Yesterday I wrote about how a random request to "read to an invalid" led to a friendship between children's and young adult writer Barbara Wersba and the author of MEMBER OF THE WEDDING and THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Carson McCullers.
Today's blog is about a time when Barbara Wersba's early experience on the stage merged with her later writing career, allowing her to work with one of her theatrical idols.
Ms. Wersba's entry into the world of theater also has a random feel to it.
One evening over dinner a family acquaintance asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. Without thinking, Barbara responded that she wanted to be an actress "and the minute the words were out of my mouth they had the ring of truth. I would be an actress." Soon thereafter, the eleven-year-old began working for the local community theater as a "go-fer" -- eventually landing a part in a play. Strangely, she quickly realized she did not enjoy acting, even though it gave her "a purpose in life and I no longer felt alone."
A year or two later her parents divorced and Barbara moved to New York with her mother, where she became a Broadway baby "sitting in the last row of theatre balconies, holding a small flashlight to take notes and watching [various stage performers] act. I was in love with all of them, but one, Eva Le Gallienne, captured my heart with her steady pursuit of excellence in the theatre."
Ms. Wersba would continue to pursue her own theatrical dreams in college, and then professionally, before deciding she was not meant for a life on stage. She shifted her focus to writing, producing a number of small volumes, beginning with THE BOY WHO LOVED THE SEA in 1961. Her breakthrough book was THE DREAM WATCHER in 1968 -- a young adult novel about a teenage loner's friendship with an eccentric old woman.
A few years later, a friend gave a copy of THE DREAM WATCHER to Eva Le Gallienne, who decided she wanted to play the role of the elderly woman in a theatrical adaptation of Wersba's novel. In preparation for adapting her book into a script, Wersba read four plays a day, hoping to learn the craft of playwriting. She also became friends with her long-time idol Eva LeGallienne: "To my surprise, the glamorous woman I had admired in my childhood was herself a loner -- a person who fed animals from the woods every night at her kitchen door, whose main interest in life was her garden, and whose library was the finest I'd ever seen."
(Incidentally, Miss LeG, as she was familiarly known, had also written a couple children's books herself back in the 1950s.)
THE DREAM WATCHER, a play by Barbara Wersba, starring Eva Le Gallienne, opened at the White Barn Theatre in Connecticut in 1975.
The author recalled:
That night I had a sudden understanding of why people write plays, of why in the midst of so much difficulty and pain, playwrights persist. For at the evening's end, as the curtain calls began, and as Miss LeG was led onto the stage by the young actor who played opposite her, a kind of thunderstorm broke. People cheered, and wept, and applauded, and stamped their feet, as she took curtain call after curtain call. As the applause continued, I ran into the lobby where refreshments were being served, grabbed a glass of champagne, and, without spilling a drop, ran up the back stairs of the theatre and handed the glass to Miss Le Gallienne. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.
Never mind that another, later production of THE DREAM WALKER, debuting in Seattle and destined for a Broadway run turned into a complete disaster, derailed by weak casting, a poor set design, and many unnecessary rewrites. Many, maybe most, plays end up failing. The important thing to remember is that, in 1975, Barbara Wersba's theatrical and literary worlds merged in a stage production that, almost unbelievably, starred her childhood idol, giving this author one of the happiest moments of her life.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
A Club with Many Members
I never knew Carson McCullers had written a children's book until I happened upon this volume in the library:
Originally written for the children of Ms. McCullers' lawyer, the rhymes in SWEET AS A PICKLE AND CLEAN AS A PIG touch on child-friendly topics such as astronauts, slumber parties, and Christmas Eve. The writing is clear, direct, and sometimes silly. Here is the title verse in its entirety:
When you're sweet as a pickle
And clean as a pig --
I'll give you a nickel
And dance you a jig.
When the book was published in 1964, its reviews were less than stellar. Yet these days, a first edition of this little known book sells for upwards of two hundred dollars.
Although SWEET AS A PICKLE... is the author's only work published specifically for young readers, her earlier title, A MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, would likely be called an "honorary young adult novel," since it's been taught to, read by, and loved by generations of young readers. The story of twelve-year-old Frankie (F. Jasmine) Addams remains a landmark character study of a girl struggling with the pain and loneliness of growing up.
It's amazing to note how many twentieth-century writers for children and young adults were inspired and influenced by the writings of Carson McCullers.
Sara Zarr (STORY OF A GIRL; SWEETHEARTS) cites MEMBER OF THE WEDDING as one of her five favorite novels.
Newbery winner Virginia Hamilton said she was inspired by the work of McCullers.
Kimberly Willis Holt, who won the National Book Award for WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN, remembers reading McCullers' THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER at age twelve: "It was just life-changing because of the characters. That was the first time I read a book where the characters seemed like real people to me."
M.E. Kerr has written about reading MEMBER OF THE WEDDING repeatedly during her teen years, seeing herself in the character of Frankie, but also seeing "a future me in Carson McCullers. She became the one I most wanted to write like, and all my stories began to describe 'a green and crazy summer,' or 'a green queer dream,' or 'a crazy queer green time.'"
One writer for children and young adults got to know Carson McCullers personally.
Barbara Wersba was a former actress who turned to writing while recuperating from a long illness. She had already published a handful of children's books in 1966 when a friend asked her if she would be willing to read twice a week to an invalid in a nearby town. She did not know at the time that the "invalid" was Carson McCullers. Years later, Ms. Wersba wrote about the experience in an essay for the SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY SERIES:
My journal records our meeting this way. "In the midst of a large bed is a tiny person with enormous brown eyes and short ragged hair. She is so frail that there hardly seems to be a body under the covers. One hand is doubled up and stunted, like a little paw. I shake the other. She stares at me with her huge eyes, and suddenly none of the amenities are possible. She has had strokes, heart attacks, and cancer. She is almost completely paralyzed. I feel that I am not meeting a person at all, but a soul. She is exactly like her books."
For the next two years, I visited Carson McCullers every day -- read aloud to her, went shopping for her, ate meals with her, and loved her deeply. She was not easy to love, but before me always, in my mind, were her books. Her great books. Unable now to write physically, she dictated stories to me, phoned in the middle of the night with ideas for novels or fragments of poems. She had written her last book, CLOCK WITHOUT HANDS, by typing it with one finger, one page a day. Now she was beyond typing, but the stories and the poems kept surging through her frail body.
<...>
...if her world was one of alcohol and dreams, we knew, all of us who loved her, that she would be leaving books behind whose beauty was beyond price. Until the moment she died, at age fifty, she was the epitome of the word Writer.
How odd that a chance request to read to "an invalid" would unite a talented newcomer to the writing field, Barbara Wersba, with one of the literary greats of the twentieth century. It must have been fate.
We can't know how much, if any, McCullers influenced Barbara Wersba's writing (though there is at least one scholarly article out there called “The Power of Androgyny : Echoes of Carson McCullers in Barbara Wersba's Novels for Young Adults") but, based on what Wersba has written, McCullers certainly had a major influence on her life.
That was not the only time when, in a strange bit of synchronicity, a famous artist played a role in the life of Barbara Wersba. Come back tomorrow for another story....
Originally written for the children of Ms. McCullers' lawyer, the rhymes in SWEET AS A PICKLE AND CLEAN AS A PIG touch on child-friendly topics such as astronauts, slumber parties, and Christmas Eve. The writing is clear, direct, and sometimes silly. Here is the title verse in its entirety:
When you're sweet as a pickle
And clean as a pig --
I'll give you a nickel
And dance you a jig.
When the book was published in 1964, its reviews were less than stellar. Yet these days, a first edition of this little known book sells for upwards of two hundred dollars.
Although SWEET AS A PICKLE... is the author's only work published specifically for young readers, her earlier title, A MEMBER OF THE WEDDING, would likely be called an "honorary young adult novel," since it's been taught to, read by, and loved by generations of young readers. The story of twelve-year-old Frankie (F. Jasmine) Addams remains a landmark character study of a girl struggling with the pain and loneliness of growing up.
It's amazing to note how many twentieth-century writers for children and young adults were inspired and influenced by the writings of Carson McCullers.
Sara Zarr (STORY OF A GIRL; SWEETHEARTS) cites MEMBER OF THE WEDDING as one of her five favorite novels.
Newbery winner Virginia Hamilton said she was inspired by the work of McCullers.
Kimberly Willis Holt, who won the National Book Award for WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN, remembers reading McCullers' THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER at age twelve: "It was just life-changing because of the characters. That was the first time I read a book where the characters seemed like real people to me."
M.E. Kerr has written about reading MEMBER OF THE WEDDING repeatedly during her teen years, seeing herself in the character of Frankie, but also seeing "a future me in Carson McCullers. She became the one I most wanted to write like, and all my stories began to describe 'a green and crazy summer,' or 'a green queer dream,' or 'a crazy queer green time.'"
One writer for children and young adults got to know Carson McCullers personally.
Barbara Wersba was a former actress who turned to writing while recuperating from a long illness. She had already published a handful of children's books in 1966 when a friend asked her if she would be willing to read twice a week to an invalid in a nearby town. She did not know at the time that the "invalid" was Carson McCullers. Years later, Ms. Wersba wrote about the experience in an essay for the SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY SERIES:
My journal records our meeting this way. "In the midst of a large bed is a tiny person with enormous brown eyes and short ragged hair. She is so frail that there hardly seems to be a body under the covers. One hand is doubled up and stunted, like a little paw. I shake the other. She stares at me with her huge eyes, and suddenly none of the amenities are possible. She has had strokes, heart attacks, and cancer. She is almost completely paralyzed. I feel that I am not meeting a person at all, but a soul. She is exactly like her books."
For the next two years, I visited Carson McCullers every day -- read aloud to her, went shopping for her, ate meals with her, and loved her deeply. She was not easy to love, but before me always, in my mind, were her books. Her great books. Unable now to write physically, she dictated stories to me, phoned in the middle of the night with ideas for novels or fragments of poems. She had written her last book, CLOCK WITHOUT HANDS, by typing it with one finger, one page a day. Now she was beyond typing, but the stories and the poems kept surging through her frail body.
<...>
...if her world was one of alcohol and dreams, we knew, all of us who loved her, that she would be leaving books behind whose beauty was beyond price. Until the moment she died, at age fifty, she was the epitome of the word Writer.
How odd that a chance request to read to "an invalid" would unite a talented newcomer to the writing field, Barbara Wersba, with one of the literary greats of the twentieth century. It must have been fate.
We can't know how much, if any, McCullers influenced Barbara Wersba's writing (though there is at least one scholarly article out there called “The Power of Androgyny : Echoes of Carson McCullers in Barbara Wersba's Novels for Young Adults") but, based on what Wersba has written, McCullers certainly had a major influence on her life.
That was not the only time when, in a strange bit of synchronicity, a famous artist played a role in the life of Barbara Wersba. Come back tomorrow for another story....
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Sunday Brunch
Among other topics, today's blog asks how tall your bookstack is, explores the Junie B. Jones/Pulitzer Prize connection, and reviews three novels about teens in small towns.
STFU!
This past week, the #1 bestselling title on Amazon.com was a children's book.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that the title in question was GO THE F**K TO SLEEP.
Then we wonder why some people thought the world would end this weekend.
