Newbery Wrap Up - Books I LOVED

I've been wanting to do a series of wrap up posts about my year on the Newbery commitee, but honestly I've been in recovery mode. Today I'm ready to go!

As you all know, our committee chose The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate as our Medal winner and three honor books: Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz (my personal favorite of the year), Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage, and Bomb: The Race to Build--And Steal--The World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. Here's a press release if you missed it.

And since it is Friday and Five Things Friday, I'm going to talk about five books from 2012 that I LOVED but that didn't win the Newbery medal (even if I really wanted it). I've talked about some books that I was recommending to kids, so I won't repeat any of that here. This is a new discussion of books I loved and really thought were strong Newbery contenders, but just not quite strong enough (because I love our final list and am in no way disagreeing with any of it).

The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook by Joanne Rocklin
I got an ARC of this at Midwinter last year and it was one of the first books I read all year long. It became the standard by which I was judging every other book and it kept "winning". Oona, the narrator, has a wonderfully distinctive, child appropriate but also child respectful voice as she retells her father's stories to her younger brother. The stories within a story and overall theme of storytelling are perfectly developed and integrated throughout the book. It's charming, funny at times, heart breaking at others (I cried every time I read it) and completely relatable. This was my favorite "dark horse" for Newbery so I didn't talk about it all to avoid jinxing it. It was my second favorite book of the year (after Splendors and Glooms). This book is a tight little package, every word carefully chosen, every plot element leading somewhere, every character growing and/or contributing to the story arc. Really an extraordinary book.

Cold Cereal by Adam Rex
Full disclosure: I've had an author crush on Rex since Smekday and meeting him a couple of years ago, driving him around for author visits in Anchorage, and he's charming and delightful in person. This book is everything you would expect from him: tightly plotted, fun fantasy world, intriguing characters, charming and exciting. It's a short step left from our world into the one where cereal mascots are real, magic is exploited by corporations, and Bigfoot can be a nanny. I got an ARC for the sequel Unlucky Charms (now out) at Midwinter and it's next on my too read list. This is a "boy book" that will appeal well to girls and does not talk down to children. Fun and fantastically written.

Summer on the Moon by Adrian Fogelin
With my love of Cold Cereal, Cardboard, and this title, I'm beginning to believe there might be an 11 year-old boy buried in my 30 year-old female self. (When I was an 11 year-old girl, I read maudlin stuff, Lurlene McDaniel for example.) I'm a fan of setting and the settings in this book were perfectly drawn. First we begin in the inner city neighborhood home to Socko and Dante then move to a middle class suburb with Socko and his mom. So many details are perfect in this book, the small neighborhood that seems like a world and is a trap, the halted subdivision falling victim to the recession, it's all so real. I think kids in the middle class and kids from the lower class neighborhoods will see their homes in this book. There are so many details that are just perfect, food deserts, housing busts, that which people from lower income neighborhoods give up to "move up" and a hundred smaller details. Beyond all that, it's exciting, a mystery and an adventure, a story of friendships old and new, and a tale about family. I donated my copy to my library because I know it will be a hit. I don't know why this book didn't get more press, but it balances social interests, characters, and plot beautifully.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
This book gears just a bit too old for Newbery (or at the top end of the spectrum of up to age 14) and I was thrilled to see it win the Morris Award (for debut authors). It may also top my list of most anticipated sequels. When a topic is as done and over done as dragons (or vampires or zombies) it can be hard to find a new angle that doesn't have readers rolling their eyes and straining their credibility, but Rachel Hartman does it with grace. Here we have the standard quasi-medieval fantasy world without the overwhelming sense of magic/other worldliness (no elves and hobbits) but the neighboring kingdom is dragons; dragons who can shapeshift into humans. And our protagonist is a half-human half-dragon hybrid, perhaps the only of her kind. It's an incredibly intriguing concept and Hartman lives up to the early promise with an exciting plot and well-developed appealing characters. Every bit of buzz about this book is well earned. Pick it up and read it. And then wait eagerly for the sequel. Join me in considering begging the publisher for an ARC.

