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Over at The Rumpus, middle-grade author Cecil Castelluci will coordinate the new Letters For Kids program–a subscription service giving readers mail from authors who write for kids.
According to the launch page, participants will receive “two letters a month written by middle-grade authors like Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler, Adam Rex, Kerry Madden, Natalie Standiford, Susan Patron, Rebecca Stead, Cecil Castelluci, and more.” The service will cost $4.50 per month for U.S. readers, and $9 international readers. The project will expand upon The Rumpus’ Letters in the Mail program for adults. Check it out:
Some of the letters will be illustrated. Some will be written by hand. It’s hard to say! We’ll copy the letters, fold them, put them in an envelope, put a first class stamp on the envelope, and send the letters to you (or your child) … Six is pretty much the perfect age to start checking your mailbox for actual letters. And if you’ve waited until you were ten, well, you’re four years behind but still, it’s not too late. And if you’re sixteen, that’s OK, there’s still something of the kid left. And if you’re sixty, well… OK. You’re young at heart.
The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) celebrated Banned Books Week with a series of essays by YA authors called “Getting Banned.”
The authors in the Getting Banned essays have all had their work banned or challenged at some point. Follow these links to read essays by Ron Koertge, Ellen Hopkins, Susan Patron, Sonya Sones and Lauren Myracle. LARB‘s YA editor Cecil Castellucci explained: “YA authors are on the front lines of today’s censorship battle.”
The web publication will also publish a two-part essay by English professor Loren Glass about the 1960′s obscenity trials Grove Press faced for publishing William Burroughs‘ Naked Lunch and Henry Miller‘s The Tropic of Cancer. Nickel and Dimed author Barbara Ehrenreich will also publish a Banned Books Week essay on Saturday.
Revision update: Couldn’t get up early this morning, so nothing new. Oh well. Must do better tomorrow. Luckily, it’s a holiday.
I read a lovely interview with author Susan Patron today, on author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog, and love that Susan originally got her inspiration from a laundry basket. (Susan is the author of the Lucky series.)
Well, not exactly from a laundry basket, but as Susan describes it, when she was young and would tell stories to her sister, she would imagine that the laundry basket was full of stories and she just had to open it and pull them out. It took away the responsibility of having to create stories, because the laundry basket was always full of them. Instead of having to create stories, Susan just had to retrieve them.
This is similar to what The Artist’s Way teaches when it says creativity is a pond and we have to fill it regularly so we can keep fishing from it. (I read the book companion to this years ago.)
Writing can be frustrating when you don’t feel like your muse is there. But turning it around, telling yourself that you don’t have to write or create the next award-winning title, that all you have to do is put pen to paper — or fingers to keyboard — and enjoy yourself, can relax you enough to let the muse in. Like imagining that it’s not you creating the story; it’s already in the laundry basket.
My laundry basket would be an old painted wooden box I got as a kid. Where do you keep your stories?
Write On!
0 Comments on Susan Patron finds her muse in a laundry basket as of 1/1/1900
Two weeks ago, I talked about Judy Blume’s classic Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret and about the recent controversy over book covers. As you can see, today’s Timeless Thursday book Ramona Quimby, Age 8 also has a new, modern book cover, but that’s not what I’m here to blog about today.
Beverly Cleary has created some of the most endearing child characters ever, and my favorite is Ramona. Some more modern writers have written stories about strong,funny, independent girls such as Sara Pennypacker’s Clementine series or Susan Patron’s award-winning character, Lucky. I love these new girl characters, but my heart still belongs to Ramona. I am an only child, and as much as Beezus and Ramona might have driven each other crazy, I wanted my Beezus. I also remember learning to write cursive and being as proud as Ramona was when she wrote Ramona Quimby, Age 8 carefully in cursive. I could relate to Ramona, and that is why she will forever remain timeless in my heart.
Why would kids today want to read a book written by Beverly Cleary in 1981? Why wouldn’t they? The answer is as clear as day on the front cover of the latest version of Ramona Quimby, Age 8–”Life as a third grader is tough!” Don’t all elementary kids think they have it the toughest? Don’t they want to read something written by an author who truly understands them? Yes and yes!
So, although there are new, wonderful books out, don’t forget to share the old classics with your children and your students, too. If they haven’t heard of Ramona Quimby yet, give them this first book and let them decide for themselves.
Hurray, Susan Patron has a brand-new website! Discover which book made her want to become a writer, get some great ideas for using The Higher Power of Lucky in the classroom, and see a photo of the real signpost with hanging tea kettles that appears in Lucky Breaks.
0 Comments on Lucky - and so much more as of 4/15/2009 7:29:00 PM
March 10 is the street date for Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron (Atheneum, 2009). To tide you over in the meantime, here is an interview with Susan conducted by Shannon Maughan of Publishers Weekly, and here is an early review I did of Lucky Breaks, based on a very early ARC.
I do have the updated ARC but it doesn't include the black-and-white illustrations by Matt Phelan. I can't wait to see them!
