Sonderbooks – Page 246 – Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

Feb 16, 2015

Review of Mr. Ferris and His Wheel, by Kathryn Gibbs Davis

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review, True Stories 0

Mr. Ferris and His Wheel

written by Kathryn Gibbs Davis
illustrated by Gilbert Ford

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. 40 pages.
Starred Review

I love this kind of nonfiction for kids – It’s engaging and simply told, with plenty of facts, but written to be read and enjoyed, not to use as reference for a report.

This is a picture book, and the illustrations are beautiful, evoking the time of the Chicago World’s Fair, when Mr. Ferris built his wheel.

The author tells the tale as a suspenseful story, with supporting facts alongside. Here’s an example page:

Now it was America’s turn to impress the world at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. But what could outshine the famous French tower? And who would build it? A nationwide contest was announced.

Here’s the sidebar on that two-page spread, in a corner and printed in a smaller font:

Before TV and the Internet, people from around the globe gathered at World’s Fairs to share their different ways of life and new technologies. Tasty inventions such as hamburgers and Cracker Jack first appeared there!

It goes on to dramatize George Ferris getting the idea, submitting his plans, and the large technological challenges they faced. One of the pages during the construction phase shows spectators who are critical and skeptical that the thing will stay up, let alone actually work.

The author and illustrator dramatize the completion, and the very first ride, giving us a feeling of the majestic spectacle the wheel made, as well as the sweeping view of Chicago.

All summer, visitors from around the world traveled to the Chicago World’s Fair. It didn’t matter whether one was a senator, a farmer, a boy or girl. Everyone wanted to take a spin on the magnificent wheel. Adventurous couples asked to get married on it! On hot, steamy days, the wheel was the perfect place to escape up, up, up into the cooling breezes. All you needed was fifty cents.

[Sidebar:] During the nineteen weeks the wheel was in operation, 1.5 million passengers rode it. It revolved more than 10,000 times, withstood gale-force winds and storms, and did not need one repair.

Let’s hear it for a book that highlights the heroism and accomplishments of an engineer! This book tells a good story, but it will also capture kids’ imaginations. A page at the back supplies further reading and websites. Who knows? This book may inspire future engineers.

gibbsdavis.com
gilbertford.com
hmhco.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/mr_ferris_and_his_wheel.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 Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Feb 15, 2015February 15, 2015

Sonderling Sunday – Kapitel 18

Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, Sonderling Sunday 1

Hooray! At long last, it’s again time for Sonderling Sunday: That time of the week when I play with language by looking at the German translation of children’s books.

I hardly got to it when I was reading for the Cybils. And then I wanted to catch up on posting reviews. And then I went to ALA Midwinter Meeting. And had a medical scare. (Benign!) And have just been busy.

So tonight I may not be able to go as long as I’d like. But I am going to do it. And since it’s been awhile, I am going to go back to the book that started it all, Der Orden der Seltsamen Sonderlinge, The Order of Odd-fish, by James Kennedy.

Last time, we actually finished up Chapter 17, so we are on Kapitel 18, which is on page 223 and Seite 281.

It begins with a sentence that’s good to know in any language:

“Jo and Audrey became fast friends.”
= Jo und Audrey freundeten sich rasch an.
(“Jo and Audrey friended themselves rapidly.”)
Apparently “to friend” was a concept in German before Facebook!

Now you know what to call these people:
“a stuttering deliveryman” = den stotternden Lieferanten

“a hapless tourist” = den ahnungslosen Touristen

“seemingly inexhaustible collection” = scheinbar unerschöpfliche Sammlung

And now you know how to ask for this if you’re ever in Germany and need to go undercover:
“false whiskers” = falschen Backenbärten

“fat suits” = Fettpolstern

I like this one:
“furious” = recht ergrimmt

“slightly daunted” = leicht eingeschüchtert zusammen

This is for when you’re describing why you’re going undercover:
“nefarious plans” = ruchlosen Pläne

This is a good word to know:
“nonsense” = Quatsch

“barely restrained contempt” = kaum verhüllter Verachtung

“scrawling notes in the margins” = Notizen in kleine Hefte kritzelte

“constructing bewildering charts of arrows and boxes and labels”
= merkwürdige Tabellen mit Pfeilen, Kästchen und Etiketten anfertigte

Okay, that’s actually a good stopping place — the end of the first section of Chapter 18. Perhaps if I give it a short segment tonight, it will be easier to get around to next week.

And this week I’ll wish you someone with whom you may friend yourselves rapidly!

