Nina's Newbery

Belatedly

2009-10-06T09:18:00.001-07:00

Redirecting to the newest version of this blog, Heavy Medal.

Raising my arm from the grave....

2007-07-13T16:03:00.001-07:00

...to direct you all to http://sharonsnewbery.blogspot.com/! Thank you Sharon, for adopting my Mock Newbery group. Head on over--

"This dusty old dust is a-gettin' my home..."

2007-01-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

And here are the results, folks. I'm rather pleased with them myself; not just because I trust the committee to have picked good ones...but because they put to rest any rumor that I can predict the awards. Yes, last year my Mock picked the winner, and it's honors all received other medals. But this year, not one of the Newbery winners was on our discussion list. Only two were even considered.

There's great blogging activity over these awards right now, so much so that I'm just going to let you seek it out yourself. This of course goes against the bloggers code of honor, but I find, after this year-long experiment, that I'm actually not a blogger.

That's not to say I haven't enjoyed the experiment. It succeeded in all three of it's goals: 1) made me get organized for my Mock Newbery; 2) Helped spread the word about it, dramatically increasing turnout; 3) Let me prove to myself that I'm capable of blogging.

However, I find that I don't enjoy the pressure of feeling like it's been too long since I posted. While I enjoy following blog threads and scandals with tremendous glee, I don't enjoy feeling like I have to keep up with them, or feel the duty of reporting on them. I am one of those wallflowers who will suddenly barge into a discussion, cutting people off, and then leave when I get tired and go face a wall somewhere and let my mind happily wander with itself. This does not a blogger make.

And so this is my last post. I will leave the blog up, as a happy side-effect has been to let me document some of the issues surrounding award procedures, and many of you who have spoken to me in person (thank you!) have mentioned you hope to be able to refer to it. In a year, who knows, maybe it will be time to crack it open once more. By then, blogging may have become something else entirely.

Now to my magazine, and lunch.

Cheers--

The penultimate post

2007-01-16T10:13:00.000-08:00

For the live webcast of the awards announcements, click here at 7:45 am, PST, Monday January 22nd.

The text press release will be posted here that morning at 10am PST.

I'm signing off for a week to head out there (Seattle) myself shortly. You'll hear from me one more time after the annoucements...

More Mock Winners

2007-01-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

Allen County--Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
BCCLS--Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck

(Anderson's Bookshop is having their's as we speak...and I may not post again before the actual announcement, so make sure to check the link!)

The juicy part

2007-01-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

Alright. If this were the real committee, you'd have heard our results, and brief statements about our winners. What you wouldn't hear is exactly how we arrived at those results. The fun of participating in a Mock Newbery is to experience that process. I'll tell you some tidbits about how it went--stuff you'll never hear from a Newbery committee.

We had four hours, nineteen people, and nine books. I'd budgeted two hours for dicussion, and went 2-1/2...that allowed 10-15 minutes for most titles, and a couple took us 20. Even so, I had to cut us off sometimes when we were really just about to get into it. (No, there were no fist-fights, hair pulling, or even cookie hurling. Jane's cookies were just too good to use as projectiles, and it really was a well-behaved and well-prepared group).

We took a first ballot. Following committee procedures, we each completed an anonymous ballot selected a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice. Up to the whiteboard: each 1st place vote got a title 4 points, each 2nd place vote got 3 points, and each 3rd place vote got 2. In the actual committee of fifteen people, the winning title needs 8 first place votes, and an 8 point spread in total points above the next title down the list. With nineteen votes, we decided we'd need 10 first-place votes and a 10 point spread.

The first ballot wasn't conclusive. There were two that pretty strong at the top...and four spread out through the middle that had each gotten at least 1 first-pace vote. There were three titles that received very few votes, and no first-place votes. We all agreed to remove those three from the table. We'd narrowed our field to six titles.

Back to the table. We took about 20 minutes more in discussion of the six remaining titles. Following committee procedures, you're not allowed to bring up any points that have been brought up previously. You're really looking to persuade people for or against certain titles at this point...but you don't know exactly who you have to persuade. You start even more ferociously and minutely measuring each book against the other.

We took a second vote. ACK! The same two titles still at the top. At this point Drowned Maidens Hair had the 10 point spread, but with fewer first place votes than it'd had before, and the other title had one more first place vote, though still not 10, as many first place votes were still dedicated to other titles lower on the list. Very awkward. Still, there were two titles that could clearly be taken off the table in this round, and with agreement from the table, off they came. We were left with 4, and no time.

Now, when you're not on the committee, getting home in time for dinner is still more important than achieving a clear consensus. If this had been the real committee, we'd have had to go back to discussion once more. The idea now would have been to persuade those who had cast first place votes for books lower down the list to re-cast their lot with one of the two forerunners. We, however, decided to take the shortcut, and just took a straw-poll, show of hands: between the two fore-runners, which should the winner be?

