Programs and Authors and Bookmobiles, Oh My! – ALA Annual Conference Day Three

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After the YA Author Coffee Klatch, I headed back to the convention center. By this time, the very thought of the exhibits was starting to wear me out. However, there were some authors signing that day whom I really wanted to meet. I mostly restrained myself to those books on Day 3. Below are some authors I met before and after and between the programs I attended:

I was super excited to get an advance copy of Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s new book, Wisdom’s Kiss. She wrote Princess Ben and the contemporary Dairy Queen trilogy, all outstanding, and I’m excited that she wrote another fantasy.

Then, wandering the stacks, I saw the genius Mo Willems with his family. (I tried to make it to his signing, but I was too late.) Since he’s the one author several librarians had asked me to be sure to meet, and since I was wearing a t-shirt with his characters on it, I was so bold as to ask for a picture with him:

After those encounters, I wanted to hit some programs. I wanted to attend a program called “Newbies and Newberys” featuring people who had won a Newbery Honor with their very first book. However, the crowd for that program was overflowing the room, so I looked for my next choice: “Learning from Elmo, Blue, and Dora: Applying the Science of Educational Television to Storytime.”

This program had some fun clips and some good, solid ideas. It didn’t feel like anything I didn’t already know, but it didn’t hurt to review the basics of a good storytime.

I liked the circle the leaders talked about: Participation encourages Comprehension, which encourages Repetition (Kids like to “Do it again!”), which builds Motivation (Kids enjoy what they know), which encourages Participation again.

They also encouraged us to see Storytime as Family Time and include brief information for the parents. You can pass out an informational flyer with songs used or a list of books and include concepts you’ve used.

Another good word of encouragement was to learn from others. Visit other storytimes, look into online resources, read the literature — and don’t forget educational TV!

After the program and lunch, I went back to the exhibits. I had tried to snag an advance copy of The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson’s new book, but the line looked to be about an hour long. I came back after lunch, and was able to get a copy of her already published book, The Last Little Blue Envelope.

After that, I got books signed from two Newbery Honor-winning authors:

Ingrid Law won her Newbery Honor with Savvy, which I can’t believe I still haven’t read, because I love it when fantasy books get Newbery attention. Anyway, I now have signed copies of Savvy and its new companion, Scumble, so I have no more excuse for not getting them read.

Kirby Larson’s Newbery Honor was four years ago for Hattie Big Sky. I met her at that ALA Annual Conference when she saw my SCBWI tote bag and said hello. She has a new book out, The Friendship Doll, and it was fun to say hello again.

At 1:30, I had planned to attend a meeting of the Best Fiction for Young Adults committee, where they have teens talk about books they’ve read. However, I ended up deciding I needed to mail another shipment to save my arms, and spent a little too much time in the post office. When I did get to the program, it didn’t go as long as the program guide said, and I only heard a few teens speak about a few books. One interesting thing was that two of the books talked about were Okay for Now, by Gary Schmidt, and Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Septetys, books I’d heard discussed by ALSC’s Notable Books committee. The teens had similar praise of those books to what the Notable Books committee members had said.

To me, it goes to show that those books are excellent for both children and teens. I hope the committees see it that way and decide they should be honored by both committees.

After that, it was back to my hotel to get ready for the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet, which I’ll blog about tomorrow.

I promised Bookmobiles, so here are some pictures of the striking vehicles parked on one end of the Exhibit Hall:

This truck has a Library of Congress mobile exhibit, which they take all around the country for people to enjoy who can’t get to the actual building. They’re also promoting the National Book Festival, which I’m very much looking forward to.

And here are some local Bookmobiles from Louisiana. Aren’t they beautiful?

YA Author Coffee Klatch – ALA Annual Conference Day Three

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I’ve already blogged about my first two days of adventures at ALA Annual Conference, including meeting authors, the Margaret Edwards Award Luncheon, a program on Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends, and the movie “Library of the Early Mind.”

The third day of ALA Annual Conference 2011 in New Orleans dawned sunny and HOT. I only needed to get across the street to the YA Author Coffee Klatch at 9:00. It’s kind of like speed dating, with 8 authors having about 5 minutes at your table. There’s luck involved in which authors you get, but most authors who attend have won a YALSA award or had their books on the Best Fiction for Young Adults list. You get to meet them, and they pitch their latest book, and you end up having a bunch more books you want to read. (Just what I needed!)

Jay Asher opened the session with a speech to everyone, in which he applauded that Libraries match the right book with the right teen. (We don’t have to worry about parents not being able to find a book for their teen in the library!)

Then the mad dash around the tables began. Our first author was Claudia Gray, promoting her new book Fateful. This is the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and her book is love story with werewolves on the Titanic. It was fun to hear about all the research she had done, even figuring out which lifeboat her characters would have gotten on. I definitely want to watch for this one. I’m not a big fan of werewolf stories, but I loved all the research she’d done, and you could tell she’d had a lot of fun with her premise.

Next was Ilsa Bick. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture in the short time she was there. Her new novel is called Ashes, a post-apocalyptic story, and the first of a trilogy. She convinced me to get an ARC of the book as she talked about the real science she put into it. She’s former military and has done survival training. In her book, she’s using the post-apocalyptic settings to explore big questions — with a lot of life-and-death adventure thrown in.

