posted by Neil
Yesterday was another day mostly spent resting, and feeling a bit like a phone or iPod that's been a bit too drained, and now has to be charged for a while before it actually starts charging. Lots of email, some interviews (I am running the risk of getting interviewed out. I think that I'll stop doing interviews after Dublin, for a while. Or a long time), a phone call about WorldCon programming, stuff like that. No real work. Too much by-our-lady Twittering.
Today I've done three interviews (2 Brazil, 1 France) and am starting to feel human again.
The Graveyard Book has just been nominated for two Audie Awards (the ones they give for Audio Books), one for best Children's Book, one for Best Thriller/Suspense. Which is nice, and made me think of this interesting (well, to me anyway) article on where you should keep your copies of
The Graveyard Book at
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6635766.html?desc=topstory
Public libraries across the country are reporting that all of their copies are checked out, and, at some, requests for holds are numbering in the hundreds.
Although there’s a consensus among kids, librarians can’t seem to agree on one essential issue: Where does the book belong—in the children’s area or in the teen section?
The New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, and Boston Public Library keep the book in their juvenile areas. But the Seattle Public Library, Phoenix Public Library, Houston Public Library, and Los Angeles Public Library catalog the novel in their YA sections.
[...]Despite the fact that major reviewers—including SLJ—recommend the book for kids in grades five to eight, libraries adhere to their own particular policies when it comes to handling children’s books that address delicate issues, such as death, or are potentially scary, says Cass Mabbott, manager of the Children’s Center at the Seattle Public Library.
For the record, I don't mind where it's shelved, as long as no readers, of whatever age. who want to read the book are prevented from getting to it or finding it, and, like the commenters at SLJ and like
Roger at the Horn Book, I really don't think this is another Scrotumgate. In the UK it's on adult shelves and child shelves in different editions in libraries and shops. It just got an adult and a child Audie nomination. It's fine.
...
Coraline did significantly better than expected. As
E! Explains,• Yes, Coraline opened at No. 3, but to its proud parents at Focus Features, it'll always be the top-debuting, wide-releasing, stop-motion film, if you go by per-screen average and not overall gross, in movie history. So there.
• For the stop-motion faithful, it will be noted Chicken Run made more in its debut weekend than Coraline, but boasted a slightly lower per-screen average, and it will be further noted Tim Burton's Corpse Bride boasted a far bigger per-screen average, but didn't go wide until its second weekend.
The tracking numbers had led people to think it would be in 5th or 6th place with about half of what it made. So it has done marvellously well, and I was filled with an unholy joy when it beat
Pink Panther 2, a film that has no need to exist, and I do not mind it being beaten by SJNTITY because I am very fond of the people at Flower Films.
(
The Other Mr Toast. Just to make people smile. Except Koumpounophobes.)
A few people have written in to ask about the changes between the book and the film. I'm not going to go too deeply in for risk of spoilers, will just say that Henry changed something that happens at the end, and some people mind, and some don't.
For those of you who've seen it, two different takes on the novel-to-film changes,
one from Joshua Starr at Tor.com, the other
from Gary Westfahl at Locus.com. Do not click on the links if you haven't seen the film or read the book or if you wish to avoid spoilers. (Interestingly, I was
fascinated by the mini-review at the bottom of this review, by a 7 year old, where he got the point, even if the speech Gary missed was not there.)
For those who want to know how much input I had into the end of the film, the answer is, some, but not a lot. The end of the film was sort of fluid -- it changed a great deal between the first version I read, the versions on storyboards, and the final film. They started filming the beginning without having locked down the end. (They weren't even sure of the Other Mother's final form.)
How do I feel about it?
Pretty good. I think what Henry and his team did was brilliant, and they took something that wasn't a film, and they made it into a film that worked,
and is already being talked about as an Oscar contender. (Here's Henry talking about it at the Onion AV Club: http://www.avclub.com/articles/henry-selick,23298/2/). I didn't make this film, they did, and I'm proud of them.
