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'Cause that's what we do around here.

* In the New York Times, an interesting article on how small-scale and niche manufacturing in Brooklyn is prospering even as larger concerns suffer in the economic downturn:

Many business owners interviewed said they were staying strong in this market by employing few workers and keeping their products specialized.

“They tend to be very nimble, even in the downtimes,” said Mr. Kimball. “They can make it through a difficult stretch easier than the bigger players.”

Manufacturing isn't retail, but I can't be the only one to see a parallel to the indie store which can make adjustments and cater to local clients as corporate sellers can't. We ARE all making those adjustments, right?...


* Also in the Times, an article that evokes the great urbanist Jane Jacobs in discussing how internet forums and social networking, especially in New York City neighborhoods, can strengthen local bonds, not increase isolation:

The Web was first seen as a radical alternative to the bricks-and-mortar world, but the truth, it turns out, can be more complicated.

“The original idea of the Internet was to get away from physical geography,” Steven Johnson, a 40-year-old Brooklynite and the author of several tech-related books, said as he sat in the Dumbo loft that serves as the office to Outside.in, a Web site he helped to found two years ago. “The dream was that everybody would be able to telecommute from Wyoming.”

Yet, the Internet has also had the opposite effect by helping to connect people more closely to their physical and political surroundings. And for New Yorkers, whose surroundings are more complex than most, this effect can be particularly powerful, enabling them to take on the long-anonymous, too-big-to-fight city.

There's also an acknowledgement of the gentrification wars that seem to flare up on every neighborhood blog (whose side are you on?!?) -- but this is a good way to think about how a local bookstore can be a part of their online neighborhood as well as their physical one.


* Sometimes, it takes a Nobel-prize winning author to stem the spread of panic and illogic in a publishing corporation. Thanks to a letter from Gunter Grass, Umberto Eco, Amos Oz, Wislawa Szymborska, Jose Saramago and others, beloved and competent editor Drenka Willen has been re-hired at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, after being fired last month. Score one for literature over the suits. (Thanks to Levi for the link.)


* I'm still thinking about the question inherent in Jason Lutes' Berlin graphic novels about how and whether artists and writers should be engaged with politics. Pankaj Mishra has one answer: if writers are there in the shit and they write about it, listen to them. Arundhati Roy and David Grossman are certainly examples of writers whose political ideas and expressions we would be mistaken to ignore.

* The good news about the following kerfuffle is that the backlash happened so fast. To quote Sarah Retger at the ABA Omnibus:

Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse wrote a stunningly dumb article for the WSJ in which she argued that the only way for publishers to survive is by throwing lots of advance money at projects they hope will be bestsellers. Happily, people more eloquent than me have done the necessary debunking, criticizing, and introducing of logic.

My own two cents: there's nothing wrong with hoping for a blockbuster. But shelling out multi-million dollar advances (at the expense of publicity efforts for the rest of the list) ain't gonna get you one. One of the strengths of books as a medium is that they're viable on such a small scale; we're lucky for the books with print runs of 500 as well as those with 50,000, and it would be great to see publishers begin to think critically about how to work those strengths for a diverse, vibrant, long-lived list.

* Ooh, here's a nice one: the National Endowment for the Arts survey, usually a staple of doom and gloom about the state of American literacy, this year shows a substantial increase in the numbers and percentages of readers. I have yet to read through the complete findings, and it will be interesting to hear theories on why the shift occurred, but it does strike a bright note.

* This kind of counts as good news: I'll be speaking at the Brooklyn Business Library's PowerUp! awards ceremony on Wednesday night, in my capacity as past winner. An interesting opportunity to review the past year in the bookstore process. Free eats, also.


What have YOU got going on that's good?

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Shop Indie Bookstores

Brooklyn Was Mine edited by by Valerie Steiker and Chris Knutsen (Riverhead)
(bonus: giving some love to the local!)

If there's anything your Book Nerd loves more than books and indie bookstores, it's my adopted home town of Brooklyn. So of course I snatched up this nonfiction anthology (which, as I mentioned here, benefits the organization Develop Don't Destroy, which opposes what I think is the worst idea in Brooklyn development history.) It could have been hit or miss -- as Colson Whitehead hilariously observed, there's a certain amount of hype around Brooklyn these days, especially as a literary Mecca.

Luckily, the mix of authors here offers views and voices beyond literary hipsterdom. The introduction by Pete Hamill offers several decades' perspective on the "sudden emergence" of Brooklyn, and opines that it will probaby remain itself whatever the condo developers or anti-gentrifiers attempt. Lara Vapnyar has an illuminating piece on the kitsch and apppeal of the neighborhood of Brighton Beach, which is "more Russian than Russia". And Brooklyn's poster boy Jonathan Lethem has an experimental multi-voiced rant on the frustrating and terrible nightmare of Brooklyn (followed by an explanation/apologia that puts it in perspective). Other authors write about the unexpected sense of neighborhood and community here, the experience of growing up here or moving from other parts of the country or the world, the geography, the history,the baseball, the race relations.

