Printz and Newbery award books

I just finished listening to "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary Schmidt. It is the winner of both the Printz Award and a Newbery Honor, which is a pretty big honor. Now this is also tells you some things about the book with having even seen it.
-The main character will be between 11 and 14 years old
-It will very likely be historical fiction
-It will almost certainly be realistic fiction
-There will be some sort of death
-There will be issues
-It will be depressing in at least some parts
-It will likely not circ great at my library

Now I haven't read all the Newbery books or even all the Printz ones. I'm certainly making some generalizations here, but there are definite trends to be observed in the winners and honorees. Of the 2008 Newbery books, all four are historical and realistic fiction, and all deal with race, religion, or class issues. The 2007 batch brought us two of historical and two contemporary, with the issues of families and disablities thrown in. Only about 12 fantasy or sci-fi books have won the Newbery Medal going book all the way to 1922. And that is including the ones that are fantastical because they are about and told through the point of view of animals.

As my father said when I spoke to him about this the other day, the depressing nature of the books and the issues like racism, classism, and religion are things that real youth are experiencing and helps them connect them to the book.

The Printz Award is definitely edgier, but still it is fond of historical fiction, issues, and depressing bits. But they at least chose winner and honor books with good amounts of humor and interesting characters and narrators like Death, demons, the Monkey King, and ghosts.

My current bet for a Newbery this year is The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. It appears to have all the requirements, other than historical. Looks like it has some strong fantastical elements at least.

In the case of the Printz, I haven't a clue. It seems to be the book no one predicted in the past couple of years.

Summer Reading Countdown

Summer Reading is a great, wonderful, fun thing for kids, teens, and libraries. But preparing for it makes me pull out my hair.

Here's a piece of my To Do list:
- Choose movies
- Screen movies
- Choose crafts
- Make sample crafts
- Book program space
- Buy prizes
- Photograph prizes
- Write up prize descriptions
- Create bulletin board
- Make fliers for schools
- Use up all the copier toner
- Make packets (will be done as soon as more toner arrives)
- Visit schools
- Website
- Prepare a book list for visiting 4th graders
- Make drawing bins
- Print sign-up sheets

Writing it up actually makes me feel better.
Getting close to the end!

Reading lots, but not writing

Summer Reading is hurtling towards us, and I feel sort of ready. I'm trying to get a lot of things going with the Teen Advisory Board too. They have agreed to make posters promoting Summer Reading, and the review blog is finally getting off the ground. I'm very pleased that it is finally happening, so I hope it continues to grow.

We are talking about meeting at Barnes and Noble to do some end of the fiscal year shopping, as there is always money that needs to be spent quickly in May or June. The TAB has been asking about a field trip and this might be a good opportunity. I'm always asking them for purchase suggestions and understandably they have trouble thinking of specific titles. The nearest bookstore that carries teen books is about an hour away, so they aren't as easily exposed to the newest titles.

Might get a couple reviews up later.

PLA rundown

I really enjoyed PLA. There were good programs, good company, and good food. It is nice to be able to go to a conference where I actually had to chose between programs every session. Highlights included:

Reader's Advisory for Teens program- Helped confirm that I'm doing things right, and gave me some new hints.

Game Studio program- The Minneapolis Library is using a really cool program called Scratch. It is a free program that you can use to program/make some things of various types, i.e. games, videos, or other things. It uses some of the same code that the old Logo programming language used, but now the scripts are written in blocks that the user just has to select and stack. Projects are uploaded onto the Scratch website, where there's an online community like YouTube or Flickr. People can download projects to look at the coding. Minneapolis Library has a regular program where they have teens teaching other teens how to use Scratch.

Dealing with Teens Virtually- Respect the teens and respect their use of the net. Don't make the teens always come to you and your space, go to them in their's. Those two sentences sum up most of the important stuff from this program, though we also talked about ways to reach teens. Meebo, texting, e-mail, Flickr, blogs, and MySpace are just a few of the things we talked about.

Those are just a few of the programs I went to, and a very few of the ideas I picked up. Lots more to think about, consider, and do. I've gotten permission to start a blog for my teens to review books, movies, and music in. Maybe an online book group will happen as well in the future.

In a side note about PLA and to the organizers: If you are going to have a "paperless" conference, stop the daily newspapers or print them on demand, and even more importantly, don't give everyone books they don't want. This is one of three like it at the end of the conference.

