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

Conference Corner, Events 0

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.

Review of Amelia Lost, by Candace Fleming

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, History 0


Happy Independence Day! I’m posting this review today in honor of Nonfiction Monday, hosted today by Bookmuse.

Amelia Lost

The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

by Candace Fleming

Schwartz & Wade Books (Random House), New York, 2011. 118 pages.

I’ve been impressed with Candace Fleming’s exceptional ability to make biographies come alive ever since I read Ben Franklin’s Almanac. Reading The Lincolns only confirmed her brilliance.

Like those others, Amelia Lost makes good use of photographs and other supplementary materials to really give you a taste of what Amelia Earhart must have been like.

In this book, she weaves through the book stories from people in the continental United States who heard Amelia Earhart broadcasting while the search for her was going on. That helps us understand the tragedy behind this paragraph later in the book, as Amelia is preparing for her around-the-world flight attempt:

“She needed more practice with her radio equipment, too. Joseph Gurr, who had been hired to install the plane’s communication system, was eager for Amelia to learn how to use her radio and direction-finding equipment. He wanted to show her how to tune the receivers and how to operate the transmitters; to teach her correct radio procedures and help her understand what her radio system could and could not do. But every time Gurr begged her to come for a lesson, she put him off. She was too busy, she said. Her schedule was full. Finally — just weeks before her departure — she turned up at the airport hangar. Relieved, Gurr assumed he had all day to teach her everything about her radio. But after only an hour, Amelia left for an appointment. Gurr was stunned. ‘We never covered actual operations such as taking a bearing with the direction finder, [or] even contacting another radio station,’ he recalled. This very brief lesson was Amelia’s only formal instruction in the use of her communication system. And it would be her gravest mistake. Wrote one aviation expert, ‘The solution to Amelia’s future communication problems was right at her fingertips — if only she had understood how her radio worked.'”

This book was an interesting contrast to Chris Van Allsburg’s Queen of the Falls. Both books were biographies of women who, in the early 20th Century, sought fame and fortune through daredevil acts, and then telling about them on the lecture circuit. Amelia managed to achieve that fame and fortune, partly because she was young and good-looking, partly because she never rested on her laurels, but kept trying to top herself, and partly because she had a savvy publicist who eventually married her. But unfortunately, Amelia’s most lasting fame came from the trip where she didn’t return.

Another top-notch biography from Candace Fleming. This book is absorbing reading and extremely informative. I will be very happy to find it for the next child needing a biography “over 100 pages.” This is not one of those boring books written to help kids write a school report — but it has all the information they would need for a school report, and is presented in such a way that they are even sure to remember it.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/amelia_lost.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.

Margaret Edwards Luncheon, ALA Annual Conference, Day Two

Conference Corner, Events 0

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.

Musings on Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

Fiction Review, Old Favorites, Romance, Starred Review 0

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte

Signet Classic, 1982. 461 pages. First published in 1846.
Starred Review

This is not going to be a standard review. It turns out I already did a review of Jane Eyre back in 2001, when I was first writing Sonderbooks. If you haven’t read Jane Eyre, Dear Reader, stop reading these spoiler-filled musings and go read the book! It’s a classic! You really should read it!

I listed Jane Eyre on my list of about ten favorite books when I was a Freshman in college. I loved it wholeheartedly — the romance, the melodrama, the true love, the clever and conscientious but plain heroine. I’m still a romantic, and I still loved the story, but I found my perspective at 47 quite different than when I first read it around 15.

In the first place, I hadn’t remembered that the book is a thoroughly Christian one. There are multiple obscure Biblical allusions, over and over again. Now, I understood the allusions, but I’m definitely not used to seeing them in a book that’s for the general public. It made me wonder how much readers miss, reading it today. For example, “A frequent interlude of these performances was the enactment of the part of Eutychus by some half dozen of little girls; who, overpowered with sleep, would fall down, if not out of the third loft, yet off the fourth form, and be taken up half dead.” (Eutychus fell asleep when Paul preached a long sermon and fell from the third loft, but was then restored.)

