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By: Cheryl Rainfield,
on 6/6/2014
I’m delighted that STAINED is one of Bank Street College Center for Children’s Literature’s Book of the Year for ages Fourteen and Up! (beaming)
Links to all books and categories here.
It’s such a feel-good thing to have my book recognized! For any author to have that happen. (grinning)
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 1/28/2013
That’s my one-word summary of this morning’s ALA Youth Media Award announcements.
Who cares if more than half of my predictions were wrong? The sheer number of surprises (not to mention, completely unknown titles) in this year’s announcements was incredibly exciting.
Okay, I did get Tamora Pierce winning the Margaret A. Edwards correct, but I’ve been saying that for a couple of years now, and I think it was inevitable that she would win it at some point—such a huge influence on YA fantasy (there’s a reason so many YA fantasies with strong heroines are compared to Alanna or another Tamora Pierce book, right?), plus very diverse casts of characters—that it’s not like I was going out on a limb with this one. I’d be super happy about it even if I hadn’t predicted it.
And Seraphina by Rachel Hartman winning the Morris and Bomb by Steve Sheinkin the Excellence in Nonfiction were not surprising. But the rest of the awards?
After Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secret of the Universe won the Stonewall, I suppose it’s Printz Honor didn’t come as a shock. Lots of people loved Elizabeth Wein’s Code Name Verity. Terry Pratchett previously won a Printz Honor for Nation, and Dodger did earn excellent reviews. Then came the two shockers: White Bicycle by Beverley Brenna as an honor book and In Darkness by Nick Lake as the big winner. I was like, “White Bicycle? What is that?” because I’d never heard of it. According to Whitney,
https://twitter.com/yalibrarians/status/295934303030870018
Seriously, I think it must be the most unknown Printz title since One Whole and Perfect Day in 2008. In Darkness did get a couple of starred reviews, but it had no Printz buzz. (In other words, if I do Printz predictions again next year, I am definitely going under, if not completely off, the radar.)
Which would have been surprising in itself. But then, no Pura Belpré illustrator honors? Three overlapping YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction and Sibert books? (Though I would argue that a lot of the best kids nonfiction these days is aimed toward that overlapping ALSC/YALSA middle school age range.) Weston Woods not winning the Carnegie? Five Caldecott honors? Jon Klassen getting a Caldecott Honor (for Extra Yarn) AND the medal (for This is Not My Hat)? Oh, and the Batchelder committee giving an honor to a graphic novel (A Game for Swallows)! And the Stonewall Book Award – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award* (Drama), too.
Check out the full list of winners and honors.
Just, wow.
What do you think about the books that were honored, or snubbed?
* the title of which actually makes YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults look short in comparison
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 1/26/2013
Last year, my predictions were mostly wrong. We’ll see if I do better this year.
The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
So, Code Name Verity: you are a complex, beautifully written novel, outstanding in story, characterization, structure, and voice, to name just a few of the Printz criteria. But until a Printz committee surprises me by actually awarding the medal to the book most people considered the odds-on favorite, I’m going to keep predicting an underdog will win. This year, that underdog is
Bonus points for Lanagan being 1) a two-time honor winner and, most importantly, 2) Australian.
For Printz Honors, I’m going with
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award
The Morris Award was one of the few I correctly predicted last year. This year, I’m picking Seraphina by Rachel Hartman to win.
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
Having predicted Seraphina as a Printz Honor and Morris winner, you may think I’ll likewise go with Steve Sheinkin’s Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon for the Nonfiction Award. And, well, Deborah Heiligman’s Charles and Emma won a Printz Honor and the Nonfiction Award back in 2010, so I can see Bomb winning here. Still, another part of me wonders if some of the issues regarding Bomb‘s presentation and style that came up at Heavy Medal will also be problematic for Nonfiction Award committee. It didn’t seem to have been a problem when Sheinkin won last year for Benedict Arnold, though that was selected by a different committee.
But then again, I have no idea what the award criteria actually are. Compare what’s on this page to the Sibert Terms and Conditions, and…yeah. Am I just not seeing it, or is “The title must include excellent writing, research, presentation and readability for young adults” the only thing on the YALSA Nonfiction Award policies and procedures page that even comes close to defining anything? So I’m torn between picking Bomb and
Margaret A. Edwards Award
I said it before, but I’ll say it again: I’d love to see Tamora Pierce win. Who knows if it’ll happen, but I’ll be very happy if it does.