Cardboard by Doug TenNapel
By far and away my favorite youth graphic novel, Cardboard excels in both text and illustrations. The illustrations (which sadly don't count for Newbery) are bold. I loved the color palette and use of perspective. Even the cover with the boy against the eye of the cardboard monster is a fantastic arrangement. But the reason I wanted to push this book on my "almost wish Newbery" list is the text. The text reads like an extended prose poem, each word perfectly chosen to create characters and portray feelings. It is a story mostly of friendship and in many ways it is more Marcus (the bully/villain) and Cam's grieving widower father who grow and have self-reflective epiphanies; it is more their stories than Cam's. Cam is the sun of the story and they define themselves in relation to him, but we as readers are more interested in their journey around him than in Cam himself. (Complicated metaphor where the planetary orbits are more interesting than the sun, you with me?) The story is more philosophical and insightful then the admittedly goofy premise and jet packs would suggest. But underneath it, is an incredible heart, complex social and emotional issues (grieving father, collapsing economy) and just a few goofy but true to life moments (two boys in the middle of a fight for their lives who can't resist cracking jokes about crab shells). When you combine the illustrations and the text, they work seamlessly together for a masterpiece of a juvenile graphic novel.

I'm going to get back into the swing of things with more reviews, both catching up on the 2012 books I didn't get to read (primarily adult) and the ARCs for 2013 sitting on my shelves.  I wouldn't have traded this year at all, but it feels good to be in charge of my reading again.

Anchorage Mock Newbery Winners

On Saturday we held our Anchorage Public Library Mock Newbery. I mentioned it here.

Our winner was Wonder by R. J. Palacio.

Honor books (in no particular order) were The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embraced Autism and changed the world by Sy Montgomery.

Reminder all the books under consideration were:
(we ask all participants to read a minimum of four of these before coming)

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
One Year in Coal Harbor by Polly Horvath
Temple Grandin by Sy Montgomery
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Neversink by Barry Wolverton

It was a great deal of fun, school librarians, public youth librarians, even non-librarians. Next year I hope to use our new OWL (online with libraries) project equipment to video conference in librarians in other areas of Alaska. Then we can have the Alaska wide Mock Newbery. (Currently the video conferencing equipment is in a box in my office.)

It was a great morning, fantastic discussion, and I was scribbling notes down frantically (though I can not comment or confirm that any or all of those books are officially under consideration). Smart people talking about great books while eating homemade cookies? There's no better way to spend a Saturday morning.

Final Newbery Nominations - IN

Turned in my last round of nominations for the Newbery. When I finished writing them up last night, I was no longer obligated to read basically every eligible book published. I have to go on faith that we didn't miss anything amazing. I've been following the blogs and I don't think we have. Between the 15 of us, we surely cast a fairly wide net.

I especially spent the last bit of time before the final nominations reconsidering Graphic Novels and the Newbery. Initially I blogged about it and then the amazing Chris Schweitzer (of Crogan's March which is one of my go to recommendations for middle grade graphic novels) showed up with some very insightful comments. And then I got a text, "did you know you're in The Mary Sue?" And thus began one of the most surreal weekends of my life as about 8 of my friends texted or messaged me that. (Why yes, I do have cool friends). I also read the comments by Comics Beat and Heavy Medal on this issue. Tons of good comments by everyone and I really re-read my 3 favorite youth graphic novels of the year. I can't tell what I decided regarding nominating one of them, but it was the nomination I thought hardest about all year long.

We did a Mock Newbery at the Anchorage Public Library. I'll blog that tomorrow. I'll probably be a better blogger now that I'm not reading all the books and feeling very conflicted about what exactly I can blog. And avoiding talking about work due to some complicated situations (all resolved now). However I've never been a super-reliable blogger so you probably shouldn't hold your breath.

In a couple of days when we get the final list of nominees from our committee chair, I'll start re-reading very heavily and critically. But for now I'm taking a "vacation". I watched tv and knit last night! I went to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (Right before the screening I leaned over and whispered "roads are dangerous things" and my fiance asked me to marry him again.) This weeknd I'll do some holiday baking and spend a lot of time with friends and family.

