Sometimes on a summer Saturday, my father and my uncle would take us fishing at Bell River. Whether it was the first trip of the season, the temperature so chilly we had to wear hooded sweatshirts -- or a midsummer trip under a blazing hot sun, the scent of 6-12 insect-repellent heavy in the air -- or the last outing of the season with autumn leaves falling from the trees and floating across the water, certain things remained constant.
There was the anticipation as we drove into the country on dirt roads, discussing how many fish we'd catch -- though often we'd only catch little ones and toss them all back, returning home empty-handed and thinking, "Better luck next time!"
Standing on the shore, there were conversations about fish we'd seen, or thought we'd seen...maybe hiding behind that rock halfway across the water. We knew they just HAD to be there!
Then, on the way home, always: tales of the "ones that got away."
Time passed, things changed. My uncle died. I had a paper route that kept me busy Saturday mornings and couldn't go fishing anymore.
Instead I visited used bookstores -- and it dawns on me now that the experience isn't that different from fishing.
As I drive to the bookstore, I'm filled with anticipation over what I may find. I'll pull books off the shelf, only to discover they're old library copies or have crayon scribbling on the pages, and I'll toss them back. Often I leave the store empty-handed and thinking "Better luck next time!"
Yet when I'm standing in the store, there are always thoughts of books I've never seen, books I've only heard about, that may be tucked away on some broken shelf or hidden in some dark corner. They just HAVE to be somewhere! I'm talking about books like JUMPING-OFF PLACE by Marion Hurd McNeely and NEW LAND by Sarah Schmidt. Isn't there a copy of INVINCIBLE LOUISA in a dustjacket somewhere in this world? And has anyone ever even SEEN the book WINDY HILL by Cornelia Meigs?
Like any good fisher of books, I have my own stories of "those that got away." The very first day I discovered online bookselling I found first editions of THE MOVED-OUTERS by Florence Crannell Means and THE DARK STAR OF ITZA by Alida Malkus. I only had enough money for one and purchased MOVED-OUTERS. I loved the book, but made a bad decision in choosing it. Copies of MOVED-OUTERS always seem to be available, but I've never again seen a copy of DARK STAR OF ITZA for sale. Then there was the time I found a copy of WHERE THE LILIES BLOOM by Vera and Bill Cleaver, inscribed by the authors to the book's editor Dorothy Briley. I placed the order and waited and waited and waited...and finally contacted the seller to discover it had been sold to someone else. A signed copy of MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien turned up on eBay. How rare are signed copies of this book? My understanding is that even the author's daughter has never seen one. But when I logged on to eBay, my computer froze, and the auction ended while I was trying to reboot. Finally, there was a first edition of JOHNNY TREMAIN inscribed by author Esther Forbes to Clara Ford or, as I thought of her, "our" Clara Ford, since Clara was married to Henry Ford and I'm from Detroit. Unfortunately, the book was $100 and I didn't have the money. I saved up to buy it and, just when I almost had enough, the book was sold to someone else. Apparently that "someone else" was another book dealer, because several weeks later he listed the exact same copy of the book online for $200. So I had to start saving again, and right when I almost had enough money, the book was again sold. I keep expecting to see it listed online again someday...at $300, $400, $500...or more. And you know what will happen: I'll save up for it and, as soon as I get the money saved, someone will buy it out from under me.
Whether fishing for rock bass, or fishing for books, we all dream about the "perfect catch" and never stop wondering about "the ones that got away."
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
The Good Master! Sweet Ladies!
Back on December 31, in my very first blog entry, I picked GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! : VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE by Laura Amy Schlitz as a possible Newbery Honor Book. Less than a month later, this book didn’t just win silver, it won gold.
News that GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! won the Newbery got a mixed response. Some think this unique volume -- a collection of dramatic monologues related by the denizens of a thirteenth-century hamlet -- is a daring selection and exactly the type of book the award was meant to recognize. Others feel this title lacks kid-appeal and, though it may be useful in classrooms, it’s unlikely to be truly embraced by young readers. I tend to agree that this book has a tough row to hoe -- especially buried back in the Dewey Decimal section, instead of sitting on the fiction shelves with most of its brethren. Time will tell whether GM!SL! will become one of Newbery’s Greatest Hits. My guess is that it’s likely to be one of those books ultimately more admired than loved. It does, however, mark the arrival of major new voice in children's books, especially coming on the heels of the author's acclaimed Grimm retelling, BEARSKINNER, and beguiling novel A DROWNED MAIDEN’S HAIR.
