Listening to 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass. Really like the voice actor.
Still reading HP 6 and thinking If not…
Still reading HP 6 and thinking: If not for Rupert Grint’s face and his humorous portrayal of Ron embedded in my head, I would have mentally SMACKED Ronald Weasley SO MANY times by now. He is (and has been) really not NICE. He makes fun of anyone not behaving to HIS sense of norm, and he sulks, and is completely insecure, and has nothing special going for him. I know I know.. he’s supposed to be a really good friend, sticking to his buddy but right now he just feels totally unattractive and mean-spirited. At least Draco tries to make something of himself. What does Ron do? SNOGGING. Bleh… (I know the rest of the story and what he does in the rest of Book 6 and 7, but I just need to vent NOW.)
February 7, 2012 · 6:28 pm
Half way through listening to Kathryn Lasky’s The…
Half way through listening to Kathryn Lasky’s The Capture. What an exciting tale and much darker than I had anticipated. The fear, the punishments, the implied grand scheme…. whoa! I love how Lasky keeps so many owlish traits for the characters and makes the world quite believable, even though we must first take for granted that every owl is born able to communicate with speech and that all owl-kinds use the same language.
February 4, 2012 · 10:04 am
Linda Sue Park’s A Long Walk to Water
In the recent PW interview piece about my 2002 Newbery committee, a recent book by Linda Sue Park was mentioned: A Long Walk to Water. I am so glad to know that this book has been adopted by so many in classrooms — because it is such an important and well crafted gem! Here’s what I said about the book last year: https://fairrosa.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/a-long-walk-to-water/
And I want to add that I absolutely loved the weaving of the two “long walk” tales (one about the lost boys from Sudan to find safety and freedom and the other of the young girl walking daily to get clean and safe water for the family) and how everything comes full circle at the end of the story. Like so many children who have read and been moved by this title, I went on the web site right away and figured out how to help. Here’s the link to the current Water for South Sudan site: http://www.waterforsouthsudan.org/students-and-teachers/
Filed under Uncategorized
2002 Newbery Committee (that I served on) was written up in PW. It was a great evening. Thank you, Linda Sue and Kathy, our winner and amazing chair! http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/50475-ten-years-later-a-newbery-committee-reunites.html
February 2, 2012 · 10:40 pm
An 8th grader just finished the upcoming April…
An 8th grader just finished the upcoming (April, 2012) book (ARC): The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen and raved about it!
February 2, 2012 · 10:59 am
Just started reading Nothing to Envy Ordinary Lives…
Just started reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara DeMick (Winner of the 2010 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize)
February 2, 2012 · 10:58 am
Listening to the first title Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians…
Listening to the first title Kathryn Lasky’s Guardians of Ga’Hoole series (The Capture.) Finally figured out how I can download directly to my Android phone audio books from the New York Public Library. Woot!
February 2, 2012 · 10:46 am
Extra Extra Read it all THERE on SLJ’s…
Extra! Extra! Read it all — THERE! on SLJ’s BoB Site. http://battleofthebooks.slj.com/2012/02/01/our-2012-contenders/ The 2012 BoB Contenders have been announced! You and your students should start reading. NOW!
February 1, 2012 · 10:07 am
School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books 2012
We are gearing up!!! The authors will be announced VERY VERY soon — actually, if you subscribe to SLJ print, you probably have already seen the 16 contenders published in 2011. What do you think?
The brand new site is here: http://battleofthebooks.slj.com/
And Monica and I have been asking a couple of our students to be official kid commentators who will read pairs of books and express their opinions after they see the judges’ decisions. I wonder if teachers and librarians in other schools/libraries will do the same. It’s a great way to get kids excited about reading and they can read as few as two books (from the first round) to feel very involved. Or they can read (like some of our students did last year) the whole slate of books and have a real sense of pride as being so informed!
These are solid titles – we have graphic novels, non-fiction, fantasy, books for 8-10 year olds, books for young adults, books from the U.S. and outside of the U.S. And wait until you see this year’s judges!!! So, stay tuned, follow the matches, and weigh in on these 16 very very fine 2011 titles!!
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Nation! Colbert Interviewed Maurice Sendak!
Two-part installments on the Cobert Report – Best back-and-forth of two word cannons, firing one witty comment after another at each other and the audience.
Watch them :)
and
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Re reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood…
Re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to make quiz questions. Enjoying it very much. Rowling is quite good at setting up scenes and coming up with surprising turns of events.