The Odyssey Award
I got nothing. Especially after being so sure Beauty Queens was going to win last year.
As for the other, non-YALSA Awards, the Sibert committee’s really got their work cut out for them, with so many great books published last year. I hope Jason Chin’s gorgeous Island is honored somehow, and I do have a soft spot for Elizabeth Rusch’s The Mighty Mars Rovers. I think Sharon G. Flake has a pretty good chance of being recognized by both the Coretta Scott King and Schneider Family awards for Pinned. I’m not well-read enough in children’s books to even think about predicting the Newbery or Caldecott, but I have to say that I absolutely loved Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s Extra Yarn.
What books do you think will win on Monday?
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 1/23/2012
Because have I read any of the major award winners, other than Schneider winner The Running Dream? Nope.
Printz
Winner — Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Honors — Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler; The Returning by Christine Hinwood; Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey; The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Morris
Winner — Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Excellence in Nonfiction
Winner — The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin
Margaret A. Edwards
Winner — Susan Cooper
Batchelder
Winner — Eerdmans Books for Young Readers for Soldier Bear by Bibi Dumon Tak
Honor — Delacorte Books for The Lily Pond by Annika Thor
Odyssey
Winner — Listening Library for Rotters by Daniel Krauss
So, my predictions were quite wrong this year. Anyone else have any thoughts about the award winners and honor books? Or books you think got snubbed?
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 1/10/2011
Full list of award winners here.
Anyway, I didn’t do predictions this year because I was so unsure, but can I just direct you to my comment over at Jackie’s? Even though I got the Morris wrong (because I figured, hey, a fantasy has won the last two years! Should have stuck with what I said in the comments at Stacked, that I thought The Freak Observer had the most award-bait) and I thought there was no way Interrupting Chicken was going to win even a Caldecott honor. And when I have more time, I need to read the interviews with David Ezra Stein and Erin Stead at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.
Overall, while there were some surprises, I’m really happy with this year’s YMA winners and honor books. Especially the Printz; I think this is the happiest I’ve been with the Printz list since becoming a librarian. The list in its entirety, I mean, since Jellicoe Road winning in 2009 was, by itself, so overwhelmingly exciting and squee-inducing that I didn’t really care which books received honors. 40% of this year’s Printz list shocked me by actually being predictable (Nothing and the winner, Ship Breaker, which both had strong Mock Printz support, and you all know how I feel about these two books in the first place), and the other 60% shocked me by being, well, shocking. Stolen, I had written off when it didn’t make the Morris shortlist. I tried reading Revolver earlier this year, because it was on Patti’s Mock Printz list, but couldn’t get into it, so I’ll guess I need to give it another try. (Also, what happens in the epilogue?) And I started Please Ignore Vera Dietz yesterday after talking with another librarian on Friday, so I plan to finish it after posting this. Well, either that or take a nap, since I only got a couple of hours of sleep because I woke up extra, extra early to watch the awards webcast and have to go to work later.
My other reactions boil down to:
1. What happened to They Called Themselves the K.K.K. by Susan Campbell Bartoletti? It’s like this year’s Marching for Freedom.
2. Really happy that Five Flavors of Dumb won the Schneider Family Award for teens.
Okay, I’ve made up my mind. Naptime. Then work, and hopefully I can check out everyone else’s reactions during lunch.
Thanks to the award committees, and congratulations to all the winners and honorees!
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 12/7/2010
Here are your YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults finalists:
Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing
By Ann Angel, published by Amulet/Abrams
Janis Joplin, a true “fish out of water” in Port Arthur, TX, follows her own path to become an icon of American music in her short, tragic life.
They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
By Susan Campbell Bartoletti, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Bartoletti provides readers with an in-depth look at the formation of the KKK and its subsequent evolution into a violent organization. With primary source material, she details the horrific history of the Ku Klux Klan and the people who fell victim to its reign of terror.
Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement
By Rick Bowers, published by National Geographic Society
In 1958, the state of Mississippi began an undercover operation, The Sovereignty Commission, to spy on and potentially squelch the Civil Rights movement. Bowers’ expose of this unknown organization reveals the extent to which some were willing to go to see segregation remain the law of the state.
The Dark Game: True Spy Stories
By Paul Janeczko, published by Candlewick Press
This compilation of different spies carries readers from the Revolutionary War through the infamous Cold War era. Delve into stories about the Choctaw Code Talkers of WWI, Soviet moles, Mata Hari and more as you uncover just how they changed the course of history.
Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates
By Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw, published by Charlesbridge
Through fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and scientific debate, the bones of Turkana Boy, Lapede Child, Kennewick Man and Iceman are used to tell the fascinating stories of four member of the human family tree. Maps, photographs, and news headlines add to our understanding of archeology’s cutting edge science.
And the William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalists:
Hush
By Eishes Chayil, published by Walker Publishing Company, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.
Growing up in her insular Chassidic Jewish community has always made Gittel feel secure and given her a sense of belonging. But when her best friend, Devory, hangs herself after being sexually abused, her faith in the group is challenged and only gradually does she find ways to express her desire for the community to deal with the issue.
Guardian of the Dead
By Karen Healey, published by Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group
Seventeen-year-old Ellie Spencer is just trying to make it through her last year of high school, but a chance interaction with the school’s weirdo, Mark Nolan, puts her on a very different path filled with Maori legends come to life.
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
By Lish McBride, published by Henry Holt
Sam thinks his life working in a fast food restaurant is awful. But when he’s confronted by a powerful necromancer, he learns that everything he thought was true about his life — isn’t.
Crossing the Tracks
By Barbara Stuber, published by Margaret McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
In the 1920s, Iris’ emotionally distant father sends her to rural Missouri to act as a companion to an elderly woman while he heads to Kansas City with
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 4/6/2009
Even without reading the jacket copy or paying much attention to the title, you’d know within a few pages of starting Judy Blundell’s National Book Award-winning What I Saw and How I Lied that something bad is going to happen. Blundell doesn’t back down from that threat/promise, and the book lingers in your memory longer because of it.
This book has been reviewed all over the blogosphere, so I’ll keep my comments brief. (I especially like Colleen’s take on it at Bookslut, particularly because she also includes Mal Peet’s Tamar in her column, and I kept on thinking of Tamar as I read this book. Not so much because Tamar largely takes place in WWII and the war is a vital part of What I Saw…, but more in how both authors basically start off their books ominously and don’t let up on the tension. Unlike Colleen, though, I found it almost unbearable to keep reading Tamar, not wanting to know what devastating event would occur during the war, in a things-are-bad-enough-in-war-and-now-something-extra-bad-is-going-to-happen-too? kind of way. I didn’t have the same desire to not know what was going to happen with What I Saw…, and I’ll explain why later.)
It’s 1947, and Evie’s stepfather, Joe, has returned from Europe, where he served in the armed forces during World War II. He takes Evie and her mother on a trip to Palm Beach, Florida, where Evie meets Peter, who is young and rich and movie-star handsome, and Evie quickly develops a crush on him. But to Joe, Peter is a threat. We know from the first chapter that something happens to Peter; what follows is Evie’s attempt to understand why things happened the way they did.
My thoughts on What I Saw and How I Lied are mostly positive with one big reservation. I liked it, I think the writing is above average, and Blundell did an amazing job creating a moody, atmospheric, noirish novel. You can practically see the action unfurling before your eyes, complete with cigarette smoke wafting toward the ceiling. The atmosphere is so evocative that it elevates the quality of the book.
What bothered me, though I’m not whether it’ll affect other readers, including teens, were Blundell’s use of foreshadowing and how “Blundell hinted to readers at what was coming always just a bit before Evie began to piece things together,” as Shelf Elf puts it (positively, so I think I’m in the minority regarding this). But I found the clues too deliberately obvious, especially in a first person narration—if it’s worth having the the narrator comment on *with the benefit of hindsight* shouldn’t it be of more obvious importance in the narrator’s retelling of events? That, or make the hints more subtle—and I thought the tension and suspense were lessened as a result. Because of this, I actually I enjoyed reading What I Saw… more than Tamar—I was less nervous about what would happen because the events that later occurred were…not predictable, exactly, but unsurprising—but I also don’t think it is as good a book as Tamar because of the overtness of the hints. Still, What I Saw and How I Lied is a fine read on it’s own, worth checking out even if it hadn’t won the NBA for Young People’s Literature, and if you’re looking for a novel rich in atmosphere, it’d be hard to find something better than this.
~~ Sigh. My comments weren’t so short, after all. ~~
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 2/16/2009
For winning the Cybils Young Adult Fiction category for The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. The goal of the Cybils is to honor books of of outstanding literary merit and kid (or in this case, teen) appeal, and the judges certainly picked a worthy book.
