ALA Youth Media Awards 2015: My Heart is So Full

Last night I returned home from the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. The past few years I have watched the live webcast of the Youth Media Awards, but when I found out that this year's Midwinter would be in Chicago, a mere 4 hour drive from my house, I knew that I had to attend. Even watching the webcast the past two years, I could feel the energy and excitement in the room when the awards were announced, and wanted to feel that for myself.

This year I felt it in spades. Screams, shrieks, tears, and standing ovations were the order of the day. The outcry for more diversity in children's publishing earlier this year with #WeNeedDiverseBooks felt like a call to action, and I'm happy to see that the award committees this year responded.

I was elated that I had read so many of this year's award-winners and so I wanted to share a few of my reactions and thoughts, starting with the Coretta Scott King Award.


Jason Reynolds' debut novel, When I Was the Greatest, won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent and it most certainly felt like a coronation. With the passing of Walter Dean Myers last summer, one gets the sense that Reynolds just became Myers' heir apparent. I have talked, written, and fangirled over this book many times in the past few weeks. I am happy to see that publishers are finally recognizing the need to publish books like this one that show positive, counter-narrative portrayals of contemporary African American teens. I would have loved to see When I Was the Greatest also win a Schneider Family Book Award due to the fact that one of the major characters, Needles, has Tourette Syndrome and is not treated any differently (other than by his brother) because of it, but I'm elated that it was recognized by the CSK committee.

Christopher Myers won the CSK illustrator award for Firebird, written my Misty Copeland. I agree whole-heartedly with this selection. Books often make me emotional, but very rarely do I begin to tear up on page one of a picture book. That is, until I read Firebird. It wasn't just the words that moved me, but seeing them paired with Christopher Myers' emotional, sweeping illustrations that made it a perfect storm of "ways to make Beth cry." 

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon won a CSK author honor and it is one of the most timely books to hit store shelves in 2014. When a black teen gets shot by a white man, accounts of "how it went down" are so disparate and divisive that it's no wonder the "real" truth is never revealed by the end of the novel. This is a book that will elicit much-needed dialogue and will challenge our own prejudices. 


Some thoughts on the Printz Award/Honors
 
I didn't actually read the winner of the Printz Award, I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, but with all the buzz I've been hearing about it leading up to it being announced as the winner, I'm definitely looking forward to reading it now. 

I was elated that Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle won a Printz Honor. This is one of the most innovative, groundbreaking, totally WTF book I have ever read. So much so that I didn't even bother to review it because I didn't think I could fully summarize the book's premise and my feelings about it. So I've spent a great deal of time since I read it in March quoting what other people have said about it. So to quote what Paula Willey wrote yesterday from her blog, Unadulterated:  

I am glad that this Printz Committee understood that you can be Serious Enough and also Funny As Balls. On Facebook, Andrew Smith posted the news about receiving a Printz Honor for Grasshopper Jungle by saying, "finally I get a sticker that isn't a warning." 

As far as This One Summer goes, I didn't actually care for it as a story, but I loved the artwork in this graphic novel. Even though I didn't love the book, I can see why the Printz committee gave it an honor. It's a book that leaves readers scratching their heads as to what it's really about and has kind of been on people's radars, but not so much that everyone has been buzzing about it. I think the Printz committee likes picking those kinds of books.

Which leads me to the Caldecott...

 

OK, so the Caldecott committee picked SIX honor books this year, which is almost unheard of -- and I am proud to say I read each and every one of the books that were honored and awarded. But notice the first book listed here is also a PRINTZ honor. Again I say, I did not love this story, but what I DO love is that it won a flipping Printz and Caldecott honor. What does that say about what we are considering distinguished illustration for CHILDREN? I have a feeling we're going to start seeing this book on some school and library banned book lists because parents are going to assume that since it's a Caldecott honor that it's OK for young children to read. This coming-of-age story is definitely intended for more mature readers. 