It's a fantastic collection, and cemented my love for the place -- not only my own experience of a wonderfully human-scale neighborhood, but the diversity of the place, and the fact that it can't be pinned down in a marketing slogan. The title alludes to the feeling that several of the essays get at: that one gets nostalgic and possessive about Brooklyn almost as soon as one encounters it. It's a bit laughable, sure, all of us staunchly loyal new converts, but Brooklyn is a place that gets a strong hold on people. I'm grateful for these writers for reminding me some of the reasons why.

And as borough president extraordinaire Marty Markowitz loves to remind us, one out of every four Americans has a relative from Brooklyn. So even if you're not from around here, bet you know someone who is who would love to read this book.

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It's one of those crazy days for me today (as opposed to all of the totally sane days that happen at other times, to other people... who am I kidding?) But as promised, I want to recap the ABA Day of Education, particularly the Green portions. It will be short, though.

There was so much on offer at the DOE this year, and I wish I'd gotten to more. During one session I was serving on my own Graphic Novels Panel. I started out at the "Managing Blockbuster Events" panel, but was made unable to take it in by a migraine-grade headache (brought on by too much coffee, too little water, and too much hotel air conditioning, I think). I came back for the Loss Control panel, which was useful, but mostly stuff we've figured out (if not implemented) at my store already.

Which leaves the Green Retailing panel. Luckily, intrepid reporter Karen Schechner has written up the whole thing for Bookselling This Week - so you can read her capable recap instead of mine. But there are a couple of things I took from this.

1) The Green Press Initiative is going strong, it's having an effect, and it's something I need to investigate more. Over 160 publishers have already signed on, and we booksellers can encourage others to do so.

2) Letting publishers know we want recycled paper books can be powerful. One great idea: a featured display table with only books on recycled or sustainable foresting paper. There's enough out there that you could keep it rotating. And display features are a good reason for publishers to give you more of that kind of books to display.

3) What we don't yet do in our store:
- recycling everything, on the floor AND in the back offices. (This is tough with NYC's slightly bizarre trash pickup and recycling rules, but we're getting there.)

4) What we do in our store that works:
- turn off every possible computer at night
- turn every possible bit of paper - obsolete reports, special order printouts, etc. - into scrap paper. It gets used for notating damaged or returnable books, writing down directions or titles for customers, and everything else you can think of -- and keeps us from having to use more paper.
- re-using all of our event posters by printing on the back side.
- asking every customer "Do you need [not want] a bag?", rather than just bagging automatically -- it's saved us a lot of bags!
- featuring displays of books about going green.


That's what I've got, today. What is your bookstore (or other stores you visit) doing to get green?

* * *

And now, that other project. Today's craziness, and a weekend conversation with the ALP, have prompted me to do something I've been meaning to do for a long time: start a blog about my bookstore startup process. I felt I needed something separate from The Written Nerd -- this place is for general industry and book-related stuff, and there's way too much bookstore stuff to include here. So I've started A Bookstore In Brooklyn just for that purpose. There's lots to report already -- today's just an intro. Check it out, spread it around, and I'll keep you posted.

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After all that build-up to the American Library Association awards, I haven't talked about the winners and honor books yet, except for Hugo Cabret. Let's correct that. You can find a full list of all the books that were honored here on ALA's website.

On to the books that I'm particularly overjoyed about...

I'm absolutely thrilled that The Invention of Hugo Cabret won the Caldecott Medal... in fact, I wrote a whole post on the subject. If you haven't been able to get your hands on this extraordinary book yet, here are a few things you can do. To see the images from the first chapter of the book, go the Hugo Cabret website. And be sure to go to Teachingbooks.net to hear the first chapter narrated by Brian Selznick, and find out that the correct pronunciation of the title character is Hue Go Cab Ray. Then, head to the nearest library or bookstore, because you won't want to stop reading.

After I'm done with my standing ovation for the 2008 Caldecott committee, I'd like to give another one to the 2008 Newbery committee for awarding the Newbery medal to Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz. It's a quiet, powerful book that slowly takes hold of you and is a unique work that's a combination of poetry, theater, non-fiction and superb storytelling. The research that went into it is excellent and it has some of the funniest and informative footnotes that I've ever found in a book written for children. I really felt like I gained an understanding of the Middle Ages, particularly what life was like for children, in a way that I never have before. I also felt like I made friends with each character in Schlitz's village and I loved when their stories connected. Most importantly, Schlitz never talks down to her audience. This understated book could have easily been lost in the shuffle. I'm so glad that through the power of the Newbery Medal, kids will have a chance to discover it.

To hear Schlitz read the last monologue from the book (which also happens to be one of my favorite pieces in the book), go to TeachingBooks.net. For Schlitz's reaction to winning the Newbery, see "Children's Book Award Winners Break the Mold" by Bob Thompson in the Washington Post and "Fairy tales do come true at Park School" by Mary Carole McCauley and Jill Rosen in the Baltimore Sun. Also, see Newbery committee member Monica Edinger's description of the magic phone call on her blog Educating Alice.

