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TwistedLaurie Halse Anderson
young adult
It's not brand-spanking new like
Wintergirls, but
Twisted is definitely worth a read. First, it is not a girl book. I'm very into boy books these days since I'm working on one. Go figure! And it's a real gem to find a boy book that deals with boy emotions from a boy perspective BUT is written by a woman.
A woman's approach to a male character and the result is all way in the forefront of my conscious writing after listening to Mike Sullivan speak at a conference I was speaking at last weekend. He drove home the point that we "girls" like connection and peaceful resolutions to problems. We're internally driven. Boys need to make connection. They need to experience tactile-y how something feels, works, and affects them. That's why they drive their bikes off of cliffs and that kind of extreme sports stuff. Sure, there are girls who do it too, and Sullivan says that both boy and girl readers who are reluctant readers share this hands-on approach to life. They need to experience.
Having said that, as a woman, I felt like Anderson did a great job with bringing her boy character home. Granted in this story of the dweeb turned bad boy, there is the Anderson element of darkness. Tyler does ultimately consider suicide. He also considers blowing up his school. Hurting his peers. Shooting his father. Yet, in the end, he decides to make a turn. To man up and face up to his dad. To win respect with guts rather than guns.
In all that, I can't help wondering if that's a woman's take or a man' reality. Trouble male teens don't all blow up schools or shoot themselves or hurt others. But, is the journey to manning up grittier and more experiential than even Anderson gives us? Compare her work to Walter Dean Myers'
Monster. Myer's novel is rawer. It made me feel physically ill with worry as the character told his story. The emotion I came away with from Myers' work was uncomfortable. Unfamiliar. Unfemale.
Can we women portray Myers' type of gritty male? Absolutely. If we're willing to understand it. Which may or may not take actually experiencing it like a man might choose to.
What do you think? I'd really love some input on this. I'm trying to understand the male mojo. Not an easy feat. But doable, right?
For more great reads, hop over to
Barrie Summy's site. You're sure to Spring into something fun!
By:
Bianca Schulze,
on 1/10/2011
Blog:
The Children's Book Review
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By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: January 10, 2011
As announced by the American Library Association (ALA) …
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award
Recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults:
“One Crazy Summer,” written by Rita Williams-Garcia is the 2011 King Author Book winner. The book is published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Three King Author Honor Books were selected:
“Lockdown,” by Walter Dean Myers and published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; “Ninth Ward,” by Jewell Parker Rhodes and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.; and “Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty,” written by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke and published by Lee & Low Books Inc.
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award
Recognizing an African American illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:
“Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave,” illustrated by Bryan Collier, is the 2011 King Illustrator Book winner. The book was written by Laban Carrick Hill and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
One King Illustrator Honor Book was selected:
“Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix,” illustrated by Javaka Steptoe, written by Gary Golio and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent (Author) Award
“Zora and Me
By:
Betsy Bird,
on 10/17/2010
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A Fuse #8 Production
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As far as I’m concerned, every good blog post should begin with fiction starring Gregory Peck. What we have here is one of the luscious finds boasted by Greg Hatcher over at the site Comic Book Resources. I’m a big fan of Hatcher because when he does round ups like this one he always takes care to mention a lot of collectible children’s literature. In this post alone you’ll see what the going price is for a good old hardcover Oz or Narnia title, as well as his discovery of Millions of Cats. I remember that when I conducted by Top 100 Picture Books Poll that Millions of Cats was the surprise Top Ten winner. Folks continually forget to give it its due.
- Collecting Children’s Books has the usual plethora of wonderfulness up and running for your consideration. First Peter discovers and prints out the complete shortlists of Newbery contenders between the years of 1973-75 (something I wish they still did) and then in a different post considers the state of recent children’s books and whether any of them have been made into Broadway musicals. None that I can think of, since A Year With Frog and Toad isn’t exactly contemporary. Coraline did sort of make it to Broadway a year or so ago (or was that considered off-Broadway?), but that’s the only one I can think of.
- Hey hey! While we were all sleeping the candidates nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award were announced. You can see the full list of candidates from countries all over the country here. If I had the time and ability I would familiarize myself with all those names that are unknown to me. On the American side of things, however, here are the USA representatives: Ashley Bryan, Eric Carle, Julius Lester, Grace Lin, Walter Dean Myers, Anne Pellowski, Jerry Pinkney, Reading is Fundamental, and Allen Say. Good luck, guys (and well played Grace for being the youngest). Here’s hoping some of you make it to the final consideration. After all, the Lindgren is the largest monetary award a children’s writer or illustrator can win.
