What Does Your October Look Like?

Other than dressing up as Rapunzel for Halloween (since I have hair that literally reaches my butt, it's either that or Lady Godiva) my October was pretty empty. That is, until I heard about Robin Brande's fabulous idea . . .

The 1st Annual Kidlitosphere Conference

October 6th, Chicago, IL, at a hotel TBA.

Now to see if my brother that lives in Chicago is still talking to me after I forgot his birthday last year.

Will I see you there?

Kids' Books and Homosexuality

Heard about the evil gay penguins yet?

This article over at AfterElton.com discusses the "gay penguin book," known to sane people as the adorable And Tango Makes Three, along with several other books that push homophobic buttons. Probably my favorite was the story of a Philly mom who flipped out and accused The Trouble with Babies of having a homosexual agenda, because it mentioned a two-father family. That thonking sound was my head hitting my desk. Because God knows, two gay minor characters in a children's book is enough to twist all the children who so much as walk by it.

Arthur A. Levine (yes, that Arthur A. Levine) makes a good point that so many of our kids are going to grow up homosexual, or will love somebody who is homosexual, that we shouldn't wait until they're 14 or 15 to introduce the idea that it's a viable life choice. By that time, their opinions are pretty well set. Get 'em while they're young! Ahahaha!

Ahem. That was me, plotting to teach kids acceptance and tolerance. Truly, I should be burned at the stake.

David Levithin, I Am Not Worthy

Totally amazing speech from YA author David Levithin about why it's important to have GLBT lit in your library's teen section. He talks about the kids who need these books, and the fears of librarians and booksellers that might prevent them getting to those kids.

This is one of the authors on my automatic-read list. I want to blog about every single thing he's ever written, down to his grocery list.

Thanks to Maureen Johnson's blog for the link.

This is pretty cool

Colleen over at Chasing Ray has organized a Summer Blog Blast Tour! Check out the list of authors that are going to be interviewed at various blogs in the kidlitosphere. Red hot damn.

I would envy those lucky bloggers, except that I suspect if I got the chance to interview, say, Gene Luen Yang (author of jaw-dropping Prinze winner American Born Chinese), I wouldn't interview so much as babble incoherently and grin like a fool. So overall, it's probably better that classy folks like Little Willow and Liz B are doing it instead.

Booktalking . . . it works!

One of my favorite classes visited the library today, their last visit of the school year. I always describe them as "freakishly well-behaved" because they are the only fifth grade class I've ever met that does not throw the entire library into chaos upon stepping inside. Seriously, though, they're great kids.

A kid came up to me and told me that he really enjoyed a book I booktalked on their last visit. Not only did he devour it, so did his friend. And their other friend. And that one other guy. And . . . apparently, the book is being passed around the male population of the class like a cigarette in the hoosegow. Hah! My existence is thus validated.

For anyone interested, that book is Steve Young's 15 Minutes. If I get time soon, I might write a review, but for now, I just wanted to share that.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

This is the kind of thing that makes my head explode.

Thanks, I think, to Bookshelves of Doom for the story.

Books of the Century

Interesting post (from a while ago, I know) at Monica Edinger's blog about children's books of the century. It's in response to a Guardian article from even longer ago, about defining literature of the 20th century.

I think if I had to pick . . . well, I'm not sure what I would pick for some decades.

1900s - ??
1910s - Anne of Green Gables, although that always seemed to epitomize late-19th century Canada. But apparently it was published in the teens, and has to be counted. Contemporary lit is nothing like historical-looking-back, after all. I'm sure it's a topic for countless theses, what Montgomery's remembered late-19th century Prince Edward Island says about 1910s Canada.
1920s - ??
1930s - The Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder, another historical-looking-back. (Okay, they were partially published in the 40's, too, but let's not be lazy here.)
1940s - ??
1950s - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by CS Lewis
1960s - Harriet the Spy, Louise Fitzhugh. Also Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. I love that both these titles have some subversity to them.
1970s - Judy Blume . . . either Forever or Are You There God, It's Me Margaret
1980s - ??
1990s - Harry Potter. Who else? It was like a gigantic bombshell, hitting a children's lit market gone stale and sleepy.

And now another question. Why is it that so many greats of children's lit are fantasy, which by adulthood has been relegated to the paperback stacks of dateless dweebs, at least in popular imagination? And a number of the others are historical. Why do so many amazing books take kids to another place and time, whether real or imagined?

This would be a really cool children's lit/history seminar.

Suggestions for the missing decades welcome! Or even additions to the ones filled.

Summer Break

Hey, y'all. The Bibliovore is taking a summer break, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I'll still be posting neat little tidbits of kidlit-related news as I come across it, and perhaps the occasional review, but I won't be on my Monday schedule. It's my first summer reading program as a librarian and I'm anticipating a really crazy summer. But I'll be back on Labor Day, with (hopefully) more great books to talk about.

Things Not Seen

Book: Things Not Seen
Author: Andrew Clements
Published: 2002

Have you ever felt like you were invisible?

Like a lot of teens, Bobby knows that feeling very well. But even he’s not prepared for the morning he looks at himself in the bathroom mirror . . . and sees a whole lot of nothing looking back.

You’d think being invisible would be kind of fun. But Bobby can’t make it stop and he has no idea what caused it. He’s not even lucky enough for his clothes to turn invisible on contact. He can’t go to school, he can only go outside if he’s stark naked (which is a lot of fun in Chicago), and he freaks his parents out every time they try to look at him. The only person who doesn’t get scared is his new friend, Alicia. She’s used to not seeing things. She’s blind.

Bobby just starting to settle into his new life when social services gets wind of his long school absence and suspects his parents of wrong-doing. They can’t be fobbed off for long with stories of the flu and extended visits to Great-Aunt Ethel in Florida. Now he’s only got five days to figure out what caused his invisibility, and reverse it . . . or he’ll be sneaking Thanksgiving dinner into the slammer.

Riffing on the universal teenage experience of feeling overlooked and helpless, Clements takes it one step further in a really cool what-if story. Ironically, it’s only when he becomes invisible that Bobby begins to see the world, especially his parents, who become more real to him as he sees their reaction to his predicament. Alicia, too, is a happy change from the wise-beyond-their-years standard of disabled characters. In her own way, she’s as angry and frustrated as Bobby is, and her blindness seems as random as his invisibility.

Except for a rather pseudo-sciency explanation for Bobby’s condition, I found this story completely believable once I accepted the idea that a seventeen-year-old boy could wake up invisible one morning. Read it . . . you won’t be disappointed.

Farewell, Lloyd Alexander

Apparently Lloyd Alexander, author of the Prydain Chronicles and the Vesper Holly series, among others, died on Thursday. He was 83.

I love the Vesper Holly books . . . I always pull them out and give them to energetic little girls and boys. Sigh . . .

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

Book: The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
Author: Carolyn Mackler
Published: 2003

The Shreve family are the perfect examples of--well--perfection. They’re all successful, intelligent, popular, slender, and good-looking. And then there’s fifteen-year-old Virginia. Overweight, underconfident, and directionless, she’s the exception to the Shreve rule, and the unspoken shame of the family. She lives her life under the radar, attempting not so much to get ahead as to get by. She knows the Fat Girl Code of Conduct . . . keep your head down at all times and maybe they’ll let you live.

Then something happens that starts to crack the facade of perfection in the Shreve family, forcing Virginia to re-evaluate herself, her position in the family, and every other member in it. When the yardstick by which you measure your worth begins to crumble, what happens to you?

More than simply the body-image and eating-disorder issues explored in this novel (Virginia flirts briefly with anorexia and bulimia), the way Virginia’s family treats her show clearly how she got where she is. The cues are sometimes subtle, sometimes smack-in-the-face obvious, but always the message is, “We would love you and respect you, if only you were someone different.” Even Virginia’s memories of her rebellious and inspiring older sister have the flavor of pat-on-the-head pity about them. It’s her job, in this novel, to move away from this image and into one unaffected by her appearance-obsessed parents.

For some reason, I was expecting a much lighter-hearted book than I got. Maybe because of the title or artwork, I’m not sure. Anyway, I was blown away by this ferocious story of a girl who’s always considered herself to be naturally at the bottom of the ladder, and discovers that the only one who can keep her there is herself.

First Impressions

Book: First Impressions
Author: Marilyn Sachs
Published: 2006

Alice doesn’t understand why everything thinks Pride and Prejudice is such a great romantic comedy. To her, Mary is her soul twin: a middle child, bookish, and underappreciated. Her glossed-over fate is a tragedy. Alice’s paper, explaining this position, is given a C+, and she is horrified. She can’t get a C+ on anything. Ever.

The teacher relents and says she has the chance to redo the paper, if she re-reads the book over Christmas break. Alice reluctantly turns back to page one, and begins to re-imagine the book, giving Mary a more positive role. But to her surprise, she starts to see the other characters as reflections of the people in her own life, and begins to understand both in a deeper way. Maybe you should beware of first impressions, after all . . .