Lucky fans will have questions at the end of Lucky Breaks - What about Lucky's dad? And will Brigitte find love? And will Lucky continue to be friends with Paloma? Worry not, the last book in the trilogy will be published in 2010.
0 Comments on Lucky us! Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron is Coming Soon as of 2/27/2009 11:07:00 AM
But in case you haven't...The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children of the American Library Association (ALA) to the author of the Outstanding American Children's Book. The award has been given since 1922. Together with the Caldecott Medal, it is considered the most prestigious award for children's literature in the United States and it's named for John Newbery, an 18th century publisher of juvenile books. But there's been A LOT of discussion lately on the winning books and whether or not they appeal to children.
Previous winners of the award are...
Bud, Not Buddy (Delacorte, 1999) A Year Down Yonder (Dial, 2000) A Single Shard (Clarion, 2001) The Tale of Despereaux (Candlewick, 2003) Kira-Kira (S & S, 2004) Criss Cross (Greenwillow, 2005) The Higher Power of Lucky (S & S, 2006) Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (Candlewick, 2007)
Susan Patron, the author of The Higher Power of Lucky (the 2006 Newbery Award Winner) recently weighed in on the controversy. Read her amazing article, "Don't discount the Newbery" that gives excellent reasons why children's books that deal seriously with serious issues can change readers' lives. I can honestly say that it was because of that shiny gold sticker that I picked up a copy of "The Higher Power of Lucky" and I'm thankful I did. I would think that children would want to read this book, because it doesn't talk down to them and deals with issues that face our society today. The writing is superb and should be a book that aspiring writers are influenced by. But the beautiful thing about award books is that it's simply a recommendation. Just because it's an award winning book, doesn't mean that it will appeal to everyone. A reader can pick out any book they'd like to read, whether it be serious, funny, sports-related, multi-cultural, historical, etc... And as long as young readers are reading, isn't that all that really matters?
Don't forget to mark your calendars for January 26th when ALA announces the new Newbery Award winner- a book you MIGHT want to read!
0 Comments on I'm sure you've heard of the Newbery Controversy... as of 1/15/2009 10:29:00 AM
Well, now that everyone has already posted, I’ll shout out to all my LiveJournal friends I saw at the SCBWI meeting in LA last week. I went out to dinner Thursday night with a whole group of LJ-ers including Mary Cronin, Jody Feldman, Melodye Shore, and 15 others.
Got to lunch with Debby Garfinkle and hang out with Jody Feldman. Jody signed up for the Pro Track, so she attended some different workshops than I did, and also participated in the Editors’ Luncheon and Authors’ Reception and Sale. This is me and Debby and Jody.
Lest you think I just ate and drank and schmoozed my way through the conference, Bruce Coville’s keynote was totally inspiring, just what an opener should be. He discussed the Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Deadly Virtues of Writers. Illustrator Mark Teague told the hilarious story of how he stumbled into illustration via a degree in American history. It seems unfair that so many illustrators are witty as well as graphically talented. Later that day, agent Steven Malk shared strategies for developing a long-term career.
On Saturday, Rachel Cohn spoke on Embracing Your Inner Teen. She actually brought her inner teen with her and displayed her to the audience. Jay Asher’s presentation on injecting suspense into any novel had us on the edge of our seats. And Adam Rex, another unfairly witty, articulate, and otherwise talented illustrator discussed how to get a kid’s book published.
Here Jay Asher uses Grover and There's a Monster at the End of This Book to make a point.
On Sunday, I attended John Rocco’s session on book promotion, a good review of tactics to use before and after publication. The Golden Kite luncheon was inspirational, and in the afternoon Lisa Yee had us working very hard in her workshop on revision.
On Monday, Bruce Coville’s workshop on Plotting provided a lot of take-away, though I was tempted to go to Katherine Applegate’s How to Write and Stay (Relatively) Sane. Editor Donna Bray and agent Steven Malk spoke about collaboration and interaction between agents and editors. I heard from Jody that Sara Pennypacker’s session on Firt Pages was awesome. And Susan Patron was like the perfect dessert—a satisfying finish to the conference. And afterwards, I stood in the autograph line and had Susan sign The Higher Power of Lucky. This is me and my hero, Susan Patron. Jody and I each furiously took notes at the seminars and workshops so we could share with each other.
Afterwards, I linked up with Ellen Hopkins and Susan Lindquist and others for a little happy hour out on the patio before I left for the airport.
That's Susan, me, Ellen, Kristin Venuti, and another friend.
The End of the Conference: Autograph Party Photos...
After half a chocolate cupcake and half a yellow cupcake, I got some shots of the autograph party (which I didn't have to participate in because the 2009 CWIM didn't make it to the bookstore which in a way was OK because I feel a little silly signing books).
Susan Patron, Sara Pennypacker, and Ann Whitford Paul look happy about autographing.
Washingtonians Holly Cupala (who is holding one of the roses from the gorgeous bouquet her husband sent in celebration of her very recent two-book deal!) with RA Jolie Stekly and her stack of books.