This generation's answer to GOODNIGHT, MOON features verses such as:
Thе eagles whο soar through the sky аrе аt rest
Anԁ the creatures whο crawl, rυn аnԁ creep
I know уου′re nοt thirsty. Thаt’s bulls**t. Stοр lying
Lie the f**k down, mу darling, аnԁ sleep.
The book had its origins on Facebook, when author Adam Mansbach, frustrated at getting his daughter to sleep, posted this one-liner on his wall: "Look out for my forthcoming children’s book, Go the — to Sleep."
From there it was only a hop, skip, and a few @#$@#s to a book contract. The finished product, illustrated by Ricardo Cortes and published by Akashic Books, was originally scheduled for this October, but due a viral publicity campaign, will be released next month, with a first printing of 150,000 copies (which is 149,635 copies more than Lionel Shriver's personal favorite among her novels, GAME CONTROL, sold in hardcover. Think about that.)
Yeah, yeah, I know: GTFTS isn't really a children's book.
It's pretty much a joke book for adults.
BUT....
Look around you.
Think about the average intelligence of the people you see every day.
The kind of people who cut you off on the road, then give you a rude gesture as if it's your fault.
The kind of people who list THE HANGOVER, PART II, as their favorite movie.
The kind of people who appear on Judge Judy (i.e. the kind of people who "have went" on Judge Judy's show because they "borrowed" their best friend two hundred dollars.)
The kind of people who went to see Charlie Sheen's stage show.
Do you really think these people are going to "get" the joke?
Personally, I think they will be reading this book to their toddlers.
And as long as I'm prognosticating, here are a couple more predictions:
NEW YORK POST, April 14, 2012
EXPECTANT MOM KNOCKS OUT SHOWER GUEST IN BABY BRAWL!
A baby shower turned into a brawl last night -- all because of a children's book!
The fight broke out at a baby shower being held for twenty-six year old Nicki Edison, who is infanticipating her first blessed event next month. "It was going along fine," said shower guest Heidi South, who is now nursing a fat lip. "Nicki was opening her gifts and everyone was oohing and ahhing over the dainty little booties and cute little sippy cups. Then one of the older ladies gave Nicki a 'gag gift' -- a book with the title...well, I can't say the word...."
The book in question was GO THE F**K TO SLEEP, a bedtime book for kids.
The expectant mother took immediate offense to the present, insisting it was in bad taste "and besides, I look forward to many precious bedtime moments with my baby and I know that I will never, ever grow frustrated with my own child. I have more class than that. Plus, I have a very sweet nature."
Angered at the gift she'd received, the "sweet-natured" mom-to-be threw a punch bowl at her shower guest, instigating a brawl that resulted in two concussions, one broken arm, several black eyes, and at least one fatality....
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, October 9, 2011
DES PLAINES MAN SUING BOOKSTORE FOR OFFENSIVE BABY BOOK
Jeff Narwell was in a hurry when he ran into Borders last week seeking a book for his new nephew. "I saw GO THE F**K TO SLEEP on the shelf, glanced at the pictures, and purchased it immediately," said the 38-year-old banker.
Now he is suing Borders for causing him grief and embarrassment when he presented the book to his newborn nephew. "His parents were very offended by the language in the book -- and once I read it, I agreed whole-heartedly!"
Borders' spokesperson Lars Layman find the lawsuit without merit. "What was Mr. Narwell expecting?" asked Layman. "The title of the book contains the F word. Is it really a surprise that the text also includes similar language? Duh!"
Incidentally, there is word that Mansbach and Cortes are currently adapting GO THE F**K TO SLEEP into a gentler (i.e. curse free) edition more acceptable to kids. I'm sure that somewhere down the line, someone will order that edition for their children and instead receive the R-rated version from an online bookstore and start a lawsuit there as well.
As for all the kids who (I predict) WILL be experiencing this story as infants and toddlers...well, at least they'll grow up with big vocabularies.
Hope they like the taste of Palmolive.
HIGHER THAN THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!
I've gotten woefully behind in recording the books I'm reading on Goodreads -- and even farther behind listing the books I own on Librarything.
I think that catching up on both these activities would make a good summer project for me.
Because I've been away from Librarything for so many months, I was unaware that they've added a fun new feature. Based on the number of books in your collection, and the pages included in each volume, they now provide some fun stats.
They estimate that my collection weighs 1905 pounds.
If you laid all the pages end-to-end, it would take a half hour to drive from beginning to end.
And this chart (you may have to click the image to enlarge it) estimates that my books (the blue column) would form a stack 166.3 feet high -- taller than the Statue of Liberty, but not as high as Niagara Falls.
When I add my uncataloged volumes to Librarything this summer, I'm sure I'll pass Niagara Falls...and maybe even start to catch up with the 239 foot Taj Mahal.
BOOK AWARD NEWS
The 2011 Charlotte Zolotow Award, given annually by the Cooperative Children's Book Center for "outstanding writing of a picture book" has been won by Rukhsana Kahn for BIG RED LOLLIPOP, illustrated by Sophie Blackall.
The Honor Books are:
Bob Graham for APRIL AND ESME : TOOTH FAIRIES
Sandra Markle for HIP-POCKET PAPA, illustrated by Alan Marks
Philip C. Stead for A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Mo Willems for CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG, illustrated by Jon J. Muth
The committee also noted six "highly commended" titles: CHAVELA AND THE MAGIC BUBBLE, written by Monica Brown and illustrated by Magaly Morales; WILLOUGHBY & THE MOON by Greg Foley; MY GARDEN by Kevin Henkes; I AM A BACKHOE by Anna Grossnickle Hines; LITTLE BLACK CROW by Chris Raschka, and A BEACH TALE, written by Karen Lynn Williams and illustrated by Floyd Cooper.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America just announced that the winner of the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy is I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT by Terry Pratchett.
Finally, PEN American Center is announcing a new award named in honor of children's book creator and former PEN trustee, Steven Kroll.
According to a report in School Library Journal, the Steven Kroll Award "will acknowledge the literary contributions of an American or U.S-based writer for an 'exceptional story illustrated in a picture book,' [and] will be presented for the first time in 2012 and come with a $5,000 prize."
JUNIE B. JONES AND THE PULITZER PRIZE
Now those are two phrases you never expected to see in the same sentence!
Yet there is a connection.
I just finished reading this year's Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan.
Liked it, didn't love it.
But I was intrigued enough to seek more background info about the book and its author, and came across an interesting piece from the Wall Street Journal in which Ms. Egan discusses her painstaking revision notes for the novel:
Writing that book I was so focused on making each piece technically different from every other one I tried to summarize the technical aspect, so I wrote “first person female, present tense.” In the notes to myself, it says: “Voice: it’s a little Junie B.” “Junie B. Jones” was this book I was reading with my kids. It was written for five year olds so that was obviously a problem.
I imagine so! Junie B. is unlikely to ever win a Newbery -- much less the Pulitzer Prize!
POEMS FOR BOYS -- NAKED GIRLS INCLUDED
Wandering through the library stacks this week, I came across an unusual book of poetry.
IT'S A BOY'S WORLD was written by August Derleth and illustrated by Claire Victor Dwiggins, who went by the pen-and-ink name of "Dwig."
Published in 1948, it turns out this was the second of two books in the same series. The first, THE BOY'S WAY was released a year earlier.
Paging through this book (you'll have to click on these images to enlarge them) I was impressed by its scope and subject matter. Derleth's evocative words capture a boy's view of springtime, Halloween, school dances, and acorns falling on the roof at night.
The nostalgic tone (as in this piece about drying hickory nuts) made me wonder if these books were originally published for adult readers:
Though at other times, as in this poem about snow, the tone is so universal that I think boys in 1948 and 2011 might see themselves in the words:
One reason I thought the books might be intended for adults is that Dwig's busy-but-effective illustrations sometimes contain risque elements, as in this verse about the wind:
And this one about a bat:
I don't know if these titles were marketed as adult or children's books, but CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR, and other reference sources list them as children's books. Published by Stanton and Lee, a small press in Sauk City, Wisconsin, I doubt these volumes found their way into many children's libraries. Have you ever seen them there?
LIBRARY BOUND
While wandering the library stacks this week I also came across HOSTESS IN THE SKY -- a 1955 career book about stewardesses (as they were called then) by Margaret Hill.
I'd never seen this book before, but what struck a nostalgic chord for me was the illustration on the cover. Remember when rebound library books looked like this -- with an off-colored, muddily-reproduced illustration from the original dustjacket or frontispiece stamped upon that bumpy cold rebound cover:
(Here, incidentally, is the original illustration from the frontispiece.)
These are the kinds of books I grew up with in my local library as a kid. Nearly every older library book had been rebound and was now pea green or sunset orange or bright red or mellow blue, with a picture stamped on the front panel:
My question is: do libraries still bind books this way? I don't see many rebound books on public library shelves these days. Maybe it's just cheaper to buy new replacement copies. When I do see rebound titles, they are either paperbacks bound into hardcover, with the original cover slid into a plastic outershell (as demonstrated on the left) or completely found in one color, such as the uninviting Judy Blume book on the right:
I miss the old rebound books with stamped illustrations. They take me right back to my old public library, many decades ago....
SMALL TOWN TEENS
I just read three recent books for young adults that happen to focus on teenagers growing up in small towns. The first, and most ambitious, is WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley. Growing up in Lily, Arkansas (population 3,947) seventeen-year-old Cullen Witter who finds it "very difficult to deal with the boredom brought on by living in Lily."
Actually, Lily seems fairly hectic to the average reader, considering all that goes in this story, including the death of Cullen's druggy cousin, rumors that Lily might harbor an extinct Lazarus woodpecker, and the sudden disappearance of Cullen's somewhat mystical younger brother Gabriel. The story of Gabriel's disappearance is related in alternate chapters that take place in Africa, as well as Georgia, and dip into such topics as missionary life, suicide, teenage marriage, and a missing book of the Bible. The story is busy and the characters remain frustratingly distant. (It doesn't help that narrator Cullen frequently goes off into third-person tangents, refering to himself as "one," as in: "When one enters the kitchen to find his mother, father, and best friend all seated in front of a stack of uneaten pancakes, he knows that something strange has happened." Also, Cullen's blase attitude about two different sexual affairs is so offhand that the book feels more like a adult novel about teens, rather than a YA story written for teens. Though the complex plot is intriguing, the remote characterizations, many unfinished subplots, and cold storytelling may not appeal to the targeted teenage audience.
Kendall Fletcher lives in Cryer's Cross, Montana (population 212) where her parents run a potato farm and Kendall attends a one-room high school.
The town has been devastated by the recent disappearance of a teenage girl and now Kendall's best friend and de facto boyfriend Nico has also disappeared. Rumors abound (did Tiffany and Nico runaway together?) but Kendall, who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder so severe that she must get to school early in order to line up all the desks properly, suspects there may be a darker reason for the dual disappearance: mysterious notes are being etched into the school desk that Tiffany, and later Nico, once used; Kendall also begins to hear voices. The supernatural element that propels the plot is actually one of the weaker aspects of the novel; much more compelling is the multifaceted protagonist's struggles with OCD and her blossoming romance with edgy new-boy-in-town Jacian in this fast-paced novel
The town of West River (population ?) is the setting for SMALL TOWN SINNERS by Melissa Walker, due out July 19, 2011.