- It was a good week for finalists of all sorts, actually. The National Book Award finalists were released last week and included Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker, Kathryn Erskine’s Mockingbird, Laura McNeal’s Dark Water, Walter Dean Myers’ Lockdown, and Rita Williams-Garcia’s One Crazy Summer. How interesting it is to me that non-fiction didn’t make even a sin
Richie Perry wasn’t supposed to be in Vietnam. Yeah, he’d enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school because he couldn’t afford college and someone had to support his family, especially his younger brother, Ken. But an Army doctor said Richie had a bum knee, so he wasn’t fit for combat duty. And definitely not for duty in Vietnam.
But there was a paperwork mix up. Richie was shipped off to Vietnam while the rest of his unit was sent to Germany, and although Richie arrived in Vietnam, his medical papers didn’t seem to have made it at all.
Richie can’t leave Vietnam without the medical profile. While they wait for it to arrive, Richie is to stay with the squad he was assigned to. He’s in the infantry, part of a squad with a couple other guys new to Vietnam: Peewee and Johnson, both of whom are black, as is Richie, and Jenkins. Rumors around the camp say that the war will end soon, but in the meantime, patrols are still needed, landing zones must be secured, and villages visited. And in spite of the rumors, it seems as if the fighting is getting worse. It doesn’t help that Captain Stewart is volunteering the squads under his command, including Richie’s, for duties in an attempt to increase his kill totals, hoping this will lead to his promotion. Nor does the soldiers’ suspicions that a racist sergeant is putting the black soldiers in the most dangerous positions.
Prolific author Walter Dean Myers is in fine form in Fallen Angels. It’s not a romantic depiction of war, but a terribly human one. Bonds are formed among the squad members, making the toll of seeing friends die that much greater. They are forced into situations where they must kill or be killed; characters—characters readers come to care for—must kill in order to survive, and in some cases, they will die anyway.
Myers doesn’t linger excessively on sentimentality, however. The colloquial dialogue, including some racist and homophobic language used by the soldiers*, is realistic and sharp. Richie is a sympathetic narrator, and since Myers is equally adept at writing battle scenes and quieter moments, Fallen Angels is fast-paced, thoughtful, and very readable.
If you’ve read Sunrise Over Fallujah (discussed here earlier this month), Richie’s name may be familiar, since he is the uncle of the main character in the former book.
* probably one of the reasons Fallen Angels is frequently challenged. It was the 36th most challenged book between 1990 and 1999, and 11th on the list of the 100 most challenged books between 2000 and 2009.
Book source: public library.
Cross-posted at Guys Lit Wire.
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The past couple of weeks have been interesting. I haven't felt like blogging very much, which probably has something to do with the fact that I'm waking up each weekday morning at 4:45am and feel like doing absolutely nothing by the time I get home. Sooo, Picture Book Saturday took an unexpected hiatus, but it's back...at least for now!
Chester's Masterpiece by Melanie Watt
If you have yet to pick up a Chester book, go out to the library and grab the first two, pronto! These hilarious books, written "with no help from Melanie Watt," feature Chester the cat, a character kids are loving.
In the latest Chester installment, Chester's Masterpiece, the author and Chester go back and forth with each other, each trying to write their masterpiece. Melanie just wants to be able to write her book, but Chester insists that he needs absolutely no help from her, resulting in a very funny ongoing disagreement.
The illustrations of Chester are adorable (he even looks slightly annoying) and the cute sticky notes from Melanie add to the fun. Kids will love Chester's antics!
Overall rating: 4 out of 5
Kids love Chester, parents love Chester! My only issue is that books like these are slightly hard to use as read alouds, just due to the sheer amount of "stuff" on each page. Not necessarily a bad thing for a family read, but a little difficult with a group.
Chester's Masterpiece
Melanie Watt
32 pages
Picture Book
Kids Can Press
9781554535668
March 2010
Review copy received from publisher
What Color is Caesar by Maxine Kumin and illustrator Alison Friend
I'm a huge fan of dog books, no matter the genre and Caesar is just adorable! He's now one of my favorite dog characters and I want to just smush him for being so sweet.
Caesar simply wants to know one thing: is he black with white spots? Or is he white with black spots? He goes around asking all sorts of black and white animals what they think his basic color is, but no one can give him an honest answer. In the process though, Caesar learns a lot about colors and even more about what it means to be yourself.
This is not a typical "it doesn't matter if you're different" book. It has some substance, a lot of subtle humor, adorable illustrations, and a fantastic message. It's a bit wordy, so I wouldn't count on your toddlers sitting still through the whole book, but children a bit older will love Caesar.
Overall rating: 4 out of 5
A unique spin on a pretty common theme. Loved the humor, loved the main character, and the not-so-obvious color lessons. Didn't necessarily love the length.
What Color is Caesar?