I should admit, full disclosure, that I am a Jane Austen nut. I’ve read five of the six major novels (still can't finish Mansfield Park), and I feel incomplete if I let more than a year go by without reading Pride and Prejudice at least once. I have most of the movie adaptations. Any retold story, I’m there, enjoying the heck out of it. The upshot is, when I heard about First Impressions, I knew I had to read this book.

However, I wouldn’t give this to anybody who hadn’t read Pride and Prejudice first, or at least seen a movie adaptation and has some idea of the plot. Not just because I’m so partial to it, but because the book reveals certain plot points of Austen’s novel that shouldn’t be experienced second-hand.

This is a quick and fun novel, especially for fellow Janeites like myself. Just be sure to have a copy of the original on hand, because you'll want a re-read.

There is a God

. . . because Philip Reeve has written a sequel to Larklight. My life is thus complete, at least for the foreseeable future.

Now the bad news . . . it's not available until October. I read fast. I'm certain to finish Harry Potter 7 by then. Le sigh.

Three Clams and an Oyster

Book: Three Clams and an Oyster
Author: Randy Powell
Published: 2006

Four-man flag football team Three Clams and an Oyster is cursed when it comes to Oysters. Their first one, Glen Como, died suddenly the summer before ninth grade. Their current one, Cade Savage, keeps missing practices and even flakes out on a game, forcing them to forfeit. They choose to hold tryouts for the Oyster position, but Cade is always in the back of their mind.

Now the three Clams--McCallister, Deshutis, and Beaterson--have a hard choice to make. Should they jettison an unreliable player or do everything they can to support their oldest friend in his time of need?

From the cover you would think this is about the team adjusting to having a (gasp!) girl on the roster. In fact, this is nowhere near what the book is about. I suspect the publishers latched onto this one, fairly minor element and ran with it, leaving Powell scratching his head and going, “Huh?”

Instead, this book is about a complex five-way friendship. Glen, in spite of being dead, is still very much present, haunting the story in bits and pieces. (Thank you, Randy Powell, for NOT flashing back.) How much can you hang on to the past? How much should you? And at what point does your friend forfeit the right to your support by slacking off on his responsibility to be there for you?

Pick up this book to find out how three young men try to find the answers.

The Banning Hound is on the Scent . . .

Maureen Johnson's book The Bermudez Triangle has been banned from the school library in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. If you live around there, go to the local public library, to which she will be donating copies of the banned book (plus another one) and make sure everyone sees you reading this NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY book. You're in luck, because besides having no moral fiber (without moral fiber you get moral constipation!), it's a great, heartfelt story about relationships and friendships and identity, sexual or otherwise.

Also drop by MJ's blog and show support.

Banning Hound wants a Milk Bone, too.

This is not what I expected

I Have Nothing to Say . . .

. . . because this is way too cool for words to express.



Okay, fine, it has nothing to do with kidlit. Unless you're figuring on doing a kid's book about William the Conqueror or the Bayeaux Tapestry. Hmmm . . . kind of a cool idea . . . I call it!

Large congrats to David Newton, whoever he is.

P.S. Music is also v. cool.

P.P.S. Thanks to Diane Duane's blog for the link.

Changeling

Book: Changeling
Author: Delia Sherman
Published: 2006

Neef is a changeling--a mortal child stolen away from her parents and taken to live in the fairy world. She has lived all her life in Central Park. Protected and cosseted by her fairy godmother (Astris, a white rat) and fairy godfather (Pooka the trickster), she had no idea how dangerous it is for her in the rest of the fairy world. But then she snuck into the Summer Solstice dance and enrages the Green Lady, who retaliated by kicking her out of Central Park and revoking the protection that’s always kept her safe. Neef can only come back home if she ventures out into the city and brings the Green Lady three little trinkets . . . trinkets that belong to the most powerful fairy folk in Manhattan. Now she's about to find out just how dangerous New York City can be . . .

I'm not the first person to go gaga over this book--it's gotten plenty of buzz on the kidlitospehere and it just made the VOYA 2006 Best of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror list. But having read it, I can join the crowd with glee.

This is one of those books where a place is as important as any character. In this case, the place is New York City--Central Park, the harbor, Broadway, Wall Street, and all sorts of environs in between. The character of the city also permeates the fairy world, where vampires tap-dance on Broadway and the Green Lady wouldn’t be caught dead talking like that pansy Titania.

Neef is no fluffy fairy child--she is savvy, nervy, and mouthy enough to be instantly recognizable as a New York girl, even if her New York is populated with dragons, mermaids, and other magical folk. Her changeling counterpart isn’t as instantly likeable. It took a long time for me to warm up to her, and almost as long for her to start serving any purpose other than annoying Neef. However, even she becomes invaluable at the end. Pick this up for a delicious blend of quest, fairy tale, and love song for New York City.

Save Yourselves!

It's the VOYA Best of 2006 Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror List!

I've read about 25% of this list, and about 50% more is already in my Blue Journal of Stuff I Gotta Read Before I Die. But that still leaves 25% new-to-me titles! I'll never run out of things to read!

Everyone should have this problem.

Thanks to Kids Lit for the heads-up.

P.S. Why, yes, I have had some sugar today. So kind of you to notice.

Pretty Interesting Mix

So the Carnegie Medal in the UK is kind of like the Newbery over here: big honkin' hairy deal, highlighting some of the best in kidlit. So when they put out their list of the best books of the past 70 years, it's one heck of a mix. Here's it is, with itty-bitty summaries.

Carnegie of Carnegies shortlist

* SKELLIG David Almond (won in 1998)

A tale of a creature beneath the garage

* JUNK Melvin Burgess (1996)

The lives of young heroin users

* STORM Kevin Crossley-Holland (1985)

Girl discovers the secrets of a marsh

* A GATHERING LIGHT Jennifer Donnelly (2003)

Novel about a real murder

* THE OWL SERVICE Alan Garner (1967)

A terrifying legend re-emerges

* THE FAMILY FROM ONE END STREET Eve Garnett (1937)

Portrait of a working-class family

* THE BORROWERS Mary Norton (1952)

Tiny people live beneath the floor

* TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN Philippa Pearce (1958)

Adventures in a magical garden

* NORTHERN LIGHTS Philip Pullman (1995)

First of the trilogy His Dark Materials

* THE MACHINE-GUNNERS Robert Westall (1981)

Second World War novel

To read the whole article, click on over to the Independent's website. Thanks to Chicken Spaghetti for the link.

Grand and Humble

Book: Grand & Humble
Author: Brent Hartinger
Published: 2006

On the surface, Harlan Chesterton and Manny Tucker couldn’t be more different. Harlan is a popular athlete whose charmed life is all on the surface, as his domineering mother engineers his whole life to reflect well on his politician father. Manny is a theater geek who is discovering that his loving, supportive father has kept secrets his whole life.

But they have some things in common. They were born in the same town, go to the same high school, and even know some of the same people. Most importantly, they both keep having the same nerve-wracking premonitions of death and disaster. So why have Harlan and Manny never met? And what does the intersection at Grand and Humble have to do with it all?

Brent Hartinger is best known for his novel Geography Club, which I haven’t read (yet). However, I just had to blog this story of two very different boys with a terribly similar problem. Family secrets are the key to banishing the nightmares for both boys, if they can only uncover them. Their lives keep brushing up against each other, but never really intersecting until the fascinating twist at the end, which makes a re-read even more fun.

Story of a Girl

Bit late this week . . . sorry about that!

Book: Story of a Girl
Author: Sara Zarr
Published: 2007

Everybody knows about Deanna Lambert. She’s the girl whose dad caught her having sex with her brother’s best friend when she was thirteen and he was seventeen. She's a slut, a pathetic skank.

Except Deanna knows that nobody really knows about her. But what can she do? She’s been branded and filed away into the untouchable drawer by everyone, even her own father. The only friends she has are Lee and Jason, and even they can’t protect her from the slurs and whispers that are as familiar now as her own name. All she can do is keep her head down and make plans for her escape.

First in those plans is to get some cash flow, which means getting a job at the only place that’s hiring, Picasso’s Pizza. But then she discovers that her new coworker is Tommy Webber, the boy she was caught with three years ago. Now it’s her choice about whether she’s going to keep running away from the event and the actions that have defined her life since . . . or stay and face them.

The really cool thing about this book is that there are no angels or demons. Deanna is no falsely accused innocent--she really was having sex with Tommy Weber when her dad caught them. Even Tommy is a 3-D character, young and unsure and getting the story wrong. The central theme of the story is not Deanna "clearing her name," but coming to an understanding of why she made the choices she did, and finding a way to make different ones now.

And in the end, forgiveness and renewal are not instantaneous. It’s a slow process, as painful in its own way as the initial trauma that requires forgiveness.

This would be a heck of a novel for any author, but for a first-time author, it’s astounding. I can’t wait to see what Sara Zarr does next.