But mostly I found myself awfully cynical over the romance! Mr. Rochester is just plain mean when he works at making Jane jealous. She could have done much, much better with half a chance of meeting more people! Mostly, I now have a hard time thinking anything at all good about a married almost-40-year-old man who falls in love with a 19-year-old! Right, they’ll have a lot in common! Sure, she’s the only one who’s ever really understood him! I have a much, much harder time believing that than I did when I was a teenager. Rather than find Mr. Rochester romantic, this time I thought him making a fool of himself, and not even being very nice while he was at it.

Mind you, I do like Jane and the way she deals with him as he manipulates her. I don’t blame her for falling in love with him, but if she’d seen more of the world, I hope she would have realized how much better she could have done. (I read a book once that said the reason so many middle-aged men have affairs with much younger women is that those are the only ones stupid enough to fall for the line, “My wife doesn’t understand me.”) This guy was twice her age and besides being married, had had three different mistresses. He doesn’t deserve you, Jane!

What’s more, I found myself wondering if the insane wife was actually insane before she got locked in the attic for years and years. Mr. Rochester explains to Jane that soon after the wedding, he hated his wife, even before she went mad — as if that makes it okay. He tries to portray himself as so compassionate for “keeping” her locked up in the attic with a jailer and pretending she doesn’t exist. I still wonder: How insane was she before she got locked up?

Okay, but Jane completely wins me over in the second half. How incredibly refreshing to see someone decide she would rather die than be a mistress! Yes, she’s truly tempted, horribly tempted. But she follows her principles. Mr. Rochester tells her about his mistresses:

“It was a grovelling fashion of existence: I should never like to return to it. Hiring a mistress is the next worst thing to buying a slave: both are often by nature, and always by position, inferior: and to live familiarly with inferiors is degrading. I now hate the recollection of the time I passed with Celine, Giacinta, and Clara.”

Jane wisely reflects:

“I felt the truth of these words; and I drew from them the certain inference, that if I were so far to forget myself and all the teaching that had ever been instilled into me, as — under any pretext — with any justification — through any temptation — to become the successor of these poor girls, he would one day regard me with the same feeling which now in his mind desecrated their memory. I did not give utterance to this conviction: it was enough to feel it. I impressed it on my heart, that it might remain there to serve me as aid in the time of trial.”

But where Jane fully won my admiration and my heart was after she asked herself who would be hurt by her becoming Mr. Rochester’s mistress. “Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?” Her answer made me cheer:

“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad — as I am now. Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth — so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane — quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot.”

You go, Jane!

Now, part of my enthusiasm for Jane was reflecting that if young women today had half the principles of Jane Eyre, and refused to have affairs with married men, how many, many lives would not be torn apart! If more people let principles rein in their passions, I persist in thinking that many less hearts would be broken, including mine.

However, by this time I was loving Jane and rooting for Jane, so no matter how dissimilar our situations, now I saw myself in her. I, too, felt torn away from the one I had thought was the love of my life. Okay, so he left me, and didn’t want me around. Leaving wasn’t my choice — though the decision to stop begging him to come back seemed almost as difficult as Jane’s decision to tear herself away. The fact is, I had never stopped loving him, and when he moved to the other side of the world, I felt like my heart was being torn out of my chest. How could I fault Jane for loving Mr. Rochester when I still love my husband? I could easily understand Jane’s despairing wanderings. I took great comfort in Jane’s realization that was the same as I had come to — that there was nothing she could do to help the man she loved with all her heart. She would have to entrust him to God’s care.

“Worn out with this torture of thought, I rose to my knees. Night was come, and her planets were risen: a safe, still night; too serene for the companionship of fear. We know that God is everywhere; but certainly we feel His presence most when His works are on the grandest scale spread before us: and it is in the unclouded night-sky, where His worlds wheel their silent course, that we read clearest His infinitude, His omnipotence, His omnipresence. I had risen to my knees to pray for Mr. Rochester. Looking up, I, with tear-dimmed eyes, saw the mighty Milky-way. Remembering what it was — what countless systems there swept space like a soft trace of light — I felt the might and strength of God. Sure was I of His efficiency to save what He had made: convinced I grew that neither earth should perish, nor one of the souls it treasured. I turned my prayer to thanksgiving: the Source of Life was also the Saviour of spirits. Mr. Rochester was safe: he was God’s and by God would he be guarded. I again nestled to the breast of the hill; and ere long, in sleep, forgot sorrow.”

