Happy Year of the Ox!

I was so happy yesterday about the ALA Youth Media Awards announcements that I forgot to post a Happy Lunar New Year message. Imagine that–and me the Queen of New Year’s celebrations!

I was so excited that Neil Gaiman’s THE GRAVEYARD BOOK won the Newbery and that Kadir Nelson’s WE ARE THE SHIP won multiple prizes (Sibert Award for best nonfiction book, Coretta Scott King author award, CSK illustrator honor award) that I plum forgot. I was even more excited when I was checking out of TJ Maxx that afternoon and I noticed WATS on display. I really went nuts when I saw the price–$3.99! Yikes! $3.99 for an award-winning hardcover book! I turned to the woman behind me in line, who probably thought she was being assaulted by a book-waving insane asylum escapee, and said, “If you have any kids at home, BUY THIS BOOK! It just won multiple awards from the American Library Association.”

She politely looked at the book while I went to check out, but as I left the store with my copy, I noticed she was only purchasing her expensive designer handbag. I went to the car, deposited my purchases, and returned to the store to buy the one remaining copy. So Happy New Year to me–it was just too good to pass up, plus I’m sure it will make a good gift for someone.

The great thing about Chinese New Year is that the celebration lasts more than one day. So party on! Check out my web site for fast facts.

GRAVEYARD BOOK TAKES THE CAKE!

Neil Gaiman’s THE GRAVEYARD BOOK has just won the Newbery Award. You know I am in love with this book! Yoohoo!

This Just In (really) . . . CSK Award Winners

Okay, earlier this morning (before I had my coffee) I mistakenly posted last year’s Coretta Scott King award winners as this year’s winners. I should never use any heavy machinery (i.e., my laptop) before coffee.

Here are the real 2009 winners:

CSK John Steptoe Award for New Talent

• Illustrator Shadra Strickland for BIRD

CSK Illustrator Honor Awards

• Kadir Nelson, WE ARE THE SHIP
• Sean Qualls, BEFORE JOHN WAS A JAZZ GIANT
• Jerry Pinkney, THE MOON OVER STAR

CSK Illustrator Award

• Floyd Cooper, THE BLACKER THE BERRY

CSK Author Honor Awards

• Hope Anita Smith, KEEPING THE NIGHT WATCH
• Joyce Carol Thomas, THE BLACKER THE BERRY
• Carole Boston Weatherford, BECOMING BILLIE HOLLIDAY

CSK Author Award

• Kadir Nelson, WE ARE THE SHIP: THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL

Nelson also won the Sibert Award for best NF book. Yay!

The Kindness of Strangers Rewarded

The Oscar nominations always bring a lot of buzz. But in my family, yesterday’s announcement brought a moment reminiscent of the movie ELF when Will Ferrell’s character got excited about the department store Santa: “I KNOW HIM!”

Indeed, we knew TWO people nominated for Oscars, or I should say we at home knew of them. It is my son A in Los Angeles who actually knows them.

And how would a 24-year-old aspiring screenwriter/director know TWO Academy Award nominees? When A was in college, his senior project was a short movie he wrote and directed. And being A, he wanted real professionals. Imagine a 21-year-old kid writing Meryl Streep to be in his movie. Or David Strathairn. My son did. And they wrote back nice notes, but declined.

But one of the other people he had on his *A* list was Melissa Leo. She accepted and they became friends. Another person who agreed to work with him was Tom Stern, cinematographer on many Clint Eastwood movies. Many other professionals, whose names you’d recognize, agreed to work with him. I was amazed that people would help out a senior in college make a 20-minute short.

But they did. And yesterday I’d like to think that the kindness of two of those strangers has been rewarded. Melissa was nominated for Best Actress for FROZEN RIVER; Tom was nominated for Cinematography for CHANGELING.
These two have been *in the biz* for a long time. You hear a lot about cut throats and ego maniacs in  Hollywood, but these folks were more like my fellow children’s writers to me: sharing, nurturing, and collaborative.

I don’t know if they’ll win, but in my family, they’re winners already.

Agent and Winners Revealed

The winners in Miss Snark’s latest Secret Agent Contest were revealed today. Take a look–it’s interesting to read the winners and runners-up first 250 words and the agent’s critiques,  plus the secret agent’s identity is revealed.

A Real Victory for Children’s Writers

I originally composed this post on the day after the November 4th election, but took it down when I decided to write an essay to submit to the New York Times op-ed page with a similar message. Well, needless to say, I am a nobody so my essay never made the light of day. I think the issue I raised is appropriate to reflect on, however, on this MLK Day and Inauguration Eve.

When I worked in an office, one of my rules was to not discuss politics at work. I figured I had to live with these people and getting into a tiff over politics would not serve having a happy workplace.

And now that I work from home, my rule has been to not discuss politics in my blogs. But today I’m going to break that rule because I think it’s important for people to know why Barack Obama’s victory is a victory for children’s writers.

Fiction writers observe the world and put it to paper. That’s it. We don’t make the world they way it is. It is what it is. We create characters and settings from what we see.

