ALA 2010: Jim Murphy Accepts Margaret A. Edwards Award
By Daryl Grabarek and Henrietta Thornton-VermaJun 26, 2010
Jim Murphy, winner of a Sibert Award and two Newbery Honors, added another prize to his long list of achievements today. He picked up the Margaret A. Edwards Award at a luncheon during the American Library Association's annual conference in Washington, DC. The award honors Murphy's significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens, specifically for An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793; Blizzard! The Storm That Changed America; The Great Fire; The Long Road to Gettysburg; and A Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy.
At Saturday's luncheon, Murphy basks in the applause from the crowd. Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images.
Speaking to a roomful of people, Murphy--the first nonfiction author to nab the award--confessed that shortly after learning about his win, he had to check his pulse. The author went on to explain the intense research that goes into each of his books as he scours primary source materials in a variety of locations, including dusty barns crammed to the rafters with old volumes. In fact, that was where Murphy discovered the inspiration for his award-winning book, The Great Fire. While searching a barn, he found Chicago in the Great Conflagration (C. F. Vent Publishers, 1871) by Elias Colbert and Everett Chamberlin, a book that was published about six weeks after the city's devastating fire. That book, coupled with a first-hand account by a young girl who had witnessed it, formed the basis for The Great Fire.
Murphy went on to say that as an author, he reflects on his experiences as a reader and learner. "I am and was very much a visual learner," he says. "If I can see it in my head it will stick there." His books also tend to emphasize that throughout history "young people were more than observers, they were active participant," who recognize the importance of "personal stories."
Murphy thanked his audience for the award, recognizing that librarians share his goal, "to pair a good book with a reader," which requires "a deep knowledge of thousands of books." The award, presented by the Young Adult Library Service Association since 1988, is sponsored by School Library Journal.
School Library Journal's Luann Toth introduces Murphy. Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images.
Murphy engages the crowd during his speech. Photo by Logan Mock-Bunting/Getty Images.
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