Viva Frida was on my list of hopes and wishes for the Caldecott. It won a Pura Belpre illustrator award, which I was fairly certain it would, but I was REALLY hoping the Caldecott committee would add some diversity to their roster and let Yuyi Morales walk away with the medal. An honor, however, ain't too shabby. 

When The Adventures of Beekle was announced as the winner of the Caldecott medal, I shrieked joyously and then began to cry. Dan Santat's beautiful story of an imaginary friend waiting to find his person captures the vivid imagination and innocence of childhood. Beekle, along with Viva Frida were two picks from my recent hopes and wishes post for the ALA Youth Media Awards. Oh, and if The Adventures of Beekle winning a Caldecott weren't already emotional enough, I dare you not to cry when you see this video of Dan Santat's son and the first time he heard him say Beekle. 


And finally the Newbery...

It had already been an emotionally stirring, diversity-filled morning of award announcements. The Newbery committee now had a lot of pressure to get it right. Would they heed the call of more diversity in children's literature, or would it be business as usual? 

Then it was announced that there were only TWO Newbery honors this year. A murmur of disappointment pervaded the vast ballroom. And then the first honor book that was announced was El Deafo. A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor.

A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor. 

Let that sink in for a minute. 

A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor. 

I can't stop thinking about what a BIG DEAL this is. All those parents and teachers who have told their children and students that comics are bad and they aren't real reading, they can't say that anymore. This is a historic moment for the Newbery Award and for children's literature. You knew it by the fact that this book got the loudest, most raucous reaction from the crowd. People were shocked and overjoyed.

The next book to be announced as a Newbery honor was Brown Girl Dreaming. This was the book that was expected to win. And it didn't. And now the Newbery committee was probably going to pick some boring historical fiction with zero kid-appeal written by a white person. It was going to be business as usual. 

And then...

those glorious words...

"And now the winner of the John Newbery medal for this year's most distinguished contribution to American literature for children is..."

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

More screams
More tears
More hugs
Diversity wins

Even though there were only two honor books this year, the Newbery committee absolutely go it right. In recent years many had feared that the Newbery had lost its way. But the shirts the committee wore into the ceremony yesterday said "trust the process." It had been difficult for readers to do that for quite a few years. But now readers can begin to gain their confidence back. 

Kudos to you ALA award committees. You absolutely got it right. My heart is so full. 

You might have noticed that the book I had been hoping and praying would win the Newbery in fact did not win so much as an honor (it did, however, win an Odyssey honor). While my heart is a bit sad by this because I think had A Snicker of Magic been published in any other year prior to 2014, it would have likely won, it was time to answer the call for more diversity -- and not just for diversity's sake, but also because these three books as well as the diverse books selected by the other award committees ARE worthy of being called distinguished. They are loved and will be loved by children for decades to come. And now we can start to make sure that children of many different backgrounds begin to see themselves reflected in these awards. So award committees of 2016, you are on notice. Let's make sure that diversity CONTINUES to be represented in these awards every year and not just because #WeNeedDiverseBooks brought it to fever pitch in 2014. Let's make sure the 2015 award season doesn't go down in history of the one and only year of diversity in children's literature awards.

Thinking about the Newbery, Caldecott, et al.

Monday January 27th the ALA Youth Media Award winners will be announced. I don't know about you, but I certainly plan to watch the webcast.

I wanted to write a post about my predictions before the event on the off chance some of my predictions might come true. I guess I should call them more wishes than predictions since I am far from an expert in what award committees might choose.

Caldecott prediction:

Journey by Aaron Becker
Out of all my predictions, I think this book has the greatest chance of winning. It certainly has the most buzz, and I think the unusual yet familiar premise has allowed readers to embrace it so willingly.

Here is a list of other books I think have a chance:

The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline 
Locomotive by Brian Floca

Moonday by Adam Rex
The Story of Fish and Snail by Deborah Freedman

I actually have quite a lengthy list of other possibilities but I'm just going to leave it at these five.