A recent Wall Street Journal profile of Laura Amy Schlitz contained three fascinating facts:
1) Before writing for children, she published an adult romance novel under a pseudonym. I’ll leave the pseudonym and the book title secret in case anyone out there loves researching literary myteries as much as I do. (I found the answers on the internet in less than a minute.)
2) Schlitz submitted GM!SL! simultaneously to eleven publishers. Ten rejected it before Candlewick purchased it. Kinda make you wonder how many other possible Newbery winners have been rejected over the years.... Editors, take heed! (Writers, take heart!)
3) After GM!SL! was accepted by Candlewick, it took seven years for the book to be published. SEVEN YEARS! I wonder if this book would have won the Newbery if it had been published during one of those earlier years. Could it have beaten CRISPIN : THE CROSS OF LEAD or THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX? Probably. What about KIRA-KIRA, CRISS CROSS or THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY? There are too many factors involved, including the annual pool of candidates and the unique composition of each year’s award committee, to ever say for sure -- but it’s still fun to ponder.
Seven years seems like an extraordinarily long wait between acceptance and publication -- probably more the exception than the rule. But most writers would tell you that nowadays every book takes a year to be published at the very least...and most take eighteen months, two years, sometimes even longer than that.
The irony is that it wasn’t always this way. Believe it or not, publishing actually moved faster BEFORE computers, e-mails, faxes, and other marvels of modern technology arrived on the scene.
Case in point: THE GOOD MASTER by Kate Seredy, a classic Newbery Honor Book that’s the near-namesake of this year’s winner. Story has it that Seredy went to see Viking Press editor May Massee about getting an illustrating job in early 1935. As they chatted, Seredy told the editor about her Hungarian background, and Massee replied, “Go home and write a book about your childhood in Hungary.” (Gosh, editors usually stop after the first two words when dealing with me.) Massee told Seredy that if she could complete her manuscript that spring, she’d publish it before the holiday season. Seredy went home and wrote an autobiographical story about a headstrong city girl who is sent to live with her uncle’s family on a rural Hungarian horse ranch. Though English was her second language, Seredy completed the novel in two months and returned the HANDWRITTEN manucript to Massee in the spring of 1935. The book was published in October of 1935.
That’s right, a handwritten manuscript submitted in the SPRING was already published and in the bookstores by OCTOBER.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
And one can’t even argue that the book suffered because it was “rushed” into publication. It went on to be named a Newbery Honor Book, is still in print, and continues to be enjoyed by readers today. Meanwhile, Massee was editing a full-slate of books (including another 1936 Newbery Honor, the 1937 Newbery winner ROLLER SKATES, and three of 1937’s Honor Books) and Kate Seredy kept herself busy designing a hand-crafted model of a Hungarian farm that was exhibited around the United States to help publicize THE GOOD MASTER.
Seeing how quickly -- and how well -- our literary forebears worked (in a world without computers or modern technology, no less!) makes today's publishers seem like a bunch of "poky little puppies" in comparison.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Quarter Dolls and Yeller Dogs
Spoiler alert: This blog entry contains "spoilers" for the novel OLD YELLER. If you have not yet read the book or seen the movie, you might want to skip the following.
A few years ago I was visiting a friend and, as we sat talking, I could hear the sounds of a barking dog coming from the family room, where his five-year-old son was watching videos. A couple minutes later, the little boy yelled, "Daddy, how does OLD YELLER end?"
My friend, always blunt to a fault, shouted back: "The dog dies."
A moment later, I heard the TV switch off and then saw my friend's son go outside to play in the yard.
Smart kid, I thought. He knew enough to ask.
