tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-150893892012-01-23T08:11:04.588-05:00A Fuse #8 Production: Podcast EditionChildren's literature is not for the weak. It is a ruthless cutthroat business with lots of gnashes of the teeth. Children's librarianship, in contrast, is a sweet sweet ride. Now you can hear me as I growl, gargle, and kvetch my way through news, reviews, and interviews. Kidlit podcasting = scary new world.fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comBlogger22001100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-90824499083756142032008-08-14T18:45:00.001-04:002010-09-19T13:11:04.301-04:00Podcasts OnlyIf you're looking for the latest editions of A Fuse #8 Production, your best bet is to head on over to my new site at <a href="http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production">http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production</a>. This site is still amusing, but closed for business.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-9082449908375614203?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-20968639364022153372008-08-14T18:44:00.004-04:002008-08-14T20:20:22.169-04:00Show #9: Gangs of Bloodhounds and "Randolph Caldecott"<a href="http://cdn3.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_9.mp3?nvb=20080815001729&nva=20080816001729&t=01d9f10c5e9427082632b">Show #9: Gangs of Bloodhounds and "Randolph Caldecott"</a><br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" src="%20http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/audio-player.js"></script><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf " id="audioplayer1" align="left" height="50" width="400"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf "><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://cdn3.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_9.mp3?nvb=20080815001729&nva=20080816001729&t=01d9f10c5e9427082632b"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Press the play button above to listen to this episode<span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://cdn3.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_9.mp3?nvb=20080815001729&nva=20080816001729&t=01d9f10c5e9427082632b"><span style="font-size:78%;">Download Mp3</span></a></p><br /><br />00:00 - 2:18 (Opening)<br />2:18 - 6:08 (News of the Week)<br />6:08 - 10:31 (Booktalks - <a href="http://www2.blogger.com/www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/650030665.html">King George: What Was His Problem?</a> by Steve Sheinkin and <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/thecabinetofwonders">The Cabinet of Wonders</a> by Marie Rutkoski)<br />10:31 - 14:02 (World premier of the song "Randolph Caldecott" by the Effin G's)<br />14:02 - 14:37 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263622795">here</a>. If I'm lucky.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2096863936402215337?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-75854081668115709232008-02-26T17:26:00.005-05:002008-02-26T17:49:49.794-05:00Subset to Show #8This is the full audio version of the TOON Books reception held on January 12, 2008 in Philadelphia. The Q&A is conducted with Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman. To download this recording, you may do so <a href="http://cdn4.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Subset_to_Show_8.mp3">here</a>.<br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" src="%20http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/audio-player.js"></script><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf " id="audioplayer1" align="left" height="50" width="400"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf "><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://cdn4.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Subset_to_Show_8.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Press the play button above to listen to this episode<span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://cdn4.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Subset_to_Show_8.mp3"><span style="font-size:78%;">Download Mp3</span></a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7585408166811570923?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-18624171931207302312008-02-26T16:48:00.004-05:002008-02-26T17:46:27.225-05:00Show #8: Talking TOONs and Giver Woes<a href="http://cdn1.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_8.mp3">Show #8: Talking TOONs and Giver Woes</a><br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" src="%20http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/audio-player.js"></script><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf " id="audioplayer1" align="left" height="50" width="400"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf "><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://cdn1.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_8.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Press the play button above to listen to this episode<span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://cdn1.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_8.mp3"><span style="font-size:78%;">Download Mp3</span></a></p><br /><br />00:00 - 2:44 (Opening)<br />2:44 - 5:09 (News of the Week)<br />5:09 - 10:27 (Booktalks - <a href="http://fernfolio.edublogs.org/2007/11/15/dusssie-by-nancy-springer/">Dusssie</a> by Nancy Springer, <a href="http://www.puffincatalogue.co.uk/lo/puffin/title.html?titleId=4759&catalogueId=218">Savvy</a> by Ingrid Law, and <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/1220022322.html">Women Daredevils: Thrills, Chills and Frills</a> by Julie Cummins)<br />10:28 - 17:07 (A Conversation with Art Spiegelman of TOON Books)<br />17:07 - 17:45 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />You can hear the full audio of the TOON Books reception <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2008/02/subset-to-show-8.html">here</a>.<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263622795">here</a>. If I'm lucky. Last month I don't think it showed up at all, so maybe I somehow infuriated the iTunes gods. We shall see.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1862417193120730231?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-25123871361665565462008-01-21T17:57:00.000-05:002008-01-21T18:16:17.052-05:00Show #7: Dead Uncles and Loud Librarians<a href="http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_7.mp3">Dead Uncles and Loud Librarians</a><br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" src="%20http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/audio-player.js"></script><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf " id="audioplayer1" align="left" height="50" width="400"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf "><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_7.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Press the play button above to listen to this episode<span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_7.mp3"><span style="font-size:78%;">Download Mp3</span></a></p><br /><br />00:00 - 2:38 (Opening)<br />2:39 - 4:50 (News of the Week)<br />4:51 - 9:51 (Booktalks - <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/110019211.html?nid=3713">Nacky Patcher and the Curse of the Dry Land Boats</a> by <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html#1190018519"></a>Jeffrey Kluger<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>, <a href="http://blogcritics.org/archives/2007/03/17/063028.php">Tomorrow's Magic</a> by Pamela Service and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/08/review-of-day-mailbox.html">The Mailbox</a> by Audrey Shafer)<br />9:52 - 18:17 (The ALA Media Awards, 2008)<br />18:18 - 18:40 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />For a full list of the award winners go <a href="http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/2008MediaAwardWinners.htm">here</a>.<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263622795">here</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2512387136166556546?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-21552852443012665602007-12-12T14:59:00.000-05:002007-12-12T15:39:42.128-05:00Show #6: Musical News and Wacky Homeschoolers<a href="http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_6.mp3">Musical News and Wacky Homeschoolers</a><br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" src="%20http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/audio-player.js"></script><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf " id="audioplayer1" align="left" height="50" width="400"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf "><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_6.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"><br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Press the play button above to listen to this episode<span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_6.mp3"><span style="font-size:78%;">Download Mp3</span></a></p><br /><br />00:00 - 1:50 (Opening)<br />1:50 - 5:30 (News of the Week)<br />5:30 - 10:53 (Booktalks - <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html#1190018519">The Mysterious Benedict Society</a> by Trenton Lee Stewart, <a href="http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060000158/The_Seer_of_Shadows/index.aspx">The Seer of Shadows</a> by Avi, and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/01/06/bfamclub06.xml">The Black Book of Secrets</a> by F.E. Higgins)<br />10:53 - 14:45 (The Homeschooler Bookgroup of the Donnell Library)<br />14:45 - 15:25 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />Thanks to Dan Blank at School Library Journal for lending me their microphone.<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263622795">here</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2155285244301266560?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-88936971945646037512007-10-29T17:25:00.000-04:002007-10-30T18:59:39.145-04:00Show #5: Literary Cafes and Creepified Booktalks<a href="http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_5.mp3">Literary Cafes and Creepified Booktalks</a><br /><br /><script language="JavaScript" src=" http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/audio-player.js"></script><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf " id="audioplayer1" align="left" height="50" width="400"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.trinitycast.com/flash_player/player.swf "><br /><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&soundFile=http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_5.mp3"><br /><param name="quality" value="high"> <br /><param name="menu" value="false"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Press the play button above to listen to this episode<span style="font-size:78%;"> <br /></span></span><a href="http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_5.mp3"><span style="font-size:78%;">Download Mp3</span></a></p><br /><br />00:00 - 3:38 (Opening)<br />3:38 - 6:20 (News of the Week)<br />6:20 - 13:18 (Booktalks - <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=eRIxTzsJsB0C&dq=coraline&pg=PP1&ots=YHuEzC5XnN&sig=eTJzW5FWm1E7jBPpDLmrZ1NtqmQ&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%253Aen-US%253Aofficial%26hs%3DFGc%26q%3Dcoraline%26btnG%3DSearch&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail">Coraline</a> by Neil Gaiman, <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/05/review-of-day-eggs.html">Eggs</a> by Jerry Spinelli, and <a href="http://suzyred.com/2004phineasgage.html">Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story of Brain Science</a> by John Fleischman)<br />13:18 - 18:22 (The Donnell Literary Cafe - Preliminary Openings)<br />18:22 - 19:00 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />Thanks to Dan Blank at School Library Journal for lending me their microphone.<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=263622795">here</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8893697194564603751?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-80600772863459257992007-10-11T21:26:00.000-04:002007-10-15T17:45:20.879-04:00Show #4: Chicken Chasers and Rutger Tasers (not really)<a href="http://cdn.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_4.mp3">Chicken Chasers and Rutger Tasers (not really)</a><br /><br />00:00 - 5:45 (News)<br />5:46 - 10:54 (Weekly Review - The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County)<br />10:55 - 13:58 (The Kidlit Blogosphere Conference & Gregory Pincus reading Rainbow Fish)<br />13:59 - 14:35 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />Find Gregory's blog <a href="http://gottabook.blogspot.com/">Gotta Book</a> and check out his other Oddaptations.