Peek Inside the Crystal Ball

A fortune teller once told me that I would be a librarian one day. Upon hearing this, my mother snarkily responded that the lady with the crystal ball wasn't prescient, but had made an educated guess based on my nerdish attire.

Hmph.

Obviously, my mother has no sense of just how hip today's librarians are.

But I do. And librarians are the kind of crowd I choose to run with all day this Saturday at the OLA/WLA Mock Newbery Workshop.

Current Newbery Committee members Katie O'Dell, Steven Engelfried, and Sarah French will educate us about the award criteria, the selection process, and, perhaps, what it feels like to influence a world of young readers. Oh, the power they wield! 

Then we'll break into small groups to discuss the books, and pretend that we are the power players when we vote for 2009's most distinguished work of American literature for children. I love to role play. I wonder if we will accurately predict the future award winners.

Below is the selection of books we'll be discussing. We're definitely in for some good reads.  But I feel like getting ahead of the game and issuing my prediction:

When You Reach Me (Gold)
Heart of a Shepherd (Silver)
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (Silver)

What do you forsee? If you have any predictions for Newbery (or Caldecott) medal winners, post them here, soothsayers!

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone

Heart of a Shepherd by Rosanne Parry

 The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo

 

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman

 

A Season of Gifts by Richard Peck

 

 

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin

 

King of YA at ACP this Thursday!

Ever read Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist? Ever see it? It was co-authored by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Many of you know that David is a YA king. From his authorial debut with Boy meets Boy (Knopf, 2003) to the anthologies he edits, Levithan gives readers an "honest dose of reality". Editorial director at Scholastic, and founding editor of the PUSH imprint, which is dedicated to publishing new voices and new authors in teen literature. Yep- he's a YA king.

This Thursday at 4pm at A Children's Place, David will be reading from his newest book Love is the Higher Law (Knopf, 2009). Levithan chronicles the lives of three teens whose paths are intertwined and forever changed by the horrors of 9/11 in NYC. It's been 8 years. I think I'm ready to read this now.

Move over, vampires!

If you're into compelling tales of supernatural desire, don't limit yourself to vampires. They're so yesterday, anyway. I've got a tip for you: head on over to Powell's on Hawthorne at 7:30 tonight and pick up a copy of Laini Taylor's and Jim DiBartolo's Lips Touch Three Times (Arthur A. Levine, 2009). As an added incentive, they'll be there, happy to sign any and all book purchases.

The blue-eyed mysterious beauty on the cover will mesmerize you. Check out this book trailer if you don't believe me.



If there's any way I can get out of doing the tuck-in tonight, I'll be there.