Cardinal Cup Winner Session
Thursday October 2, 2025 1:00pm - 1:45pm
Join 2025 Cardinal Cup winner Lesa-Cline Ransome for a book talk about her winning title, One Big Open Sky, a 2025 Newbery Honor, followed by a Q&A.

Books will be available for purchase and signing on Thursday. Lesa Cline-Ransome will be honored during the Opening Session of the VLA Conference on Thursday.

Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of more than twenty books for young readers including the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor Author Honor Book One Big Open Sky and the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy. Her work has received a plethora of honors, including dozens of starred reviews, NAACP Image Award nominations, the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and a Christopher Award. Her work has been named to ALA Notable Books and Bank Street Best Children’s Book lists and she lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York.

The 2025 Cardinal Cup Award presentations at the Virginia Library Association 2025 Annual Conference in Richmond, Virginia are sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University. The sessions are proudly sponsored by VCU Libraries.

Graphic Novel Diversity Award Youth Winner Session
Thursday October 2, 2025 2:00 - 2:45 p.m.
Join 2025 Graphic Novel Diversity Award Youth Winner Jeremy Whitley for a book talk about the winning title, Navigating With You, a 2025 Stonewall Honor for Children and Young Adults.

Jeremy Whitley will be honored during the Opening Session of the VLA Conference on Thursday.

Jeremy Whitley is a writer from Durham, NC. where he lives with his wife Alicia and their two kids Zuri and Amara. He is the writer/creator of Princeless, The Dog Knight, School for Extraterrestrial Girls, and VLA Diversity Award Winner and Stonewall Honoree Navigating with You. He is also well known for his acclaimed run on Marvel's Unstoppable Wasp and sixty issues of My Little Pony comics.

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators - Mid Atlantic Region

Author Visit Pitch Session with Local Authors and Illustrators: Programs for Kids, Teens and Adults
Thursday October 2, 2025 4:00pm - 4:45pm EDT
Looking for library programming for kids, teens, and adults? Join authors and illustrators from the VA and Washington DC region of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators to learn about programming opportunities on a range of topics. Attendees will have the chance to win a stack of signed books. Visit our booth 202/204 for more giveaways, book sales and signings.