Larklight

Book: Larklight
Author: Philip Reeve
Published: 2006

Art Mumby and his sister Myrtle are having a regular old day at Larklight, their ancestral house which floats on the far side of the moon. The gravity generator has to be turned off so the hoverhogs can eat the floating debris, and they're planning to go out and watch their visitor's spaceship dock at the front door. Also, Myrtle is practicing her new piano piece.

But their new visitor doesn't turn out to be a personable gentleman, as Myrtle was hoping. Instead, he's a giant spider (although he does wear a hat and speak English) who invades their home, wraps their father in a web, and keeps asking for the key to Larklight. Art and Myrtle manage to escape, only to land on the moon. Once there, they almost get eaten by giant moths, are rescued by pirates, and discover that the spiders are actually a prehistoric race from Saturn's rings, intent on destroying the solar system. And the only thing that can stop them is Larklight. But what exactly is the key?

Dear me. This could get a mite sticky.

I adore an off-kilter book, and this definitely counts. Reeves has cooked up a deliciously kooky blend of Victorian adventure novel and space opera, complete with elaborate chapter headings such as "We return home (huzzah!) but discover that it may already be too late to save dear old England from the vengeance of the First Ones (boo!)" It races headlong from exotic locale to exotic locale, bursting at the seams with adventures that are all the more entertaining for their unlikeliness.

For readers that are up on their English history, some of the fun is in seeing how Reeves took actual characters and events (Isaac Newton, the explorer Richard Burton, the Crystal Palace of the 1851 Exhibition) and tweaks them to serve his story. Art’s sister Myrtle can get rather annoying, since she’s usually your traditional fainting maiden, but other than that, Larklight is a grand old time.

A Funny for Friday

I love Frazz. If you're not following this charming comic strip about an elementary school janitor/Renaissance man and the kids at his school, you should be.

If you don't get the one-panel library joke, try this link.

Harry Potter 7 covers

Check 'em out! Beware, however, they're HUGE. I can't get Firefox to shrink 'em down any, but maybe IE will.

Gorgeous, and also food for all sorts of speculation. Like, check out Dobby holding Godric Gryffindor's sword in the British one! What's that all about?! And what's Harry wearing around his neck in the US one? And who's watching? Gah!! I may actually faint. Somebody catch me.

Mary Grandpre, can I grow up to be you?

You Need to Go Watch This

Mr. Rogers testifying about the need for children's programming in 1969

Because. You do. It's been years since I saw Mr. Rogers on TV and I still feel better just hearing his voice.

Do I Actually Read Non-Library Blogs?!

Zee of Zee Says tagged me with another meme, which is to list 5 non-library blogs I read. Thanks, Zee! Turns out I actually do have some.

1. Cute Overload I don't care what kind of day you've had, you have to smile at this blog. Kittens! Puppies! Occasional lizards! All in a state of overwhelming cuteness! Don't read the entire page at once or you may never recover. Also, you may start speaking in a reeeeeediculous Frawnsh accent!

2. Dooce The most famous blogger ever to get fired from her job, Heather Armstrong now writes about everything and nothing, and does it hilariously. My favorites are her monthly letters to her daughter, Leta, wherein she talks candidly and lovingly (and often slightly insanely) about all the changes her preschool-age daughter is going through as she grows.

3. Jane in Progress Television writer Jane Esponson talks about selling scripts, writing for the networks, and writing in general. I first found this because she often works with Godlike-Creator-of-Buffy-and-Firefly Joss Whedon, and let's face it folks, I would watch a hemorrhoid commercial if Joss directed and Jane wrote.

4. Jane Austen Quote of the Day I do love me my Janes. This time it's Jane Austen, with quotes taken from her novels and her letters, each one exceeding your daily recommended allowance of biting wit. It's like getting your daily helpin' o' scalpels . . . but funny.

5. Popcorn and Chain Mail. It doesn't update very often, but when it does . . . ahhh, the snark is strong with this one. Three or four history buffs (or possibly history professionals; they certainly know a lot of stuff I don't, and I enjoy history as much as your next librarian) go after Hollywood's version of history. Notable sporkings have included the cartoon Anastasia, weepie-fest Titanic, and most recently, Tristan+Isolde, otherwise known as Pretty, but they sure can't act.

I do have more, but 95% of my blogs are connected to the library or kidlit world in some way. Good lord, I am a one-track dork. Anyway, if Little Willow at Bildungsroman, Shannon at Clarity . . . perhaps, Fuse #8 or anybody else wants to join in the fun, please do!

Down the Rabbit Hole

I'm back! With a book! Isn't it funny how whenever you think you've hit the drought of a lifetime, bookwise, you suddenly stumble into a patch of really really really good stuff?

Well, that's how it always happens to me.

Book: Down the Rabbit Hole
Author: Peter Abrahams
Published: 2005

Ingrid Levin-Hill should be over the moon. She’s gotten the part of Alice in the stage version of Alice in Wonderland. But it's hard to concentrate on the stage when a woman named Cracked-Up Katie is murdered right after Ingrid was in her house. And when she mounts her own personal investigation, she keeps coming up with questions instead of answers. What's with her parents lately? Who is this guy, Vincent Dunn, and why did he come to Echo Falls? What really happened to Cracked-Up Katie's fiance? Is she ever going to find the end of this rabbit hole?

It’s no coincidence that Ingrid is playing Alice. Abrahams expertly captures the strange, senseless feel of Carroll's classic. There are a lot of loose threads that exist simply as loose threads. They may or may not be connected. They may be connected, but we don’t know how. I finished the book unsure about whether this was Abrahams not bothering to tie it all together, but the sheer volume of these loose ends makes me think this was his way of making Ingrid’s world Wonderlandish, where things happen for seemingly no reason and with no discernable effect.

It’s tempting (and human) to wish for all of them to be wrapped up, for her parents’ behavior, her brother’s, her grandfather’s, to be explained. But that would have been too pat. Life is a bundle of loose ends, after all, as Alice and Ingrid both learn.

Pick up Down the Rabbit Hole for a challenging, twisty mystery about a sane girl in a crazy world.

Just in Case You Suddenly Get a Lot of Extra Time

Presenting . . . The Literature Map! A snazzy little website where you can plug in an author you like, then it displays a cloud of authors similar. The closer the author, the more similar. It's pretty keen, although they do need a little editing (Jane Austin?), and it's kind of fun to follow your own literary tastes through all the different clouds it generates. It's not snobbish about kidlit or genre fic, either.

Thanks to Throwing Marshmallows for the link! What fun!

Interview Meme

Straight from Zee at Zee Says, my entry into the interview meme.

1. Tell me about one holiday tradition your family has that you think is unique.

This may not be strictly unique, but I think it is unusual. We don’t rip into our Christmas presents all at once--there’s a structure to the gift giving. Presents are opened one person at a time, with the person who opened the last one getting to pick the present for the next person. We do this in set rounds--when everyone’s gotten one, we decide whether to do another round or do something like watch one of our new movies or cook or take a break from each other. It is absolutely required that my dad (and his camera) capture the giftee and gift on film. We do one or two rounds on Christmas Eve (after church) and then leave the rest until Christmas day.

The rounds tend to break down by evening, when people who got some big gifts have opened them all and people who got a lot of little gifts are still opening. But I don’t think we’d ever do it any other way. It stretches the day out forever, and it also focuses us on each other and not just the joy of acquisition.

2. What is one thing you regret?

Hiding in a book for most of high school and never accepting any of the overtures of friendship or socialization made to me. A really bad middle school experience made me suspicious and cagey, convinced that anybody reaching out had their own nefarious plans for making my life hell.

3. What is one movie you think all people should be required to see? Why? If it is not a movie that most people have seen, give a 1-2 sentence summary.

The Sixth Sense. It’s one of the few movies that make me cry that I will actually watch again. I love the way it looks at life and death and who’s on which side, and how it affects them.

4. What is your favorite comfort food?
Mexican food, like my mom makes. More specifically, frijoles that still have little bits of uncrushed bean and lots of cheese and milk and you know that some kind of beef or ham bone was involved in the cooking of the beans. The smell and taste and texture just mean home to me.

5. What is the scariest thing that's ever happened to you? How did you maintain the fear from overtaking you?

I temped for about a year in between undergrad and library school. (I don’t recommend that, by the way. Not long-term. Temps are treated like the gum on your shoe in a lot of offices.) I got fired suddenly from a temp job . . . the agency called me and told me not to go to work the next day. I wasn’t even entirely sure why. I’d never been fired or kicked off anything before. I was terrified that I’d done something horrendously wrong that the agency refused to tell me about, and they would never hire me again, and I’d wind up begging pennies on the street corner in order to pay the tuition to the library school that had just simultaneously accepted me and told me they couldn’t offer financial aid. It didn’t help that it was more than a month before I got another job from them, and I just watched my bank account slide toward zero.

I know now that I was expendable, just a temp that they could jettison at will, and there was probably nothing personal in it. But at the time, it felt darn personal.