For years, editors have been rejecting manuscripts when we’ve shown stable African American families in middle class situations because they’ve said the characters weren’t true. They didn’t “talk black.” I’ve had this said to me, as have other writers of all races. It didn’t matter that I was an African American from a home of college educated parents with regular jobs and that I knew throngs of other people who were just like me. Editors couldn’t get past the image they saw on the nightly news. Black people lived in the hood, talked gangsta, and were baby daddies. I know all editors didn’t get blinded by this stereotype, but if it happened just one time it would have been one too many. Editors have immense power when it comes to what our children read.

So maybe now, when children’s authors submit books that reflect the diversity of the minority experience, editors won’t tell them that the characters they’ve written aren’t authentic. Maybe people will see, finally, that we are not all the same. Some us live in McMansions, some us live in six flats in the inner city, some of us live in lakefront condos.  Some us take the train to work, some of us ride our bikes, some of us drive Jags. Some of us didn’t finish high school, some us finished college, some of us have PhD’s. Some of us work blue collar jobs, some of us work in an office, and one of us will work in the White House. It’s the world the way it is, pure and simple.

Barak Obama is not alone in being an educated and well-spoken black man with a good-looking family. I hope his election will make people–and editors–open their eyes and their hearts and see their country is not filled with caricatures, but with real people–real Americans who deserve to be portrayed honestly.

End of soap box.

Checking In on the New Year

Since we’re more than two weeks into the new year, I thought now might be a good time to check on how everyone is doing on living an excuse-free life in 2009. Did it help to write your excuses down? Do you catch yourself when you self-handicap yourself?

Mom at Christmas Dinner. She's 91--yes, 91!

My call for an excuse-free year has put me to the ultimate test–my mom fell last weekend and has been in the hospital since. She didn’t break anything, but being on the floor for over 24 hours can have drastic results for seniors (muscle enzymes going beserk, kidney failure and such) and they wanted to make sure they addressed everything. To keep my writing on tract I was trying to work out some plot points in my novel in my head and work on my nonfiction project, but I wasn’t sure I was getting anywhere. So at the end of the week I decided reading some writing books might help inspire me.

I downloaded A Broom of One’s Own: Words on Writing, Housecleaning, and Life by Nancy Peacock for my Sony Reader. Jane H. on our SCBWI-IL list serv had recommended it and it sounded interesting. When I started reading it in the hospital, I realized it was perfect for avoiding a year of excuses. Peacock’s day job is a housecleaner, a job which you’d think would not coexist with writing. But Peacock established her own routine to achieve a writing life while still supporting herself with outside work–she has two published novels so it can be done.

I am certain I am at the crossroads of becoming more hands-on in my mother’s care so it’s timely that I made this a year of no-excuses–I simply can’t excuse myself from writing. I’m going to have to work out a new routine. We’ll see what it turns out to be.

The Trouble with Big Kid’s Lit

Garrison Keillor’s weekly column in today’s Chicago Tribune (yes, Virginia, there is still a Chicago Tribune) looks at why more Americans don’t read fiction. A recent report said that an increased number of adults were reading fiction (just over 50%), but of course this is still down from the 1980s when almost 57% of adults read fiction. Why? Garrison explains as only he can. Check it out for a smile.

P.S. I found it odd that I couldn’t find an article covering the study on reading in the Chicago Tribune, hence the link to the NY Times, where I read about it. (Okay, enough talk about the CT. I’ve stopped smiling.)

Stinky Cheese Man Opens Sweet Center

Jon Sciezska will be in River Forest, Illinois, on Saturday, January 10, 2009 to open the new Butler Children’s Literature Center at Dominican University. It’s a private affair and I didn’t get invited (I guess that alumni donation my husband made wasn’t quite big enough to put us on the list!). The center will be a collection of the best of children’s literature from around the world and will provide resources for librarians, educators and parents (and writers, I’m sure).

The Evolution of a Bestseller

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!

I get genuinely excited when I see new books by my friends, and today I got really excited. (I’m kinda like a book groupie.)

In the January WIRED magazine, there’s a round-up of upcoming books celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. And right smack dab in the middle of 1,000-page books from Harvard Press and other adult-type books, is friend Alice McGinty’s book Darwin. Yay! Here’s what Zelda Roland had to say about Alice’s book for 6 to 9 year olds:

“Darwin is a surprisingly sophisticated biography, incorporating verbatim excerpts from the naturalist’s own letters and diaries.

WHY CHARLIE WOULD LIKE IT: It’s a concise, compelling children’s introduction to a tricky and difficult subject. With meticulous source notes and an extensive bibliography, this is no Everyone Poops.”

Whoa! She gave the book a rating of 7 out of 10 (the ratings icons are evolutionary men). This is just the beginning of great reviews for Alice’s work, which isn’t out until April. Alice is the author of over 40 books, is a great writer and teacher, and I can’t wait to see this!!

And I almost forgot to mention that the book was illustrated by Mary Azarian, winner of the Caldecott Medal for Snowflake Bentley, which I love.

The inclusion of Alice’s picture book in this list of heavyweights is part of the emerging recognition by the world outside of kid lit for the excellence of children’s literature. Thank goodness people are starting to pay attention.