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You may remember Dale E. Basye from the incredibly hilarious interview he did with us earlier this year.  Or perhaps you recall us raving about his very funny books, Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go, and Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck.  Hopefully you've followed our advice and checked them out!

How do you know when you’re on the road to a bizarre and hilarious interview experience?  Well, when your interviewee (in our case today one Dale E. Basye) starts matters off like this, it’s a big clue:

Dale E Basye: Just so you know, I don't answer any personal questions or questions regarding my books, writing (in general), world events, history, new math, new Coke, or the New Deal. Anything else is fair game though.

And if your mental reaction when you read those words goes something like this: Huh.  Well, two can play at this game, sir.  Well, then it’s practically guaranteed:

KinderScares: Luckily for you we don’t like math, prefer Pepsi to Coke, have no interest in Depression-era economics, and pretty much only mention books or writing in the most roundabout of ways.  How about pancakes?  Do you answer questions about pancakes?  There we go, our first question:

Rapacia: The Second Circle Of Heck

Written by: Dale E. Basye

Illustrations by: Bob Dob

Random House, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-375-84077-7

We reviewed Heck: Where The Bad Kids Go (go read the review if you’re new to the Heck series!) a couple months ago when we were just getting this blog up and running.  After generally raving about it, we mentioned that we couldn't wait to read the next book.  We wanted it really badly.  And immediately!  We wanted it badly enough to pay for it in hardcover (I know...who does that?).  And then bring it home and fight over it.  And then complain about having to wait for the third book, which we also want NOW.

We’d like to believe it was the subject matter rubbing off on us, because we’re not usually like that (or so we’d have you believe...).  Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck is all about greed!  Milton has escaped Heck and made it back to ‘the Stage’ (otherwise known as the land of the living).  Left behind, his sister Marlo takes the blame and ends up a little deeper in Heck than she was before - in Rapacia.

Check out this cover! How cute.

I was lucky enough to attend the Random House Summer Preview last week on Valentines Day. The folks over there put on a lovely luncheon, complete with candies, kisses, and glittery lips! But the real show-stoppers were the books!

Marlo and Milton are living in Gernerica, Kansas where Milton is your run of the mill kid, and Marlo is a bit of a hellion. She is bent on pulling off the greatest shoplifting extravaganza ever! Unknown to Milton, Marlo has pulled him into her plan. They are running through the mall trying to avoid security when resident trouble maker Damian pulls off his own stunt...blowing up the gigantic marshmallow bear statue in the centre of the mall.

All of a sudden, Milton and Marlo find themselves sliding for thousands of miles, watching the air change from white clouds, to ash grey, to sooty black until they land in an Olympic-sized kiddie pool filled with Ping-Pong balls and garbage! Where the heck are they?

Well...Heck.

This is the place where the bad kids are housed until they turn 18. A place filled with disgusting creatures, school, and bullies. Milton can understand why Marlo ended up here, but why him? Until unwittingly shoplifting some lip-gloss, Milton's record was flawless!

Now Milton is on a quest to get the heck out of Heck! Can he do it with a little help from some other kids gone wrong?

Dale E. Bayse has written a romp of a story filled with gross-out moments involving poop, brussel sprouts, and Barney. Lots of word play and hilarious situations arise. I do wonder, however, if today's kids will get the joke of Lizzie Borden teaching home-ec, or Nixon teaching ethics. Kids may just read over these details and enjoy the story.

Translation! How come we never talk about it? We're always jib-jabbering on about editors and authors and the like. When do translators of children's books get their due? How come there isn't an award for Best Translation of a given year? Yes yes, we all know about the Mildred L. Batchelder Award. But that goes to the book, not the translator. If you were to ask me to name my favorites, the only person to come to mind would have to be Anthea Bell, best known for her work with Cornelia Funke.

Fortunately for us all, Criticas Magazine recently published an interview entitled Yanitzia Canetti - The Silent Task of the Good Translator.

Wouldn't "The Good Translator" make a great film title? Sorry. I'm easily distracted.

Anywho, this is an interview with the aforementioned Ms. Canetti. She's considered quite the "get" as she has the ability to translate Seuss. No easy task, I'm sure.

The interview is a fabulous look at the challenges facing translators. This exchange particularly caught my ear:

I have received some translations and bilingual books that are awful: they have grammatical errors, strange syntax, and typos. Why do you think that is?

Unfortunately, many English-speaking publishers or editors who outsource translations cannot judge the quality of the final product. More times than not, they hire a Spanish proofreader, but they are not able to judge that person’s work either. They tend to go with someone who has a decent résumé. Some even think that if someone speaks Spanish, that’s good enough. This underestimation of a foreign language only results in terrible translations.