Comic book rundown

Visited a number of comic book stores this weekend and picked up a bunch of stuff. Here's a rundown:

Echo- Terry Moore's new series looks interesting and science-fiction-y. Will it be good? Probably. Will it be appropriate for teens? Hard to tell so far, as really very little has happened, but I hope so. The cover of the first issue is very shiny.

Serenity: Better Days- Joss Whedon's new miniseries, which is nowhere near as good as the show, but if you are a fan of Firefly I'd suggest picking it up, or at least reading the forthcoming collection which your local public library will likely get. This one is a lost episode type mini-series, so everything is pre-movie state. *Bonus info* The letters page reveals that a Shepard Book mini-series is planned for later this year.

Teen Titans Year One- I love the art style (other than Aqualad, who looks scary) in this, and it is good to see young Ollie, Barry, and Arthur. Batman and Wonder Woman really haven't changed in appearance or even attitude (depending on who is writing them).

Tiny Titans- Adorable, short, and funny, yet somehow strangely wrong. Cyborg is not an Easy Bake Oven and Wonder Girl doesn't seem like the type to bake cakes. I'll admit that Terra throwing rocks cracked me up. When this gets collected, I'm definitely putting it on the kids' graphic novel order.

Booster Gold- I have a strong fondest for the characters from the old Justice League International. Something to do with reading the comics while I was growing up. Booster Gold and Blue Beetle were two of the leads in the series, and the ones who were always causing trouble. After both dying recently (they got better), they have ceased being simply comedic characters and are now saving the multi-verse and time. That's cool, and the series makes fun references to things and people past. It is funny and serious. Unfortunately, time travel, paradoxes, and the general current state of DC makes the whole series rather confusing and difficult for a new reader to pick-up.

Also picked up the first volume of Honey and Clover, which I haven't had a chance to read yet. It looks amusing. Wanted to buy, but couldn't find, the first volume of Pumpkin Scissors.

I also managed not to be mistaken for a bookstore employee this weekend, so that's good.

Review of Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by George

"Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow" is Jessica Day George's second book. It is a retelling of the old Scandinavian story "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," which has elements of Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Cupid and Psyche. It is a story of which I am particularly fond, and George's version did not disappoint me at all.

"Sun and Moon" is in the same vein as Gail Carson Levine's "Ella Enchanted" and Shannon Hale's "Goose Girl." They tell an old story, but make it their own story, adding new elements and making the characters well-rounded. George adds some nice backstory for our heroine, though, as usual, the male lead could have used a bit more himself. It is a book I had trouble putting down. Fast-paced, with a good supporting cast and likable lead, I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes Levine and Hale's books, or enjoyed George's first book, "Dragon Slippers."

George also gets bonus points from me, as she is a Scandinavian Studies major. Maybe I should write a Scandinavian story based novel.

Quick book reviews

Read a number of books this week so here's a quick run down:

"A Wreath For Emmet" by Marilyn Nelson
One of the Printz Honor books for 2006, "A Wreath..." is a complex poetical remembrance of Emmett Till, a young man, only fourteen years old, brutally murdered for supposedly whistling at a white woman in 1955. Everyone has heard the story at one point or another in high school history class, though this book drives home the true horror, and reminds the reader that Emmett was not simply another death, another note in the history textbook. The book is a quick read, but it will stay with you for a long time. The art completes the power of this book, and compliments the poems. This is a powerful book, though one you may want to read with a dictionary handy, as it has some complex vocabulary. Make sure to read the author's notes at the beginning and end.

"Not the End of the World" by Geraldine McCaughrean
This book theorizes what life would have been like on the Ark, and is told largely through the eyes of Noah's daughter, Timna (no daughter was mentioned in the Bible). It is realistic, sparing no details of grim and horrors of the flood and spending more than a month in a large boat with a zoo's worth of animals. The first days involve Noah's family dealing with the swimming survivors who are trying to get on board. It is ultimately a book about understanding God and His will. Does he speak to and work through only Noah, or does Timna have some part of the great plan as well.

"eleven" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Sam is just about to turn eleven, and he's decided to find out where his birthday presents are hidden. In the attic he finds a box of things, including a newspaper article with his picture. Sam cannot read, and only is able to figure out the word "missing." Does the contents of the box have anything to do with the dreams he has been having? Maybe the new girl at school can help him figure it out, though she starts out by telling him she won't be around long.
Patricia Reilly Giff writes another book with a tween with a mystery and a secret in their life. A enjoyable read, though it wraps up a little too nicely in the end. As the book is from Sam's POV, though it is in third person, certain details are left out, such as why Sam can't read, that would have been helpful. Also, the cover makes the book look more creepy and exciting than it is.