. Martin, a 1977 graduate of Smith and author of “The Baby-sitters Club” series, will be joined by Scholastic editor and author David Levithan, an author and editor for Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books with corporate headquarters in New York.
Levithan has edited a number of well-known children’s and young adult books, including the popular “The Hunger Games.”
Virginia Euwer Wolff, young adult author and a 1959 Smith graduate, and young novelist Emma Straub round out the panel.
The panel begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be moderated by Bethanne Patrick, a 1985 Smith graduate who started the AOL Books Channel, where her book critic channel, “The Book Maven,” was born.
Mary Irwin, gift and development officer for the libraries at Smith, said the panel is taking place to mark an important occasion.
“We’re hosting the panel discussion to honor Ann Martin, because Ann is donating her papers to Smith this spring,” Irwin said. “It’s been a number of years since we’ve had a program on children’s literature.”
The panel discussion will focus on the impact of “The Baby-sitter’s Club.”
According to publicity for the series, it has become one of the most successful series in publishing history with more than 176 million books in print.
Approximately 250 books were published over a 15-year period beginning in 1986. The series spawned a TV series as well as a feature film, and its self-confident protagonists are said to have prompted girls around the world to start their own baby-sitters clubs.
“The Baby-sitters Club” was named one of the “Books of the Century” by the New York Times Book Review in 1998.
“The women who were the first generation to read it are now in their 30s,” Irwin said. “We’ve had students who’ve come to us at Smith from Asia who have said their concept of American suburban life was formed by reading ‘The Baby-sitter’s Club,’.”
This past December, the books in the series were put in e-book format, and slightly revised to be more technologically “neutral.” Publisher’s Weekly reported in November that children’s e-book sales were up 300 percent, making it the fastest growing area in publishing.
Martin’s other novels include “A Dog’s Life,” “Belle Teal,” “The Doll People” (written with Laura Godwin), and the Newbery Honor Book, “A Corner of the Universe.”
Levithan has been working with Martin since he was 19 years old. After interning at Scholastic in college, he helped Martin’s editor do research for “The Baby-sitter’s Club.”
After graduating from college, Levithan went to work at Scholastic and became Martin’s editor. Levithan has edited a number of well-known children’s, and came up with the concept for the middle-grade readers’ popular series, “39 Clues.”
Wolff was chosen because of her Smith connection, as well as her talents in children’s literature. One of her books, “True Believer” (“Make Lemonade,” Book 2)won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2001.
“She is highly regarded in children’s publishing circles,” Irwin said.
Straub, a novelist whose books include “Other People We Married” and “Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures,” writes for the online Rookie Magazine, which is targeted toward girls in their teen years.. She is also involved with “Girls Write Now,” a New York-based mentoring program for teen girls.
“We have three generations of storytellers,” Irwin said. “Emma being the youngest, she’s very much in touch with literacy issues and promoting literacy among teens. Ann, too, has an interest in promoting literacy, and she has been involved with funding underserved libraries.”
Irwin said the talk is ideal for Smith students, teachers, librarians, parents and aspiring writers, but is not intended for children.
“We hope they get a better understanding of the landscape of publishing today, and just maybe understand the place that “The Baby-sitter’s Club” series has had in the evolution of children’s literature,” Irwin said.
The panel, which takes place at the Neilson Library Browsing Room, is free to the public. It is handicapped accessible. A book signing will follow. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Smith College Libraries.