Prizes, Awards, Great Stuff

Hey guys, forgive me for not posting for a while. It's not because I haven't been reading, it's because things have just been so busy at the library. I wanted to quickly give a shout-out to all the winners of the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards. Perhaps better known to you as the Newbery and the Caldecott. But there are many more awards given each year as well, such as the Coretta Scott King Award "Given to African American authors and illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream" according the the ALA website. There is also the distinguished Pura Belpre Award "honors a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose works best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth." And perhaps my favorite, the Printz award, given for outstanding young adult literature.
So who are our big winners? The Caldecott goes to... The House in the Night illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson.
The Newbery Winner is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The honor books are also wonderful this year-- The Underneath by Kathi Appelt and Savvy by Ingrid Law were personal favorites of mine. We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson has some of the most beautiful artwork I have ever seen in a book. All of the Printz winners and honor books were so great that I can't even pick one to highlight, they should all be read!
Come in and check out all the award winners and honor books at the library!

Mia's Favorite Book of 2008

I am sitting down to write this recommendation, still a little speechless after finishing Tender Morsels. I know for sure that it was my favorite thing I read in 2008, and that it is a book that will stick with me for years to come...but it isn't an easy thing to read. Liga survives the first fifty pages of the book so I had to, as well, but her story was heartbreaking and filled with abuse and sorrow. Because of this survival and heartbreak, she is granted a magical intervention and finds herself living in a paralell world where everything is gentle, good, and pure. In this environment she raises her two daughters, an interesting twist on the Snow White and Rose Red fairytale. But the three women's world begins to unravel as the barriers between their home and reality start to break down. Bear-men begin to appear, some to befriend the women, and others to lure them away. This is a story that will leave you shocked but hopeful. I found myself as absorbed in Liga's world as if I, too, lived there. In Australia, where author Margo Lannagan lives, it was marketed as an adult book. But its question about good, truth, and finding your place in the world are relevant for insightful and mature teens as well as adults. I think everyone should read this book. I think it should win heaps of prizes for its language as well as its characters and themes. I think if you are looking to escape from a dreary winter day into a gripping (if disturbing at times) book, this is the one.

Mia Says To Read This Now

Every now and then I read a book so powerful I want to recommend it to everyone, teens and adults, cousins and college professors. The Knife of Never Letting Go is one of those. It is a story of a futuristic world in which a new planet has been settled, but all the women wiped out by a mysterious virus. The men were also afflicted by a virus that opened their minds so that they can hear each other’s thoughts. Not in a cool telepathy way, in an overwhelming buzz of memories and dreams and hopes and fears and daily drudgery; it is Noise. Everything in the life of Todd Hewitt changes when he one day discovers a thing so unheard of, so feared, that it sends his world into chaos—a pocket of silence in the swamp near his village. What is causing the silence, and why is it so dangerous? Discovering the answer to these questions sends Todd fleeing for his life, leaving behind everything he has ever known, with only his dog of questionable intelligence, Manchee, as a companion. This is an action-packed thriller of flight and refuge, suspense and mystery as Todd begins to unravel truths that have been kept hidden from him his whole life. Not only is it a fast-paced adventure, it is also a thought-provoking work of philosophy that raises big questions that beg to be discussed. It is a story of survival, but it is also one of the most compelling romances I have ever read. I would recommend to fans of everything from Artemis Fowl to Twilight. Please, please, please go read this book and then come talk with me about it!

P.S. It is also noteworthy that this book reveals itself to only be the first installment in the story, with a GIANT CLIFFHANGER ENDING.

I hope someone reads this blog: and other six-word works of literary genius

It may just be literary folklore, but the tale remains that someone once challenged Ernest Hemingway to write a story in only six words. He came back with "For sale:baby shoes, never worn" and some claim that he called it his best work. The fine folks at SMITH Magazine decided to take the idea one step further, and asked people to submit six-word memoirs. How would you, how COULD you, sum up your life in only six words? The results are surprising, funny, poignant, and yes, short. Many are compiled in this fine volume, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. You can also submit your own or read others added daily to the website www.sixwordmemoir.com. Ever have extra time at the library waiting to get on a computer? This book is the perfect way to spend it, and may even inspire you to write your own six word memoir.