Maxine Kumin
46 pages<
Publisher's description:
"When I first got to Progress, it freaked me out to be locked in a room and unable to get out. But after a while, when you got to thinking about it, you knew nobody could get in, either.
It seems as if the only progress that's going on at Progress juvenile facility is moving from juvy jail to real jail. Reese wants out early, but is he supposed to just sit back and let his friend Toon get jumped? Then Reese gets a second chance when he's picked for the work program at a senior citizens' home. He doesn't mean to keep messing up, but it's not so easy, at Progress or in life. One of the residents, Mr. Hooft, gives him a particularly hard time. If he can convince Mr. Hooft that he's a decent person, not a criminal, maybe he'll be able to convince himself."
Author Walter Dean Myers lives up to his reputation of thrilling, thought-provoking books for teens with his latest. Reese was a believable character with a realistic past and the reader has no choice but to connect with him, as he is one of those "in-your-face" characters. And I really found myself cheering for him and enjoying his thoughts as he did his time. His connection with the elderly Mr. Hooft is also written in an incredibly believable manner and I found myself picturing this man and this boy, actually having these conversations, and chuckling to myself when the insults would start flying.
The imagery is awesome and the page-turning aspect is high. Your reluctant readers will really enjoy this one, as will those that want to devour every book they can get their hands on. Lockdown is a glimpse into juvenile jail, as well as the mind of a boy who wants nothing more than to do the right thing.
As I was reading, I kept picturing DeShawn, from If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser. You can read my review of that one here. These boys would most-definitely be friends in real life.
Lockdown
Walter Dean Myers
256 pages
Young Adult
Amistad
9780061214806
February 2009
Review copy received from publisher
To learn more, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon. I am an Associate and will receive a tiny commission for your purchase.
By:
Administrator,
on 11/27/2009
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Margo Dill's Read These Books and Use Them!
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photo by Vadim Lavrusik www.flickr.com
*Picture book for preschoolers through third graders, contemporary
*Young boy as main character
*Rating: Looking Like Me is a rhythmic self-esteem-builder journey for young children by father/son duo Walter Dean and Christopher Myers.
Short, short summary: Looking Like Me is basically a list of all the things that a boy/girl can be. For example, in the beginning of the book, Jeremy says: “I looked in the mirror and what did I see? A real handsome dude looking just like me. He put out his fist. I gave it a bam!” Then along comes, Jeremy’s sister and tells him he is a little brother. She puts out her fist and he says, “I gave it a bam! Jeremy and brother, That’s who I am.” Thus the book continues as Jeremy takes the reader through every title that makes up who he is from son to writer to runner. And of course, each time, he gives the person a BAM! Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers is a book to read aloud to children over and over again.
So, what do I do with this book?
1. This is one of those books that would be a great activity for the beginning of the school year. Students could write at the top of a piece of paper, “I AM. . .” Then they could make a list of all the “titles” or “people” they are from family relationships to interests to everyday titles such as student or neighbor. You could also cut some letters out of magazines and build the words underneath the I AM with magazine letters instead of written letters to make the list more in the style of Christopher Myers’s illustrations.
2. Speaking of illustrations, the pictures in Looking Like Me are something to study. Each page has a photograph (at least one) under a multi-colored boy. Once you have read the book out loud to children, go back and study the pictures with them. Maybe even make a list of the photos and the words to see if there is any pattern. For example, on the page about being a runner, there’s a picture of an upside-down ketchup bottle and then a drawn illustration of a boy running. Students can even make their own illustrations in Christopher Myers’s style to go with their I AM lists.
3. Looking Like Me is an example of good word choice (one of the 6 traits of writing.) Discuss the specific words that jump out at students and why those are the perfect words to use in this story. Ask students if they think Walter Dean Myers just sat down and got these exact perfect words onto paper the first time he wrote the story. Did he have to play around with the word choice? Why does it make a better book?
Anybody who wants to share an I AM list here. . .feel free!
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By:
Lizzy Burns,
on 8/25/2009
Blog:
A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy
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Riot
by Walter Dean Myers. Egmont USA. September 2009. Reviewed from ARC from publisher.*
The Plot: A story of the 1863 New York Draft riots, told primarily through the eyes of Claire Johnson, 15, daughter of an Irish mother and black father.
The Good:
The problem with an ARC like this is I don't have the photographs, maps, and illustrations the final copy will have and, as an armchair history lover, I want them.
The author thanks Professors Padraig OCearuill and Marion Case of NYU's Glucksman Ireland House in this book. So, while my copy lacked the various back matter, my assumptions are that the history in this can be relied on. For example? Those thinking "a white mother? and black father? in New York City in the nineteenth century? I don't think so!" can be rest assured (if they rely on Wikipedia) that New York was one of a handful of states that never had laws about marriage between the races.