According to the judges,
It’s a setting we know. It’s a theme we’re familiar with. But with The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart takes common features of teen fiction and turns them into a smart, fun, multi-layered, action-filled, coming-of-age story with a unique treatment and fresh voice. Frankie’s feminist-fueled and P.G. Wodehouse-inspired antics at boarding school are hilarious, but also tinged with the sometimes-harsh truths of growing up. A book complex and clever enough that wildly diverse readers will each take, and love, something different out of the narrative.
Congratulations as well to the other winners:
Easy Reader — I Love My New Toy by Mo Willems (Hyperion)
Fantasy & Science Fiction, Middle Grade — The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)
Fantasy & Science Fiction, Young Adult — The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Fiction Picture Books — How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham (Candlewick)
Graphic Novels, Elementary and Middle Grade — Rapunzel’s Revenge, written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale (Bloomsbury)
Graphic Novels, Young Adult — Emiko Superstar, written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Steve Rolston (Minx)
Middle Grade Fiction — The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling)
Non-Fiction, Middle Grade/Young Adult — The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir by Cylin Busby and John Busby (Bloomsbury)
Non-Fiction Picture Book — Nic Bishop Frogs by Nic Bishop (Scholastic)
Poetry — Honeybee by Naomi Shihab Nye (HarperCollins)
For more information about the Cybils and this year’s winners, visit the Cybils website.
And a big round of applause for the judges in all the categories. Great job, guys.
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 1/26/2009
It won the Printz Award!
* jumps up and down in excitement *
I haven’t read three of the four honor books, haven’t read Paper Towns or The Graveyard Book yet, but of the books I did read, Jellicoe Road was hands down the most outstanding, the most distinguished book I read last year. I am so thrilled it won, partly for selfish reasons because I LOVE IT and I’m glad it’ll be getting more attention and even though I was totally hedging my bets in my “Under the Radar Printz Picks” post and my review of the book, I’m still counting it as a correct prediction.
* still jumping up and down *
What else? I was surprised that the Morris Award went to Elizabeth C. Bunce’s A Curse Dark as Gold because I thought it was going to go to Madapple or Graceling for sure. I’m glad Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit won the Batchelder because I almost thought the committee wouldn’t go with two Japanese books with related manga in a row. (And congratulations to Cheryl Klein for editing both A Curse Dark as Gold and Moribito!) Plus, Tiger Moon got a Batchelder Honor, and that gives me another reason to read it. And I thought it’s about time Laurie Halse Anderson received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, though I thought it would just have been for Speak.
The full Youth Media Awards press release is here.
Anyway, in yet another sign of how much I love Jellicoe Road, I made a playlist for it. It’s limited to music I own and I don’t have any Kenny Rogers or Cold Chisel and the closest thing to New Order that I have is Frente!’s awesome cover of “Bizarre Love Triangle.” I’ll put it together on iLike later and update this post, but for now, here it is:
In the meantime, as an eMusic subscriber, I would like to point out that everything but tracks 2, 8, 9, and 13 are available on eMusic. I would say that this playlist is about 90% finished; I, um, wonder if “I Wonder” is a bit too much, there are a lot of songs with ghost in the title, and I’d like to add two more songs, one to go before “Some Surprise” and one to go after it. But overall I like it.
ETA: Obviously, no one at SLJ reads this blog. 
Or Jackie’s.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the winner of Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults, which went to Melina Marchetta, author of Jellicoe Road (HarperTeen). The book, about a teenager who was abandoned by her mother when she was 11, wasn’t on anyone’s radar screen.
Forgot to mention it earlier, but yay Jen for nominating Jellicoe Road.
And my playlist on iLike, since I can’t embed it on WordPress.
Oh, Marchetta also won an Aurealis Award in Australia over the weekend for her newest book, Finnikin of the Rock. But it won’t be published in the U.S. until 2010.
By: Trisha, Gayle, and Jolene,
on 1/14/2009
I was going to wait until the weekend, but Betsy just came out with her ALA Youth Media Award predictions at A Fuse #8, so I’m moving this up. Although I agree with Carlie that I don’t think The Hunger Games will get an honor.
I’m not very good at predicting which books will win awards, but I also think past Printz Award committees have had a tendency to select books no one was expecting to win (either for the top award or an honor), picks that have seemingly come out of nowhere.