Feb 14, 2015

Review of Small Victories, by Anne Lamott

Christian, Musings, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Small Victories

Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace

by Anne Lamott

Riverhead Books, New York, 2014. 286 pages.
Starred Review

I so love Anne Lamott! This book has a notation on the front: “New and Selected Pieces.” I did, in fact, recognize some of the essays from her previous books – but they were so excellent, I didn’t mind at all being reminded of them.

Anne Lamott has such a disarming style. She reminds us that it’s completely okay to be human and that God thinks of us fondly in spite of that. Of course, I love that she’s a left-wing Christian. (There aren’t so many of them writing, but I am one, too.)

She tells true stories from her own life, and she doesn’t shy away from the ways she screws up. She doesn’t hide from us her crummy attitudes and uncharitable thoughts. When she draws lessons from these things, we’re blessed as well. And if she can get through these things, as fully human as she is – well, then maybe we can, too.

Of course, her writing also, unfailingly, makes me laugh. I love her way of looking at things. She always gives me a new, happier perspective.

The best way, though, to understand the awesomeness of Anne Lamott’s writing is to look at examples. Any time I read her books, she starts filling up my Sonderquotes pages. Now, I should mention that if you’re politically right wing, there may be a few of her comments that bother you (which is too bad, but there it is). Take a look at some examples, and then check out or buy this book!

riverheadbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/small_victories.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 Fairfax County Public Library.

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Feb 13, 2015

Review of Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater

Paranormal, Teen Fiction Review 0

Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Book III of the Raven Cycle

by Maggie Stiefvater

Scholastic Press, New York, 2014. 391 pages.

Why in the world was I thinking this is a trilogy? All along, they carefully called it The Raven Cycle, not The Raven Trilogy. Yes, some extreme things happened in this book, but they just inched the plot further along, rather than wrapping things up, as I had hoped.

I’m not crazy about this series — It’s a darker story, with more occult elements, than I usually like. But I can’t look away! And I’ve come to care about the characters. I’ve even come to believe in a romance between Blue and Gansey — and that took some skilled writing!

This cycle of books is like no other fantasy I’ve ever read. We’ve got a bunch of entitled rich kids and their scholarship friend and a girl from the hills looking along a ley line in West Virginia for a buried Welsh king. And all sorts of amazing supernatural things are happening while they’re looking.

In some ways, this felt like a bridge piece. It wasn’t as striking as either the first or the second book. And the characters were dealing with consequences from the second book, looking for Maura, and getting much closer in their quest to find the sleeping king.

There’s not a lot I need to say. If you’ve read the first two books, this strings you along with more of the same. Maggie Stiefvater is an amazing writer, and manages to make her crazy world seem plausible, even as not a bit of the story is predictable.

I may not be crazy about this series, but one thing’s for certain: I will be reading the next book as soon as it comes out.

maggiestiefvater.com
scholastic.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/blue_lily_lily_blue.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 Fairfax County Public Library.

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Feb 11, 2015

Review of As You Wish, by Cary Elwes

Humorous, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review, True Stories 0

As You Wish

Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride

by Cary Elwes
with Joe Layden
foreword by Rob Reiner

A Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster, 2014. 259 pages.
Starred Review

Reading this book was wonderful! Fans of The Princess Bride will love it! And if you’re not a fan of The Princess Bride? How on earth are you not? That very idea is inconceivable to me – and I know what the word means.

What’s in the book? Cary Elwes, who, of course, starred as Westley in the movie, tells stories about making the movie. The book is also peppered with reminiscences by the other actors and actresses. They do all work together to convince the reader that making that movie was almost as extraordinary an experience as the final film turned out to be extraordinary.

I loved it that Cary Elwes had read and loved William Goldman’s book The Princess Bride when he was thirteen years old. What are the chances?

A huge part of making The Princess Bride was the actors learning to swordfight. I have a completely new appreciation for the Greatest Swordfight in Modern Times.

”Don’t worry,” Rob insisted. “You’ll be training with the best. It’ll be fun!”

Training, with the best!

It always sounds fun in conversation. But the practical reality is something quite different. More like, “Don’t worry, you’ll be training with the best Sherpa to help you climb Everest!” or “Don’t worry, you’ll be training with the greatest human cannonball before we fire you out of the cannon.” I’d long admired serious athletes, and I always try to treat a challenge as an opportunity. And then I began to think, Wait a minute! How hard could it really be? I’d seen plenty of Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks movies. My developing, inane theory was that if they could do it, so could I. It didn’t seem all that difficult. A few quick thrusts, some fancy footwork. More like dancing than combat.