Now the vote was clear: Drowned Maiden's Hair had the majority it needed to make it clearly the committee's choice. It had almost 2/3 of the hands in the straw poll, and it had the 10 point spread. (As an interesting aside: in the second ballot, it received 18 votes: so all but 1 of us picked it as either our 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice. No other title had so many overall votes).

How about honor books? Some committees might have chosen only one honor in this case: the clear second-place title, as it still stood well above the other two. However, since all these had strong votes, and in the spirit of Mock-Newberyness, we decided to call all three our "also clearly distinguished" honor books.

(Which was the second-place one? That I won't tell. Our agreement was that we want those three to stand together on the Mock-podium.)

So, is that what it's really like on the committee? Well...no and yes. The whole points thing is how it's done...but it's taken a lot more seriously than I've portrayed it here. Also, the field for voting is MUCH larger, so the points have more impact in making some titles rise above others. In a real voting process, you'd try not to narrow down the field as far as I did: it's better if discussion and re-balloting can make the votes rise on their own...and you want a large enough field at the end from which to thoughtfully select honor books. It's a mechanised process to come to something called "consensus," and it somehow magically works. Believe me, at the end of a year of reading hundreds of books, these votes aren't cast or changed casually, and the way the numbers are forced to line up really requires that the group has reached some kind of alignment in thinking. Whether one ballot decides it, or several--the ultimate result always feels right.

other Mock winners...

2007-01-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

Northport-East Northport chose Gossamer. Rhode Island chose The Miraculous Journal of Edward Tulane. The results are starting to come in...keeping checking those side-bar links for other Mock results, or post a comment with yours here.

And the winner is....

2007-01-08T08:53:00.000-08:00

Nineteen of us duked it out yesterday afternoon, but the results were conclusive:

Winner
A Drowned Maiden's Hair

Honor Books (in alphabetical order)
Alabama Moon
The King of Attolia
A True and Faithful Narrative

When the real committee finishes, they then sit around and write a press release telling the world exactly what is so distinguished about these titles. Instead, I'll invite those who participated to add comments here.

Award season buzz

2007-01-05T10:08:00.001-08:00

A colleague pointed out to me that my posting on KofA is prominently displayed on Megan Whalen Turner's website...happily, appropriately attributed.

There's always been a word-of-mouth award buzz this time of year in the children's literature community. As that buzz happens more and more online, in such an easily copy-and-pasteable world, the buzz can turn into a slither... of worms escaping their can.

Here's parts of my reply to my colleague, in response to whether or not I'd be doing this next year, when I'm chairing the 2008 Newbery committee:

I won't do this myself next year, but I'm hoping a certain colleague of mine will take it over. The confidentiality issue [see p.13 in the manual] is an interesting one, with several levels.

All actual committee discussions, lists, and voting are confidential forever. There are a couple of purposes to this: mainly, so that committee members are free to say whatever they need to in discussion. Secondly, so that the award winning books "stand" as a committee consensus, without a lot of the second-guessing-gossip that you see in other awards (remember Roger's post?).

Individual committee members, though, HAVE to be able to always state their individual opinions about books, exactly so that they CAN discuss books throughout the year and form well-thought justifications. Also, it's just silly to expect someone not to express an opinion for a year.

As an example: I was on the 2004 committee that chose Tale of Despereaux as the winner and An American Plague and Olive's Ocean as honor books. I can tell you what I appreciate about these books, and what the committee as a whole appreciated about them. I can also tell you what other books I personally appreciated that year...but not what the committee thought about other books that year. That year, I continued to review titles in SLJ that carried the tag "Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library"....and some people knew that I was on the Newbery, but I didn't advertise it.

It is wise to consider what the world at large (and especially the blog-savvy children's lit world) will perceive. In 2003, since I wasn't chair of the committee, I figured it was fine to run my Mock Newbery (and committee procedures do encourage this)...and someone posted my listserv announcement of the winners of our discussion on amazon's listmania as something like "Nina Lindsay's Newbery picks." Now, at least they didn't claim that these were real Newbery picks. One year, in fact, someone forged a list of "This year's Newbery winners" on listmania, before the actual announcement, signing in with the chair's name and committee affiliation!

So now consider the posting of my comment on Turner's website. (I very purposefully called these "MockNominations" as one word so they would get repeated as such. I've also very purposefully not mentioned, until now, on this blog that I'm chairing next year's committee, or even included my last name or library affiliation. But that didn't fool anyone.) I wouldn't want this to happen in a year I was on the committee...even though it doesn't breach confidentially explicitly, it could be misinterpreted. I ESPECIALLY don't want this happening when I'm chairing the committee, as the chair's main job is to facilitate open and productive discussion.

All this in part to point out why I'll be sunseting this blog after the announcements of the actual award later this month. Stay tuned!