Then Julie Halpern talked about her books, including the newest, Don’t Stop Now. She told that it’s based on a childhood friend who actually faked her own kidnapping and told no one but Julie. So Julie was questioned by the FBI — and lied to them! She said she never did find out why her friend faked the kidnapping, so the book situation is intended to be different. Despite how serious that sounds, she said this is a funny road-trip novel. I know I’m intrigued.

James Klise was next, talking about his book, Love Drugged. It’s set in a future where they have a drug to “cure” same-sex attraction. He said his book is also a comedy. Things don’t work out as simply as the main character hopes.

Bobbie Pyron is not only an author, but also a Librarian. (Yay!) She’s written The Ring about an angry 15-year-old girl who takes up boxing. She finds her confidence not through a relationship, but through herself and building her skills and through friends. Because of having a boxer on the cover, boys also find this book and enjoy it.

Joseph Lunievicz’s book, Open Wounds, sounded particularly interesting. Despite the sword on the cover, this is not a fantasy novel, but a historical novel set in 1930s New York. The main character loves swashbuckling movies and wants to be an actor — and he gets a fencing instructor. The big issues of the book include dealing with loss, and there’s plenty of action with the fencing. It sounds like a very interesting book.

Then came my old acquaintance, Franny Billingsley. (I guess I decided that since I’d already had her pose for a picture, I wouldn’t ask again.) She talked about her brilliant book, Chime. She said when she began it, it was going to be a story about a sister rescuing her baby brother, who had been replaced by a changeling. Those who have read Chime will realize that the result has nothing about that! But that was her process of finding the story.

Our final author of the morning was Steve Hamilton, an author for adults who won an Alex Award — for adult books that appeal to teens. His award-winning book, The Lock Artist, features a 17-year-old kid skilled at cracking safes. He never talks in the entire book.

After the authors visit the tables, it’s fun to watch the whole crazy crew get their pictures taken. Most of my pictures came out blurry (They wouldn’t hold still!), but I did get a few:


You can pick out the authors I met. I’m not sure of many other names, except that it’s Lauren Myracle sitting on Maureen Johnson’s lap.

I know more names from this side of the crowd. On the far left, that’s James Kennedy, whom I met last year at the YA Coffee Klatch. Next to him are Printz Honor Winners A. S. King and Marcus Sedgwick. Franny Billingsley is there in the second row, fourth from the left. And the adorable Lucy Christopher, another Printz Honor Winner, is the second from the left on the first row.


Here’s a more focused picture of the stellar authors on the right side of the crowd having fun.

I should perhaps stay away from this event in the future. The authors made me want to read all of their books, and I really don’t need more books I want to read! But it’s always fun to meet authors, and hear some background to their stories, so I’m glad I attended this event again.

After the YA Coffee Klatch, I headed back to the Convention Center for more programs and, yes, more book signings. I’ll blog about those tomorrow.

Notable Books and Library of the Early Mind – ALA Annual Conference Finishing Up Day Two

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After attending the program on Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends, I stopped in at the end of a meeting of the Notable Books for Young Readers Committee. These meetings are open, so you can come and listen. I heard them discuss a few books I’ve read: Okay for Now, by Gary Schmidt, and The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, by Wendy Wan Long Shang. They also discussed a book I have checked out, The Emerald Atlas, by John Stephens, and made me aware of a book I hadn’t heard much about: Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys.

The format of the discussion was interesting. First, people talk about the strengths of the books, and then any “concerns.” For some of the books, there was no question that the books were very good, more a question of whether they are “notable.” For Okay for Now and Between Shades of Gray, one “concern” was that they are edging toward Young Adult, not children’s books. Indeed, later when I attended a Best Fiction for Teens committee meeting, exactly those two books were mentioned.

However, that concern worries me. I haven’t read Between Shades of Gray yet, but it sounds like an outstanding book. And Okay for Now is absolutely brilliant. Will these books get overlooked by award committees because they will be enjoyed by both children and teens? It will be interesting to see what they decide.

After that meeting concluded, I was fading fast and went back to my hotel for a nap. Then I went to dinner with my roommates, April and Katie. They had gotten a recommendation from a waiter, and we ate at the Cafe Desire, which was indeed excellent. I love this picture of them:

I was lucky with my roommates. I “met” April from the DC KidLit Book Club e-mail list, but we had never met in person. She’s a new teen librarian at the brand-new Rust Library in nearby Loudoun County, working with some of my former co-workers. I loved her enthusiasm and initiative getting involved with YALSA. She’s been friends with Katie for a long time, and Katie is a high school English teacher who is finishing up a Library Science Master’s. She had a good perspective on what teens like.

After dinner, I’d been looking forward to a screening of the film, “The Library of the Early Mind.” I posted the trailer when anticipating ALA.

The movie was outstanding. It was a documentary about picture books and picture book creators and how much they affect kids. There were lots of great quotes I wished I could write down (but it was dark!). Afterward, they had a panel of people in the film:

Pictured are Roger Sutton from The Horn Book Magazine, the director of the movie, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Grace Lin, and Jack Gantos. I liked what Jack Gantos said when asked what he thought of seeing himself in the film. His answer was what you’d expect from a writer: He said he wished he could edit it.