<br />Thanks to Dan Blank at School Library Journal for lending me their microphone.<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8060077286345925799?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-81207596405011128802007-10-01T00:00:00.000-04:002007-09-30T17:16:10.117-04:00Show #3: Deep Dark Caves and Peculiar Truths<a href="http://mediacloud.libsyn.com/fusenumber8/Show_3.m4a">Deep Dark Caves and Peculiar Truths</a><br /><br />00:00 - 3:51 (News)<br />3:52 - 7:35 (Weekly Review - Leepike Ridge)<br />7:36 - 11:22 (Dreadful Lies and Peculiar Truths - A selection from a PEN panel)<br />11:22 - 11:55 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />Nominate books for the Cybil Awards <a href="http://www.cybils.com">here</a>.<br />The MotherReader best books list is found <a href="http://www.motherreader.com/2007/09/best-books-of-2007-so-far-megalist.html">here</a>.<br />Thanks to PEN for permission to use a selection from their podcast. You can hear the full text of the podcast <a href="http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/1603">here</a>.<br />Thanks to Dan Blank at School Library Journal for lending me their microphone<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8120759640501112880?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-27812604816329461822007-09-16T14:04:00.000-04:002007-09-17T23:00:12.840-04:00Show #2: Medieval and Contemporary Voices<strong></strong><a href="http://media31b.libsyn.com/podcasts/e92acb1da7da877c3fcd0b248fa38652/46ed7794/fusenumber8/Show_2.m4a">Medieval and Contemporary Voices</a><br /><br />00:00 - 3:51 (News)<br />3:52 - 8:24 (Weekly Review - <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/05/review-of-day-good-masters-sweet-ladies.html">Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village</a> by Laura Amy Schlitz)<br />8:25 - 20:56 (<a href="http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/%7Emjoseph/childlit/about.html">Child_lit Listserv</a> picnic in the park)<br />20:56 - 21:35 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />Thanks to Roxanne Feldman, Cheryl Klein, Pooja <span class="sg">Makhijani</span>, and Karen Ulric for the <a href="http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/%7Emjoseph/childlit/about.html">child_lit</a> discussion.<br />The music during the review features my friend <a href="http://www.astralartisticservices.org/artists/arwady.html">Meredith Arwady</a>, the greatest living contralto today.<br />Thanks to Dan Blank at School Library Journal for lending me their microphone<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.libsyn.com/rss">this site</a>. This show is available through iTunes.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2781260481632946182?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-75139720271149718272007-09-03T15:59:00.000-04:002007-09-16T14:03:42.563-04:00Show #1: Space Dogs and Futuristic BooksI've decided that my podcasts would fit in nicely on this old blog site. So here it is. Show numero uno. Remember that this is my first show. I'm only just getting the hang of it. I know I've talked too much here. I can't quite get a grip on how to properly fade things in and out, and my portable mike is crummy in large spaces. Still, I want to know what else you think needs to be changed. So though I'm scared to say it, tell me what you want to hear.<br /><br /><a href="http://media34b.libsyn.com/podcasts/e78c9b07711714ea52d71ab0df208a9a/46ed6fa7/fusenumber8/Show_1.1.m4a">Space Dogs and Futuristic Books</a><br /><br />00:00 - 4:33 (News)<br />4:34 - 9:09 (Weekly Review - <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/50013005.html">Laika</a> by Nick Abadzis)<br />9:10 - 14:42 (Monkeytown: In Brief)<br />14:42 - 15:30 (Closing)<br /><br />Intro by <a href="http://haddonkime.com/">Haddon Givens Kime</a><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thedeskset">Desk Set</a> and <a href="http://www.futureofthebook.org/">The Institute for the Future of the Book</a> for Monkeytown<br />Thanks to Dan Blank at School Library Journal for lending me their microphone<br /><br /><a href="http://www.futureofthebook.org/">The Institute of the Future of the Book</a>'s mission statement was read by me and recorded on my computer.<br /><br />For the RSS feed of this show, please use <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default">this site</a>. This show will be appearing on iTunes in the near future.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7513972027114971827?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-46888981635475244272007-06-26T21:13:00.002-04:002007-07-03T21:36:33.197-04:00WE HAVE MOVEDIf you are looking for the newest posts of A Fuse #8 Production, look no further than our new location on the School Library Journal homepage at <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html">http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html</a>. Adjust your web browsers accordingly.<br /><br />You may also find the RSS feed for the site at <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/SLJAFuse8Production">http://feeds.feedburner.com/SLJAFuse8Production</a>.<br /><br />Same great Fuse #8 taste. Same great Fuse #8 flavor.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4688898163547524427?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-44615581252824542192007-06-21T15:16:00.000-04:002007-06-21T15:19:24.358-04:00The RSS Feed Is Up!On Friday, June 22nd the RSS Feed for <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html">A Fuse #8 Production's new home</a> at School Library Jounral will be up and running. You can locate the address of this feed <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/learnrss">here</a> (but not until the date in question). Enjoy!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4461558125282454219?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-597182280509816652007-06-11T00:25:00.000-04:002007-06-11T21:59:37.418-04:00It Begins . . .The move. The move is nigh. Time to pack my bags, give this place a once over, and head for my new home. The next few days are going to be much with the trial and error. Particularly the error part of the equation.<br /><br />You must be patient with me for a while. I've so much to write about, after all. A lovely book release party with Lesley M.M. Blume. A Harper Collins preview that bandied about a whole host of new and upcoming books. Reviews galore. I'm working out some mighty interesting bugs as we speak.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">UPDATE:</span><br />Ah! We are up! Check me out at <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html">http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379.html</a> for today's postings. You may wish to update your link as well. I think that may be my new address.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-59718228050981665?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-68112738954262491472007-06-10T12:25:00.000-04:002007-06-10T12:28:38.466-04:00Video SundayOh what a lovely luscious line-up I have for you pretty chickens today. As you may have noticed, I'm now permanently eschewing topics. Topics are hard. They require thought and thought on a Sunday is to be avoided at all costs.<br /><br />Today is my husband's birthday today, so let's have a bit of a birthday video, care of Barry Yourgrau's <span style="font-style: italic;">Nastybook</span>.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yNaH9TCFrcg"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yNaH9TCFrcg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Mr. Yourgrau has a whole host of these videos available <a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=NASTYstories">here</a> as well, by the by.<br /><br />In keeping with British accents and the like, there's a rather amusing book trailer out there for <span style="font-style: italic;">Leonardo's Shadow</span> by Christopher Grey. We haven't had a book trailer for a novel in a while. Eh voila.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Ho2dqY4JLI"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Ho2dqY4JLI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />I don't review YA but I don't mind showing their videos. My favorite part was seeing that the guy doing the voiceover, one Michael Dobson, advertises his own <a href="http://www.michaelricharddobson.com/main.html">website</a> during the credits. Why on earth would a man working via his voice have headshots? Curious.<br /><br />Speaking of things that are curious, we're straying off-topic now and venturing into Ohmygodthat'sawesome territory with the next two videos. First up, the few-cha! I can't link the video here directly so just click on the tasty <a href="http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid932579976?bclid=932553050&bctid=933742930">link</a>.<br /><br />I want two of these in my home by next year, people. Make it happen. Thanks to <a href="http://www.ericberlin.com/">Eric Berlin</a> for the news. The next one? Just neat.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nUDIoN-_Hxs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed><br /><br />And as for the last link, not only is it on-topic but it's quite a treat. A confusing treat, but a treat nonetheless. You may have heard some mention of the upcoming documentary <a href="http://www.hollywoodlibrarian.com/index.html">The Hollywood Librarian</a>. Well here's the trailer for it.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A8kd4fC1bwo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed><br /><br />It's nice enough but when you compare the trailer to the <a href="http://www.hollywoodlibrarian.com/about.html">description</a> of the film, the two don't add up. Ah well. Just something to send you on your way this lazy hazy Sunday.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-6811273895426249147?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-14862481516812768252007-06-09T00:46:00.000-04:002007-06-09T00:46:36.346-04:00BEA Party Hearty Recap<div>I don't suppose I talked much about the cool BEA publisher parties that went on during BEA, did I? I thought about it, but until recently I wasn't sure what to say. I mean, here's the Random House Party summed up to to a tee:<br /><br />1. Went to the Top of the Rock<br />2. Saw Judy Blume<br />3. Said nothing to Judy Blume because I am shy and, let's admit it, what on earth do you say to Judy Blume? Do you say, "You're Judy Blume!," and gape. Cause that's what I'd do. I would.<br /><br />Actually, it was much more than that. The party was held last Saturday night on a balcony at the Top of the Rock. Rockefeller Center, to be clear. I'd always wondered why people would go up to the tippy top of Rockefeller Center when The Empire State Building is so much taller. Arriving from an elevator that played movie clips on its ceiling (it even dims the lights) all was clear. When you're on the Empire State Building you can see everything with the exception of Central Park. Why? The bloody Rockefeller Center is blocking your view, of course. But once we arrived we had a stellar view of the city. Bellinis were served alongside a variety of tasty appetizers and treats. Jazz musicians pumped out tasteful tunes and the booze was free with the flowing. Seated around the space, both outside and inside, were a bunch of different authors. Judy Blume. Markus Zuzak. Libba Bray. Jerry Spinelli. Etc. And which ones did I speak to? None! I am shy! I don't know these people! Huzzah!<br /><br />After the mingling, we (Monica and The Resident Husband Who Is Mine) decided to ditch this swank party and hobble on over to the Simon & Schuster Spiderwick shebang. Party hopping. Can't be beat. So to an old factory by the trainyards we did roll and there we found the action well underway.<br /><br />I should note that I didn't take any pictures of any of these outings because, silly me, I'd removed my camera from my bag earlier that day to upload pix of BEA. Ha. Fortunately, there are editors at Simon & Schuster who are more than happy to share their own pixelated prowess. Observe:<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808519/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1410/536808519_6800688800_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808519/"></a></span> <p></p>It took us a while to get a handle on the theme. At first we just figured that the place was doing some kind of odd advertising for... saltines. Hm. Odd. I imagined that Pepsi would pay better. But as we looked around we started to get it. Everything was oversized whereas we, the guests, were fairy sized. Oh ah!<br /><br />Now the image above is a bit brighter than the actual par-tay. Imagine a lot more smoke, and a lot more people in a dimly lit room. Danny Elfman music pipes in from a lobby where props from the movie (a whole Arthur Spiderwick study, in fact) allow you to poke and pry about.<br /><br />This pic is a little closer to what it felt like.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808529/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1079/536808529_537618afbd_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808529/"></a></span> <p></p>Yes. That poor man behind the counter is cutting a gigantic hamburger with an electric knife. It's a magnificently huge creation. People were also encouraged to pose in front of a nearby green screen to have themselves fairyfied. I declined the honor.<br /><br />Now here's where I was a bit disappointed:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808527/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1035/536808527_0d01f671bc_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><br />I'd been under the impression that we, the guests, would get to see scenes from the upcoming Spiderwick movie. No go. Instead there was a perfectly nice video with Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi on the next book in the Spiderwick series. Or rather, the new Spiderwick that is a separate series altogether. No film clips, true, but the fact that the gift bags all had copies of the next Spiderwick story inside. What else lifted my spirits?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;">CUPCAKE!!!!</span></span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808513/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1343/536808513_91e7f63a6d_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808513/"></a></span> <p></p>Oh, sweet gigantic cupcake the size of an elephant's skull, where have you been all my life? Don't let the eerie lights and smoke fool you. I fell in love at first glance. Alas, our romance was not to be. Other people partook of its sweet sweet chocolate mousse filling too. It wasn't a one woman cupcake. That baby got around.<br /><br />And sadly Tony DiTerlizzi, I learned once I arrived, could not attend. His wife done went and had a baby and Tony decided to do the good daddy thing. This was sad for me. I once played a game of Literary Trivial Pursuit and found a card that listed his name as "Tony DiTerlizzido". Thinking it funny, I sent it to him. I was going to ask him what he'd thought of it. Had he attended that would have upped my count of Authors Spoken To to 2. #1 was <a href="http://classof2k7.com/authors/sarah_beth_durst.php">Sarah Beth Durst</a> who was cute as a bug's ear and whose book Into the Wild has <span style="font-style: italic;">still </span>not hit bookstore shelves. I'm anticipating subtle buzz. Sarah was seated at a table with author <a href="http://www.sff.net/people/kushnerSherman/Sherman/">Delia Sherman</a>. Who, now that I think of it, I may or may not have had contact with in the past. Hm. Maybe I could have talked to her after all.<br /><br />Another author I could have spoken to and didn't was none other than the delightful <a href="http://www.blackholly.com/">Holly Black</a>, shown here:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808517/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1148/536808517_b55ffaca64_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); width: 113px; height: 170px;" /></a><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/536808517/"></a></span> <p></p><br />You can't see it here, but she had this streak of white in her hair which made her easy spotting. The downside? I couldn't figure out what to say to her. Unless I've been in contact with an author in some fashion, I freeze up around them. I become the Abominable Betsy (some would argue that I already am). So no, I never said a word to Ms. Black. She seemed charming though. And it really was a lovely party. If you went out onto the balcony you had a great view of the trainyard below and the river not much farther past that. Plus, did I mention that they had a gigantic cupcake? *sigh*<br /><br />By the by, don't let my recap of BEA be the only one you read. Publisher's Weekly recently posted <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/info/CA6449848.html?nid=2788">Children's Books at BEA: A Photo Guide</a>. It shows the Random House authors at the Top of the Rock, just as I mentioned. No Spiderwick party, though. Guess I scooped 'em there. Please also look at a recent <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/1520010352.html">Shelftalker</a> piece that offers a smart assessment of the layout and problems with the BEA show itself. I ran into Alison on the floor, so I can assure you that everything she says is absolutely true.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1486248151681276825?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-44330485529285886842007-06-09T00:10:00.000-04:002007-06-21T15:19:42.146-04:00Hans Christian Andersen Award Nominations<div>Look. Just because something happens overseas, that's no reason to ignore it. I am referring, of course, to the <a href="http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=782&L=o.html">Hans Christian Andersen Award nominations</a>. Thus far I haven't found any American blogs listing the nominated persons. This will not stand, fellow citizens! So here, lifted directly from the IBBY website with some tweaks, are the nominees:<br /></div><blockquote>• Argentina: Author: Beatriz María Ana Ferro; Illustrator: Isol Misenta<br />• Australia: Author: <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/11/daily-round-up.html">Jackie French</a>; Illustrator: <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/02/review-of-day-arrival.html">Shaun Tan </a><br />• Austria: Author: Lene Mayer-Skumanz; Illustrator: Linda Wolfsgruber<br />• Belgium: Author: Anne Provoost; Illustrator: Kitty Crowther<br />• Brazil: Author: Bartolomeu Campos de Queirós; Illustrator: Rui de Oliveira<br />• Canada: Author: Brian Doyle; Illustrator: Pierre Pratt<br />• China: Author: Qin Wenjun<br />• Croatia: Illustrator: Svjetlan Junakóvic<br />• Cyprus: Author: Kika Pulcheriou<br />• Czech Republic: Author: Iva Procházková; Illustrator: Adolf Born<br />• Denmark: Author: Bjarne Reuter; Illustrator: Lilian Brøgger<br />• Egypt: Author: Fatima El Maadoul<br />• Finland: Author: Irmelin Sandman Lilius; Illustrator: Virpi Talvitie<br />• France: Author: Marie Desplechin; Illustrator: Claude Ponti<br />• Germany: Author: Peter Härtling; Illustrator: Jutta Bauer<br />• Greece: Author: Voula Mastori; Illustrator: Vassilis Papatsarouchas<br />• Iceland: Author: Gudrun Helgadottir<br />• Ireland: Author: Kath Thompson; Illustrator: Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick<br />• Italy: Author: Mino Milani; Illustrator: Roberto Innocenti<br />• Japan: Author: Shuntaro Tanikawa; Illustrator: Akiko Hayashi<br />• Lithuania: Illustrator: Kestutis Kasparavicius<br />• Mexico: Illustrator: Mauricio Gómez Morín<br />• Netherlands: Author: <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/03/review-of-day-book-of-everything.html">Guus Kuijer</a>; Illustrator: The Tjong-Khing<br />• Romania: Author: Iuliu Ratiu; Illustrator: Stan Done<br />• Russia: Illustrator: Nickolay Popov<br />• Serbia: Author: Dragana Litricin-Dunic<br />• Slovak Republic: Author: Ján Navrátil; Illustrator: Olga Bajusová<br />• Slovenia: Illustrator: Lila Prap<br />• South Africa: Author: Beverley Naidoo; Illustrator: Piet Grobler<br />• Spain: Author: María Asun Landa; Illustrator: Ulises Wensell<br />• Sweden: Barbro Lindgren; Illustrator: Eva Eriksson<br />• Switzerland: Author: Jürg Schubiger; Illustrator: Hannes Binder<br />• Turkey: Author: Ayla Çinaroglu; Illustrator: Nazan Erkmen<br />• United Kingdom: Author: <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/07/review-of-day-clay.html">David Almond</a>; Illustrator: Jan Pienkowski<br />• USA: Author: Lloyd Alexander; Illustrator: <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/07/review-of-day-flotsam_11.html">David Wiesner</a><br /><br />The elected Chair of the International Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury, Zohreh Ghaeni (Iran) and Jury members from Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States of America, will meet in March 2008 to select from among these nominations the winners of the 2008 Andersen Awards.<br /><br />The results will be made public at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, Monday, 31 March 2008 and the Awards will be presented to the winners at the 31st IBBY Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark on 7 September 2008. </blockquote>I've a passing familiarity with thirteen of these author/illustrators. I need to work on that. My hope and dreams? Well, it'd be simply swell if Shaun Tan finally got his due. Anyone familiar with <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/02/review-of-day-arrival.html">The Arrival</a> would agree. As for authors, Guus Kuijer's <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/03/review-of-day-book-of-everything.html">The Book of Everything</a> was a small gem overlooked this award season past. It's a little late for Mr. Alexander, but they might feel obligated to hand it to him. Which would kind of be a shame, considering he's not around to appreciate it and many of these other people are. As for Wiesner, does he really need another award? Really? Really really?<br /><div><br />Thanks to <a href="http://achuka.co.uk/achockablog/">Achocka</a> blog for the link. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4433048552928588684?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-29062191322038782902007-06-09T00:08:00.000-04:002007-06-09T00:08:52.371-04:00Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, Turn Around<a href="http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/dlc/dch/pooh/">Pooh</a>'s gotten all riled up about this one. Those of very little brain and too much tummy might get a tad disturbed by a very different bear of very great brain and too little tummy. The army has, for reasons one cannot quite pinpoint, created the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6729745.stm">Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot</a> or, quite simply, BEAR. Note the adorable ears.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/43019000/jpg/_43019385_robobear.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/43019000/jpg/_43019385_robobear.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><blockquote>Gary Gilbert, from the US Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Centre in Frederick, Maryland, said that the teddy bear appearance was deliberate.<br /><br />"A really important thing when you're dealing with casualties is trying to maintain that human touch."</blockquote>The robot revolution is nigh. And it's <span style="font-style: italic;">adorable</span>!<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://gwendabond.typepad.com/bondgirl/">Shaken & Stirred</a> for the link.<a href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/43019000/jpg/_43019385_robobear.jpg"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2906219132203878290?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-89385075168262805492007-06-09T00:06:00.000-04:002007-06-09T00:06:31.567-04:00Ankle Biter Reading Material<div>A friend has a new bright n' shiny baby and suddenly you're in the hot seat. What to buy said baby? You don't know what's good anymore. Heck, when you were a kid babies didn't even read! Oh if only there were some kind of a list out there that that collected the best books for newbies. Some kind of, oh I dunno, <a href="http://www.beginningwithbooks.org/list.html">Best Books for Babies of 2006</a> or something.</div><br /><div> </div>Every good librarian has a gap in their knowledge. Mine's baby related. I can't really judge any of these books except for the ones I saw in their original picture book format. Ah well. It's nice to be able to rely on experts like the Center for Early Literacy when this kind of thing comes up.<br /><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://chickenspaghetti.typepad.com/chicken_spaghetti/">Chicken Spaghetti</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8938507516826280549?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-2281532551749899492007-06-09T00:05:00.001-04:002007-06-09T00:05:12.817-04:00Confession? I'm Kind of a Fan.<div>But maybe that's just because my last name is Bird.</div><br /><div> </div>I love the <a href="http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/2007/06/harry_fugger_an.html">explanation</a> of what it looks like, of course. Proves that <a href="http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/">Go Fug Yourself</a> is run by secret Harry Potter fans.