"The award is presented to a children's or young adult book published in English by a U.S. publisher and set in the Americas. A standing committee (Ann Carlson; Hazel Rochman, chair; and Roger Sutton) selects the winner. Established by the late historical fiction writer, Scott O'Dell, the award is administered by his wife, Elizabeth Hall. The author is presented with a $5000 prize." (Read Roger, 1/12/07)I was pleased to see the announcement since, as usual; I had been perusing the shelves for something to read at lunch. The post itself was interestingly timed because there had been recent discussion on Roger's blog concerning the draw/publicity award winning books get simply because of the proclaiming them to all asunder as award winning. I took a few minutes to search in one of our library database for reviews on the book, noticed they were a bit diverse, and with my curiosity aroused, I searched the catalog. Not only was it I book I had added to our collection, but I was also lucky enough to find it available.
But wait, there's more! After reading the post, I added a quick response stating I was going to go grab the book off of the shelf. Since Read Roger has an interesting and knowledgeable following, I often check the comments later in the day to see what conversations have started. In doing so, I found a lovely comment criticizing my post comment grammar (excuse me?). Let me get it right, I would hate to misquote an anonymous comment. After all, it meant so much to the author they were careful not to sign their name. But, I digress, it said:
"I grabbed it OFF OF the shelf." Don't you people believe in correct English? (For yourselves, I mean. It's OK in novel dialogue.) - anonymous
I really wanted to dash "off" an equally snarky reply stating I would worry about grammar when anonymous had the courage to post using his/her name, but decided another person's professional blog was not the place do so. My own blog, of course, is another matter altogether. There is nothing grammatically incorrect about my statement, "Thanks for the information, I just went out and grabbed this title off of the shelf to read at lunch today." It may not be to everyone's taste. It may very well be colloquial English for that matter, but it is not wrong. Additionally, if I wanted to be picky, and evidently I do, hence this post, he/she should have said "For you, I mean." and not "yourselves."
I certainly hope it made that person feel good to courageously put their name on such a critical piece. Especially a comment that added nothing toward the overall conversation regarding The Green Glass Sea.
Tags: Read Roger, 2007 Scott O'Dell award for historical fiction, Juvenile fiction, Blog courtesy
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