The awesome Paula Yoo listens to a conference-goer as she prepares to sign her first novel, Good Enough.
Authors Katherine Applegate and Jay Asher--both of whom I interviewed for Insider Reports in the 2009 CWIM.
Rachel Cohn happily passes one of her novels off to a conference goer (note the red "Reading Is Power" bracelet) while Bruce Coville concentrates on signing.
Marla Frazee and her line of autograph seekers. (I wonder if her hand got tired.)
SCBWIRAs/authors Esther Hershenhorn (Illinois) and Ellen Hopkins (Nevada).
Down the row: Linda Zuckerman, Paula Yoo, Lisa Yee, Mark Teague, and Adam Rex (who you can sort of see).
The highlight was most definitely Susan Patron's speech, the dessert of the conference and appropriately called "Endings: Surprising and Yet Inevitable." She riffed on the idea of euphemisms being soft lies, using as one example the term "pre-published" as being a polite but rather patronizing way of saying unpublished (as Susan said, "It's like calling me pre-thin"). Children more than anyone else need clear-eyed truth, not soft lies, in order to understand and come to terms with the world.
Susan also spoke of what seems to be an innate yearning for connection; it's a subtext in many books and a main theme in The Higher Power of Lucky. Great endings in books bring readers to the conclusion that is the best and truest, and thus helps them to make those satisfying connections (dopamine burst, anyone?). Susan finds it very cool that a novel, which is essentially the fabrication of an elaborate lie, actually leads readers to a greater understanding of the truth.
We lucky audience members were treated to the first paragraph of Lucky Breaks, to be published in March 2009, as well as a truly funny and moving summation of the meaning of the SCBWI annual conference that had us laughing and tearful at the same time. Major standing ovation for Susan Patron, who speaks for us all - but much more eloquently.
Connie C. Epstein gave her usual concise report on the state of the children's publishing market - picture books are slightly down, but the categories of middle-grade, teen, early readers, and graphic novels are holding steady or growing. But we knew that...
Four incredibly smart and gorgeous young editors - Gretchen Hirsch from HarperCollins, Amalia Ellison from Abrams, Namrata Tripathi from Hyperion/Jump at the Sun, and Nancy Conescu from Little Brown - were the panelists at a program called "Emerging Editorial Voices."
One question was "would you rather receive a manuscript that had a great voice but little plot, or a great plot with little voice?" Interestingly, the panel was evenly split, with Gretchen and Amalia saying that there was plenty of "voice" out there but few page-turners, and Namrata and Nancy maintaining that you can often fix plot but if the voice isn't there, you can't magic it into existence.
All four editors are clearly dedicated and professional - if they are any indication, the future of children's book editing is in good hands.
Speaking of plot, Bruce Coville had plenty of tips on what he feels makes a great story:
1. Ha!
2. Wah! 3. Yikes! In other words, some laughter, some tears, and some surprises.
Bruce suggested that writers "take a character you like and get him in trouble" and then figure out what a character doesn't want and throw that at him. Above all, make sure the character needs to make moral choices - not necessarily between good and bad, but maybe between the lesser of two evils.
There's a new kid in town, namely Egmont USA, headed by Elizabeth Law, formerly of Viking and Simon & Schuster. Their first list will appear in Fall 2009 with about 11 to 15 titles, and when they are completely up and running, they hope to publish about 50 titles a year, mostly middle-grade and teen, but also some picture books. Look for new books by Todd Strasser, Walter Dean Myers (in collaboration with Christopher Myers), Mary Amato, and Janet Lee Carey, to name a few.
Finally, I waited in such a long line to get The True Meaning of Smekday (my current fave SF novel for kids) signed by Adam Rex that I missed the dessert buffet. Dang! Worth it, though. If you can drag your eyes away from Adam's adorableness, please note my Curmudgeonly Librarian t-shirt.
2 Comments on SCBWI - Los Angeles 2008, last added: 8/8/2008
I was in the audience too. Not getting this dark trend that is going on in kid books these days. Adam Rex is ok looking, no biggie. What is up with the term "sexy" being bandied about so much at the conference? Hearing editor Ms Hisrch saying she is looking for sexy was a turn off and quite puzzling in an already ultra sexualized media now seeping into the world of kids; NOT good. Truthfully, boys are reading at the same pace before the boy's book hype. It's all hype and the ones who suffer are the kids who read and grow up with "getekeeeper" books so an editor and publisher can make money. Let's be real, it's an ugly tacky trend that hopefuly is just that, a trend.
After the agent panel, I had a breakout session that was part of the Published Authors track called Keeping Current on Market Research: A Roundtable Discussion. Instead of doing all the talking myself, I started by asking the audience questions. I wanted to know whether they do anything different in terms of market research now that they're published. I wanted to know what their concerns are. And I wanted them to share information with one another--and they did. The audiences included several SCBWIRAs and authors like Susan Patron, Linda Joy Singleton, and Verla Kay.