Spooky Stories

As established in my former post about Coraline, clearly I am a big wimp when it comes to scary stories. When I was little and my brother and I would suggest that our house might be haunted, our mother's response was "Our house isn't that old, and we knew the people who lived here before us." This logic was enough to calm my wildly over-imaginitive childhood fears. All of this went out the window, though, when I moved to Scotland in college. Of course, I was much older and should have been wiser (and braver) but the thing about Scotland is that it's a really really really old place. And I didn't know the people who lived there before me. In fact, the city I lived in, Edinburgh, has a reputation for being one of the most haunted cities in the world, and with good reason: Lots of gruesome stuff happened there. Among the legendary creepy true stories of the city are the tales of graverobbers who would supply the surgeons at the medical college with bodies for anatomy study in the early 1800s. Fleshmarket by Nicola Morgan explores not only the true history behind these legends, but also raises questions about medical ethics, and shines a light on the plight of the poor people of Edinburgh in the 19th century. I loved reading this book because it was set among streets that are still there today, that I had walked on-- and in the instances when my imagination spooked me out, had run away from. If you are looking for a blend of true history and horror leading up to Halloween, look no further than Fleshmarket.

p.s. Edinburgh today is a very lovely city with lots of tea and nice people-- if this book makes you curious come talk to me more about living there!

Girl Power from Across the Pond- New Young Adult Books

Ivy by Julie Hearn
Ivy has lived her whole life in the slums of Victorian London, neglected and unloved. Yet something about Ivy compels people. It’s not just her strange beauty and bright red hair, but something deeper. Suddenly, Ivy finds herself caught up in the world of the Pre-Raphaelite artists as one of their models. Will this be Ivy’s new place in the world, or will her addiction to laudanum and secrets from her past rise up to destroy her?


Clubbing by Andi Watson Art by Josh Howard
Have you ever felt like you were stranded in the middle of nowhere? Maybe because you got a little bit arrested and your parents are sending you to live with you grandparents in the English countryside? Such is the plight of Charlotte, who finds herself transplanted from the London goth club scene to the scenic lake district, working at the golf resort owned by her grandparents and trying not to die of boredom. But she’s not the only one close to death. Suddenly Carlotte finds herself unraveling the mystery of a local suicide…or was it murder? Part of the joy of this graphic novel is the artwork, the other part is the British slang language it is written in. So don’t make me natter in your lug holes any longer- bog off to the local library and check it out!

Are you braver than a librarian?

Hello Intrepid Readers of West Springfield Library!

In honor of darkening days, crisp nights that make you feel like going to bed early and reading, and yes, Halloween, I would like to make a confession and issue a challenge. First comes the confession: I, Mia Cabana, a grown-up who does all sorts of relatively scary things like flying in airplanes, scooping gunk out of the sink drain with my bare hands, and living in Brooklyn, have been too scared to finish reading a children's book. Not just any children's book, though. A REALLY CREEPY one. I am talking about Neil Gaiman's Coraline. Now, this story isn't scary in a blood and guts kind of way, but it is eerie. It is weird. And my over-active imagination got the better of me so that I just had to put it down and stop reading. To this day, I have still never finished the story of Coraline, her secret passage, and those oh-so-shiver-inducing characters with the black button eyes.

SO! I put forth the challenge! What is Halloween about if not proving how you laugh in the face of fright? I invite you all to laugh... at me. Read Coraline. If you really want to impress me, read it in a strange place like a haunted closet or under your bed with a flashlight. Then come tell me how awesome it is, and maybe maybe Maybe I will be brave enough to finally finish reading it myself.

p.s. It has also just been published as a graphic novel. I can't decide if the pictures will make it more scary, or if what I am imagining in my head is more scary than any picture could be...I felt this way about the Dementors in the Harry Potter books/ movies, too.