Afterward was a reception. With the small crowd, I was able to tell the director how excellent I thought the movie was. He said to Like it on Facebook, and I’d be able to get updates as to when the DVD comes out and when they post some additional interview footage from the authors they interviewed.

And I saw Grace Lin, and she remembered me! From our reading The Wizard of Oz together last year. I asked if I could get a picture with her again, and she said we can make it a yearly tradition. 🙂

And finally, I met Travis Jonker, of 100 Scope Notes, and got to talk with him. As it happens, he’s already been a year on the ALSC Committee which I am just beginning to serve on, Children and Technology. So he answered some questions I had about the committee and I enjoyed meeting him.

Then, to top off an exciting day, I took the shuttle back to the Mariott, a couple blocks from my hotel. As I was walking down the sidewalk, talking with Sharon from Unshelved, we saw several Librarian/Publishing types coming out of a restaurant.

Lo and behold, one was Maureen Johnson! I asked her if she was Maureen, and she said Yes, and I asked if I could get my picture with her. Here it is:

When I got back to my room, I was telling my roommates about the encounter and how nice all the authors we’d met are. We were discussing if the authors mind being accosted like that. I tweeted: “I bet @maureenjohnson was surprised when she was accosted on the street. But that’s what happens when celebrity authors come to a city full of librarians.”

Imagine my delight when she tweeted right back, “I liked it!” 🙂

Maureen Johnson is my favorite person to follow on Twitter. I don’t know how she manages to be so funny in only 140 characters, but she does. And she tweeted to me! (Not to mention she writes excellent books! Here are my reviews of Suite Scarlett and her stories in Let It Snow! and Zombies vs. Unicorns.)

The next day was a big one, finishing off with the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet! I’ll blog more about ALA Annual Conference 2011 tomorrow.

Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends – ALA Annual Conference, Day Two

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After the Margaret Edwards Award Luncheon, I took a shuttle back to the Convention Center and attended the program that ended up being the most helpful and practical for use on my job, “Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends Forum: What We Learn from Our Readers: A conversation with Nancy Pearl and Catherine Sheldrick Ross.”

I was late due to the slow shuttle, so I think I missed most of Catherine’s presentation, but what I did hear was excellent food for thought. I’m going to try some of these ideas.

Nancy Pearl talked about four “doorways” into books:

1. Story
2. Character
3. Setting
4. Language

She said that each book has each of these elements, and we tend to think that the books we love have four equal doorways. But as you think about the book in more depth, you can see it’s a sort of pie chart, with a book’s appeal divided between these four elements, with different strengths in different elements.

These doorways transcend genre. She said that a reader who reads for character will enjoy a book of any genre that has strong character development.

I liked her fundamental question she asks when doing Readers’ Advisory: “Tell me about a book you liked.” Even if she has read the book the customer mentions, she asks, “Tell me what you liked about it,” because what the reader enjoyed about the book may be totally different from what she enjoyed about it.

I liked her description of “Desk Paralysis,” where a reader asks a question, and you suddenly forget every book you’ve ever read. She gave some tips for finding books with appeal from the four major doorways.

Story
Books with Story the strongest element tend to be the most popular. Dan Brown and John Grisham fill the bill, but so do authors in many different genres. In fact, she said the chances are that if you go in the fiction shelves of your library, spin around and point, you will probably be pointing to a book with story as the major doorway. They are the most common.

Character
Some authors whose books have Character as the major doorway are Russell Banks, Anne Tyler, and John Irving. They have three-dimensional characters. One quick way to find these books is that the title of the book is often the name of the major character. You can do a display of these books with the heading “People You Ought to Know.”

Setting
You’ll find books where Setting is the major doorway in many genres. One where it’s particularly common is fantasy, where the authors build another world. People say about these books that the setting is a character itself. You can do a display of these books with the heading “Places You Ought to Visit.” You can have a nice mix of genres with that heading, with both imaginary and real places.

Language
Readers who read for the Language are the only ones who self-identify, saying things like, “I only read books with good writing.” Some authors whose books are language-driven are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Faulkener, and Marianne Robinson.

She reminded us that Readers’ Advisory is a relationship, a conversation. Even if they don’t like the book you showed them, they should be interested in discussing it further with you. It gives the reader a reason to come back to the library.

After this, the moderator gave them some questions, and I have two more pages of notes from their interesting and helpful answers.

Asked about their earliest reading memory, Catherine mentioned reading at bedtime, and Nancy said it wasn’t her earliest, but a book that really formed the way she thought about the world was Space Cadet, by Robert Heinlein.

Catherine: In stressful times, people go back to their old favorites.

Nancy: As you grow, your response to the book changes. The reader is the collaborator with the writer.

Think of Readers’ Advisory as a Professional activity.

Listen to the reader.

What does this reader want to read at this moment in their life?

First rule: It’s not about me.

We’re the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in someone else’s life.

Don’t assume you like a book for the same reason someone else does. That’s where the question comes in handy, “Tell me about that book.”