<br /><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/">bookshelves of doom</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-228153255174989949?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-28563035056807075522007-06-08T10:03:00.000-04:002007-06-08T10:40:24.369-04:00Poetry Friday - The Collected Works of Susan Ramsey<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hipwritermama.blogspot.com/"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="125" alt="http://hipwritermama.blogspot.com/" src="http://lh5.google.com/image/chndlrsblog/RmBFj-SN_DI/AAAAAAAAB34/at3HZsHcKd0/poetry%20friday%20button%20-%20fulll.JPG" width="210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />From <em>Poetry Northwest</em>, Fall 2001<br /><br /><br /><strong></strong><br /><br /><strong>A Mind Like This<br /></strong><br />is like looking through that drawer<br /><br />for Scotch tape and coming up instead<br /><br />with the instructions for the digital watch<br /><br />you threw away three years ago, a maze<br /><br />made of cheap pink plastic and three ball bearings,<br /><br />the scissors you warned them were only for fabric, a roll<br /><br />of the paper tape they gave you to close your eye<br /><br />for sleep that spring you had Bell's Palsy, and half<br /><br />a pack of basil seeds.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's missing the Big Play because you're busy watching<br /><br />the lovers quarrel two rows down, look up<br /><br />as the crowd surges to its feet around you,<br /><br />touchdown. It's knowing they used sets from King Kong<br /><br />as tinder for the burning of Atlanta<br /><br />while being uncertain of your best friend's birthday,<br /><br />forgetting the name of your fifth niece, but knowing Carlo<br /><br />was Emily Dickinson's dog. When a mind like this<br /><br />hears that Burleigh Grimes was the last pitcher<br /><br />to throw a legal spitball in '43,<br /><br />you'd think it had spotted a sapphire in the gravel.<br /><br />It's saving pocket lint and bottle caps<br /><br />while bread and diamonds thunder down the chute.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's a theater where pleasure and frustration<br /><br />are mutual understudies, a computer<br /><br />which refuses to interface seven fifteenths of the time.<br /><br />It's dutifully viewing the list of cathedral features<br /><br />in Strasbourg, then watching the memories dragged like sand<br /><br />from a beach besieged by wave after wave of years,<br /><br />until only a bit of carved stone remains, a fragment<br /><br />small enough to lodge in a human heart.<br /><br />Of course you didn't take a photograph.<br /><br />And of course sensible friends return with cameras<br /><br />full of statues and windows and twenty-foot clocks,<br /><br />asking vaguely, "Where was that again?"<br /><br />Be comforted. This ridiculous mind will save<br /><br />your incised memory of the tenth pulpit step,<br /><br />preserving for you how some particular hand<br /><br />carved under a stone leaf, small in all that grandeur,<br /><br />his round-skulled puppy, sleeping, chin on paws.<br /><br />This week's round-up courtesy of <a href="http://hipwritermama.blogspot.com/">Hip Writer Mama</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2856303505680707552?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-3127910147352069882007-06-08T10:00:00.000-04:002007-06-08T18:57:16.428-04:00Horn Book's Summer ReadingBad new, folks. Apparently <em>Horn Book Magazine</em> has acquired a way to see into my very brain. Look at this magnificent <a href="http://www.hbook.com/resources/books/summer.asp">Summer Reading List</a> they just put out. It's like we're soul mates or something.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/09/review-of-day-beach.html">Beach</a> - <em>Beach</em>? Someone else on this planet read and loved <em>Beach</em>? *sob* I'm not alone!<br /><br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/03/review-of-day-chicken-chasing-queen-of.html">The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County</a> - Excellent. The buzz starts low, but if I can keep it up then this book will be causing a veritable blaze of glory by the time the award season circles through.<br /><br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/12/review-of-day-aggie-and-ben-three.html">Aggie and Ben</a> - Awwwww. Just... awwwww.<br /><br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/09/review-of-day-green-glass-sea.html">The Green Glass Sea</a> - Look, Ellen! They included your book!<br /><br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/03/because-i-would-not-stop-to-think.html">Larklight</a> - Suh-weet. Now please to find me a child who likes it. I love it, but I want some confirmation that there's a kid somewhere <em>anywhere</em> that digs horrible white space spiders.<br /><br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/09/review-of-day-drowned-maidens-hair.html">A Drowned Maiden's Hair</a> - Look, Laura! They included your book too!<br /><br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/08/review-of-day-to-dance.html">To Dance</a> - This makes me happy.<br /><br /><br /><br />I'm really going to have to read this <em>Rex Zero and the End of the World</em> book aren't I? It just keeps cropping up.<br /><br /><br />Please go to <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2007/06/summer_reading_.html">bookshelves of doom for a full encapsulation</a> of all the further summer reading lists out there.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-312791014735206988?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-11502391033632481852007-06-08T09:55:00.000-04:002007-06-08T11:03:36.135-04:00Crazy QuestionFor you children's librarians out there (or those with a remarkable knowledge) I've a crazy question. You know those books where you flip pages and change the image before you? For example, the image is of a face and you can flip to change the eyes, nose and mouth, thereby creating a wide variety of different combinations? Right. What are those books actually called? Is there a term for them? Because, to be frank, I haven't a clue.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1150239103363248185?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-79705761516187653632007-06-08T09:08:00.000-04:002007-06-08T09:08:35.189-04:00I Guess I Could Substitute Cinnamon for Garlic or Something . . .<div>Author Robin Brande of <a href="http://www.robinbrande.com/preview-the-book/">Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature</a> would like us to have a potluck together. We like Robin Brande. Ipso facto, we think that this is a good idea. She says:<br /></div><div><blockquote>Instead of any of us trying to meet each other at Book Expo or ALA or any other conferences, we’d pick some spot in the center of the country–someplace easy to get to, like Las Vegas or Denver or Salt Lake City or some other hub–and we could bring our significant others and children or not, and just set aside a Friday and a Saturday to actually hang out face to face and speak words to each other that do not involve typing.</blockquote>I know she says we should bring exotic foods, but I'm bringing brownies. Sorry guys, but that's about as "exotic" as I get. They have cinnamon in them, so that's cool, right? Right?<br /><div>Anywho, you should <a href="http://www.robinbrande.com/life/fantasy-potluck">hear her out</a> on it.</div><br /><div> </div>I vote, Denver.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7970576151618765363?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-39503835760504048562007-06-08T08:38:00.000-04:002007-06-08T08:39:02.796-04:00Cool Library<div>So my co-worker calls over to me the other day and says, "Hey! The Conjuring Arts Research Center's library is looking for a cataloger." </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Mmmhmm.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Wait. The what now?</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>The problem with living in New York, as I often say, is that there are too many doggone things in it. If any other town in America happened to have a <a href="http://www.conjuringarts.org/index.shtml">Conjuring Arts Research Center</a> then you can BET everyone in the city would know about it. Heck, they'd probably have a Conjuring Arts Research Center Parade every year or something. But in New York, even the coolest of places disappear in the midst of all this schtoof.</div><div> </div><br /><div>Ah well. If you're a cataloger, boy have I got a job for you.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-3950383576050404856?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-82685494817027013622007-06-08T08:00:00.000-04:002007-06-08T17:22:15.081-04:00I'm Just Glad That Tim Meadows Is Getting WorkFans of Shredderman should be pleased. Tonight marks Nickelodeon's premier of the Shredderman movie. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0828450/">Shredderman Rules</a> is directed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0390822/">Savage Steve Holland</a> (really wish I were making that one up there), Tim Meadows aaaaaand . . . . no one else. Let me know how it was, kids.<br /><br /><br /><br />They've bumped Ned up from the 4th grade to the 8th grade. But considering the <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/06/walker-love-interest.html">changes</a> we just heard about in the <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/06/walker-love-interest.html">Dark Is Rising movie</a>, I'm not gonna be all that picky.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8268549481702701362?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-25436448262148812382007-06-08T02:17:00.000-04:002007-06-08T02:18:43.125-04:00Too Tired To PostSaw <span style="font-style: italic;">Knocked Up</span> last night. Awesome movie. The downside? It's 2:17 a.m. and I need to be at work in the morning. Sorry, beauties. I'll post continually during the day instead.<br /><br />*yawn*<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2543644826214881238?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-78688432845194130922007-06-07T00:43:00.000-04:002007-06-07T01:25:14.894-04:00Review of the Day: The White Giraffe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51US2FapU+L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51US2FapU+L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70884917&referer=brief_results">The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John. Illustrations by David Dean. Dial Books. $16.99.</a><br /><br />I was at an ALA Conference skimming through the convention center when I stumbled across the Dial booth. I was a little too late to get the hottest galleys that day, but a person can still root out a hidden gem here and there if they’ve a yen to. I think it may have been the cover of “The White Giraffe” that caught my eye first. Deep blues with a pale ghostly giraffe obviously reflecting the moonlight off its hide. I’m not usually drawn to animal stories but there was something deeply compelling about the image I saw here. “Is this any good?,” I asked the clearly exhausted Dial employee. To the best of her ability she assured me that it was a worthwhile read, so I took it home. So here’s where it becomes awkward. It may well be that in the future this is a much beloved title that no one disputes as distilled genius in a glass. Maybe. But as far as I could tell, author Lauren St. John hasn’t quite yet gotten a feel for how to write for a young audience. There are things in this book that work, but by and large they’re outweighed by the sheer mass of the things that do not. A good start, but a book that could have stood a little more editing<br /><br />When eleven-year-old Martine’s parents die in an accidental fire, she finds herself bundled away from England and sent to live with her grandmother in Africa. And that might have been fine except for the fact that it’s obvious right from the start that Martine is not wanted by this unfamiliar relative. Lonely in a strange new land, one night the girl spots a white giraffe in the moonlight. And unaware of a legend that speaks of a girl who will someday ride such an animal, Martine begins to fall in love with her new home. Yet poachers are invading Martine’s grandmother’s land and Jemmy, the beautiful white giraffe, is almost certainly in danger. It will take all the girl’s strength and resilience to discover who the traitor on the reserve is and, when the time comes, realize how to rescue Jemmy.