I could handle it, I thought. No problem.

I was, of course, somewhat deluded….

And then we went to work. The first day was devoted to the most basic body mechanics, starting with the proper stance. Mastery wasn’t really the goal – there wasn’t enough time for that. Rather, it would have to be the illusion of mastery, and that could only be achieved by adhering to the fundamentals of fencing: how to stand, where to place your arms and feet. How to hold your free hand, not clenched but relaxed (something I had a hard time perfecting). A professional fencer, they explained, could watch a sword-fighting sequence on film and tell immediately if the actors involved were complete amateurs. The easiest to spot were when the actors or stuntmen could be seen just hitting the swords back and forth, over and over in the same manner, the way kids do with sticks.

They explained that they had requested that the fighting sequences be filmed late in the production, allowing us a few weeks of intense daily training in prep, followed by a few months of training while on location. Bob then pointed out that although it wasn’t possible for either of us to become an Olympic-caliber fencer in that amount of time, maybe with the help and guidance of both himself and Peter, we might just be capable of fooling all but the most discerning of viewers. Their reputations were at stake as well, after all, he pointed out.

Cary had nothing but praise for Robin Wright as Buttercup. He pointed out something I hadn’t noticed:

Buttercup falls in love, loses her love, gets kidnapped, is forced into an arranged marriage, reconnects with her one true love, and then lets him go in order to save his life. It really requires a great deal of emotional range. What it doesn’t require – or at least doesn’t display – is the comedic talent for which The Princess Bride is so well known. Goldman wrote a screenplay that we now know is filled with great, classic funny lines. Unfortunately, few, if any, of those lines are given to Buttercup. Robin is not merely the victim in the film; she is also the straight man (or, in this case, the straight woman). And even though Westley is not exactly a comedian, he does have some funny lines, and is involved in some rather broad physical comedy. Robin’s character is permitted no such relief. From start to finish, she had to play it straight, exactly as the role demanded.

Of course, I had to watch The Princess Bride again (for the I-have-no-idea-how-many-th time) after reading this book. I watched for evidence of Cary Elwes’ broken toe, and totally saw it. But mostly, the book just gave me added appreciation for a film I already love with all my heart.

This book celebrates a film that was done right, from start to finish.

AsYouWishBook.com
SimonandSchuster.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/as_you_wish.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 Fairfax County Public Library.

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Feb 10, 2015

Review of The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander

Award Winners, Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary 0

The Crossover

by Kwame Alexander

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2014. 237 pages.
Starred Review
2015 Newbery Medal Winner
2015 Coretta Scott King Author Honor
2015 Capitol Choices Selection

I wrote this review before The Crossover won the Newbery Medal. I was already thinking it would be a perfect book to booktalk, since it’s about basketball, is short, and has many passages that read aloud well.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of novels in verse, and I’m not a big fan of sports novels, but I couldn’t help but like what Kwame Alexander has done here.

Twins Josh and Jordan Bell are the sons of a professional basketball player and the stars of their middle school basketball team. But disharmony comes between them when a girl falls for Jordan. Suddenly he’s all about her and hardly thinking about basketball.

At the same time, their mother is worried about their father’s heart, and Josh can tell he should be worried, too.

There’s family drama and sports action in this book, but I also liked the poetry. It starts out with an onomatopoetic rap about the joy of playing basketball and continues with plenty of variety of form. It ends up being an entertaining and engaging way to tell the story from an articulate young man who also plays basketball.

hmhco.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Fiction/crossover.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 Fairfax County Public Library.

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Feb 10, 2015February 10, 2015

Review of Dreamer’s Pool, by Juliet Marillier

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Dreamer’s Pool

by Juliet Marillier

Roc (Penguin), 2014. 414 pages.
Starred Review

This was the first book I read in 2015, and I will not be one bit surprised if it ends up being my favorite book read in 2015.

I already loved Juliet Marillier’s writing. This book starts a new series completely unlike her others – but equally rich, moving, and filled with magic.

The subtitle calls Dreamer’s Pool A Blackthorn & Grim Novel. At the start of the book Blackthorn and Grim are in a wretched prison. The book begins with Blackthorn hoping for release.

I fished out the rusty nail from under my pallet and scratched another mark on the wall. Tomorrow would be midsummer, not that a person could tell rain from shine in this cesspit. I’d been here a year. A whole year of filth and abuse and being shoved back down the moment I lifted myself so much as an inch. Tomorrow, at last, I’d get my chance to speak out. Tomorrow I would tell my story.