MockNomination for Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen

2007-01-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Humor is perhaps the most personally-appreciated of any genre. This book, however, stands out in its “interpretation of theme or concept.” It is a parody of many threads and layers, each one drawn beyond the breaking point—yet they don’t break. Every word is choice, even when that word is “AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRHHHHHHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA- RRRRRRRRRRR” in 42 point type. The barest of narratives is in itself a parody, and allows for a memorable cast and lots of innuendoes, not all of which need to be understood for the book to still be stellar-funny. The coda-like ending takes all that ridiculosity and turns it into a surprisingly complex and heartfelt comment on friendship at a time of preadolescence. It’s understandable to young readers because of the adventures that transpire before…and so which turn out to not only be parody, but allegory. Now that’s “distinguished.”

MockNomination for Weedflower

2006-12-30T14:36:00.001-08:00

Sumiko is the most intensely lifelike character in any of the books on our list. Kadohata gets inside her head, communicating feelings, thoughts, and observations with clarity and a wonderful sense of humor. Through this character she excellently presents this slice of history to her audience. Though the audience will benefit from getting background information elsewhere, Kadohata has presented a story that is successful even without this information, in which a girl comes-of-age in a society that marginalizes and criminalizes her. The cultural sentiments of Gaman and haji, that are so important in understanding what happened to Nikkei, are exemplified through the well-drawn side characters in a way that any first-generation immigrant young readers will be able to empathize with.

MockNomination for Freedom Walkers

2006-12-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

Freedman makes this history dramatic and engaging through his clear and concise reportage of events. He gives a dramatic arc to narrative without twisting the truth, providing gripping chapter closures and beginnings, and incorporates dialogue in an engaging way, while documenting sources very clearly. For an audience that recognizes the leadership of Parks and King, here is the full story made accessible: in which these leaders are created and supported by their community, and in which ordinary people prove powerful and victorious armed with nothing but their feet, their voice, their courage and resolve.

better late?

2006-12-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

Sorry to all you who've been stymied trying to post a comment--I've reset it so that you don't need an account to post.

6 down...

2006-12-27T19:11:00.000-08:00

...3 more nomination statements coming shortly--I hope. This is the time of year I ask myself why I'm doing this to myself again this year! That is, cramming in the re-reading. On the actual committee, I'd be reading some of these for the third time, marking pages with post-its and sketching out for each title (of several dozen) an argument for or against, with specific examples to justify. I'm only doing a vague approximation of that here. Like the kid asked to clean her room who just shoves everything under the bed...

But judging a book by the Newbery criteria is a very different way of looking a book than most of us do on a casual read. You have to explicitly UNconsider:

The lovely illustrations or quality of the pages and binding (unless they detract from the writing.)
Other books it is similar too, except for those being discussing. It’s not a valid criterium that the book is the best of this author yet…or just like another book that was written last year.
Personal reading preferences!: whether or not this is a book that you just "like" or "don't like" don't matter. Unless you can explain...very specifically...why.

It's a fabulous excercise, but a heckuva lot of work, and I'm whining about doing not one-hundredth of it. If you know someone on the Newbery Committee this year, now's the time NOT to invite them to the movies. Give them a kiss, a pat on the head, a good light, and some reading glasses.

MockNomination for The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

2006-12-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

Camillo’s intricate voice, rhythm, and word choice is vibrant and not at all patronizing, nor sappy—despite the heartwrenching-and-warmingness of her tale. She uses image, sound, and smell to fine effect, creating an immediate setting. That and the vivid characterization within a brief and allegorical narrative leave readers speechless and truly believing in the heart of the china rabbit. It is amazingly crafted to reach and appeal a very wide audience, even within the age group governed by our criteria.

MockNomination for Gossamer

2006-12-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here are characters and plot that are simple and undressed, but emotionally real. They are clearly allegorical; the situation of the dream givers takes shape as dialogue between Gossamer and her teachers, almost as if the writer were asking herself questions and then answering herself. The simple delivery and short length allows direct access to her young audience, who learn—really—how to create not dreams, but stories, and how these stories then help us in our lives: “you must include the sad parts, because they are part of the story, and they have to be part of the dreams.” (p.96)

MockNomination for The King of Attolia

2006-12-20T18:37:00.000-08:00

“Delineation of plot” and “Development of characters.” What other book this year could I hold up as a “truly distinguished” example of these qualities but The King of Attloia? Here is narrative that is vivid, suspenseful, and funny. The story is told as much in gesture as in action or emotion, so that the reader can picture the motions and facial expressions as if in a movie. And as in a movie, what is not said as is important as what is, as the development often occurs just below the surface. Political intrigue, treachery, and triumphant trickery that is engaging and appealing to a young audience is delivered up with complexity that doesn’t patronize.

MockNomination for A True and Faithful Narrative

2006-12-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

(I'll remind you too to check out Monica Edinger's well-drawn thoughts on this one. She's posted several times about it, so just put the title in her search bar to get them all. And feel free to comment on my nomination statements if you disagree...)

In her work of historical fiction Sturtevant presents details of setting and custom seamlessly through the presentation of her narrative, and communicates the perspectives of people in 17th century England through her characters’ differences in opinion. These characters are vivid, and realistic to their time. Even Meg, a “modern” woman in many ways, is understandably closed-minded when it comes to people of other colors and faiths. Sturtevant has also created an engaging coming-of-age novel with elements of romance and adventure. She creates tension through gesture and conversation, creating layers that the readers understand without needing to be told. No other book on our list (with the possible exception of King of Attolia) exhibits such distinguish craft in writing.