<br /><br />Now it’s clear that St. John’s a writer through and through. Listen to this line: “Pale spiky thorn trees and ragged shrubs dotted the long yellow grass, which glowed beneath the blazing summer sun as if it was lit from underneath.” THAT is how you write a sentence. THAT is how it is done. Food too is described deliciously as “omlettes made from fresh farm eggs and wild mushrooms, a heap of crispy bacon, and tomatoes fried with brown sugar.” A human being could subsist on these words alone if you let them. So imagine my distress when on the next page the resident magical black friend puts her hand on our heroine’s forehead and says, “You have the gift, chile . . . Jus’ like the forefathers said.” Even if you take away the whole white-girl-is-going-to-save-us-all idea, surely there was a better way to introduce that idea.<br /><br />All right. So maybe some of my objection to this title is rooted in its basic premise. White girl goes to Africa and connects with a magical creature there better than any actual African could because she is “the one”. So how much does Martine’s race really matter? I read the first chapter or so of “The White Giraffe” after reading the bookflap, secure in the belief that my heroine was black. When it turned out that she was not, the entire reading experience took a shift to the left. I had been enjoying the book, you know. As first chapters go, I may have to nominate “The White Giraffe” for Most Gripping Opening of 2007. It’s thrilling in the best sense of the word. So do we blame a book for putting a European lady in an African setting? Not a bit of it. But when it's clear that there are legends built around Martine, that's when things start to get uncomfortable. I mean, just for argument's sake, would it have been so bad if Martine had been black? It's not like we're swimming in black heroines in children's books these days anyway (and certainly not in fantasy).<br /><br />There were other issues, I suppose. Martine is eleven but in terms of basic ideas like racism she resembles a six or seven-year-old more. That means that you get passages where apartheid gets a brief glossed over mention without much meat or heft to it. There are small plot gaps as well. Martine doesn’t tell her grandmother about her gamekeeper’s unnatural violence because Tendai “didn’t want to distress her unnecessarily.” It’s a literary device that’s as unnecessary as it is frustrating. Like those movies where the characters won’t call the cops, even when the homicidal maniac is threatening them with a machete. Heck, when Martine’s grandmother, a woman who (we later find) would protect her granddaughter with her life, allows Martine to go BACK into the super scary ship full of bad guys with guns there is just no good reason for it. No sane guardian would let their kid do that. And there are other moments of sheer coincidence. Grace, a holy woman, spontaneously appears in Martine’s secret alcove at just the right moment. You know Ms. St. John must have felt some slight awkwardness with moments like this. After all the book even says, “Martine was still reeling from the bombshell of finding the woman she’d wanted to see, here, in this sacred space.” You me both, hon.<br /><br />But did I mention that the writing was sometimes great? That a giraffe’s eyes are described as the wisest and “most innocent” in the world? And I liked Martine’s dreams and the subplot that involves some mean kids in her school. It’s the details and the idea of a white gal being the savior of Africa that gives me the willies. I look forward to what St. John puts out in the future. A memorable read, but it could definitely have been stronger.<br /><br />On shelves now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notes On the Cover:</span> Can’t put it down. Credit Dial with snagging one smartie of a cover for this puppy. Artist David Dean's interior illustrations are lovely to look at too. It's a pity they weren't in color, what with the beautiful hues on the cover and all hat. A good choice in any case.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Line:</span> “People like to say that things come in threes, but the way Martine looked at it, that all depends on when you start counting and when you stop.”<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7868843284519413092?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-36596107766187408082007-06-07T00:10:00.000-04:002007-06-07T01:16:36.004-04:00Smoochy SmoochyUh-oh. Bad news, guys. I know we were getting all excited about <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484562/">The Dark Is Rising</a> movie coming out. I mean, Walden Media's doing it, but they were so nice with <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/03/movie-review-of-day-bridge-to.html">Bridge to Terabithia</a> that we were willing to forget about what they did to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462346/">How To Eat Fried Worms</a>. Well, we shouldn't have. In this woeful <a href="http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=10283">rehash</a> of the book-to-film translation (I guess the misspelled Newbery Award in the first sentence should have been a tip-off) we learn that Cooper's novel has had a couple nips and tucks here and there. It reads:<br /><blockquote>But within those broad story strokes are major changes, including much more action than Cooper ever imagined, changed relationships and motivations, including the addition of a love interest for The Walker (who is much younger in the movie) and a new reason for him to betray the Light, a very different take on Merriman (in the books he’s essentially Merlin; screenwriter John Hodge told me they dropped all the Arthurian stuff from the film), new abilities for The Rider, and plenty of adventure elements – the impression that I got from what we saw was Indiana Jones meets Harry Potter.</blockquote>Oh. I will rewrite that one for you so that you feel the full weight. It said, "the addition of a love interest for The Walker". In their defense, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001172/">Christopher Eccleston</a> is hot as hell. So.... there's that. Then my eyes drift back over the sentence and I shudder in the very depths of my soul.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And</span> they're dropping the Arthurian stuff? Dude, when your poster looks like this<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/posters/thedarkisrising/thedarkisrising1_large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.worstpreviews.com/images/posters/thedarkisrising/thedarkisrising1_large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />do you think it's the brightest idea to drop all connections to the essential mythology of the book? I mean, what if this movie's a hit and you want to remake the other titles in the series? How's that whole Grail/talking to the friggin' son of Arthur himself idea gonna work out for you?<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://ozandends.blogspot.com/">Oz and Ends</a> for the link.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-3659610776618740808?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-74515837648476979142007-06-07T00:05:00.000-04:002007-06-07T00:52:33.294-04:00It's Not Cricket (hee hee)Due to the frustrating nature of the McSweeneys website, I can't directly link you to the article I'd like you to see. In any case go <a href="http://www.mcsweeneys.net/">here</a> and scroll down to the following:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mcsweeneys.net/">LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF BABYBUG, A MAGAZINE FOR READERS AGE 6 MONTHS TO 2 YEARS.</a><br /><br />It probably says something about me that this letter was my favorite:<br /><blockquote>Dear Editor:<br /><br />Maybe it's just these postmodern times, but I finished your April story on gardens with a painful sense of reader's whiplash. Was it fiction or nonfiction? Your table of contents and editor's note did little to resolve this question, and the story itself was frustratingly self-obfuscating. One moment the reader is getting helpful advice on seed planting and the next a young boy is speaking with a bunny that's wearing an ascot. Please don't throw us so violently down the rabbit hole (pun intended!) again.<br /><br />Kevin Oberlin<br />Age 11 months<br />Missoula, Montana </blockquote>Thanks to <a href="http://www.adamrex.blogspot.com/">Adam Rex</a> for the link.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7451583764847697914?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-69991969816096416432007-06-07T00:01:00.000-04:002007-06-07T00:59:40.811-04:0048-Hour Book Challenge on the HorizonArrr.<br /><br />Thar she blows! Thar she also apparently got some <a href="http://motherreader.blogspot.com/2007/06/tick-tick-tick.html">original Babymouse art</a> to celebrate the upcoming <a href="http://motherreader.blogspot.com/2007/04/second-annual-48-hour-book-challenge.html">48-Hour Book Challenge</a>. Yes, MotherReader is throwing down the gauntlet yet again and it's up to you pretty pookies to do some serious reading. The rules are <a href="http://motherreader.blogspot.com/2007/04/second-annual-48-hour-book-challenge.html">here</a>. This week-end, tackle those mounting piles you haven't had a chance to go through yet. Not me. This thing's falling on the same week-end as my husband's birthday, so sorry m'dears. Then again, you should be grateful. If I write two reviews in a day my head starts to swell up and I get a violent onset of "the fevers". <br /><br />Go win it for the gipper then.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-6999196981609641643?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-88135309175076238012007-06-06T00:21:00.000-04:002007-06-06T00:21:35.659-04:00Library Furniture<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.platform10.co.uk/sleepless/projects/pictures/tiago_files/sleppless_tiago_da_fonseca_bedtime03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.platform10.co.uk/sleepless/projects/pictures/tiago_files/sleppless_tiago_da_fonseca_bedtime03.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://www.platform10.co.uk/sleepless/projects/pictures/tiago.htm">It</a> sort of stands on its own, I think.</div><br /><div> </div>I wonder if you could request the book. I know there are a couple titles I've been meaning to work my way through. Then again, would you really want to snuggle down to <em>Octavian Nothing</em>? Or <em>The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs</em>? Thank you, but no. I think I'll pass.<br /><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://bblinks.blogspot.com/">BB-Blog</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8813530917507623801?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-40423579192021340802007-06-06T00:19:00.000-04:002007-06-06T00:18:48.464-04:00Toldja It Was Sequelrific<div>Pop quiz, hotshot.</div><div> </div><br /><div>The Plain Janes is which of the following:</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>A) A hit</div><br /><div>B) Good for all ages</div><br /><div>C) About to be accompanied by a sequel entitled <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6448573.html?q=plain+janes+">Janes In Love</a>.</div><br /><div>D) All of the above.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/">bookshelves of doom</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4042357919202134080?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-54664528746149136572007-06-06T00:17:00.000-04:002007-06-06T00:22:59.033-04:00Free Books a.k.a. Meghan McCarthy's Party Draws Nigh<div>Free books!</div><br /><div>Fine. So Book Expo came and went and it's possible you feel full to overflowing of free books. If, however, you'd like a couple more, why not hit Meghan McCarthy up for some? As she wrote me:</div><div><blockquote>So I found out my publisher is going to give me 2 cartons of books to give away at <a href="http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/strongman_party.html">my party this Saturday</a>.</blockquote></div>2 cartons, people. Books for everyone. Okay. So unfortunately I can't go as it's the same night as my husband's birthday party. But you guys throw damn good shindigs without me, I've noticed. That last Kidlit Drink Night? Dude, I snuck in there and no one needed me at all. So go give Meghan your support. Eat her food! Take her books!<br /><div></div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/LeonardosShadow"></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5466452874614913657?