Newbery Prediction:

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
This is the book I would most love to see win for the simple fact that I think Anne Ursu is a beautiful representative of all that is good and kind in a children's book author, and I just really want it for her.


A couple other predictions/wishes:

 Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Every Day After by Laura Golden

I could also see The Real Boy or Counting By 7s winning a Schneider Family Book Award as well.


Printz Wish/Prediction:

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys
This is my emotional favorite to win for the simple fact that I love Ruta Sepetys's writing. I was worried after her emotional powerhouse Between Shades of Gray, Out of the Easy would disappoint, but it certainly did not.

Other books I hope might win:

Reality Boy by A.S. King
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein


Coretta Scott King Predictions:

Knock Knock by Daniel Beaty, illustrated by Bryan Collier
Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson
Both of these books are beautiful enough to be Caldecott material, but I will be shocked if one or both doesn't walk away with a Coretta Scott King nod.
 

A book I have no idea what award it might win, but I still hope it will win one:
 
Bluffton by Matt Phelan
Graphic novels are tricky. I could certainly see how it could win a Caldecott award (though with such a strong field of picture books this year, I have a feeling the committee won't consider a graphic novel) but could it also be Newbery material too? I have no idea. Which is why I'm putting it down here by itself and just hoping it will win something.

Newbery Caldecott Wilder award speeches

I spent part of the morning reliving that magical night back in June known as the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder banquet. I have been waiting with bated breath since that very evening for ALSC to post the speeches on YouTube and finally, FINALLY they did it this week.

If you want to watch the program in its entirety, you can do that here:

But if you prefer to watch a particular speech, here they are separated:

Caldecott winner Jon Klassen


Newbery winner Katherine Applegate


Wilder winner Katherine Paterson

The one where Katherine Applegate wins the Newbery medal: Memories from ALA

I remember that day back in late January when I had planned to watch the live stream of the ALA Youth Media Awards with my sixth graders, but as fate would have it, we had a snow day that day. I sat there in my home office in my pajamas, all by myself, waiting for the winners to be announced. When The One and Only Ivan was announced as the winner of the Newbery award, I screamed and then I wept. Before I even tweeted my congratulations to Katherine Applegate, I immediately tweeted my friend Colby Sharp, who had ardently championed the cause for Ivan to win the Newbery with great zeal. And not only did Ivan win the Newbery, but another favorite among Nerdy Book Club friends, This Is Not My Hat, won the Caldecott award. I couldn't believe that the books that so many Nerdy Book Club members loved and  had ebulliently recommended to others had won the two most coveted awards in children's literature.



When I found out that the Newbery Caldecott banquet was to be held in Chicago this year, a mere

four hour drive from my house in Michigan, I knew I, along with many of my other Nerdy Book Club friends, just had to be there.

My whirlwind trip began on Friday when I drove into Chicago just as the Blackhawks victory celebration was dying down, so luckily the traffic wasn't too horrible. My roommate, Alyson Beecher, and I decided to head over to McCormick Place to get our registration materials and then go to the exhibit hall that was opening at 5:30. The exhibit hall was CRAZY. It was so packed that it honestly felt more like we were cattle being herded than people looking to get books.

It was  there, however, in that crowded exhibit hall, that I ran into Allison Tran, someone I have known through various online spaces for the past ten years and whom I only just met face to face at that moment. You don't even know how excited I was to finally meet her in person and to realize that she is just as sweet as she is on Twitter and Facebook.

Finally getting to meet my longtime online friend, Allison Tran

After the exhibit hall, Alyson and I took a cab to Epic, a restaurant downtown where the Walden Pond Press party was being held. It was there that I got to catch up a little bit with some more of my Nerdy Book Club friends and also meet some tweeps that I had never met in person like Kathy Burnette and Jennifer Reed. I was also able to talk to Allison more since she was also at the party. Thanks Kellie Celia for hosting such an "Epic" party. I had a wonderful time!