Even though he was only five, he'd seen enough movies and TV shows to know that a loving canine companion rarely makes it to the final credits. I certainly didn't know that at his age. In fact, no matter how many dog stories I read as I was growing up, I never did learn that lesson -- and always began each new animal book with the naive belief that a happy ending lay in store. Which was why I stupidly took OLD YELLER to school with me in eighth grade (yes, I still hadn't learned that lesson by eighth grade!) and read the heartbreaking scene where the young protagonist must shoot his dog just before the bell rang at the end of class...then had to pretend I was catching a cold as I blew my nose all the way to my locker.
Many years passed before I acquired a copy of this book for my collection. Once, after ordering some books from a catalog, I sent the book dealer a list of titles I was still seeking; one of them was OLD YELLER. The next time this dealer came to Michigan for an Antiquarian Book Fair, she had two copies of the book to offer me. Both were the same price -- $125.
One was in a dull dustjacket with small tears at the top and bottom of the front panel. Someone had tried to repair these tears with tape, and though the tape had now been removed, its shadows remained. The top of the spine was chipped, the bottom of the spine had an open triangular tear and the second "E' in YELLER had a white scratch across it. The back panel had some light surface oil and a black skid mark coming right down the middle. However, the book was signed by the author!
The second copy was presented in a bright yellow dustjacket pristine in every way (no chips, tears, tape shadowing, or skid marks.) However it was unsigned.
What a dilemma! A dingy copy that had once been signed by the author or a perfect unsigned copy. I debated and debated, remembering how the appraisers on the Antiques Roadshow always say to get an item in the best possible condition, since condition is all-important. Still, how many copies of OLD YELLER did Fred Gipson sign? Wouldn't it be smarter to get a copy he'd actually held in his own hands and written in, despite its physical imperfections?
The previous blog entry describes how I emulated the behavior of my Aunt Tony when visiting a bookstore. Now I was following in the footsteps of another relative, Aunt Gerry, who was once given twenty-five cents to buy a quarter doll. They were called "quarter dolls" because that's what they cost. (This was in the 1920s, before the Depression; during the Depression the family didn't have twenty-five cents for food, much less dolls.) Aunt Gerry took her twenty-five cents to the store and looked carefully at the display of quarter dolls, each dressed in a different outfit. The doll that had the nicest dress also had a cracked head, so Aunt Gerry had to choose between nice dress/cracked face or tacky dress/intact face. Her family was surprised when she returned home with a beautifully dressed doll whose head was cracked in two. Now I was faced with a similar dilemma: an unsigned book in perfect condition or a signed book with a damaged dustjacket.
What would you do? To find out which book I chose, scroll down to the end of this blog entry.
I must say that finding a first edition of this book in any kind of condition was lucky. It's a true classic. The fact that it's a Newbery Honor Book almost doesn't matter: when I see the silver Newbery Honor sticker on later editions of titles like OLD YELLER, CHARLOTTE'S WEB, and some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, they almost seem out of place, as if those books are so well known on their own merits that Newbery recognition seems unimportant and unnecessary.
OLD YELLER
Written by Fred Gipson
Illustrated by Carl Burger
Harper and Brothers, 1956
Why the book is collectable:
The novel is recognized as a classic book.
It was a Newbery Honor Book.
Made into a good Disney film.
Desired by collectors of dog stories, Americana stories, Texas books, and historical fiction.
First edition points:
This is another Harper book that contains only vague edition information. The book is bound in green and black (spine edge) cloth. The copyright page states "1956" and contains a Library of Congress catalog number. The dustjacket has a price of $2.75 at the top of the front flap and "No. 7042-A" on the bottom of that panel. (No. 704
3-A is on the bottom of the flap.) The back panel has "No. 4769" printed at the bottom.
Difficulty in finding first edition:
Rather difficult to find, though a few copies are listed online running from about $70 (which seems rather low...if they match all first edition points) up to $750, which seems a bit high. I'd say $125 to $200 would be a fair price for a true first edition.
Oh, and this the copy I ended up buying:
...Maybe it's genetic?
A few years ago I was visiting a friend and, as we sat talking, I could hear the sounds of a barking dog coming from the family room, where his five-year-old son was watching videos. A couple minutes later, the little boy yelled, "Daddy, how does OLD YELLER end?"
My friend, always blunt to a fault, shouted back: "The dog dies."