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-44157424557581705842007-06-06T00:12:00.000-04:002007-06-06T00:12:16.253-04:00It's More Interesting To Note What They Haven't Done Than What They Have<div>From <a href="http://www.cynopsis.com/">Cynopsis</a> comes two different bit of news regarding picture book to TV screen adaptations:<br /><br /><blockquote>WGBH Boston has partnered with Canada's Studio B Productions Inc. to develop and co-produce <em>Martha Speaks</em> , a new animated series based on the popular kid's book of the same name by author Susan Meddaugh (1992/Houghton Mifflin). Designed to expand kid's vocabulary through language and story-telling (and eating alphabet soup), the Martha Speaks series will be comprised of 40 half hour episodes and is slated to be ready for air in fall 2008 on public TV in the US. Studio B will hold international distribution rights for the property.<br /></blockquote>And then later . . . .<br /><blockquote>National Geographic Kids Entertainment has inked a deal for the TV development rights to author Jerdine Nolen's kid's book <em>Plantzilla</em> . Nolen and David Catrow, illustrator of Plantzilla and numerous other kid's books (and political cartoons), have teamed with writer Mark Drop and NG to adapt the book into an animated series for K6-11. Plantzilla revolves around the adventures of third grader Mortimer Henryson and his best friend Plantzilla, the classroom plant. </blockquote>As me title says, I'm far more interested in the books they haven't considered for animation than the ones they have. Is there a <em>Click, Clack, Moo</em> in the works? An attempt to woo Mo to give up all Pigeon-related rights? A back and forth over who gets <em>Fancy Nancy</em>? Such an odd business, television. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4415742455758170584?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-57996954417211787882007-06-06T00:10:00.000-04:002007-06-06T00:09:52.637-04:00Children Like Bad Man<div>I totally ripped that title off of <a href="http://www.bookninja.com/">Bookninja</a>. Totally. Sorry, dude. </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>It was worth it though. <a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2093887,00.html">Here's the article</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5799695441721178788?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-51788588806148446942007-06-05T00:16:00.000-04:002007-06-05T00:17:42.645-04:00Review of the Day: New Socks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51q3CYdyUbL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51q3CYdyUbL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780316013574-1">New Socks by Bob Shea. Little Brown & Company. $12.99</a><br /><br />What is it you want out of your average everyday picture book? Do you want a story? A plot of some sort with a beginning, middle, and an end? Or are your demands a little more broad? I mean, what if a picture book went and just talked about socks for pages at a time? These days, publishers of children’s literature have had their eyes opened wide by the phenomenal success of titles like, “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”. So suddenly it’s perfectly okay for the narrator of a work for preschoolers to talk to them one-on-one without having to go so far as to dredge up a standard storyline. With Bob Shea's, "New Socks", all you have t do is combine an ultra-mod look with an over-the-top enthusiastic presentation and you’ve got yourself a book that walks the line between what’s cool and what’s inspired.<br /><br />A glasses-wearing yellow chicklet (who is apparently named Leon, though the book never calls him that) asks you to guess exactly what it might be about him that’s so new. The glasses? Not so much. No, he’s wearing his New Socks. They fit him to a tee, look good, and there’s nothing better for sliding across a wooden floor. As we watch, the chicken uses the socks to overcome his fear of big slides and pretend to ring up the President. When at last his energy dies down a little the chicken says to the reader, “What can’t these New Socks do?” The last line in the book sums it all up. “Now I’m all excited to get pants!”<br /><br />First off, this may well be the very first hipster picture book I’ve encountered, published in the last five years. Mod titles are a dime a dozen and you can find more rock, rockabilly, punk, jazz, and blues books for kids than you’ll ever have a need for. But how many of us have ever encountered a hero with thick black-framed glasses and a singular fashion sense? If the chicken in this book confessed that he found these socks at an awesome vintage store in Williamsburg for $3.00, I wouldn’t blink an eye. The fact that it takes a childhood staple (a sometimes unnatural love for the inanimate) and molds it into a picture book format is just gravy on the cake. So to speak.<br /><br />As I may have mentioned before, “New Socks” probably owes its very existence to “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”. This isn’t to say that the two books are particularly similar. Aside from the avian hero who talks to the reader, the two are fairly different in terms of tone. No, it just seems to me that had “Pigeon” not garnered itself a Caldecott Honor and numerous <span style="font-style: italic;">profitable</span> accolades, Little Brown & Co. might have been less inclined to take a chance on the pair of bright orange footies found here. The Mod look, coupled with the joyful storyline, makes the book unique. I can think of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Alphabet-Caldecott-Honor-Book/dp/0531360016/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-9178951-9970300?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181004890&sr=8-2">plenty</a> of books that could be considered “good design” but that don’t have so much as a lick of humor to them. So it’s nice to sometimes see an exception to this rule. I'm not sure how repeated readings will fare, mind you. Still, I can see adults growing tired of the reading of this book long before their kids ever do.<br /><br />“New Socks” to my mind, is the very antithesis of the “Fancy Nancy” books. Clean lines. A color palette of orange, yellow, and aqua blue. And nary a sparkle or a smidgen of glitter in sight! I mean, technically it’s all about fashion, but in a completely different kid-centric way. Where “Fancy Nancy” is all about embracing the idea of fanciness in a pseudo-grown-up style, “New Socks” feels more open and honest. We’ve all had that one piece of clothing that we’re just so jolly well pleased with. I mean, let’s face it. If I had a pair of big, comfy, plush, bright, beautiful orange socks I’d probably go all nuts over them myself. The chicken here is true to himself. This is what pleases him and he’s just so happy with his newest acquisition that it’s all he can do not to tell you about it for pages on end.<br /><br />You know who this chicken character reminds me of? Have you ever watched those old Looney Tunes sequences involving Foghorn Leghorn and his small bespectacled chicken friend? This, right here, is that same chicken only modernized, hipstered up, and contemporized within an inch of his life. As I page through the book, I wonder if it will end up being a good read aloud with kids. Put just the right amount of force, bluster, and sheer good spirits into a reading and this chicken may veritably leap off the page. It’s worth a shot anyway. As new books go, it’s nice to find a title that’s so well and truly pleased with itself. If you’re looking for something fun, but you want to purchase a picture book that’ll suck in style-centric parents, you couldn’t ask for a more ideal title than “New Socks”.<br /><br />On shelves now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Blog Reviews By: </span><a href="http://yourlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/04/new-socks.html">Your Friendly Librarian</a>,<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5178858880614844694?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-85331506611708909822007-06-05T00:15:00.000-04:002007-06-05T00:15:56.959-04:00Hot Men of Children's Literature, Part 39 in a SeriesIt's been a while, hasn't it? Guess that just means it's time to get back to my bread and butter. My raison d'etre, and all that (pardon my French). Yes, I've been tossing about today's particular HMOCL for some time now in the back of my brain. It's rare that an author gets big, has loads of talent, and yet somehow remained below my radar all this time hotnesswise. Today's feller is a Canuck through and through. My first, if I stop to think about it.<br /><br />I present to you . . . .<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">KENNETH OPPEL</span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.kennethoppel.ca/bookcovers/kennethoppel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.kennethoppel.ca/bookcovers/kennethoppel.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />And he can brood. Awesome.<br /><br />His <a href="http://www.kennethoppel.ca/home.htm">website</a>, for the record, might serve as a good example for you fellow author/illustrators out there. Look how nicely everything is laid out. First of all, there's a good intro that allows you to skip past if needs be. Then there's the information itself, clearly labeled and colorful. It's got study guides for teachers and up-to-date news. You can even find a way to contact the author. The sole element missing is a blog, but that's all right. There's time enough for that in this world. Plus the guy happens to be a top-notch writer. Those of you who never saw <a href="http://www.kennethoppel.ca/airborn.htm">Airborne</a> (cool Canadian paperback cover too) are missing out. For fun, check out some of the cheapo paperbacks he wrote long ago as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Oppel">viewable on Wikipedia</a>.<br /><br />Plus he's totally cute. Like, totally.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8533150661170890982?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-5095917835221195352007-06-05T00:14:00.000-04:002007-06-05T00:14:26.357-04:00Things That Make You Go ARGGGGG!Complacency sucks. We should all experience the bitter taste of bile rising in our throats at least once a day and now, thanks to a couple links I've found here and there, you're going to get that chance. I've a twofer for you here. If the former doesn't rouse your rebel blood and cause you to scream an unholy shriek of defiance then the latter most certainly will.<br /><br />First off, <a href="http://gwendabond.typepad.com/bondgirl/">Shaken & Stirred</a> directed me to a little Library Journal piece entitled <a href="http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/770000077/post/180010218.html">BEA Journal: Bloggers vs. Reviewers</a>. Ah yes. The mythical rivalry between bloggers and reviewers. The fact that some bloggers can <span style="font-style: italic;">also </span>be reviewers? Well, I'll just clip out a little piece of this article for your consumption. It speaks of the Ethics in Reviewing session that occurred:<br /><blockquote> I started the day off with a bang, sitting in (actually standing with notepad in one hand and trusty Nikon in the other) on the discussion of the growing influence of bloggers in the book world. It was a rehash of the ongoing bloggers vs so-called "real" reviewers argument, which is a good/bad one. This session, alas, was disappointing because the panelists all were legitimate reviewers, including a critic for the <em>NY Times</em> and a college lit professor, who also blog. <p>Those folks aren't the people causing concern. It's others going by the handle of Book Girl, or Book Dog, or Bookasaurus, etc., basically book nerds with no chops who pound away on their PCs while their 18 cats prance in the background. <em>Those</em> are the people I wanted to see defending their legitimacy, not some <em>Times </em>ace.</p></blockquote><p> </p>You'll be pleased to hear that I've sicced all 18 of my cats on this writer (though a good 14 of them took two steps out the door and then promptly began attacking my doorstop instead).<br /><br />Nothing like a bit of massive stereotyping to start your day off right, eh whot? Whatever you do, don't tell the poor fellow that the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span> has started culling some of their reviewers from amongst the bloggers amongst us (or so I heard this past week-end). I don't think he'd be particularly pleased.<br /><br />My second entry doesn't actually make me mad. How could it? I mean.... well see for yourself:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zuu46BA0L._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51zuu46BA0L._AA240_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In case you can't quite read that, it reads <span style="font-style: italic;">The Sky's Not Falling: Why It's OK to Chill about Global Warming</span>. I'd cry but I'm having too good a time laughing to do so. It's the children's faces that get me. They look so smug and self-satisfied.<br /><br />You should definitely hear the <a href="http://www.greenlakelibrary.org/kidslit/archives/014803.html">Kidslit take</a> on it too. She's the one who discovered it, after all.