MockNomination for Alabama Moon

2006-12-14T10:18:00.000-08:00

Watt has crafted characters that both exist as convincing individuals, and serve as structures through which young readers can see things in a new way, questioning and analyzing what is usually considered “acceptable.” Kit and Hal are the perfect sidekicks through which to explore the boundaries of friendship. Their time in the woods together serves as a backdrop for Moon to demonstrate his survival skills to the reader. Minor characters (Hal’s father Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Wellington the lawyer, Sanders the cop, Mr. Abroscotto the storekeeper) serve as archetypes of adulthood as a child audience is often frustrated by it: loving but unreliable; fair-to-the-point-of-unfairness; powerful and dangerous; informative but ineffectual. This is one-sided to be sure, but Watt uses these battling perspectives to create a drama of human conditions that is fascinating and accessible to a young audience by dressing it as a suspenseful, fascinating, funny, and ultimately satisfying adventure.

MockNomination for A Drowned Maiden's Hair

2006-12-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

(As promised, here's the first of my "justification" statments for the books on our discussion list. If I were on the committee, I'd be writing this in order to convince other committee members that this book (which they might not care for) does stand up to the Newbery award criteria. No plot summary necessary, since everyone's read it. You get about a hundred words in which to make your colleagues re-read the book with a different eye, in the hopes that when you come to the discussion table, most of your persuasion has already done its work....)

A Drowned Maiden’s Hair stands out for its complexity within a predictable form, and distinctively engaging narrative. Schlitz takes her time to develop a plot and characters, but the pace never lags. Her talents as a playwright show in the way she sets a scene, develops tension, and uses conversation. She has a dramatic flair, right from the opening sentence, that shows an attention to and appreciation for her audience, framing the story in two parts or “acts” with a coda, that has the pacing of a play. The climaxes in action serve to further unveil the complex Hawthorne sisters to Maud and the reader, resulting in a deeply nuanced version of a classic orphan story.

Don't forget to take a look at other Mock Newbery lists

2006-12-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks fuse#8 for collecting a few more links to other Mock Newberies. You'll find em on the sidebar--maybe there's one in your area?

The final discussion list

2006-12-02T11:14:00.000-08:00

Because I have to say "stop" sometime, here we are--a mock short-list of nine titles to discuss on January 7th.

How did I decide what to include? Well, first I was looking for books that I truly like, with writing that I feel stands up to the Newbery criteria. Second, I'm looking for a little diversity and interesting discussion. "Diversity" means in genre, style, first-time vs. "proven" authors, etc...as well as in all the other expected categories. It's not possible to come up with a perfectly diverse list of course, but I do want to make the discussion enlightening as to the process of the actual award, and since we really only have time to discuss eight or nine titles, and the real committee is discussing usually thirty or forty or fifty...

How does the acutal committee come up with their discussion list? Feel free to take a look at the whole manual if you're so inclined, but here's the short version. Committee members have been reading all year long--hundreds of books. They keep each other informed, through the chair, monthly, of titles they want to make sure are being considered by all members. Towards the end of the year, each committee member formally nominates six titles (three in October, and three in December); there's always some overlap, so between fifteen members with six nominations apiece, that's how you end up with the 30-40-50 range. These nominations usually comprise the discussion list, though there's always room to throw in late contenders or second-thoughts if necessary. This discussion list is never made public.

When a committtee member nominates a title, they have to write a 100 word justification of why they think it meets the Newbery criteria. I'll start posting my mock nominations of these nine titles in these weeks leading up to our discussion, to give you a taste of what we'll be focusing on...and a head start in case you want to build your own attack or defense! Feel free also to post comments to these justifications to start an online discussion.

Interested in coming to the discussion? See the previous post about participating, and make sure to let me know.

Trying to get your hands on the books? If you've got an Oakland Public Library Card, you can check them out by requesting the item to be sent to your local branch. I'm replacing the title links in the sidebar from Powells to the OPL Catalog page, as that title comes available in our catalog. (Patience...some are still coming through the order process!)

Participating in the mock Newbery discussion

2006-11-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

If you're in the greater Bay Area (CA), please consider coming to mock discussion on January 7th. Here's what happens:

You read the books (listed right).
You show up.
We set in place the groundrules and procedures that the actual Newbery committee uses, and --abracadabra-- we become the committee, discussing the titles and taking a vote. It is intense, illuminating, quirky, and fun!

Just contact me directly to sign up.

Yellow Star

2006-11-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to include Yellow Star in our discussion...only because it's proven difficult to get a hold of. Somehow my library system missed it entirely, and it is very lightly held at neighboring libraries...and my bookstore tells me out of stock! Not enough to deter me getting it for my library and reading it eventually, but enough to deter me including it in the discussion, because it's become clear to me over the years that no matter how much I want participants to read everything on the list: if it's hard to get, it won't get read.