A moment later, I heard the TV switch off and then saw my friend's son go outside to play in the yard.
Smart kid, I thought. He knew enough to ask.
Even though he was only five, he'd seen enough movies and TV shows to know that a loving canine companion rarely makes it to the final credits. I certainly didn't know that at his age. In fact, no matter how many dog stories I read as I was growing up, I never did learn that lesson -- and always began each new animal book with the naive belief that a happy ending lay in store. Which was why I stupidly took OLD YELLER to school with me in eighth grade (yes, I still hadn't learned that lesson by eighth grade!) and read the heartbreaking scene where the young protagonist must shoot his dog just before the bell rang at the end of class...then had to pretend I was catching a cold as I blew my nose all the way to my locker.
Many years passed before I acquired a copy of this book for my collection. Once, after ordering some books from a catalog, I sent the book dealer a list of titles I was still seeking; one of them was OLD YELLER. The next time this dealer came to Michigan for an Antiquarian Book Fair, she had two copies of the book to offer me. Both were the same price -- $125.
One was in a dull dustjacket with small tears at the top and bottom of the front panel. Someone had tried to repair these tears with tape, and though the tape had now been removed, its shadows remained. The top of the spine was chipped, the bottom of the spine had an open triangular tear and the second "E' in YELLER had a white scratch across it. The back panel had some light surface oil and a black skid mark coming right down the middle. However, the book was signed by the author!
The second copy was presented in a bright yellow dustjacket pristine in every way (no chips, tears, tape shadowing, or skid marks.) However it was unsigned.
What a dilemma! A dingy copy that had once been signed by the author or a perfect unsigned copy. I debated and debated, remembering how the appraisers on the Antiques Roadshow always say to get an item in the best possible condition, since condition is all-important. Still, how many copies of OLD YELLER did Fred Gipson sign? Wouldn't it be smarter to get a copy he'd actually held in his own hands and written in, despite its physical imperfections?
The previous blog entry describes how I emulated the behavior of my Aunt Tony when visiting a bookstore. Now I was following in the footsteps of another relative, Aunt Gerry, who was once given twenty-five cents to buy a quarter doll. They were called "quarter dolls" because that's what they cost. (This was in the 1920s, before the Depression; during the Depression the family didn't have twenty-five cents for food, much less dolls.) Aunt Gerry took her twenty-five cents to the store and looked carefully at the display of quarter dolls, each dressed in a different outfit. The doll that had the nicest dress also had a cracked head, so Aunt Gerry had to choose between nice dress/cracked face or tacky dress/intact face. Her family was surprised when she returned home with a beautifully dressed doll whose head was cracked in two. Now I was faced with a similar dilemma: an unsigned book in perfect condition or a signed book with a damaged dustjacket.
What would you do? To find out which book I chose, scroll down to the end of this blog entry.
I must say that finding a first edition of this book in any kind of condition was lucky. It's a true classic. The fact that it's a Newbery Honor Book almost doesn't matter: when I see the silver Newbery Honor sticker on later editions of titles like OLD YELLER, CHARLOTTE'S WEB, and some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, they almost seem out of place, as if those books are so well known on their own merits that Newbery recognition seems unimportant and unnecessary.
OLD YELLER
Written by Fred Gipson
Illustrated by Carl Burger
Harper and Brothers, 1956
Why the book is collectable:
The novel is recognized as a classic book.
It was a Newbery Honor Book.
Made into a good Disney film.
Desired by collectors of dog stories, Americana stories, Texas books, and historical fiction.
First edition points:
This is another Harper book that contains only vague edition information. The book is bound in green and black (spine edge) cloth. The copyright page states "1956" and contains a Library of Congress catalog number. The dustjacket has a price of $2.75 at the top of the front flap and "No. 7042-A" on the bottom of that panel. (No. 704
3-A is on the bottom of the flap.) The back panel has "No. 4769" printed at the bottom.
Difficulty in finding first edition:
Rather difficult to find, though a few copies are listed online running from about $70 (which seems rather low...if they match all first edition points) up to $750, which seems a bit high. I'd say $125 to $200 would be a fair price for a true first edition.
Oh, and this the copy I ended up buying:
...Maybe it's genetic?
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