ALA Youth Media Awards!

Whee! The most exciting day of the year if you happen to be a gigantic kidlit dork like me . . . and I had to work through the webcast. Blah.

Anyway, chickies, here they are! As always, the (H) signifies an honor.

The Big Three

The John Newbery Medal (for the best children's novel of the year)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
(H) The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
(H) The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
(H) Savvy by Ingrid Law
(H) After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

The Randolph Caldecott Medal (for the best picture book of the year)
The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson
(H) A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
(H) How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz
(H) A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant

The Michael L. Printz Award (for the best YA novel of the year)
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
(H) The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson
(H) Nation by Terry Pratchett
(H) Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The by E. Lockhart
(H) Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

The Rest of Them, Which Are Very Nice Too

The Alex Awards (for ten adult books with teen appeal)
City of Thieves by David Benioff
The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick
Finding Nouf by Zoë Ferraris
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King
Mudboundby Hillary Jordan
Over and Under by Todd Tucker
Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow
Three Girls and Their Brother: A Novel by Theresa Rebeck

The Andrew Carnegie Medal (for excellence in children's video)
Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly, Weston Woods Studios, producers of "March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed The World" (links to book)

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards (for the best book about the African-American experience)
Author
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
(H) The Blacker the Berry written by Joyce Carol Thomas, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
(H) Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith, illustrated by E.B. Lewis
(H) Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
Illustrator
The Blacker the Berry illustrated by Floyd Cooper, written by Joyce Carol Thomas
(H) We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson
(H) Before John Was a Jazz Giant: A Song of John Coltrane by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sean Qualls
(H) The Moon Over Star by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (for the children's author or illustrator who's made a lasting contribution to the field)
Ashley Bryan

The Margaret A. Edwards Award (for the YA author who's made a lasting contribution to the field)
Laurie Halse Anderson

The May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award (for an individual in the field of children's literature, who will then present a paper at ALA's Annual Conference)
Kathleen T. Horning, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

The Mildred L. Batchelder Award (for the best translated children's novel; presented to the publisher)
Arthur A. Levine Books for Guardian Of The Spirit (Moribito) by Nahoko Uehashi, translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano
(H) Eerdmans Books for Young Readers for Garmann's Summer written and illustrated by Stian Hole, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett
(H) Amulet Books for Tiger Moon written by Antonia Michaelis, translated from the German by Anthea Bell

The Odyssey Award (for the best children's audiobook of the year)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written and narrated by Sherman Alexie
(H) Curse of the Blue Tattoo written by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren
(H) Elijah of Buxton written by Christopher Paul Curtis, narrated by Mirron Willis
(H) I'm Dirty written by Kate and Jim McMullan, narrated by Steve Buscemi
(H) Martina the Beautiful Cockroach written and narrated by Carmen Agra Deedy
(H) Nation written by Terry Pratchett, narrated by Stephen Briggs

The Pura Belpre Award (for the best children's book about the Latino/a experience)
Authors
The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
(H) Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales
(H) Reaching Outby Francisco Jiménez
(H) The Storyteller's Candle/La velita de los cuentosby Lucia Gonzalez, illustrated by Lulu Delacre
Illustrators
Just In Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book by Yuyi Morales
(H) Papa and Me illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, written by Arthur Dorros
(H) The Storyteller's Candle/La velita de los cuentos
illustrated by Lulu Delacre, written by Lucia Gonzalez
(H) What Can You Do With a Rebozo? illustrated by Amy Cordova, written by Carmen Tafolla

The Robert F. Sibert Medal (for the best children's nonfiction book of the year)
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson
(H) Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Pastwritten by James M. Deem
(H) What To Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! written by Barbara Kerley, illusrated by Edwin Fotheringham

The Schneider Family Book Award (for the best book about the disability experience)
Picture Book: Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum by Robert Andrew Parker
Middle Grade: Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
Young Adult: Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen

The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award (for the best early reader book)
Are You Ready to Play Outside? (An Elephant and Piggie Book) written and illustrated by Mo Willems
(H) Chicken Said, "Cluck!" written by Judyann Ackerman Grant
(H) One Boy written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
(H) Stinky (Toon Books) written and illustrated by Eleanor Davis
(H) Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator written by Sarah C. Campbell, photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

The William C. Morris Award (for the best YA novel by a first-time author)
A Curse Dark as Goldby Elizabeth C. Bunce

Surprises? Delight? Rage? Express it all in the comments.

Cross-posted to Kid-Tested, Librarian Approved.

A Post That Doesn't Mention the Word "Newbery" Anywhere

I swear.

Publisher's Weekly recently went to booksellers for their annual "Cuffies." Some categories are pretty standard.

Favorite Novel of the Year
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (“absolutely riveting”)
Honorable mentions: Impossible by Nancy Werlin (“well-written, intriguing”); Paper Towns by John Green; Nation by Terry Pratchett (“funny but deep”)

And others are . . . less so.

Book You Wish Everyone Would Shut Up About
Twilight

Hee.

Check out the full list here.

This Merits a Squee

Breaking(ish) news! The official title for the Hunger Games sequel is . . . *drumroll* . . . Chasing Fire! More importantly, we've also got an official release date, which is September 8th. Drop into the Publisher's Weekly article for more.

Squee!

Thanks to Presenting Lenore for the heads-up.

Finally, a Use For All Those Donated Dictionaries

The bane of any public library's life is those well-meaning donations. "Here, I found these encyclopedias from 1965 in the attic. Just brush off those spiderwebs before you add them to the collection!"

We smile in a pained fashion and take them. Then when the self-satisfied patron leaves, secure in his position as a Supporter of the Ahts and owner of a tax credit, we discreetly cart them to the dumpster.*

Well, no more! Fuse #8 pointed me at this freakin' cool site with various sculptures and things made out of books. Including bookshelves. My favorite is to the right.

*This is not to say we do not leap on new, shiny, barely-read books like wild dogs after a shard of meat. We just get so many more physics textbooks from 1973.

PW Interviews First-Timers

First time authors, that is. Three of them, anyway, and two of them are among my favorite books of the year: Kristin Cashore on the wicked awesome Graceling and Donna Freitas on the sweet and hilarious The Possibilities of Sainthood. Go see!