Later, I again found myself cheering for Jane when she grew busy and happy teaching school. However, I fully believed that she would have dreams, over and over again, about the one she loved — no matter how serene her day to day life, no matter how admirable her accomplishments.

And then I related to her next temptation. I thought Charlotte Bronte was brilliant that this was the next thing Jane faced: Her temptation was to give her life being a really really good Christian. She could devote herself to Christian service, and she would be good at it. But service without heart. St. John’s proposal was a true temptation. But because Jane had known real love, she could not settle for a mockery of marriage. No matter how dressed up it would be in piety, her heart sensed that it would be wrong, that love itself is sacred.

I’m not sure if I’m explaining why I related to this. I guess there’s a side of me that also thinks I can hide my pain in Christian service. Yes, God is enough. Yes, my relationship with God is incredibly comforting me. But if I keep my heart out of it, even that service will be worthless. As it says in I Corinthians 13, “If I give all I possess to feed the poor and deliver my body to the flames, but have not love, I am nothing.”

So, by the end of the book, I’m loving Jane, rooting for Jane, and relating to Jane. I’m still a romantic, so I love the part where Jane asks God for direction, and in answer she can hear Mr. Rochester’s voice across hundreds of miles. By this time, I don’t begrudge Jane her happy ending, no matter how contrived. Honestly, with Mr. Rochester crippled and blinded, the relationship seems a bit more equal. Though I do wish Jane would stop calling him “my master”!

Anyway, 30 years ago when I read Jane Eyre, I thought it a beautiful story of true love persevering despite all obstacles. I think that today I see it as a beautiful story of a young woman with true character and true faith and genuine love and forgiveness in her heart.

And a rousing read, no doubt about it!

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Fiction/jane_eyre.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 long-owned paperback copy.

More Book Frenzy – ALA Annual Conference 2011, Day Two

Conference Corner 0

Saturday morning, I woke up after having gotten far too little sleep. I’d discovered the night before that any restraint I thought I’d have completely vanished when faced with free books. It also happened that Saturday morning would have some of the author signings I was most looking forward to. What’s more, although there were some programs that sounded interesting, HarperCollins was hosting a Fall Preview of its new books from 10:00 to 11:00 — which was NOT when the authors I wanted to see were schedule. So you see, I was doomed to visit the exhibits.

I did see Laini Taylor and get her new book signed, but thought since I’d accosted her the night before, I wouldn’t make her pose for a photo again. Yes, for those of you keeping score at home, I had already shipped Daughter of Smoke and Bone unsigned the night before. Does anyone local want the unsigned copy before I bring it to my library co-workers? They told me if I started reading it that night, I wouldn’t be able to stop until I finished. I believed them, so am waiting for a night when I can start reading early!

I also met Marilyn Johnson, who so kindly sent books to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in support of libraries. I got a signed copy of her book for myself this time. She said they’ve added an Epilogue that talks about the budget fights to keep libraries open. She’s so nice in person, too!

And when I spotted some Library shirts at Stop Falling‘s booth, I couldn’t resist! Especially the sleep shirt that said, “Oops! I bought another Pile of Books!” It seemed so frightfully appropriate! After all, that’s exactly how it happens, right?

I’m planning to wear this one to work tomorrow:

And this one might be too warm for summer, but I like it very much:

I also spotted Tom Angleberger, author of The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and was given an origami puppet of Darth Paper, to celebrate the upcoming publication of Darth Paper Strikes Back.

Then I went to the HarperCollins Book Buzz, about adult books coming out in the Fall. It was fully as bad for me as I feared — now I want to read almost ALL the books. And I was able to pick up Advance Reader Copies of several to add to my bag.

Let’s see. Some I’m going to look for that I didn’t snag yet:

They’re republishing Agatha Christie’s books, including a republishing of her wonderful Autobiography that includes a CD of Agatha Christie herself reading some of her books. They are publishing a new biography by an Agatha Christie scholar, John Curran.