This year of being on the Newbery committee has been amazing. But I'm glad there is a 4 year waiting period before you're eligible for a new committee. Because I'm exhausted and I miss reading adult books, watching tv and movies, and knitting.

Mock Newbery at APL

This year I am excited to host a Mock Newbery discussion at Anchorage Public Library. I loved doing these when I lived in Kansas and so far the reaction from other librarians and literature lovers has been very positive. If it goes well, I'll make it an annual event.

We've already released the Mock Newbery reading list so we could have the event in mid-December though I think that after this we might shoot for mid-January. I want everyone to have plenty of time to get a chance to read at least four of the books before discussion. Of course this means anything that comes out later or that APL doesn't have a copy of yet won't be on our radar. That's fine. It's all for fun.

And I feel obligated to say this. Yes, I am on the committee this year, but that in no way should mean that what is on this list is on the official committee list. I asked for nominations from librarians who wanted to join us and I read sites like Heavy Medal and For Those About to Mock. So please don't take this list to mean anything more than it would from any other librarian or youth literature lover.

Details:
Saturday December 15th, 10am to Noon
Mountain View Library, 120 Bragaw St, Anchorage, AK 907-343-2818

Books:
(we ask all participants to read a minimum of four of these before coming)
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
One Year in Coal Harbor by Polly Horvath
Temple Grandin by Sy Montgomery
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Neversink by Barry Wolverton

If you go to our website, you'll find the full details and clickable links for the books that search the APL catalog. Several of those we own in downloadable ebook and audiobook form.

Happy Reading!

Five Books I've Recommended

Five things on a Friday: In reading my "Newbery Year" of juvenile books, here are five I've recommended and the reactions I got from the other readers (including myself). As always this does not indicate that I or anyone else on the committee have suggested or nominated these books, only that as I attempt to read a broad swatch of juvenile literature this year, these five were included.

1. One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
   I recommended this to a young man who was sad that all of the Animorphs books had been weeded due to age, lack of popularity, and lack of a complete set. He reported loving it. At least one librarian I discussed it with didn't like it and didn't think it would appeal to kids. I liked it, but found it quite hard to push myself through the pathos in the middle.
2. Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
   Recommended this to a local school librarian who LOVED it. I haven't got to try it on a child reader yet, but I liked it and I don't normally enjoy mysteries much. One quibble was that I kept forgetting that the book was set in North Carolina and kept trying to put it in the Gulf Coast instead. I'm not sure if that is my issue or a failing in setting by the author.
3. Neversink: a puffin saga by Barry Wolverton
   I lent my copy to a friend's 10 year-old son and she ended up having to buy it for him. It was THE BEST book that boy has ever read and he is continually drawing the characters from it even four months later. I liked it a lot too. Maybe it is that we live in Alaska with the puffins? Or maybe it is just that puffins are cool. The setting was marvelous both the arctic I know and the arctic of fantasy at the same time. I think this would be a huge hit with kids who liked the Ice Age movies.
4. Freaky Fast Frankie Joe by Lutricia Clifton
   When a 10 year-old boy asks you for a boy "with a kid who rides his bicycle", this is an obvious answer. Two weeks later he was back to ask for the sequel. Sadly I've told him not every book has a sequel. But I understand that feeling. This book had very engaging characters and I found myself emotionally attached enough to Frankie Joe and his brothers to want a sequel too.
5. Wonder by R. J. Palacio
   I feel like everyone has read this book and everyone is talking about it, but that might just be the fact that I read a lot of children's literature blogs and my slice of "everyone" on the internet is skewed.  When my fiance and I have conversations about what "everyone" on the internet was talking about during a given day/week, we find that we have very different groups of everyones. Lent my copy to my children's librarian and my future mother-in-law. Haven't heard yet from the future mother-in-law but my children's librarian adored it. This is another book wherein I got really invested in the characters. Everytime we switched narrators I was a bit sad because I felt like I was leaving behind the voice of a friend until I got to know the new narrator and then was sad to leave them behind. It's amazing to me how quickly each narrator's voice was established as unique and yet it formed a cohesive story. Unfortunately there were one or two moments that felt forced and rushed that pulled you out of the narration and caused you to doubt those particular narrators.