Think of conversations as ongoing dialogue.

The question, “Tell me about a book you liked,” gets you into one of the four doorways. From the reader’s response, you can find out which doorway appeals to them right now.

We also need to make people aware that we do readers’ advisory.

Give the message that all reading is important. Never treat any reading (such as romance) as beneath other reading.

When roaming, ask, “Are you finding what you need?” and Listen to the answer.

Staff should talk about books.

Think about adding to your e-mail signature: What I’m reading:

The role of the library has three equal parts:
1. Information
2. Reading for Pleasure
3. Programming and Outreach

Reading for Pleasure is just as important. It does make a difference in people’s lives.

Don’t hold back books on Readers’ Advisory (like Genreflecting) only for Reference. Let them circulate.

Goal: Get the reader to come back and talk to us, even if the Readers’ Advisor got it wrong.

When this program finished, I had lots to think about. I am going to start thinking about the books I read in terms of the four major doorways. Which is the strongest for that book? I think I will try making some lists and see if that helps prompt me for Readers’ Advisory. It was an interesting and thought-provoking session about one of my favorite parts of being a librarian.

After that, I went to a meeting of the ALSC Notable Books Committee meeting, had dinner with my roommates and attended the excellent movie “Library of the Early Mind.” I’ll blog about those tomorrow.

Margaret Edwards Luncheon, ALA Annual Conference, Day Two

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Saturday afternoon, I attended the Margaret Edwards Award Luncheon. Sadly, the honoree, Terry Pratchett, was not able to come to accept the award in person, due to health concerns. However, people spoke about him, they showed a video clip of a speech he prepared, and when that didn’t work, his editor read the speech. We signed cards for him and all received signed copies of The Wee Free Men, as well as the issue of School Library Journal including an interview with Terry Pratchett.

I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I’ve never read a Terry Pratchett book. Now that I have a signed copy of The Wee Free Men, I will have to remedy that.

I jotted down some quotations I liked from the speeches. The first one is Terry Pratchett quoted, and the rest are from Sir Terry’s speech:

“The opposite of funny is not serious. The opposite of funny is not funny. The opposite of serious is not serious. Laughter can get through the keyhole while seriousness is still knocking on the door.”

“When you fill up with books, you overflow.”

“Fantasy is uni-age.”

“The shining path of books spans ages.”

“‘What book do you recommend for a child of eight?’ A book for a child of nine.”

I was happy that an author of humorous books for children won this serious award. The luncheon celebrated that such books, when well-written, do worlds of good for children of all ages.

After the luncheon, I took the shuttle bus back to the Convention Center where I attended the most practically helpful program for me of the weekend: Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends, with Nancy Pearl. I’ll blog about that tomorrow.

ALA Annual Conference 2011 Day One

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Friday, June 24, 2011, was the first day of this year’s ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans. I had a 6:00 AM flight, and ended up getting up at 2:30 in order to catch it in plenty of time. This was probably my worst bit of planning for the whole weekend, since I was tired the entire weekend, and never did make that up.

Still, I woke up super excited, so it was actually easy to get out of bed. Unfortunately, in order to get to New Orleans, I had to go to Boston first. The Dulles to Boston flight wasn’t bad at all, only an hour, and then I had a 3-hour wait in the Boston airport, and then a longer flight. Unfortunately, somewhere, either on the plane or in the airport, I left behind the book I was reading on that first flight, Daughter of the Forest, by Juliet Marillier, which was proving to be very captivating even though I hadn’t gotten very far. Fortunately, it was an inexpensive paperback, so I’ve already ordered a replacement copy.

In the Boston airport, I saw lots of librarians, including Martha Parravano from The Horn Book Magazine. I also saw author Nancy Werlin, whom I’d met at the Printz Awards Reception last year, and her husband. Book people tend to be very nice people!

The next flight was much longer, and by then I was exhausted and tried to sleep, which just gave me a crick in the neck. When I landed, around 3:00, I was starving. I passed several restaurants on the way to the baggage claim, but once you got your baggage, there were no restaurants at all. So when the shuttle got me to the Holiday Inn French Quarter, I tried to nap and utterly failed, and went to get food instead at the Checkered Parrot next door — before I fell over.

After being revived by eating, I went with my roommates to the Convention Center and got ready for the opening of the exhibits, aka “The Running of the Librarians.”

Now, since I didn’t drive to the Conference this year, I was telling myself that I would show restraint. HA! Once I got into the exhibits and the scent of books was in the air, I couldn’t help myself!

I picked up some Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) I’m tremendously excited about:

Bigger Than a Bread Box, by Laurel Snyder
Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick, (based on The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg)
Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick
Under Dogs, by Markus Zusak
Seriously, Norman! by Chris Raschka
True Blue, by Jane Smiley
An Elephant in the Garden, by Michael Morpurgo
as well as lots of other books that look interesting.

And I purchased a copy of Divergent and got it signed by the author, Veronica Roth.

In the exhibits, I ran into Laini Taylor, her husband Jim DiBartolo, and her editor Alvina Ling. I was thrilled to meet her and got my picture with her. Today I got an additional thrill when my roommate tweeted that Laini Taylor posted a picture with me on her blog! (In fact, that picture’s better.) I was looking like someone who only got a few hours sleep and then spent all day on airplanes, but I was having a great time.