The premise for the novel is intriguing, centering around a "Hell House" that narrator Lacey Ann and her friends are staging. A staple of some midwest and southern fundamentalist churches, Hell Houses dramatize "sinful behavior" such as abortion, gay marriage, suicide, and cyberporn in an effort to prosletyze young people. The daughter of a pastor, Lacey Ann is complacent in her faith until a new romance and revelations about her friends (one becomes pregnant; another seems to be questioning his sexuality) have Lacey Ann questioning her personal belief system. Though the plot is predictable, the author has created well-rounded characters who are sincere in their beliefs. The Hell House background is fascinating and, even though many readers may not be familiar with this phenomena, Lacey Ann's struggle to reconcile family beliefs with personal growth is a universal experience.
SURPRISE BY MAIL
Have you ever unexpectedly received a package in the mail, opened it, and discovered it was exactly what you wanted?
It happened to me this week.
A couple months ago I came across this 1940 chilren's book in the library and was entranced by the cover. Living for the past year in a house with almost no windows, I've found myself hungry for a view of the sky. This peaceful blue dustjacket instantly relaxed me. I wanted to fall right into the picture:
The illustrations inside were also nice, plus I figured I could learn something from the simple scientific text. So I looked for a copy on the internet, placed it in my "online shopping basket" and then had second thoughts. Yeah, the book was only $8, but the gas and electric bills were due. I didn't need the pretty picture that much.
After several weeks, I had the occasion to order a couple books I needed from the same website. They both arrived in the mail a few days later. Then a third book arrived. I had no idea what it could be -- I'd only ordered two books!
I opened up the package and -- SURPRISE! -- out slid a copy of THE SKY IS BLUE.
Once again, I was mesmerized by the cover...but I knew I hadn't ordered the book.
...Then I figured it out.
I had accidentally left the book in my "shopping basket" a couple months ago, and when I bought the additional two books weeks later, THE SKY IS BLUE order was sent in as well.
Maybe "there are no accidents" and I subconsciously left the book in my basket on purpose. I don't know. All I can say is that I was delighted to be surprised by this book, and am delighted to add it to my bookshelves. It was only eight bucks -- well worth the cover picture alone. I almost feel like framing it.
Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. I'll be back midweek with a blog linking a famous adult author with a well-known children's and YA writer. Hope you'll be back.
STFU!
This past week, the #1 bestselling title on Amazon.com was a children's book.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that the title in question was GO THE F**K TO SLEEP.
Then we wonder why some people thought the world would end this weekend.
This generation's answer to GOODNIGHT, MOON features verses such as:
Thе eagles whο soar through the sky аrе аt rest
Anԁ the creatures whο crawl, rυn аnԁ creep
I know уου′re nοt thirsty. Thаt’s bulls**t. Stοр lying
Lie the f**k down, mу darling, аnԁ sleep.
The book had its origins on Facebook, when author Adam Mansbach, frustrated at getting his daughter to sleep, posted this one-liner on his wall: "Look out for my forthcoming children’s book, Go the — to Sleep."
From there it was only a hop, skip, and a few @#$@#s to a book contract. The finished product, illustrated by Ricardo Cortes and published by Akashic Books, was originally scheduled for this October, but due a viral publicity campaign, will be released next month, with a first printing of 150,000 copies (which is 149,635 copies more than Lionel Shriver's personal favorite among her novels, GAME CONTROL, sold in hardcover. Think about that.)
Yeah, yeah, I know: GTFTS isn't really a children's book.
It's pretty much a joke book for adults.
BUT....
Look around you.
Think about the average intelligence of the people you see every day.
The kind of people who cut you off on the road, then give you a rude gesture as if it's your fault.
The kind of people who list THE HANGOVER, PART II, as their favorite movie.
The kind of people who appear on Judge Judy (i.e. the kind of people who "have went" on Judge Judy's show because they "borrowed" their best friend two hundred dollars.)
The kind of people who went to see Charlie Sheen's stage show.
Do you really think these people are going to "get" the joke?
Personally, I think they will be reading this book to their toddlers.
And as long as I'm prognosticating, here are a couple more predictions:
NEW YORK POST, April 14, 2012
EXPECTANT MOM KNOCKS OUT SHOWER GUEST IN BABY BRAWL!
A baby shower turned into a brawl last night -- all because of a children's book!
The fight broke out at a baby shower being held for twenty-six year old Nicki Edison, who is infanticipating her first blessed event next month. "It was going along fine," said shower guest Heidi South, who is now nursing a fat lip. "Nicki was opening her gifts and everyone was oohing and ahhing over the dainty little booties and cute little sippy cups. Then one of the older ladies gave Nicki a 'gag gift' -- a book with the title...well, I can't say the word...."
The book in question was GO THE F**K TO SLEEP, a bedtime book for kids.
The expectant mother took immediate offense to the present, insisting it was in bad taste "and besides, I look forward to many precious bedtime moments with my baby and I know that I will never, ever grow frustrated with my own child. I have more class than that. Plus, I have a very sweet nature."
Angered at the gift she'd received, the "sweet-natured" mom-to-be threw a punch bowl at her shower guest, instigating a brawl that resulted in two concussions, one broken arm, several black eyes, and at least one fatality....
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, October 9, 2011
DES PLAINES MAN SUING BOOKSTORE FOR OFFENSIVE BABY BOOK
Jeff Narwell was in a hurry when he ran into Borders last week seeking a book for his new nephew. "I saw GO THE F**K TO SLEEP on the shelf, glanced at the pictures, and purchased it immediately," said the 38-year-old banker.
Now he is suing Borders for causing him grief and embarrassment when he presented the book to his newborn nephew. "His parents were very offended by the language in the book -- and once I read it, I agreed whole-heartedly!"
Borders' spokesperson Lars Layman find the lawsuit without merit. "What was Mr. Narwell expecting?" asked Layman. "The title of the book contains the F word. Is it really a surprise that the text also includes similar language? Duh!"
Incidentally, there is word that Mansbach and Cortes are currently adapting GO THE F**K TO SLEEP into a gentler (i.e. curse free) edition more acceptable to kids. I'm sure that somewhere down the line, someone will order that edition for their children and instead receive the R-rated version from an online bookstore and start a lawsuit there as well.
As for all the kids who (I predict) WILL be experiencing this story as infants and toddlers...well, at least they'll grow up with big vocabularies.
Hope they like the taste of Palmolive.
HIGHER THAN THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!
I've gotten woefully behind in recording the books I'm reading on Goodreads -- and even farther behind listing the books I own on Librarything.
I think that catching up on both these activities would make a good summer project for me.
Because I've been away from Librarything for so many months, I was unaware that they've added a fun new feature. Based on the number of books in your collection, and the pages included in each volume, they now provide some fun stats.
They estimate that my collection weighs 1905 pounds.
If you laid all the pages end-to-end, it would take a half hour to drive from beginning to end.
And this chart (you may have to click the image to enlarge it) estimates that my books (the blue column) would form a stack 166.3 feet high -- taller than the Statue of Liberty, but not as high as Niagara Falls.
When I add my uncataloged volumes to Librarything this summer, I'm sure I'll pass Niagara Falls...and maybe even start to catch up with the 239 foot Taj Mahal.
BOOK AWARD NEWS
The 2011 Charlotte Zolotow Award, given annually by the Cooperative Children's Book Center for "outstanding writing of a picture book" has been won by Rukhsana Kahn for BIG RED LOLLIPOP, illustrated by Sophie Blackall.
The Honor Books are:
Bob Graham for APRIL AND ESME : TOOTH FAIRIES
Sandra Markle for HIP-POCKET PAPA, illustrated by Alan Marks
Philip C. Stead for A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
Mo Willems for CITY DOG, COUNTRY FROG, illustrated by Jon J. Muth
The committee also noted six "highly commended" titles: CHAVELA AND THE MAGIC BUBBLE, written by Monica Brown and illustrated by Magaly Morales; WILLOUGHBY & THE MOON by Greg Foley; MY GARDEN by Kevin Henkes; I AM A BACKHOE by Anna Grossnickle Hines; LITTLE BLACK CROW by Chris Raschka, and A BEACH TALE, written by Karen Lynn Williams and illustrated by Floyd Cooper.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America just announced that the winner of the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy is I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT by Terry Pratchett.
Finally, PEN American Center is announcing a new award named in honor of children's book creator and former PEN trustee, Steven Kroll.
According to a report in School Library Journal, the Steven Kroll Award "will acknowledge the literary contributions of an American or U.S-based writer for an 'exceptional story illustrated in a picture book,' [and] will be presented for the first time in 2012 and come with a $5,000 prize."
JUNIE B. JONES AND THE PULITZER PRIZE
Now those are two phrases you never expected to see in the same sentence!
Yet there is a connection.
I just finished reading this year's Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan.
Liked it, didn't love it.
But I was intrigued enough to seek more background info about the book and its author, and came across an interesting piece from the Wall Street Journal in which Ms. Egan discusses her painstaking revision notes for the novel:
Writing that book I was so focused on making each piece technically different from every other one I tried to summarize the technical aspect, so I wrote “first person female, present tense.” In the notes to myself, it says: “Voice: it’s a little Junie B.” “Junie B. Jones” was this book I was reading with my kids. It was written for five year olds so that was obviously a problem.
I imagine so! Junie B. is unlikely to ever win a Newbery -- much less the Pulitzer Prize!
POEMS FOR BOYS -- NAKED GIRLS INCLUDED
Wandering through the library stacks this week, I came across an unusual book of poetry.
IT'S A BOY'S WORLD was written by August Derleth and illustrated by Claire Victor Dwiggins, who went by the pen-and-ink name of "Dwig."
Published in 1948, it turns out this was the second of two books in the same series. The first, THE BOY'S WAY was released a year earlier.
Paging through this book (you'll have to click on these images to enlarge them) I was impressed by its scope and subject matter. Derleth's evocative words capture a boy's view of springtime, Halloween, school dances, and acorns falling on the roof at night.
The nostalgic tone (as in this piece about drying hickory nuts) made me wonder if these books were originally published for adult readers:
Though at other times, as in this poem about snow, the tone is so universal that I think boys in 1948 and 2011 might see themselves in the words:
One reason I thought the books might be intended for adults is that Dwig's busy-but-effective illustrations sometimes contain risque elements, as in this verse about the wind:
And this one about a bat:
I don't know if these titles were marketed as adult or children's books, but CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS, SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR, and other reference sources list them as children's books. Published by Stanton and Lee, a small press in Sauk City, Wisconsin, I doubt these volumes found their way into many children's libraries. Have you ever seen them there?
LIBRARY BOUND
While wandering the library stacks this week I also came across HOSTESS IN THE SKY -- a 1955 career book about stewardesses (as they were called then) by Margaret Hill.
I'd never seen this book before, but what struck a nostalgic chord for me was the illustration on the cover. Remember when rebound library books looked like this -- with an off-colored, muddily-reproduced illustration from the original dustjacket or frontispiece stamped upon that bumpy cold rebound cover:
(Here, incidentally, is the original illustration from the frontispiece.)
These are the kinds of books I grew up with in my local library as a kid. Nearly every older library book had been rebound and was now pea green or sunset orange or bright red or mellow blue, with a picture stamped on the front panel:
My question is: do libraries still bind books this way? I don't see many rebound books on public library shelves these days. Maybe it's just cheaper to buy new replacement copies. When I do see rebound titles, they are either paperbacks bound into hardcover, with the original cover slid into a plastic outershell (as demonstrated on the left) or completely found in one color, such as the uninviting Judy Blume book on the right:
I miss the old rebound books with stamped illustrations. They take me right back to my old public library, many decades ago....
