As I’m sure you all noticed, yesterday the National Book Award announced its shortlist for the Young People’s category.  A couple surprises there.  M.T. Anderson’s removal will come as a nasty shock to anyone who has read his book and the elimination of Shabazz/Magoon effectively turns the remaining writers into a pretty white fivesome.

The five titles make for an interesting cross-section of YA literature, of course.  With the exception of The Thing About Jellyfish they are all for the 12-18 year old set.  There’s nonfiction, realistic fiction, graphic novel fantasy, and  . . . The Bone Gap by Laura Ruby.  Neither fish nor fowl, the book doesn’t slot well into any one single category.  What to make of it?  Why not hear from the author herself?

It was with great pleasure that I sat down with Laura Ruby to talk about her book.  Unlike many of my other Fuse #8 TV interviews, Ms. Ruby delves deep into the writer’s process.  She discusses not just the book’s roots but how the human brain can organize a novel without you being aware of what it’s doing.  By the end of this talk you won’t just be curious about her National Book Award nominee.  You’ll be moving heaven and earth to get yourself a copy.

Oh. And I get to do a crazy interpretation of The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.  That’s fun!

Some of the other Fuse #8 TV episodes are archived here.

Finally, thanks to Harper Collins for being my sponsor and helping to put this together.

“Who can turn the stove on with her smile? / Who can take a bubble bath and suddenly fill it with crocodiles?”*

If you answered: Rita Williams-Garcia then you are more than correct!  The illustrious, charming, all around nice woman stopped by the Harper Collins offices to do a little talky talk with me the other day.  Heck, here’s the proof of it:

Though, if I’m going to be realistic, the proof is the fact that I have today’s video at all.  On the surface it may appear to simply be a talk with Ms. Rita about her latest title GONE CRAZY IN ALABAMA but it is instead so much more.  We get the dirt on her recent appearance in the documentary The Black Panthers (coming soon to a theater near you), the fact that she actually makes up stuff when she writes fiction, a quick shot of what she’d look like as Wonder Woman (in a word: awesome), and information on her next book/series, which I know you’re just dying to know more about.

Mind you, to get to the interview you’ll have to sit through another episode of “Reading (Too Much Into) Picture Books”.  This month I look at the “Mr. Croc” books by Jo Lodge.  You could call them the poor man’s Maisy, but I think they’re improvement.  As I say in the video, it’s like someone said, “I like Maisy, but can I get a version where she is a vicious meat-eater with the potential to devour her friends at any time?”  Batta bing!

Some of the other Fuse #8 TV episodes are archived here.

Once more, thanks to Harper Collins for being my sponsor and helping to put this together.

*50 points to anyone who can identify the quote without Googling it.

After a brief hiatus I’m back with my regular interview series, Fuse #8 TV. By complete coincidence (fortune favors the busy) I didn’t have an interview slated when I was in the thick of my move to Evanston. Now that I’m safely ensconced in Illinois (albeit with oddly empty bookshelves) I’m fully ready and prepared for this month’s interview. And what an interview it is! Here is a bit of what you’ll find in this one:

STRIPPING!
TATTOOS!
YETIS!

Not necessarily in that order. Or, odder still, all at the same time. You see, this week we’re interviewing the hugely amusing Kevin Sherry, author of THE YETI FILES, an early chapter book series one and all should know. And in the course of our talk he not only removes (temporarily) articles of clothing but we also get to learn about his magnificent puppetry.

On top of all that, I continue my “Reading (Too Much Into) Picture Books” series in which I tackle the true villains of the Where’s Waldo series. If you watch it with the sound off, you can have fun with my facial expressions.  So please, enjoy! I sure did.

All other Fuse #8 TV episodes are archived here.

Once more, thanks to Scholastic for being my sponsor and helping to put this together.

Allo, folks!

Hosting Steve Sheinkin on Fuse #8 TV this month does have a bit of the old bringing coals to Newcastle feel to it.  After all, Steve’s been generous in sharing his Walking and Talking comic series with us on this site regularly.  So regularly, in fact, that it would be easy to forget that he’s one of our premiere YA nonfiction authors working today.  Now his most ambitious book to date is coming out.  Called MOST DANGEROUS: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE VIETNAM WAR, it allowed me to commiserate with Steve over everything from our childhood schools’ failure to teach anything about the Vietnam War to the state of YA nonfiction today.  Oh!  And I also continue my “Reading (Too Much Into) Picture Books” series with a Dallas-like interpretation of Kathi Appelt’s BUBBA AND BEAU MEET THE RELATIVES.  There is also a baby cameo.  Yes indeed, I will hock my baby to get you to watch my video.  I’m just that cunning.

In case you’re interested, all the other Fuse #8 TV episodes are archived here.

Once more, thanks to Macmillan for being my sponsor and helping to put this together.

And a happy Thursday to you all.  It’s May 21st and that means another episode of Fuse #8 TV is up and running.  As per usual I kick the whole kerschmozzle off with a new edition of “Reading (Too Much) Into Picture Books”.  Though I had a recent request to tackle The Giving Tree, I couldn’t find an adequate hook.  Until I do, I find that the board book Subway by Anastasia Suen (illustrated by Karen Katz) has a spy thriller vibe going on just below its seemingly innocuous surface.  Doubt me?  Check it out.

As for our special guest, I was pleased as punch to speak to Geoff Rodkey.  For years I’ve been a fan of his Chronicles of Egg series.  Now he has a whole new bunch of books out, this time with Little, Brown.  Beginning with The Tapper Twins Go to War (With Each Other), Geoff speaks frankly and honestly about his screenwriting life, publishers he’s dealt with, and the true nature of his work on the Carmen Sandiego video games.

All other Fuse #8 TV episodes are archived here.

Once more, thanks to Little, Brown for being my sponsor and helping to put this together.

YES!  It is time for yet another episode of Fuse #8 TV and today we have a doozy.  A fair frolicsome, lithe and lovely episode wherein I take Are You My Mother? and destroy your ability to ever read it again.  And if I fail to do even that, just read this version over at The Toast and voila.  Instant nightmares.

But enough about other sites.  Today our special guest is the marvelous Aaron Starmer.  If you read his 2014 book The Riverman then you might want to know a bit about the brains behind the book.  This year the sequel, The Whisper, is coming out and so we chat about the cover, the inspiration, and what’s next in Starmer’s future.  Enjoy!

All other Fuse #8 TV episodes are archived here.

And a big thank as well to the good people at Macmillan for being my sponsor and helping to put this together.

Ta!

I’m a sucker for a good time travel story.  By my count only a few have ever won the Newbery (is it two or three? You decide).  Fewer still have won the National Book Award in the youth category.  Even so, they live in a special place in my heart.  So to hear that a book has the title The Book That Proves Time Travel Happens . . . well that’s a near impossible title to resist, is it not?  This week on Fuse #8 TV I interview Henry Clark, but only after I tell you the terrible secret lurking in your copy of Go, Dog, Go.

By the way, this episode was very fun to record.  Too fun, in fact.  Under normal circumstances I can remember to thank my sponsor and to place their title card at the end of each episode.  This time I was so wowed by the prospect of coffee cups and what have you that it completely skipped my mind.  So a big hearty THANK YOU to Little, Brown for Mr. Clark’s presence.  Here is the slide I forgot to project:

And here is SLJ’s info:

As you can see, all the Fuse #8 TV episodes are archived here.

A tip of the hat to all parties involved!

Hi all!

Okay. For this month’s Fuse #8 TV I decided to premiere a new series.

*ahem*

Introducing:

Reading (Too Much Into) Picture Books

Ladies and gentlemen, I like a good conspiracy theory.  Nothing makes my heart go pitter pat faster than an opinion about a picture book that takes a right hand turn into Crazyville.  Trouble is, there just aren’t enough out there.  Sure, you can tell me that Horton Hears a Who is anti-abortion and Rainbow Fish is pro-Communist but sometimes it feels like I’ve heard them all.  Time to shake things up a little!

Announcing a series where I make up crazed interpretations of classic picture books.  This month: Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley.  We all know it.  We love it.  Now what’s the kookiest theory you can come up with for it?  I say my own and it’s a doozy.  I’m weirdly proud about it.

After that I interview the very fun, funny, and infinitely patient Chris Grabenstein. Chris has a new middle grade novel out this year called The Island of Dr. Libris.  He entertains my questions and then pulls out this Jim Henson story that will seriously make your eyes water.  I’m not even kidding about that.

Enjoy!

I didn’t really plan it this way, but this week is basically just wall to wall videos of me yammering till the cows come home.  Fortunately, in the case of the latest episode of Fuse #8 TV I’m at least joined by the lovely and infinitely talented graphic novelist Victoria Jamieson.

In this, the latest of my video series, I decide to take you guys on a tour of a castle.  A castle chock FULL of children’s literature.  Don’t believe me?  Then prepare to be amazed.

After that I sit down with Ms. Jamieson and we discuss Roller Girl, an all new graphic novel that combines the fun and personal relationships you might find in a Raina Telgemeier comic with the fury and glory of a roller derby match.

Many thanks to the good people at Penguin Young Readers for letting me speak with Ms. Jamieson.  You can find her book Roller Girl on your shelves March 10th.  And you can find full episodes of Fuse #8 TV here.

I think I’m beginning to get the hang of this!

Yes, we’ve yet another Fuse #8 TV episode today and this time we’ve worked out some of the kinks. No more with the herky jerky videos at the start! Instead, I take you on a lovely little tour of the current Grolier exhibit of children’s literature. Then it’s interview time with YA author Jennifer Niven of the much lauded All the Bright Places.

Enjoy previous episodes of Fuse #8 TV here thus far!

Top of the morning to you, folks!  I’m happy to release my second Fuse #8 TV episode.  This time around I thought it would be a bit of fun to take a trip to the Eric Carle Museum.  Not everyone has ever had a chance to visit and it’s just the loveliest place.  After that, I sit down with the truly delightful Lisa Graff to talk a bit about the slow burn of her career and her latest book Absolutely Almost.  Enjoy!

Got me a blog. Got me a library job. And now I’ve got me a TV show. Sorta kinda.

The nice folks here at SLJ took a gander at that little Newbery/Caldecott pre-game/post-game show I created with Lori Ess last January (and I just rewatched the post-game show which I would like to play at my funeral someday) and decided to give me a little airtime. Announcing the debut of Fuse #8 TV! Here’s the official description:

Fuse #8 TV is a monthly webcast hosted by A Fuse #8 Production’s Elizabeth Bird featuring interviews with notable authors of literature for children and young adults. Recorded live online, it is made possible by Scholastic, Penguin Random House, Little Brown, Macmillan, HarperCollins, and School Library Journal.

In a way, I sort of wanted to create an offshoot of my Children’s Literary Salons held here in NYC.  Conversations on a myriad of different topics in bite-sized pieces.

Now for our first episode I wanted to start things off with a bang.  So Travis Jonker was kind enough to help me relive the glory of our previous wordless conversation.  After that, I decided to do something timely.  I engaged Coe Booth (KINDA LIKE BROTHERS) and Kekla Magoon (HOW IT WENT DOWN) in a discussion ranging from women writing as boys, the “next” Walter Dean Myers, African-American women writers, and more.  Here are the results:

We’ll be putting one of these out each month. Stay tuned for more!