Laini Taylor and me

Also in the exhibits, I took pictures of my friend Kristin Wolden Nitz’s books displayed in the Peachtree booth. I liked it that they are getting publicity even though they are no longer brand new.

Here’s Suspect:

And here’s the middle grade gem, Saving the Griffin:

When my loot bags got so heavy I was close to falling over, I decided I’d better leave the scene of temptation. The Post Office in the exhibits was not open, but the UPS store in the Convention Center was, so I shipped a box of 23 books (which arrived today!).

Here are the books I shipped that first day.

After getting back to the hotel, I headed to the ALSC Happy Hour, which was taking place at the restaurant next door. I couldn’t beat the convenience, and knew I wouldn’t be able to stay awake very long. Right away, I saw Tony Carman, a youth services librarian from neighboring Loudoun County who is also in the DC KidLit Book Club, and who was starting his service on the Caldecott Committee with this conference.

I’m wanting to get more involved in ALA and the divisions I’m part of — ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children), YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), and PLA (Public Library Association). This was a good way to meet more people involved in ALSC, and was a great way to start off the conference before I turned into a pumpkin and went to bed.

So the first night was just a warm-up. Grabbing books. Meeting authors and librarians. Getting ready for great stuff happening all weekend.

Preparing for ALA Annual Conference 2011

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I’m so excited! My flight leaves for ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans at 6:00 am on Friday morning! (I so hope I will wake up! But I think I will be too excited to sleep well.)

The first thing to do when preparing for ALA Annual Conference is figure out what programs and events you’re going to attend. This time I signed up for several things that cost extra, before I’d even seen the schedule, hoping that would make it easier to choose. It didn’t.

Imagine it this way: There are a series of programs about libraries and authors and serving various customer groups and so many other things. There are at least five or so very interesting choices at each time slot. Then there’s the whole author signing schedule, which doesn’t correspond to the program schedule in any way. Then add into that Publisher Previews where editors talk about the books coming out in the Fall that they’re most excited about. It’s really hard to pick what you want to go see. I did learn from previous conferences when I wedged into a room without enough space for everyone that you definitely need to have an alternate plan. (That’s not hard to do. The hard part is realizing that you really won’t get to very many of your alternates.)

I also needed to make my schedule before I figured out what to pack. It will be HOT in New Orleans, and I definitely want to dress up for the Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet and the Printz Award Reception, so I’ll have to build in enough time to go back to my hotel. Maybe maybe rest while I’m at it? And should I bring my laptop? I won’t have much time at all to use it, but right now I’m leaning toward bringing it, if only for the time sitting in airports.

I looked at the signing schedule and tried to figure out which ones I could go to while still hitting as many programs as possible. I got it “down” to 20 authors whose signings I will try to attend! Yikes! (I will try to figure out how to mail the books home. I believe they usually have a place you can do that.) But I really hope to see Marilyn Johnson, signing the book I gave to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Laini Taylor signing her new book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone (want! want! want!), Alex Flinn signing Cloaked (I have it but want to meet her because she’s so brilliant), Franny Billingsley signing her incredible new book Chime, Catherine Gilbert Murdock signing her new book Wisdom’s Kiss (want! want! want!), Brian Selznick signing her new book Wonderstruck (want! want! want!), and Maureen Johnson, the very funniest person on Twitter, signing her new book Name of the Star (want! want! want!).

Of course, if any of these have long lines, which they well may, I may not get to the others. Though that might be a good thing, as it looks like I am going to be weighed down…

For programs, the ones I splurged for a ticket are:

The Newbery/Caldecott/Wilder Banquet. Attending this was a highlight of my year last year. I wouldn’t miss it.

The Printz Award Reception. Where ALL the brilliant authors honored give speeches.

The YA Author Coffee Klatch. Where you get to meet lots more authors, all award winners.

The Margaret Edwards Luncheon. Alas! Terry Pratchett isn’t healthy enough to come in person, but he’s going to send a video acceptance speech. And that’s one day when I’ll take the time to eat a good lunch.

This year I also decided to buy a ticket to the Gala Author Tea, honoring some writers for adults (to broaden my horizons), and a Walking Tour of the French Quarter, since I know nothing about New Orleans and it seems a shame to be there but only stay in the hotel and the convention center.

This doesn’t leave a lot of time for other conference programs! But some I’m hoping to attend are:

A panel with Nancy Pearl talking about Reader’s Advisory Research and Trends. (What? That doesn’t sound super exciting to you?)

The movie “Library of the Early Mind,” a documentary film exploring children’s literature. (Again, I’m really looking forward to this!) Here’s the trailer:

I’m thankful for the tip from Travis Jonker at 100scopenotes to attend the Notable Books Committee meeting, where they talk about the best books of the year.

And to Abby the Librarian for the tip to attend the Best Fiction for Young Adults meeting where they have actual teens (gasp!) come in and give feedback on the books.

I’m not sure whose blog tipped me off to go to the Odyssey Awards, but when I saw that slot was free and read the outstanding audiobooks that are being honored, I got excited about that event.