Defensive Wounds, by Lisa Black, sounded very intriguing. The author is a forensic scientist, and the editor said that one of the strengths of this book is the relationship between the detective and her daughter.

A Bitter Truth, by Charles Todd, won me over when the editor said that this mystery is not gruesome, and has more tea than dead bodies. She said that this book features a “kind” detective, who gets herself on the suspect list. I want to read it!

Historic Conversations is a set of CDs of seven interviews Jacqueline Kennedy did in 1964, with an accompanying book, Jacqueline Kennedy, by Michael Beschloss. It sounds completely amazing.

My Life, Deleted, was described as a love story, and also a true story of a man who hit his head and was afflicted with profound retrograde amnesia, the worst case on record. He has to get to know his wife all over again. A positive marriage story.

First You Try Everything, by Jane McCafferty, is NOT a positive marriage story. When the protagonist’s husband tells her he wants a divorce, first she tries everything, in a crazy way. This sounded frightfully familiar to me. They said the book is funny, and I’m intrigued to know if I will like it or be appalled if they show she’s healed because she gets married again. Anyway, I have to read it.

The Flight of Gemma Hardy, by Margot Livesey, is a rewriting of Jane Eyre.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, by Caroline Preston, was described as a good YA Crossover. The historical story sounds fun, and it’s all done in scrapbooking.

So, after the Book Buzz, I went back to the exhibits, grabbed as many galleys as I could, and purchased a copy of Chime to be signed by Franny Billingsley.

By that time, I was heavily weighed down, so I decided to again ship the books. Then I walked to the Margaret Edwards Luncheon, which was in the hotel next to the Convention Center. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that “next to the Convention Center” still meant very far away indeed. So I was late, but did get to eat and listen to the excellent speeches. I will post about Saturday afternoon tomorrow.

Here’s a picture of the books that I shipped on Saturday:

Review of Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly

Adventure, Audiobooks, Contemporary, Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Revolution

by Jennifer Donnelly
read by Emily Janice Card and Emma Bering

Listening Library, 2010. 12 CDs. 15 hours, 4 minutes.
Starred Review
2011 Odyssey Honor Winner

This book is incredible. One of those audiobooks that had me thinking about it all day long and eventually bringing the CDs into the house to finish listening.

I almost didn’t make it through the first two CDs, since the book starts out very depressing. Andi Alpers’ little brother Truman died two years ago, and Andi is convinced it’s her fault. Her mother can’t cope, but spends her time painting pictures of Truman. Her father walked out on them. The only thing that keeps the sadness at bay is Andi’s antidepressants, but if she takes too many, she starts having hallucinations. Even her music can’t keep the depression away for long.

Then Andi’s Dad comes in and takes charge. He puts her mother in a psychiatric ward and makes Andi accompany him on a trip to Paris. He’s a world-renowned geneticist, and his job is to find out if a preserved child’s heart belonged to the Dauphin of France who was locked in a tower during the French Revolution.

While in Paris, in an old guitar case, Andi finds a hidden compartment and a diary written during the French Revolution by a girl who was companion to the Dauphin. The details of Andi’s life are intricately parallel to the story in the diary. Meanwhile, she meets a French musician who seems to really care about her. But even weirder things begin to happen.

The plotting in this book is exquisite. There are resonances between the two plotlines on so many levels. It also doesn’t hurt that the diary is read by another voice, with a beautiful French accent!

The reader only slowly discovers the full story of Truman’s death and all that Andi is dealing with. Despite her prickly exterior, we come to care about her deeply.

This book is amazing. The craftsmanship is astonishing, in the weaving of the two plotlines alone. If you add to the mix how much research the author must have done, it’s an incredible achievement. An interesting thing for me is that I had just seen an article on the Catacombs of Paris in National Geographic. The article talked about cataphiles who explore the tunnels and showed a picture of “The Beach,” where parties happen. The article came out after the book, just a month before I read it. But the French musician Andi meets is a cataphile, and he takes Andi to a party at The Beach in the catacombs, described exactly like the picture. I was impressed that the author took such care with contemporary details, and have no doubt she was also careful about historical details.