I mean, 2001? Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging getting an honor? Don’t get me wrong, I think the book is fabbity-fab and an absolute riot, but how many people would’ve predicted it would receive a Printz Honor? 2003—Postcards from No Man’s Land over The House of the Scorpion? Okay, so I wasn’t actually a YA librarian back then, and maybe these two examples weren’t shocking to anyone at the time. But then, 2007—American Born Chinese over both The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; v. 1: The Pox Party AND The Book Thief? I thought, and it seemed to me that most other people thought, one of the latter two was going to win. And, again, last year? Leaving aside personal reactions to the individual works (I’ve already admitted I was not a fan of The White Darkness), how many people saw that set of books coming? How many people had even heard of One Whole and Perfect Day? Was I not the only person shocked that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was not recognized by the committee at all?
So with this in mind, here a couple of books that don’t seem to be getting much buzz in the various mock awards and discussions I’ve read, but which I can see receiving the Printz or a Printz Honor. There are a bunch of titles that pop up on most, if not all, of the lists I’ve seen (Octavian II, Frankie, Paper Towns, etc. See this list for a sampling), and I’m going to ignore them for the purposes of this post. I’m also going to limit my picks to books on the final BBYA nominations list, just so I don’t go crazy wracking my brain, and to books that I’ve read.
My I’m-not-saying-these-are-going-to-win-(after-all-I-didn’t-even-get-one-right-last-year)-but-I-wouldn’t-be-surprised-if-the-committee-selected-one-of-these-as-the-award-winner-or-as-an-honor-book picks in alphabetical order:
I Know It’s Over by C. K. Kelly Martin
Because I’m not the only one who thinks it’s great. It received several starred reviews and is a Cybils finalist. The characterizations are vivid and, more than any other book I read last year, real. I might want to be friends with Audrey (from Audrey, Wait!), I might consider Jonah Griggs (Jellicoe Road) and Dane Rafferty (Thaw) the most compelling characters, but Nick felt the most real.
On the other hand: it’s not a finalist for the Morris Award, which makes me think a Printz nod is unlikely.
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Yes, it’s a Cybils finalist. Yes, I love this book. Yes, it is now officially my favorite book of 2008 and, at this moment, my favorite YA book ever. But I can still be objective about it. Right?
Because… Okay, have you read this book yet? It is brilliant. It’s complicated, confusing, does not spell things out for the reader, and is ultimately more rewarding because of this. Yet even as you’re wondering what is going on, you’re still drawn into the story, still want to keep reading instead of putting the book down. In terms of its literary quality, I think it stands out in every way: voice, character building and character development, plot, structure, writing.
On the other hand: my favorite book of 2007? The book I loved more than any other from an emotional standpoint and admired more than any other for its literary merit, because of the character development, the narrative voice sounding like that an 18-year-old and dialogue that was realistic and conversational, and the structure, with the flashbacks, not flickers? With a couple of lines that just broke my heart? That had me telling people, “Oh my god, this book was so good! It. Blew. Me. Away.”? That was a Cybils finalist (and eventual winner—not that I’m making any predictions about what this year’s judges will pick)? That received a couple more starred reviews than Jellicoe Road? Boy Toy. Shut out completely!
On the other…hand? foot?: Marchetta is Australian (hi, Judith Clarke, Sonya Hartnett, Margo Lanagan, and Markus Zusak!). And as much as I love and admire Boy Toy, my reaction to Jellicoe Road is like Boy Toy x 10. Except as much as I gush about it, it’s a lot harder to describe to people than Boy Toy.
Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
I’ve only seen it on one mock Printz list, but it is a finalist in the Cybils graphic novel category. To quote the Cybils panel: “Atmospheric and intimate at the same time, this debut graphic novel about an angsty teen avoids the usual cliches through sheer sympathy and grace and the beautiful art lends it an unusual delicacy.” I wouldn’t count it out since a graphic novel has already won the award.
On the other hand: I think it’s been getting more love from graphic novel types than YA lit folks.
There’s also Would You by Marthe Jocelyn (nothing more than my gut on this one), Ghost Medicine by Andrew Smith (which I’m including largely because of the combination of starred reviews + I really struggled to get through it), and Me, The Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine (because it’s on the Morris shortlist and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal).
What about you? What are your under the radar picks for all YA fiction published last year, not just the BBYA nominees? Any non-fiction titles?
Now, I just need to find the time to read the books.
I jumped up and down and yelled “YES!”
I think you are your own hero, Cheryl. Congrats on this wonderful achievement.
Aw, thank you C Lee. (hugging you) I so appreciate your kind words.