Well, kids, here’s the deal. While I’d love to tell you that I won’t be blogging for the next few days or so because I’ll be at the Kidlitcon in Minnesota this weekend, truth be told the real reason for my sporadic bursts is that it’s my 10-year college reunion and I am in the heart of this metropolitan: Richmond, Indiana.
I may try to blog on the side while dodging rampaging Friends (mine was a Quaker school). If I fail miserably, though, here are some tidbits to tide you over.
First off, this sort of reeks of awesome. Nathan Hale (perhaps best known to you because of the art he did on Shannon Hale’s Rapunzel’s Revenge books) has paired with one Rick Walton and together the two of them present a parody of Madeline called (appropriately considering the season) Frankenstein. Each day they’ll release a little more of the story. You can see the first spread here, the second one here., and others on Nathan’s blog. Frankly, I don’t see why this couldn’t be marketable. If the parody laws allow for Goodnight Goon, Runaway Mummy, and Furious George Goes Bananas, then why not Frankenstein? The name may have to change, of course.
- From the Mixed Up Files presents a few thoughts on what happens when you go about Amending the Classics.
- Say the words “historical fiction” to a room full of fifth graders and prepare for a bit of synchronized snoring. Laurie Halse Anderson proposes an alternate name: Historical Thrillers. Works for me. Might make for an interesting series of booktalks anyway. Thanks to Margo Tanenbaum for the link.
- A Virginia history textbook for fourth graders has come under significant fire for its claim that thousands of black soldiers fought for the Confederacy during the civil war, some of them under the command of Stonewall Jackson. The Washington Post has the scoop. The author of said textbook defends the choice, having gotten much of the information off of the internet. Who is she? None other than Joy Masoff, author of Oh Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty and Oh Yikes! History’s Grossest Moments. Oh yikes indeed. Thanks to @PWKidsBookshelf for the link.
- J.K. Rowling just won the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Nice to see, though I don’t suppose sh
10 Comments on Fusenews: Fight fight, inner light. Kill, Quakers, Kill!*, last added: 10/22/2010Display Comments Add a Comment
Your title for this post caught my eye, glad to hear they are still using that chant at losing football games. I’ve never heard the one in your footnote, must have been after my time there. Cheers.
Talk about contradictions! I thought that fight song must belong to Earlham; I moved to Richmond almost three decades ago for my very first library job and discovered Earlham while living there…a lovely little campus.
LOL. My husband works for Friends University here in Wichita (yet another Quaker school, though it’s now just plain nondenominational Christian). Their fight song ends with “good old FU.” Better than the original name (Friends University of Central Kansas) which really didn’t make a good (well, acceptable) acronym.
Have fun at your reunion. You will be missed at KidlitCon, though.
I could not believe it when I saw this the EC “fight song” on my Twitter stream!!
Have a great Homecoming weekend!
Yay Earlham!
Why would they have to change the title from “Frankenstein?” That novel is almost two hundred years old.
Glad to see Nathan Hale getting some love. And I for one, would totally buy Frankenstein.
hilarious combination of headline and content on a day I’m researching not-too-violent graphic novels to add to a k-8 Quaker school library.
I just figure it would lead to confusion, Adam. This from a librarian search standpoint. Even if it was a small tweak to the title (subtitle “A Parody”) it would sufficiently keep folks searching on library catalogs from getting the wrong book.
“Madelinstein!” I’d read it.