SMALL TOWN TEENS
I just read three recent books for young adults that happen to focus on teenagers growing up in small towns. The first, and most ambitious, is WHERE THINGS COME BACK by John Corey Whaley. Growing up in Lily, Arkansas (population 3,947) seventeen-year-old Cullen Witter who finds it "very difficult to deal with the boredom brought on by living in Lily."
Actually, Lily seems fairly hectic to the average reader, considering all that goes in this story, including the death of Cullen's druggy cousin, rumors that Lily might harbor an extinct Lazarus woodpecker, and the sudden disappearance of Cullen's somewhat mystical younger brother Gabriel. The story of Gabriel's disappearance is related in alternate chapters that take place in Africa, as well as Georgia, and dip into such topics as missionary life, suicide, teenage marriage, and a missing book of the Bible. The story is busy and the characters remain frustratingly distant. (It doesn't help that narrator Cullen frequently goes off into third-person tangents, refering to himself as "one," as in: "When one enters the kitchen to find his mother, father, and best friend all seated in front of a stack of uneaten pancakes, he knows that something strange has happened." Also, Cullen's blase attitude about two different sexual affairs is so offhand that the book feels more like a adult novel about teens, rather than a YA story written for teens. Though the complex plot is intriguing, the remote characterizations, many unfinished subplots, and cold storytelling may not appeal to the targeted teenage audience.Kendall Fletcher lives in Cryer's Cross, Montana (population 212) where her parents run a potato farm and Kendall attends a one-room high school.
The town has been devastated by the recent disappearance of a teenage girl and now Kendall's best friend and de facto boyfriend Nico has also disappeared. Rumors abound (did Tiffany and Nico runaway together?) but Kendall, who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder so severe that she must get to school early in order to line up all the desks properly, suspects there may be a darker reason for the dual disappearance: mysterious notes are being etched into the school desk that Tiffany, and later Nico, once used; Kendall also begins to hear voices. The supernatural element that propels the plot is actually one of the weaker aspects of the novel; much more compelling is the multifaceted protagonist's struggles with OCD and her blossoming romance with edgy new-boy-in-town Jacian in this fast-paced novel The town of West River (population ?) is the setting for SMALL TOWN SINNERS by Melissa Walker, due out July 19, 2011.
The premise for the novel is intriguing, centering around a "Hell House" that narrator Lacey Ann and her friends are staging. A staple of some midwest and southern fundamentalist churches, Hell Houses dramatize "sinful behavior" such as abortion, gay marriage, suicide, and cyberporn in an effort to prosletyze young people. The daughter of a pastor, Lacey Ann is complacent in her faith until a new romance and revelations about her friends (one becomes pregnant; another seems to be questioning his sexuality) have Lacey Ann questioning her personal belief system. Though the plot is predictable, the author has created well-rounded characters who are sincere in their beliefs. The Hell House background is fascinating and, even though many readers may not be familiar with this phenomena, Lacey Ann's struggle to reconcile family beliefs with personal growth is a universal experience. SURPRISE BY MAIL
Have you ever unexpectedly received a package in the mail, opened it, and discovered it was exactly what you wanted?
It happened to me this week.
A couple months ago I came across this 1940 chilren's book in the library and was entranced by the cover. Living for the past year in a house with almost no windows, I've found myself hungry for a view of the sky. This peaceful blue dustjacket instantly relaxed me. I wanted to fall right into the picture:
The illustrations inside were also nice, plus I figured I could learn something from the simple scientific text. So I looked for a copy on the internet, placed it in my "online shopping basket" and then had second thoughts. Yeah, the book was only $8, but the gas and electric bills were due. I didn't need the pretty picture that much.
After several weeks, I had the occasion to order a couple books I needed from the same website. They both arrived in the mail a few days later. Then a third book arrived. I had no idea what it could be -- I'd only ordered two books!
I opened up the package and -- SURPRISE! -- out slid a copy of THE SKY IS BLUE.
Once again, I was mesmerized by the cover...but I knew I hadn't ordered the book.
...Then I figured it out.
I had accidentally left the book in my "shopping basket" a couple months ago, and when I bought the additional two books weeks later, THE SKY IS BLUE order was sent in as well.
Maybe "there are no accidents" and I subconsciously left the book in my basket on purpose. I don't know. All I can say is that I was delighted to be surprised by this book, and am delighted to add it to my bookshelves. It was only eight bucks -- well worth the cover picture alone. I almost feel like framing it.
Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. I'll be back midweek with a blog linking a famous adult author with a well-known children's and YA writer. Hope you'll be back.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Gone Too Soon
On Sunday, in honor of Mother's Day, I asked blog readers if their mothers had influenced their love of reading and books. Grrlpup, Bybee, Esperanza, P.J. Grath, Laura Canon, Calliope, and Linda provided some fascinating responses, sharing stories of mothers who read as well as one nervous mother who "as soon as I was old enough to read on my own <...> sent me to my room to read."
Calliope wrote about the stories and poems that her mother read to her, adding that she herself now works in a library, reading to children.
I was particularly interested to learn that Calliope's mother was poet Valerie Worth.
Although Ms. Worth published her first children's book in 1972, I'm ashamed to say I was unfamiliar with her work until I was given the assignment of writing a biographical/critical entry about her for a reference book in the mid-1990s.
I immediately went to the library and checked out all of Ms. Worth's poetry books (which include SMALL POEMS, MORE SMALL POEMS, and others) and her occasional work of fiction (CURLICUES, GYPSY GOLD, FOX HILL.)
Reading these books, I became entranced bythe author's gemlike poetry, written with both exquisite imagery and an economy of words. How about this one, called "dog":
Under a maple tree
The dog lies down,
Lolls his limp
Tongue, yawns,
Rests his long chin
Carefully between
Front paws;
Looks up, alert;
Chops, with heavy
Jaws, at a slow fly,
Blinks, rolls
On his side,
Sighs, closes
His eyes: sleeps
All afternoon
in his loose skin.
Perfect! As is the entire book, full of word-pictures describing ducks ("His round-tipped wooden / Yellow-painted beak,") carrots ("Cool and hard, / Like some crisp metal") and marbles "poured clicking, / Water-smooth, back / To their bag."
And I was so overwhelmed by Ms. Worth's book of holiday poems, AT CHRISTMAS, that I immediately ordered a copy for myself so I could read it every year in December.
Excited that I had discovered this new (to me) writer, I then began working on the biographical section of my essay. That's when I discovered that Valerie Worth had died in 1994, at the age of sixty.
Gulp.
While it's true that she left a wonderful legacy of words, I couldn't help but feel sad that there would be no more Valerie Worth books.
I always feel this way when I hear about a children's book writer or illustrator who died "before their time."
Louise Fitzhugh of HARRIET THE SPY fame, dead at 46.
Caldecott winner David Wisniewski, dead at 49.
Robert C. O'Brien created a classic with MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, but didn't live to write much more, dying at age 55.
Once a teenage writing-illustrating sensation, John Steptoe was moving into a new phase of his career when he died at the age of 38.
Although she wrote scores of children's books including GOODNIGHT MOON, Margaret Wise Brown was only 42 when she died.
More recently there was Linda Smith, who sold eight children's books to HarperCollins, including WHEN MOON FELL DOWN and MRS. BIDDLEBOX, but died at age 39 before a single one was published.
Then there was Siobhan Dowd, who had just made a big splash with her novels A SWIFT PURE CRY and THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY when she died at age 47.
We'll always be grateful for the books these authors left behind...but you can't help but wonder how many other wonderful stories they would have created if their lives had not been cut short.
Is it presumptuous to imagine that, for some, their best work still lay ahead?
But rather than get depressed by these thoughts, I like to imagine that wherever they are now, these creators are still busy doing what they did best -- spinning wonderful new stories for another audience. Stories they will share with us someday when we join them.
Calliope wrote about the stories and poems that her mother read to her, adding that she herself now works in a library, reading to children.
I was particularly interested to learn that Calliope's mother was poet Valerie Worth.
Although Ms. Worth published her first children's book in 1972, I'm ashamed to say I was unfamiliar with her work until I was given the assignment of writing a biographical/critical entry about her for a reference book in the mid-1990s.
I immediately went to the library and checked out all of Ms. Worth's poetry books (which include SMALL POEMS, MORE SMALL POEMS, and others) and her occasional work of fiction (CURLICUES, GYPSY GOLD, FOX HILL.)
Reading these books, I became entranced bythe author's gemlike poetry, written with both exquisite imagery and an economy of words. How about this one, called "dog":
Under a maple tree
The dog lies down,
Lolls his limp
Tongue, yawns,
Rests his long chin
Carefully between
Front paws;
Looks up, alert;
Chops, with heavy
Jaws, at a slow fly,
Blinks, rolls
On his side,
Sighs, closes
His eyes: sleeps
All afternoon
in his loose skin.
Perfect! As is the entire book, full of word-pictures describing ducks ("His round-tipped wooden / Yellow-painted beak,") carrots ("Cool and hard, / Like some crisp metal") and marbles "poured clicking, / Water-smooth, back / To their bag."
And I was so overwhelmed by Ms. Worth's book of holiday poems, AT CHRISTMAS, that I immediately ordered a copy for myself so I could read it every year in December.
Excited that I had discovered this new (to me) writer, I then began working on the biographical section of my essay. That's when I discovered that Valerie Worth had died in 1994, at the age of sixty.
Gulp.
While it's true that she left a wonderful legacy of words, I couldn't help but feel sad that there would be no more Valerie Worth books.
I always feel this way when I hear about a children's book writer or illustrator who died "before their time."
Louise Fitzhugh of HARRIET THE SPY fame, dead at 46.
Caldecott winner David Wisniewski, dead at 49.
Robert C. O'Brien created a classic with MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH, but didn't live to write much more, dying at age 55.
Once a teenage writing-illustrating sensation, John Steptoe was moving into a new phase of his career when he died at the age of 38.
Although she wrote scores of children's books including GOODNIGHT MOON, Margaret Wise Brown was only 42 when she died.
More recently there was Linda Smith, who sold eight children's books to HarperCollins, including WHEN MOON FELL DOWN and MRS. BIDDLEBOX, but died at age 39 before a single one was published.
Then there was Siobhan Dowd, who had just made a big splash with her novels A SWIFT PURE CRY and THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY when she died at age 47.
We'll always be grateful for the books these authors left behind...but you can't help but wonder how many other wonderful stories they would have created if their lives had not been cut short.
Is it presumptuous to imagine that, for some, their best work still lay ahead?
But rather than get depressed by these thoughts, I like to imagine that wherever they are now, these creators are still busy doing what they did best -- spinning wonderful new stories for another audience. Stories they will share with us someday when we join them.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Mother's Day Brunch
Happy Mother’s Day to anyone who is a mother and everyone who’s ever had a mother. That encompasses all of us, right? Among other things, today’s blog includes a few items about mothers, lists the latest (and past) winners of the Children’s Choice Book Awards, and reviews a new novel-in-verse from a favorite writer.