More Newbery Stuff

And I swear to y'all that this is the last post that will mention "Newbery" until the announcement of the awards next Monday. School Library Journal has a nice little roundup of the diversity brouhaha, including quotable quotes from the study's author, from Anita "Has the Newbery Lost Its Way" Silvey, and others.

Okay, that's it, I mean it. After all this, I think 2009 is going to be the year that the Caldecott gets hammered on.

Susan Patron Defends the Newbery Medal

Susan Patron has taken up arms, or pen, to defend the Newbery against the recent fooforaw. To the charge that Newbery books have become inaccessible to the average reader, she argues:

Does it follow that books dealing with tough social issues turn kids off? Doesn't whether a book is complicated or inaccessible depend on the age and experience of the reader?

Now the cynical among you may say, "Well, duh she said that. She was the 2007 winner, and that book, The Higher Power of Lucky, is often pointed to as one of the inaccessible ones." (Boy, you're articulate.) But she's also speaking from broader experience than that. Patron was a children's librarian for L.A. Public Library (City, not County--very important distinction if you live in L.A.) for thirty-five years. She knows whereof she speaks.

What do you think of the points Patron raises?

What Do You Think?

When I heard the news about the proposed Winnie the Pooh sequel, Return to the Hundred Acre Wood, I shared it with my co-worker, who let out a heartfelt groan of disgust.

Of course it's about money, but does it follow that the sequel will be awful? Now I have to be honest. I've never read the two originals *ducking rotten tomatoes* but I have heard that it has a very definite and somewhat solemn ending. Does anybody out there (who has read it) think the same thing as my co-worker? Is this a stupid idea?

The nice thing is that no matter how many bad sequels are made (DISNEY I AM LOOKING AT YOU) nothing can ruin a truly high quality original.

Class of 2K9 is in Session!

For the past two years, new authors--that is, authors putting out their first YA or children's novel--have banded together online to get the word out via a common blog, and it's worked a treat, I must say.

This year's crop, the class of 2009, is up and running at Class of 2K9. Go have a look-see!

Book Review: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

Book: House of Many Ways
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Published: 2008

To her own amazement, Charmain Baker has been shuttled off to take care of Great-Uncle William’s house while he’s away. At last, a chance to do exactly as she pleases, which is mostly to read on her own without the intrusions of her parents. (Not that I blame her.) But when she arrives, she discovers all sorts of mischief afoot besides the disaster area inside the house--rebelling kobolds, a singularly helpless apprentice wizard, a house that regularly changes its insides, and a mystery at the palace. She may just have found something that’s more interesting than her books . . .

I love Diana Wynne Jones because she writes people with flaws. She has characters that are selfish, vain, downright silly, stupid, and any host of other undesirable traits that would prompt immediate intervention in many other books, but Diana Wynne Jones simply points everybody’s flaws at everybody else and says “Off you go then,” to hilarious results. It’s only the truly wicked who come to sticky ends, and everyone else feels quite real.

The best example is Charmain herself when she encounters a house that hasn’t been looked after in quite some time. Instead of an industrious little girl who rolls up her sleeves and tackles the mess, you get Charmain, who ignores it in favor of more interesting things. On the one hand, we’re used to tidying-up happening when a mess is encountered. On the other, how many of you know a twelve-year-old who would do that without an adult around to prod them along (quite forcefully?) The house is only put in order when the incovenience of the mess far outweighs the drudgery of cleaning (which sounds awfully familiar, now that I think about it).

Fans of Howl’s Moving Castle will relish the chance to meet up with Sophie and Howl again. One character’s supposedly adorable lisp did wear on my nerves a tad, but then I realized it was meant to be annoying, and also quite true to the character. Pick this book for a grand old time in Diana Wynne Jones' world.

Gives the Term Electronic Book a Whole New Meaning

100 Scope Notes posted a review of a book called Skeleton Creek a few days back. Now the book itself sounds pretty neat, but what really caught my attention was how the author used a mixture of old-fashioned text on paper and new-fangled Internet video to tell his story.

Interesting. I remember a book maybe last year or 2007 that worked together with a website, and the 39 Clues series is famously utilizing all sorts of things, online and offline, to hook kids in. What do you guys think? Will we be seeing this a lot more often, or will it remain a gadget and a hook?

And my question is, what happens if/when the website or the videos go down? How will that affect the reading of the book?

Vote, vote, vote!

Tasha over at Kids Lit pointed this one out:

In association with the Children’s Book Council (CBC), Teenreads.com is giving you a very special opportunity to let your voices be heard by telling us your five favorite books of 2008. The five titles that receive the most “votes” will serve as the finalists for the CBC’s 2009 Teen Choice Book Award. Later we will tell you where you can go vote for them once the five finalists have been announced. The winner will be announced in May 2009.

Coooooooooooooooooool. Follow the link for more info.

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Talk About the Newberys

Oy vey. That poor Newbery medal is going to need to be hammered back into shape after this year of bashing.

Have a gander at this article about a recent study that claims the Newbery is all about white boys. (I found it in the Detroit Free Press, Liz B. in the Bloomberg News. It seems to be one of those articles that gets picked up and run verbatim by every newspaper with a slow news day.)

There are problems with the article and the study alike, which Liz B. at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy examines in more detail.

The primary one, however, is that the Newbery is for literary quality, hands down. That's what it's about, folks. There are other awards to celebrate diversity or popularity or what-have-you, but every committee member, past or present, that I've ever heard from has come back to the same core: it's about the book.

Would it be nice to have a list of award-winners that perfectly reflects our society's gender/social/racial/ethnic makeup? Yes. Is it gonna happen? Probably not.

Reading Like a Girl

Some columnist in the New York Times wishes she could read like a girl.

I hope in this case, "girl" is referring to the condition of being young--girl vs. woman--rather than the condition of being female--girl vs. boy. Because I know boys who read like this.

Heck with that, I know grown folks who read like this. Like me! Okay, maybe I am pickier than some kids sometimes (*cough*Eragon*cough*) but I think the author is setting up a false dichotomy here, one that annoys me. She points to one daughter's reaction to an old favorite of hers as proof of the girl's growing "adult" skepticism.