For my part, I still like to find people who I trust, whose work interests and excites me, and let them get on with it. Henry turned
Coraline into a film by changing some things. Most of the things he changed I love, although I am glad I did them my way in the novel. For those of you who like something that sticks, with utter fidelity, to the plot of the book, I should point you at the upcoming Stephin Merritt musical version of
Coraline, with book by David Greenspan.
Then again, in their version,
Coraline will be played by Tony-nominated Jayne Houdyshell, who does not look 9, and David Greenspan will play the Other Mother (but not the Mother)and honestly, it sounds strange and marvellous and I cannot wait. (I've heard songs, but they have Stephin doing all the voices and accompanying himself on, I think, a toy piano.)
And I am fine with that. The book is the book. I like watching people play, and make good art.
...
Let's see. Recently I've written an introduction to a book on The Twilight Zone, and am currently doing my editorial pass on the galleys of INTERWORLD, a young adult book that Michael Reaves and I wrote some years ago that we're currently bringing out of mothballs, dusting off and sending to meet the nice people.
I also got swept up in a small adventure that turned me into a giddy twelve-year-old comics fan, and about which I shall say nothing more until the time is right. And possibly not even then. It was all Jonathan Ross's fault, anyway.
And now the weather forecasters are predicting the mother of all winter storms for us in the midwest this weekend. Ten inches of snow. Freezing rain. An ice storm. Everyone is making contingency plans and buying several months' suppies of toilet paper, and I'm being English and am convinced it won't happen. Interesting weather almost never does, not when they say it will.
This just came in from Charles Vess, who wonders if any of you have any of the STARDUST art he's looking for...
From Charles Vess:
From June until September of this year I'll be mounting an exhibition
of my Stardust art at the the William King Regional Art Museum in their
premium exhibition space.
A LOT of people will be seeing the exhibition and I want to put my best
'face' forward. So I'm looking for various pieces of Stardust original
art that I've sold over the years and would like to borrow that art back
for this show. The names of the donors will be included in various
publications concerning the exhibit as well as being on the identifying
labels themselves.
In particular I'm looking for these full page illustrations:
(All page numbers refer to the trade paperback edition)
1. (page 46) The couple on the hill (with the Village of Wall in the background)
beside a tree looking up at the falling star.
2. (page 52) Tristran in his bowler hat entering the deep woods surrounded by
various fairy types.
3.Cover art to mini #2 with all of the Lords of Stormhold floating in
the air around the dark rocks of Stormhold.
4.(Pg #96 -97) The two pages of multiple panels with Tristran's first candle walk
between worlds.
5.(Pg #104)Tristran and Yvaine walking in the wood. She has a crutch.
6.Tris and Yvaine riding the unicorn through woods with gnarly
creatures in the fore ground.
7..(Pg #161) Small figures of Tris and Yvaine looking up as galleon passes
through golden clouds above them.
8. ( Pg #188)Tris passed out on ground w/ Yvaine sitting beside him. A dark
haired woman (his mother) stands above him. Red goblin creatures frolic
in the fore ground tree limbs.
9.( Pg #193)Tris in a sitting room w/ Victoria Foster surrounded by nick nacks
and green men. A cat sits on the rug beside him.
10.( Pg #205) Yvaine gives Tris the medallion. Dark haired Mom looks on. The air
around them is filled with all manner of people and beasties.
11. ( Pg #209) Looking down at the fair w/ the Village of Wall off to the left.
Very small figures of Tris and Yvaine walk off thru the field. In the
far distance the mountains of Stromhold rise w/ Flying Galleon beside them.
12. (Pg #213) Last piece in the book. Colored pencil on black paper. Yvaine
stands amidst dark stones and raises her arms towards her 'sisters' that
dance through the night time sky above her.
Here's my e-mail if you have any information on the location of these
pieces: [email protected]
Thanks!
Charles
...
The previous post drew a lot of responses -- most of them agreeing with me. A few articulately disagreeing, and I thought I'd post a couple of them....
Mr. Gaiman-
If I may, a few comments about today’s posting about the appearance of the word “Scrotum” in the children’s book.
