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At the Ontario Library Association Super Conference, the OLA Best Bets Committee said that Kevin Sylvester's middle grade non-fiction book BASEBALLOGY: SUPERCOOL FACTS YOU NEVER KNEW (Annick Press) was a fascinating read, whether or not you're a fan of baseball. "...This book pulls you in as it shares a wealth of historical facts, scientific explanations, and general information on anything and everything baseball. Sylvester delivers non-fiction material in his signature compelling, storytelling style."

I confess I'm not a huge baseball fan, but the rave review during the presentation has convinced me that I need to check this book out!

More info about BASEBALLOGY on the Annick Press site.

More info about Kevin Sylvester and his books.

Side note: to those who heard my keynote at the SCBWI-Florida Regional Conference, Kevin is also the MINRS author I mentioned, who advises that you need to be ready when lightning does strike.

The OLA Best Bets lists were just announced yesterday. Full lists should be online at the Ontario Library Association website soon. I was super-honoured that Where Are My Books? was chosen for their Top Ten Picture Books list!

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OLA today was wonderful! And tiring. And feel-good.

The first thing I saw when I got to the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth was my Canadian editor, Christie Harkin (it’s always lovely to see a friendly face), and then the beautifully arranged stack of copies of HUNTED!

I posed with Christie–but I still find having my photo taken slightly triggering, so it’s not the best smile. But Christie’s is!

I had SUCH fun at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside booth, signing HUNTED! In 25 minutes, we’d run out of all 100 copies of HUNTED! I couldn’t believe how fast they went, or that I’d had a long line! The people just kept coming! That was such a thrill, and I felt drunk on happiness for a while afterward. I think it was even happier for me because I’d had a fear that no one would come.

I also enjoyed speaking to each person, and I loved how when I’d offer a pen color, each person chose one and many enjoyed being offered the choice.

I wish I could see the whole line of people–they extended all the way on my right, and I was too focused on each person as they came up to me to look–but this lets me see some of them.

Then I walked around for a while with YA writer (and my friend) Lena Coakley. I also stopped by and got books signed by YA authors Marina Cohen, Sylvia McNicoll, and said hi to Mahtab Narsimhan at her signing (I’d already bought her book), and Teresa Toten (we were too late to get hers). It felt lovely to see writers and people who I like and care about with their books.

And then came the CANSCAIP book launch, where we each talked for three minutes about our books. Even though I’ve now done public speaking a number of times, I still get anxious beforehand each time, and sometimes scared. This time it was scared in the hour or so I had to wait to present HUNTED, my heart pounding and my hands sweating. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only anxious one; other YA writers I like and admire were also anxious. I was actually shaking while I was up at the podium speaking–BUT apparently I presented really well. Fellow YA writers Karen Krossing and Lena Coakley told me afterwards that I spoke beautifully and with emotion and great expressiveness, that I didn’t seem nervous at all, and that what I had to say was interesting and real. It helped to hear that; I still find public speaking stressful. And I speak my emotional truths and the things that are important to me; I mentioned that for me HUNTED is analogy to cults or cult-like groups that oppress, and that it also addresses homophobia and racism, though not i

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Thanks to author Lois Peterson for inviting me as a guest to the Festival Of Trees event today.  I had a ton of fun wandering around the event, seeing authors give workshops and talks, attending some of the awards ceremonies, chatting with other attendees.

And WOW, I've never seen kids SO EXCITED ABOUT BOOKS. Seriously. The audience reaction reminded of a rock concert crowd...except these kids were cheering and screaming about BOOKS. How cool is that? So inspiring and exciting.

Also great to finally meet Arthur Slade, Monica Kulling, Christie Harkin and Sharon Jennings in person after exchanging tweets/posts with them online, meeting Jill Maclean, Eric Walters and Sylvia Olsen.

For those who aren't familiar with the Forest Of Reading project, it's a program where students read a selection of books nominated by professionals from schools and public libraries across Ontario, and then vote for their favorite. Unlike most literary awards, these awards are chosen by young readers.

Congrats to all the Forest Of Reading nominees and winners!

You can find out more about this Ontario Library Association project at www.accessola.com/reading.

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Brian from Toronto, in the interest of full disclosure, are you the same Brian who wrote the original article in for the Jewish Tribune entitled, "Could This Book Turn Your Child Against Israel" and "An Open Letter to Ontario's Education Minister?"

Brian Henry, a parent and the writer of the article believes that although 'one book by itself is never going to make any child any sort of bigot. Along with other things though, yes, it could.' He add that schools should be 'a politics-free zone.'

What is your source for concluding, "Every school board in the province that has independently examined The Shepherd's Granddaughter has concluded that the book is problematic?" Are you the parent who is asking that this book be removed from the OLA Forest of Reading list and are filing a formal complaint?

May I ask if you have read the book? I will admit that I have not. I am awaiting an Inter-library loan and will read it. However, I am opposed to banning books on principle. Many of the same criticisms of The Shepherd's Granddaughter were leveled at Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak prior to having it removed from Toronto schools. I have read this book and found it to be balanced and fair.

Schools cannot be "a politics-free zone," in my opinion, if we are to raise healthy, well-rounded, critical thinkers. There is a huge difference between addressing controversial issues and promoting political agendas. The Toronto District School Board policy, which you cited states that controversy is part of life. You imply that some parties have a political agenda which they are promoting through "slipping" The Shepherd's Granddaughter into the Red Maple Award Program. I do not see what the author, the Ontario Library Association, or the Ontario schools would have to gain by promoting a political agenda through a novel for children.

As for making sure a book is "good" before encouraging children to read it, I searched a number of reviews. You are welcome to read them in their entirety. The links are included.

Quill and Quire is negative about the complexity of the subplots.

...this novel has enough material for a whole series of books, and it gets overwhelmed by a series of underdeveloped subplots...that fragment the narrative’s focus and undermine its realism.

However, this respected magazine also lauds the author for her attempt to foster peace.

The Shepherd’s Granddaughter is a well-intentioned, very earnest narrative that aims to foster international harmony by educating young readers.

The Jane Addams Peace Association chose The Shepherd's Granddaughter as an honor book for older children for the 56th Jane Addams Children's Book.

In 2009, the Canadian Library Association chose The Shepherd's Granddaughter as a Book of the Year for children, according to the School Library Journal.

This is an award winning book (USBBY Outstanding International Books selection, selected for the Cooperative Chidlren's Book Cente

0 Comments on A Response to Brian re: The Shepherd's Granddaughter as of 1/1/1900

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In a story reminiscent of the challenge to Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak -- a challenge which has been covered extensively on this blog, the Vancouver Sun reports that The Shepherd's Granddaughter has "sparked outrage in the Jewish community." Some school trustees are demanding the book be removed from reading lists and libraries.

The Shepherd's Granddaughter, a children's novel about a Palestinian teen growing up outside of a Palestinian village in the West Bank in the midst of the Middle East conflict, was written by Canadian author Anne Laurel Carter. The book is told through the child Amani's voice. As with Three Wishes, the controversy came long after the publication of the book and was highlighted by its nomination by the Ontario Library Assocation for the Red Maple Award, a program intended to foster reading skills for students, in this case for grades seven and eight.

The Jewish Tribune cited negative comments made towards Jews on Goodreads.com.

Critics feel the novel — told from the Palestinian viewpoint with characters' opinions about the conflict ranging from peaceful resistance to militancy, with Amani choosing non-violence — could result in discrimination.

The Jewish Tribune recently wrote an article entitled, "Could This Book Turn Your Child Against Israel" which cites hurtful comments made toward Jews on Goodreads.com. Brian Henry, a parent and the writer of the article believes that although "one book by itself is never going to make any child any sort of bigot. Along with other things though, yes, it could." He add that schools should be "a politics-free zone."

B'nai Brith Canada believes the book "demonizes" Israelis and portrays Palestinians as innocent.

At least one Toronto trustee wants The Shepherd's Granddaughter gone from schools. James Pasternak, a trustee with the Toronto District School Board was quoted by CanWest as saying,

The book is really inappropriate to be presented in this way, in a school setting. It doesn't present a balanced or fair reflection of that conflict zone. It's a biased book that borders on political propaganda.

