Read Roger ... again

Read Roger, the Horn Book editors blog, is always a great informational tool, as well as an intriguing children's literature resource. Case in point, today Roger pointed readers to the Horn Book's Summer Reading recommendations:

"Every few summers, and this promises to be one, the whole world goes wild about Harry. But no wizard has a lock on enchantment. Our editors have hand-picked some favorite new titles, all published within the last year, that are ideal for the season. There is plenty of magic here, too." (Summer Reading, Horn Book, 6/11/07)

I scanned through the list and noted a few titles I have already read (and blogged about), one I am in the process of reading, and several I would like to read. Also posted recently was an announcement about the 2007 Boston Globe Horn Book Awards. I was slightly smug to learn we had all winning titles and all but one of the honor books already in our collection. The book I missed was 365 Penguins and we'll order it when funds are released for the next fiscal year.

As to that summer reading list, here are the books I have read and/or blogged about:

• Babymouse
• The Green Glass Sea
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret
• Rex Zero and the End of the World
• Dairy Queen
• Notes from the Midnight Driver
• How it Happened on Peach Hill
• One Whole and Perfect Day

Currently Reading:

• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing - This is not an average young adult novel. Written in what could be loosely termed a journal format, Octavian Nothing is a disturbing account of historical fiction written in the dialogue of the times, 18th century America. In it Octavian discusses slavery, his own, and the academic experiment that was the bedrock and downfall of his childhood. Readers are provided insights to the barbaric whims of slavery and slave owners during the Revolutionary War era, as opposed to the more widely known Civil War notations. I have not yet finished this book, but it is disurbing on many levels as the first person narrative intersperced throughout the novel is at times both matter-of-fact and cynical.

Would like to read:

• Street Love, Walter Dean Myers

Tags: Read Roger, Horn Book Magazine, Juvenile summer reading

About Picture Books

This is a two fold post, it links to an interesting article about picture books in Publisher's Weekly and includes the story of "how I found an interesting article about picture books in Publisher's Weekly." The article, Are Picture Books Back, by Gabrielle Mitchell-Marell, discusses the current publishing surge for children's picture books:

"As for the cause of the poor picture book performance in recent years, many observers point to the same culprit: the swell in these titles, both new and backlist, from Harry Potter to C.S. Lewis and beyond, has taken its toll on the more mature picture book category as younger readers turn to fiction, and away from picture books. Simon Boughton, publisher of Roaring Brook Press, breaks it down this way: "Because the younger kids are now reading up, the seven- and eight-year-old end of the picture book market has become the younger end of the kids' fiction market. Pre-reading kids are where picture books serve the most purpose." This is a marked change from the previous generation, where kids might read picture books into first or second grade. " (Marell, Publishers Weekly, 2/26/07)

The article goes on to discuss how Harry Potter changed some of the marketing trends and the oft cited criticisms of how costly picture books may be. Interestingly enough, the discussion also detailed how picture books rely on libraries and librarian's purchasing them to keep the business growing. Case in point, consider the additional profit made by the publishing houses of such award winning books as the Newbery and Caldecott selections. I'm not sure picture books were ever really gone, but the article is interesting. Almost as interesting, to me anyway, as how I found the article.

If you have ever doubted the "linking" nature of the blogosphere, it's a small world after all, reading this post is an example of the phenomenon; kind of like the Kevin Bacon game (if I may be so bold) without all six degrees. How so?

The list of blogs that interest me continues to grow. As I read different blogs and their comments my curiosity (aka inherent nosiness) often overcomes me and I indulge by click on the linked names attached to comments. If the comment author has a blog, it is displayed and I take time to peruse their blog as well. This summer I found an interesting blog, Buried in the Slushpile, by the Buried Editor in this manner; I think she may have commented on Read Roger and I followed from there.

Yesterday the Buried Editor's post, Nothing is ever final, contained two different cover art samples for a book her company is publishing. Children's book cover art is a weakness of mine, so I was compelled to add my two cents to the conversation. This morning I looked back to see what other readers thought of the topic and spent a few minutes clicking on those aforementioned comment links. One link, e, led me to dulemba.com, the blog of children's writer and illustruator Elizabeth O. Dulemba and her post Do you follow the biz? linked to the Publishers Weekly article Are picture books back?

Tags: Children's literature, Picture books, Publisher's Weekly, Picture book articles

More on Lucky

The beat goes on, here are a few links to information regarding Lucky and the ongoing controversy/discussion:

• Read Roger highlighted a New York Times article this morning - With one Word, Children's Book Sets Off Uproar
  
• Children's Bookshelf article, Listserv's Buzzing over Newbery Winner
  
• Publisher's Weekly, Susan Patron's response
  
• LM_Net on the Web, List Serv Archives
  
• Also on Read Roger, discussion regarding the Children's Bookshelf article, Bagging our Principles, and the New York Times article, Oh, those sneaky sneaks.
  
• Fuse #8, Oh, Doggone it
  
• At Librarian.net, scrotum!

Tags: Children's bookshelf, Publishers Weekly, Children's Literature, The Higher Power of Lucky, Newbery Award

Taking the high ground, sort of

Roger Sutton, of Read Roger and Horn Book Magazine, posted the winner of the Scott O'Dell award for Historical Fiction (2007) on Friday afternoon. The winner, The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages.

"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

Waiting, reading & workshops

I'm waiting for a reading class to finish, they are in the library doing language arts textbook evaluations because I have finally convinced faculty it's easier to drag the kids to the books than drag the books to the kids, and doing some computer updates up before heading out to a pre-conference marketing workshop. (pause) Now that everyone has left, in addition to reshelving the curriculum books I had to drag chairs back to their homes and reset tables. While doing so, I'm reminded of a book I read some time ago, All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned In Kindergarten, by Robert Fulgham. I have the book at home somewhere and can not quote specifics, but I know for sure one of the things was "put things back where you found them."

It brought to mind a post I read yesterday on Read Roger, Ten Rules to Live By. He discussed "The Rights of the Reader" by Daniel Pennac andpointed readers to a downloadable PDF poster of these rights illustrated by Quentin Blake. Last night I picked up the third book of the new Nora Roberts trilogy, Valley of Silence, and used rule #2, the right to skip. Why? As many readers, I get invested with characters in a trilogy and want to know what happens. I am secure in the knowledge that Nora will provide either a happy ending or an ending to make me happy. This particular trilogy has a main character who is a vampire (not a fan of that), so I wanted to make sure his "after" was what I wanted for him. Note, I didn't say what might be right for the character, but what I wanted for the character. While not being a fan of the increasing vampire genre in romance fiction, Nora Roberts is a wonderful storyteller who draws me in regardless. Luckily, in this instance they ended up being one in the same. I was 95% sure they would be since the foreshadowing and the storyteller were indicating as much, but I didn't want to be disappointed.

No, reading the end of the book does not ruin the book. No matter how it ends, the journey to get there will be quality and I'll finish. That is unless, of course, I am looking at Pennac's rule #3, "The right not to finish a book." I have pretty much broken myself of the habit, but sometimes I just have to peek. As to Valley of Silence, Nora still has to finish off the bad guys, let good triumph over evil (yes!), and bring the story full circle. Something to look forward to later this evening.

Only another week until Born in Death hits the shelves. After reading the excerpt from Nora's web site, I'm chomping at the bit to have it in my hot little hands. I just finished re-reading Memories in Death for the umpteenth time and am more than ready for more of Eve and Roarke's story.

Tags: Valley of Silence, Nora Roberts, Born in Death, JD Robb, Read Roger