I got through it day by day. The thing that helped most was going to church, where I also sang in the choir. The friendship and support of that choir helped out so much, and so did the feeling that there were things out there bigger than my stupid little life.

If you want to play, leave comments and I’ll try to come up with my own interview questions.

John Green, M.T. Anderson, and Semi-Rampant Criminality

No review today because I had my own urban adventure, which included a cathedral, a central library, cheap jewelry, lots of walking, hole-in-the-wall cuisine, and being stuck on the train for two extra hours. Four of those things were really fun.

Don't despair, however. Over at Brotherhood 2.0*, John Green has a special guest with him for his bidaily video, and it's none other than M.T. Anderson, the only author I have ever done a doubleheader for besides Lisa Yee. They schlep around Detroit and commit acts of mild illegality, and generally confirm all my impressions of both authors from their books. Check it out!

*What do you mean you're not following it?**

**????

Er . . . huh?

Not to say I've never known any evil librarians. But a book about a boy battling a cult of evil librarians who restrict information doesn't seem like it's doing the ol' image any favors.

However, I'll keep my peace and see if it rocks. If so, I claim the power of the Evil Shush. Or maybe the Evil Bun. My hair's certainly long enough. I wonder if the Evil Bun could strangle people? That's a power I could use some days.

Thanks to Fuse #8 and Zee Says for the link.

Speak

Book: Speak
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Published: 1999

From Day One of high school, Melinda is untouchable, a pariah. She committed the most heinous of high-school crimes--called the cops on a summer party and caused a number of fellow students to get arrested, or at least in serious trouble. Her friends have deserted her and nobody else will get near her. As the school year goes on, she finds herself less and less able to talk. Even her art class, which offers a non-vocal alternative, isn't any help as her year-long assignment goes down the tubes. Her only refuge is an abandoned janitor's closet where she goes to be alone.

But ultimately, Melinda has no choice but to speak.

Okay, I know what you're saying . . . especially those of you who are total YA lit whizzes. Why the heck are you blogging this book, Bibliovore? It's not like we don't know about it! There's even a movie!

But like Melinda, I find I've just got to talk. I'd always heard about Speak as one of those towering classics of modern YA lit, with the result that I didn't have any idea what it was about or what kind of book it was. I wasn't entirely sure I would like it, but I instantly found myself sucked into the bitter, harrowing, and at times deliciously snarky narrative.

While Melinda can't talk to anyone in her life, she can and does pour it all out to us. Everything from her opinions on the constant changes in the school mascot ("Home of the Trojans didn't send a strong abstinence message, so they've transformed us into the Blue Devils") to her near-incoherence in the presence of her attacker is opened up to the reader. Speech and silence seem to feature in every relationship in her life, and the choice between one or the other at certain points directs the narrative.

In the end, I forgot it was a Classic Novel and just sank into the story. And that may be the best definition of a classic yet.

Maryrose Wood Interview!

Those good folks over at Bookslut have interviewed Maryrose Wood, author of Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love. Not surprisingly, the poor book got challenged somewhere. Also not surprisingly, the person doing the challenging had never even seen the book. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to let my ears recover . . . I'm almost deafened by the sound of silly people shooting themselves in the foot.

Anyway, definitely check out the interview. It's hilarious, and not just because of the challenge story.

Thanks to E. Lockhart's blog for the link.

But are they reading them?

Teens buying books at fastest rate in decades
From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Welcome news or wishful thinking? You decide.

I actually think they're right about the sheer quality of the teen lit out these days, and they make an interesting point with one-time Harry Potter readers that still have the reading habit.

How Did I Miss This?

March 1st was World Book Day!

In my own defense, every day is World Book Day in my house. But seriously, I am sorry I missed it. Check out the list of books the world can't live without!

From the World Book Day website:

1) Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 20%
2) Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkein 17%
3) Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 14%
4) Harry Potter books – J K Rowling 12%
5) To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee 9.5%
6) The Bible 9%
7) Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8.5%
8) 1984 – George Orwell 6%
9) His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 6%
10) Great Expectations – Charles Dickens .55%

Okay, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights just annoy me, and I've never been able to stay awake through 1984 or Lord of the Rings. But other than that, I love these books! (Yes, even the Bible. It's got some great sex and violence in there.) Hey, 60% ain't so bad.

What's number one? Eh? Eh?? It's all about the Lizzie and Darcy, baby! As if proof of my most excellent taste was needed.

ETA: Thanks to Fuse #8 for the link.

Unfunny YA? Egad!

Stumbled across a link to this blog post by Greg Leitich Smith, about the dearth of funny books in YA. While his survey isn't the most scientific one ever created, in general I have to agree with him. I find my funny YA mostly by luck, and knowing the authors. Of course, some of the best books don't sound that funny from the jacket copy, or even the title (The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, anyone?)

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Just want a ham sandwich?

Thanks to Fuse #8 for the link.

Clementine Sequel!

I heard mention of a new Clementine book on another litblog, right after I'd posted my own review. (I've forgotten which blog it is, but if that sounds familiar to you, thank you!) Tonight I remembered about that and went to check the publication date on Amazon . . . lo and behold, it's out in less than a month! Huzzah!

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie

Book: The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
Published: 2006

Bindy Mackenzie has got it all going for her. She's the top student in Year 11 at Ashbury School, she runs workshops for fellow students, she even holds down two jobs without breaking a sweat. But she's also humorless, ruthless, superior, and stunningly unable to relate to any other human beings even when she thinks she's trying. Frankly, it's a wonder somebody hasn't tried to murder her before this.

She's sure done a good job of alienating her entire Friendship and Development class. As she begins cracking around the edges, her strange behavior pushes them further away. Unfortunately, they're the only ones who have a chance at figuring out who might want to murder her. Now the question is . . . will they?

I've recently fallen in love with Jaclyn Moriarty's style. She writes epistolary novels that take on multiple voices and points of view, and manage to be warm and funny and just a little kooky without losing their sense of human reality.

As abovenoted, Bindy may be the girl least likely to have a book written about her. Yet even as you goggle at her supreme unlikeability, you actually kinda find yourself . . . liking her. Glimpses into her early life, supplied by the "My Life" assignment given to her by her FAD teacher, show how she got the way she is, and as her slow murder-by-poison sends her life into a tailspin, she begins to realize that the only way she'll make it through is by reaching out to the people she's never had any use for before.

The unlikely murder plot isn't going to satisfy any mystery buffs, but you'll forget about that as you follow Bindy through the torturous, hilarious process of becoming human. Kudos to Moriarty and I can't wait for the next adventure in Ashbury!

Congrats!

. . . to Maureen Johnson, whose truly fab book Devilish has been nominated for an Andre Norton Award.

Clearly, people with this name rock. And how much do I love that people besides the librarians are finally starting to recognize YA?

Also check out Maureen's blog. For someone who writes such deep, heartfelt, almost-angsty books, MJ is a very silly person. If you don’t crack a grin at least once an entry, you are made of stone. STONE I TELL YOU.

The Cool Kids

Now I want to be a super-cool NYC YA author, just so I can hang out with these people.



But they already have a Maureen. Poo. Okay, people, I need you to come up with a frickin' cool, YA-author-sounding name for me.

Clementine

From a terrible paucity of choices last week (or, okay fine, maybe I was just being lazy) to an embarassment of riches this week . . . I've read some great books this weekend. This one, however, really stands out.

Book: Clementine
Author: Sara Pennypacker
Published: 2006

Everyone's always telling Clementine to pay attention. She doesn't understand this, because she pays great attention, better than anyone else in the class. Does anybody else notice the janitor and the lunch lady smooching outside during the Pledge of Allegiance? No! So, see, she pays attention really well.

When her sometimes-best-friend, sometimes-evil-nemesis Margaret tries to cut glue out of her own hair and ends up with a big bald patch, Clementine just does what anyone would and helps out--by cutting all the rest of it off. But really, this is not such a big deal, because she fixes it by giving Margaret new hair with her mother's permanent markers. But she still gets in trouble . . . oh no! Will Margaret's mother ever allow Clementine to play with her again? Will Clementine's parents get tired of her and just trade her in for an easier kid? Will Clementine ever, ever stop getting in trouble?

(The answer to that last is an unqualified no, for anyone who's curious.)

This book is the latest entry in what I call the "Ramona" genre--spunky, funny, clever, warm-hearted little girls who get in and out of as much trouble as the pages will hold. (Other recent examples of Ramona girls include Ruby Lu, Junie B. Jones, and Clarice Bean.) Pennypacker's story is a shining example of what makes these books charming and enduring--an authentic child voice, lots of thoroughly believable and well-meant mischief, and a sunny tone in spite of all the mayhem.

Due to Clementine's narration, this book is destined to be read aloud by teachers and librarians all over the country. Some pages were like reading a train wreck (the moment Clementine borrows her mom's markers, for instance, you know this isn't going to be good), but in a good way. I'd like it if Pennypacker decides to make this a series as so many other Ramona-style books have become. Even if she leaves it a single title, however, it's a great one. Go meet Clementine today.