“I couldn’t stop reading it,” she said, before adding, with regret, “but I knew from the beginning how it would turn out.”

Yes? And? Like we didn't know at five years old how Sleeping Beauty would turn out? Or Harry Potter at twelve? Just because a kid recognizes the essential drive of a narrative--good guys/gals win, get the gal/guy, live happily ever after--doesn't mean they've somehow lost the ability to suspend disbelief. Geez Louise.

Hey, I'm a Knight's Fangirl!

Anybody got a hanky? I have to wave it out a castle window.

Silliness aside (is it ever on this blog?), Terry Pratchett got made a knight on New Year's Day. Check out the article, which includes an interview in which Sir Terry is asked the question whether the knighthood is due to his work in raising money for Alzheimer's (which he is in the early stages of). He basically answers, "Well, I have written a couple of good books that people kinda liked, so . . . y'know . . . maybe it's for that? Rather than having a disease?"

Such restraint, good sir. Thanks to Cheryl Rainfield's blog for the link.

Oo, and here's another vid from Fuse #8--clearly the same interview but different clips.

Ursula K. LeGuin Interview

Have I mentioned how much I love retellings?

Well, I do.

Have I mentioned that I took Latin in college, on purpose, and had to translate the entire second book of The Aeneid from Latin into English, plus read the whole thing (in English)?

Well, I did.

Have I mentioned that Ursula K. LeGuin is retelling the second half of The Aeneid from the point-of-view of Lavinia, otherwise known as That One Girl Aeneas Had to Marry to Get the Throne of Rome But We All Know He Still Loved Dido and Who Cares About That Girl Anyway? (Although most people just refer to her as Lavinia, if they remember her at all.)

Well, no, cuz I just found out. Here, have an interview. Quoteage:

So in writing this I was not trying to set a wrong right or give voice to a woman who was unjustly deprived of her voice, it's just that she was my way into Virgil's world, in a way. As a woman I could think, well, what did Lavinia feel about all this? How did she see it? What was her life like? She was sort of my key to open the door.

Intriguing. I may want to re-read The Aeneid after Lavinia. But if I reach for the Latin-English dictionary, shoot me.

Well, That One Got By Me

Did you guys know?

Ramona the Movie!

The page says March 19, 2010 is the release date. This could be a lot of fun, if they stick to the source and resist putting superspies in or something.

On second thought, scratch that. I'd kinda love to see Ramona foil superspies.

File This Under A for Awesome

túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.

Yoinked from Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Nice One

How Disney Killed Off Its Billion Dollar Narnia Franchise

Apparently, Disney is calling it quits on the Narnia movies after "Prince Caspian" didn't perform to expectations. (I'll say; I barely even knew it was in theatres.) But seriously . . . no "Magician's Nephew"? I actually might have gone to see that one.

Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the heads-up.

They're Here! They're Here!

The Cybils shortlists came out today and may I say, Damn. Yes, I think I will. Damn, you guys! What good books! How are the judges going to winnow each of those lists down to one?

Congrats to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators, and big kudos to the nominating panels!

Reading Roundup 2008

I decided to go back through and pick my faves from this year. Not all of these books were published in 2008, but that's when I read 'em.

By the Numbers
Teen: 210
Tween: 136
Children: 205

Standouts
Teen: Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
Tween: Leap of Faith by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Children: Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford

Because I Want To Awards
Best Nonfiction: Albino Animals by Kelly Milner Halls
Best Graphic Novel: Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale and Nathan Hale
Best Series Kickstart: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Favorite New Author: Kristin Cashore
Favorite Rediscovered Author: Ellen Emerson White
Holy Schnikes, I Read Those Fast!: Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside by Holly Black
Grossest: Dead High Yearbook by Ivan Velez

A good year for reading. Here's to 2009!

Reading Roundup December 2008

This month was rather disrupted by my moving to another state right in the middle, meaning I didn't have quite as much time for reading as usual. But I squeezed it in.

By the Numbers
Teen: 12
Tween: 6
Children: 11

Standouts
Teen: Wish You Were Here by Barbara Shoup
Tween: Mothstorm by Phillip Reeve
Children: At the Firefly Gate by Linda Newbery

Because I Want To Awards
Saddest: September Roses by Jeannette Winter
Punniest: The Case of the Fiendish Flapjack Flap by Nate Evans

Pick on an Award Your Own Size!

Our own Pajamazon reacts to the recent Washington Post article about the Newbery turning kids off reading over at Slate.com. Have a look-see.

Eeek!

Dare you to look at that picture and not be freaked out. Eurghhhhh! Thanks a lot, Liz B.!

More of the S-Word

Interesting. Marianna over at Crowe's Nest writes about writing sex scenes in YA novels. She dissects a number of scenes in novels such as Melvin Burgess's Doing It and Daria Snadowsky's Anatomy of a Boyfriend, among others, and shows how the best ones aren't there for titillation, but reveal what's going on for the characters at the time. (Which is basically Rule of Good Writing Number One.)

I have to say, the best sex scenes I've ever read were in Pop! by Aury Wallington. They weren't Teh Sex-ay by a long shot, but they were incredibly honest, even a little clinical (which worked for the book and the character). I kinda loved it.

What's the most memorable sex scene you've ever read in a YA novel?

Thanks to Lisa Chellman for the link!

Morris Awards

Hey now . . . this is pretty snazzy. Liz B. over at A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy tells me that the ALA Youth Media awards have a newbie among their ranks. The Morris Award will be given to

a book written for young adults by a first-time, previously unpublished author.

Coooooool. Not only a new YA award, but one that focuses on first-time authors? Veddy nice. Not only that, they're one of the few (in fact, I think the only) award on the ALA list to release a shortlist, which will spread the buzz about new authors even farther. Check out the shortlist at the link above--it's chockablock with Kidlitosphere faves, including Graceling and A Curse as Dark as Gold. Good show, ALA.

There's plenty of chatter around the Kidlitosphere about it, about the concept of the award itself, the idea of releasing the shortlist, and the nominees. Liz B has links at her humble abode.

It being almost the New Year, Award Speculation in general is fast and furious. Check in here on the 26th for my Incredibly Early in the Fricka-Frackin' Morning List of Winners.