Verla talked about the boards on her website that registered members can access, such as the agent boards and response time boards--really useful stuff.
We actually ended up talking a lot about promotion. We discussed MySpace and using it as a means to connect with readers. We talked about getting mentioned on blogs and doing blog tours, and in fact had an author in the audience, Tina Nichols Coury, who interviews tons of authors and illustrators on her own blog.
Someone mentioned Library Thing, a site where you can enter books and be connected to others based on the books you share--a way to find readers reading your own books.
I really enjoyed this session and felt like I learned a lot from the participants and got some ideas for CWIM. Thanks to all who attended and share information and asked great questions. Please remember to email me if you'd like a handout.
Thanks for taking the time to share the conference with the rest of us! I've seen both Michael Stearns and Bruce Coville at other conferences in the last year, so I felt a little bit less like I missed out on their good advice and entertaining comments. And we lucky Mid-Atlantic SCBWI members get to hear Jane Yolen speak at our October conference.
By the way, I got the new CWIM, and it's full of great information, as usual. Thanks for that too!
Also - tried to email you for a handout, but the email didn't work...I must have written it down incorrectly. Could you email me at utc61 at hotmail.com
Hi Alice, Terrific posts on the conference!! Thanks so much. Also, congrats on the new Childrens and Illustrators Market. I got mine last week, just haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it looks great. I would love the handout you offered for the Publlished Authors track. It sounds like it was a info packed session. Can you send it to [email protected]? Thanks for everything, Terri Dunham The Legend of Papa Noel: A Cajun Christmas Story
Sunday morning my son, who is 3-and-a-half, dropped the F-bomb. Yep. Out the F-word came from his innocent little mouth. Twice. Do they still make Lifebouy soap? thought I. Crap--I hope he never says that in front of my mother. Or at preschool.
My husband was witness to this. After a What did you say? to confirm, he asked Murray where he heard That Word. "From you," he said to his dad (AHA! I KNEW IT!), "And my mommy."
Um--I don't think so! It couldn't have been me! I don't say it much. (And if I do, it's more likely I'll say it at the office, and even then, under by breath.) But if not us, then who? He's only got basic cable in his room. All his DVDs are rated G. He hasn't seen our potty-mouthed friend Jerry since summertime. We must be the guilty party. What a proud moment in parenting!
And how do you explain to a kid his age just why that's not a nice word to say? Why can one little word can have so much power? The F-word. Scrotum.
The fact that's it's ALA awards time, along with the fact that my son suddenly curses like a sailor, reminded me of the wholeThe Higher Power of Lucky/Newbery/scrotum controversy happening around this time last year. Based on my quick BookScan check, Susan Patron's Newbery winner seems to be selling just fine, controversy or not. At home, I haven't gotten Murray to use the s-word when discussing his anatomy, but these days I'm not sure if it would be preferable to the daddy-taught terms he currently uses. I suppose I should go Google Lifebouy. Just in case.
With this year’s Newbery winner being announced on Monday, I figured I’d better get around to reading last year’s winner and also complete the first book in the Young Adult Challenge hosted at Thoughts of Joy.
The Higher Power of Lucky is set in Hard Pan, California, a destitute town where nearly everyone receives “Government Surplus commodities.” Even though the town may be lacking in money, it’s not lacking in interesting and eclectic people. First you have Short Sammy, a recovering alcoholic whose house is made of a water tank. Then there’s quiet Lincoln, Lucky’s friend who is fascinated with tying knots. His mother a librarian wants him to be president, and his father, a much older man spends his day driving around in a dune buggy looking for historic pieces of barbed wire he can sell on EBay. And then there’s Lucky Trimble a 10 year old girl whose mother was electrocuted by down power lines when she was eight. Her father, whom Lucky doesn’t even know wasn’t about to become a father when her mother died, so he somehow managed to get his first wife, Brigitte, to come all the way from France to be Lucky’s guardian. Lucky is consumed with the fear that Brigitte will go back to France and leave her. The book centers around this as we get a glimpse into Lucky’s everyday life and the people of Hard Pan.
When I first read this book, I thought, “THIS won the Newbery Medal?” I thought it was a good story, but I didn’t think it one of THE BEST young adult books I’d ever read and certainly not as good as Hattie Big Sky, which was named a Newbery Honor Book last year.
But as I kept thinking about the story and the characters, it grew on me. Patron does an exceptional job with characterization in the book. Lucky is extremely smart and creative. She loves to make up stories about the “Olden Days” where her companions, HMS Beagle (her real-life dog who is “not a ship or a beagle”) and Chesterfield, a mule, have all kinds of adventures. For a child of ten, she has had to deal with things that no adult would want to go through—the death of her mother and the abandonment of her father. These experiences give her a sense of maturity that many 10-year-olds don’t have, but Patron reminds us over and over again that she is a child. She carries around a “survival backpack” wherever she goes. Its contents include a survival blanket, half a tube of toothpaste, a bottle of Gatorade, tins for collecting her bug specimens, and much more. She puts mineral oil on her eyebrows so they’ll glisten (Brigitte won’t let her wear real makeup), and she has a bit of a crush on Lincoln. She eavesdrops on AA meetings and other “anonymous meetings,” and it’s apparent that she doesn’t understand what they’re really all about as she tries to search for her own “Higher Power.” These types of things made me chuckle and then I’d come across a passage like this that would tug at my heart: “Sometimes Lucky wanted to change everything, all the bad things that had happened, and sometimes she wanted everything to stay the same forever,” (p. 8).
