By: David Elzey,
on 1/15/2010
by David SmallNorton 2009This graphic memoir about the illustrator reinforces the stereotype of the suffering artist, but does a fine job doing so.Small recounts the major periods of his life that center around his having cancer as a child that developed to the point where he had to have glands in his neck and half his vocal chords removed. His father, a radiologist, and his emotionally closed
By: Laini Taylor,
on 12/1/2009
The National Book Awards, before any more time passes! I just may not have time to do justice to the experience, but hopefully photos can help fill in the gaps.
First off, I want to say that I was astonished to be a finalist, and I never expected to win. I mean, I was up against books with Important Subject Matter! Of course, I would not have objected to winning, and there's always that moment before they announce the winner that you feel anything might happen . . . Also, the morning of the awards, I got up really early and went downstairs to breakfast alone in the hotel cafe so I could watch Sherman Alexie's and Judy Blundell's acceptance speeches on my iphone and concoct one of my own, just in case. That was the only time I felt attached to winning, when I actually wrote down my acceptance speech. I didn't have time to practice it, though, so I can't lie -- there was the tiniest feeling of relief at not winning so I wouldn't have to go up there! Of course, though, if I had to choose winning or not, I'd choose winning. Don't get me wrong. However, I remain thrilled with my medal and silver sticker and am so grateful for the extra attention all this has gotten for Lips Touch. Thank you again to the judges for the recognition (and for the most beautiful, amazing blurb for my book EVER) and to the wonderful Scholastic team for everything, especially to Arthur, for, among other things, dyeing his goatee pink (!), and to Jim, of course, for making the book extra-awesome with his gorgeous artwork. (And there's a micro version of my speech!)
Thing kicked off on Monday night with a reading at Books of Wonder, the marvelous children's bookstore. All of my co-finalists except David Small were there. That's Rita Williams Garcia (Jumped), Phillip Hoose (Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice), me, and Deborah Heiligman (Charles & Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith):
It's nice, in the Young Person's category of the NBAs, there are extra events so we get to know each other a little. I don't think the "grownup" finalists do this -- and that kind of exemplifies what it's like writing for young readers. There really is a community -- a community of the kinds of people I want to be friends with. It rocks.
Clementine was on hand for the signing, as usual. 
She's getting to know the writing life well. She is in my lap right now, in fact, helping me blog:
That is, when she allows me the use of my fingers:
24 Comments on If I don't blog about it, did it really happen? Or: My National Book Awards post. FINALLY., last added: 12/4/2009
By: Laini Taylor,
on 11/21/2009
Clementine was an amazing little trooper in New York. When we first found out about the award and knew we'd be traveling, I was anxious, because going to New York with a three-month-old is a bit different than going to New York without one. Especially when there are bookstore and library readings and ceremonies and a black tie dinner involved! Luckily, my mom was game to come with us and help out. Whew! Thank you, mom!
We went several days ahead to be tourists and give the little one some time to settle into a routine, and it's a good thing we did. The first two nights she was on West Coast time, which did not bode well for mama and papa sleep time. Oy. Once she got adjusted, though, I think she liked coming straight to bed with us, with no bassinet interlude, and she slept just fine. Here she is, quite the little queen in the hotel bed:
(Speaking of hotels, we stayed at the Thirty Thirty, which is a few blocks from the Empire State Building and is a great value for New York, if you're going and are looking for an affordable place to stay.)
Among the touristy things we did: the City Sights double-decker bus tour! 
Each time Jim and I have been to NY we've been on very limited time, but the buses always look fun, and now we know they are. Great way to get an overview of the city, and we had unseasonably warm weather and very little rain. We got off to traipse around Greenwich Village and Soho and do some shopping. Because I'd been madly finishing Laini's Ladies before leaving, I didn't have the time to research stuff to do, so we mostly just winged it. What would you say are the best shopping streets in New York for fun, unusual shops -- not chain stores and not super-expensive clothing boutiques, that is. Soho has some good stores and street vendors, but mostly seems to be really pricey designer boutiques for $1000 jackets, etc, and that's not my thing. Bleeker St. in Greenwich Village was probably the best shopping we came across. 