Hmm. Now that I’m posting this review, I don’t know where to put it. The diary is historical, but Andi’s story is contemporary. There’s a small paranormal element. It almost should be put in a class by itself as “Masterpieces.” I think I’ll put it in the “Contemporary” category, but be aware that there is much more to this book.

The whole time I was listening to this book, not only did it stick with me all day long, but I was telling everyone I worked with how incredible it was. I do recommend it in audio form, since listening to the French accent added a level of enjoyment for me. Teens and adults alike will find this book a work of art.

Buy from Amazon.com

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

ALA Annual Conference 2011 Day One

Conference Corner, Events 0

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

Conference Corner, Events 0

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!)

Review of Mitchell’s License, by Hallie Durand and Tony Fucile

Bedtime stories, Contemporary, Delightfully Silly, Good for the Very Young, Picture Book Review, Readalouds 0

Mitchell’s License

by Hallie Durand
illustrated by Tony Fucile

Candlewick Press, 2011. 40 pages.
Starred Review

Here is an absolutely perfect choice for Father’s Day for fathers of small children. How I wish the creators had written it about 15 years earlier when my son was small and nuts about anything related to cars. Now I will have to settle for reading it in storytime, but what this book really needs is a father ready to act it out. Big thanks to Twenty By Jenny for bringing this book to my attention.

The book begins telling us about a typical three-year-old, but then a twist is added that creates all the fun:

“Mitchell never ever EVER wanted to go to bed. Until his dad finally said he could drive there.

“Mitchell was three years, nine months, and five days old when he got his license.”

The picture there shows Mitchell proudly holding his “Remote-Control Dad Driver’s License.”

Mitchell drives Dad as so many children do — sitting on his shoulders and steering with the ears. They have a whole lot of fun with it, with Mitchell inspecting the tires, checking the engine, and cleaning the windshield first. There’s a delightful surprise when Mitchell starts out by driving his car right into a wall!

“The next night, Mitchell remembered to stop and look both ways.
He also learned how to beep the horn.
He liked the way it sounded . . . a lot!”

You can probably guess what the picture to go with beeping the horn looks like, but wait until you see the vigor with which Mitchell pounds on his Dad’s nose!

We get to see a few different bedtimes, with Mitchell becoming a skilled driver and adding fun riffs on the theme, like braking to avoid a collision with Mom and adding oil.

But when Mitchell comes up with a scheme to drive the car to the Gas Station (Cookie Jar), his car malfunctions, and drives him to bed.

Part of what makes this book so absolutely brilliant are the illustrations. Tony Fucile is an animator, with credits such as The Lion King and Finding Nemo, and it shows. You almost feel like you’re watching a movie as you flip through the pages, with plenty of emotion showing on the characters’ faces and plenty of motion in the characters’ actions. When I saw the picture of Mitchell’s Dad’s face after he bonked into the wall, I could almost hear a theater full of kids burst out laughing.

This book is perfect in so many ways. The artwork is not gorgeous, elaborate paintings, but it is absolutely perfect for this story. I hope it will get some Caldecott attention. I notice clever details as I read it again — like Mitchell’s pajamas each night having a car theme, and his room decorated with cars. Mom’s walking by with a laptop, and there’s a cordless phone in a docking station. This is a modern home but fully in the wonderful tradition of books-as-games along with the classic Pete’s a Pizza. Makes me wish I had a toddler to share it with, but meanwhile it brings back wonderful memories of my husband playing with our boys.

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/mitchells_license.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.

Review of Heaven Is For Real, by Todd Burpo

Christian, Nonfiction Review, Starred Review, True Stories 0

Heaven Is For Real

A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back

by Todd Burpo
with Lynn Vincent

Thomas Nelson, 2010. 163 pages.
Starred Review

I gobbled up this book in one afternoon. It’s not long, and the story it tells is truly amazing.

My first reaction was that this story would be a hard one for an atheist to explain away. However, I was quickly informed that is not the case. This concerns a little boy’s testimony. As for me, I think his way of talking about it totally rings true, but the fact that he was so young does allow skeptics to propose that he may have been swayed without realizing it.