Riot is balanced; it portrays and does not excuse the violence, but Myers illustrates that the roots of the anger and the violence were about racial hatred, yes, but also fed by ignorance, poverty, and social injustice.
The use of a screenplay is interesting; unlike Monster
, it's not being written by a character. It starts on the streets of present day New York, rapidly skipping back in time until July, 1863 is reached. Riot does not pretend to be written in the nineteenth century; from the first scene it's clear that this is a look at the past through present eyes, the present day unseen narrator being the screenplay writer.
The storytelling device focuses primarily on Claire, who, literally, has a foot in both worlds as the racial tension escalates into violence and she tries to figure out her place in her world. A number of other people are also introduced, covering the variety of people touched by the riots: a girl working at the Colored Orphan Asylum, soldiers, police officers, rioters, observers. The camera cuts away to these other players, always returning to Claire and how she sorts things out.
At times, the speech and action of Claire and others seems modern; but the screenplay format is a constant reminder that this isn't really historical fiction. It's often been said that historical fiction doesn't reveal as much about the historical time being presented as it does about the present. And that is what the sometimes modern thoughts or actions reminds us -- that Claire's questions about identity and race are not some long ago quaint question but are today's issues. Yes, we've elected the first black president; but look at the dialogue, still, about whether he is "black" or "white." Looking at the violence that "have nots" inflict on other "have nots" is not something safely in the past.
* True Story about how I got this ARC. Waiting for the plane to Chicago for ALA, I had a "meet up" with someone I know via Twitter, who works for Egmont, and gave me a copy. Add it to the list of "anecdotal evidence of the benefits of Twitter."
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
By: Elizabeth,
on 8/6/2009
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I’ve been thinking a lot about historical fiction, because I’ve recently read two books set in 2003.
I said before (though I’m not sure if I explained it well) that the intentional dated-ness is one of the things that really worked for me in SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH: we know, if not “the end” to that story, more than the characters do. Walter Dean Myers doesn’t have to show us Birdie learning that there are no WMDs, because we know; it makes his belief more poignant.
(And actually, this makes me think that a very powerful story could be written that goes farther in this direction, and doesn’t have the characters experience the kind of disillusionment that Birdie does undergo in that story. This would really exploit the asymmetry of knowledge between the characters and the readers. Anyone have a good example of a story like this — doesn’t have to be about Iraq?)
More recently (by which I mean yesterday), I read Peter Cameron’s SOMEDAY THIS PAIN WILL BE USEFUL TO YOU. Emily and I have talked a few times about books set in New York, about which we’re bound to have strong opinions one way or the other; this one rang true to me. Partly that’s because, while it’s set in a far wealthier slice of New York than I usually intersect with (and an eminently parodiable one at that), it just happened to hit the details of my own haunts. This passage made me sit up and cheer:
I wouldn’t become part of the evil empire that is NYU if you paid me. (NYU has single-handedly ruined most of the Village, including the dog run in Washington Square: they built this huge building that casts its shadow over the park, so that areas of the dog run are perpetually in shade.)
I went to NYU, and hated it (great profs; lousy place), and they have ruined big chunks of my neighborhood, and they are an evil empire. Sing it, Cameron.
But besides my own personal joy at seeing my enmity printed in bestselling book form, what I think worked about Cameron’s portrayal of New York was its specificity. When he described the protagonist’s feelings about a specific intersection I’ve walked by hundreds of times (LaGuardia and Houston), I couldn’t remember the details he described from my own wanderings, and I lacked the same associations this character had, but I got it. Not just because the narration was describing the city, but because the way this character described the city made me understand who he was. His character was bound up in it being precisely downtown New York in 2003, and vice-versa. That’s why it felt like New York, not like name-dropping New York.
I can’t get behind this mode of storytelling — this retelling of our own recent past — unreservedly: I saw, for example, that David Levithan’s new book is set on and after 9/11, and I cringed. I’ve had enough of that, thank you.
But in general, I’m intrigued by setting YA books so distinctly in a time we’ve just been through. Compare it to, say, Sarah Dessen’s studied timelessness: her characters are barely digital (keep in mind, I haven’t read her two most recent). I feel like a lot of YA authors are living out their own adolescences in their books, or some warp of their adolescence with their lives now. But contemporary teenagers’ lives aren’t necessarily the intersection of universal teenage angst plus, say, cell phones the way a thirty-something author might use them.* Like, how does it change teenage dating that everyone has a cell? I was extraordinarily privileged to have my own phone line in high school, and let me tell you, my high school dating life was different because of it.