First the Egg by Laura Vacarro Seeger received not one, but two honors. It was awarded a Caldecott Honor and a Geisel honor. I think this book is extraordinary in subtle ways. Through the magic of LookyBook, I can give you a glimpse into this lovely book.



Unfortunately, this doesn't really convey the die-cuts, which I think are the best part. There are strategically placed holes throughout the book (the best example is on the title page where you can see the cut-out of the egg). Seeger is a brilliant artist and and I am so happy that she's finally received well deserved recognition.

I'm also quite happy that Henry's Freedom Box garnered a Caldecott honor. It's a straightforward, true and moving account of a slave who literally mailed himself to freedom in a large box. And the pictures are wonderful. Author Ellen Levine has written a number of books I've enjoyed such as I Hate English and If Your Name was Changed at Ellis Island. It's great to see her gripping and engaging text honored. Illustrator Kadir Nelson is becoming a bit of a superstar and picked up a Caldecott honor last year for Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom.


As for There is A Bird on Your Head! by Mo Willems, which won the Geisel Award, I agree with MotherReader (see here and here) that it's the best of the four Elephant and Piggie books. The humor and slapstick in this book is absolutely brilliant. I read it aloud at a storytime yesterday to a group that ranged from 6 months to 6 years old. Kids and parents were hanging on every word, and practically every page was greeted with uproarious laughter. Also, it makes excellent use of white space and contains large text and simple words which combine to make it a terrific early reader. And the jokes don't hurt either.

One last comment... and it's about Harry Potter, of course. I was watching the live webcast of the awards. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was mentioned as an Odyssey Honor, my heart sank. Because that meant that it hadn't won the Odyssey Award. And it's unfair to gripe about, because I haven't heard the winner yet. Jazz, which did win, is based on an excellent book, and I look forward to hearing the audio edition. And, I applaud the Odyssey committee for looking at the entire spectrum and awarding honors audio productions created from picture books, informational book and traditional chapter books. And really, I'm delighted that Deathly Hallows received an Odyssey honor.

Congratulations to all the committees and all the award winners. Now that the big moment is over, what do you want to do? Go to Disneyland, of course. The ALA annual convention is in Anaheim this year, and I can't wait to hear the acceptance speeches in June.

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Did you see the announcement of the ALA awards for children’s and YA literature? Poetry was all over the place! I was fortunate enough to attend the announcement press conference as part of the first ever Odyssey Award committee for best audiobook of the year and I kept nudging my friend next to me, saying, “That’s poetry.” “That one’s poetry.” “That’s poetry, too.” It was so exciting. Top of the list? The NEWBERY award! Congratulations to Laura Amy Schlitz for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village (Candlewick), a truly amazing work of history, poetry, drama, and detail. You may remember that our prescient Cybils poetry committee chose it for our short list of the best poetry of the year, too!

But wait, there was more!
One of the Printz honor books for YA literature is a powerful work of poetry, Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill (Knopf, an imprint of Random House). Way to go, Stephanie! This book also is rich in history and biography, but offers poems echoing the style of Plath, about Plath herself. (It’s also on the Cybils short list of best poetry of the year!)

One of the Coretta Scott King author honor books is also a work of poetry: Twelve Rounds to Glory The Story of Muhammad Ali written by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier (Candlewick). More history, more biography, more poetry—this one is a shout-out read aloud with dynamic images in words and art.

Margarita Engle, author of The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, illustrated by Sean Qualls (Holt) is the 2008 Pura Belpré Author Award recipient honoring Latino authors and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in children's books. This is a complex and gritty poetry-story of the life of nineteenth-century Cuban slave Juan Francisco Manzano from multiple points of view.

The Schneider Family Award for books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience went to a work of poetry: Reaching for Sun by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (Bloomsbury). It is the winner in the middle grades category (age 11-13) and is a gentle novel-in-verse about a young girl growing up with a lively spirit and cerebral palsy, too. Congratulations, Tracie! (I mentioned this gem previously in my entry on April 5, 2007.)

Finally, I’m thrilled to say that our very own Odyssey Award for excellence in audiobook production was also awarded to a work of poetry: Walter Dean Myers's Jazz (produced by Live Oak Media). Dual narrators read, say, and sing these poems with verve and vitality against a backdrop of original jazz music. In addition, Walter Dean Myers will deliver the 2009 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, as an “individual of distinction in the field of children's literature.” (I’ve also blogged about Jazz several times since it also received the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award [See Feb. 21, 2007] and when Jazz received a CSK illustrator honor citation for son Christopher Myer’s vibrant illustrations [See Jan. 24, 2007].)

I’m happy to say that ALL of these books appeared on my own lists of the best poetry of 2007 (see Dec. 31, 2007) or 2006 (see Dec. 29, 2006). How wonderful to see these rich and engaging works of poetry get the recognition they deserve. Now I hope they will also find their way into the hands of many young readers!

This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Becky's Farm School.
Picture credit: www.awardsunlimited.com

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