But then a prison guard gleefully gives her some bad news:

”You must have really got up Malthuin’s nose,” he said. “What did you do to make him so angry?” Perhaps knowing he wouldn’t get an answer, Slammer went right on. “Overheard a little exchange. Someone wants you out of the way before the hearing, not after.”

“Out of the way?”

“Someone wants to make sure your case never goes before the council. First thing in the morning, you’re to be disposed of. Quick, quiet, final. Name crossed off the list. No need to bother the chieftains with any of it.” He was scrutinizing me between the bars, waiting for me to weep, collapse, scream defiance.”

However, much to her surprise, the next morning just before dawn, she is instead later brought to meet with a fey nobleman named Conmael. He makes her an offer — with conditions.

“I’m offering you a chance to be safely out of here before they come for you. You’d leave the district and travel north to Dalriada. There’d be help along the way, and a place to stay when you got there. After that, you’d need to earn a living doing what you did before. There’s always a need for skilled healers.”

“Travel north. When?”

“Straightaway.”

As I made to speak again, to say I couldn’t go anywhere because I had to appear at the council, Conmael gestured me to be quiet. “There are three conditions you must agree to meet before I grant you this opportunity. Firstly, the considerable skill you possess must be used only for good. You will not let bitterness or anger draw you down the darker ways of your craft. Secondly, if anyone asks for your help, you will give it willingly. I do not mean solely those who come to you for assistance with their ailments, but anyone at all who seeks your aid.”

“And thirdly?” It occurred to me that I could be as good a liar as anyone. What was to stop me from agreeing now, and once I was out of here, doing whatever I pleased? I might yet live beyond dawn and see Mathuin brought down before nightfall. My heart began to race.

“Thirdly, you will not seek vengeance. You will remain in Dalriada and stay away from Mathuin of Laois.”

That, I could not do. But I bit back the no that sprang to my lips. “Is there a period of time attached to this ridiculous proposition?”

Conmael gave a cool smile. “Seven years,” he said. “That is the term for all three conditions.”

“What?” Morrigan’s curse, I’d be lucky if I managed seven days, let alone seven years! Walk away and leave Mathuin behind me, his crimes not only unpunished but not even reported? Agree to every single request for help? As for using my gifts for good, all the good had been beaten out of me long ago. My spirit was as stained and foul as my reeking, vermin-ridden body. But then, what did it matter if I was bound to his stupid plan for my whole life, provided I saw Mathuin brought to justice first?

“Mathuin has done ill deeds,” Conmael said. “He’s also a powerful chieftain who enjoys the support of many fellow leaders. You are a prisoner, without family, without resources, with no home to go to and no friends to help you. Even if you did stand up at the council, even if you did make these accusations before the assembled chieftains, who would take your word against Mathuin’s? All you would achieve is your own destruction. So let us set a limit on the number of times you may break the rules. Five, I think.”

“Or what happens?”

“Or you find yourself back here, filthy, worn down, defeated, with the executioner knocking on your door. And this time, no reprieve.”

Conmael does rescue her from prison — by blowing apart the prison. The only survivors are Blackthorn and Grim.

Blackthorn would have gone to Dalriada on her own, but when Grim asks to help her, he asks in a way that makes her realize she’d be helping him to allow him to stay with her. Because of Conmael’s conditions, she can’t say no.

That’s one complex story thread of this book. And we also hear Grim’s perspective on events. But a third narrator, Prince Oram, also gives us his story. Oram is the prince ruling Dalriada, where Blackthorn and Grim are now living. He has found the love of his life via exchange of letters. But when his betrothed comes to visit, to seal the betrothal, she bathes and almost drowns in Dreamer’s Pool, near Blackthorn’s cottage. And after that, something is very wrong. Even her beloved dog wants nothing to do with her.

This is about Blackthorn and Grim starting new lives, dealing with shadows of the past, and helping people by solving mysteries. There is also a young girl who has suddenly gone missing. The people of the village think she ran off with a gypsy, but the girl’s friend thinks otherwise, and Blackthorn is good at listening.

I can’t communicate all the beauty that is in this book. Blackthorn is dealing with deep scars and pain, but the author makes you care deeply about her and the new life she is setting up. Grim is big and strong, and has a reputation for not being very bright, but we come to love him, and even Blackthorn comes to realize she can’t do without him.

There are mysteries in this book, natural and supernatural. And characters you will come to love.