A FAVORITE QUOTE FOR MOTHER’S DAY
No one was better at understanding how kids think and feel than Eleanor Estes. Here’s a quote about mothers from THE MOFFATS which has always haunted me. It occurs when eight-year-old Janie discovers a “For Sale” sign on the family’s Yellow House on New Dollar Street:
The sign made the house look strange and unfamiliar. It was like looking a long time at Mama’s face and thinking “This is Mama”; looking and looking and thinking “Who is Mama?” And the longer she’d look at Mama’s face the stranger and more unfamiliar it would seem to her until she’d just have to rush to her, bury her face in her apron, and feel, “This is Mama.”
DID YOUR MOTHER MAKE YOU A READER?
Did your mother help make you a reader? Did she read to you as a child or share her favorite books with you? I definitely think my mother influenced my love of reading, by reading me books such as WINNIE-THE-POOH when I was just a baby, not even old enough to understand the words. What books did your mom read to you? Or didn’t she read at all, leaving you to discover books on your own? Please share your stories.
DID YOUR MOTHER MAKE YOU A WRITER?
A lot of famous children’s authors have spoken about the influence their mothers had on their writing. Here are a few of their stories:
Natalie Kinsey Warnock (THE CANADA GEESE QUILT; A CHRISTMAS LIKE HELEN’S) : My mother, a teacher, instilled in us a love of books and reading, and a curiosity about everything.
Julie Ann Peters (LUNA) on the difference between real life and fiction : I remember my editor once saying, "You create the most horrible mothers. Your mother must’ve been awful." I said, "Not at all. My mother was a wonderful person." When my characters are being developed on the page, I never think I’m writing about real people, or even composites of people I know. Since writing for young readers means projecting myself into them and seeing through their eyes, I’m afraid parents are oftentimes the least sympathetic characters. But assembling all the qualities of a believable character requires observation and absorption of human behavior. The parents’ role in young adult literature, as I see it, is to create conflict and dramatic tension. Parents play such a central role in their child’s development that as a young person strives for independence, parents become natural, convenient antagonists.
Heather Henson (THAT BOOK WOMAN) : I'm sure that is why I became a children's book writer: because my mom read to me every night.
Kevin Henkes (KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON; JUNONIA) on his teenage decision to write and illustrate children’s books: My mother always read us the title page -- maybe that was it.
Patricia C. Wrede (the “Enchanted Forest Chronicles”) on writing her first novel in seventh grade: I worked on it during class when I was supposed to be studying and brought it home every day. My mother aided and abetted me by typing out the pages.
Barbara Seuling (ROBERT AND THE SNEAKER SNOBS) : My mother passed on to me her love of reading, of fairy tales and mythology and stories in general.
Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (the “Nate the Great” series) on writing her first poem : It was about a neighborhood dog, and I still have the memory of my mother supplying the last line when I was stuck. . . . [This] poem appeared years and years later in my book THE LANCELOT CLOSES AT FIVE.
Syd Hoff (DANNY AND THE DINOSAUR; IRVING AND ME) on the incident that made him decdide to become an artist : I remember one day when we came home from a trolley-car ride; I drew a picture of the conductor, resplendent in his uniform with brass buttons. “Sydney is the artist of the family,” my mother proclaimed, immediately hammering the picture into the wall with a three-inch nail.
Virginia Hamilton (M.C. HIGGINS THE GREAT ) : Mother could take a slice of fiction floating around the family and polish it into a saga.
Carol Fenner (YOLONDA’S GENIUS) on writing her first poem : I sat in a field of grass and sun and dandelions and felt a sudden richness, such a fullness, that I needed to say something. Name something. A dandelion so fair/Had the prettiest hair. The words were there in my head. I said them over and over to myself. I was about five or less and couldn't write yet. I ran to my mother with the poem dancing in my head. One day I again was there/The dandelion grew old/And had white hair. After that, my mother wrote down all my gems until I learned to write them down myself. My mother says I would come in from playing and tell her, “I feel a poem coming on."
M.E. Kerr (YOUR EYES IN STARS; SOMEONE LIKE SUMMER) on how her gossipy mother influenced her writing : My mother would begin nearly every conversation the same way: :”'Wait till you hear this!” Even today, when I'm finished with a book and sifting through ideas for a new one, I ask myself: Is the idea a “wait till you hear this?
THE WOMAN WHO HAD OVER 1300 CHILDREN
No, this is not a story about the latest exploits of the Octo-mom or Kate Gosselin. This one involves Gertrude Chandler Warner, the creator of the “Boxcar Children” series. Here is a short video describing how the author was pressed into service as a schoolteacher while the male teachers were off to war in the 1940s. Some of her former students are interviewed. Although she never had any children of her own, Ms. Warner would later say, “I had over thirteen hundred children in my lifetime.”
THE LATEST CHILDREN’S CHOICE BOOK AWARD WINNERS
Last week the Children’s Book Council announced the winners of the fourth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards. Over a half million young people voted for their favorites in bookstore, at school libraries and online.
Here are the 2011 winners:
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: RICK RIORDAN for THE LOST HERO
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR : David Wiesner for ART & MAX
KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LITTLE PINK PUP by Johanna Kerby
THIRD GRADE TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LUNCH LADY AND THE SUMMER CAMP SHAKEDOWN by Jarrett J Krosoczka
FIFTH GRADE TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR : THE RED PYRAMID by Rick Riordan
TEEN CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEAR : WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON by John Green and David Levithan
PREVIOUS CHILDREN’S CHOICE WINNERS
Here are the winning titles from 2010:
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: James Patterson for MAX
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR : Peter Brown for THE CURIOUS GARDEN
KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LULU AND THE BIG CHICK by Paulette Bogan
THIRD GRADE TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LUNCH LADY AND CYBORG SUBSTITUTE by Jarrett J Krosoczka
FIFTH GRADE TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: DORK DIARIES: TALES FROM A NOT-SO-FABULOUS LIFE by Rachel Renee Russell
TEEN CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEAR: CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins
The winners from 2009:
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: Stephenie Meyer for BREAKING DAWN
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR: Jon J. Muth for ZEN TIES
KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 2 BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE PIGEON WANTS A PUPPY by Mo Willems
GRADES 3 TO 4 BOOK OF THE YEAR: SPOOKY CEMETERIES by Dinah Williams
GRADES 5 TO 6 BOOK OF THE YEAR: THIRTEEN by Lauren Myracle
TEEN CHOICE: BREAKING DAWN by Stephenie Meyer
Finally, here are the winners from the first year the prizes were given, 2008:
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR: Ian Falconer for OLIVIA HELPS WITH CHRISTMAS
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: J.K. Rowling for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: FRANKIE STEIN by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Kevan Atteberry
THIRD TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: BIG CATS by Elaine Landau
FIFTH GRADE TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: ENCYCLOPEDIA HORRIFICA by Joshua Gee
IMPACT AWARD: Al Roker
REVIEW: HIDDEN BY HELEN FROST
In 2009, Helen Frost published CROSSING STONES, a novel in verse about World War I, the influenza pandemic, and the suffrage movement. This beautifully-written, multilayered story was one of the year’s best books, though some felt that young readers might not relate to the remote historical period. With HIDDEN, Ms. Frost writes about events that few readers have experienced – such a being accidentally kidnapped during a car theft – though nearly every kid can understand the fear of becoming a crime victim, as well as the joys and anxieties of forming new friendships.
HIDDEN tells the story of eight-year-old Wren, who waits in a minivan while her mother pays for gas at a fuel pump. When the van is randomly stolen, Wren hides under a blanket, unseen by the thief who takes the vehicle home and hides it in his garage. Over the next several hours, the panicked youngster plots her escape while a secret ally – the thief’s daughter, who has heard about the carjacking on the radio – quietly leaves food in the garage and tries to help Wren win her freedom. The opening section of the novel ends with Wren escaping, though many readers may wish that story had continued long enough to include Wren’s reunion with her family. The second section of the narrative concerns Darra, the daughter of the car thief who attempted to help Wren while simultaneously trying to prevent her father from getting caught by the authorities. Now that her father is imprisoned, Darra blames Wren for “stealing” her dad. The third, longest, and best part of the novel is the third section which is set six years later as Wren and Darra – now fourteen – accidentally meet at a summer camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In alternating free-verse poems (Wren’s verses faster, lighter, seemingly more superficial while Darra’s are denser and more introspective) warily circle each other in a complex dance. Wren is something of an unreliable narrator (thinking “I got over all that / long ago. / Really. / I’m fine” before kicking Darra and holding her underwater for a dangerous period of time) while her counterpart unexpectedly finds herself opening up to a new group of friends and even reaching out to Wren. Helen Frost continues to demonstrate her mastery of poetic forms as well as her understanding of human emotions. Teachers will delight in exploring the poems’ ironies and extended metaphors (boats, water, prison, the concept of “hiding”) and sharing Darra’s hidden messages with their students; the kids themselves will love HIDDEN because, first and foremost, it’s a good book.
HIDDEN MESSAGES
You may be wondering what I meant when I spoke of Darra’s “hidden messages” in the entry above. In an afterword to HIDDEN entitled “Notes on Form,” Helen Frost reveals that Darra’s poems are written in a form that she created just for this book; the last word of each long line, when scanned down the right side of the page, reveals Darra’s thoughts about her family (“He didn’t know I saw him crying the day he got laid off”) and her memories of the car theft, adding further interest and resonance to the tale. And how ironic that the girl who wasn’t abducted is the one who ends up sending out secret messages…!
MOTHER AND FATHER GOOSE
After weeks of roosting on her nest atop the muskrat house out back, “Mother Goose” finally has her goslings. The eggs hatched on Wednesday. I had read that all the baby geese would follow their parents into the water that day, then swim to shore for a snack…but only one gosling was that daring. Mother Goose stayed on top of the muskrat house with her babies, while Father Goose took just one of his children around the pond and then up on the bank for a walk:
The next day we saw both proud parents swimming around with four goslings. Now they have apparently found better digs because they haven’t been out back or on the pond since Thursday. I wonder where they are.
Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books. Hope you’ll be back soon.
A FAVORITE QUOTE FOR MOTHER’S DAY
No one was better at understanding how kids think and feel than Eleanor Estes. Here’s a quote about mothers from THE MOFFATS which has always haunted me. It occurs when eight-year-old Janie discovers a “For Sale” sign on the family’s Yellow House on New Dollar Street:
The sign made the house look strange and unfamiliar. It was like looking a long time at Mama’s face and thinking “This is Mama”; looking and looking and thinking “Who is Mama?” And the longer she’d look at Mama’s face the stranger and more unfamiliar it would seem to her until she’d just have to rush to her, bury her face in her apron, and feel, “This is Mama.”
DID YOUR MOTHER MAKE YOU A READER?
Did your mother help make you a reader? Did she read to you as a child or share her favorite books with you? I definitely think my mother influenced my love of reading, by reading me books such as WINNIE-THE-POOH when I was just a baby, not even old enough to understand the words. What books did your mom read to you? Or didn’t she read at all, leaving you to discover books on your own? Please share your stories.
DID YOUR MOTHER MAKE YOU A WRITER?
A lot of famous children’s authors have spoken about the influence their mothers had on their writing. Here are a few of their stories:
Natalie Kinsey Warnock (THE CANADA GEESE QUILT; A CHRISTMAS LIKE HELEN’S) : My mother, a teacher, instilled in us a love of books and reading, and a curiosity about everything.
