Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

Lynn: In December it was my great pleasure to meet Paula Young Shelton during her book tour through Ann Arbor. Mrs. Shelton, a first grade teacher in Washington, D.C., talked about the Civil Rights History unit she taught each year and the difficulty in finding materials appropriate for her young students. Every year she told stories about her childhood experiences and the idea of writing these down grew into reality. The daughter of Andrew Young, Mrs. Shelton grew up in the heart of the Civil Rights Movement and there is no one better suited to write about this complex issue for children. Child of the Civil Rights Movement (Random/Schwartz & Wade, 2009) is told from her perspective as a 4-year-old when her family moved from New York to Atlanta where her father joined Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy and the other brave souls fighting for equal rights. Using evocative free verse, Mrs. Shelton describes Jim Crow laws and her first -hand experience of discrimination with well chosen examples and simple language that make this difficult subject understandable. Child-centered examples include the meetings around the dining room table “where the macaroni and cheese seemed to come from a magic pot,” and Paula’s own first sit-down protest when a restaurant refused service to her family. She movingly describes the “family of the civil rights movement”

Close because our mothers worried together.

Close because we all struggled together.

Close because we were brought together

For a common goal,

for a common good.

Warmly illustrated by Raul Colon, the book ends with the stirring story of the March to Montgomery with the young Paula being carried by her mother and the passing of the Voting Rights Act. Our focus group was fascinated by this book, astonished at the injustice and very indignant. Throw out your textbooks and buy this wonderful book for every first and second grade classroom!

Cindy: Raul Colon’s distinctive illustrations are perfect for this memoir. The layered watercolor, colored pencil, and lead pencil drawings, sometimes in sepia tones but always muted, add a softness to this remembered history, suitable for its young audience. The painting of “Uncle Martin” Luther King, Jr. in his bathing suit and tee-shirt ready to help Paula into an Atlanta coloreds-only YMCA pool is a view of him I’d not seen before. Young readers might not make the connection between “Uncle Martin” and “Aunt Coretta” and “Uncle Ralph” to their famous namesakes but a short biography of each of the Civil Rights Leaders mentioned is appended and will give adults concise information to share with questioning children.

Cindy and Lynn: At the ALA Midwinter Meetings the American Association for School Librarians board voted to change our official name from “School Library Media Specialist” to “School Librarian.” We think it’s about time they caught up with us. We don’t have to worry about reprinting our business cards because we never changed our title. We understand the desire to have a sexy new name each time a new media or service is introduced to library services, but we are glad to pass, thanks. “Media Specialist” always left us cold. A wise mentor librarian once told us, “Kids don’t go to the public media center, or graduate to research in a college media center. People know what libraries are.” Now, maybe they don’t know what “librarians” are or what we really do, but the name is a lot more clear than “media specialist” and educating people has more to do with the impact we make every day than with the title on our desk plaque.

Back at New Year’s we tweeted about the 2010 Banished Words List published by the Lake Superior State University. In 2000, Cindy’s submission of “cybrarian” made the banished list:

Proud librarian Cindy Dobrez of Grand Haven, Mich., said she can’t understand why librarians need to rename themselves every time a new information resource becomes available. “Add a few filmstrip kits to a library and all of a sudden you must be a ‘media specialist.’ Now, with the Internet, some feel the need to be called ‘cybrarians.’ Librarians help people find and use information in whatever format it is delivered.”

We understand that school librarians do much, much more than most users or bosses ever comprehend no matter what our associations decide to call us. Our concerns lie with the educational and economic decisions that are being made across the country resulting in dwindling numbers of us, whatever you want to call us.

Cindy: Young teens who feel no one understands them will be a natural audience for Out of My Mind (Atheneum, Mar. 2010). Melody is a fifth grader who loves words but has never spoken any.  She has cerebral palsy and cannot dress or feed herself or communicate more than some basic needs with facial expressions and vague gestures.

“Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes–
each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.”

People with handicaps and disabilities often face prejudice and ridicule, and sometimes just plain ignorance. Melody is no exception and the hurt she endures from classmates and even adults in her life will move Draper’s readers and may give them pause about their own actions, but Melody has been taught by smart parents and caregivers to believe in herself. She is loved and valued. When she finally obtains a means to communicate and can tell her parents she loves them back, well, any price would be worth that moment. Her new communication skills allow her to show everyone just how smart she is (she even competes to earn a slot on her school’s quiz bowl team) and to stand up better to her tormentors. A letter from the author in the advanced reviewer copy indicates that she has experience raising a daughter with cerebral palsy and draws on that knowledge to create her unique character of Melody. While this book provides another view of cerebral palsy different from Terry Trueman’s Printz-Honor book Stuck in Neutral, it’s probably a better read-alike for fans of the Newbery-Honor book Rules by Cynthia Lord. I’ve already been recommending this to my teachers for a read-aloud choice and I can’t wait to discuss it with our teen book club.