Fame at Last!

According to this website, I'm a C list blogger. This amazes me. I thought I would be considerably further on down the alphabet. Q, perhaps.

Of course, I am just barely in the C range. C-? Can you be a C- list blogger?

President's Day

This blog celebrated President's Day too. Mostly by spending large amounts of money at JoAnn Fabric (although ironically, not on Fabric) and cleaning the apartment. Conspicuously absent from this list, you will note, is posting a Monday review. I have some great books logged in LibraryThing that I tagged "will blog." For some reason, I don't have the energy to actually do so. Hmm. Maybe this week. Or maybe I'll just blog a really good book next week.

However, I am looking at my stack o' stuff from the library and going, "Dang, I've got some good books to look forward to." So that's a good sign.

Head, meet Desk *THUD*

Doesn't this just kill at least 75% of your faith in society?

Thanks to E. Lockhart, Lisa Yee, and the AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom) blog for the link.

Hee, hee, hee

The Cybils are Here!

Yep, that's right, you heard it here first.*

The First Annual Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards (Cybils!) have been awarded. Click here if you want to know who got the awards. Congrats to everyone who was nominated and shortlisted.

*Or maybe you didn't. But couldn't you pretend? Just because I've always wanted to say it.

His Majesty's Dragon

Book: His Majesty's Dragon
Author: Naomi Novik
Published: 2006

Captain Will Laurence of the Royal Navy couldn't imagine doing anything else with his life. With the Napoleonic Wars raging, he and his crew have plenty to do on the high seas. But when they find a dragon egg about to hatch aboard a French ship they've taken, he knows somebody will be chosen by the newly-hatched dragon as a handler and partner, and that someone will find their life changed forever.

To his amazement and horror, that someone is him.

Now Laurence is a Captain of the Royal Air Corps, not the Navy, and has to start from the bottom, learning aerial maneuvers instead of nautical ones, attempting to win the respect of resentful aviators, and dealing with the fact that he's suddenly a social pariah, as no respectable woman wants to marry and settle down with a man who must needs give more attention to his dragon than his wife.

Luckily, he's got his dragon, Temeraire--brilliant, inquisitive, and wholly extraordinary. Laurence couldn't hope for a better companion in this discomfiting new world. Now if only they can live through their next battle.

Okay, okay, this alternate history isn't really a YA book. But come on. It's the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. I imagine that's about all that you'd need in the way of a booktalk, especially for an older teen who's already a history or fantasy buff. Novik's research is sterling--it really feels like the Regency era, in social structures, speech, and interpersonal relationships.

While Laurence may be a little too upstanding and duty-bound for some, his warm and loving relationship with Temeraire provides an emotional anchor (ha! unintentional naval pun) for the events of the story. Great characters (human and dragon) , carefully constructed world, and a compelling storyline--you gotta try this book.

Note of interest: I heard about this one from an unusual source, Father Roderick's Daily Breakfast podcast. He mentioned it because it's going to be made into a movie. I'm already in slavering fangirl mode, and as my first act, I'm going to reserve the next two books in the series from my local library. To the OPAC!

Free Books!

Free books, huzzah! As far as I can tell, all you have to do is sign up to Chronicle Books mailing list.

Brett Hartinger Interview

I'm catching up on my entire Blogroll, which is why you got two posts tonight.

Another interview link! This time it's with Brett Hartinger, author of GLBT teen classic Geography Club, about his new book, Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies/Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies.

Mmm. With a title like that, it's gotta be good.

ETA: Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link!

Justine Larbelestier Interview

Rather spiffy interview with Justine Larbalestier, author of the really quite neat YA trilogy, Magic or Madness, which is about the choice between rationality and magic. If you don't do magic, you go gaga. If you do, you die young. In a nutshell. Great books, and I'm slavering for the last one. I'll accept an ARC. *she says hopefully*

Anyhow, Justine yaks over at Bookslut mostly about women and gender in SF/F, although she does have some nice stuff to say about her YA career and colleagues. Check it out.

Thanks to (who else?) Blog of a Bookslut for the link.

Maybe This Year I'll Get Some

I haven't gotten a valentine since elementary school (and even then, it was those cheesy ones with, like, Michael Jordan on them. Bleah. Although I was quite touched by the Daffy Duck ones. I really felt some thought went into that choice).

Anyway, this year, I wanna get some valentines, and off to the side is your chance to fulfill my dream. Just click the "send a valentine" button and follow the directions. You don't even have to be a member of Wishroll. And you don't have to attach a Hershey's Chocolate Kiss to the envelope either.

Not that I'd turn it down, of course.

ETA: so, what does this have to do with children's or YA literature?

Uh . . .

Give me a moment. I'm thinking.

E again TA: I actually forgot about the people who read this in syndication. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!! Click here if you still love me.

Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love

Book: Sex Kittens and Horn Dawgs Fall in Love
Author: Maryrose Wood
Published: 2006

Girl loves boy. Boy is baffled by girl's affection. Girl and boy . . . create a science project?

This is love in New York City. At least if you happen to be Felicia, who loves Matthew, who is a scientist creating genius bunnies. The way to his heart, she reasons, is through science. So she comes up with the perfect recipe for love . . . the ultimate science project. The question of the ages. What is love?

For that, they need a hypothesis, experiments, observations, data of all kinds. So Matthew and Felicia set out to get them. Along the way, they and the minor solar system of friends that orbit them hear some great love stories and muddle through a few of their own. What exactly is love? What makes some people attracted to some other people, who are almost always attracted to some other other people? Why is it different for everybody? And why does it have to be so confusing??

In spite of its provocative title, this book is about as racy as The Princess Diaries. (Sorry, Meg, if you're actually reading my little blog! I know you're trying your darnedest to get banned and all, but face it, PD1 is never gonna be a match for, like, Lady Chatterly's Lover.) It is, however, funny, warm, and sensitive to the turbulent ups and downs of first loves, and second and third, and what happens in the times both in between and overlapping. Science may never solve this question, but that doesn't mean the answer isn't out there.

Just In Case You Needed Something *Else* to Waste Time On

. . . today we have The Daily Monster.

What this guy does, see, is he takes some ink, blobs it on paper, sprays air at it to make it all pretty and feathery and fanny, and then he makes a monster out of it. On camera. As if that's not enough joy, he then animates the sucker and asks for a story from us, the blogosphere.

It's really neat because clearly he does not start out the project with something in mind--there's no way. So all these monsters are off the cuff. Plus you get to see the creative process, with different kinds of pens and stuff, and even times when he draws some detail, then changes his mind and colors it in again. (Which in the case of Monster #74 and his lovely background of mountains and trees, I thought was a mistake, but then, I'm not holding the pen, AM I?)

This guy so needs his own picture book. It doesn't even have to have words.

Mr. Stefan G. Bucher, you are a sick, sick monkey. And I hope you will take this for the praise it is, from a person who shocked her entire library by begging them buy a copy of The Book of Bunny Suicides. They think I'm a sweet little children's librarian . . . boy are they wrong.

Muaha.

Oh Harry . . .

. . . I thought I was getting over you. I haven't re-read you in a year. I haven't even seen your movies.

But then I hear your last book goes on sale July 21st, and I'm sucked right back in.

I have to face the facts. I just can't quit you.

Varjak Paw

Okay, I'm a little behind this week. Put away those eggs. This is a good book; you're not going to want to miss it.

Book: Varjak Paw
Author: S.F. Said
Published: 2003

Barely out of kittenhood, Varjak Paw's in big trouble. His owner, the elderly Contessa, has died and now he and his whole family are in the power of the eerie Gentleman and his strange black-eyed cats. What's worse, he's the only one who understands the danger. His parents and siblings are content to be fed funny-smelling caviar and stay locked up in the house, petted and pampered like true Mesopotamian Blues. Only Elder Paw, Varjak's grandfather, will help him escape the house so he can find the one thing that might scare the Gentleman into flight: a dog.

Once Varjak hits the streets, however, nothing is easy. He can't hunt, he doesn't actually know what a dog looks like, and he keeps running afoul of the feline street gangs that have divided the whole city into war zones. The only thing in the plus column is his dreams, where he travels to Mesopotamia to learn ancient catly fighting secrets from his ancestor, Jalal Paw. Still, learning is nothing if you can't master them. Can he stay alive long enough to rescue his family?

Cat-on-the-street has been done by everyone from Disney on up, but Said's book stands apart from the rest with his addition of Far East mysticism to Varjak's tale of survival. Also unlike many other cat-on-the-street books, humans have little to no effect on the story, other than the Gentleman. This is all cats, all the time, and the complex feline warfare leaves no room for those pesky humans. Varjak's courage in the face of danger and his own uncertainty will strike a chord with young readers.

What really bumps this book up to a creepy, absorbing saga with a near-mythic sweep is Dave McKean's amazing illustrations. His cats aren't fluffy and whiskery--they're sleek, angular streaks of fur, claws, and teeth. One gets the feeling that this is the way cats see themselves. Actually, seeing McKean's name on the cover is what made me pick this book up in the first place; I love his work with Neil Gaiman, including Coraline.