With Mo Willems, Laurie Halse Anderson, Mac Barnett, and Jon Klassen

On Saturday I hung out in the exhibit hall for most of the morning and afternoon where I met and talked to authors like Mo Willems and Laurie Halse Anderson (well, "talk" to Mo Willems is a bit ambitious to say given that his line snaked for what seemed like miles and you could only get one  book signed with no personalizing), and left with a giant bag of books. Then later that evening Katherine Sokolowski and I took a cab to Hyde Park where the incredibly lovely and gracious Elizabeth Fama, author of Monstrous Beauty,  was having a party at her house.

I don't even know how to describe this party. It was the most lovely party I've ever been to. Beth's house was inviting and warm, the food was phenomenal -- made in large part by her incredibly talented and artistic children -- and there was a laid-back, comfortable feeling to the whole evening I never would have imagined given the fact that most of us were going to this generous woman's house and she had never even met us in person. That is the power of Twitter, y'all. So many people say that social media is making us less social because we feel like we don't have to interact face to face anymore, but I'm finding the opposite is true. I have formed so many friendships and I go out more now than I ever did before I had Facebook and Twitter accounts. I mean, the very word party used to send shivers down my spine. As an introvert, the idea of having to insert myself into a conversation and make small talk just made me want to go home and read a book in my pajamas instead. But now I'm surrounding myself with people I've already gotten to know online and who I know love books. So there's no awkward conversation because we're all book people.

Thank you Elizabeth Fama for your hospitality and generosity at opening your home to people you barely knew. The only thing you knew about us was that we were book people, and to you that was good enough.

On Sunday I spent a good portion of the day in the exhibit hall hanging out with Niki Barnes and Sherry Gick:

Niki waited in line with me to meet Katherine Applegate so we could get our copies of The One and Only Ivan signed. While we waited in line we talked to an older couple behind us who knew nothing about the Newbery and Caldecott winners. In my mind I was saying, "How could you not know anything about these books?" but instead, I decided to tell them about Ivan and then I pulled out my copies of I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat, and did an impromptu read aloud right there in line. Niki snapped a picture for posterity:

When we got to the front of the line, I was completely floored and blown away when Katherine saw me, recognized me, and gave me a hug. My year was made in that moment right there. I couldn't believe that the Newbery winning author of 2013 knew my name and gave me a hug.

With the One and Only Katherine Applegate

I also met Benjamin Alire Saenz, author Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. This book won THREE ALA Youth Media Awards in January: a Printz Honor, the Stonewall Award, and the Pura Belpre Award. With that many awards, book lovers who had never read it were scrambling to get their hands on a copy - I was one of them. It was such a beautiful story and such an important story, that I actually found myself unable to speak when I made it to the front of the line to get my book signed. I tried to tell Benjamin what a beautiful book it was, but ended up choking back tears instead.  I felt like such an idiot.

With Sherry Gick, Brian Wyzlic, and Kathy Burnette

Later that evening, we all got dolled up and went to the event we had all been waiting for since that fateful day in January when the ALA awards were announced: the Newbery Caldecott banquet.

I'm still trying to find the appropriate words to describe the evening. Author Laura Golden probably said it best when she wrote on her blog: "The evening was filled with fairytale magic."

And it really was.

Not only did the books that we had rooted for win the most coveted awards in children's literature, but the speeches that accompanied these awards were magical as well.

Inside the banquet room

Dessert featuring a white chocolate 75th anniversary Caldecott logo

Jon Klassen endeared himself to the audience as he

Nerdy Book Club friends enjoying the Newbery Caldecott banquet

choked back tears while thanking the people who made the award possible, and called his books "my little guys." He even surprised us all when he said his inspiration for This is Not My Hat was a "little-known story called 'The Telltale Heart'" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Really?