Sheila Ward, also a Toronto trustee has said she expects people will accuse her of censorship but that she would "move heaven and Earth to have The Shepherd's Granddaughter taken off the school library shelves." She added, "If it means I will no

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I’m getting a little R&R in after a busy day bustling around the OLA Superconference. This is my first time at this conference and I’ve really been enjoying myself. I did a variation on a talk I’ve given: Smart, Tiny Tech. As always, the slides and notes are online along with links to the things I was talking about.

I made a sort of personal resolution for 2009 to write new talks for every event I’ll be speaking at. I talk about similar things often, but I want to be a little more cognizant of my audience — showing off a 2.0 “border wait times” mobile app was fun today, for example — and a little less “Oh here’s Jessamyn with her digital divide talking points again…” Today’s talk was fun and the audience was interesting and interactive.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned lately how much I love being in Canada and talking to Canadian librarians. Today I got to have lunch with the lovely and talented Amanda Etches-Johnson and the talented and lovely John Fink. I had to miss a talk by John Miedema because it was at the same time as my talk — along with maybe 15 other presentations — but I did manage to see some of John Fink’s talk about Evergreen. Hoping to run into Walt around someplace, but I’ve been a little behind on planning since out I was out sick a lot of last week.

I’ve also enjoyed just being in the big city now that I’m healthy again. I’ve already stopped in at Toronto Public Library and asked them for help finding this museum which, alas, appears to have been closed for some time, cursed internet! Tomorrow evening there’s a librarian get together (C’est What, 6:30 pm) and then there’s a MetaFilter meetup on Saturday night (Bedford at 7 pm). If you happen to see me wandering around looking slackjawed at all the big buildings, please do say hello.

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Forest of Reading is an Ontario Library Association’s Literacy Initiative. To learn more about this program click here or watch the videos below.

Part 1: Introduction

 

Part 2: The Program

 

Part 3: The Vote

 

Part 4: The Festival of Trees

 

Part 5: The Awards

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A press release found at Access OLA (Ontario Library Association) announces that Bernard Katz has received the Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award for 2008. Katz served as the senior director at the University of Guelph McLaughlin Library. He contributed greatly to the OLA's work on intellectual freedom and copyright. According to the release,

This award honours Bernard's ethics, integrity and passion in the defense of intellectual freedom in all its forms over the last two decades as a member of OLA. He led the development of the OLA's Statement on the Intellectual Rights of the Individual, a document that has remained relevant and has withstood the tests of time. Last year, his work with OLA in the defense of the right of children in the Silver Birch Award program to read Three Wishes by Deborah Ellis was breathtaking.

Past recipients include the Toronto Public Library and Halton Board of Education.

Read the OLA's Statement on the Intellectual Rights of the Individual in PDF format.

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Forbidden Fruit: Banned, Censored, and Challenged Books from Dante to Harry Potter, is a wonderful new resource that gives readers the background and history on the banning of specific titles. Author Pearce J. Carefoote is a staff archivist at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto. In 2002, Carefoote won the OLA (Ontario Library Association) Anniversary Prize, the Rare Books and Manuscripts Award, and the Toronto Area Archivists Group Award.

Research for an exhibition of banned and challenged books in 2005 culminated in this book.

Its Canadian focus makes it a valuable resource for all schools and libraries.

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Canadian author Deborah Ellis, recipient of the Order of Ontario for 2006 and the Governor General's Award for Looking for X has faced challenges to her books. When contacted about this "Banned Book Challenge," she promised to give it a go.

What a great idea! I can't promise, but I will try.

Paper Tigers recently interviewed Ellis.

Your books are often controversial - not least in your native Canada. In particular, Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak has been both promoted and removed from reading lists in Ontario. What are your views on book censorship, particularly of children's and young adults' books?

I think all topics should be available in children's and YA novels, but not all writers have the talent to write about all topics in a way that is accessible to children. We put children in all sorts of situations around the world - prostitution, drug abuse, slavery, incest, etc - and it takes special talent to write about those things in a way that is respectful. There are topics that I won't touch because I know I don't have the talent to do them properly.