Patron gives us a glimpse into what it feels like to live in constant fear that you’re going to be abandoned and not know where you’re going end up—the fear that is all too real for most foster children. Even little Miles, who lives with his grandmother, doesn’t know where his mother is and carries around a worn copy of “Are You My Mother?” I couldn’t help feeling empathy for him as Lucky refused to read it to him—again.
Even with all of the heart wrenching moments, Patron does a fine job of balancing them with humor and an engaging storyline. The book is not too heavy or depressing and has an uplifting ending.
I was surprised (well not really) to hear all of the hubbub about Patron’s use of the word “scrotum” on the very first page of the book—she’s retelling Short Sammy’s story of his lowest point with his alcoholism where his dog gets bit on the scrotum by a snake. There is nothing sexual or perverse, and in fact, Lucky is not even sure what a scrotum is—another example that she is just a child. My two cents—children have heard much far worse, and it is the proper name of a sexual organ. Patron could have used a number of alternative terms. It is not and should not be a focal point of the book, and the fact that it has been banned is completely ridiculous. But don’t get me started on what I think about censorship…even I am making this is the focal point of my review.
The Higher Power of Lucky is a good book with lovable characters, great and believable dialogue, and both poignant and funny moments. I personally would have picked Hattie Big Sky to win the top honor, but I’m not on the committee, so what can I do?
0 Comments on The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron as of 1/1/1990
Children’s author Susan Patron won the Newbery Award for her book The Higher Power of Lucky, yet many librarians don’t want the book on school library shelves. Find out why.
The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages was this year's winner for the Scott O'Dell prize for historical fiction.
Dewey is a weird kid-- there's something wrong with her leg that makes her limp and she spends all of her time making gadgets and fiddling with stuff. Her dad is working on some top secret project that is going to help win the war and when her grandmother dies, she goes off to live with him.
Dewey didn't realize how top secret this project was. She didn't realize she was moving to a place that didn't officially exist... All she knew was everyone was living out in the desert working on the gadget. The gadget would win the war. The gadget would make everything better.
Suze has been living at Los Alamos for awhile when Dewey moves there-- Suze is a bit awkward and bossy and both of her parents are working on the project-- her mom's a real scientist, not just a typist or secretary like the other moms. When Dewey's dad has to go to Washington for awhile, Dewey moves in and the pair form an unlikely, but entirely realistic, friendship.
What's great about this book is the portrait of day-to-day life at Los Alamos-- you never think about kids living with their families, going to school, and being kids. You never think about the divisions between scientist kids and military kids. And you never think about Los Alamos just plain not existing... (well, at least I never thought about those things.)
This balances the line perfectly of being meticulously researched and historically wonderful, while not letting this detail overshadow the actual story. I liked how realistic the interactions between the kids were-- this unlikely friendship took a long time to develop and it never came across as hokey or simplisitic.
My favorite part of the book was how delicately it dealt with some very large issues that need to be tackled when dealing this topic-- it put them in there so you knew people were worrying about them, but Dewey hears about them and deals with them in a way that is very true to her age. In Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) Feynman (a minor character in this book, much to my delight) talks about the horror of what they had done after the first test. The book captures this horror well with the adults and the confusion of the kids at what's going on.
Something happens about 3/4 of the way through the book that is a bit of a spoiler so I'm not going to talk about it too much, but it was just too much and I don't really think it was necessary (but it might be for the sequel that I am very much looking forward to!)
The other thing is... I'm assuming that if you're reading my blog, you know what the gadget was-- you know what was invented at Los Alamos during WWII to win the war. Dewey and Suze, and therefore the reader, never find out was the gadget was, and I'm not sure how much sense the ending of the book is going to make if you don't know. I also don't know if the intended audience is going to automatically know what the gadget was...
Still, an excellent book and a well-deserving win.
Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I promised I'd review this years Newberry winner, The Higher Power of Luckyby Susan Patron.
I wanted to wait down until all the fervor over SCROTUM faded away. And then it came back. And then it faded again.
Anyway... Lucky really surprised me. I hadn't heard anything about it before Newberry day and in reading the description-- it didn't sound kid-friendly. It sounded like it was going to be really nostalgic and an adult book written for kids.
It wasn't! I was so happy!
Lucky lives with her French guardian (he absent father's ex-wife) in the middle of the desert. She likes to eavesdrop on 12 step meetings to find out how people find their higher power-- higher power sounds like a handy thing to have, but Lucky's hoping to avoid hitting rock bottom in order to get it. Hitting rock bottom doesn't sound like much fun.