My point is, there’s something else being portrayed in books like Dessen’s, that’s sold like it’s some universal adolescence, but it isn’t (and I’m sorry to always use Dessen as my punching bag, because I love her books, but they are also to me the best representatives of a category of book I can’t quite wrap my head around, or understand why I enjoy so deeply). The “timelessness” is really an experience that never quite existed for anyone: it’s, perhaps, what teenagers living in the ’80s would’ve been like in an altered reality that made pop culture more like today’s (or more cynically — especially since many of the lead characters and love interests in these books are more emotionally mature than half the adults I know — it’s what Gen X women, not just the YA authors but the growing number of adult women YA readers like me, project backwards to reimagine adolescence). And I wonder if the girls who are attracted to Dessen’s books are exactly the girls who are most inclined to try to fit their lives into some idea of what universal girlhood looks like, if that’s part of their appeal.
I’m not getting anywhere thinking more about this… opinions?
* And because I am, to my great surprise, an aspiring demographer, I will tell you that this phenomenon — where the experience of being a particular age at a particular time is something much more specific than just the effects of the age (universalized to any time) plus the effects of the time (for people of any age) — is called a cohort effect. UnderageReading: puzzle over book, name-drop tv show from fifteen years hence, snark, define jargon, call it a day.
Posted in A New York City childhood, Cameron, Peter, Dessen, Sarah, Levithan, David, Myers, Walter Dean, On Genre, Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You, Sunrise Over Fallujah
One of the reasons Madison’s public library wants me dead is my reluctance to read Walter Dean Myers’s SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH. I returned this to the library, overdue, twice without having read it, before finally getting myself to crack it open (at a point when the creditors’ letters bemoaning my idea that this time, I’m really going to read this! were piling up).
Why the reluctance? I love Myers — I have since some kind soul got me to read MONSTER — and I was excited to know SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH was coming out. I think the source of my Hotel Rwanda-ing of it is mostly that I read about, and think about, and talk about Iraq all the time*, and the idea of doing it at bedtime, when I read kids’ books to relax, was a bit overwhelming.
Of course, I’ve also been working on IRAQIGIRL this past year, putting “children’s/YA books about the Iraq war” a little more firmly into the camp of “work” rather than “chilling out with a sauvignon blanc and a book and pretending there’s not some journal article that some more virtuous grad student somewhere is taking notes on (or writing) while I enjoy this shit.”
Anyway, I was really glad when I finally did force myself to start SUNRISE, because it is excellent. All of Myers’s usual strengths come into play: he manages to genuinely individuate characters by the precise brand of sardonic wit they employ. This feat is one thing that elevates the book over generic war stories, with their military banter so tired we feel we’re on our own third deployment of it; I’ve, sadly, read my fair share of that, too, and Myers is better than it.
Another notable characteristic of SUNRISE is the serious research effort that Myers clearly put into it. Having read a lot of soldiers’ memoirs (nearly all more brutal and negative about the war than what Myers portrays, by the way, although his has certainly been received as a bleak view), SUNRISE broadly accords with what I’ve read and also heard soldiers describe; Myers also makes good use of facts that have more recently come to light — like Blackwater’s role in Iraq — to imagine what the war looked like back in its earliest days.
I particularly appreciated that some of this research was clearly off the beaten path of mainstream U.S. reporting, as when Myers’s protagonist, Robin “Birdy” Perry, witnesses an argument between his superior and a local sheikh:
“Do you really think that we have the problems your papers are reporting?” Hamid asked. “Do you think that people who have lived together more years than your country has been in existence suddenly find it impossible? That the hatred has grown so quickly between Sunnis and Shiites that we must shoot each other and bomb each other?”
The mythology of timeless and unchanging ethnic hatred in Iraq is so taken for granted in the U.S. that I was surprised and happy to see it explicitly challenged in one of the book’s key scenes. And it’s historically accurate: SUNRISE is set in the war’s first year, before the ethnic divisions among Iraqis had become so entrenched by the experience of occupation and by the electoral and military systems designed by the U.S.
That decision to set the story in the war’s early days is what gives Myers’s book its most effective emotional punch: the characters can truly believe that they’re about the find the fabled WMD, and we get to vicariously experience their ultimate betrayal without Myers having to take his story there directly. Here’s another such scene:
“Tell him we didn’t come to kill him,” I said. “That we’re trying to build a democracy over here.”
“You bombed my village,” the old man, his head down, replied slowly in English. “First you shoot into my house, then you come to the door.”
“Where you learn to speak English?” Jonesy asked.
“I drove a cab in London for twelve years,” answered the old man. “When I had enough money to buy a house for my family, I came back to my country.”
“You’re going to be all right,” Jonesy said. “We don’t hurt our prisoners.”
And, of course, everything we know about Abu Ghraib and everything else makes this scene intensely painful.
