2010 ALA Book and Youth Media Awards

Can you hear it? The cheers? Hundrends of librarians screaming, huzzahing, and applauding for their picks and winners of favorite titles for this years Youth Media Awards announced right here in Boston.

I sat at home at my computer and watched the snow and ice pound my windows and thanked goodness that I did not have to ride the T to go into town to hear the annoucements. I was drinking hot chocolate and watching the live webcast at 7:45am. For the first time in ages, many of my favorite titles have won something.



The John Newbery Award(for the best children's novel of the year)
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
(H) Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose
(H) The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelley
(H) Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Gace Lin
(H) The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick



The Randolph Caldecott Medal (for the best picture book of the year)
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
(H) Red Sings from Treetops illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman
(H) All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon


The Michael L. Printz Award (for the best YA novel of the year)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
(H) Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
(H) The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
(H) Punkzilla by Adam Rapp
(H) Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes

The Alex Awards (for ten adult books with teen appeal)
The Boy Who Harnassed the Wind: creating currents of electricity and hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
The Kids are All Right: a Memoir by Diana, Liz, Amanda, and Dan Welch
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
My Abandonment by Peter Rock
Soulless by Gail Carriger
Stitches by David Small
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson


The Coretta Scott King Book Awards (for the best book about the African-American experience)
John Steptoe New Talent
The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon
Author
Bad News for Outlaws: the remarkable life of Bass Reeves, deputy U.S. Marshall by Vaunda Micheaeux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
(H) Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis
Illustrator
My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith, written by Langston Hughes
(H) The Negro Speaks of Rivers, illustrated by E. B. Lewis, written by Langston Hughes

Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Walter Dean Myers


The Pura Belpre Award (for the best children's book about the Latino/a experience)
Authors
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
(H) Federico García Lorca by Georgina Lázaro, illustrated by Enrique S. Moreiro
(H) Diego: Bigger Than Life by Carmen Bernier-Grand, illustrated by David Diaz

Illustrators
Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros illustrated by Rafael López, written by Pat Mora
(H) Diego: Bigger Than Life illustrated by David Diaz, written by Carmen Bernier-Grand
(H) My Abuelita illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Tony Johnston
(H) Gracias Thanks illustrated by John Parra, written by Pat Mora


The Robert F. Sibert Medal (for the best children's nonfiction book of the year)
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
(H) The Day-Glo brothers: the true story of Bob and Joe Switzer's bright ideas and brand-new colors by Chris Barton
(H) Moonshot: the Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
(H) Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose


The Schneider Family Book Award (for the best book about the disability experience)
Young Adult Novel
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X Stork
Middle Grade Novel
Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
Picture Book
Django by Bonnie Christensen


The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award (for the best early reader book)
Benny and Penny and the Big No-No by Jeffrey Hayes
(H) Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day by Kate McMullan
(H) Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends by Wong Herbert Yee
(H) Little Mouse Gets Ready by Jeff Smith
(H) I Spy Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold


The William C. Morris Award (for the best YA novel by a first-time author)
Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan


YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
(F) Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
(F) Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Philip Hoose
(F) The Great and Only Barnum: the tremendous, stupendous life of showman P.T. Barnum by Candace Fleming
(F) Written in Bone: buried lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland

The Margaret A. Edwards Award (for the YA author who's made a lasting contribution to the field)
Jim Murphy

The May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award
Lois Lowry


The Mildred L. Batchelder Award (for the best translated children's book)
A Faraway Island by Annika Thor, translated from Swedish by Linda Schenck
(H) Big Wolf and Little Wolf by Nadine Brun-Cosme, illustrated by Olivier Tallec, translated from French by Claudia Bedrick
(H) Moribito II: Guardian of the Darkness by Nahako Uehashi, translated from Japanese by Cathy Hirano


The Odyssey Award (for the best children's audiobook of the year)
Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo
(H) In the Belly of the Bloodhound by LA Meyers
(H) Peace, Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
(H) We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson

The Andrew Carnegie Medal (for excellence in children's video)
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus produced by Weston Woods

On the eve of the Newbery

Being the lucky Bostonian librarian that I am, I had the fortunate opportunity to attend ALA Boston Midwinter 2010 yesterday, and it was a bookapaloza of freebies. My beloved Lois Lowry gave an interview at the Horn Book Booth with Rodger Sutton and I got to see the wonderful writer and friend Bethany Hegedus sign copies of her fabulous book, Between Us Baxters for a line of people. I also got to give M.T. Anderson a hug hello (yes, I know him from Vermont College, it wasn't a rabid fan moment) before he was wisked off to do another interview.

But the buzz now is who will win tomorrow am? I don't know but you can bet I will be up, all cozied up to my computer while it snows away in Beantown, and I hope I can get through to the live webcast.

My Newbery predictions? Either Evolution of Calpurnia Tate or When you Reach Me, reviews of both to come later, but both are wonderful, fabulous books.

And I hope that Kekla Magoon gets the John Steptoe that she truly, (imho, of which you are all entitled to) deserves.