It sounds, however, fabulous...and with a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor and other great reviews, I encourage you all to do the extra leg-work to find this book.

New books, new date

2006-10-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

Our official reading list now has 3 more titles, for a total of 7--over there on the right. Notice also that I've changed the date of the discussion! The actual annoucement of award happens late enough this year that we can have the mock discussion after the holiday season, instead of before. I hope to add one more title to the list before Thanksgiving, then call it "complete"...though leaving room for one or two late arriving contenders.

I finished Victory and found it had the same problem as Bread and Roses Too...that by splitting the story between two characters (to broaden the audience?), neither character ever came fully to life. In the case of Victory, Sam has by far the more interesting story, and the tie to the present-day through Molly weakens the tension.

Three to read, but not for Newbery

2006-10-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Year of the Dog, The Green Glass Sea, Bread and Roses Too. All great books, but just not up to par with other contenders. I could go into quibbles, but they're all symptomatic of the authors' hand being just a little too present in the characters. I didn't quite believe in these people the same way I do in Meg or Sumiko or Gen.

(BTW, Powell's still has the orignal cover art on their page: clearly a bad idea that Clarion fixed before going to press. So I'll deign to direct you to the dreaded amazon for the new cover--)

Time to build the reading list

2006-10-19T17:39:00.000-07:00

I need to add a few more titles now to my official reading list for the discussion on the 10th (over there on the sidebar). I need your help. I finished Bella at Midnight and American Born Chinese, and as much as I love both, neither seems quite like a Newbery. I'm currently re-reading Year of the Dog. I have yet to put my hands on Bread and Roses Too or Victory or Yellow Star, but those sound like possibilities. Nothing much else rises in the field, so I'm shuttling those to lower priority.

Here's books I'd like to consider adding to our list, those none seem sure-fire. Please let me know what you think. I'll decide in a week.

A nonfiction title to or two. Freedom Walkers seems strongest to me. Dear Miss Breed and Team Moon not quite as much.

Octavian Nothing or King of Attolia for the sake of the sequel issue...though everyone argues with me about age range on this. I do think King of Attolia is probably too old (fuse#8 tells us why); and I really think Octavian is for 10-14 year old history buffs more than for any teenager: but everyone looks at me like I'm crazy when I say so.

Penny from Heaven or The Loud Silence of Francine Green. Both exhibit great writing, but both fail a little for me. They do both have the recent-historical fiction thing going on--could compare with Weedflower.

Gossamer. Could be interesting for discussion--is it or isn't it an adult book?

Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen. For fun!

Any of the three aforementioned I haven't read yet if you can convince me why: Yellow Star, Bread and Roses Too, or Victory.

Octavian Nothing

2006-10-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

If you haven't read The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation (Volume 1: The Pox Party), you should check out the online reviews to try and get an idea of the scope of this amazing story. Beyond Anderson's talent with a turn of phrase, what I find most remarkable about his achievement here is his use of character. Octavian starts as a blank slate in such a unique position that readers are allow to "imprint" with his perspective...and yet he becomes an individual drawn to a depth that many writers aspire to and will never achieve.

The issue of whether it "stands alone" will of course come up in award discussion...so again I ask: where is that in the Newbery criteria?

Freedom Walkers

2006-10-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

Fabulous nonfiction by Mr. Freedman. I know this story, but remember it as most schoolchildren do: "....Rosa Parks...Martin Luther King, Jr....." Freedman makes the walkers the heroes here, and shows how the grassroots movement created the figures we remember. He also sets the boycott within an historical context making it clearly a milestone, but within a longer journey that is not yet over. All this in a narrative that reads so smoothly you think someone's reading it to you. Nice big type, good white space and photos: very approachable and welcoming, the book itself an inviting and comfortable space, which it must be for such a story. I had to stay up late to finish because who can sleep through it? It made me cry: with horror and joy, humility and pride.

(Now, to put some emotional distance between myself and the story. Gushing does nothing at a Newbery discussion. If I can show you how Freedman achieves this reaction through his text, and persuade you that it will do so for its intended audience: that's a winner. To work.)

Other books I haven't finished

2006-09-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Miss Breed...enjoying this a lot, but somehow I got sidetracked. I really like the "doublespeak" sidebars--great attention to her audience. So far a couple of little things bug me though: the pictures of postcards on pp. 64-5 are NOT the ones she describes on p.55. Readers will notice. On p.103 there's a mention in a letter about a "Korean" leading a raid, and I don't think young readers will have the context of Korean/Japanese relations during WWII to understand why this was pointed out. These are small things, sure, and not necessarily enough to drag a great book down, but they are the sort of thing the Newbery (or Sibert) committees might discuss. I will get back to this one!

Samurai Shortstop. Got as far as p.111 before I decided I could stop. Great fun...but not developed enough, to me, to meet Newbie criteria.