A Canadian challenged book list has the following information about the recent banning of Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak

2006—In Ontario, the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) urged public school boards to deny access to this children’s non-fiction book about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to students in the elementary grades.
Cause of objection—The CJC said that Ellis had provided a flawed historical introduction to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The CJC also said that some children in the book portrayed Israeli soldiers as brutal, expressed ethnic hatred and glorified suicide bombing. The effect on young student readers, the CJC said, was “toxic.”
Update—Although the Ontario Library Association (OLA) had recommended Three Wishes to schools as part of its acclaimed Silver Birch reading program, and although schoolchildren were not required to read the book, at least five school boards in Ontario set restrictions on the text:
a) The District School Board of Niagara encouraged librarians to steer students in Grades 4–6 away from Three Wishes and to tell parents that their children had asked for the book.
b) The Greater Essex County District School Board restricted access to the book to students in Grade 7 or higher.
c) The Toronto District School Board restricted access to the book to students in grade 7 or higher and withdrew the book from school library shelves.
d) The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board refused to stock the book and refused to provide copies to students who asked for it.
e) In 2005, before the CJC made its views about Three Wishes public, the York Regional District School Board also withdrew the book from the Silver Birch program.
Protests by the OLA, The Writers’ Union of Canada, PEN Canada and the Association of Canadian Publishers failed to persuade the school boards to repeal their restrictions.

Sarah Elton wrote this article for the Globe and Mail in the wake of the controversy.

I am embarrassed to tell this blog's readers that I live within the boundaries of the District School Board of Niagara and at one time taught for them. I have read this book and find it to be a fair and balanced view of the conflict. It is powerful because it is in the words of the children themselves and it challenges the adults in their lives and even as far away as Canada to put a stop to the horrow. Our JT Book Club (ages 11-15) is reading Three Wishes this month.

Take the "Banned Book Challenge" yourself and let us know what your goal is.

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I made it back! I'd say it's a relief to be home, but it's not because one of my pets is really ill; I knew he wasn't looking so well and was planning to take him to the vet after my next paycheck. Well, I suspect he won't last the night. If he does though I'll call the vet and see if he can get in. If nothing else, I'll have to take my other rattie in to get checked out since if it's what I suspect, it is contagious. So, I'm sitting here, with Julius cuddled between my legs under my laptop. It'd be cute if he didn't look like he was knocking on death's door.

OLA was great right to the end! I'll certainly blog about today later on because the sessions I went to were very informative and the closing luncheon was a blast!

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Today I attended two sessions, the two I convened: session #1111 with Ross Singer on "Communicat" and #1412 with Karen Calhoun on the Next Gen ILS. I didn't quite 'get' Ross' session at first, but now I think it's starting to filter through my brain. Karen's was quite interesting. I have thoughts on them both, but I'm so tired, that I'm going to hold off till I'm more awake so that I can at least try to make sense of it all, especially since if I do understand them, they kind of had opposite goals.

I attended the OLITA AGM and award presentation. I'm now on OLITA council for a year. That's going to be fun! As always, I learn as much outside of the formal programming as I do in the sessions because librarians just know sooo much! Even though I feel I don't always have much to offer, it's great to listen in on all the great conversations happening and to hear what other folks are doing out in libaryland. I have to admit, I also like it when strangers know my name :) Yeah, there's been a few people this conference that have come up and they know me, but I don't know them.

Oh, so to follow up, Stephen Abram walked by today and actually stopped and gave me a little hug just to make sure there was no misunderstanding yesterday :D I hope that last post didn't make him sound angry because he wasn't in the least; I just felt silly not being able to help him.

I totally missed the all-conference reception. I'm a little disappointed, especially when I see the librarians walking around with glowing bands, but I had a great time eating dinner with a couple friends instead.

And, I think I've started my own new tradition: meeting FIMS students! Last year I met Jason Hammond at OLA. This year I met two other MLIS students. It's great to see students really coming out and taking an interest in OLA and what we do, or at least wanting to know more about the field; I met these two at the AGM. Then again, maybe the students are just learning where to get the free alcohol!?! Oh and speaking of students, I hear there were a group of four students up from Kent State volunteering this year! I think it's pretty awesome when the American students hear about OLA and decide to take a 5 hour road trip!