At the same time, Lucky's worried her guardian is going to go back to France-- she seems homesick and her passport was out the other day.
Deep down, this is a really sweet tale that will appeal to younger readers, but also has some really big issues for older readers to get into.
Most enjoyable was the large cast of wacky, but believable, characters. A good book and my favorite Newberry winner of the last few years.
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Lawson was a Newberry Honor book that is being found in the YA section at all the libraries I've visited!
Hattie is an orphan who inherits a homesteading claim in Montana. In order to keep the claim, she has to cultivate a large portion of it (which involves clearing it first!) and fence off most of it. By hand. By herself. She knows nothing about farming. Or cooking. Or anything. She wants to keep the claim, but she'll be lucky if she even survives.
Her next door neighbors are helpful and nice and the first friends Hattie makes, but one of them is German, and it's smack in the middle of WWI. Montana is rife with anti-German sentiment, loyalty leagues and other things making things hard for Hattie's friends. How can she reconcile her soldier-friends killing Germans across the ocean with her German neighbor fencing her claim in the middle of the night?
Tragedy and hope about in another great example of what historical fiction should be in this book that's perfect for Tweens and those right on the kidlit/YA break.
My favorite part was the ending and how it was handled. The author's note at the end is great, as are the recipes!
The Pull of the Ocean by Jean-Claude Mourlevat won the Batchelder award for translated work this fall.
The Doutreleau children are all sets of twins, except for the Yann, the seventh and the last. Yann is small and mute, but notices everything and communicates with his older brothers silently. One night he wakes up to his parents fighting and lets his brothers know they have to leave, to escape. For days they walk, following Yann's inner compass to the ocean.
This is more than just a retelling of the Tom Thumb. This story is told in brief accounts of people who saw the children and interacted with them only briefly-- sometimes only seconds, never more than an hour or so. Interspersed are the accounts of the children, but never Yann.
This book is surprisingly powerful and moving without ever being overwrought, over-contrived, or melodramatic. I couldn't put it down and it haunts you long after you turn the final page-- I highly recommend!
0 Comments on More Winners and the like as of 1/1/1970
As you all know, I'm just a corporate shill for Big Newbery. Looks like S&S is pulling out all the steps for their baby. Do look at the video when you've a chance. I had no idea Maurice Sendak had put in his two cents regarding the Lucky Scrotum Kerfuffle.
SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING TO LAUNCH EXTENSIVE MULTI-PLATFORM NEWBERY CAMPAIGN FOR THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY New York, NY, March 13, 2007 —Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing today announced a multi-platform marketing and publicity campaign for the 2007 Newbery medal winning THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron and illustrated by Matt Phelan. The campaign kicks off with a brand new online video, featuring an interview of Susan Patron conducted by Cynthia Kadohata, author of the 2005 Newbery winning KIRA-KIRA, where Patron delivers a powerful message to kids about the importance of books.
Rick Richter, the President of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing provides an introductory statement to the video, touching on the recent controversy surrounding the book and the groundswell of support the book has received – widely ranging from authors like Maurice Sendak and Neil Gaiman to a New York Times editorial. This video will be distributed through a number of online channels to librarians, educators and bookstores, as well as having a presence on more consumer oriented sites like youtube, google video and simonsays.com. The following is a link to watch the video, click here .
Additionally, Susan Patron will be embarking on an extensive “Whistle-Stop-Newbery-Train Tour” later this spring with stops along the West Coast in markets like San Francisco , Seattle , Portland , San Diego , and Los Angeles . She will be making appearances at a variety of bookstores, schools, and libraries. Simon & Schuster will also be hosting a Hospitality Suite at this summer’s annual ALA, with the theme being “In Support of Every Word” to thank librarians and authors who have spoken out in support of this book. And store accounts will also have the opportunity to sell this year’s Newbery winner with a 9 copy floor display, which will be releasing later this spring. “We really wanted to shake things up a bit and do some innovative online and grass roots marketing with THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY,” says Rick Richter, President of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
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6 Comments on Higher Power of Lucky Multi-Platform Newbery Campaign, last added: 3/18/2007
Wow. Love, love, love the video. Good for S&S! :) e dulemba.com
Roger Sutton said, on 3/18/2007 7:30:00 AM
Chimimng in with the abundance of "hurty feelings" (my least favorite book title of 2006) being expressed in the children's-book blogosphere this week, I'm irritated that S&S is making it look like Sendak gave them that quote when in fact he said it to MOI, and said I could quote him on MOI blog last month. And now, Fuse, I'm going to be all hurty feelings because you didn't notice that, either ;-).
Jennifer Schultz said, on 3/18/2007 8:23:00 AM
Hello corporate shill for Big Newbery. What do you think about ALSC possibily changing the eligibility requirements for the Newbery and Caldecott (saw this in this month's SLJ)? I haven't read anyone comment on this yet.
fusenumber8 said, on 3/18/2007 9:35:00 AM
These two comments are a brilliant example of me dropping all kinds of colorful, interesting, intelligent balls. Ball dropping. I'm on it.