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-509591783522119535?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-3620220737257023602007-06-05T00:11:00.000-04:002007-06-05T00:19:14.359-04:00Quill Nominations 2007Poor misbegotten Quill Awards. I mean, they <a href="http://www.thequills.org/">describe themselves</a> as, "the only book awards to pair a populist sensibility with Hollywood-style glitz. They are the first literary prizes to reflect the tastes of all the groups that matter most in publishing--- readers, booksellers and librarians." Not actually true. The <a href="http://www.cybils.com/">Cybils</a> might have something to say in the matter. But in any case, the Quill Nominations were announced at BEA this year. We seem to have a nicer crop of titles than usual too. Observe (as I have lifted these wholesale from the <a href="http://www.knbc.com/thequills/13415593/detail.html">website</a> in question):<br /><br /><a title="" href="http://www.knbc.com/thequills/13415593/detail.html#" onclick="popUp('/image/13439549/detail.html','width=600,height=235');"><img style="width: 393px; height: 144px;" src="http://www.knbc.com/2007/0604/13439549_480X144.jpg" id="image13439549" border="0" /></a><br /><center><u><b><h3>Graphic Novel</h3></b></u></center><br /><i>Making Comics</i><br />Written by Scott McCloud<br />Published by HarperCollins<br /><br /><i>Ode to Kirihito </i><br />Written by Osamu Tezuka<br />Published by Vertical<br /><br /><i>Alice in Sunderland</i><br />Written by Bryan Talbot<br />Published by Dark Horse<br /><br /><i>Exit Wounds</i><br />Written by Rutu Modan<br />Published by Drawn & Quarterly<br /><br /><i>Aya</i> Written by Marguerite Abouet<br />Illustrated by Clement Oubrerie<br />Published by Drawn & Quarterly<br /><br /><a title="" href="http://www.knbc.com/thequills/13415593/detail.html#" onclick="popUp('/image/13439546/detail.html','width=600,height=235');"><img style="width: 402px; height: 144px;" src="http://www.knbc.com/2007/0604/13439546_480X144.jpg" id="image13439546" border="0" /></a><br /><center><b><u><h3>Children's Picture Books</h3></u></b></center><br /><i>The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon</i><br />Written by Mini Grey<br />Published by Alfred A. Knopf<br /><br /><i>Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy </i><br />Written by Jane O'Connor<br />Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser<br />Published by HarperCollins<br /><br /><i>Flotsam</i><br />Written by David Wiesner<br />Published by Clarion Books<br /><br /><i>Orange Pear Apple Bear </i><br />Written by Emily Gravett<br />Published by Simon and Schuster<br /><br /><i>Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship </i><br />Written by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu<br />Photos by Peter Greste<br />Published by Scholastic Press<br /><br /><a title="" href="http://www.knbc.com/thequills/13415593/detail.html#" onclick="popUp('/image/13439545/detail.html','width=600,height=235');"><img style="width: 391px; height: 144px;" src="http://www.knbc.com/2007/0604/13439545_480X144.jpg" id="image13439545" border="0" /></a><br /><center><u><b><h3>Children's Chapter/Middle Grade</h3></b></u></center><br /><i>Clementine </i><br />Written by Sara Pennypacker<br />Illustrated by Marla Frazee<br />Published by Hyperion Books<br /><br /><i>Diary of a Wimpy Kid </i><br />Written by Jeff Kinney<br />Published by Abrams/Amulet<br /><br /><i>The Invention of Hugo Cabret </i><br />Written by Brian Selznick<br />Published Scholastic Press<br /><br /><i>Pick Me Up </i><br />Written by Jeremy Leslie and David Roberts<br />Published by DK Children's Books<br /><br /><i>The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)</i><br />Written by Rick Riordan<br />Published by Miramax Books<br /><br /><a title="" href="http://www.knbc.com/thequills/13415593/detail.html#" onclick="popUp('/image/13439558/detail.html','width=600,height=235');"><img style="width: 389px; height: 144px;" src="http://www.knbc.com/2007/0604/13439558_480X144.jpg" id="image13439558" border="0" /></a><br /><center><b><u><h3>Young Adult/Teen</h3></u></b></center><br /><i>American Born Chinese </i><br />Written by Gene Luen Yang<br />Published by First Second Books<br /><br /><i>The Green Glass Sea </i><br />Written by Ellen Klages<br />Published by Viking<br /><br /><i>Incantation </i><br />Written by Alice Hoffman<br />Published by Little, Brown and Company<br /><br /><i>Life as We Knew It </i><br />Written by Susan Beth Pfeffer<br />Published by Harcourt Books<br /><br /><i>Sold </i><br />Written by Patricia McCormick<br />Published by Hyperion Books<br /><br />I was rather fond of <a href="http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com/2007/06/mighty-quill.html">Ms. Pfeffer's thoughtful take</a> on her chances. And as I recall, they changed the voting requirements this year.<br /><p><b><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="font-size:13;"></span></span></b></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The Voting Board<br /></span></b></span><span style="font-size:100%;">The Quills Voting Board, comprised of over 6,000 invited booksellers and librarians, will vote for the 19 category winners between June 18, 2007 and August 31, 2007.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-size:100%;" ><b>Consumer Voting<br /></b></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Following the announcement of this year’s winners on September 10, 2007, readers will get to cast their online votes for <b>The Book of The Year </b>from September 10 to October 10, 2007. To cast your vote log on to <a href="http://www.quillsvote.com/">www.quillsvote.com</a>.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></p>Fascinating stuff. I know where my votes lay. Yourself?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-362022073725702360?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-82632373063144192452007-06-05T00:00:00.000-04:002007-06-05T00:19:46.280-04:00The Equivalent of Math in These Here Parts<a href="http://ozandends.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-does-it-all-mean.html">Nuff said.</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8263237306314419245?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-20345797416391861742007-06-04T11:22:00.000-04:002007-06-04T11:29:25.892-04:00Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Announced!!!As found <a href="http://www.hbook.com/bghb/current.asp">here</a>:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fiction and Poetry:</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party</span> (Candlewick) by M. T. Anderson<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Picture Book:</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories</span> (Porter/Roaring Brook) written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nonfiction:</span><br /></div><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/02/review-of-day-strongest-man-in-world.html">The Strongest Man in the World: Louis Cyr</a> (Groundwood) written and illustrated by Nicolas Debon<br /><br />The judges also selected two honor books in each category:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fiction and Poetry:</span><br /></div><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/06/review-of-48-hour-book-challenge_18.html">Clementine</a> (Hyperion) written by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Rex Zero and the End of the World</span> (Kroupa/Farrar) by Tim Wynne-Jones<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Picture Book:</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">365 Penguins</span> (Abrams) written by Jean-Luc Fromental, illustrated by Joelle Jolivet<br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/11/review-of-day-wolves.html">Wolves</a> (Simon) written and illustrated by Emily Gravett<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nonfiction:</span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;">Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion</span> (Houghton) by Loree Griffin Burns<br /><a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/06/review-of-day-escape-story-of-great.html">Escape! </a>(Greenwillow) by Sid Fleischman<br /><br />Hey, man. We all have those favorites that didn't make the cut, but by and large this is a pretty out-and-out good list. It's also going to seriously affect the order in which I read and review books. I have <span style="font-style: italic;">Rex Zero</span>, but I wasn't going to get to it for a while. What a difference an award makes, eh?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2034579741639186174?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-64056130205388181552007-06-04T00:29:00.000-04:002007-06-04T00:29:40.762-04:00The Lisa Yee Lookalike Contest ContinuesYou know how you won't spot a trend for a while and then before you know it it's everywhere? I mentioned recently that a book presented at the Random House preview had some book jacket similarities to Lisa Yee's titles. Compare and contrast for yourself.<br /><br />There was this:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51s7R3J0K3L._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 200px; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51s7R3J0K3L._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As opposed to these:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NXMBZAPSL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 200px; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NXMBZAPSL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-G5jvAuoL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 200px; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-G5jvAuoL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Hd0KC6GXL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 200px; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Hd0KC6GXL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Brendan Buckley</span> does so well because not only do we have half a child's face staring upwards, but the title itself contains the main character's first and last name. So when <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2007/06/stuck_in_the_70.html#comment-71463704">bookshelves of doom</a> presented a new entry, I was thrilled. Shown here:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41D334ZVNCL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41D334ZVNCL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Ideally Storky's last name would be in the title and he'd be looking up, but I think it's a fine new entry into the Lisa Yee Lookalike Contest anyway. Good show!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-6405613020538818155?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-21028001747539467922007-06-04T00:28:00.000-04:002007-06-04T00:54:37.413-04:00Increase Your KarmaI received the following e-mail just the other day and thought I might share it with you:<br /><blockquote>I wanted to write to you about a volunteer project that some of my fellow UCLA library school students and I have been involved in. We volunteer at an LA County juvenile detention facility, providing library services to incarcerated youth. They have a tiny and virtually inaccessible library at the facility, so we bring books to a few of the living units, conduct book talks, and agitate for better library services! Along with UCLA's Graduate Students Association, we are currently conducting a book drive to obtain more books, especially books requested by the youth. We have set up an Amazon wish list at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3GB06L568M0Y3">http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/3GB06L568M0Y3.</a></blockquote>I'm a particular fan of library students as it is, so this sounds like a wonderful thing through and through. If you've a spare dollar or two in your pocket, please give this wish list a looksee.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2102800174753946792?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-45324311854603060262007-06-04T00:06:00.000-04:002007-06-04T00:35:45.121-04:00Somehow I Missed This One<div></div>A show of hands now. How many of you were aware of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books</span>? Okay. Better question. How many of you were aware that it came out a while ago and was written by a former editor and creator of <a href="http://www.underdown.org/">The Purple Crayon</a>? I wasn't, but there's a <a href="http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2007/05/author-editor-interview-harold.html">rather good interview</a> with one Mr. Harold Underdown on Cynsations. Informative stuff.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4532431185460306026?