Said's text is a worthy match for McKean's illustrations. And definitely don't miss the sequel, The Outlaw Varjak Paw.

John Green Gets a Phone Call

Remember how in the post below, John Green's An Abundance of Katherines got a Printz honor award?

Through the magic of Web 2.0, we get to see John Green's reaction when he got the phone call. That happy dance may become my screensaver. John, you have been warned.

Awards, awards, awards

It's awards season here in child and YA lit land, and so in lieu of a review today, here's the list, piping hot from the American Library Association's Midwinter Conference in not-so-sunny Seattle, Washington!

Codes:
* - read it
# - already in my Blue Journal of Stuff I Gotta Read Before I Die. Although it goes without saying that anything that wasn't already in that book will be now.

John Newbery Medal (children's literature)
The Higher Power of Lucky - Susan Patron
(H) Penny From Heaven - Jennifer L. Holm *
(H) Hattie Big Sky - Kirby Larson*
(H) Rules - Cynthia Lord

Randolph Caldecott Medal (children's picture-book illustrator)
Flotsam - David Weisner #
(H) Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom - Kadir Nelson (auth. Carole Boston Weatherford)
(H) Gone Wild: An endangered animal alphabet - David McLimans

Coretta Scott King Award
Authors
Copper Sun - Sharon Draper
(H) The Road to Paris - Nikki Grimes #
Illustrators
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People - Kadir Nelson (author: Carole Boston Weatherford) (also a Caldecott Honor book)
(H) Jazz - Christopher Myers (author: W.D. Myers)
(H) Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes - Benny Andrews (editors: David Roessel and Arnold Rampersad)

Seuss Geisel (for beginning readers' books)
Zelda and Ivy: the Runaways - Laura Kvasnosky
(H) Not a Box - Antoinette Portis
(H) Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride - Kate DiCamillo *
(H) Move Over Rover - Karen Beaumont

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (for lasting contribution to children's lit)
James Marshall (posthumous)

Margaret A. Edwards Award (for lasting contribution to YA lit)
Lois Lowry for The Giver

The Alex Awards (Adult books with YA appeal. This is awarded to 10 in all)
The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly
The Whistling Season - Ivan Doig
Eagle Blue: A team, a tribe, and a high school basketball team in Arctic Alaska - Michael D'Orso
Water for Elephants - Sarah Gruen
Color of the Sea - John Hamamura
Floor of the Sky - Pamela Carter Joen
Blind Side: The evolution of a game - Michael Lewis
Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
The World Made Straight - Ron Rash
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

Michael L. Printz Award (for best YA lit)
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang # (plus, this is a graphic novel! Woot! The revolution, it is here!)
(H) The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Vol. 1, the Pox Party - M.T. Anderson * (also the winner of the longest freakin' title ever)
(H) An Abundance of Katherines - John Green *
(H) Surrender - Sonya Hartnett #
(H) The Book Thief - Markus Zusak *

John Steptoe Award (for new talent in African-American children's lit)
Standing Against the Wind - Tracy L. Jones

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal (for nonfiction)
Team Moon: How 40,000 people landed Apollo 11 on the Moon - Catherine Thinmesh
(H) Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the front lines of the civil rights movement - Ann Bausam
(H) Quest for the Tree Kangaroo - Sy Montgomery
(H) To Dance - Siena Cherson Siegel and Mark Siegel (also a graphic novel!)

Mildred L. Batchelder Award (best translated work; award to the publisher):
The Pull of the Ocean - Jean-Claude Mourlevat and Y. Maudet (Delacorte)
(H) The Last Dragon - Silvana de Mari (Miramax)
(H) The Killer's Tears - Anne-Laure Bondoux (Delacorte)

Schneider Family Book Award (best book about a disability experience)
Children's - The Deaf Musicians - Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois Jacobs (deafness)
Middle Grade/Tween - Rules - Cynthia Lord (autism and paraplegia) (also a Newbery Honor)
Teen - Small Steps - Louis Sachar * (cerebral palsy)

May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture (a lecture about children's literature)
David Macauley

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video
Knuffle Bunny, based on Mo Willems's book of the same name

Big congrats and major chocolate and champagne to all the talented winners. And I have to note that, thanks to the child/YA litbloggers community, I'd already heard about a good number of the books on these lists. We got good taste, y'all. Thanks to Elizabeth Bluemle on the Child-Lit listserv for being our gal on the ground! Sharon Levin, of the same list, also deserves props for providing the Alex Awards.

You Know You Want To

You too have the chance to become a Dancing Pirate.

If you don't want to read Maureen Johnson's inspired lunacy, the bit about the dancing pirates is down at the bottom. But I don't know why you wouldn't want to.

A Girl Named Disaster

Book: A Girl Named Disaster
Author: Nancy Farmer
Published: 1996

Nhamo’s name means “disaster” in the Shona language, and so far her life has lived up to this promise. Her father cut out before she was born, her mother died when she was very young, and now she lives under the thumb of her tyrannical aunt, forever compared to her saintly cousin and forever found lacking. When it looks like she’s about to be married off to a disgusting old man who has three wives already, Nhamo decides this is the last straw. Her father might have deserted her, but by the custom of the Shona, she belongs to his family and they have to take her in. They live somewhere in Zimbabwe, just a two-day boat trip from her home in Mozambique. Supported by ancestral spirits and depending on her own formidable survival skills, Nhamo is going to find her father’s family if it kills her.

And it just might.

While reading this book, I had to constantly remind myself that it takes place in Africa in 1981. Nhamo’s world is so different from that of the United States at the same time that it feels as if it takes place on a different planet. To her, njuzu (water snake spirits) and ngozi (zombies) are just as real as TV sets and airplanes are to us. Farmer brings out a rich and multi-textured place and culture without turning it into a dry lecture. While she uses a lot of Shona words, none are so out of context that they’re impossible to understand.

If her surroundings are exotic, Nhamo herself is someone every kid will be able to relate to. Smart, impulsive, stubborn, vulnerable, and brave, her quest for a place to call home will keep you turning pages.

Backwater

Book: Backwater
Author: Joan Bauer
Published: 1999

Ivy Breedlove feels like she’s fighting a losing battle. All of her family are lawyers, and it's expected that she will be one too. But nobody's stopped to ask what she wants. She doesn't want a courtroom in her future, a career of arguing and debating and being on the stage. She wants to be a historian, one who observes and records and thinks about the past. But good luck convincing her strong-willed father that it’s a respectable career for a Breedlove.

Then Ivy discovers that she's not the only freak in this family. There's another--her father's crazy sister, who lives in the mountains, by herself, away from civilization. This is the key, she realizes. If she gets to know this mysterious aunt, to understand the strength that allows her to be different from the rest of her family, Ivy may find the same strength in herself.

But what will Ivy do if Aunt Josephine doesn’t have all the answers?

Except for Ivy’s wilderness guide, Mountain Mama, who is more caricature than character, I really like Bauer’s characterization. Ivy’s father isn’t just an ogre, but a man with his own layers and reasons, which Ivy discovers through Josephine’s memories of the past. Check out this book for a quick but not shallow story about what it takes to swim against the tide of family tradition.

Added bonus: while it's not laff-out-loud funny, there is a sly wit to this story that pops up at unexpected times, which works nicely to deflate Ivy’s teen angst.

Like I Needed More Books to Read

The Cybils have announced the shortlists for their first annual awards. In a testament to how many good books there are in the world, the only category in which I've read most (indeed, any) of the entries is young adult. I'm just gonna print out the list and take it to work with me.

In my defense, many of the books listed are already in my Blue Journal of Stuff I Gotta Read Before I Die. At this rate, I'll have to live to age 167.

Anyway, the big winners should be announced sometime in February, but check out the shortlist now.

Cybils Shortlists are Here!

Some of them anyway. Apparently, the competition for the shortlists in the Graphic Novels, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Non-Fiction MG/YA and Young Adult Novels categories is so fierce that they won't be posted until Jan. 7. Yowza!

Check out the currently-posted ones here.

Knights of the Hill Country

Happy New Year! Told you I was going to resolve to review a book, didn't I? There ya go, one down, and I feel like a better person already.

Book: Knights of the Hill Country
Author: Tim Tharp
Published: 2006

On the football field, Kennisaw High School senior Hampton Greene is a god. He is never confused about what to say or do next. He is sure of himself. He can think clearly and quickly. And it seems that whatever he does, he’s golden.

Too bad he can’t live his life on the football field.

Off the field, things are getting more complicated by the day. His best friend Blaine, once the star of the team until he blew out his knee junior year, is getting more and more jealous of Hampton’s rising popularity and better prospects with the college scouts. The girl he likes, Sara Reynolds, couldn’t be farther from the supposed ideal girlfriend he’s supposed to want. And his momma has suddenly stopped bouncing from fella to fella and settled on a man generally despised by the small town of Kennisaw, Oklahoma. Sooner or later, Hampton is going to have to make a choice about where he stands, but he isn’t so sure he’ll be able to do that on his own.

This is the second book I’ve blogged about football, which is funny, because as I mentioned in my post about Dairy Queen, I don’t know a tight end from a tent pole. But although certain football passages left me in the dust, it wasn’t enough of the book to spoil my enjoyment. The biggest charm of this story is a tie between sweet, quiet Hampton himself, and the colloquial, Oklahoma way he tells his story. Try out this book of a young man finding a place to stand and learning how to hold to it, no matter what, or who, he’s standing against.

Did You Know About This?

Remember how much I liked Coraline?

Well, turns out they are drawing a graphic novel adaptation, in addition to making a movie. I'm torn between frothing at the mouth with excitement and being a little disappointed that it isn't being drawn by Dave McKean, who did those great illustrations in the original. Still, it's Coraline, and it's a graphic novel. Plus, that movie looks really really cool. Merry Christmas to me!

And part of my New Year's resolution is to write a book review. Set the attainable goals, that's what I say.

Apparently I have Been Living Under a Rock

That's the only explanation I can come with for the fact that I've been scooped by approximately 95% of the blogosphere on the title for Harry Potter Seven: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows.

But . . . seriously? Deathly Hollows? Or maybe I've just read so much Harry Potter fanfiction in my time that just about any title sounds a little wacky.

Okay, now let's have a release date please!

Thanks to most of the people on my Blogroll for cluing me in.

Meme for Book Bloggers

Okay, this is for all you fellow YA and kidlit book bloggers out there. This is my attempt at starting a meme. I'll go first.

How many other kidlit blogs do you read?
Erm . . . a lot. Check out the ones on my blogroll off to the side, and even that's shamefully out-of-date. Whenever I find a new one, I add it to my Bloglines, which I check in with multiple times per day.

What's the most recent add?
Interactive Reader. She does a lot of YA books . . . 100% so far.

How often do you post a book review to your blog?
I try to do it every Monday and except for a few times when life intervened, I think I've been doing all right.

Do you post about anything else?
I used to post tidbits that came my way, (mostly from Blog of a Bookslut) but I've been very lazy/busy since about October and haven't really done much of that.

Do you only blog books you like, or the stinkers too?
I try to blog only books that score an 8 or higher on my personal scale. Usually I will pick up a book and within a few chapters, I'll know I have to blog this book. Though I admit to having blogged the occasional 7.5, which isn't so much gottablog-gottablog as, well, it was a pretty good read and I'd give it to a kid who asked for this type of book.

How do you keep track of what you want to read?
I actually do it non-digitally . . . the horror!! I have a blue cloth-covered journal that I bought at Target and keep on hand most of the time. I list the title and author when I initially hear about the book, then I take it to work and see if my system has it. When I find it and check it out, I cross it off. I just sent in a full page, typed, single-spaced, to the central purchasing department of books I'd heard about and been VERY PATIENT, I think, waiting for them to just buy it already. Clearly they needed a kick in the pants . . . um, I mean, a gentle reminder of the existence of this book.

How do you keep track of what you've read?
I used to keep it all in my head *gales of laughter*. Then I got into LibraryThing and started recording and tagging everything obsessively. I have to say, what the tag list reveals about my reading matter is . . . interesting. Some are predictable (love) and some aren't (apocalypse?!)

Do you work with kids?
Yup.

In the age group of the books you mostly blog about?
I'm a children's librarian but I mostly blog YA books. That being said, I routinely find fabulous picture books and run after co-workers going, "You have to read this!" To which they say, "I'm on lunch! Go away or I'll set you on fire!"

Do you read grown-up books?
The occasional mystery or romance, but 99.9% of my reading matter is kidlit.

Okay, that's it. I tag whoever's reading this.

The Amazon Papers

Book: The Amazon Papers
Author: Beverly Keller
Published: 1996

16-year-old Iris wishes her mom and aunt would lay off. So what if she prefers reading philosophy and fixing cars to going out on dates and having adventures? She’s happy the way she is. Even if she does wish that gorgeous pizza deliveryman would pay her a little more attention. Let other girls drink the cup of life; Iris is happy the way she is. Her staid reputation backfires, however, when her mother takes off on vacation and not only leaves her home alone, but saddles her with a pair of demonic under-five cousins. Nothing can happen with Iris around, can it?

Iris didn’t think so either, until she gets her foot smashed by a stiletto heel, her mom’s car gets stripped in the parking lot of a bowling alley, and she winds up at the airport at midnight to pick up an incontinent dog. If this is the cup of life, she wishes the damn waiter would come back.

It probably took me about an hour and a half to read, but I grinned all the way through. The whole thing has the feel of a Marx Brothers comedy, and Iris’s realization that she may not be the sensible girl everyone takes her for increases with each new disaster, until she finally takes control of her own destiny. Keller’s dry, literate humor and her sense of a heroine in thoroughly over her head makes this a quick little read that you’ll enjoy.

Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo

Book: Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo
Author: Greg Leitich Smith
Published: 2003

Elias loves Honoria. But Honoria, alas, loves Shohei. And Shohei?

Would love it if his parents just gave the whole Japanese thing a rest.

Welcome to the slightly off-kilter world of the Peshtigo School, a place where science fairs spur animal-rights protests and Galileo-esque trials. At the center is this triad: Elias, Honoria, and Shohei, whose longtime friendship is being sorely tested by oncoming adolescence and the aforementioned science fair. They have a million questions: is it possible for piranhas to prefer bananas over bloody meat? Do plants really grow better on baroque chamber music? Can you get away with making your little brother do all your science-fair project? Can Elias ever live up to his genius brothers and sisters? Is Shohei ever going to convince his adoptive parents that really, he’s doing just fine without being immersed day and night in Japanese culture? Who is Honoria’s secret admirer, who by the way, writes really corny love e-mails? Will that snobby, condescending science teacher to admit Elias’s project might be valid, in spite of getting contrary results to the ones expected?

And the big one . . . is their friendship going to survive?

I had fun with this book. Smith intertwines the three stories in multiple-POV format, throwing in just enough lunacy to keep things interesting, but retaining the heart of these likeable middle-schoolers. While a lot of kids’ books assume that their readers have no interest in science, history, or law, Smith assumes all three and mixes them in like chocolate chips, without overloading readers with dull information. He’s written a companion/sequel called Tofu and T. Rex, which returns to the Peshtigo school if not these characters, and I hope he’ll continue. It’s a place where I want to return.

Not the End of the World

Book: Not the End of the World
Author: Geraldine McCaughrean
Published: 2006

“The end of the world is a busy time if you intend to live through it.”

And Timna’s family does. While their neighbors mock and taunt, they have been preparing for an apocalypse--packing their things, gathering animals, and building an ark. Because this is most definitely the end of the world . . . at least for anyone who’s not in Noah’s family.

Then the flood comes, and Timna’s confidence in her family’s choices is shaken as she watches the terrible deaths of all those neighbors who mocked them. When she involuntarily rescues a young boy and his baby sister, she tries to tell herself that they are demons and her fervent father is right. But she keeps protecting them, until it all comes to the point where the world ends . . . again.

I knew the story of Noah and the ark so well, growing up, that after reading this book, I realized I didn’t know it at all. McCaughrean has actually sat down and thought about the effect of a mass flood on a population, and on a single human being. Thanks to this preparation, Not the End of the World is a shocking and thought-provoking book. She portrays the interpersonal relationships, strained and warped by claustrophobic shipboard life, in a way that the calm and sonorous tones of Genesis never evoked. While it’s mostly Timna’s story, McCaughrean also narrates through other characters (although only one Biblical character and never Noah), and she also gives distinct and fascinating voices to the animals aboard.

Timna herself, instead of being an idealistic rebel from the start, comes around to an understanding of her father, of God, and of moral choices gradually. It’s probably a good idea to know the story of the Ark before diving into this book, but when you do, be prepared to have the familiar story turned inside out.

Heavy Metal and You

Book: Heavy Metal and You
Author: Christopher Kovatin
Published: 2005

Metalhead Sam and preppy Melissa are this year’s Least Likely Couple. But try telling them that. To the doubts and concerns of their respective groups of friends, they fall deeper and deeper in love. And while Sam’s friends aren’t thrilled at the way Melissa is making him go straightedge, he doesn’t care, telling himself that love is worth it.

But as their romance progresses, Sam finds himself making more and more changes for her and feeling less and less good about it. He loves Melissa, of course he does . . . but is it enough?

I surprised myself by picking up this book. I’m probably the last person on Earth to enjoy heavy metal, but this book, and Sam’s genuine and passionate obsession with the music, gives me a window into that world. It was also nice for me that Sam is no metalhead stereotype (probably because Kovatin himself is a heavy-metal fan and therefore knows there’s more to the group than spiked wristbands). Sure, he drinks, drugs, and moshes, but Sam also discusses literature and participates in a local drama club.