Escape!: The Story of the Great Houdini. I picked this one cause I love Houdini and I love Sid Fleischman. It's his first foray into nonfiction. Wonderful reading...but I have too many questions so far about what sources were used for particular incidents. He includes a bibliography, but no specific notes. This could be forgivable, except that in Houdini's case so much is disputed, AND Fleischman makes a great point about that. On the one hand he'll point out to the reader that he thinks a certain story is unlikely and why, and then a few pages later report an equally unbelieveable tale without question. Hm. If you don't want us to believe everything, you have to give us a basis to trust you on something.

I did finish Here Lies the Librarian. I loved the goofy characters and setting, but I think the lumpy story arc will be enough to split the crowd on this one.

Moving on

2006-08-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Having read all or some of Ask Me No Questions, The Book of Story Beginnings, and Rules...I'll just say that none of these fine books do it for me in terms of Newbery criteria. And there's the secret of reading your way through the Newbery committee: you don't have to finish every book...unless it end up being strongly advocated for by another committee member. Inevitably, someone loves the book you don't. If anyone wants to make a convincing pitch for one of these titles, please do.

The King of Attolia

2006-08-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

I digressed from my assigned reading recently to backtrack through Megan Whalen Turner's "The Thief" and "The Queen of Attolia." I'd already read The King of Attolia straight out of the box, though it had been a while since I'd read the first two. It's a testament to her writing that the characters were instantly real again to me, after years. Re-reading the whole trilogy, I'm just astounded at what she pulls off--much as the reader is at her protagonist Eugendies. Her characterization is all about gesture and tone, what is said and what is not. Here's a sample:

"If you are feeling more yourself, there is a problem best addressed immediately," said the queen.
"In my nightshirt?" The king wriggled, as ever, out of straightforward obedience.
"Your attendants. I have spoken to them. You will speak to them as well."
"Ah. They have seen me in my nightshirt." He looked down at his sleeve, embroidered with white flowers. "Not in your nightshirt, though." (page 223 in galleys)

On the surface, this exchange is humorous, and gives you a sense of how the king and queen banter and relate. Within in the context of the situation, there are all sorts of added layers--what the attendants are to be spoken to about...why the queen must press the king to do so...why it actually does matter that they would see him in her nightshirt (because it's not entirely a joke)...and the reader gets all of these layers of intrigue just through the conversational exchange.

There's no doubt to me that this is "distinguished" writing according to the Newbery criteria. What will be interesting is how to defend it in discussion. The Newbery committee is to compare and discuss ONLY books eligible for the award--that is, published this year. When discussing "The King of Attolia," then, the committee should not bring into the conversation either "The Thief" or "The Queen of Attolia." What standards should a sequel be held to? Should it have to stand alone? That seems unreasonable...and other dependent sequels have won the Newbery, including The Grey King by Susan Cooper and The High King by Lloyd Alexander. Given the precedence of sequels with the word "King" in the title...it seems to me this one has a pretty good chance.

Weedflower

2006-08-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

First off: I loved Kira-Kira. My Mock Newbery discussion group picked it, in fact. Kadohata is brilliant with character, tone, and setting.

So I wasn't surprised at how much I liked this book...despite its cover (for a fuller review of cover and plot, I'll let you read fuse#8's.) There's a clarity of voice that engages the reader and makes the story feel real...I think a large part of it is the way Sumiko's voice has an edge of humor to it:

"Later that day Sumiko was so bored, she just flopped to the ground right outside her barrack and didn't move. A butterfly fluttered over her. She wondered if the butterfly were actually the ultimate boredom in disguise. She wondered whether it planned to flutter and flutter and then strike! She wondered if maybe she had already lost her mind. It was possible." (p.128 in proofs)

Yet, the book has a couple of clear weaknesses.

The ending. It feels like Kadohata reached the end of her family story, and just stopped...as if she were too close to the material to pull off a satisfactory completion to the narrative. The ending is probably, therefore, realistic...but I think will leave readers disappointed.

Frank. He's an endearing character, yet somehow a little flat...and just a little off. I don't know enough about the Mohave's experience at Poston to comment more fully on it; but here's the first comment of Frank's that just furrowed my brow a bit: "They take our land and put you on it. They give you electricity. They give you ice. I found a sandwich one of you threw on the road." (p.143 in proofs)

Though this resentment may seem natural, it doesn't actually jive with what I've been able to read about the situation--pretty much the same statement everywhere I poked around, but this is from Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites by J. Burton, M. Farrell, F. Lord, and R. Lord:

"The Colorado River Indian Reservation Tribal Council opposed the use of their land for a relocation center, on the grounds that they did not want to participate in inflicting the same type of injustice as they had suffered. However, the tribe was overruled by the Army and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)."

That sentiment is more clearly reflected in a children's book narrative in Blue Jay in the Desert, a picture book by Marlene Shigekawa (Polychrome Press 1993). Also about the Japanese-American internment experience at Poston, on one page a Mohave man on horseback comes to the gates to help: "Here is some corn to plant to help feed your people. We know what it is like to be moved away from our homes."