By: Karen Strong,
on 11/20/2009
When the National Book Award announced the 2009 finalists for Young People’s Literature, one of the books caught my attention.
Lips Touch Three Times had been on my TBR list for awhile. I had seen it in stores but never cracked it open. I knew the author, Laini Taylor, from her trademark pink hair and from reading her Grow Wings blog.
So this week I started reading the book, which is a collection of short stories about girls experiencing their first kiss with a supernatural twist.
I’ve finished reading “Goblin Fruit,” the first of the short stories, and I enjoyed it very much. I love the way the author mixed the goblin folklore with present-day elements. I’m sure that I will enjoy the other two stories as well.
So although it didn’t win the National Book Award, the recognition will introduce this fabulous writer to a broader audience.
You can also check out the National Book Award interview with the author.
By: Alice Pope,
on 11/18/2009
The National Book Award Winner in the YP Lit Category Goes to...
Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice 
By: Rebecca,
on 10/23/2009
The National Book Award nominees were announced earlier this week. Kudos to all nominees, especially to our friends & compatriots at the nominated University Presses. I am glad to see the great good wisdom of the nominating committee at the NBAs. Congratulations aside, it is tradition here in the OUP publicity dept to host a little friendly contest to see who can pick the most NBA winners. This year I am inviting our blog readers to join the fray and send me your picks. Details below.
Please note there is a point system in this contest. Correct picks in Fiction and Non-fiction will each receive 1 point each, 2 points for a correct pick in YA literature, and 3 points for a correct pick in the Poetry category. Please, only one submission per person. Send your entry to [email protected].
In the event of a tie, all entrants with the highest score will be placed in a raffle for prizes. Prizes include a copy of Garner’s Modern American Usage (3rd edition), the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus, The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and the Historical Thesaurus of the OED. One prize per player. I reserve the right to disqualify anyone I feel is trying to game this friendly competition. Awards are announced on November 18th. Winners here will be announced on November 20, 2009. Good luck.
FICTION (1 point)
Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage (Wayne State University Press)
Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin (Random House)
Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (Norton)
Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite (Alfred A. Knopf)
Marcel Theroux, Far North (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
NONFICTION (1 point)
David M. Carroll, Following the Water: A Hydromancer’s Notebook (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Sean B. Carroll, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Greg Grandin, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt)
Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy (Princeton University Press)
T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Alfred A. Knopf)
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE (2 points)
Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith (Henry Holt)
Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
David Small, Stitches (W. W. Norton & Co.)
Laini Taylor, Lips Touch: Three Times (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)
Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped (HarperTeen/HarperCollins)
POETRY (3 points)
Rae Armantrout, Versed (Wesleyan University Press)
Ann Lauterbach, Or to Begin Again (Viking Penguin)
Carl Phillips, Speak Low (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Open Interval (University of Pittsburgh Press)
Keith Waldrop, Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy (University of California Press)
By: Alice Pope,
on 10/14/2009
National Books Award Finalists Named (and I'm back from vacation)...
After a six days of vacation in New York, I was not excited about the prospect of weeding through my email inbox. (It was bursting.) After a few hours of wading through, I was rewarded with today's Publishers Lunch featuring the National Book Award finalists. In case you haven't seen the list, here are the 2009 National Books Awards Finalists for the Young People's Literature caegory:
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 7/27/2009
SHOW NOTES:
More interviews from Book Expo America 2009, this time with authors who've written Jewish books for adults. Plus, we find the Jewish angle on the National Book Award and the Books on the Nightstand blog and podcast.
Yiddish Yoga by Lisa Grunberger
Harold Augenbraum of the National Book Foundation
What Happened to Anna K? by Irina Reyn
Ostrich Feathers by Miriam Romm
From Shmear to Eternity by Fred Kogos
Michael Kindness of Books on the Nightstand
Your feedback is appreciated! Please write to [email protected]!