My favorite thing about the book? There’s going to be more about Blackthorn and Grim.

julietmarillier.com
penguin.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/dreamers_pool.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 my own copy, preordered via amazon.com.

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Feb 7, 2015February 7, 2015

Review of El Deafo, by Cece Bell

Award Winners, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

El Deafo

by Cece Bell
color by David Lasky

Amulet Books, New York, 2014. 240 pages.
Starred Review
2015 Capitol Choices Selection
2015 Newbery Honor

El Deafo is an endearing and engaging graphic novel-style memoir. I’m not quite sure why everyone is presented as human-rabbit creatures, but that’s part of an informal graphic style that will pull kids in.

Cece Bell got meningitis when she was very young – and lost her hearing almost completely. El Deafo is her story of growing up deaf – wearing hearing aids, learning to lip read, and navigating the ways different people treated her because she was deaf.

Cece got to attend Kindergarten in a class with other kids with hearing problems, but her family moved and she had to go to first grade with hearing students. She’s given a high-powered hearing aid connected to a microphone the teacher wears around her neck. Cece discovers she has a superpower – she can hear what her teacher is saying or doing anywhere in the building.

But making friends is difficult. First, there’s the friend who dominates everything the two do together. Then there’s the friend who always e-nun-ci-ates (which is harder to lip-read) and makes a huge deal of Cece’s deafness.

Cece also illustrates ordinary friendship perils that become larger. For example, she can’t lip read at a slumber party once the lights are shut off. And that boy she has a crush on – what will he think when he sees her with her extra-large hearing aid at school?

This book’s friendly format will catch kids’ interest, and give them a glimpse of what the world might be like if you couldn’t take hearing for granted. No preaching is needed – Cece tells her compelling story, and kids’ eyes will be opened.

cecebell.com
amuletbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/el_deafo.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 Fairfax County Public Library.

Please use the comments if you’ve read the book and want to discuss spoilers!

Feb 6, 2015August 14, 2023

Thank You, Friends of the Library!

Conference Corner 2

So, the reason I got to go to ALA Midwinter Meeting? Registration and Hotel were paid for by the Friends of the George Mason Regional Library. Airfare was paid for by the Friends of the Virginia Room.

I am so thankful!

What did I get out of the conference?

Well, it’s hard to explain the energizing effect of hanging around a huge group of book people. Attending ALA conferences always leaves me proud to be a librarian and excited about my job and my calling. Truly, these are my people!

I do get ideas of things to do and new programs, I find out about lots and lots of new books, I make professional connections, and I hear some great speakers.

Some of those connections included the folks at the Bedtime Math booth! They knew who I was, since I have been featured on their website. 🙂 They also sponsor the Crazy 8s Math Club program we do once a week at my library.

I also got to meet two of my fellow Cybils judges, Brandy Painter and Maureen Eichner, for the first time in person. We had a lovely dinner together while the blizzard was raging outside.

Speaking of the weather, I even got to experience an historic Chicago blizzard — from the warm comfort of a hotel and a shuttle bus and the convention center.

I’m going to summarize the sessions I went to with links to my reports. I’ll intersperse them between the snow pictures.

Friday night began with the Graphic Novel Author Forum.

And after a binge at the Exhibits, I went to a USBBY meeting.

Saturday morning brought more time in the Exhibits and an Abrams Book Buzz.

Saturday afternoon was the Women in Geekdom panel.

And after more time in the Exhibits, I finished up Saturday listening to a talk by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Sunday (the day of the blizzard) began with LeVar Burton!

Lunch on Sunday was compliments of publisher Boyds Mills Press.

Sunday afternoon, I went to a panel on Young Children, New Media, and Libraries.

Sunday finished up with an inspiring talk by Mick Ebeling.

The final day of the conference, besides helping the publishers unload books, was taken up with the Youth Media Awards and the YALSA Morris and Excellence in Nonfiction Awards Ceremony.

And all that time in the Exhibits? I ended up gaining and shipping home 140 books.

No, I won’t get them all read. But I will get many read. And I will be familiar with many more because of this. And I will have many to give away as prizes at my Brain Games programs.

And in the meantime, the piles of books are making me happy. 🙂

So Thank You, Thank You, Friends, for a wonderful conference! Thank you for learning and connections and ideas and new energy and lots and lots of new books!

Feb 5, 2015February 5, 2015

YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction and Morris Awards

Award Winners 0

Monday morning, after the Youth Media Awards, I attended the YALSA Award Ceremony for Excellence in Nonfiction and the Morris Awards for books by a first-time author.