Compare that statement with Frank's, and I hope you see what makes me just a little uneasy about this character. Maybe it's accurate to Kadohata's family's experience...but I suspect this is a symptom, again, of being too much inside her own story. Is it enough to drag the story down within the Newbery criteria? We'll see--I have a feeling we'll be discussing this one at length. Please comment!

(one more site I found fascinating is the Poston Restoration Project)

Shug

2006-08-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Shug, I fail to see the magic. A lovely book--but distinguished? Rather: sweet and predictable as a ice pop that's gone too quick.

I'm counting on those of you who read faster than me to pipe in with comments--pro or con about books that have been suggested...and more titles from the fall lists, as they start coming in. At some point I'll either start winnowing our suggested list...or create a second one to show which titles seem to be the true contenders. The idea is to have no more than ten that we can bring to the final battle.

A True and Faithful Narrative

2006-08-11T16:11:00.000-07:00

I have two measures for a really good book: will I read it walking down the street? Does it make me mean enough to glare at my husband when he dares ask how my day was, in the middle of the page? Sturtevant achieved both marks here with her compelling and gripping historical fiction.

I'm just going to steal here from Monica Edinger's posting to child_lit:

"Sturvetant has done her research and does a lovely job giving her readers the flavor of the time, but there are two aspects to the novel that make it truly shine for me. First of all, a good chunk of the book is of Meg listening to Edward, a young man who was captured by Barbary pirates, describe his time enslaved in North Africa. It is fascinating stuff, but by having Meg react as would a girl of her time to his description of Muslim beliefs and actions and by having the young man help her to understand them better, Sturtevant has also helped today's young readers understand them better as well."

"And secondly, there is what Meg does when she writes Edward's story for publication --- adjusting points for reasons she explains to him, deciding what can be eliminated, what needs to be changed slightly, and so forth with the final objective of creating something that will attract readers. According to Sturtevant ( see "Fact, Fiction, and the Stamp Act" on her website: http://www.thesignofthestar.com), the problems of fact and fiction in writing were problems in the 17th century as much as they are today. And so Meg ponders, "...how I might make from such material a narrative that would both honor the teller and satisfy the needs of the told; how I might related enough of truth that our readers would scent it, and draw near, as a doe to water, but not so much tat it would frighten them away with the sound of its splashing." (p. 238)

Firegirl, Francine, and Penny

2006-07-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Just finished these three, and they eerily flow naturally from one to the next.

Firegirl. Well, frankly, I'm unimpressed. It's a lovely story, and worthy--but I can barely remember it a week later. The characters never felt like more than pawns to me. Whereas:

in The Loud Silence of Francine Green, another quiet-protagonist-befriends-outsider-new-girl-at-Catholic-school story, there's so much more. Francine's accomplishment at the end is believable, and worthy enough, and not the over-the-top transformation I feared was coming. The history (because this is historical fiction even though it's only 1950) works with the story and despite it (whereas in Firegirl the story never kept stride with the message) ... and does exactly what history is supposed to do: leaves readers with a sense of what they themselves can do today to make their own world better.

Same time period, opposite coast: Penny From Heaven. (Ok: who picked the awful cover?) Holm, like Cushman, is a writer who knows her characters. Penny is instantly engaging, and each member of her extended Italian-American family is vivid in my mind weeks later, even though I met them (uh, read about them) at the height of my ugly sinus-viral thing in the middle of a heat wave. Luckily, my memories of that week are of 1953 New Jersey: the Falucci's butcher shop, Uncle Dominic's car, Scarlett O'Hara peeing on the rug, and the poor, poor milkman. A "period piece"perhaps--but so excellently done.

Gossamer

2006-07-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is a beautifully and meticulously crafted book--clearly allegory, but it somehow works on a literal level as well--perhaps because Lowry is just so good at setting a scene and invading the minds of her characters (non-human characters included). I'm intrigued by the fact that though the title character seems to be the central character, she's not necessarily the main character...the woman and the boy seem equally "main."

Is this a book for young people? And for what age? Reviews suggest 10 and up...but the nostalgia for pre-adolescence may actually make the book more appropriate for teens or adults. Anyone used this with kids yet?

Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen

2006-07-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Funny books tend not to win the Newbery. Why? I think it's just that difficult to write a fantastic funny book. But M.T. Anderson may have done it. It's a short book, hilarious, and surprisingly multi-faceted and even deep. Read it. I'm adding to the list...and am adding the others you've posted. Between a funky connection, a two-week virus, and just being a slow reader, I'm having trouble keeping up with you all...but that's why I started this blog--to get you to do my work for me.

(Funny Newbery's? Holes and Westing Game...but they were also great mysteries. Some funny recent honor books: Al Capone, Surviving the Applewhites, Everything on a Waffle, Joey Pigza...but these also had family/relationship storylines going for them. Lederhosen is really JUST about being funny, and I'm interested to see if it will stand up against others.)