However, if you do believe in Heaven, this book will encourage you tremendously. And anyone who has suffered a miscarriage, or lost a beloved parent will find themselves incredibly touched.

Colton first gave them a clue that something unusual had happened when they drove to the city where he almost died.

“‘Do you remember the hospital, Colton?’ Sonja asked.

“‘Yes, Mommy, I remember,’ he said. ‘That’s where the angels sang to me.'”

A little while later, they asked him more about it.

“Then he grew serious. ‘Dad, Jesus had the angels sing to me because I was so scared. They made me feel better.’

“Jesus?

“I glanced at Sonja again and saw that her mouth had dropped open. I turned back to Colton. ‘You mean Jesus was there?’

“My little boy nodded as though reporting nothing more remarkable than seeing a ladybug in the front yard. ‘Yeah, Jesus was there.’

“‘Well, where was Jesus?’

Colton looked me right in the eye. ‘I was sitting in Jesus’ lap.'”

That’s in the intro, to give you an idea of what’s in store. Then they tell about their crisis, where it looked like their four-year-old son was really going to die. Appendicitis wasn’t diagnosed correctly, and by the time a doctor at a second hospital figured it out, it should have been too late.

Colton’s father, Todd Burpo, is a pastor. But this was the latest of a series of trials, and he found himself yelling at God. “Where are you? Is this how you treat your pastors?! Is it even worth it to serve you?”

But miraculously, Colton recovered. And it was enough of a miracle that they noticed an awful lot of nurses coming to his room and just staring at him in amazement. One of them pulled his Dad aside.

“‘Mr. Burpo, I’ve worked as a nurse here for many years,’ she said. ‘I’m not supposed to tell you this, but we were told not to give your family any encouragement. They didn’t think Colton was going to make it. And when they tell us people aren’t going to make it, they don’t.'”

It wasn’t until four months later that Colton told them about hearing the angels sing.

“It was that conversation in which Colton said that he ‘went up out of’ his body, that he had spoken with angels, and had sat in Jesus’ lap. And the way we knew he wasn’t making it up was that he was able to tell us what we were doing in another part of the hospital: ‘You were in a little room by yourself praying, and Mommy was in a different room and she was praying and talking on the phone.’

“Not even Sonja had seen me in that little room, having my meltdown with God.”

They continue to ask Colton about his experiences, trying not to ask leading questions. They found out things from a child’s perspective that matched what they would expect from the Bible.

Some of the things he said were very striking. I loved this one:

“Suddenly, he piped up again. ‘Daddy, remember when I yelled for you in the hospital when I waked up?’

“How could I forget? It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. ‘Of course I do,’ I said.

“‘Well, the reason I was yelling was that Jesus came to get me. He said I had to go back because he was answering your prayer. That’s how come I was yelling for you.’

“Suddenly, my knees felt weak underneath me. I flashed back to my prayers alone, raging at God, and my prayers in the waiting room, quiet and desperate. I remembered how scared I was, agonizing over whether Colton would hang on through the surgery, whether he’d live long enough for me to see his precious face again. Those were the longest, darkest ninety minutes of my life.

“And Jesus answered my prayer? Personally? After I had yelled at God, chastising him, questioning his wisdom and his faithfulness?”

Later Colton had more bombshells for them. He talked about meeting his sister — the child he’d never known about, who had miscarried. He claimed to have met her in heaven. He also spent time talking with his Dad’s father, Pop, whom he had also never met on earth. He didn’t recognize a picture of Pop as an old man — but then later he spotted a picture of Pop young and newly married — and Colton knew him right away!

I also love the way he tells his Dad the pastor that the Holy Spirit “shoots down power for you when you’re talking in church.” He says the Holy Spirit showed him, that Colton got to watch the Holy Spirit “shooting down power.”

But I think my personal favorite of all the things Colton says is when he’s describing God’s throne:

“‘It was big, Dad . . . really, really big, because God is the biggest one there is. And he really, really loves us, Dad. You can’t belieeeeve how much he loves us!'”

Read this book to be encouraged and inspired. At the end of the book, Colton sums up what he wants to tell people:

“I want them to know that heaven is for real.”

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Nonfiction/heaven_is_for_real.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.