I love that YALSA announces the Finalists for these awards ahead of time — so they can get speeches from everyone and do an awards ceremony the same day that the winner is announced.

Here are my notes from the speeches:

YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award

Shane Burcaw – Laughing at my Nightmare

(Video speech) He’s 22 years old. Blown away when he found out he was a finalist.
Has Spinal muscular atrophy.
Humor and positivity are keys to dealing with his disease.
Laughing is the best way to overcome.

Candace Fleming – The Family Romanov

She was worried about the story – might as well be another planet for her readers.
Conflict: 3 separate revolutions, each extremely complicated.
Had planned to focus on Anastasia – decided she was boring, so expanded her focus to the other children – they also weren’t that interesting. They were naive and cloistered.
Nicholas and Alexandra were more interesting, but they were adults.
Then expanded focus again to revolutionaries.
She saw a movie where the characters kept asking, “But who is interested in Russian History?”
This award tells her, “You are.”

Emily Arnold McCully – Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business – and Won!

Why Ida Tarbell? She was a defender of democratic values when they were challenged.
She was the only woman muckraker.
The author tried to squish it into 32 pages, but the story was too big.
Ida Tarbell saw the cost of the oil rush to ordinary people and the environment.
Science taught her to always look beneath the surface of things and verify.
The issues that led to muckraking are back.
She went after the story and told it true.

Steve Sheinkin – The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

His brother-in-law loves conspiracy theories – told him first atomic bomb was tested in Port Chicago – but that led him to the true story.
Heard from a man whose father was in the mutiny. Loves getting this story out.

Winner: Maya Van Wagenen
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

She’s the child of a historian, so knows the power of truth and primary sources.
Always wanted to be a writer.
Found the book before 8th grade — Her mother’s idea was to try the ideas and write about it.
Learned the kind of popularity Betty Cornell talked about was based on being a good friend and reaching out with compassion and understanding.
Greeting the world with your head held high will never go out of style.
None of this would have been possible without books and librarians.
Middle School Librarian was a light to the students there.
Has turned to reading nonfiction because it tells teenagers that their story is part of a much bigger fabric of history, and each one plays a unique part.

Morris Award, Honor Books:

Jessie Ann Foley, The Carnival at Bray

She’s a high school English teacher, here in Chicago. She loved librarians before she was nominated for this award, and now even more so!
Librarians help teens find books that speak to them.
“That is part of the beauty of literature: You discover that your longings are universal longings… You are not alone.” (A quote she read while writing this.)
She kept in tough scenes so girls who have gone through that would not feel alone.

E. K. Johnston – The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim
due to weather, she isn’t here.

Len Vlahos – The Scar Boys

Central theme: The power of music can give anyone confidence, friends, even save a life.
Music can be an intensely personal experience, but is more appropriately a shared experience.
Music, like math or physics, is a universal language.
Math and physics are the foundation for music.
Music makes us feel something viscerally
Magic dust sprinkled on math and physics
Resonance – sound or vibration in one object produced from sound or vibration in another.
Perfect metaphor for librarians
Immensely skilled at finding the right book and putting it in the right hands.
Finding the perfect book to resonate with that reader and amplify the content.
“School librarians are my heroes.”
Writing is a solitary process, publishing is not.
Librarians help the work of writers resonate far beyond the walls of our institutions.

Leslye Walton – The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

She’s a teacher.
Wrote it with little hope than anyone would actually read it.
Didn’t write it as a YA book. She might have wanted to protect them.
When she was a teen, she experienced isolating grief, and hung out in the local library to find people (in fiction) who were grieving like she was.
There is beauty in sorrow.
I hope it makes someone feel less alone and more alive.
And that there is life beyond that sorrow.
Librarians, you are saving the lives of readers everywhere.

Winner: Isabel Quintero – Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

“To quote someone very dear to me, ‘Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!'”
Started by reading “I Too Sing America” by Langston Hughes
Offended by someone who asked if her laborer parents were surprised that she is an intellectual.
Now she’s a professor of composition.
She thinks about her parents who had tough jobs when they came to America and worked to make sure their children had a different life.
She thinks about fat girls, pregnant girls, and gay teens.
The only option for a daughter of laborers is to think — because that’s what her parents have taught her to do.
It helps when you have a community of people doing the solitary thing together. (Her creative writing group)
“An honor and a privilege to be here, but that was to be expected, given who my parents are.”

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Inspiring and lovely speeches! I always love the Morris Awards, because the authors are happy to be published, let alone to receive recognition. Makes me want to go home and Write!