1. A few librarians in this NY Times article were quoted out of context from e-mails taken from LM_NET, a listserv for school librarians. In fact, LM_NET postings are subject to copyright and librarians were not contacted by the Times in response to their quotes.
2. All librarians are not tight-bunned, tight-assed “Shh-ing” maniacs. (I know, I am one—a librarian, that is, not tight-assed.)
3. Given the current climate of education in the US, you can’t blame a public (or private) school librarian for being incredibly sensitive to this issue. Unfortunately, we live in a period where it’s easier to throw away books and tell kids to “just google it” rather than keeping librarians on-staff. Each of us fights for our credibility and necessity every day. One conflict with a prominent community-member over (an admittedly) ridiculous matter such as this can end a career, as it’s easier to drop a staff member’s salary than fight a legal battle over censorship. While there are those of us who are willing to throw our chins out and fight, there are many battle-scarred vets of the library wars who have been cowed by the system and will quietly drop it rather than fight anymore. The public school librarian is fighting to keep of the endangered species list.
While I’ve been an ardent fan of yours, I could not let today’s journal slide without some commentary.
Yours,
Harry F. Coffill
Library Media Specialist
East Grand Rapids Middle School
I'm afraid that just because something is "copyright" it doesn't mean it can't be quoted. It can. It's called Fair Use. And I don't see why the Times would have to contact the people about their quotes -- if it's written down, that's all you'd have to show the fact-checker, if there is such a thing... Once you've said it, it's out there. (This blog is copyright me. Doesn't mean it doesn't get quoted, or that I'm consulted about it when it is. Here's an example of one time it happened. If you're going to say something in a semi-public forum, you're quotable, or misquotable, and that's just how it is.)
Hey Neil,
Speaking as a librarian, I happily bask in your general approbation.
Speaking as a librarian, I detest the idea of censorship, and the thought of choosing not to purchase a Newberry-winning book simply because of a single word.
Speaking as a librarian, I must also point out that the issue is, unfortunately, perhaps a bit more complicated than that, and that referring to those librarians who choose not to buy the book as "rogues" who've gone over to the dark side is likely to be an unfair oversimplification, at least in some cases.
Are there prudish librarians who have knee-jerk reactions to "bad language" and "inappropriate content?" Of course. We're only human, and therefore only flawed.
However, in many cases...using, as an example, the librarian cited as saying that SADLY, they will not be purchasing the book...it is likely NOT the librarian's own personal choice or even preference to exclude this book from their collection, but is the decision of the library director, library board, or school itself, based upon community outcry and patron pressure. In many cases of books being challenged, the challenge never goes as far as a banning. However, there are still cases in which otherwise excellent books are banned due to some small piece of "questionable" content. Don't forget, one of the most challenged and banned authors of all time is Judy Blume, the author of well-beloved, classic, but very frank (and therefore "dangerous"), children's and young adult books.
Librarians, as much as anyone and everyone else in this country, are subject to mob rule at times, and are always always subject to the workings of bureaucracy and politics. It's sad, but it's true.
...which I understand, but both of which emails leave me thinking that surely saying "It won the Newbery Medal. We order the books that do that. It's been the most respected guide to quality children's literature since 1922," would fend off most threats to a school librarian's job... wouldn't it?
Ah well. My next children's book, the one I'm currently writing, is very unlikely to have any rude words in it at all, but people I've read the first few pages to tend to look at me with a concerned sort of look and say "Is this really a children's book? I mean it's scary and then that stuff..." and I say yes, and I'm sorry but that's how the book goes and there's nothing I can do about it. Of course there is -- I could cut it out and write a book that wasn't as good. And I can hope that anyone who gets past the first couple of pages will find it very hard to put down. I can hope. But I'd understand any school librarian who was worried.
And I also got this from the "Higher Power of Lucky" post, which made me smile...
Hey there, Neil.
