How to use this Page

The news is now far and wide, but we want to officially say– yahoo!  This past weekend in Seattle at the Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association, six of our titles were honored by awards committees and we are beyond bowled over with excitement and pride.  Congratulations to all– to the authors, editors, fans, and champions of these books.  Every Midwinter we are so grateful to be reminded that the community we book-people live and work within is vibrant, supportive, and very, very much alive and kicking. We are all in it together.

• Newbery Medal Winner: THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, by Katherine Applegate. (see our previous post about IVAN here, and our discussion guide here)
• Caldecott Honor: EXTRA YARN, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen.
• Printz Honor: DODGER, by Terry Pratchett (see a special note from Terry about Dodger here)
• Schneider Family Book Award: A DOG CALLED HOMELESS, by Sarah Lean
• Geisel Honor: PETE THE CAT AND HIS FOUR GROOVY BUTTONS, created and illustrated by James Dean, story by Eric Litwin
• Morris Award Finalist: THE MISEDUCATION OF CAMERON POST, by emily m. danforth

All of our award-winning books living together in harmony.

Newbery Committee member Susannah Richards placing IVAN’s shiny sticker!

EXTRA YARN co-editor (VP and co-publisher of Balzer + Bray) Alessandra Balzer doing the honors!

Printz Committee friends giving DODGER their love.

Schneider committee and A DOG CALLED HOMELESS editor Sarah Shumway celebrating.

And Amelia Bedeila (did you celebrate AMELIA BEDELIA DAY?) wanted in on the fun, too!

Congratulations to all authors and illustrators honored with 2013 awards, and the biggest and humblest of thank you’s to the awards committees for their hard work, dedication, and the countless hours they spent this past year reading and discussing books.  Now we wish we could fast-forward to June and our official ALA celebrations!

Information from the ALA's Press Release for the Youth Media Awards. With, when applicable, my comments, including links to reviews or quotes. And I'm going to try to read all the books below I haven't read yet!

John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature
Winner:
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead. Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. "That is a lot of hype to live up to, and it's sometimes unfair to the book that you go in expecting greatness instead of just hoping for a "good read." So when the book DOES deliver everything people said, and more? You know it's a damn good book."

Honor Books:
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose. Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group. "Claudette Colvin should be required reading in law schools."
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. Henry Holt and Company. "For having such fully realized characters; and for Kelly not telling us everything about Callie and her world and family, and rather telling us just enough; this is one of my favorite books of 2009."
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers.
Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick. The Blue Sky Press, An Imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children
Winner
The Lion & the Mouse, illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney. Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers.

Honor Books:
All the World, illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon. Beach Lane Books.
Red Si

Review of Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
by Terry Spear


In Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr, Leslie has a horribly dysfunctional family--an alcoholic gambler for a father, a drug abuser for a brother who sells her to his drugged-up friends, and a runaway mom. She’s desperate to have normalcy in her life and drawn to a shop to get a tattoo. Not any tattoo, but one that will bind her to the Dark King of the fey. An intriguing tale of courtly angst and the concept that we all make choices, right or wrong, the story is full of twists and turns, forbidden desire, and lots of conflict that kept me reading until the end, and wanting more!


Terry Spear, Author of The Vampire...In My Dreams
www.terrywildeteenbooks.com