Maybe It's Me

But does anybody else look at this pic from the Astronomy Picture of the Day blog and think of Madeleine L'Engle's Echthroi? No? How 'bout this one?

I am assured that the dark splodges are caused by the presence of something (dust and molecular gas) rather than the absence of things. Still. Yikes.

Millions of Cat(egorie)s

Here's a blog post for writers about the many, many different categories out there for children's books. I can understand how it's a little crazy-making for authors, who write what they write, but as a librarian, having these categories helps. Kids slide all over the spectrum, of course, and often so do the books themselves, but you know how librarians are for order.

I have to say, though, they seem to be a little behind on their concept of YA novels. While it's accurate, that's not the whole story of the current state of YA, for me. For one, I would call this another "golden age" for writers of kids' books.

What think'st thou?

Thanks to Gail Gauthier at Original Content for the link.

Christmas Eve!

Have you been naughty or nice?

In the old days, before I had the money to buy my own books (or the knowledge of such websites as PaperBackSwap.com . . . ooooohhhh, PBS.com, how I love thee), my Christmas list was all books. I knew, looking at the packages under the tree for me that were all rectangular and went "thump" when I smacked my little brother in the head with them, that I'd gotten doorways to a new world (or a familiar one). I just didn't know which ones.

I kind of miss that these days. Barnes and Noble cards just go "thwip!" against my brother's head.

For those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas Eve!

Like You Needed It . . .

. . . proof that I'm a gigantic dork: Pride and Prejudice told via Facebook updates.

Snrk.

Hey, Look Who!

Why, it's the Kidlitosphere's own Barbara Shoup, all profiled in the newspaper! Coolness, Barbara. Yeah, it's a bit late, but congrats!

I'm Ba-ack . . .

Boy, did I miss a lot of good stuff in the kidlitosphere over the past couple of weeks. The flap over Newberys in the Washington Post (or reflap, really, since the original Anita Silvey article is old news), various best-of lists, and all the stuff I'm still catching up on in my blog reader.

So what do I choose to post?

LOLHP from Maggie Stiefvater. Abso-freakin-lutely. Just what I needed to reestablish my reputation as a serious blogger who makes serious comments about the serious issues of the day. Seriously.

Thanks, Bookshelves of Doom!

Coming Attractions

A few weeks back, I asked folks on the Kidlitosphere listserv to post what they were looking forward to for 2009, but I've been so caught up in moving that I never got the chance to post my own list. Here it is . . . some of it at any rate.

The School For Dangerous Girls - Eliot Schrefer (January 1)
I saw this mentioned on the adbooks listserv and went, "OOooooooooo," for the title alone. Oh, like you didn't.

From Russia With Lunch - Bruce Hale (January 1)
I actually read this in ARC form, so I can't really say I'm looking forward to it. Maybe what I'm looking forward to is being able to hand this to the little boys at my library. "Here ya go, kid. More Chet Gecko delight. Have at it."

Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed - Mo Willems (January 6)
BeCAUSE. It's Mo WILLems.

Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson (March 19)
See Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed and replace with appropriate author name.

Radiant Darkness - Emily Whitman (April 28)
I met Emily at the Kidlitosphere conference in Portland and was really interested to hear the plot of this book, which is a retelling of the Hades/Persephone/Demeter story. I love retellings. Love.

The Treasure Map of Boys - E. Lockhart (July 29)
The fourth Ruby Oliver book! Huzzah!

Al Capone Shines My Shoes - Gennifer Choldenko (Fall)
Moose is back! Actually, I've only seen this in an author sig on a listserv. Amazon and the author website have both failed me. Can anyone confirm? Pleeeeease?

All right, that's what I've got right now. What are you looking forward to for 2009? Please share!

Book Review: Undercover by Beth Kephart

Book: Undercover
Author: Beth Kephart
Published: 2007

Elissa is the quiet one of her family. While her mother and sister attend to being beautiful and popular, she is content to watch the world go by and think her thoughts. Sometimes, these thoughts get turned into scraps of poetry which can be sold to hopelessly unpoetic boys at her school, with which to woo the girls of their choice.

But she encounters trouble with her latest client, the fascinating Theo, who wants words to gain and keep the (possibly mythical) heart of Liza. Elissa can write beautiful verses for him, but she’s starting to wonder if Liza is really the one Theo wants. At the same time, she realizes that her family is starting to crack apart from the top down, and discovers an unsuspected joy in ice-skating.

Her life is changing. She could go back to her safe, quiet existence on the sidelines, but what would she sacrifice if she did?

This is the kind of book that makes you want to walk in the woods and write poetry. (You’re lucky I didn’t--my poetry is terrible.) Beth Kephart has a dreaminess and a gift for describing the little glories of nature that allow you to step right into Elissa’s mind. On the surface, Undercover is about a girl who loves a boy who loves somebody else (or possibly not). But that’s only the very surface. It’s also about taking your own place in the world, about stepping out into the limelight for the first time and taking both the glory and the risk that comes along with it.

The Ultimate Exception

So I was at Target today, and I had given myself strict instructions. Self, I said, you are not to buy anything that is not a container for packing things in. You are here for things in the Rubbermaid family. No cute shoes, no Christmas shirts, no makeup, no plants, no candles, none of that.

Yes, ma'am, I replied meekly.

Did anyone notice the one huge, towering weakness I subconsciously left out of my self-lecture? I went home with two not-really-but-close-enough Rubbermaid tubs and one copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Books are always an exception.

Also, this was waiting for me in Google Reader when I got home:


more animals

Heee.

Reading Roundup November 2008

By the Numbers
Teen: 13
Tween: 12
Children: 11

Standouts
Teen: Trigger by Susan Vaught
Tween: Breathe: A Ghost Story by Cliff McNish
Children: The Adventures of Sir Lancelot the Great by Gerald Morris

Because I Want To Awards
Weirdest Confluence of Book Life to Real Life: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson, finished the evening of November 4, 2008*
Most Frickin' Awesome Nonfic: Albino Animals
by Kelly Milner Halls
Great Book but So Needs an Updated Edition: The Planet Hunters: The Search for Other Worlds by Dennis Brisell Fradin
Sweetest Main Character: Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look

*I read my books in a strange and arcane order that has a great deal to do with when I put it on my list, how fast the library gets it, the publication date, and possibly the phases of the moon. Nevertheless, that's when this book came up. Cue Twilight Zone music.