Lynn: If you like your poetry served up with a smile, this is a book for you. The cover of A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk (S&S/Margaret McElderry 2009) pulled us in immediately as the boys and I had to see where that skunk was going. We sampled one poem and then another, led on by the fun poetry and Joan Rankin’s wonderful watercolor illustrations and were at the end before we knew it. Animals are a big draw with my grandsons and these clever poems are perfectly child-centered. What first grader hasn’t traced his hand to draw a picture of a turkey? The poem from the insulted turkey made us all laugh. Our favorite has to be Toad’s Lunch - a poem perfectly designed to elicit a chorus of “Yuck” and “Ewww” from readers. High praise indeed!

Cindy: Most of the poems are funny–like the one about the busy squirrels who deserve a lah-di-dah spa just for them with “pedicures for all four feet.” But some are quiet and serious, making the reader pause to contemplate the regal animal and the peace that can be found in nature. All of the poems, silly or not, provide interesting details about the animals’ habits and habitat. Throughout the book, the flora and fauna are being respectfully observed by children of all colors…a nice touch.

Head over to Wild About Nature for this week’s Nonfiction Monday children’s book blog round-up! They even have a book give-away contest today! Free books? Did someone say Free BOOKS?

West Ottawa Public School's BBYA Teen Group, Holland, Mich.

Cindy: At the end of each publishing year and after the announcement of YALSA’s BBYA list and the Printz, Newbery and other awards, we purge our temporary BBYA collection and give the advanced reader copies away to our hard working teen BBYA book club members as a reward for sharing their opinions and their enthusiasm with us. Last year, they rushed the cart and we were afraid someone would be hurt: the all-in-good-fun carnage can be seen here. This year, we spread things out across a large area of tables but there was still chance of injury as the favorite books were dove on and fought over. Before we left for Boston we asked the teens which book was their favorite of the year, not necessarily what they thought would win a big award, but which book they enjoyed the most. We have a lot of members, but here are some of the responses (if more than one teen listed the book, the number of votes is in parentheses):

Catching Fire (9) by Suzanne Collins, The Last Olympian (6) by Rick Riordan, Fire (4) by Kristin Cashore, Swim the Fly (3) by Don Calame, Marcelo in the Real World (2) by Francisco X. Stork, The Silver Phoenix (2) by Cindy Pon, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Charles & Emma by Deborah Heiligman, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede, The Giant Slayer by Iain Lawrence, The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner, and Stitches by David Small.

There is one other favorite and a threat from a teen: The Likely Story series by David VanEtten. Quoting Amanda, the high school senior who won’t accept my news that Random House does not plan to continue the series, she selected as her favorite read of the year “all three Likely Stories books smooshed together in one fantastic read. I want book 4 and will kill to get it.” Random House, you’ve been warned. She had back-up from other girls.

Lynn: Our teens aren’t the only ones who get excited about free books. Cindy and I dragged home some wonderful arcs from Midwinter and we are already nose deep in some of these great books. Here are just a few of what we have added to our to-read stacks. We hope to blog about most of these soon. Stay tuned for some wonderful new picture books too. The titles are in no particular order.

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Agency: Book One: A Spy in the House

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork

My Life with the Lincolns by Gayle Brandeis

Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman

Sir Charlie: Chaplin, the Funniest Man in the World by Sid Fleischman

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

I can’t close without mentioning a nonfiction book that the whole conference was buzzing about. Take a look at the cover of Susan Campbell Bartoletti’s upcoming book, They Called Themselves the KKK, and tell me you don’t want to read it instantly!

Cindy: While strolling the ALA exhibits last week we were in the Penguin booth and Lynn noticed a poster about John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series. She loves the series and said, “Oh, there’s a series I’m all caught up on. I’ve read all six.” We picked up a few galleys they had out on the table and moved out into the aisle to talk to some colleagues. While she was gabbing, I turned back around and realized that the galley stacks had been refreshed. It’s a character flaw, I know, but it was with some perverse pleasure that I handed Lynn book 7, Erak’s Ransom (Penguin/Philomel, 2010), and said, “Not so fast, Lynn, you’re not caught up after all.” In defense of my buddy, though, I should fess up that she is WAY ahead of me. This series is so popular with my middle school students hand selling it to each other that I haven’t even read the first one. Shame on me.