It’s a quick read, but one that will stay with you because of the questions that Sam faces about friendship, love, and identity. In the end, it’s not even necessary to understand who Deicide or Slayer are to understand Sam (well, okay, give me credit, I have at least heard of Slayer). This is a story about how much we change ourselves for love . . . and how much we should.

Hidden Talents

Book: Hidden Talents
Author: David Lubar
Published: 1999

Edgeview Alternative School is where they send the dregs: the bullies, the misfits, and the hopeless. It’s filled with students and teachers who have nowhere else to go. Edgeview is Martin Anderson’s last chance to fix his life. But he just can’t help himself, and soon he’s fallen back into the habits of a lifetime, mouthing off to all the teachers, somehow managing to say the one thing that will make them angriest. So much for that.

Watching the other students, Martin slowly comes to realize that some of them aren’t just square pegs in a world of round holes, they’re lightning bolts. From Flinch, who always seems to know just what’s coming up, to Torchie, who manages to start fires without match or lighter, to Lucky, who is just that, his new friends each have a hidden talent that finds its way out in surprising and often destructive ways. Martin pushes them to refine and control their talents, because it may be the only thing that will ever get them out of Edgeview. He also tries not to resent their special gifts, knowing that he’s just your run-of-the-mill punk kid who’s already halfway down the drain.

But what if some talents are way more hidden than others?

Just like Holes, this tale of kids at the bottom and heading further down doesn’t make the mistake of valorizing or demonizing, but instead humanizes them. They’re likable, if flawed (there were a few times I was surprised Martin didn’t get smacked), and their reluctance to believe in their own gifts until they need them rings true. This story about discovering value in the valueless is something a lot of kids need to hear.

For some reason, I was expecting a lighter, goofier story than I got, maybe because of the cartoony cover of the edition I read. That’s okay; I loved what I got, and will definitely pick up the sequel (True Talents).

Chicken Boy

Book: Chicken Boy
Author: Frances O’Roark Dowell
Published: 2005

Tobin McCauley has a lot to live down to. From his granny, who gets taken off by the police for driving on the sidewalk while dropping him off on his first day of school, to his hell-raising older brothers, to his father, who works and watches NASCAR, nobody expects anything of him. Then he meets Henry, who is on a mission to prove chickens have souls, and recruits Tobin as a co-researcher. Before he knows it, his entire life is changing, and all because of those chickens.

Who knew?

There have been a lot of books about grief, about parent death, about friendship, about broken families, about changing your life, and maybe even a few about chickens. But Frances O’Roark Dowell reassembles all these elements in a fresh new way, through the voice of world-weary Tobin. Through his matter-of-fact observances of his world, you see the wreckage left behind by his mother’s death due to cancer five years before, and the way that sheer inertia has the entire family in a stranglehold. That is, until Tobin makes a few tiny changes.

Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of this book is Dowell’s portrayal of these changes. While most authors write life-changes as a domino effect--one leading directly to the next--Dowell writes more as if they are jackstraws. One “straw” gets shifted, and all the others are subtly affected until suddenly the whole pile collapses and changes position. In other words, it’s not only Tobin’s life he’s changing; it’s everyone else’s, and their reactions to the changes in turn affect Tobin. By the end, his old world is left behind, but he doesn’t miss it.

And anyway, the chickens are still around.

Better Late Than Never

This article from the Guardian on celebrity children's books was actually published a week ago. Shows you how up to date I am. Still, if you haven't checked it out already, have a look.

Utterly Me, Clarice Bean

Book: Utterly Me, Clarice Bean
Author: Lauren Child
Published: 2003

Clarice Bean’s life has gotten Utterly Odd lately. Her best friend took off for parts unknown, and now she has to do a class project with the Loathsome Karl, for the hideous dragon-teacher. Not to mention the Evil Grace, her Utterly Arch-Enemy and Nemesis, is sure to win the prize cup for best project.

Woe is Clarice! At least she’s got her stellar collection of books about Ruby Redfort, girl super-detective, to keep her afloat. And when the prize cup suddenly disappears, Clarice gets the chance to put the really very quite useful skills she’s learned from Ruby to good use.

In the hands of another author, you might discover that the hideous dragon-teacher, the loathsome Karl, and the Evil Grace are really not that bad. Child only gives us one out of three (Karl, in case you’re interested; turns out the ability to make a volcano is really very useful when you’re doing a project on girl-spy novels). The real joy of this novel is Clarice’s Utterly Quite Individual Voice. With all the angst and drama of your everyday nine-year-old who’s just discovered adjectives, you just can’t imagine Clarice being anyone but herself--just like the title promises.

Not only does Lauren Child’s narrative sparkle with energy, so does the actual text. Playing with enlarged or shrunken font that will sometimes twine around the page, even integrating them into the lively illustrations, Child shows off the approach to visuals that make her picture books must-reads. Fans of those will adore this as they move into middle elementary years.

A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life

Book: A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life
Author: Dana Reinhardt
Published: 2006

Simone has always known that she’s adopted. It’s kind of hard to miss. But it’s not something she dwells on. Her parents are great, and even her brother isn’t that annoying. She bumps along just fine until the day her parents announce at the dinner table that Rivka called, and wants her to call back.

Rivka is her birth mother, who wants to meet her daughter before she dies.

In spite of her doubts and hesitation, Simone finally agrees to call Rivka back. Over a period of months (and in between other life events) she cautiously gets to know her birth mother. In the process, she starts to learn how her mother’s faith as a Jewish woman informs her life, and begins to work out how she herself, raised by atheists, might feel about God.

This has to be the gentlest adoptive mother renunion story I’ve ever read. The parents are great. The birth mom is great. Heck, except for some initial internal conflict, even sixteen-year-old Simone is great. There’s none of the angst and drama of many other adoption/reunion stories, where there are horrible scenes of whyyyyyyyy did you give me up, and you’re not my real mother and if I love you I betray my real parents. Reinhardt takes a different path. There's not even the drawn-out hideous angst of a mother dying of cancer. Sure, it's sad (I definitely cried at the end), but Reinhardt instead chooses to show the quiet bravery and acceptance with which Rivka faces her coming death, and how Simone absorbs some of that strength.

The real question of this book is not, will Simone ever come to accept her birth mother? She does. She has. It’s, will Simone ever work out how God is going to fit into her life? And nothing distracts from that. Wonderful, thoughtful, sad, lovely.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Book: I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You
Author: Ally Carter
Published: 2006

Cammie Morgan’s got a pretty normal life. She lives with her mom and attends the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, and she’s got good friends. Except that she speaks fourteen languages, can kill a man in seven different ways (three of which involve uncooked spaghetti), and the Gallagher Academy is a training school for future superspies. Sooooo . . . normal is a pretty relative term here.

At the start of her sophomore year, on a completely routine mission--um, assignment--for Covert Ops class, Cammie meets Josh. Like most other townies, Josh has never met a Gallagher girl and hasn’t the foggiest notion that they consider Mata Hari an amateur. He thinks she’s a normal teenage girl. She knows from the start that she has to let him go on thinking that. For Cammie, this may be the most dangerous undercover mission she’ll ever undertake. Because national security isn’t the only thing on the line here . . . so is her heart.

This is a lovely bit of fluff, a book to make you smile on a rainy Thursday. It’s kind of like James Bond on estrogen and Cover Girl. Sweet, warm, and very, very funny, Carter’s writing makes you feel for this future superspy who’s as lost as any normal teenage girl when it comes to boys. One of Carter’s real gifts is dropping in off-handed one-liners that are both laugh-out-loud hilarious and highlight how truly strange Cammie’s life is.

With its open-ended epilogue, Carter leaves the door wide open for sequels (the first of which is in the works). Word is, she’s also signed a deal with Disney for a TV movie. Here’s hoping they don’t mess up this great book.

Cybils!

It was really only a matter of time before the kidlit bloggers banded together to create their own awards for the stuff they read and blog about.

The Cybils

The 2006 Children's and YA Bloggers' Literary Awards

The rules, quoted from the Cybils blog:

1. The book must be published in 2006 in English. Translations and bilingual books are okay too.

2. You can be anybody. You don't have to be a blogger to nominate a book. You can even be the author, the editor, the publicist, the next-door neighbor or best friend or just a random Googler.

3. If a book you love has already been nominated by someone else, you don't need to second it. We're pretty smart. We'll see it. Promise.

4. Please, pretty please, only nominate one book per category.

For me, the hardest part is gonna be the whole nominating just one book per category. Gaaaaaah! There's so . . . many . . . good ones!! *falls over*

Anyway, didja see that part 'bout how anyone can nominate? Didja? Whatcha waitin' fer???

P.S. Yes, I am extremely hopped up on caffeine and being back home again. Did read some good books on my travels, so if you're very lucky I may do a double post tomorrow.

Back soon!

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm at a training this week across the country. Of course, this doesn't mean that I've stopped reading, but it does mean I have less time to actually blog. Seriously, though, next Monday I'll be back. I may be really really jet lagged, but I'll be back!