I knew that the Gaiman quote came from his blog (and thought it a touch odd) but hadn't notice (hurty feelings may be lavished at will) that Sendak said it to you, Roger m'dear. I'm amused by S&S's (for lack of a better word) balls on the matter. They didn't ask you if they could take the quote? In such a case as this, Gaiman's probably also a bit surprised.
The Big Newbery corporate shill (you can call me BNCS for short) has dropped ball #2 (I envision it as a superball) all over the place with the eligibility requirements. Hunhuna? I'm shocked Roger hasn't mentioned this himself. Off to locate an SLJ. One moment...
Jennifer Schultz said, on 3/18/2007 9:59:00 AM
For those interested, it's p. 17 of the March 2007 School Library Journal issue (the one with Nancy Patron on the cover).
Main point: ALSC is considering dropping the requirement that only books first published in the United States and written by an author in the US are eligible for the Newbery and Caldecott. It also mentioned that they are revising requirements for the Sibert, Geisel, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Batchelder awards, but it doesn't go into any more detail about those awards.
I have a lot of questions and comments about this possibility, but none of my coworkers seem to care. Talk about hurty feelings.
fusenumber8 said, on 3/18/2007 10:44:00 AM
I WILL TAKE UP THE CAUSE!!! bum bum ba dum.
Give me two days to find and read the article though. This is monumental stuff.
As an author and columnist, my life revolves around the correct word choice. So I was completely confounded by the kerfuffle over the use of one particular word in this year's Newbery Medal winner.
The word in question appears on the first page of Susan Patron's "The Higher Power of Lucky," when the 10-year-old protagonist, Lucky, an orphaned girl living in a tiny desert town in the Eastern Sierras, eavesdrops on an AA meeting and hears a recovering alcoholic speaking about his lowest moment. It came "when he had drunk half a gallon of rum listening to Johnny Cash all morning," and then fell out of his car "when he saw a rattlesnake on the passenger seat biting his dog, Roy, on the scrotum." Lucky doesn't know what scrotum means; to her it sounds like "something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much."
The use of the "s" word prompted howls of outrage from a certain subsection of librarians. "Scrotum-gate" as the affair has become known amongst the children's book cognoscenti, spilled over from the pages of Publishers Weekly into the national papers.
A New York Times article made the curious statement that "Authors of children's books sometimes sneak in a single touchy word or paragraph, leaving librarians to choose whether to ban an entire book over one offending phrase."
Puh-leeze. I just finished a novel with a bulimic protagonist, and I agonized over the use of every word that might be deemed offensive. But as an author of books for young people, it's my job to try to convey essential truths through fiction -- and kids can spot a fake from a mile away.
Joni Richards Bodart observed in her article "Books that Help, Books that Heal": "Teens É want a chance to experience reality vicariously before meeting it head on, and they know the safety of having those experiences through books É [they] have little patience with unrealistic characters or situations, conversations or emotions."
Ms. Patron, a highly-respected veteran of the Los Angeles Public Library system, is bemused by the controversy her use of medical terminology provoked: "Somehow there's a perception in America that you can put your kids in front of the TV, let them play certain kinds of games and expose them to absolutely atrocious levels of violence and language. But somehow the book is sacred."
Meanwhile, down in Dade County, Florida, parents are "booknapping" titles they find offensive. As parent Dalila Rodriguez explained, "If you take it out and don't return it, no kid can read it. It's not censoring; it's protecting our children from lies." Last June, the Miami-Dade School Board voted to ban the book "Vamos a Cuba" from district libraries, a decision that's being challenged by the ACLU. Of the 48 copies of "Vamos a Cuba" owned and contained in the school district's libraries, 17 are lost or overdue.
But, as Alice in Wonderland would say: "Curiouser and Curiouser." Last week, U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy III in Michigan referred allegations that Howell Public Schools teachers violated pornography laws by assigning books by Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Wright in 11th and 12th grade English classes to the FBI for investigation. He did so after receiving a letter from Vicki Fyke of the Livingston Organization for Values in Education, who filed the complaint after she failed to persuade the Howell District School Board to remove the books.
Interestingly, Murphy was appointed as U.S. attorney by President George W. Bush in 2005 (he gave $2,000 to Bush's 2004 campaign) and has been nominated for a seat on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"It is absolutely bizarre that a high official in the Justice Department would take such a step," said Joan Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. "Under the law, the books cannot be found obscene if they have literary merit, which in this case cannot reasonably be questioned." Chris Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, said Murphy abdicated his responsibility to protect free speech. "We are told that Murphy 'routinely' refers all obscenity complaints to the FBI. But he has a duty to reject frivolous claims to ensure that there is no chilling effect on books that are protected by the First Amendment É This is not the kind of judgment we expect from a man who has been nominated for a seat on one of our highest courts."
