Another (mock) honor

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

It's me again -- sorry to inundate you, but KoA keeps showing up on these other blogs.  Check out Nina's Newbery (sorry, I got this wrong before, hope nobody read that).  KoA has been given a "Mock Newbery Honor."  I.e., this is NOT the Newbery committee, but a group of other folks who made their own choices for the prize.  Confusing.


 

Comments

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yes, and it's a shame that Nina is next year's Newbery Committee chair and not this year's. She loves KoA!

off topic

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

Checkers, your icon is very distracting.

OFF off topic

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I have one of those "READ" posters of Orlando. It's strategically placed so when I sit at the circulation desk, he's looking right at me. :)

One of Antonio Banderas, too.

Re: OFF off topic

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

haha, I think Willow asked something about librarians which I can't remember exactly. Nice. We have a Pirates of the Caribbean cardboard stand thingy like you get at cinemas by the DVD shelves. There was a raffle for whoever gets to keep the lifesized Captain Jack Sparrow. (I didn't win and I was going to give him to a friend.)

Re: OFF off topic

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

I was asking if librarians weren't supposed to be staid and sober. ;-)

I bought one of those lifesized Jack Sparrow cut-outs for my friend for Christmas. She liked it.

Re: OFF off topic

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yes. We weren't supposed to be.

I have a poster of Jack Sparrow, too.

[kilerkki.livejournal.com]

Do you have a link?

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

I'm a technology idiot. Perhaps someone clever could devise a link?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

http://ninasnewbery.blogspot.com/

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

Has anyone read the other three books listed? A Drowned Maiden's Hair, Alabama Moon, or A True and Faithful Narrative?

I'm not familiar with any of them.

And no mention of Octavian Nothing?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I am ashamed to say I've never even heard of the other three. Octavian Nothing is for a YA audience, not middle readers, so it would be considered more Printz Award material.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

A True and Faithful Narrative is the sequel to At the Sign of the Star, which I just read recently. The first book was good, and the second is supposed to be better. Haven't read the Drowned Maiden yet but have been eyeing it at the bookstore. I have a birthday in a few weeks, so maybe I'll buy myself that one and the new fascinating-looking Geraldine McCaughrean one about Antarctica.

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

Hey, emerald, they had cookies too!!

[jen94kp.livejournal.com]

Goodness, where do you hear about all of these books? I've never heard of any of them.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Let's see, I read The Horn Book, and periodically read various kidlit blogs -- fuse #8, read roger, ozandends (whom I know personally), and random others. Theoretically I do this about once a week, but when I'm in serious procrastination mode it can be a daily event. I also haunt the local indy bookstore and notice what's new on the shelf (they always have kid-written reviews on display, which is sort of fun).
But I write for kids, so this is all in the name of keeping current with the business. Or so I tell myself.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

And speaking of Read Roger... this was a while ago, before I found y'all, but Roger had a post last year (some months ago -- not sure exactly when) in which he did an informal poll on "fictional men you are in love with." Eugenides was one of the top vote-getters, right up there with Mr. Knightley. Did you guys see that one?

[rowana.livejournal.com]

I didn't see that one. I'll have to scour the archives for it tomorrow. :)

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Actually I think it was last Valentine's Day. Makes sense.

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I read far too many blogs but remember that I read a review of the Drowned Maiden book at Bookshelves of Doom (http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2007/01/a_drowned_maide.html#comments). Oh and A true and faithful narrative (http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2006/12/a_true_and_fait.html#comments) too. Neither are out here yet but they sound great!

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard of any of the other books either, although A Drowned Maiden's Hair sounds really good.

Of course, I'd prefer it if KOA won the medal instead of the honor. ;)

Should we all have a field trip over to the Mock Newberry blog?

[idletalking.livejournal.com]

Huge fan of mock awards delurking to say that I was quite pleased with the results of that mock Newbery. Naturally I loved KoA (or I wouldn't be here) but A True and Faithful Narrative is pretty much the pinnacle of historical fiction in my opinion. A Drowned Maiden's Hair is also top-notch - you've got your seances, drownings, deaf-mute, appealing villains, and plucky orphans. Haven't read Alabama Moon, so I can't weigh in on that one.

Octavian Nothing, bless him, is YA. I just participated in a mock Printz that had a very very close finish: 1) The Book Thief 2) Octavian 3) Sold. Practically a tie between those three, if anyone's looking for good YA they're all worth a look-see.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Glad you've delurked!

Is it just me, or are the YA titles, on the whole, even more grim than usual?

Mock awards are interesting. Ones that are done by adults usually chose titles close to the eventual award winners. But if you have actual children or young adults doing the judging, they tend to pick completely different titles. Gives you a lot to think about.

[idletalking.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to them being grimmer than usual, because I really only got into YA in the past year or so. Last year's Printz winner, Looking for Alaska, definitely has its grim moments, also it's not set in as grim a situation as the ones we chose (although high school can be horrific, it would be unfair to compare it to, say, Nepalese girls being sold into prostitution). There's definitely a grim Printz precedent.

We definitely had reservations about choosing titles that might appeal to so few teens, but in the end the award is for literary merit, not popularity, and those were the ones that stood out. I think target-audience chosen awards, like the Young Readers Choice Awards, turn up a batch of appealing, if not quite as literary, titles.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's important that the award books be chosen for quality in literature, and that doesn't always jibe with what teens are reading or buying. At least books that win awards are certain to be purchased for years by libraries and schools. And teachers usually choose them for assigned reading, at least in middle school. High school teachers, I suppose, look more to the classics for their assigned reading. Anyway, it's good that popularity--I guess I mean sales--isn't supposed to matter when awards are given out.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip! I didn't wait for my birthday after all, but went and bought A True and Faithful Narrative and A Drowned Maiden's Hair AND the McCaughrean one. Currently reading the McCaughrean -- The White Darkness. It's fabulous. I'm only a third of the way through, but fabulous. Go read it, everyone.