I'm meeting with Colin Thompson (and some folks from Fox Studios) so if there are any questions I can ask him from his fans, pass them my way. He's thrilled to publish his picture book, The Little Book of Happy Sadness (coming in September, 2008) and even more from him in seasons following, including Norman and Brenda, a sequel to The Short & Incredibly Happy Life of Riley.
Norman and Brenda
(coming soon from Kane/Miller Book Publishers, Inc.)
Currently Reading: The Brothers Grimm: Two Lives, One Legacy, Special Topics in Calamity Physics
Just Finished: Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear, From a Crooked Rib, Kitchen
Oh, I have a lot to talk about, I don't even know where to begin. It's like when you're writing a paper and you just become paralyzed with the enormity of the task before you and freeze up and never get started.
So... let's talk about some books, eh? I guess I'll focus on award winners and those with buzz. We'll see how far I get tonight!
First up on the block is the lovely
A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz
All Maud wants is to be adopted and to have a real family again. When the elderly
Hawthorne sisters take her home, Maud is overjoyed. She has nice clothes, good food, and indoor plumbing. What Maud doesn’t have is any friends—she’s not allowed to go to school or see visitors. Maud is a secret, and when she finds out
why, she has some very tough decisions to make about what’s important.
This was a very moving story about the compelling need for love and a home, versus doing what is right. At the same time, we get a good dose of spirituality and mediums and ghosts. It was wonderfully spooky without being scary.
I loved the way Maud's friendship developed with Muffet, the Hawthorne's deaf servant. I also liked the way that Maud really struggled with her decisions about what to do-- she didn't always want to do the right thing, and how Schlitz handles this conflict makes Maud so much more real and likeable.
It was getting a lot of well-deserved Newberry buzz and even though it didn't win and wasn't honored, you should still check it out.
Rules by Cynthia Lord.
This was a Newberry Honor, as well as the winner of the Schneider Family Book Award (for books about disabilities.)
Catherine is a twelve year old girl whose little brother, David, has autism. On one hand she is fiercely protective of him but on the other, she is mortified when h
I highly enjoyed all these books, especially Penny!