Book Review: Trigger by Susan Vaught

Book: Trigger
Author: Susan Vaught
Published: 2006

Jersey Hatch is coming home. After a traumatic brain injury and more than a year in four different hospitals, he’s being cut loose to survive in the real world. It won’t be easy. He is no longer the brilliant, athletic boy he was before. His whole left side is well-nigh useless, and his patched-up brain now has as at least as many misfires as good connections. But he’s alive.

Now Jersey has to make his way through the wreckage of his life. With no memory of the year before the injury, he must figure out for himself why his former best friend hates him, how to make it through a normal schoolday, and what to do about his rapidly imploding family.

But most of all, Jersey Hatch has to figure out why he shot himself in the head.

Vaught brings her real-life experience as a neuropsychologist to this story of a boy attempting to reconstruct himself in the ruins of who he was before. But it’s not at all clinical or jargony. Vaught gives the neurology a miss and concentrates on an intimate recounting of Jersey’s struggles, physical, cognitive, and emotional. When he blurts out weird, fragmented words, the stream of conciousness that preceded it shows you how he got there and what he really means.

Personally I could have wished we’d gotten to know J.B. (Jersey Before) a little better. But the effect of the perfunctory explanation we do get is to underline the thundering pointlessness of his reasonings for what he did. At the same time, there is no moral, no preaching, just an honest exploration of redemption, forgiveness, and whether either is even possible.

Books I'm Thankful For

It's Thanksgiving Eve, and tomorrow I will board a plane to see my parents. Together, my mom and I will attempt to break the land-speed record for related women driving each other up the wall. Should be fun.

In the spirit of the season, here are some books I'm grateful that I got to read this year:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
Swimming With the Sharks by Debbie Reid Fischer
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
Nothing by Robin Friedman
Good Enough by Paula Yoo
Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Peña
. . . and many others.

They're not comfortable, light reads, but each one took me on a trip into someone's skin and changed me a little bit.

I'm also thankful for this community of bloggers that keeps me informed of all the latest stuff (and their opinions thereof), as well as the warm sense of community.

Which books are you grateful for? Oh, hell, let's just call this a meme and pass it around the kidlitosphere.

PS I would link them, but it's late, I'm exhausted, and I still have to pack. Maybe tomorrow.

Real Life Stuff

So remember how I said in my Comments Challenge wrap-up post that real life was happening to me? It's happening with a vengeance.

I'm moving to another state in three weeks, so this blog may be rather sporadic. I don't have any reviews (yeah, you noticed that too, did you?) but I'll try to post interesting news bits I find. I just won't be able to do it daily.

Give it about a month and I'll be back. In the meantime, leave me some book suggestions in the comments--something light and entertaining that will give me respite from packing and canceling gas bills and trying to find apartments online and and and . . .

Comment Challenge

So how did you do on the Comment Challenge, Bibliovore?

Mumble-mumble.

What? I can't heeeearr you!

Pretty darn awful and you know it, inner self!

My first few days were good. I was rackin' up the comments, having interesting and insightful conversations, and seeing the same happen on my blog. Then things started to taper off. I would mark posts to comment later and never get back to them. The comment I made went from fiveish to oneish to noneish. Pretty fast actually.

In my own defense, some real-life stuff was happening, but I still wish that I'd been able to keep up my commenting better. So this is going to be my New Year's resolution (and yes, I know New Year's is a month and a half away, but that dang real life is still getting in the way! More on that in another post.) I want to make comments every day. Notice I'm not giving a number. Some days, even one "Yeah, you go!" comment might be an effort. But I do want to put myself in the conversation, because I liked it there.

Thanks for putting this together, MotherReader and Lee! I think we should do it every year, just like the 48-hour book challenge. It's a great way of discovering new blogs, making new friends, and getting the happies when we get comments.

And next year maybe I'll actually make it the whole three weeks.

Braaaaaaains

Here's an article from PW on the new supernatural/horror trend in YA lit, traceable, of course, to the popularity of Twilight. Take-home message?

Alessandra Balzer, co-publisher of Balzer & Bray at HarperCollins, who edited Generation Dead while at Hyperion, reflected on the category's current popularity. “What recent authors have done is reinvent the genre,” she said. “Twilight took vampires—which are scary—and made them sexy. In Generation Dead, you have an allegory about discrimination, which makes zombies fascinating. These creatures provide great allegories for the issues teens face in their lives, romances and school.”

So . . . business as usual, right?

Illustrating with Water with First Second

Fuse #8 put this up on her Sunday videos last Sunday. I watched my head cocked to one side at an ever-increasing angle, like one of those "Baroo?" dogs on Cute Overload. Then I got to 0:49 and shrieked, "Wow!!" Click play to see why.

The Possibilities of Donna Freitas

Donna Freitas plus Sara Zarr equals interview! There's lots of good stuff, and here's a free sample:

SZ: Why do you think there are so few mainstream YA books that feature characters who have a positive relationship with their religious faith and/or traditions?

DF: That’s a great question and one I feel I have to be careful about answering—though I am going to be honest. As a professor of religion, I am well aware how uncomfortable talk of religion is to many people, never mind an encounter with a person who is practicing in a tradition. . . . I think this situation is unfortunate because so many teens do practice a faith tradition and not everyone is disaffected. I’m not sure we (YA authors) do such a good job representing these teens and this aspect of their lives. Then also, to me, religion really can be lighthearted and filled with life and comedy.

Hurray Donna! This is exactly why I enjoyed The Possibilities of Sainthood so much.

I got my grubby little paws on the book at the ALA conference this summer, and this is how: I walked by some MP3 audio company, and they had a big, beautiful poster of the cover. I screeched to a halt and took a mental note of that book, knowing that I was gonna hafta read it. All axioms aside, I love a great cover. Then I actually found an ARC at Farrar, Straus, and Giroux's booth, and leaped on it like a hungry wolf. I think I scared the publisher's rep. Sorry 'bout that.

When I read it, I was delighted to see that the Catholic content wasn't played for mockery or shown to be hollow and meaningless, but that Antonia Lucia Labella is very strong and joyful in her faith. It was the second book I'd read in about a week's time with Catholic content (the other being Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's Leap of Faith.) At the same time, it was a completely different story--much more like chick lit, but still showing a girl who drew strength and guidance from her beliefs without being betrayed by them or being a mindless sheep.

Identity is comprised of many, many things for teens: sexuality, politics, fashion, music, sports . . . the list goes on and on. Faith and religion (similar but not identical concepts) are just as much a part of that list, and I hope to see more novels that address that in a variety of tones.

Hero Takes the Small Screen!

Okay, so 'member how I was all excited around Comic Con time about Stan Lee partnering up with Perry Moore for something to do with the latter's excelente YA novel, Hero? But I made with the snark cuz the announcement was so vague?

A few more details from MTV.com:

According to Variety, Showtime and Stan Lee are developing Perry Moore’s novel “Hero” into an hour long series.

Yippee! I have a couple of Showtime shows on my regular TV rotation right now, so I'm very excited to see what they'll do with this. I just hope they remember the YA roots.

Congratulations Judy Blundell!

She just won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature for What I Saw and How I Lied. Hurray!

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Cover

I've heard a lot of love lately for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, including shiny sticker-type love. Ness picked up the UK's Teenage Booktrust Prize 2008 just a couple of days ago. From the chair of judges:

The Knife Of Never Letting Go made the judges laugh, cry and debate its contents with passion; a striking mixture of thriller, science fiction and literary tour de force, it's influenced by writers as diverse as Laurence Sterne and Ursula le Guin, and should appeal to a wide readership.

My question for those of you who've already read it--do you agree?

Much Ado About Nothing

Octavian Nothing, that is, when Publisher's Weekly interviews M.T. Anderson.

I swear to y'all I am not getting a kickback for linking to PW (like they even notice any traffic I send their way; pfsh!), there's just been good stuff lately, or at least comment-worthy stuff.

I read The Pox Party (Octavian Nothing 1) and got an ARC of The Kingdom on the Waves (Octavian Nothing 2) at BEA in May. My reading habits being what they are, I didn't get to it until November. I finished it November 4th, in fact. In the evening, after the news spread throughout the land. Wow.

I don't plan stuff like this. Sometimes this just happens, like the day that Meg Cabot's Valentine Princess turned up at the top of my queue being, actually, Valentine's Day.

Anyway, enough about me. Interview. Quotage of note:

I’ve heard from one or two adults saying, “Are you sure this is appropriate for kids?,” but I think people don’t always give teens credit for how well they read. And not just looking up words they don’t know—they skip over words they don’t know, just like adults do. . . . And consider that kids read fantasy books, which in many cases have invented vocabulary. . . . Kids who are reading that are building a language in their heads. There’s no real cognitive difference. I think kids are excited by language, and they’re not always given credit for that.

Interesting. I have to admit that's one of the things that stopped me from booktalking as widely as I might have, wondering whether the 18th century prose would block them. He says elsewhere, though, that he has kids of 11 or 12 reading this book.

Do they get every subtle shading, every issue that's touched upon? Probably not. But maybe this is where they can start to grapple with them.

Ellen Emerson White Chat

Remember how much I loved Long May She Reign? It's the book of the month all month over at Readergirlz. Plus, Ellen Emerson White will be chattin' it up at the Readergirlz chat room tomorrow night at 9 pm Eastern (that's 6 pm Pacific). Don't miss it!

The Winter Blog Tour is Blasting Through!

As it does every year around this time, the annual Winter Blog Blast Tour is upon us. Yowza. Check out this lineup, put together by Chasing Ray's Colleen Mondor:

Monday

Lewis Buzbee at Chasing Ray
Louis Sachar at Fuse Number 8
Laurel Snyder at Miss Erin
Courtney Summers at Bildungsroman
Elizabeth Wein at Finding Wonderland
Susan Kulkin at The YA YA YAs

Tuesday

Ellen Dalow at Chasing Ray
Tony DiTerlizzi at Miss Erin
Melissa Walker at Hip Writer Mama
Luisa Plaja at Bildungsroman
DM Cornish at Finding Wonderland
LJ Smith at The YA YA YAs
Kathleen Duey at Bookshelves of Doom

Wednesday

Ellen Klages at Fuse Number 8
Emily Jenkins at Wrting and Ruminating
Ally Carter at Miss Erin
Mark Peter Hughes at Hip Writer Mama
Sarah Darer Littman at Bildungsroman
MT Anderson at Finding Wonderland
Mitali Perkins at Mother Reader

Thursday

Martin Millar at Chasing Ray
John Green at Writing and Ruminating
Beth Kephart at Hip Writer Mama
Emily Ecton at Bildungsroman
John David Anderson at Finding Wonderland
Brandon Mull at The YA YA YAs
Lisa Papademetriou at Mother Reader

Friday

Mayra Lazara Dole at Chasing Ray
Francis Rourke Dowell at Fuse Number 8
J Patrick Lewis at Writing and Ruminating
Wendy Mass at Hip Writer Mama
Lisa Ann Sandell at Bildungsroman
Caroline Hickey/Sara Lewis Holmes at Mother Reader
A.S. King at Bookshelves of Doom
Emily Wing Smith at Interactive Reader

Good thing I didn't need a life this week.

More Twilight Bashing

Go see Hijinks Ensue from a few days ago and see why I laughed helplessly for about thirty seconds straight.

I am a bad, bad person.

Holy Graphic Novels, Batman!

Lisa Chellman posted about a comics workshop she attended at her library (lucky!). It featured someone talking about the process of writing comics, and as I read her notes, I thought, "My, my, how intriguing! This is certainly something to keep in mind as I read graphic novels!" (Apparently my inner thoughts are those of a grandma. Next, I will bake mental cookies.)

Now, current graphic novels have diverged from the kind of 22-page comic books that this guy writes, but many of the things he says regarding the storytelling (dialogue-wise and artistically) still have weight in GNs. Go take a look.

Buy Books for the Holidays!

I got this one from Jen Robinson's blog. Apparently, there's a new initiative in town, and it's called Buy Books for the Holidays. I'm behind this, and here's why:

1. Books are easy to wrap. Square or rectangle. Done and done-r.

2. When wrapped, the little stinkers can tell it's a book, but which one? Which one?!? No amount of rattling will give the title away. The suspense will make them crazy, which we all know is the best part of the holiday.

3. One-stop shopping, baby, be it Amazon, B&N, Powell's, favorite indie store that smells like cats and incense. With the price of gas, who wants to go driving all over Hell's half-acre for that elusive red shirt that your teenager wants?

4. The start of a lifelong addiction. Get 'em hooked early, and the next thing you know they're knocking on the library windows at 9:59 am, desperate for their lit fix. Muahahahaha.

Are you giving books for the holidays?

Kirkus Reviews Chimes In

More best-ofs, this time from Kirkus. I like the format of this list, which isn't just a title list but also includes Kirkus's review, plus suggested ages. A lot of it does seem to be ads, though. Oh well . . . take a look.

Fair warning, though: if you have a slow Internet solution, I suggest making a sandwich and maybe a chocolate layer cake while you wait for this 24 page pdf to download. Egad.

Publisher's Weekly Thinks You Should Read These Books

. . . and as it so happens, I mostly agree with them. C'mon, guys, the list includes Kristin Cashore's Graceling, Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games, and Elise Broach's Masterpiece, among other gems. Red hot diggity. Go see the rest of the list and tell me what you liked. Scroll all the way to the bottom for the under-18 stuff.

As I moaned in my post over at Kid Tested, Librarian Approved, PW doesn't seem to differentiate much in children's fiction, even when they get down to the nitty-gritty in grown-up stuff. I mean, seriously, they have a subsection for "Religious Fiction" and then a total YA book like The Hunger Games is next to Jeannie Birdsall's delightful but definitely kid's The Penderwicks on Gardam Street. Geez, guys.

A Letter From the Audience

Publisher's Weekly had a great article in their November 10th issue from an 8th grade boy, telling us all in no uncertain terms what he wants in a book. No sparkly vampires, no high-falutin' language, and no condescension. But read the article anyway, because it's concise, witty, and right to the point. Good going, Max.

It's good for publishers to hear, and it's also good for us librarian types. Of all people, we're going to know the books they're looking for.

The Knucklehead Makes a Book Trailer

I enjoyed the heck out of Knucklehead, the mostly true, mostly autobiographical collection of growing-up tales from Jon Scieszka. I also enjoyed the heck out of this trailer for it:

Knucklehead featuring Jon Scieszka from Jon Scieszka on Vimeo.

Thanks to Fuse #8 for finding it.

Lookit The Pretty!

I may have to move to England just to buy one of these signed poster sets from Penguin. Awesome. I can just see it in the YA section.

Thanks to Bookshelves of Doom for the link. Fight ya for 'em, Leila.

The Lisa Yee Title Contest Has a Winnah!

Lisa Yee's Annual Title Contest has come to a close, and she's willing to share the best and silliest entries with YOU. Go see them here!

Urban Lit and YA

So a lot of library journals have been talking about this crazy new thing, urban lit, lately. Here's a snip from this article, defining the urban lit genre:

Urban fiction - also known as street lit or street fiction - is a style of literature that depicts drugs, violence, and sexual promiscuity in black and Latino neighborhoods. Some of the books detail the extravagant lifestyles of drug dealers. Others describe the bloody violence associated with the drug trade. The sex scenes in some of the novels are extremely explicit, and sex is often used as a form of power rather than an expression of love.

I have to admit, I haven't read much myself, but I noticed with interest the quotes from teens reading adult-oriented urban lit novels rather than school-assigned books, rather to the dismay of some adults. In response, a number of publishing houses have started offering YA urban novels alongside the adult fare, but they're still too mature for some quoted in the article.

The debate sounds awfully familiar. Like so many others in the YA world (including the sex in SF/F debate I posted about a couple of days ago) it seems to come down to protection vs permission, or from another angle, innocence vs knowledge.

Has anybody out there read extensively in the genre, either the YA or the adult stuff? What did you think?

Jeez, Edward, Buy a Brush

And after yesterday's thorny issues, today I just wanted a snicker. So here it is.

Lest ye forget, Pattinson and Stewart are Edward and Bella, respectively, in the upcoming Twilight movie. I think I would have liked the books better if scenes like this had been included.

SF/F Takes on the S-Word

No, not that one. Sex.

Hop on over to read a number of opinions on the place and function of sex within sci-fi and fantasy, and then how the same question applies to YA iterations of the same. Not surprisingly, many of the bloggers who say without hesitation, "Sure, if it moves the story forward" to sex in adult SF/F have a harder time with, "Well, what about the teens?"

This is a question I've been chewing on for a little while myself. Having just finished Kristin Cashore's terrific YA fantasy Graceling, which does happen to feature sex, I wondered about whether to pass it on to a teen I know with a very conservative mom. As I put it to a co-worker, "It's not graphic, but it's hard to mistake for making out."

As you no doubt can tell, a large part of my chickenositude was due to the same feelings as one of the bloggers expresses:

I think that parents are the ultimate filter--they should be reading (or at least reviewing) their child's chosen reading material and giving it the ok. Granted, my parents never did that for me, and I grew up unscathed (for the most part), but it's also about being involved…

The thing about the sex in Graceling is that it was part of an equal and loving relationship, and the main character thinks hard about whether to get that involved from an emotional standpoint before she does it. There are worse examples for our teens out there. Just as another blogger points out,

I think something adults have trouble grasping is that young adults are a lot more intelligent and grown up that we would like to think. True, they don't know everything, even though they think they do, and they're still growing and maturing, but at the same time they're not stupid.

Gah. This is why children's and YA librarianship is not for the faint of heart. Still, maybe this quote sums it up best:

I'm sure that if a teenager wants to read something sexy, I doubt they'll be heading for the fantasy and sci-fi section.

Hee.

Comment Challenge Ahoy!

So those crazy kids, MotherReader and Lee Wind, have cooked up something else for us all to join in on. It's the 21-day Comment Challenge!

I admit it, I'm not the best commenter ever. I'll save posts, think about them, even link to them if I decide to write about the topic on my blog, but I don't comment on the other person's actual blog. Knowing what a thrill it is for me to get comments, I feel bad about not putting in a little time to give that thrill to someone else.

No more! MotherReader and Lee, I'm in and I'll do my darnedest to speak up, even if it's to say "Go You!"

Neil Gaiman and the Graveyard Book

The London Free Press recently did an interview with Neil Gaiman on the genesis of his most recent, The Graveyard Book. Apparently it was a long time comin'.

Gaiman went up to his office and started trying to write it. “I read the first page,” he laughs gently, “and I thought, ‘This is a better idea than I am a writer. So I will put the idea away until I’m a better writer.’”

The weird thing (at least to me) is that they keep referring to it as YA in the article. To be honest, I didn't see The Graveyard Book as YA. Would teens enjoy it? Yeah, sure, especially if they're already Gaiman fans.

But I saw it as a middle-grade novel--admittedly one with a rather more traumatic beginning than you usually see, but this is the same group we make read Where the Red Fern Grows, so I don't exactly see the objection. Gaiman himself admits that he has 10-year-olds reading it. So wherefore the YA? Possibly it gets slightly more respect than "children's book." Who knows.

National Book Award Finalists Talk

Or at least, the five that I personally care about talk, briefly, about their nominated books and how they wrote them. Have a gander over at Publisher's Weekly.

Richard Dawkins and Fairy Tales

I've been meaning to write about this one for some time now. The media's been shrieking about Richard Dawkins' supposed vendetta against fairy tales, but after watching this interview, I think that the media's doing what it always does and picking the juiciest headline out of context.



To my own surprise, I'm behind the idea of the children's book he intends to write, although I know it's going to be seen as promoting atheism. (And to be honest, the whole "Judeo-Christian mythology" didn't exactly rub me the right way.) We do need to start teaching 'em critical thinking, instead of answers to the test.

But I wonder if Dawkins fully appreciates the role that fiction plays in teaching critical thinking. Every time a child opens a book, they must answer within themselves some fairly fundamental questions. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who do I support and why? What do their choices mean to me? What would I do in that situation?

Granted, he's really behind scientific critical thinking, but I think literary critical thinking and scientific bleed into each other in a way that he may be too quick to dismiss.

What do you guys think?

Book Review: Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Book: Perfect You
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Published: 2008

Kate’s life, never the stuff of Hollywood musicals, has now gone completely down the tubes. She used to have a best friend, she used to have a dad with a stable job, she used to not have to work at a sketchy vitamin booth at the mall. Now she’s on her own, but she’s not going to let anyone see how they’re getting to her. Especially that annoying jerk, Will Miller, who constantly mocks her by pretending to flirt. Can it get any worse?

Oh, yes, it can. Now her domineering (and rich) grandma is coming to “help out” at home. Her former best friend starts talking to her occasionally, but only when the popular crowd isn’t around. And worst of all, Kate finds herself in a weird, mostly physical relationship with Will that takes place completely in the mall.

She’s got to fix her life, fast. Trouble is, she can’t tell what’s wrong about it, and what’s right.

This was one of those books that I put down firmly at about midnight and turned off the light, because I needed to go to sleep. After five minutes, I turned it back on and finished the book. It’s not like there’s a great deal of suspense involved, I admit. You can pretty well tell that Anna is going to remain a selfish cow, that Will and Kate are going to get together in a real relationship, and that the family is headed for the rocks. It’s just seeing how Kate gets there and how she’s going to handle it that dragged me through the story.

The neatest thing about this book is Will. So often in YA novels with a romantic plot, the boy is an idealized creature: sweet, sensitive, and all-around so dang perfect you expect the light to go ting off his teeth. Will, on the other hand, is not the sharpest crayon in the box. He makes dumb jokes when he should be serious, he shows off too much in front of his friends, and after a certain point in the novel, every time they’re together, his brain goes straight to the Make-Out Place. In other words, he’s a teenage boy. With the exception of having the patience of a freakin’ saint when it comes to Kate’s insecurities, he’s just about the most believable seventeen-year-old romantic lead I’ve ever seen in a YA novel. It helps that there are things going on in his life that have absolutely nothing to do with Kate. I got the feeling that if Scott had decided to write the whole novel from Will’s point of view instead, it would have been completely possible.

I love a good romance, and it makes it all the better when I can believe in all the important characters. I believed in everyone in Perfect You.

Why I'm Voting

Okay. I admit it. I’m a bad citizen.

My first Presidential election, I voted for a third-party candidate just to thumb my nose at the two parties. My second one, I voted, but my candidate didn’t win, so I retired in disgust from the whole voting round.

But in this most recent election, I realized something. In such a huge country it’s easy to think that your vote doesn’t matter, like a snowflake doesn’t matter to a mountainside. But snowflakes make up avalanches. If enough of them move, the whole side of the mountain comes down. But you’ve gotta move first.

Enough of the corny metaphor. Here’s the thing: I don’t get to complain until I’ve actually put my vote in. This country isn’t perfect, but it’s mine. In this country, I have rights, like the right to work in a library full of books that don't agree with each other, and to make them all available to everybody. The right to practice my own religion, no matter who thinks it's stupid and brainwashy.

And tomorrow, most importantly, the right to vote. But it's more than a right. In exchange for the gift of living here, I have to give back by proclaiming how I want it to be run, and what rights I want extended to my neighbors.

So that’s why I’m voting tomorrow. Because this is my country, and no matter who wins, casting my vote is not a right, it’s a responsibility.

I've been a bad citizen in the past. But I've got the right to change that.

Check out the master list of Blog the Vote at Chasing Ray.

Bruce Coville Fanboy Interview

Gizmodo has posted a rockin' two-part interview with Bruce Coville about his My Teacher is an Alien series, conducted by a rabid fan all grown up. Having read these (and other Coville classics) when I was a kid, of course I clicked through.

Coville talks about the writing process, his thought process during the writing of the series, and how much technology has caught up to his vision. Which as it turns out, it hasn't very much, but that's not really that important anyway. Then as now, the story's the real thing.

Part One here, and Part Two here.

Thanks to Chicken Spaghetti for the link.