Lynn: See what happens the minute I get a little smug? I’m glad Cindy found this though. I’ve really enjoyed the series and was excited to see a new one. I knew once our teens discovered this it would be constantly checked out, so I read it straightaway. (It makes a good excuse, don’t you think?) This is book 7 but chronologically it comes between books 4 and 5, filling in a time gap right before Will earns his Silver Oakleaf as a graduate Ranger.

Two of my favorite characters, Erak and Svengal are involved here. Erak has already grown restless with all the administrative chores an Oberjarl must handle and he sneaks off with his crew on one more raid to the desert land of the Arridis. The Arridis are waiting, in force, and capture the Skandians, sending Svengal home with a demand for a huge ransom for Erak. Suspecting treachery, Svengal goes instead to King Duncan asking for help and once again the Rangers spring into action.

This was a fun read with lots of action, intrigue, danger all laced with clever banter. The desert setting offers new challenges but Will, Halt, Evanlyn and the whole intrepid cast triumph in style. And Cindy - NOW I’m all caught up!

Cindy and Lynn: At the ALA Midwinter Meetings in Boston the YALSA Board voted unanimously to adopt the changes to the Best Books for Young Adults Committee that eliminate adult books, graphic novels, and nonfiction from the BBYA committee. YALSA has posted an FAQ page to help answer some of the questions that we and others raised as we learned of the proposal on the table. The recent increased efforts from the YALSA Board to communicate with the committees at stake and the membership at large and to encourage feedback are appreciated. We are sending some of our questions and concerns to the Board as requested and encourage others to do the same. We are thankful for our readers who are interested enough in teen reading to have taken the time to post comments both pro and con on Bookends and elsewhere. Healthy dialogue is important in the change process.

Here are some of our questions:

Many important changes will have to be made to the charge and procedures of the Alex, Great Graphic Novels, the NF award and to BBYA itself. Can a draft of those changes be made available to the YALSA membership and a forum provided for suggestions and comments? Members who have experience on award and selection committees especially may be able to provide helpful insight into the impact of potential changes to committee operations.

In order for the existing committees to begin their work in a timely fashion, operational changes will have to be made quickly. Questions are sure to arise that haven’t been anticipated as the revised committees begin this year’s work. How will these be dealt with? Has the Board considered establishing a small committee of people experienced in selection/award committee work to receive procedural questions and make recommendations for solutions?

Poetry is another genre that needs clarification in the selection and award list policies and procedures. Verse novels fit nicely with a fiction selection committee; other titles of poetry might be better suited to the nonfiction award. Consider A Wreath for Emmett Till (a Printz Honor biography/elegy), The Surrender Tree (a Newbery Honor slice of Cuban history), or Heart to Heart (a Printz Honor art and poetry collection). Guidelines for the chairs on vetting eligibility of poetry titles need to be developed.

There has been much discussion about the Nonfiction Award nomination list that is to be released after the Award is announced in January. The YALSA FAQ’s state that this will be a “vetted list.” We feel there has been some confusion about the definition of “vetted” and we’d like to clarify our definition and our reasoning. For us, a vetted list is a list of books that have not only been nominated and discussed but have also been specifically chosen for the published list. For example, on BBYA, nominated titles are discussed and voted upon. One member nominates a title but after reading and discussion by the entire committee, some books are found to have errors or problems and do not receive support for inclusion on the list. A vetted NF list might have some nominated books removed before publication due to errors or problems that are found through the committee deliberation process. A vetted list is valuable to users of the lists as they have assurance that books appearing on a list are of high quality. We hope that if this proposal becomes permanent, that the published NF nomination list will meet this definition.

Cindy: Hey, Lynn! I’ve been reading that sample Kiki magazine we picked up at the ALA exhibits and I’m so impressed. This looks like a great addition to my middle school fashion magazines for the girls who aren’t ready for or interested in the more mature offerings. Have you had a chance to look at it yet?

Lynn: Yes - and I really like it! It’s such nice change from so many of the magazines which deal with some really mature issues like “should I have sex on my prom night ?” YIKES!

Cindy: Agreed. Obviously Kiki is geared to a younger audience than some of those journals but I like the focus on fashion and art without the boy obsession. And the pages feature girls of varying ethnicity and body size and none are wearing make up.

