Norwich writer and educator Ken Cadow didn’t win the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature on Wednesday night. That honor went to Dan Santat’s A First Time for Everything, a middle-grade graphic memoir about a trip to Europe.

But honestly, Cadow said, he’s just fine with the outcome.

It's been a wild ride for the coprincipal of Oxbow High School, who was named one of five National Book Award finalists for his Vermont-based young adult novel, Gather. In a phone interview on Thursday, Cadow described his action-packed trip to New York City as "pretty bonkers."
During his two days there, Cadow visited the storied Strand Bookstore to sign books, did several readings, answered questions from a packed audience of teenagers, was presented with a National Book Award finalist medal and plaque, and walked the red carpet in a tux as photographers snapped his picture.



One of the highlights, Cadow said, was the Teen Press Conference on Tuesday, when he and the four other young people's literature finalists read passages to hundreds of New York City public school students, fielded questions and signed books.

“I think the biggest thing I took away from that is that [Gather] can resonate with urban kids in a really beautiful way,” Cadow said. “Some of what we might think is place-specific is really much more universal.”

He described several memorable interactions he had as he signed students' books. One student shared her favorite line from Gather: “You’re reminded of one thing — that you’re alive and you want to stay that way.” She asked Cadow to write that sentence on the title page of her book and then sign underneath.

Another young woman had filled her copy with sticky notes. When Cadow asked her about them, she told him they marked all the lines in the book that she liked.

At the Wednesday night awards ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street, a swanky event space that was once home to the New York Stock Exchange, Cadow shared a table with his wife, Lisa; his editor, Katie Cunningham; his agent, Ginger Knowlton; and his publicist, Stephanie Pando. He’d never actually been in the same room with the literary team that helped him get his book published, so it was nice to spend time with them in person, Cadow said.

He also enjoyed talking with fellow authors of young people’s literature.

“We are a little bit of a different breed,” he said. “We don’t take ourselves quite as seriously, but we still think heavy thoughts.”

LeVar Burton, of "Reading Rainbow" fame, hosted the ceremony. Special guest Oprah Winfrey gave a stirring speech that focused on increased efforts to ban books from libraries and schools.

“Make no mistake, to ban books is to snuff out the flame of truth, of what it means to be alive, what it means to be aware, what it means to be engaged in the world,” she said.

Cadow said he was impressed by Winfrey’s words.

“She was speaking so eloquently and smoothly and confidently,” Cadow said. “Yes, I was starstruck by Oprah, and I didn’t think I would be.”

At the end of the ceremony, a group of authors assembled on stage and one of them, fiction finalist Aaliyah Bilal, read a statement calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and denouncing antisemitism, anti-Palestinian sentiment and Islamophobia.



Cadow said the writers who planned the statement didn’t ask him, or several of the other young people’s literature nominees, if they wanted to be part of that action.

On Thursday morning, Cadow flew from New York to Florida, where he’ll participate in several Miami Book Fair events before returning home to Vermont on Sunday — just in time to gather for Thanksgiving.