Because the SCBWI KidLit Drink Night last year got me off to a fantastic start at meeting people, I’m planning to attend the ALSC Happy Hour Friday night, and hope it will be as good. Oh, another reason I have to attend is that Google Maps reports that the walking distance from it to my hotel is 22 seconds! Not one minute, not half a minute, but 22 seconds! How can I resist going and timing myself? Besides, it will be easy to get to my room if I conk out early.

And, definitely, attending ALA is about making connections. I really love meeting authors and telling them how much I love their books. (And I hope to be one of them some day — I’m still seeking an agent for my middle grade fantasy novel.) I also love meeting other librarians who are excited about librarianship, and especially touching kids’ lives with books. I recently volunteered to be on an ALSC Committee and was appointed to the Children and Technology Committee. My term doesn’t start until after ALA Annual, but I hope to meet other committee members. And I was delighted when I learned that bloggers extraordinaire Travis Jonker of 100scopenotes and John Schumacher of MrSchuReads are on the very same panel! This will be my first committee experience, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m a relatively new librarian, and I don’t want to lose my enthusiasm, which gets endangered when I stay local and think about things like RIFs and budget cuts.

So, I can’t think of a better way to build my enthusiasm for being a Librarian! On to New Orleans!

(And now I’d better go pack!)

YA Saves, Revisited

Events, General, Library Links 0

On Saturday night, I posted about the frightful (in more ways than one) Wall Street Journal article that was creating a stir by saying Young Adult books have gotten horribly dark and subversive. The response on Twitter was beautiful with people tweeting about how dark and light YA books have enhanced and even saved their lives, using the hashtag #YAsaves.

Since then, there have been many, many insightful articles on the topic. Two that I especially enjoyed, yes, put in a plug for libraries — where it will never be a problem to find a book for a reader, no matter how picky they are. That’s what we do. That’s what we’re good at. (Today, in fact, I had fun finding a book for an eight-year-old who didn’t like any of her grandmother’s suggestions and introduced herself by saying, “I DON’T want a princess book!”)

First, I loved Cecil Castellucci’s article on the Los Angeles Review of Books blog, “Better to Light a Candle Than to Curse the Darkness.” One thing I loved about this blog post was that it gave me a new motto: “Putting the right book in the right kid’s hands is kind of like giving that kid superpowers.” Yes!

Today I read a parody of the original article, written by Sarah Ockler on her blog. The blog post is called, “All This Darkness! What to Buy the Grownup Reader? (A Parody)” This parody was completely successful with me once I read this paragraph right at the start:

I recently stood slack-jawed in the adult fiction section of my local big box book store, having decided that supporting my community while getting personalized recommendations by professionals who generally adore books and make it their business to know exactly what sorts of things a reader will love was just not on my to-do list this year, feeling stupefied and helpless.

I love it!

Of course, it’s a little ironic that even as I’m defending dark books, I stopped listening to an adult book on CD because it was too dark for me. But I simply wasn’t in the mood for it today. And the difference is that I understand that the particular book I stopped listening to is considered great literature by many, and is a popular book club choice. I’m fine with that. I tend to like lighter books, but that’s exactly how I knew that the mother in the Wall Street Journal article would have been able to find all kinds of great, current, light, uplifting, well-written books for teens if she had only gone to a library and consulted with a professional.

Review of A Conspiracy of Kings audiobook, by Megan Whalen Turner

Adventure, Alternate History, Audiobooks, Award Winners, Events, Fantasy, Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Conspiracy of Kings

by Megan Whalen Turner
narrated by Jeff Woodman

Recorded Books, 2010. 7 CDs. 8.5 hours.
Starred Review
School Library Journal’s 2011 Battle of the Kids’ Books Undead Poll Winner
2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book

Yes, I’ve already reviewed A Conspiracy of Kings, and named it my #1 2010 Sonderbooks Stand-out for Teen Fantasy Fiction.

But our library just got the audiobook version, so of course I had to “read” it again, on audio. In honor of School Library Journal’s 2011 Battle of the Kids’ Books, this is the perfect time to present a review of the audio version of A Conspiracy of Kings, another finalist.

The interesting thing in the Battle of the Kids’ Books, was that, despite being the best new book I read in 2010, A Conspiracy of Kings didn’t win a single round. Still, the judges admitted that this is a well-crafted book:

In the first round, judge Dana Reinhardt freely admitted that this isn’t her usual type of reading. She said:

“As I mentioned, A Conspiracy of Kings isn’t generally the kind of book I reach for, but Turner abruptly whisked me out of my comfort zone, (not an easy feat, as I’m quite comfortable in my comfort zone), and for this I’m truly grateful, because I did so enjoy spending time with Sophos. I found him companionable and clever. Decent and thoughtful. If times were different, and I lived in a fantastical monarchy, I’d surely want him as my king.

“A Conspiracy of Kings asks the big questions. The questions I want to grapple with as a reader. Questions about honor and duty and responsibility and friendship and loyalty.”