I'm still not good at the expo thing. Overall, I've gotten three signed books, a compact mirror, a calendar and a few sticky notepads. I just don't collect a lot of stuff! I was disappointed that one author's book went so fast it was gone in seven minutes! Seven! Oh well, maybe next year I'll get something nifty.

Alrighty, tomorrow is another day and I want to hit a few more sessions. OLITA's spotlight session is at 9am; our top tech trends panel. It's always a popular one and this year we have some great panelists! (Amanda Etches-Johnson, John Blyberg, Michael Stephens). Sean Cullen had to cancel for personal reasons so the lunch speaker is going to be a surprise for everyone. I really wonder if they were able to find someone as good on such short notice.

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Hier, j'ai assisté à la session de Dominique Demers. Dominique est une auteure québecoise des livres pour la jeunesse (et autres). Elle était aussi une journaliste, et maintenant elle est animatrice pour un émission sur Radio-Canada pour les touts-petits, "Dominique raconte".
Pendant la session, elle nous a parlé de l'imaginaire. Elle nous a fait nous souvenir qu'on explore l'imaginaire pour se rendre heureux; que la rêverie est au centre de nos vies; et que nous sommes tous les artistes de notre propre vie.
Dominique nous expliquait que les livres, et particulièrement les livres des images, sont importantes pour les enfants parce que les livres leurs laissent à rêver, pas comme le cinéma ou la télé qui ne permet pas aux enfants les mêmes opportunités. Elle a donné des suggestions aux bibliothecaires comment intégrer les livres et le conter pour la jeunesse. Une chose qu'elle a dit est que lire est comme l'amour. Pense à ça: c'est vrai, non?
À la fin, elle nous a raconté une histoire, Tous les soirs du monde. C'était bien amusant et rafraîchissant d'avoir quelqu'un me raconter une histoire!

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FYI, OLA does have a collaborative blog this year:
http://olasuper2007.blogspot.com

There's a good number of contributors, though it doesn't look like they all have posted yet. I'm pretty sure there are a few others out there blogging the conference. I haven't attended any sessions yet, so that's why I haven't had much to say about the speakers.

Having a cold (or whatever this is) isn't good for running around with. I had lunch with some former co-worker from U of Windsor, and now I'm going to try to take a quick nap before the next plenary session since I feel dizzy sitting down. Really, even though I'm not paying for this room, it is worth it to get a room at the conference hotel; it's great being able to pop back in here to rest!

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Somehow I ended up behind the registration desk this morning. I was only supposed to help out til around quarter to nine so I could go check on my 9:05 sesssions but I didn't manage to escape until 9:10. Fortunately I peeked my head in and the session was running fine. Good thing too - imagine they had waited for me if something was wrong!

So, I'm at the desk and who walks up and lays down his registration form and credit card but Stephen Abram himself. I just kind of stare. I mumble something about not being able to register him. He asks why I'm standing at the reg desk, but I correct him - see the new registrations and the 'S-Z' pick-up lines are at the same counter and I was working the S-Z. Anyway, I felt like a total goof ball standing in front of him; I didn't even give him any sign of recognition. He's like library celebrity and I was completely starstruck.

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The OLA theme this year is 'Solutions in a changing landscape'. Well, the MTCC sure looks the same, and many of the folks here too, but the vibe is different. Maybe it's the free wine (sponsored by CVS and Whitehots).

So I made it here but was only able to listen to the last 10 mintues or so of Cory's talk. That's a bummer. Oh well, that's the way things go.

I did of course make it to the Welcome party (wine!). I first ran into Sharron Smith - my favourite Reader's Advisory librarian. After catching up (I don't think I've seen her since December book club), I kept running into people and we decided I am just that popular. And I feel that way too since I keep banging into people that know me (even if I don't know them). I met Rebecca finally, and I talked to Darlene Fichter who is always a barrel of laughs. There were many others I barely got to say "hi" to as we mingled through the crowd. By 11 pm it really thinned out and, as we danced (kind of), Darlene suggested it was only extroverts left - I'm still undecided if I'm introvert or extrovert; I always thought I was introvert, now I'm not so sure.

I found one of my co-planners, but not the other. Tomorrow I have to get up bright and early to help at the registration counter and then check on all the sessions. I should've gone to bed a while ago, but hey, I'm usually up this late Wednesdays anyway!

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