105 Ways to Give a Book

Awards Reactions Round-Up: Now Fully Edited for Your Enjoyment

I’m not sure when else I’d link to a USA Today article unless it’s the first to tell me about the winners’ reactions.
After learning she had won, Schlitz still went to work at Baltimore’s Park School, where she has been a librarian for 17 years. “But I am wearing a plastic tiara,” Schlitz, 52, said Monday.

Selznick, 41, literally flew. “At 3:30 a.m., the phone rang and I jumped out of bed,” says the writer/illustrator. He flew from San Diego to New York to appear this morning with Schlitz on the Today show.
The Washington Post shares a little bit of extra information on the Newbery-winning book. It also features the worst slide show ever, given that there are two slides and one is a book cover. The new information, at least for me, was that the book was pulled from the slush pile, and that it was written, submitted, and awaiting publication while she was writing, submitting, and publishing two other books. Remember A Drowned Maiden’s Hair, anyone? A book that should have won a Newbery last year.

Fuse#8 is in the room with a detailed report of the ALA Media Awards. She’s also found the Today Show video and here it is, in all its annoying glory. OMG, does the interviewer not realize that authors can speak? TV Tip: Let the writers talk about their own books. You can almost see the thought flickering behind Selznick’s eyes, “I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. and fly to New York for this?”

Fuse also reminded me of something that I remembered, then forgot, and now with her help remembered again. Monica Edinger was on the Newbery committee, and she has been posting choice thoughts over at Educating Alice. Interesting stuff, very interesting.

If you wish you were in the room to hear the gasp when the Caldecott winner was announced (And yes, Zee, I could hear the gasp), Zee Says lets us join her at ALA with her post. She also provided the link to the videocast, in case you want to relive the award moments with bonus audience reaction. Or if you just want to hear the Hugo Cabret Whoop (yes, that’s what it’s called now), try the podcast over at Read Roger. It includes bonus behind-the-scenes audio coverage!

There were lots of posts all over the kidlitosphere (duh), but one that really caught my eye was over at Writing and Ruminating, where she suggested, “Let’s look at the awards with our poet-goggles on, shall we?” Until I saw that, I hadn’t realized how poetry-heavy the lists were. So as she says, “a great day for poetry.” Who would have thunk it?

Now, David Lubar’s post is all about not winning at “Newbery my heart at wounded pride,” where he offers his comment space “to complain, rant, moan or vent.” Apparently, the loudest sound in the world is the sound of the phone not ringing.

Seems like the Cybils committees know a thing or two, based on the number of books that made the short lists that received awards. Take a look.

The YAYAs (or at least one YA) express shock and... well, disappointment at the Printz awards. Interesting reading. But then there’s Sara, who had a pretty enthusiastic response to the winner.

Some great thoughts on the awards at Wizards Wireless, but maybe even more relevant are her thoughts as a bookseller. Did she get the orders right?

As it turns out, Slate picked up one of my standard run-on sentences about Brian Selznick’s Caldecott win. Scroll down (no, even farther) to see a quote from me and and also Lisa Yee. I’m in good company there.

Robin Brande was the first to alert me to the fact that the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Best Books for Young Adults 2008 listing is now posted. She was particularly interested in the list, because her book, Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature, is on the list! Way to go, Robin! I also see some of my other favorites listed, including fun guy Barry Lyga for Boy Toy. Here’s where you’ll also see some love for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Personally, I’m a bigger fan of these lists than the awards themselves, because they more accurately capture the range of literature that can touch many different people. Picking one “Best” book is all well and good for the fun of it, but I get more out of a variety of styles and genres.

So of course, I’m all over the ALA 2008 Notable Children’s Books list. Some wonderful books, including Loree Griffin Burns’ Tracking Trash (maybe now my library will get a copy — yeesh) and my 2007 favorite, Jenni Holm’s Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf — and Harry Potter shows up here too. There are still some very good, very talked-about books that didn’t make the list, and that is disappointing. However, it’s a great list to use to catch up on your 2007 reading before the 2008 books get to your library. Or that’s how I look at it.

Last, but certainly not least, is my mini-chat with Mo Willems, in which he talks about his award wins and offers the newest game to the kidlitosphere (not intentionally). Take a famous title and pompous it up. His titles are hysterical, but some of us less brilliant folk are taking a stab at it also. Propel Thyself Canine; Propel Thyself!

5 comments:

Tricia said...

Thanks for the round-up. The only thing I'd add is Roger Sutton's link to the Horn Book podcast. Hearing the crowd go wild over the Caldecott announcement was a great deal of fun.

MotherReader said...

Added. Thanks for the suggestion.

Lisa Yee said...

So nice to be in the same paragraph as you!

Anonymous said...

Ooo. Great round-up. Very complete. I like all the details I missed along the way. Thanks!

Lindsey said...

Great post with a variety of reactions. Well rounded and informative!