January 26, 2012 · 2:33 pm
Since I am officially on the 2013 Newbery…
Since I am officially on the 2013 Newbery Committee now, I am going to stop blogging about specific titles I read this year. But, children’s and YA lit news and musings on writing for children and such will start appearing here!
January 26, 2012 · 2:28 pm
This morning’s ALA Youth Media Awards Press Conference…
This morning’s ALA Youth Media Awards Press Conference was fun and full of great titles to cheer and to explore. See the whole list here: http://ala.org/news/pr?id=9108
January 23, 2012 · 2:34 pm
Half way through Same Sun Here having a…
Half way through Same Sun Here (having a hard time remembering the title correctly….) and cried on the subway to work today reading the turn of events in the story. There are definitely enough life hardships for both characters to sustain my interest and and the two kids feel authentic and endearing. It also feels like a very good classroom, discussion-generating book. There are the concepts of stereotypes, fear of terrorists, environmental exploitation, illegal activities, illness and death of family members, and I just encountered the word “faggot.” I feel that the authors are courageous and honest — instead of sensationalizing daily life. I am waiting to find out how all these scenario play out in the story.
January 19, 2012 · 1:20 pm
Just read this short article on The Guardian…
Just read this short article on The Guardian and will go and check out the battle between authors/publishers and readers/bloggers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/16/ya-novel-readers-publishing-establishment?newsfeed=true
January 17, 2012 · 9:11 pm
Reading Same Sun Here by Silas House &…
Reading Same Sun Here, by Silas House & Neela Vaswani — due out next month from Candlewick. About 1/5 into the book and finding it genuine and nice. Wondering if there will be tension in either of these kids’ lives to carry the reader through the remaining 237 pages. At this point, at least River’s life is going to get interesting with his Activist grandmother’s involvement in the environmental issues in Kentucky. What will Meena’s “problem” be? Does she NEED a problem? Question: How common is it for a young girl of 12 who’s only been in the States for 3 years to decide so easily to break away from the tradition of a matched marriage?
January 16, 2012 · 7:43 pm
Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Finally finished it… and after 545 pages (in the ARC) I want it to keep going… so the wait begins, again, for the next installment.
How does an author touch one’s heart so profoundly? What did she do that’s just right? The pacing is perfect – without much battle or fight scenes. I knew the general direction that the story must follow and felt rewarded, rather than bored, when the story arc falls neatly where I anticipated — but, also surprised along the way with many little bits and pieces that Cashore masterfully inserted into the story to make it even more intriguing and the world even more realized.
The book is, though, filled with so much sorrow that one can almost not bear reading through. I hope young people (14 and up?) will not be as horrified as us older readers by Leck’s astrocity on his victims and his forced accomplices. I am amazed at the sympathy I felt toward him — the pure evil embodiment through the 3 books — and how damaged a mind and what a torture chamber that mind is for himself.
Glad to see the other beloved characters from Graceling and Fire and can’t wait to see what the next, culminating kind of story Cashore will bring us.
And — Kristin, please don’t worry about publishing the next book right away. We can wait. And if you are having trouble telling the next story, go do something else. Go write something else. Go present your insights on Fantasy world building, on character development, on capturing emotional truths, etc. to the world. Thank you so much for a most affecting story!
Filed under Book Notes
Work got in the way from reading a…
Work got in the way from reading a LOT more of the the story that I wished to… I love my job, of course, but at this point, I love the book more! Only one question tonight: why are all three couples in Cashore’s books deal with their relationships in agony, argument, and fights? Simply to keep the tension high or is that something the author believes to be the reality of love affairs between people?
January 12, 2012 · 10:42 pm
Following one of the patterns in the book…
Following one of the patterns in the book, I am listing a few of my puzzles of Bitterblue’s tale: Does she have a Grace? What is it? I vaguely remember thinking at the end of Graceling that she MUST have a grace (probably MATH?) Do Teddy and Saf know that she’s the Lady Queen? What did Leck ask Thiel to do in the Prologue? Is it to MEND Ashen after he tortured her? Will Cashore set up a Love-Triangle? (Please don’t!) Will I be able to follow the forthcoming Ciphers and Codes or will I be too baffled and frustrated because it’s too high level for me? And —
Is Saf’s name inspired by William Safire who wrote about word origins for the Times Magazine?
January 11, 2012 · 11:49 pm