But then as he explained it, everything made sense. Just as in "The Telltale Heart", the little fish in This Is Not My Hat has done something wrong and "he's given the whole floor... to try to make an argument for his reasonableness and sanity by telling us his version of how things went down," and then ultimately succumbs to his crime.

Now that I know what inspired This Is Not My Hat, I'm going to be using this as further argument that picture books are not just for elementary students: high school and middle school teachers should be using them in their classrooms too. I mean, how much fun would it be to give kids an assignment to compare "The Telltale Heart" with This Is Not My Hat?

Katherine Applegate's speech was just as gracious, humorous, and heartfelt as you would expect it to be. She began her speech by informing the audience that she is probably the only Newbery medalist in history to have written Harlequin romance novels early in her career - and then proceeded to read to us a particularly painful (and yet hilarious) passage.

Some gems from her speech:

•  "I'm wearing this sucker to Target." (as she was handed her medal)
• "I learned that writing is excruciating and I learned that writing is exhilarating."
• "I ghosted so much I was positively ectoplasmic."
• "It's quite fair to say that it took me a while to locate my literary sea legs."
• "You my friend, have potential." (As she read to us a fan letter from her Animorphs days)
• When Katherine thanked Colby Sharp, John Schu, and the Nerdy Book Club, I think we all wanted to scream, but we held back because it was just too dignified of an event for hooting and hollering.

And finally, the last speech of the evening was Katherine Paterson who won the Laura Ingalls Wilder award which, according to ALA's website, "honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children."

Katherine Paterson, winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder award

It shocks and surprises me that Paterson is only just now winning this award as her presence in the children's lit world has been "substantial and lasting" for many years now. In fact, as the chair of the Wilder committee introduced her, they even joked that the reason she hadn't won the award yet is because everyone thought that surely she had already won it. Her speech, like Klassen's and Applegate's, was absolutely perfect. It was humorous and endearing, and made tears stream down everyone's face. I spent the whole evening clinging to my tissues. It was, to paraphrase Laura Golden, simply magical.

I am so grateful that I not only got to be part of this evening, but that I was able to share it with my book loving friends. The stars aligned perfectly for this night to happen. It really was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Bomb : The Race to Build - And Steal - The World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

He had a few more minutes to destroy seventeen years of evidence. 

Still in pajamas, Harry Gold raced around his cluttered bedroom, pulling out desk drawers, tossing boxes out of the closet, and yanking books from the shelves. He was horrified. Everywhere he looked were incriminating papers - a plane ticket stub, a secret report, a letter from a fellow spy.

All I had to do to book talk Bomb with my sixth grade literature classes was have them read the prologue. Now I have 40+ students who are clamoring to read it. When we read the first few pages of this book together as a class, I had them examine and dissect what made this an effective lead. Just about every single student hit it on the head: Sheinkin jumps right into the story, gives you just enough information to help you understand what is going on, but holds back enough to make it suspenseful and leaves you wanting more.

Bomb is a wonderful antidote to the mind-numbing history textbooks kids have to read in school these days. Ironic since Sheinkin is a former textbook writer himself. But, his author bio tells us he's trying to make up for his "crimes" as a textbook author by writing engaging nonfiction for kids and young adults. I think he's been reprieved.Sheinkin not only writes in an engaging, accessible way, but this nonfiction text reads like a spy novel. It's almost hard to believe that this is a true story. Bomb absolutely deserves all the shiny stickers it won at the ALA awards in January. 


Bomb: The Race to Build - And Steal - the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
Published: September 4, 2012
Publisher: Flash Point
Pages: 272
Genre: Nonfiction/History
Audience: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Disclosure: Purchased Copy 

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

A day celebrating authors, books, and readers: ALA Youth Media Awards

Today was the day book lovers all over the country have been waiting for. This is our Oscars: The American Library Association's Youth Media Awards, which include the prestigious Newbery and Caldecott awards.