Julie Ann Peters (LUNA) on the difference between real life and fiction : I remember my editor once saying, "You create the most horrible mothers. Your mother must’ve been awful." I said, "Not at all. My mother was a wonderful person." When my characters are being developed on the page, I never think I’m writing about real people, or even composites of people I know. Since writing for young readers means projecting myself into them and seeing through their eyes, I’m afraid parents are oftentimes the least sympathetic characters. But assembling all the qualities of a believable character requires observation and absorption of human behavior. The parents’ role in young adult literature, as I see it, is to create conflict and dramatic tension. Parents play such a central role in their child’s development that as a young person strives for independence, parents become natural, convenient antagonists.
Heather Henson (THAT BOOK WOMAN) : I'm sure that is why I became a children's book writer: because my mom read to me every night.
Kevin Henkes (KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON; JUNONIA) on his teenage decision to write and illustrate children’s books: My mother always read us the title page -- maybe that was it.
Patricia C. Wrede (the “Enchanted Forest Chronicles”) on writing her first novel in seventh grade: I worked on it during class when I was supposed to be studying and brought it home every day. My mother aided and abetted me by typing out the pages.
Barbara Seuling (ROBERT AND THE SNEAKER SNOBS) : My mother passed on to me her love of reading, of fairy tales and mythology and stories in general.
Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (the “Nate the Great” series) on writing her first poem : It was about a neighborhood dog, and I still have the memory of my mother supplying the last line when I was stuck. . . . [This] poem appeared years and years later in my book THE LANCELOT CLOSES AT FIVE.
Syd Hoff (DANNY AND THE DINOSAUR; IRVING AND ME) on the incident that made him decdide to become an artist : I remember one day when we came home from a trolley-car ride; I drew a picture of the conductor, resplendent in his uniform with brass buttons. “Sydney is the artist of the family,” my mother proclaimed, immediately hammering the picture into the wall with a three-inch nail.
Virginia Hamilton (M.C. HIGGINS THE GREAT ) : Mother could take a slice of fiction floating around the family and polish it into a saga.
Carol Fenner (YOLONDA’S GENIUS) on writing her first poem : I sat in a field of grass and sun and dandelions and felt a sudden richness, such a fullness, that I needed to say something. Name something. A dandelion so fair/Had the prettiest hair. The words were there in my head. I said them over and over to myself. I was about five or less and couldn't write yet. I ran to my mother with the poem dancing in my head. One day I again was there/The dandelion grew old/And had white hair. After that, my mother wrote down all my gems until I learned to write them down myself. My mother says I would come in from playing and tell her, “I feel a poem coming on."
M.E. Kerr (YOUR EYES IN STARS; SOMEONE LIKE SUMMER) on how her gossipy mother influenced her writing : My mother would begin nearly every conversation the same way: :”'Wait till you hear this!” Even today, when I'm finished with a book and sifting through ideas for a new one, I ask myself: Is the idea a “wait till you hear this?
THE WOMAN WHO HAD OVER 1300 CHILDREN
No, this is not a story about the latest exploits of the Octo-mom or Kate Gosselin. This one involves Gertrude Chandler Warner, the creator of the “Boxcar Children” series. Here is a short video describing how the author was pressed into service as a schoolteacher while the male teachers were off to war in the 1940s. Some of her former students are interviewed. Although she never had any children of her own, Ms. Warner would later say, “I had over thirteen hundred children in my lifetime.”
THE LATEST CHILDREN’S CHOICE BOOK AWARD WINNERS
Last week the Children’s Book Council announced the winners of the fourth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards. Over a half million young people voted for their favorites in bookstore, at school libraries and online.
Here are the 2011 winners:
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: RICK RIORDAN for THE LOST HERO
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR : David Wiesner for ART & MAX
KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LITTLE PINK PUP by Johanna Kerby
THIRD GRADE TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LUNCH LADY AND THE SUMMER CAMP SHAKEDOWN by Jarrett J Krosoczka
FIFTH GRADE TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR : THE RED PYRAMID by Rick Riordan
TEEN CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEAR : WILL GRAYSON, WILL GRAYSON by John Green and David Levithan
PREVIOUS CHILDREN’S CHOICE WINNERS
Here are the winning titles from 2010:
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: James Patterson for MAX
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR : Peter Brown for THE CURIOUS GARDEN
KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LULU AND THE BIG CHICK by Paulette Bogan
THIRD GRADE TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: LUNCH LADY AND CYBORG SUBSTITUTE by Jarrett J Krosoczka
FIFTH GRADE TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: DORK DIARIES: TALES FROM A NOT-SO-FABULOUS LIFE by Rachel Renee Russell
TEEN CHOICE BOOK OF THE YEAR: CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins
The winners from 2009:
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: Stephenie Meyer for BREAKING DAWN
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR: Jon J. Muth for ZEN TIES
KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 2 BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE PIGEON WANTS A PUPPY by Mo Willems
GRADES 3 TO 4 BOOK OF THE YEAR: SPOOKY CEMETERIES by Dinah Williams
GRADES 5 TO 6 BOOK OF THE YEAR: THIRTEEN by Lauren Myracle
TEEN CHOICE: BREAKING DAWN by Stephenie Meyer
Finally, here are the winners from the first year the prizes were given, 2008:
ILLUSTRATOR OF THE YEAR: Ian Falconer for OLIVIA HELPS WITH CHRISTMAS
AUTHOR OF THE YEAR: J.K. Rowling for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: FRANKIE STEIN by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Kevan Atteberry
THIRD TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: BIG CATS by Elaine Landau
FIFTH GRADE TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR: ENCYCLOPEDIA HORRIFICA by Joshua Gee
IMPACT AWARD: Al Roker
REVIEW: HIDDEN BY HELEN FROST
In 2009, Helen Frost published CROSSING STONES, a novel in verse about World War I, the influenza pandemic, and the suffrage movement. This beautifully-written, multilayered story was one of the year’s best books, though some felt that young readers might not relate to the remote historical period. With HIDDEN, Ms. Frost writes about events that few readers have experienced – such a being accidentally kidnapped during a car theft – though nearly every kid can understand the fear of becoming a crime victim, as well as the joys and anxieties of forming new friendships.
HIDDEN tells the story of eight-year-old Wren, who waits in a minivan while her mother pays for gas at a fuel pump. When the van is randomly stolen, Wren hides under a blanket, unseen by the thief who takes the vehicle home and hides it in his garage. Over the next several hours, the panicked youngster plots her escape while a secret ally – the thief’s daughter, who has heard about the carjacking on the radio – quietly leaves food in the garage and tries to help Wren win her freedom. The opening section of the novel ends with Wren escaping, though many readers may wish that story had continued long enough to include Wren’s reunion with her family. The second section of the narrative concerns Darra, the daughter of the car thief who attempted to help Wren while simultaneously trying to prevent her father from getting caught by the authorities. Now that her father is imprisoned, Darra blames Wren for “stealing” her dad. The third, longest, and best part of the novel is the third section which is set six years later as Wren and Darra – now fourteen – accidentally meet at a summer camp in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In alternating free-verse poems (Wren’s verses faster, lighter, seemingly more superficial while Darra’s are denser and more introspective) warily circle each other in a complex dance. Wren is something of an unreliable narrator (thinking “I got over all that / long ago. / Really. / I’m fine” before kicking Darra and holding her underwater for a dangerous period of time) while her counterpart unexpectedly finds herself opening up to a new group of friends and even reaching out to Wren. Helen Frost continues to demonstrate her mastery of poetic forms as well as her understanding of human emotions. Teachers will delight in exploring the poems’ ironies and extended metaphors (boats, water, prison, the concept of “hiding”) and sharing Darra’s hidden messages with their students; the kids themselves will love HIDDEN because, first and foremost, it’s a good book.HIDDEN MESSAGES
You may be wondering what I meant when I spoke of Darra’s “hidden messages” in the entry above. In an afterword to HIDDEN entitled “Notes on Form,” Helen Frost reveals that Darra’s poems are written in a form that she created just for this book; the last word of each long line, when scanned down the right side of the page, reveals Darra’s thoughts about her family (“He didn’t know I saw him crying the day he got laid off”) and her memories of the car theft, adding further interest and resonance to the tale. And how ironic that the girl who wasn’t abducted is the one who ends up sending out secret messages…!
MOTHER AND FATHER GOOSE
After weeks of roosting on her nest atop the muskrat house out back, “Mother Goose” finally has her goslings. The eggs hatched on Wednesday. I had read that all the baby geese would follow their parents into the water that day, then swim to shore for a snack…but only one gosling was that daring. Mother Goose stayed on top of the muskrat house with her babies, while Father Goose took just one of his children around the pond and then up on the bank for a walk:
The next day we saw both proud parents swimming around with four goslings. Now they have apparently found better digs because they haven’t been out back or on the pond since Thursday. I wonder where they are.
Thanks for visiting Collecting Children’s Books. Hope you’ll be back soon.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
A Late Brunch
Today’s Sunday Brunch arrives a little late. I’ve spent most of this weekend working on a chapter of the book I’m writing for Candlewick with Julie Danielson from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast and Betsy Bird of Fuse #8 fame. How can it take SEVEN HOURS to write three pages? Especially when the writing is going quite smoothly and happily? Can you imagine how long those three pages would have taken if the writing was going slowly and unhappily? Anyway, I’ve spent so much time working on our book that I got behind on the blog. I’ll do better next week!
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE
It seems like a long time since Cindy Dobrez and I conferred to choose the five finalists and winner of the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the category of young adult literature.
The award was finally announced this past Friday night in LA. The winner was A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS by Megan Whalen Turner.
Here is the summary of the book that we submitted with our decision:
The fourth novel in Turner’s brilliant “Queen’s Thief” series, A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS, is a tightly-plotted story of political intrigue that examines the demands and responsibilities of leadership, loyalty, and power. Sophos, who prefers poetry to politics, is the reluctant heir to the throne of Sounis, but with sage advice from his friend and fellow king Eugenides, the teenager finally assumes his rightful authority over a country facing civil war, invading armies, and an uncertain future. This accessible, yet complex fantasy offers subtle surprises with each successive read and will send new fans back to follow the captivating story from the beginning.
Congratulations, also to the other four finalists for this year’s award:
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD : A STORY OF MAGIC, SPICE, SLAVERY, FREEDOM AND SCIENCE by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
WICKED GIRLS : A NOVEL OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS by Stephanie Hemphill
THE RING OF SOLOMON by Jonathan Stroud
THE CURSE OF THE WENDIGO by Rick Yancey
Incidentally, this is a banner year for young people’s books because the newspaper’s Robert Kirsch Award, “presented annually to a living author with a substantial connection to the American West, whose contribution to American letters deserves special recognition” was given to Beverly Cleary.
THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZES FROM THE PAST
The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes began in 1980, but the young adult category did not begin until 1998.