I illustrated "The Higher Power of Lucky" (although it didn't occur to me to provide a picture for the minor scrotum incident). Thanks for weighing in on the whole kerfuffle. Coincidentally, I read "Endless Nights" yesterday, absolutely loved it, and made some sketches this morning which I posted on my blog:
http://planetham.blogspot.com/
I'm also a Writers House client, so maybe I'll see you at some swanky cocktail reception sometime (if they even have such things).All the best,matt phelan
Well worth checking out Matt's cool artblog, if just for the masonic raccoon... And alas, while I have been a client of Writer's House for almost 20 years, I've never been to a swanky cocktail reception there yet (although they once threw a lovely bash with nibbly bits at the Franfurt bookfair for all my foreign publishers).
...
I get a lot of appeals for good causes in and I long ago sighed and decided that I can't post all of them. But this one has camels in it...
Not a question, so much as a request. There is an amazing thing going on in Kenya involving librarians, generosity, and of course, camels. The link is http://camelbookdrive.wordpress.com/ if you could post it for the fabulous readers of this blog. If you have already mentioned it, I apologize. It's been awhile since I've visited, although now I seem to have spent about 3 hours reading past posts. Damn.
Beth (librarian in training, who, for the record, is perfectly happy about the word scrotum in any book)
consider it posted. And I'll see if I can't put together a bunch of books for the camel library...
And finally, another article from Nerve's comics issue. This one's about the Gordon Lee case and the CBLDF. I've written about it here before -- I've been writing about it for years. But if you've missed it, or you thought it was over... http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/clark/gordonlee/
In the latter half of March I am going to be in Germany, France and Poland, doing readings and signings and things. Details to come very soon.
...
So normally my love for librarians is unconditional, but recently I find myself inserting a sort of a "but..." in there. In this case it's "But I wish some of them didn't have such a problem with dog's scrotums... or do I mean scrota?"
Then again, I'm English, a country in which "the dog's bollocks" is an expression of approbation and unconditional approval.
There's a book with a dog getting bitten on the scrotum by a rattlesnake in it. It's called The Higher Power of Lucky and is by Susan Patron. It just won the Newbery Award.
According to the New York Times,
“I think it’s a good case of an author not realizing her audience,” said Frederick Muller, a librarian at Halsted Middle School in Newton, N.J. “If I were a third- or fourth-grade teacher, I wouldn’t want to have to explain that.”
Authors of children’s books sometimes sneak in a single touchy word or paragraph, leaving librarians to choose whether to ban an entire book over one offending phrase.
In the case of “Lucky,” some of them take no chances. Wendy Stoll, a librarian at Smyrna Elementary in Louisville, Ky., wrote on the LM_Net mailing list that she would not stock the book. Andrea Koch, the librarian at French Road Elementary School in Brighton, N.Y., said she anticipated angry calls from parents if she ordered it. “I don’t think our teachers, or myself, want to do that vocabulary lesson,” she said in an interview. One librarian who responded to Ms. Nilsson’s posting on LM_Net said only: “Sad to say, I didn’t order it for either of my schools, based on ‘the word.’
and it concludes...
Ms. Nilsson, reached at Sunnyside Elementary School in Durango, Colo., said she had heard from dozens of librarians who agreed with her stance. “I don’t want to start an issue about censorship,” she said. “But you won’t find men’s genitalia in quality literature.”
leaving me wondering what tmen's genitalia have to do with a dog's bollocks, and whether the lady in question has actually read the book she's trying to stamp out.
I've decided that librarians who would decline to have a Newbery book in their libraries because they don't like the word scrotum are probably not real librarians (whom I still love unconditionally). I think they're rogue librarians who have gone over to the dark side.
Still, I'm glad that there's finally a solid rule of thumb guide to what's quality literature and what isn't.
Helpfully, over at http://www.gelfmagazine.com/gelflog/archives/youth_literature_is_filled_with_scrotums.php you will find a list of books for the young, probably already in the libraries, with scrota (or even scrotums) in them. This is probably provided for rogue librarians who now need to hunt these books down and remove them, scrotums and all.
...
Hey, is that Jane Goldman as in the-woman-Jonathan-Ross-is-lucky-enough-to-be-married-to Jane Goldman?Fancy that. Many new connections are thus revealed...
Same Jane. It's a small world.