Which also raises my biggest question about the book. People who are about to be freshmen in college this fall were in sixth grade when the Iraq war began; they were in elementary school during 9/11. Myers’s target audience of high school students, of course, was even younger. Do they even remember the lies about the WMD? Do they remember Abu Ghraib? They never experienced, as news-aware citizens, the days when the most optimistic hopes of Myers’s characters were taken for granted by most Americans. What do they make of this book? And when Jonesy assures his prisoner, do they believe him?
* Emily and I both have a long history of involvement in the antiwar movement; we both, for example, were at different times members of the national coordinating committee of the Campus Antiwar Network, back when were were in college.
Posted in Myers, Walter Dean, Sunrise Over Fallujah, The Literary is Political
Guest Blogger Susannah Harris is the manager of AdLit.org, a national multimedia initiative offering resources to the parents and educators of struggling readers and writers in grades 4-12. Susannah has been a tutor herself for more than 16 years working with a range of organizations including The Higher Achievement Program and Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, She is the Volunteer Coordinator for The Community Club, a tutoring program serving middle and high schools students in Washington, D.C.
Yesterday, President Barack Obama reminded us in his inaugural address that “we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”
To encourage teens and at-risk youth to make healthy, productive choices for themselves, AdLit.org, the National Education Association (NEA) and award-winning young adult author Walter Dean Myers have launched the Second Chance Initiative, The initiative is centered around Myers’ new book Dope Sick, which stretches the boundaries of realism to bring forth a tale of second chances, redemption, and the promise of hope.
In Dope Sick, Lil J has lived through the layers of pain that are so difficult for inner-city youngsters to transcend and has been exposed to an astonishing array of drugs. His path from “brokesick” to “dopesick” leads to a drug deal gone bad and a shot undercover cop. Lil J suddenly finds himself in an abandoned crack house with a bullet wound to the arm. He would do anything to change the last 24 hours. That possibility becomes real when he stumbles into Kelly, who is set up in front of a TV set with remote control, ready to provide Lil J the opportunity to assess and confront his own existence and ultimately, a chance to change the direction of his life.
The first three chapters of Dope Sick are available for download from AdLit.org now, and from February 10-24, the entire book will be available for free online reading on HarperCollins’ website.
Visit AdLit.org for the following additional resources to promote meaningful discussions with the teens in your life:
- The first three chapters of Dope Sick
- An interview with award-winning author Walter Dean Myers
- A Dope Sick Reading Guide with writing activities and discussion questions
- Resources on preventing substance abuse, teen pregnancy and high school dropouts.
- Resources to strengthen school and family partnerships to support young people.
- A flier to help spread the word
Following the attacks of September 11th, Robin Perry feels compelled to join the army. Having completed basic training, Robin is headed off to Iraq as a part of a Civil Affairs Unit. Robin struggles with the war, as he has a difficult time figuring out who exactly they are supposed to be fighting. Robin’s narrative is broken up by letters home to his parents, who he shields from the reality of
If you’re planning to attend the ALA (American Library Association) conference in Anaheim in June, I’d like to make the following plug for your consideration. As a member of the very first Odyssey committee, I’m especially excited to see this inaugural event. Hope you’ll join us!
This year’s Booklist Books for Youth program in Anaheim will be devoted to the new Odyssey Award, given for excellence in audiobook production. The award will be presented to Arnie Cardillo of Live Oak Media, for his production of Walter Dean Myers’ Jazz, and five honor productions will be recognized. Speakers include Arnie Cardillo, author-audiobook producer Bruce Coville, and celebrated audiobook reader Simon Vance. There will also be plenty of entertaining clips from the winners. The award, selected and administered by a joint committee representing ALSC and YALSA, is sponsored by Booklist. Join the celebration on Friday, June 26, 8-10 p.m.
What’s the poetry connection? You may recall that the winner is JAZZ, a book of poetry! I’ve blogged about Jazz before because I just love that book. You may remember that I wrote about this book previously when it received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator honor citation, was selected as one of the five poetry books nominated for the Cybils Award, and appeared on my very own list of the “Best Poetry for Children in 2006.” Now, the audio adaptation has won the very first Odyssey Award. Clearly, it is a terrific book! As I noted previously, it’s a vibrant picture book poetry collection that is a celebration of jazz music and history and a tribute to New Orleans. The language is vivid and participatory and the art is obviously prize winning—sprawling and expressive. It also includes a helpful “Introduction,” “Glossary of Jazz Terms,” and a “Jazz Time Line.” And the illustrations in Mardi Gras colors of green, golds, and purples just leap off the page, the perfect accompaniment to the lively language.