It is, indeed, chilling. What's next? Book burnings?
Sarah Darer Littman, who lives in Greenwich, is author of "Confessions of a Closet Catholic," published by Dutton Children's Books
This is what bugs me about Scrotumgate: I'm not seeing much real analysis of what's at play. I'm a children's book editor, and I would sell my soul for this kind of publicity. A handful of libraries decline to take one of my books and I get NY Times coverage and tidal wave of blogging? Where do I sign up?
The problem is that since the net impact on the publisher's and the author's bottom line is nonexistent or even positive, there's not much incentive to take on the core issues, like why is "scrotum" getting such a reaction? Is this partially because it's a Newbery book and librarians expect to be able to read the Newbery to any age? People might check out the kid's book with the dirty word, but is anyone asking why "scrotum" is a dirty word?
There's coverage--some of it innane (NY Times)--but not much analysis. Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't think so. Or maybe this is all a publicity stunt and I didn't get the memo.
This is what happened, Andrew (in case you want to try it out next time!):
Librarians were discussing "The Higher Power of Lucky" on a librarian list_serv. ONE librarian raised the scrotum issue, claiming she knew others who were disturbed by it as well. A member of this listserv (who is also a member of AsIF)then forwarded the discussion to the NYT reporter. Once it appeared in the NYT it went national.
I'm happy for Patron, though. It's a charming little book and when I read it, I must admit, I didn't even flinch when I read the word. It fit with the character who spoke the word, it IS a word that would be interesting to a child like Lucky who didn't know what it meant, AND it fit with the location (small desert CA town).
Most of the REAL discussion has taken place on a variety of listservs (Child_Lit, in particular), to which most of the bloggers belong to.
The thing about viral stories is that you never know when one will take root. I know how this one did, though. Bad reporting on behalf of the NYT. Apparently (I don't belong to the librarian list as I'm not a librarian) only one or two librarians actually questioned the use of the word. All of a sudden it became an "uproar." Truly bad reporting.
Thanks for the details. This sounds a little like a more successful version of what happened to the book Pop! several months ago, wherein there were rumors of the book being suppressed at Borders because of its sexual content. This was extremely fishy--much more likely Borders simply passed on the book, which isn't that unusual--but it made the rounds of the lit blogs (and it too was on ASIF). Good publicity, though not nearly the same order of magnitude as this.
Nick said, on 2/23/2007 4:46:00 AM
That is hilarious....
Never mind that the scrotum in question belongs to a DAWG.
(Also funny is that here in England, when we think something is really great, we say it's the Dog's B******s. No idea why though.)
The Daily Press & Argus reports that the Howell Board of Education voted 5-2 to allow teachers to assign The Freedom Writers Diary, Black Boy, and The Bluest Eye to advanced English classes. School Board member Wendy Day who voted for the ban states she has filed a form to ask for an official review of the Morrison book.
Update: The Conservative Media Blog reports that banners are still "howelling" in Howell, MI. The Daily Press and Argus reports that some parents are taking the battle to the courts, claiming that books on the curriculum break pornography laws. Stay tuned. It isn't over yet.
Librarian Kathryn Greenhill, the Australian blogger of Librarians Matter mulls over the pros and cons of having a book in a university library that tells one how to kill oneself.
0 Comments on Offensive and Dangerous Words as of 3/14/2007 12:50:00 AM
Tis true! Thanks to Big A little a we know that in a recent Washington Post interview, Ms. Patron said the following, ". . . I'm working on a companion book; it's called 'Lincoln's Knot.' I'm about three-quarters of the way through."
Let us all hope too for the reappearance of the government cheese.
0 Comments on Higher Power of Lucky Sequel In the Works as of 3/14/2007 12:14:00 AM
Q: Do you talk about your ideas with kids before you write?
A: "I don't test with children. I did have a lovely girl of 11 read the book in manuscript, but it was already done. I think I write for the child inside me. I'm the reader at the same time as I'm the writer, and that lets me be 9 or 10 again. . . . It's scary and hard to be that age. Survival is one of the themes in the book, and how we all need community to figure out how to get through life."
Fans of The Higher Power of Lucky will be happy to know Licoln's Knot is next.
0 Comments on Susan Patron interview as of 3/13/2007 11:51:00 PM
Over at The Rumpus, middle-grade author Cecil Castelluci will coordinate the new Letters For Kids program–a subscription service giving readers mail from authors who write for kids.
The Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) celebrated Banned Books Week with a series of essays by YA authors called “Getting Banned.”
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(the 2006 Newbery Award Winner) recently weighed in on the controversy. Read her amazing article, 
is set in Hard Pan, 
, which was named a Newbery Honor Book last year. .jpg?picon=694)
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Paula Yoo is probably signing her "first" novel, not her "fist" novel, yeah?
This is what happens when I don't get much sleep.
It's tough being read by a bunch of writers. No typo goes unnoticed!
Thanks.
I'm actually mostly an illustrator, but I like to help out where I can...