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 for David Small, and commentary from Colleen Mondor:
"The issue is not about it being a graphic novel but that it was published for adults ... "

National Books Award Finalists Named (and I'm back from vacation)...

After a six days of vacation in New York, I was not excited about the prospect of weeding through my email inbox. (It was bursting.) After a few hours of wading through, I was rewarded with today's Publishers Lunch featuring the National Book Award finalists. In case you haven't seen the list, here are the 2009 National Books Awards Finalists for the Young People's Literature caegory:

• Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith (Henry Holt)
• Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• David Small, Stitches (W. W. Norton & Co.)
• Laini Taylor, Lips Touch: Three Times (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)
• Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped (HarperTeen/HarperCollins)

I was not originally going to write a review of this book (and whether this post proves to be a critique or a rambling observation still remains to be seen,) but, having just put it down, I wanted to say something about it. I could have quickly tweeted--"Just read 'Stitches' by David Small. Wow!"--and anyone interested who saw the tweet would have no doubt commented. But that didn't seem fair

Illustration by David Small from THAT BOOK WOMAN, by Heather Henson

Check out the 7 Imp's "Seven Questions Over Breakfast with David Small." Be sure to take a look at David's studio photos. Just incredible! Hat tip to Kelly at the wonderful Big A little a blog.

There are a number of directions you can go with Hiromi's Hands,the true story of one of the first female sushi chefs in the United States (see my review here). I pulled together a few web resources that teach more about Japanese culture.





Japanese Poetry:

• Haiku
• Tanka

• Japan Past & Present
• Mapping Japan

• Japanese Food & Etiquette (for 2ndGraders)
• Sushi and Sashimi Glossary
• Sushi Masters
• How to Make Sushi (I'm not brave enough to try, but you may be!)

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 30 pages
Publisher: Lee & Low Books (March 2007)

Whenever I go into a sushi restaurant, I always admire the art of sushi making and the dedication of the sushi chefs who so carefully practice their craft. I have not however, ever seen a female sushi chef, so when I received a copy of Hiromi's Hands, I was very eager to read it.

Told from the point of view of Hiromi, the story starts in Japan when her father was a young boy apprenticed to a sushi chef. After many years of training and practice, he gets the opportunity to be a sushi chef in the United States, where he settles, meets his wife, and has a daughter, Hiromi. Hiromi's father works very long hours, and when she gets older, she convinces her father to take her along to the fish market and then to his restaurant. Soon, she's a sushi chef in training and eventually becomes one of the first female sushi chefs in the United States.