The audio production is an amazing creation that takes the book even further. It is beautifully narrated by two performers, by James "D-Train" Williams and Vaneese Thomas with the perfect juxtaposition of male and female voices. Their delivery alone is milk and honey, but Live Oak Media commissioned original jazz music as a backdrop for the poetry, too. Incredible! The music takes this lyrical and rousing poetry to a new level. As we wrote in the press release for the announcement, “Original music accompanies each poem's performance, resulting in a rhythmic representation of mood and tone. Separate tracks for the selections and lively inclusion of a glossary and timeline create a dynamic audiobook; part poetry, part nonfiction, and wholly authentic.”
Picture credit: http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/odysseyaward/odysseyawardcurrentwinner/odysseycurrentwinner.cfm
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By:
Mary Burkey,
on 1/14/2008
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Hooray! The first Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production medalists have been named! As chair of the committee that had the pleasure of choosing the titles, I can say that the decision came after deliberating many wonderful productions. We were amazed that the finest titles also covered a breadth and range of ages and interests. But the truly astonishing fact was discovered only after we had completed the entire process. We all felt the planets aligning when we realized that the author of the first Odyssey winner, Walter Dean Myers, was also the winner of the first Printz Award. It was meant to be.
The winner:
Jazz. By Walter Dean Myers. Narrated by James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas. 43min. Live Oak Media. CS, $25.95 (9781430100195); CD, $28.95 (9781430100225).
“Jazz,” a production of Live Oak Media, takes the readalong to new heights as James “D-Train” Williams and Vaneese Thomas perform the work of Walter Dean Myers. Original music accompanies each poem's performance, resulting in a rhythmic representation of mood and tone. Separate tracks for the selections and lively inclusion of a glossary and timeline create a dynamic audiobook; part poetry, part nonfiction, and wholly authentic.
The Honor audiobooks:
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy By L. A. Meyer. Narrated by Katherine Kellgren. 8hr. Listen & Live Audio. CD $37.95. (9781593160944).
Katherine Kellgren’s vocal athleticism takes listeners from the filthy streets of eighteenth century London to the high seas in Meyer’s fast-paced novel about a girl who stows away as a cabin boy.
Dooby Dooby Moo. By Doreen Cronin. Narrated by Randy Travis. 13.36min. Weston Woods/Scholastic. CS $24.95 (9780545042833). CD $29.95 (9780545042819).
Music and barnyard chatter enhance Randy Travis’ performance of Cronin’s comic tale of talented farm animals gone wild.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. By J. K. Rowling. Narrated by Jim Dale. 21hr. Listening Library. CS, $90 (9780739360408; CD, $90(9780739360415).
Jim Dale masters and maintains voices for all genders, ages, species, and emotions created by author J.K. Rowling in this final Harry Potter adventure.
Skulduggery Pleasant. By Derek Landy. Narrated by Rupert Degas. 7.5hr. HarperChildren’s Audio. CD, $27.95 (9780061341045).
Rupert Degas fleshes out a cast of characters including a “tweenage” girl, nefarious villains, and a skeleton detective. Music and sound effects mirror the mood of this bone-rattling mystery.
Treasure Island. By Robert Louis Stevenson. Narrated by Alfred Molina. 7hr. Listening Library. CD, $55 (9780739350836).
Stevenson’s pirate classic elegantly unfolds as Alfred Molina’s panoply of accents and the soundscape of the sea place listeners aboard the Hispaniola.
Listen and discover the best in audiobook literature.
It's pretty simple:
Boys tease you if they like you.
I know! It's true! Sure, people told me that and I poo-
pooed it (because I thought they were just trying to make me feel better), but it's honest-to-God the truth. It's something in the male DNA or the
testosterone or something, but they love to tease girls. The more they like you, the more they'll tease you. Especially if you react to the teasing. Why? It keeps you thinking about the guy. If he teases you, you're aware of him. If you think he's being mean, then you hash about it and dissect it and wonder what's up. Well, mission accomplished for him because he is now on your radar.
I wish I'd known this. I mean
really known it was true.
It started in kindergarten when J.C. wiped his finger paint on me. I told him to stop, but he kept doing it. Little did I know he liked me. All I could focus on was my new red jumper that my grandma from New York sent me now looked like a used smock and I was gonna get in
troooooooouble! Stupid J.C. Then, at lunch, he sat next to me and poured his milk on my sandwich. What an idiot! Of course, I cried and Mrs.
Eagan got me a fresh sandwich from her kitchen and told me, "J.C.'s teasing you because he likes you." Yeah, right. He was teasing me because I had just moved to the south from Boston. Well, that's WHY I thought it. But you know, looking back at the memories...I'll be dog-
gonned, he
did like me 'cause he tried to hold my hand on the playground. Paint me surprised.