Here is a list of the previous winners:
1998 / RULES OF THE ROAD by Joan Bauer
1999 / FRENCHTOWN SUMMER by Robert Cormier
2000 / MIRACLE’S BOYS by Jacqueline Woodson
2001 / THE LAND by Mildred D. Taylor
2002 / FEED by M.T. Anderson
2003 / A NORTHERN LIGHT by Jennifer Donnelly
2004 / DOING IT by Melvin Burgess
2005 / YOU AND YOU AND YOU by Per Nilsson
2006 / TYRELL by Coe Booth
2007 / A DARKLING PLAIN by Philip Reeve
2008 / NATION by Terry Pratchett
2009 / MARCHING FOR FREEDOM : WALK TOGETHER CHILDREN AND DON’T YOU GROW WEARY by Elizabeth Partridge
OTHER RECENT BOOK AWARDS
The Edgar Awards were just announced by the Mystery Writers of America.
THE INTERROGATION OF GABRIEL JAMES by Charlie Price won in the young adult category.
The other nominees were:
THE RIVER by Mary Jane Beaufrand
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King
7 SOULS by Barnabas Miller and Jordan Orlando
DUST CITY by Robert Paul Weston.
The winner in the juvenile category is THE BUDDY FILES : THE CASE OF THE LOST BOY by Dori Hillestad Butler.
The other finalists were:
ZORA AND ME by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
THE HAUNTING OF CHARLES DICKENS by Lewis Buzbee
GRIFF CARVER : HALLWAY PATROL by Jim Krieg
THE SECRET LIFE OF MS. FINKLEMAN by Ben H. Winters
MRS. MINIVER SHOULD NOT DIE
Several months ago I re-read MRS. MINIVER, Jan Struthers' wonderful volume of vignettes about family life in pre-war Great Britain. The book has nothing to do with the later movie, but has a charm all its own as it captures the everyday moments that give our lives meaning. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. Around the same time, I also got a chance to watch part of the Greer Garson/Waler Pidgeon film again; it remains one of my favorites.
If you're a fan of either the book or the movie, you may be surprised to learn that, eight years after MRS. MINIVER swept the 1942 Academy Awards, Greer and Walter Pidgeon teamed up again to film a sequel called THE MINIVER STORY. Released in 1950, this stinkeroo flopped at the box office and is remembered by very few people these days.
One of the main reasons this movie flopped?
It's about Mrs. Miniver becoming ill and dying!
Can you believe it? Mrs. Miniver began as a series of popular newspaper pieces which were later collected into a much-loved book. The film adaptation, which showed the Miniver family bravely facing the horrors of World War II was an instant-classic -- a morale booster which caused Winston Churchill to say that Mrs. Miniver was more vital to his nation during wartime than a fleet of destroyers.
Anyone should know that you don't take a character as beloved as Kay Miniver and then turn around and kill her off!
You're probably wondering what this rant has to do with children's books.
Well, just last week I read a review of a forthcoming adult novel that is based on a recently popular series of young adult books. This new book has the teenage characters reunite as adults after one of their group dies. Publishers Weekly spelled out the entire plot, naming the character who dies, as well as their cause of death. I don't want to "spoil" the book for anyone, so I'm being deliberately vague about who dies and why.
Even though I only read one book in the teen series, I have to admit the news of this character's death made me feel the same way I felt when I heard they killed off Mrs. Miniver in a sequel.
It seems like a desperate move and just feels a little icky.
Yeah, yeah, death's a part of life and everyone dies...but I can't help feeling that a plot twist like this damages the integrity of the earlier books in the series. It somehow cheapens the characters. I mean, how would you feel if Beverly Cleary decided to write her first adult novel and began the book with a scene in which Beezus Quimby and Henry Huggins are gathered around Ramona's grave? Wouldn't you somehow feel betrayed? Would it put a different spin on Cleary's earlier books, causing you to no longer regard Ramona Q. as a precocious, lively, and misunderstood girl but instead think of her as a tragic figure...?
NEW BLOG FEATURE
Here's a blog feature so new that I haven't even thought of a name for it.
Earlier I mentioned that the vignettes that make up the book MRS. MINIVER "capture the everyday moments that give our lives meaning." Maybe it's the "writer" in me (or maybe I'm just nosy!) but I love hearing people share their special memories, especially when they describe the minute details that gave these memories color and individuality. For example, my red-headed cousin once told me that, as a child, she used to carry around a special stuffed animal everywhere she went. I no longer have the slightest recollection of what kind of stuffed animal she carried or what its name was. But what is stuck in my mind -- and will stay there for the rest of my life -- is this small detail that she added to the story: "Once my mother insisted that she had to wash my stuffed animal. After it came out of the washer, she put it in the dryer and I remember standing there, staring through the dryer's glass window as my stuffed animal spun around and around and 'The Girl from Ipanema' played on the radio." I have no idea why this story tickled me so much but, even now, thirty years after first hearing it, every time I hear 'The Girl from Ipanema' on the radio I get this vision of my cousin, her red hair in pigtails, standing in front of a dryer and watching her stuffed animal spin in circles.
Anyway, it's crossed my mind that, for readers like us, every time we pick up a book, we create a personal memory that goes along with it. It's probably not dramatic. In fact, it's likely mundane. Yet these are the little moments that make up our lives, each one unique. So I've decided that every couple weeks I'll randomly choose a book and share my own unique (likely mundane) memory of reading it. Every time I post one of my memories, I'd love for you to send in a random book-related memory of your own. It can be about any children's or young adult book. It can be about a moment from any time in your life, from infancy to the day before yesterday. It can be a sentence long or a page long. Remember: nothing is too mundane! I'll start off with a random memory of mine:
I first came across TEACUP FULL OF ROSES in the "New Adult Books" section of the Edison Branch Library in Detroit. This was strange, as the book was actually published for young adults. I wondered if I was going to have any trouble checking it out, so looked inside the back cover and saw a minus sign in front of the author's name typed on the card pocket; this minus sign meant that kids were allowed to borrow the book from the adult section. It was a Saturday afternoon and I'd arrived at the library in the late afternoon. Now it was nearly closing time, five-thirty, and, since it was December, it was dark outside.
I checked out TEACUP FULL OF ROSES and tucked it, along with my other library books, in my canvas newspaper-route saddlebags, went outside and unlocked my bike from the bicycle rack. Then I threw my saddlebags over the back of my bike and pedaled home in the dark. It was strange to be riding my bike alone in the dark, ten or twelve blocks from home as a combination of icy rain and snow began to fall. A car drove past and someone rolled down a window to throw out a cigarette and I remember hearing the song blaring from the radio: "Me and Mrs. Jones...we got a thiiiiing going on...." When I finally got home, I came through the back door and it was dark on the landing and in the kitchen. I had a momentary feeling that something was wrong (why wasn't my mother in the kitchen fixing dinner?) but the light was on in the dining room and I found both my parents sitting there. Is there anything better (secretly better, because we'd probably never admit this while growing up) than coming home as a kid and finding your parents there waiting for you and everything all right? My mother said, "Your coat's all wet. Put it front of the register." So I took my coat off and laid it in front of the dining room heating register to dry off, then turned the corner into the living room, took off my wet socks, grabbed one of my books, and lay down with my cold feet pressed against the hot air blowing from the living room register vent and began reading TEACUP FULL OF ROSES.
There you have it. My own mundane memory of reading one particular book. Now share one of yours with me in the comments section!
REVIEW: THE KISSING GAME -- SHORT STORIES
Aidan Chambers, best known for his Printz-winning POSTCARDS FROM NO MAN'S LAND as well as a number of big thick sophisticated books for an indeterminate readership, returns with his most accessible young adult book in years. THE KISSING GAME contains sixteen short pieces
ranging from traditional short stories, to several works of "flash fiction" (brief, pithy pieces, sometimes told in dialogue only), and even an autobiographical story that the author wrote at age seventeen. A riff on Cinderella called "Cindy's Day Out," makes a fine, character-driven opener, while the title piece, a romance-turned-horror story, will produce the requisite chills. However, some of the pieces, such as "Tosca," are so vague in characterization and narrative that readers will be left scratching their heads. The same is true for the flash fiction. A few, such as "Like Life" and "Something to Tell You" come to powerful climaxes, while others seem have the feel of writing exercises that probably needed another trip through the word processor to work out the meandering dialogue and rather pointless conclusions. Though the individual entries are sometimes uneven in quality, Chambers remains a top-flight stylist and this fast-paced collection will draw readers who have heretofore been scared-off by the complex and overlong novels that have heretofore been the author's hallmark.
READERSHIP
Whenever I see an Aidan Chambers book on the library shelves, I wonder how many kids have actually read it. While challenging, I suspect that POSTCARDS FROM NO MAN'S LAND has achieved a certain readership by virtue of its having won the Printz Award. But what of titles such as DANCE ON MY GRAVE, NIK (NOW I KNOW), THE TOLL BRIDGE, and the 800-pager THIS IS ALL? Among the most sophisticated young adult novels ever, these books would obviously increase the prestige of any company that published them, and good reviews would certainly get the books onto library shelves. But, once there, do we know how often they are read? I know that publishers can check their sales figures to see how a book is selling, and libraries have circulation records to find out how often a volume is borrowed. But has anyone ever developed an accurate analysis to determine how many times a certain title has been read??? When you consider the thousands of libraries that own a copy of, for instance, THIS IS ALL, can we assume that this novel has been read by tens of thousands of kids...or would the number be much, much smaller than that? Is it possible that only a handful of kids have ever actually soldiered through this difficult novel? I wonder if there is any legitimate way of finding out the answer?
GOOSE, GOOSE, DUCK
Every day I look out the window to watch "Mother Goose" sitting on her nest atop the muskrat house in the pond outback. It's been weeks and her eggs still haven't hatched yet. But all the time I've been watching this goose, I never knew that one of the ducks out back was also about to become a mother. I couldn't believe my eyes when I glanced out at the pond on Friday night and saw this mother duck swimming along with somewhere between eight and a dozen of the tiniest ducklings you ever saw bobbing along behind her. I grabbed my camera and ran down to the pond, where I saw her huddled on the bank and all those ducklings hiding beneath her protective spread wings. I took a video and was lucky enough to catch the moment when one of the eight to twelve hatchlings popped out to say hello:
What does this have to do with children's books? Not much...until bookseller PJ Grath gave me a great title for this video: Make Way for Ducklings!
Finally, for fun, here's a short video showing what happens when Daddy Duck notices a guy with a camera standing too close to clan. He jumped out of the water and CHASED me off! The original video is actually fifteen or twenty seconds long but, out of self-respect, I cut it off at eight seconds so no one would hear me bellowing in fear as the duck attacked me and the camera took random shots of pond, grass, and sky as I went running!
Thanks for visiting Collecting Children's Books. Hope you'll be back!
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE
It seems like a long time since Cindy Dobrez and I conferred to choose the five finalists and winner of the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the category of young adult literature.
The award was finally announced this past Friday night in LA. The winner was A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS by Megan Whalen Turner.
Here is the summary of the book that we submitted with our decision:
The fourth novel in Turner’s brilliant “Queen’s Thief” series, A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS, is a tightly-plotted story of political intrigue that examines the demands and responsibilities of leadership, loyalty, and power. Sophos, who prefers poetry to politics, is the reluctant heir to the throne of Sounis, but with sage advice from his friend and fellow king Eugenides, the teenager finally assumes his rightful authority over a country facing civil war, invading armies, and an uncertain future. This accessible, yet complex fantasy offers subtle surprises with each successive read and will send new fans back to follow the captivating story from the beginning.