By: Heidi Estrin,
on 4/1/2009
SHOW NOTES:
Judy Blundell has written over a hundred books under various pen names, but won the National Book Award in the Young People's Literature category with her first book in her own name. The book is called What I Saw and How I Lied and it's a noir-inspired mystery and coming of age story set in post WWII Palm Beach. Like real life, the story is complex, multi-layered, and not easy to sum up, but just to give you an idea, it's the story of Evie Spooner, whose stepfather Joe has returned from the war and whisked Evie and her mother off on a spur of the moment vacation to Florida. Their vacation is shadowed by a mysterious and handsome stranger who knew Joe in the army. Bit by bit, Evie starts to uncover the dark connections between the adults in her life.
AUDIO:
By: Kate Messner,
on 11/19/2008
Judy Blundell just won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature for What I Saw and How I Lied!
Huge congratulations to Judy and Scholastic editor David Levithan, as well as amazing NBA finalists Laurie Halse Anderson (I'm reading CHAINS with my 7th graders right after Thanksgiving!), Kathi Appelt (THE UNDERNEATH), E. Lockhart (THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU BANKS) and Tim Tharp (THE SPECTACULAR NOW). Huzzah!!
By: Beckyb,
on 11/4/2008
Finalists have been named for this year's young people's selection of the National Book Award. Two to check out for middle readers: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson and The Underneath by Kathi Appelt.
By: Alice Pope,
on 10/15/2008
National Book Awards Finalists Announced...
The National Book Foundation recently announced this year's finalists for the National Book Awards. Here is the five titles up for the Young People's Literature award chosen from among 274 nominees:
Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains (Simon & Schuster)
Kathi Appelt, The Underneath (Atheneum)
Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic)
E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Hyperion)
Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now (Alfred A. Knopf)
The judges for young lit include Daniel Handler (chair), Holly Black, Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler and Cynthia Voigt. (And yikes--I haven't read any of these yet--I better get on the stick. I like to make predictions)
Follow this link to see the nominees in all categories. And note the covers of the fiction and nonfiction titles. Is it just me or are they collectively dark and depressing looking? They all look like a terribly dreary day. And the titles of the nonfiction picks make me feel like curling up in the fetal position under my covers and not leaving bed for a few days.
By: Amanda,
on 3/12/2008
I posted my review of Zarr's newest title, Sweethearts, a couple of weeks ago and realized I had never posted a review of her first novel. Better late than never I guess! I enjoyed this one just as much as Sweethearts and am probably one of many that hope Zarr is already at work on a third (and fourth!).
By: Kate Messner,
on 1/13/2008
Sherman Alexie is brilliant. But you probably already knew that.
This week, I finally got to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Wow. Just wow.
I won’t write a traditional review here, because plenty of other people have praised this book up and down, and there was that whole award thing, too…. What I do want to talk about is how this book impressed me by nailing some aspects of poverty that are rarely addressed in YA novels.
As a teacher in a small city school district, I know that about a third of my students are living in poverty, carrying with them each day the baggage that goes along with it. We have breakfast programs and free lunch and a good library, and that helps. Some. What we can’t always do, no matter how hard we try, is provide that new way of thinking that Junior figured out in Alexie’s book – that moment when living in poverty becomes so unbearable that a person has to make the painful choice to leave. In Junior’s case, it’s the decision to leave his reservation school to attend a more privileged white school in a nearby town.
There’s a scene in Part-Time Indian where Junior gives a lengthy and funny-but-true list of rules for fighting. His rules. The rules of the reservation. Among them…
By: Gail Gauthier,
on 5/31/2007
This Washington Post article about Barbara Holland is both creepy and encouraging. Creepy because a smoker's hack isn't really all that cool. Encouraging because it's nice to think you can be a wild woman at any age. Some of us need something to look forward to.
Holland has written three children's books, according to this article. The titles I found were:
The Pony Problem
How's Business? (A joke book)
Creepy Mouse Coming To Get You I love the title. The card catalogue description at Amazon makes it sound like either a problem novel or a thriller. "A young boy finds that it is up to him to shield his sister and baby nephew from her quick-tempered husband, recently released from prison."
She also wrote the foreward to The Ugly Dachshund, another great sounding title.
I'm so glad you reviewed this one, since I was on the fence about whether to pick it up or not. My reason for reading it would have been only *because* of the "teen or adult?" controversy brought about by its NBA categorization. It's great to have a thoughtful review of the content to consider as well.