Pond Jumpers

http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=3860724

I am always amused when people think that it is easier to write for children than adults. Fewer words and pages, and they are kids, they like anything, right.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The above link leads to an op ed piece that is great, and speaks to why some adult authors fail abysmally at writing for children and teens, and why some writers succeed.

I think it is worth noting, when you write for children and teens as if they have a brain, a moral compass, and when you are a great writer, the readers will come.

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

It's the holiday season...and while I am a sucker for classic favorites like The Gift of the Magi or A Christmas Carol, it is always a delight to find a new holiday treat to read with a cup of warm cider or cocoa.

Grandma Dowdel is a character for the folk record books. She lives by the "rob Peter to pay Paul" system of management, and she does it with shotgun in one hand and a loaf of bread for the neighbors in the other. Her heart is always in the right place, even if her tounge is not.

It is now several years since we have last seen her, 1958, the Great Depression is over, but threads of poverty remain in rural Illinois. A new family has moved into town and right next door to Grandma Dowdel--a Methodist minister, his wife, and children. They need more than just a full church, they need a friend in town, and Grandma might just be that friend, whether she wants to be or not. From haunted melon patches, to run-ins at the privy, and a kidnapped tree, this short novel is full of high jinks and misdemeanors that will entertain many for years to come.

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I read these two books, one right after the other. I wanted to take the food off of the cover of this book and give it to the main character in Wintergirls.

In Artichoke's Heart, southern gal Rosemary has a lot going for her. She's smart, has well-meaning friends, and a beauty salon full of people willing to offer advice. But these things that she has going for her are also her downfall. Her mother is pushy, and her aunt, well, her aunt is a piece of work who really just does not get it.

Good intentions, with too much emphesis on looks, may be this book's downfall however. Obesity is one of the fastest growing diseases in this country, especially among young people. And you don't find too many fiction books for girls about weight loss and a main character. But I am not completly certain I always liked the way this book represented Rosemary's actual weight loss. The diet drinks she consumed sounded terrible, and should have had a more adverse affect. And her positive changes in nutrition, so important for young girls, should have been highlighted.

Scenes with wonder-boy Kyle will make shy girls smile, and the best friend is the friend we all want to have. Positive and resourceful. But in the end, Rosemary discovers that her weight-loss journey was never really about weight loss, it was about discovering herself.

By comparison, Wintergirls is the story of a downward spriral of anorexia. A far more common topic in teen literature, but this one is a shining star that surpases the collection. An emotionally difficult to read book but an important one for everyone, parents, teachers and students to read.

Lia and Cassie, Lia and Cassie, both wintergirls, both stuck, frozen in their own thoughts. Their world consisted of a competitive game of calories, scrutinity, and scale sabotage. Until it kills Cassie. Now Lia is left alone to play the game with Cassie in her head, telling her what to do. Lia tries to outsmart her father, stepmother, stepsister, and finally her mother. But through it all can she outsmart her own deepest inner thoughts.

This books is frightening and devastating at the same time, because you know it is true. When food becomes an enemy, for weight gain or loss, it is time to seek help. Events can spiral out of control so quickly, before you even know it is happening.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

2009 Scott O'Dell Award
2008 National Book Award Finalist

Some authors are one-hit-wonders. You know the type. They write something brilliant for their first novel and then, sadly, they just keep getting worse with each novel. It's like being in a train wreck on a blind date.

Thankfully, Laurie Halse Anderson is not one of these writers. She started out with Fever 1793 and now, six books later, has written the epic Chains. Anderson has crossed all boundries in her writing; time, gender, taboo, and now race. Many times I will enjoy a book. I'll smile and it will give me warm fuzzies. A great book will blow me away and stay with me for weeks, months, and I can't wait to put it into the hands of the nearest student, because I know that they will love it as much as I did. Chains is a great book.

Thirteen-year-old Isabel and her sister Ruth are cheated out of their promised freedom when their master dies and are unscrupulously sold upriver to the Locktons, a loyalist New York City couple. Isabel's thoughts are consumed with keeping Mrs. Lockton happy as she runs errands for her new masters and tries to conceal Ruth's frightening illness, that if discovered, would have her sister sold elsewhere. Freedom for her and Ruth is at the forefront of her mind, and when she is given an offer by a young rebel slave Curzon, Isabel starts to spy on the Locktons. This sets off a chain of events right as the Revolution is headed to New York.

The first book in a trilogy, Chains is a mesmerizing read, full of intrigue and passion. You feel for Isabel and Ruth, their loss of freedom when they are sold like cattle, Isabel's fierce protection of her sister, and her harrowing mistery and pain when she is publicly branded. She holds no loyalty to either Tory or Patriot, she simply wants to be free.

But what side will break her chains?

Around the World in 80 Books (give or take a few)

Travel around the world with childrens books! Click on the above map and it will lead you to a larger version of this world map. Each region and that will lead you to a middle school book list for that region.

I will update this as often as I can.

Enjoy!