it gives me great pleasure to introduce my friend, jacqueline woodson.year we read over 300 books and we were traveling. so we carried books to bulgaria. we carried books to europe. to tuscany. we carried books from the pacific northwest to the east coast. we carried books from the connecticut to the pacific northwest. from l.a. to new york city. and they were hardcover. [laughter] and when we got on the phone, we just had such a deep respect and love for each other, even when we were fighting. and, we pushed each other to read beyond our comfort level. we figured out what the books we wanted to choose had to say. by the time we came to the end of it, our decision was unanimous. but before that, we wanted it to be 15 on the long list. and 20 on the long list. we wanted it to be seven finalists. but in the end we were very, very happy. i'm so proud of the committee. alexander chi. [applause] dave eggars. [applause] annie philbrick. [applause] caroline vokiyak. [applause] and me. [applause] so first and foremost, i want to thank the committee. i love you g