Congratulations, also to the other four finalists for this year’s award:
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD : A STORY OF MAGIC, SPICE, SLAVERY, FREEDOM AND SCIENCE by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
WICKED GIRLS : A NOVEL OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS by Stephanie Hemphill
THE RING OF SOLOMON by Jonathan Stroud
THE CURSE OF THE WENDIGO by Rick Yancey
Incidentally, this is a banner year for young people’s books because the newspaper’s Robert Kirsch Award, “presented annually to a living author with a substantial connection to the American West, whose contribution to American letters deserves special recognition” was given to Beverly Cleary.
THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZES FROM THE PAST
The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes began in 1980, but the young adult category did not begin until 1998.
Here is a list of the previous winners:
1998 / RULES OF THE ROAD by Joan Bauer
1999 / FRENCHTOWN SUMMER by Robert Cormier
2000 / MIRACLE’S BOYS by Jacqueline Woodson
2001 / THE LAND by Mildred D. Taylor
2002 / FEED by M.T. Anderson
2003 / A NORTHERN LIGHT by Jennifer Donnelly
2004 / DOING IT by Melvin Burgess
2005 / YOU AND YOU AND YOU by Per Nilsson
2006 / TYRELL by Coe Booth
2007 / A DARKLING PLAIN by Philip Reeve
2008 / NATION by Terry Pratchett
2009 / MARCHING FOR FREEDOM : WALK TOGETHER CHILDREN AND DON’T YOU GROW WEARY by Elizabeth Partridge
OTHER RECENT BOOK AWARDS
The Edgar Awards were just announced by the Mystery Writers of America.
THE INTERROGATION OF GABRIEL JAMES by Charlie Price won in the young adult category.
The other nominees were:
THE RIVER by Mary Jane Beaufrand
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King
7 SOULS by Barnabas Miller and Jordan Orlando
DUST CITY by Robert Paul Weston.
The winner in the juvenile category is THE BUDDY FILES : THE CASE OF THE LOST BOY by Dori Hillestad Butler.
The other finalists were:
ZORA AND ME by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
THE HAUNTING OF CHARLES DICKENS by Lewis Buzbee
GRIFF CARVER : HALLWAY PATROL by Jim Krieg
THE SECRET LIFE OF MS. FINKLEMAN by Ben H. Winters
MRS. MINIVER SHOULD NOT DIE
Several months ago I re-read MRS. MINIVER, Jan Struthers' wonderful volume of vignettes about family life in pre-war Great Britain. The book has nothing to do with the later movie, but has a charm all its own as it captures the everyday moments that give our lives meaning. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. Around the same time, I also got a chance to watch part of the Greer Garson/Waler Pidgeon film again; it remains one of my favorites.
If you're a fan of either the book or the movie, you may be surprised to learn that, eight years after MRS. MINIVER swept the 1942 Academy Awards, Greer and Walter Pidgeon teamed up again to film a sequel called THE MINIVER STORY. Released in 1950, this stinkeroo flopped at the box office and is remembered by very few people these days.
One of the main reasons this movie flopped?
It's about Mrs. Miniver becoming ill and dying!
Can you believe it? Mrs. Miniver began as a series of popular newspaper pieces which were later collected into a much-loved book. The film adaptation, which showed the Miniver family bravely facing the horrors of World War II was an instant-classic -- a morale booster which caused Winston Churchill to say that Mrs. Miniver was more vital to his nation during wartime than a fleet of destroyers.
Anyone should know that you don't take a character as beloved as Kay Miniver and then turn around and kill her off!
You're probably wondering what this rant has to do with children's books.
Well, just last week I read a review of a forthcoming adult novel that is based on a recently popular series of young adult books. This new book has the teenage characters reunite as adults after one of their group dies. Publishers Weekly spelled out the entire plot, naming the character who dies, as well as their cause of death. I don't want to "spoil" the book for anyone, so I'm being deliberately vague about who dies and why.
Even though I only read one book in the teen series, I have to admit the news of this character's death made me feel the same way I felt when I heard they killed off Mrs. Miniver in a sequel.
It seems like a desperate move and just feels a little icky.
Yeah, yeah, death's a part of life and everyone dies...but I can't help feeling that a plot twist like this damages the integrity of the earlier books in the series. It somehow cheapens the characters. I mean, how would you feel if Beverly Cleary decided to write her first adult novel and began the book with a scene in which Beezus Quimby and Henry Huggins are gathered around Ramona's grave? Wouldn't you somehow feel betrayed? Would it put a different spin on Cleary's earlier books, causing you to no longer regard Ramona Q. as a precocious, lively, and misunderstood girl but instead think of her as a tragic figure...?
NEW BLOG FEATURE
Here's a blog feature so new that I haven't even thought of a name for it.
Earlier I mentioned that the vignettes that make up the book MRS. MINIVER "capture the everyday moments that give our lives meaning." Maybe it's the "writer" in me (or maybe I'm just nosy!) but I love hearing people share their special memories, especially when they describe the minute details that gave these memories color and individuality. For example, my red-headed cousin once told me that, as a child, she used to carry around a special stuffed animal everywhere she went. I no longer have the slightest recollection of what kind of stuffed animal she carried or what its name was. But what is stuck in my mind -- and will stay there for the rest of my life -- is this small detail that she added to the story: "Once my mother insisted that she had to wash my stuffed animal. After it came out of the washer, she put it in the dryer and I remember standing there, staring through the dryer's glass window as my stuffed animal spun around and around and 'The Girl from Ipanema' played on the radio." I have no idea why this story tickled me so much but, even now, thirty years after first hearing it, every time I hear 'The Girl from Ipanema' on the radio I get this vision of my cousin, her red hair in pigtails, standing in front of a dryer and watching her stuffed animal spin in circles.
Anyway, it's crossed my mind that, for readers like us, every time we pick up a book, we create a personal memory that goes along with it. It's probably not dramatic. In fact, it's likely mundane. Yet these are the little moments that make up our lives, each one unique. So I've decided that every couple weeks I'll randomly choose a book and share my own unique (likely mundane) memory of reading it. Every time I post one of my memories, I'd love for you to send in a random book-related memory of your own. It can be about any children's or young adult book. It can be about a moment from any time in your life, from infancy to the day before yesterday. It can be a sentence long or a page long. Remember: nothing is too mundane! I'll start off with a random memory of mine:
I first came across TEACUP FULL OF ROSES in the "New Adult Books" section of the Edison Branch Library in Detroit. This was strange, as the book was actually published for young adults. I wondered if I was going to have any trouble checking it out, so looked inside the back cover and saw a minus sign in front of the author's name typed on the card pocket; this minus sign meant that kids were allowed to borrow the book from the adult section. It was a Saturday afternoon and I'd arrived at the library in the late afternoon. Now it was nearly closing time, five-thirty, and, since it was December, it was dark outside.
I checked out TEACUP FULL OF ROSES and tucked it, along with my other library books, in my canvas newspaper-route saddlebags, went outside and unlocked my bike from the bicycle rack. Then I threw my saddlebags over the back of my bike and pedaled home in the dark. It was strange to be riding my bike alone in the dark, ten or twelve blocks from home as a combination of icy rain and snow began to fall. A car drove past and someone rolled down a window to throw out a cigarette and I remember hearing the song blaring from the radio: "Me and Mrs. Jones...we got a thiiiiing going on...." When I finally got home, I came through the back door and it was dark on the landing and in the kitchen. I had a momentary feeling that something was wrong (why wasn't my mother in the kitchen fixing dinner?) but the light was on in the dining room and I found both my parents sitting there. Is there anything better (secretly better, because we'd probably never admit this while growing up) than coming home as a kid and finding your parents there waiting for you and everything all right? My mother said, "Your coat's all wet. Put it front of the register." So I took my coat off and laid it in front of the dining room heating register to dry off, then turned the corner into the living room, took off my wet socks, grabbed one of my books, and lay down with my cold feet pressed against the hot air blowing from the living room register vent and began reading TEACUP FULL OF ROSES.There you have it. My own mundane memory of reading one particular book. Now share one of yours with me in the comments section!
REVIEW: THE KISSING GAME -- SHORT STORIES
Aidan Chambers, best known for his Printz-winning POSTCARDS FROM NO MAN'S LAND as well as a number of big thick sophisticated books for an indeterminate readership, returns with his most accessible young adult book in years. THE KISSING GAME contains sixteen short pieces
ranging from traditional short stories, to several works of "flash fiction" (brief, pithy pieces, sometimes told in dialogue only), and even an autobiographical story that the author wrote at age seventeen. A riff on Cinderella called "Cindy's Day Out," makes a fine, character-driven opener, while the title piece, a romance-turned-horror story, will produce the requisite chills. However, some of the pieces, such as "Tosca," are so vague in characterization and narrative that readers will be left scratching their heads. The same is true for the flash fiction. A few, such as "Like Life" and "Something to Tell You" come to powerful climaxes, while others seem have the feel of writing exercises that probably needed another trip through the word processor to work out the meandering dialogue and rather pointless conclusions. Though the individual entries are sometimes uneven in quality, Chambers remains a top-flight stylist and this fast-paced collection will draw readers who have heretofore been scared-off by the complex and overlong novels that have heretofore been the author's hallmark.READERSHIP
Whenever I see an Aidan Chambers book on the library shelves, I wonder how many kids have actually read it. While challenging, I suspect that POSTCARDS FROM NO MAN'S LAND has achieved a certain readership by virtue of its having won the Printz Award. But what of titles such as DANCE ON MY GRAVE, NIK (NOW I KNOW), THE TOLL BRIDGE, and the 800-pager THIS IS ALL? Among the most sophisticated young adult novels ever, these books would obviously increase the prestige of any company that published them, and good reviews would certainly get the books onto library shelves. But, once there, do we know how often they are read? I know that publishers can check their sales figures to see how a book is selling, and libraries have circulation records to find out how often a volume is borrowed. But has anyone ever developed an accurate analysis to determine how many times a certain title has been read??? When you consider the thousands of libraries that own a copy of, for instance, THIS IS ALL, can we assume that this novel has been read by tens of thousands of kids...or would the number be much, much smaller than that? Is it possible that only a handful of kids have ever actually soldiered through this difficult novel? I wonder if there is any legitimate way of finding out the answer?
GOOSE, GOOSE, DUCK
Every day I look out the window to watch "Mother Goose" sitting on her nest atop the muskrat house in the pond outback. It's been weeks and her eggs still haven't hatched yet. But all the time I've been watching this goose, I never knew that one of the ducks out back was also about to become a mother. I couldn't believe my eyes when I glanced out at the pond on Friday night and saw this mother duck swimming along with somewhere between eight and a dozen of the tiniest ducklings you ever saw bobbing along behind her. I grabbed my camera and ran down to the pond, where I saw her huddled on the bank and all those ducklings hiding beneath her protective spread wings. I took a video and was lucky enough to catch the moment when one of the eight to twelve hatchlings popped out to say hello:
What does this have to do with children's books? Not much...until bookseller PJ Grath gave me a great title for this video: Make Way for Ducklings!
Finally, for fun, here's a short video showing what happens when Daddy Duck notices a guy with a camera standing too close to clan. He jumped out of the water and CHASED me off! The original video is actually fifteen or twenty seconds long but, out of self-respect, I cut it off at eight seconds so no one would hear me bellowing in fear as the duck attacked me and the camera took random shots of pond, grass, and sky as I went running!
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