The awards were livestreamed on ALA's website and I was so excited to get to watch the results unfold with all the people in attendance today. It was a day of emotional reactions, both joyous and disappointing, but I absolutely loved being able to experience them happen in real time.

I'll start with my disappointment. I thought for sure John Green's The Fault in Our Stars was going to AT LEAST win a Printz honor, if not win the whole thing, but when it came up empty, I was utterly shocked and saddened. TFiOS was not only the most beautiful book I read in 2012, but also of my entire life. Given how many people so strongly reacted to the events and characters of that novel, I couldn't believe when its name was not announced today. A small consolation was that it won the Odyssey award for outstanding audiobook production (though my very opinionated self thinks The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy, narrated by Bronson Pinchot should have won the Odyssey award)

I was also saddened that my other favorite book of 2012 came up empty of any awards today, Wonder by RJ Palacio.

But my sadness was soon overshadowed by joy when the Newbery award was announced: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. To know how many #NerdyBookClub members absolutely adored this book, with our friend Colby Sharp leading the charge, it's no wonder I screamed when the winner was announced, and then the tears started flowing. And to know that the real Ivan died the year this book was published, it makes this tribute to him all the sweeter. I still get teary-eyed thinking about it. To give you an idea of how much Colby has been leading the campaign for The One and Only Ivan to win the Newbery, the first person I tweeted right after the announcement was Colby. The second person I tweeted was Katherine Applegate.

As a cherry on top of this wonderful day, another #NerdyBookClub favorite won the Caldecott award: This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. I only just read this book over the weekend (I've had it on hold forever) and I have to say, I loved it more than I Want My Hat Back. But that's probably because I Want My Hat Back was not a book that I warmed up to immediately. It's one I had to think about and share with students before I realized just how brilliant it is.

Despite my relief and happiness that my school had a snow day today, I am a little sad that I wasn't able to share watching the announcement of the awards with my class. The One and Only Ivan was our first read aloud of the year so I know my students would have been elated to experience hearing it be announced as the Newbery winner. At the very least, we have lots to talk about and celebrate tomorrow.

Audiobook Review: After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

From Goodreads:
The day D Foster enters Neeka and her best friend's lives, the world opens up for them. D comes from a world vastly different from their safe Queens neighborhood, and through her, the girls see another side of life that includes loss, foster families and an amount of freedom that makes the girls envious. Although all of them are crazy about Tupac Shakur's rap music, D is the one who truly understands the place where he's coming from, and through knowing D, Tupac's lyrics become more personal for all of them. 

The girls are thirteen when D's mom swoops in to reclaim D, and as magically as she appeared, she now disappears from their lives. Tupac is gone, too, after another shooting; this time fatal. As the narrator looks back, she sees lives suspended in time, and realizes that even all-too-brief connections can touch deeply.

It's amazing how beautiful a novel can be where not much happens. This was a reading experience that merely involved sitting with a group of really loveable characters who, if you knew personally, would just want to hang out with all day long - which is basically all they were doing in the entire book - hanging out, that is. They contemplated life's trials and tribulations in bedrooms, on porch steps and the city bus.

Jacqueline Woodson has done a service to children's literature by writing a contemporary story of African American children rather than a historical one. So often the stories in children's literature that are written about African Americans are historical fiction, which are no less important, but what is conspicuously lacking in the canon of children's literature are books that include contemporary African American children as the main characters.

This slim book packs some power in its few pages and is certainly worthy of its Newbery honor.

A note on the audio production: Susan Spain is the narrator for this lovely little audiobook and she does an amazing job at setting the mood of the story. She's one of those narrators who enhances the enjoyment of the story and makes for a listening experience that is more enjoyable than if you had read the book yourself.

After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
Published: January 2008 by Putnam Juvenille
Audiobook Published: July 2009 by Brilliance Audio
Audiobook Narrator: Susan Spain
Pages: 151
Audiobook length: 3 hours, 11 minutes
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade