Carmen Jones, a fifth-grader at Barbara Jordan Elementary, was one of the presenters at the Texas Bluebonnet Luncheon during the Texas Library Association (TLA) Conference in Fort Worth recently. Every year, a representative from each TLA district attends the luncheon where the author and illustrator of the Bluebonnet Award are announced. This year’s Bluebonnet Award winner is The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read, written by Rita Lorraine Hubbard and illustrated by Oge Mora. A total of 6,780 students from the district voted on this year’s winner. Carmen, born in Alabama, enjoys singing, dancing, and playing volleyball and hopes to become an actor someday. Librarian Lynn DeFord attended the conference with Carmen, one of 7,000 librarians from across the state to attend.