Then, in second grade, J.D. came all the way across the playground and pushed me off the seesaw. I fell in the dirt and tore my tights. (Again, with me destroying my outfit and getting in trouble.) But Mrs.
Strother told me he liked me and was just playing with me. The strong-willed little animal within me, sought him out and pushed him back. Then, my cousin stepped in to defend my honor and challenged J.D. to a "duel." The next day at recess, they made paper/cardboard swords and had a duel over my honor. (Are you laughing? I am, just remembering this!) My cousin was triumphant and J.D. was defeated swiftly by the Reynolds Wrap over the cardboard sword. Of course, in the end, J.D. bought me a cookie at recess, asked me to a dance and then kissed me on the cheek. So, wait...he really
did like me?
In sixth grade, the guys in my class all decided that they would declare "war" on the girls. Suddenly, they were shooting
rubberbands and paperclips at us and popping our bras. Whenever Mrs. Gilchrist left us alone, the room turned into downtown Baghdad. The boys would chase us around and snap our bra straps and then
whap us with the flying office supplies. Some girls would cower at their desk and beg for mercy. Others would fight back, being almost as aggressive as the guys. Not me. I wanted to cry. (What? I was 11 years old!) Why? 'Cause those paperclips rolled up inside paper launched by
rubberbands hurt like blue-blazing Hades! This one guy in particular, C.S., seemed to enjoy using me for target practice. I was convinced that he hated me with the passion of a thousand suns. A point proven when he maimed me so badly that my bra strap broke and I had a red whelp on my arm. (Imagine this today...it'd be on Larry King or something with the 11 year old being arrested for assault!
LOL!) So, what did
brainiac me do? I told on him. Yeah. Not a smart move. That ended the teasing...and his apparent "like" of me.
In tenth grade, I might have caught on a little more to the inner workings of the male mind, but I still wasn't convinced about this whole "I tease you because I like you" thing. On the basketball bus one night returning from a game (I was a cheerleader), I somehow got into an arm-wrestling match with L.O. that resulted in him literally holding on to my wrists, arms and hands all the way on the hour plus trip. Now, I had a
massive crush on him, so any contact was heaven for me. But I thought he literally was staving me off. Holding me away. Then, why not push me away instead of holding onto me over the seat of the bus.
Hmmm...if I'd known then what I know now, I'd know that he liked me because he was teasing me. Duh!!
And, it happened at work yesterday! Not in a romantic-like kind of way, but a good friend kind of way. A co-worker was giving me crap about something that was close to my heart and I got really offended by it. Being the
consumate professional that I am, I told him that he had really offended me and hurt my feelings. Then, I get an e-mail from him that said:
I was only teasing you because you and I are such good friends. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way. You are too nice and sweet! You know I would never intentionally hurt you in any way. You are a mega sweety!!!So wait...he was teasing me because we're good friends?
DOH!!! Why didn't I see that? 'Cause I was being a silly girl. We're still silly, even when we're "grown up." Go figure!
Any of you have any experiences like this? Do you think we'll ever learn?
Hugs,
Marley = )SORORITY 101: ZETA OR OMEGA?SORORITY 101: THE NEW SISTERSwriting as Kate HarmonMay 2008, Puffin BooksCurrently carrying around
Simone's Leaving Paradise in my bag, but haven't had time to read lately. I will, though!
Thanks so much for linking to my UK kidlit tour! Yes, the musical Matilda looks wonderful. The songs have been written by Tim Minchin, a very funny and usually quite acerbic comic so I can’t wait to hear how they’ve turned out.
Ah, but there IS a rather comprehensive list of children’s book awards — the Database of Award Winning Children’s Literature (www.dawcl.com) which is kept stunningly up to date by librarian Lisa Bartle. According to the site, “DAWCL has over 8,300 records from 91 awards across six English-speaking countries (United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, and Ireland). ” Although I will admit that neither the Jo Osborne Award or the Zena Sutherland Award appears in the database, this is still one ding-dang useful resource. (Who knew that the Society of School Librarians International gave out an award?)
Brooke, this link may have seriously improved my quality of life. Thank you! I had absolutely no idea. To the internets!
Here is another taxidermy-related image for your blog! Sophie Blackall’s window case, part of the Drawn in Brooklyn show: http://sophieblackall.blogspot.com/2010/09/drawn-in-brooklyn.html
Brilliant! The mark of the first stuffed penguin. Love the hat. Thanks, Sergio!
Off Broadway seems to be the home of Children’s Books into musicals today “Freckleface Strawberry-The Musical” is playing at the New World Stages of course my favorite musical based on a children’s book has got to be The Secret Garden which actually was on Broadway back in the early 90’s.
I’ll grant the requirement was “recent,” but if someone else brings up “The Secret Garden,” how can I resist? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7_a5nqWC_c