Eligibility question: Lugalbanda

2006-07-03T12:22:00.000-07:00

I don't have a copy of Lugalbanda handy...but it may raise the eligibility question of "original work." Here's from the criteria:

"In defining the term, "original work," the committee will consider books that are traditional in origin, if the book is the result of original research and the retelling and interpretation are the writer's own."

If anyone has some insight (source notes printed in the book?) on whether this version would constitute an "original work" under this criterium, please comment! In the actual committee, this sort of question often gets handled between the committee chair, her "Priority Group Consultant" (a member appointed to handle issues for all award committees), and the ALSC President.

See the list

2006-07-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

I've created a "wish list" on powells.com to capture suggestions so far. The link on the sidebar should take you straight there.

(Note, I've created a dummy email to establish this list, which is also what you use to find the list on powells.com if you don't have the direct link: ninasnewbery@gmail.com. I won't ever check this email account, and if you decide to send to it anyway, you'll get a message back saying so. Post a comment here instead.)

Get off my b(log) and read

2006-06-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't much been on my blog to get off it, but I made many promises of various sorts at the ALA conference in New Orleans, and since I've been unmasked by Roger Sutton, here goes.

fusenumber8 suggests in her comments to my last post that Frank Beddor (author of Looking Glass Wars) is British and therefore ineligible...but nothing could be farther from the truth. He's from LA, a Hollywood man through and through. I had the pleasure of dining with him at Dial Books' expense in New Orleans, where nearly everyone opted for the very fancy chicken with waffles. He told, in fact, of his villifying ordeal being interviewed by the BBC.

I'll continue to compile your suggestions for titles to look at (as I figure out how to work this darn thing--helpful comments appreciated!)... but I'm intrigued by the carnivorous vitriol I've heard directed at little china rabbits. That would be DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

I think a discussion of this title deserves some backstory. DiCamillo won the Newbery Medal in 2004 for The Tale of Despereaux. I was on that committee, and though I can't share with you the committee's discussion of this title (which shall remain forever secret...as all committee discussions are for very good reasons), I can happily share my own. I was, frankly, less than enthusiatic upon my first reading of this (is Kate reading? It gets better...) but was turned onto a second reading by a third-grade teacher friend of mine. He'd been similarly un-enthralled by the direct and stylized narration, but tried it on his students, who were compelled in exactly the places that he'd been turned off. I tried reading a second time as a third grader--a very difficult thing to do for us jaded grown-ups--but it works, I tell you. Try looking at Edward Tulane the same way. Are you thinking of Hitty? Velveteen Rabbit? Well, third graders aren't. The fact is: Kate DiCamillo is a great writer. Her language is unique, compelling, vivid, funny, tender...and with a dark edge. Third graders are open-hearted, silly, fearful, naive, and love their schmaltz. What better pairing? If it's too sweet for you, then, by all means: china rabbits with a bitter brew. But expect a night of bad dreams digesting that.

(Now, some of you have expressed to me that you've tried to post a comment but couldn't. You do have to set up a blogger account to post here, but it's very easy, and you don't have to have a blog. Just follow the links. I know who you are, and expect a swift response!)

Our list so far

2006-06-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the comments; our cumulative list to date is below. I'm off this weekend to the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, where I hope to pick up some copies. (Yes, we're the first major conference to touch down in New Orleans after Katrina...hopefully we'll spread around some love and some cash)

Bella At Midnight Diane Stanley
Dear Miss Breed Joanne Oppenheim
Firegirl Tony Abbott
Gossamer Lois Lowry
Here Lies the Librarian Richard Peck
The Loud Silence of Francine Green Karen Cushman
The Looking Glass Wars Frank Beddor
Lugalbanda Kathy Henderson
Penny From Heaven Jennifer L. Holm
Rules Cynthia Lord
Samurai Shortstop Alan Gratz
Shug Jenny Han
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie David Lubar
Weedflower Cynthia Kadohata

What is a Mock Newbery?

2006-06-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

It's not a dish, though it sounds delightful. Something with pastry and flames?

At a Mock Newbery discussion and election, participants who have read a selected list of 8-10 books gather and pretend to be the real Newbery committee, using the award's criteria to discuss each books' merits against the others, and submit weighted votes to come up with a winner. The particular fun of it is to try and identify 8-10 books that are real potentials for the award, and to see how your results match the actual committee's. The actual Newbery committee makes it's decision in January, and it's "shortlist" is forever secret, so there's a lot of guesswork. Check out the Newbery Homepage (on the link list) for all the details!

Continue to send titles. I'll start posting a cummulative list soon.

Help me build a Mock Newbery List

2006-06-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

Forget the frantic emailing and searching other people's lists in November...I'm going to start now soliciting suggestions for titles to use in my Mock Newbery this December (feel free to weigh in on a date as well. It'll be at the Oakland Public Library as before). What better way to do it than in a blog--and what better way for me to start blogging.

Only title on my list so far:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Di Camillo. I haven't really started thinking about what other potentials there are, but this one seems obvious.