In the Big Kahuna Round, Richard Peck gave each book plenty of space. He said about A Conspiracy of Kings:

“Of the three A Conspiracy of Kings addresses the most adult concerns and makes the greatest demand upon the reader. It is about the altering alliances and dark diplomacy of power politics: palace pacts forged and broken. Betrayal. Betrothal.

“This chronicle of spilt blood, flying arrows and barons, and a stabbed horse makes resonant reading in the same season as “across the Middle Sea” the forces of Cyrenaica and Tripliana clash across actual geography. But this will ring no bells with the intended readers who don’t know where Libya is, and won’t be hearing about it at school.

“Megan Whalen Turner’s book is about the making of kings. Embedded in its many layers is a boy, Sophos/Sounis, coming of age parentless, abducted, enslaved, and that all-time favorite, misunderstood. Throughout, the ages of the characters are muffled. But there is the clash and passion of adolescent friendship, between Sophos and that major figure from earlier volumes: “He would have given Eugenides his heart on a toothpick if asked.””

Neither judge had read the earlier books, and neither judge felt that this one really stands alone.

But that brings me to a little pet peeve. So what if it doesn’t stand alone?

Many don’t realize that there is NOTHING in the criteria for the Newbery Award that says the book has to stand alone. Yes, it should only receive the award based on strengths in that particular book, but there’s nothing that says it can’t be part of a series or that all loose ends have to be tied up or that it can’t reference earlier books.

And of course, in this tournament, there was no criteria at all except the preference of the judges.

So, I’m concluding that it was simply unfortunate that the judges this book faced were ones who hadn’t happened to have read the earlier books.

No, the book doesn’t have to stand alone to win an award, but you can’t really expect a judge to read three additional books in order to give the one book they are judging the consideration it deserves. So by getting judges who hadn’t already read the earlier books, I didn’t really expect them to appreciate the true genius behind this book.

And, please, readers of my reviews, DO NOT read this book without reading the other three books first! All four books are exquisitely plotted. Why, oh why, would you want to risk ruining the surprises in the earlier books by reading them out of order? Start with The Thief and meet Eugenides and Sophos. Then move on to The Queen of Attolia, my favorite of all of them, with incredible plot twists and beautiful romance. Then read The King of Attolia, and finally you’ll be eager to read A Conspiracy of Kings.

Though A Conspiracy of Kings did not win a judged round, it was the clear, far-and-away winner of the Undead Poll. I found that interesting. So far, the Undead Poll seems to be about web presence. And Megan Whalen Turner’s books have a thriving fan site on livejournal. Now, I wasn’t absolutely sure that John Green’s book Will Grayson, Will Grayson, wouldn’t pull off the victory, since he has a huge online presence. However, John Green’s fan base is about his and his brother’s clever and amazing web videos. Whereas Megan Whalen Turner’s fan site is about her books. And since the books were what the poll was about, I wasn’t at all surprised that A Conspiracy of Kings won.

I’ve noticed that there are plenty of people for whom the books in this series are not “their type” of book. They don’t really like it, and aren’t interested in reading the series. But those for whom this is their type of book, well, we LOVE them all. The Sounis fan site shows that I am definitely not the only rabid fan.

And what type of book is it? Well, it’s generally classified as fantasy, but the only real touch of “magic” is a varying amount of involvement from the gods that the author has invented. It’s pseudo-historical, with a setting mirroring Greece just after the invention of gunpowder. I’ve filed the books under “Historical,” even knowing that’s not technically correct, just because they feel a bit more historical to me than fantasy books. Since the biggest issues are more about leading kingdoms than about using magic.

All I have to say is, try out The Thief. Read all the way to the surprising ending. If you like it at all, you are in for a treat, because you have three more books to read!

I should say that these books are my very favorite type of series book. I like each book in a series to have its own plot arc, and to have a definite ending of this episode. But I also like the books to build to a powerful whole. I just finished The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. It’s a lyrically written, magnificent work of fantasy. But it’s the first book of a trilogy, and I don’t think the author ties up one single solitary plot thread. Yes, it’s a good book, a truly great book. And yes, I will DEFINITELY be buying and reading the next two books. But I wish it weren’t just Part One of a continuing story. The same is true of Pegasus, by Robin McKinley. It’s only Part One. (This is probably a big part of why I haven’t heard it’s won any awards.)

And yes, there’s a place for long sagas like that. But I do have a fond and appreciative spot for series like The Queen’s Thief and The Bartimaeus Trilogy, where each book is a complete story that contributes to an even greater whole. You still should read them in order, and you’ll still want to hear more, but at least each book leaves you satisfied and happy, and with some plot threads resolved nicely.

And now I should say something about the audio version. Jeff Woodman has again done an outstanding job of reading this book. I like that he used the same voices for returning characters, so I could recognize the Magus, for example, by his voice.

One thing I love about listening to the book is that it slows me down. There’s no way I can spread out reading the book over more than a few nights, but listening, I am forced to take more time — and thus I can savor the book, and be delighted with what I am “reading” for quite a long time. Now, I did bring in the last CD to listen at home, when I couldn’t stand to wait any longer. But still, I spent much more time listening to the book than I spent either one of the two times I read it to myself.