Realizing I haven't much committed myself about what I've thought about any books read this year, at least not in print. It's not forbidden by Newbery rules, but you are warned to be cautious. And with every book, I tend to have a gut reaction and a more nuanced reaction with a more critical eye. Here you're mostly getting my gut reactions to five random books.

Dead Mom Books

When I got elected to the Newbery, someone cracked a joke about all the "dead mom" books. They weren't joking. I've started to think of this as the "dead mom year" though it is really dead parents of both genders. Below are the ones I've noticed (not at all a complete list just a quick glance through my notes) that have a dead parent before the book begins. Not included are missing parents, divorced or run off parents, or parents who die during the book. Included are a few books where the parentage is a bit of confusion, but they're dead. At least two of these the dead part could be considered a spoiler so consider yourself warned. Also two of these might be more properly considered teens.

• Laugh with the Moon by Burg (dead mom)
• Letters to Leo by Hest (dead mom)
• What the Dog Said by Reisfeld (dead dad)
• Fourmile by Key (dead dad)
• Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Loftin (dead mom)
• The Great Unexpected by Creech (about half the town are orphans)
• Tracks by Wilson (dead dad)
• Child of the Mountains by Shank (dead dad)
• The Wicked and the Just by Coats (dead mom)
• Summer of the Wolves by Carlson-Voiles (both parents dead, mom most recently)
• The Unfortunate Son by Leeds (there is confusion here)
• Irises by Stork (dead father, comatose mother)
• Starters by Price (both parents dead)
• The False Prince by Nielsen (confusion about who his parents are)
• The Book of Wonders by Richards (dead mom)
• If Only by Geithner (dead mom)
• Winterling by Prineas (dead mom and dad)
• The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Stone (dead mom)
• The Humming Room by Potter (dead mom and dad)
• Oddfellow's Orphanage by Martin (everyone's an orphan give or take)
• Glory Be by Scattergood (dead mom)
• Five Lives of Our Cat Zook by Rocklin (dead dad)

This is probably not an unusually large number of books; it's probably that high every year. I just don't look at every single book published on a normal year. Still I don't think I knew a single kid with a deceased parent when I was a child. Of course in my children's lit class they taught us that the first problem of children's lit was to get rid of the parents, freeing up the kids for adventures.

Reading Everything

This week our chair sent back the list of nominated Newbery books. Just like Roxanne I read mine on my phone squinting without glasses. Later in the day I gave it a closer re-read, paying attention to the wording of each nomination.

We didn't all nominate the same 3 books and we didn't nominate 45 different books. I've gotten better about not finishing every book this year, but I still have finished FAR more than I probably should have. (I can think of at least three books that I kept reading after I knew they weren't distinguished because I was still enjoying them and at least in one case it was the only book I had brought with me.) Our chair keeps telling us to be ruthless, if you know by page xx this isn't distinguished, let it go.

Good news: there's only one book on the nominated list I didn't finish (and one book I haven't gotten a copy of yet). The one I don't have yet looks amazing. The one I didn't finish was boring (at least to me, hence the not finishing). I'll try it again. Maybe it will catch me this time, but even if it doesn't I will finish it.

There was one book earlier this year that was getting a ton of hype that I just couldn't get into, until I did. David caught me at one point still reading, very late, because I couldn't put it down, after complaining to him about it and forcing myself through the entire first half.

Some of the books I was nervous about nominating got other nominations and that made my week. I was surprised by what was nominated and by who. Maybe I don't remember people or I've switched them in my head. At ALA we all had nametags on the table in front of us. I need a sheet with our photos and names to help me remember people.

This weekend: I'm pulling into a special section all the nominated books so I can start the re-reading and reviewing. I'm sorting that huge box of books I haven't sorted yet. But yesterday I took a night off as did David from his studies and we went to a movie. (I completely recommend Pitch Perfect FYI).

And if you're interested, we've got a personal blog/wedding site/website going now: aknicolais.com
You'll all be happy to see that the knitting goes there now. And really I've resisted flooding this blog with knitting. So from now on it should be all librarianship all the time, mostly.