Hey Winner, Winner, Winner!

I’m the one who cheers while watching the ALA Youth Media Awards streamed live...being in the room live, I might actually get kicked out. I am not an audience of one at work, I’m fortunate enough that several people I work with actually find the announcements worthy of watching. I realized that these awards are my World Series or Super Bowl (I’m more the vocal fan and not quite Academy Awards type of fan).

I’m also the one who shouted “Oh, no one called this one!” when Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (grades 4-7) won the Newbery medal. I’m also the one who was a bit dumbfounded when A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead (grades P-1) won the Caldecott. I read through the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Winner and Caldecott Honor Dave the Potter by Laban Carrick Hill and saw the beauty in the art that Dave created. I wasn’t surprised that One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia-Williams (grades 5-8) won the Coretta Scott King Author Award and Newbery Honor. In fact, I was so sure it was going to win some type of award that I read it the weekend before the announcements to truly see what all the buzz was about.

I was super happy to see that Bink and Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee (grades K-2) won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award. I also loved that Kakapo Rescue by Sy Montgomery won the Robert F. Sibert Nonfiction Award. It’s from one of the best nonfiction series out there for upper elementary and middle school, Scientists in the Field.

As soon as the books were announced I went to my libraries website and put them on hold. I’m proud to say that I managed to be the first person to have almost every book on hold—minus Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein (grades P-1).

I managed to pull together an ALA awards presentation at work for the individuals who are directly helping customers. That was fun; I loved getting to either browse through books or read them. I will also have two articles featured in my company’s e-newsletter, Booksource Banter—one is a review on One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia-Williams and the other is about how the ALA Youth Media Awards are picked.

DiCamillo, K. &. (2010). Bink and Gollie. Somerville, MA.: Candlewick.

Garcia-Williams, R. (2010). One crazy summer. New York, NY: Amistad.

Hill, L. (2010). Dave the potter. New York, NY: Little, Brown.

Montgomery, S. (2010). Kakapo rescue. Boston, MA.: Houghton Mifflin.

Stead, P. (2010). A Sick day for Amos McGhee. New York, NY: Roaring Brook.

Stein, D. (2010). Interrupting chicken. Somerville, MA.: Candlewick.

Vanderpool, C. (2010). Moon over manifest. New York, NY: Delacorte Books.

I Wait With Bated Breath…

There are those who look forward to the Academy Awards…those who look forward to the Grammy’s or the Emmy’s…I can’t wait to hear the ALA Awards! That’s right, I want to hear what book won the Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, and Michael Printz Awards. Every year, I dream of attending the ALA Midwinter conference, to stand there in the same room as the awards are announced live (I can just see it now…). But, I settle for watching the live video feed on the internet.

It’s actually quite humorous…one minute you might hear me whispering under my breath, “Please, oh please, oh please…” and the next, I’m giggling like a little school girl or shouting “Yes!” because a book I loved won or at least got honors. Then, there are the moments, where I’m stunned—“why, this book wasn’t on anyone’s radar!”

See, the thing about the ALA awards, is that there are no shortlists ahead of time for the Newbery or Caldecott…it’s a complete guessing game up till they announce the titles. Titles are picked for quality, even if the quality of the writing or illustrations would never catch the attention of their intended audience (and by that, I mean kids)…artistic merit trumps popularity. This might come as a shock to people, but it’s true—as the “motto” for both awards revolve around being a distinguished contribution to American literature and picturebook for children.

I hope that the Newbery award (or at least, an honor) go to either Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper or One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia-Williams.

I hope that the Caldecott award (or at least, an honor) go to either Art & Max by David Wiesner (this is humorous in its own right, seeing as just two years ago I said I wished he’d stop winning the award) or Ubiquitous by Joyce Sidman (I've heard inklings for Dark Emperor too).

Coming soon…my take on the award winners…waiting till next Sunday just won’t due!