And, like all of Megan Whalen Turner’s books, there’s so much to see and appreciate on later readings. You can more appreciate and delight in her plot-crafting. This time through, I especially noticed Sophos’ growth. He starts out the self-doubting kid we saw in The Thief, and we see him grow, realistically, through facing incredible challenges. We see and feel his real temptation to just settle down and enjoy life as a slave, without having to face the difficulties of trying to become a king. And then we see the consequences of his choice.

I love the way she plants clues to later surprises in full view of the reader. I think I can even mention one of them, without giving it away. She says that he doesn’t do a full bow, so the barons won’t notice a lump in his robe. Just beautiful to catch what that means on the rereading! And there are many of those little mentions, in each one of the books. Delightful to notice when reading it again! And it’s not just a gimmick or a trick — it actually reflects what Sophos was thinking about, how he was focusing on every detail…. I will say no more except to reiterate that I never get tired of rereading Megan Whalen Turner’s books.

So, I was sad that A Conspiracy of Kings didn’t win the 2011 Battle of the Kids’ Books, but I was proud that it won the popularity contest, the Undead Poll. And very glad that maybe these books will gain some more readers. But I hope they will listen to the judges saying that it doesn’t stand alone, and start with the very first book.

When I was following the links to the Sounis Livejournal site, I learned that Megan Whalen Turner is speaking, along with Jonathan Stroud, Rick Yancey, and Cindy Dobrez, at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival on the USC Campus. Although I can’t go myself, my youngest sister, Melanie Hatch, is a student at USC (in fact, she’ll be graduating soon and winning the Biegler Award for the graduating Electrical Engineering student with the highest GPA — Go, Melanie!), so I made sure she knew about it. Melanie was quick to point out that the event is actually happening on her birthday! So she’s looking forward to the best birthday ever! I’m so pleased for her! And I’m considering her my representative, so I can enjoy the event vicariously through her!

What’s more, it turns out that A Conspiracy of Kings is a finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize for Young Adult Literature. It’s up against two other books that were in School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books, including the winner of SLJBoB, The Ring of Solomon, by Jonathan Stroud, and the also excellent How Sugar Changed the World, by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos. Two other finalists are Wicked Girls, by Stephanie Hemphill, and The Curse of the Wendigo, by Rick Yancey.

Will Ring of Solomon pull off the victory again? Will the judges appreciate Megan Whalen Turner’s true genius? We shall see, but however it turns out, these are some excellent finalists, and I’m really looking forward to my sister getting to hear these people speak — and telling me all about it!

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/conspiracy_of_kings_audio.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from the Fairfax County Public Library.

Gearing Up for the Big Kahuna Round

Book Links, Events, General 0

Huzzah, huzzah! A Conspiracy of Kings has won the Undead Poll! So even though it lost in the first round of School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids’ Books, it gets to compete in the Final Round.

I’m not at all surprised. Those who “get” the Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner, those who like that sort of book at all, are enthusiastic, not to say rabid, fans. Each book is a masterpiece of plotting, and the characters are realistically flawed but incredibly awesome, and show real growth. If you like that sort of book at all, Megan Whalen Turner’s books are among the very best.

Just yesterday, I finished my third reading of A Conspiracy of Kings, this time on audio, and I noticed yet more ways she builds the plotting. Megan Whalen Turner has said that she feels she’s failed if her readers don’t reread the book, and that she writes it to be a different experience on each rereading. I have said more than once that her books get better on each rereading, and it’s so true. On this rereading, I saw all the more clearly how strongly and believably Sophos’ character growth is built. By the end of the book, he is a true king.

Go, Zombie Gen! And scary, scarred Zombie Sophos!

Like they said on Sounis, any time it looks like Gen has lost, he is secretly plotting his victory! Though, yes, this book is more about Sophos, he has definitely learned from Eugenides, and he DOES have Gen behind him, helping plot his victory.

From the start, I was worried that Richard Peck wouldn’t be enough of a fantasy fan to pick A Conspiracy of Kings. However, now it turns out that all three books in the Big Kahuna Round are fantasy books, so that will be less of an issue.

I was 50-50 in my picks for the third round. Keeper did defeat The Cardturner, but I loved Keeper, too, so I’m just as happy to have it competing in the Final Round. And this means that all three books are from Team Fantasy! This is the first year that I’ve been a big fan of ALL the books in the Final Round, though it’s also the first year that my very favorite of all the books has wound up in the Final Round, in fact, the book I named a #1 Sonderbooks Stand-out of the books I read in 2010.

If Richard Peck has read the other books in the Queen’s Thief series, I think A Conspiracy of Kings is a shoo-in. If not, I still think it has a great chance. Both A Conspiracy of Kings and The Ring of Solomon are incredibly well-plotted fantasy. But A Conspiracy of Kings has richer characterization and character growth. Both make points about the use of power — almost opposite points, but both thought-provoking. Where A Conspiracy of Kings might lose is if it loses the reader because he hasn’t read the earlier books.

Keeper is a much more gentle, slower-moving fantasy, rooted in real life, about love and belonging and good things like that. It could win if that is what the judge prefers or strikes him most in the reading.

Whichever way it goes, I’m really looking forward to reading Richard Peck’s commentary. Coming this Monday!