Lynn: This issue has a nice page on “Having a Bad Hair Day?” with tips and stories on hair disasters and some great articles on Vintage Fashion. Did you see the article on the Hidden Treasure Hunt: Finding Your Style and Bagging a Bargain? I love the focus that supports individuality and practicality. Nice to see a fashion shoot that includes affordable clothes!

Cindy: Yes, I love the vintage clothing tips and how all of the features tie into the retro theme of this Fall 2009 issue. The cover with the Route 66 sign caught my eye since I’ve been driving my mother home along that quirky historic route the past two years. I’ve climbed inside the Blue Whale in Catoosa, spray painted my name on a car at the Cadillac Ranch and eaten at The Big Texan in Amarillo. Kiki gives some good tips for getting your kicks on a fun road trip. But even if you can’t leave the house, there’s plenty to do with the sewing projects, art pages, recipes, and contests.

Lynn: That adorable dress made out of T-shirts looks so easy that I think even I could make it. What am I saying? I’m much more likely to track down the cool vintage clothing store that includes a library of fashion and textiles. The articles really are wonderful and interesting to a wide age range. I’d like to subscribe to this myself. Did you see the book reviews? It says there are more available on the website too.

Cindy: Yes, any magazine that reviews Neil Gaiman books has my vote. The journal publishes quarterly and I see on the Kiki website that the next issue has a movie theme. Can’t wait.

Lynn: This magazine was a great find. I can’t quit without mentioning the article titled, Numb Thumb: The Dangers of Texting. HA! One more reason to avoid taking up texting

Thanks to Playing By the Book for hosting this week’s Nonfiction Monday blog round-up!

Cindy: All week I’ve been reading sad library news about the cuts coming down in the state of Michigan as our districts are looking to balance their budgets in the face of mid-year drastic cuts. Post after post talks of librarians being eliminated entirely from districts and replaced with volunteers or a single librarian serving K-12 or clerks holding down the fort alone. This after several years of cuts that have already been decimating our state’s school libraries, including the loss of Lynn’s position three years ago. These announcements have typically come in May as districts prepare the next year’s budgets, but this year the bad news is flooding in early and the losses have already taken effect or will be coming very soon.

We recently discovered That Book Woman by Heather Henson (Atheneum, 2008) and scheduled to blog it after our return from ALA when we would be feeling like the pack mule librarians of Kentucky hauling home our new supply of upcoming titles in the form of galleys. We also planned to tie in the illustrator, David Small, who we were sure would win a YALSA ALEX Award (he did–YAY!) Instead, this week’s news makes me focus on the women who risked so much to bring literacy, information and entertainment to patrons far from library buildings–some who didn’t even know at first that they desired to become patrons.

Yesterday I had a teen come to me clutching a library copy of Cut by Patricia McCormick asking how she could own it and the desperation in her eyes was clear even before, shaking, she whispered, “I think it’s helping me.” I know that librarians make a difference every day in helping to teach information literacy skills, in supplementing curriculum and advising teachers on ways to improve assignments and instruction, and in performing readers’ advisory, but… BUT. I wish the superintendents and the politicians and the number-crunchers could look into the eyes of a girl like that and tell her that there will no longer be a librarian to help her. There are kids in every school that need librarians. It is not a “cut” we can afford.

Lynn: We librarians love books about readers and the people who connect readers to books. Of course I couldn’t help but be moved by this story of a boy who changed his mind about “chicken scratch” and became a reader due to the selfless work of a Book Woman. Henson’s text and David Small’s evocative illustrations perfectly convey the spirits of that resentful boy and his little sister, “the readenest child you ever did see.” Modern day Book People aren’t paid in berries and recipes but they are still rewarded by knowing that they too have helped connect readers to books. In these dark days for school librarians and libraries, I am struggling to understand how to convey the critical importance of what we do. The love of reading isn’t assessed on a standardized test nor is the world-shaking power of finding just the right book for the right child. You can’t chart the spellbound silence of a class at a story hour. I could go on and on but the only place these things are measured are in hearts and minds.

I can only add my plea to Cindy’s and hope that legislators, administrators and tax payers will find a way to allow school librarians to serve children and spark the immeasurable power of reading.

Cindy and Lynn: We’re just home from the ALA Midwinter Meetings in Boston and will be back to posting about book titles soon. We picked up many fabulous Spring 2010 advance reader copies and as soon as we get some sleep and unpack we’ll begin prioritizing our reading. Our editors reminded Cindy that her priorities should include getting her Booklist journal reviews in on time. Um, yeah. Good idea.