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-80342960494345037732007-06-04T00:04:00.000-04:002007-06-04T00:42:25.083-04:00Long Time Passing<div></div><a href="http://1stedition.net/blog/2007/05/state_of_the_hobby_part_ii.html">Children's Picturebook Collecting</a> offers the following statement:<br /><span style="color: black;"></span><blockquote><span style="color: black;">Based upon our experience, there are fewer key collectible picturebooks on the online market than a year ago, continuing a trend we have seen over the past couple of years. </span> <p style="margin-top: 12pt; line-height: 14pt; vertical-align: middle;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Try a search on any of the metasearch book finding websites, such as <a title="ABE Book Search" href="http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchEntry">ABEBooks</a>, <a title="Addall Book Search" href="http://used.addall.com/%20">Addall</a>, <a title="Bookfinder" href="http://www.bookfinder.com/?mode=advanced">Bookfinder</a>, or the <a title="ABAA Book Search" href="http://search.abaa.org/dbp2/searchform.php">ABAA</a>, for first edition Caldecott Medal books, or Beginner Books, or I Can Read Books, or Seuss books. Sort the results from high price to low price (the thought being the high priced books would most likely be first editions), and see how many books turn up. The results will show that many first edition books are not currently being offered for sale.</span></p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 12pt; line-height: 14pt; vertical-align: middle;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;"></span></p>Entirely possible. They go one to explain why this might be. Well worth a glance by your eyes, if you like.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8034296049434503773?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-81938821651634401312007-06-04T00:00:00.000-04:002007-06-04T01:02:47.578-04:00Yet Another RecapIn case you've not tired of them, check out the <a href="http://studiodubois.com/liz/blog/?p=221">Chat Rabbit recap</a> of Book Expo. I gotsta get me some of that sweet sweet Photoshop manipulation for my own posts. Tis suh-weet.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8193882165163440131?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-19914012312751250472007-06-03T12:36:00.000-04:002007-06-03T00:38:51.853-04:00Book Expo: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace Severe Back Pain<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.visitingdc.com/images/jacob-javits-convention-center-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.visitingdc.com/images/jacob-javits-convention-center-2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I was trying to figure out how exactly to write up my recent visit to Book Expo '07 (motto: Grow uncomfortably close to your fellow man in a humongous space). Should I recap all the pretty pretty books I brought home? I could but then you wouldn't hear about all the cool books I wanted but passed up because I already had access to them. So instead I'll talk today about what it's like to visit a Book Expo Convention... thing. This was my first one, y'know.<br /><br />First off, what's the difference between Book Expo and an ALA Conference? Sounds like a riddle of the raven/writing desk variety, doesn't it? But that was the question that popped into my head as I neared the ludicrously out-of-the-way Jacob Javits Convention Center located in beautiful Lower West Manhattan. I've done ALA twice, which is enough to make me think myself an old hand. Plus I'd attended Comic Con at this same center not a month before. To my mind I was just going to waltz in there, locate books, and waltz out.<br /><br />Flaw to My Plan #1: Waltzing in is not possible. You must dodge, before you even enter, numerous people handing out flyers and ads for products you do not want before you're 50 feet from the door. Some of these people are on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway_PT">Segways</a>, which makes them look like some kind of advanced legless robot. Or deeply uncool. One of the two.<br /><br />After you dodge the people screaming, "Free books on the Web!" you are inside the convention center. Now the last time I was there it was full of comic book geeks and people dressed up in costumes. That didn't change much on this round. I saw a Jack Sparrow and a Borat within the first two minutes I was inside. Another thing that hadn't changed? The temperature. Jacob Javits was acting like the lovely little greenhouse it was. I saw unfortunate Information Desk volunteers literally falling to sleep as gentle sunbeams lulled them into a sense of false complacency. Fortunately, I was prepared. In the past the Javits has apparently been cold, but not knowing this I packed light. Score thus far - Javits: 0, Fuse #8: 1.<br /><br />I lost my hometown advantage in attempting to find the Registration Desk, however. To my mind, Javits somehow managed to grown an extra floor or two since I'd last visited. I spent most of the day running up and down stairs and escalators, never quite figuring out what belonged where. Still, once I had my handy dandy map and plastic nameholder thingy, I was good to go.<br /><br />I've heard a fellow librarian say that they don't much care for Book Expo because the publishers are so clearly trying to woo booksellers rather than librarians. I never really had a sense of that. Bloomsbury, FSG, and Clarion were all super sweet to me, making it very difficult to limit my book intake. When you walk into a convention saying, "I will only take a couple of books" you are deluding yourself. Even if you have stacks and stacks and stacks of the puppies piled on your desk at home *cough* it's hard to say no to the nice editor carrying the shiny middle reader about time travel.<br /><br />I'd like to offer an apology to Clarion, by the way. You see, at one point in my travels I happened to stumble upon the Little, Brown & Co. booth as they filled their table with cookies (shown here:).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526246032/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1220/526246032_94a22927aa_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526246032/">Little Brown's Cookies</a></span><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><br /></span> <p></p>Well, I'm not made of stone. I doggone ate those delicious cookies I did. Oh, Little Brown. Why do you increase my calorie intake so?<br /><br />After eating a delicious cookie, however, I was thirsty. And this being New York (America's answer to Europe) and not Portland, Oregon, there was not a drinking fountain to be seen. So what did I do? I asked Clarion if I could have one of their water bottles. The water bottles clearly meant, I later realized, for the poor starving/thirst-ridden editors unable to leave the boiling hot convention center all day. I felt bad. However, the water was very good and no one in the booth even blinked when I asked. Still. Bad form on my part.<br /><br />Thing I Am Most Proud Of: I found the Roaring Brook Press booth early on and managed to get some delightful First Second ARCs, making up for my failure in Seattle earlier this year.<br /><br />In my travels I discovered a lower level where even more booths were located. The convention organizers had cleverly sequestered all book signings to this floor, and it was there that I was able to find Kids Can Press, Scholastic, and Kane/Miller. My sole regret was that I couldn't find hide nor hair of <a href="http://www.simplyreadbooks.com/">Simply Read Books</a>. They're one of my favorite independent publishers, cranking out gorgeous little creations each and every year. They weren't on my map though so I can only assume they didn't come out. Alas.<br /><br />The book signings looked like fun. In this kind of situation you get a free book and have its author sign it for you. At the end of the hall is just a line of authors. Some do better than others, of course. I felt badly for the new teen author whose publisher kept working the lines trying to get her some new fans with a, "Do you like fantasy? Do you like fantasy?" While there, I ran into <a href="http://medinger.wordpress.com/">Monica Edinger</a> and Joan Kindig and we waited for Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith to sign their new book <a href="http://www.jsworldwide.com/yeah_he_wrote_em.html">Cowboy & Octopus</a>. Then it turns out that Joan was the woman I replaced on the Newbery last year. We had a nice "woah" moment there.<br /><br />In my travels I also ran into <a href="http://acampora.livejournal.com/">Paul Acampora</a>, <a href="http://www.richiespicks.com/">Richie Partington</a>, <a href="http://www.kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/about_us/index.jsp">Karen Breen</a>, and <a href="http://www.cbcbooks.org/about/memberslistR-Z.html">John Mason</a>. I saw <a href="http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/pinkneyj">Jerry Pinkney</a> staring vacantly into space. I had <a href="http://www.adamrex.blogspot.com/">Adam Rex</a> sign his <span style="font-style: italic;">True Meaning of Smekday</span> and got the second copy <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/05/hot-men-of-childrens-literature-part_30.html#links">Christopher Paul Curtis</a> has <span style="font-style: italic;">ever</span> signed of his new book <span style="font-style: italic;">Elijah of Buxton</span>. I met lots of other people too but my memory is freaky. While having lunch in a little oasis Candlewick set up (next to <a href="http://www.carolynmackler.com/">Carolyn Mackler</a>) someone used the phrase "ALA aphasia". It's the sensation you receive (usually at ALA Conferences) when you meet someone that you know you've met before but you can't quite place where. I suffer from a lot of ALA aphasia. I'm not proud of it. It just happens.<br /><br />By the way, Candlewick has just started putting their catalogs on CD-ROM. I think this may well be an idea that strays into brilliance. Who else is tired of the thick piles of paper catalogs gumming up your workplace? I know I am. Plus a CD-ROM could have interviews, behind the scenes stuff, and a host of cool extras.<br /><br />At one point we ran into author <a href="http://www.maryrosewood.com/">Maryrose Wood</a> who had a door prize from that Young Adult Literature Prom a month or so ago. You may remember it from <a href="http://www.brotherhood2.com/?p=92">John Green's quickie recap</a>. Well here's the prize she got:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526247632/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/221/526247632_ab705cb932_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526247632/">The Condom Bag</a></span><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><br /></span> <p></p>Yes. She really was carrying <span style="font-style: italic;">Knuffle Bunny, Too</span> in there. But we did arrange it a little for this shot.<br /><br />My secret plan is to find a way to adapt my body into the perfect Book Expo shape. Evolution begins with me. This secret plan requires that my shoulders grow enough muscles to easily carry several bags worth of ARCs without serious consequences to my central nervous system. However, knowing my luck I think I'm more likely to grow hips as wide as bookcases and just carry my wares that way. About this time Monica and I were weighed down with bags upon bags. Here you may see the aforementioned Mr. Jon Scieszka shocked at the amount of them.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526247638/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1224/526247638_eab6ca00a7_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526247638/">Jon Scieszka & Monica</a></span><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><br /></span> <p></p>Shocked, I say!<br /><br />So by that time we decided to take off. Sadly, all the tickets for The Knight Bus were already sold out and it would not take me home. We did get to see it parked and ready, though.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526247646/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1157/526247646_045afe21ff_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526247646/">Knight Bus</a></span><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><br /></span> <p></p>I'd blame the blurriness of the shot on how fast it was moving, but you probably wouldn't believe me. With reason. Instead, we eventually found a cab to take us back into Columbialand and I changed right quick so as to turn around and go <span style="font-style: italic;">back</span> to the same area for the Kidlit Drink Night. I took the train almost all the way there but because I was wearing painful shoes I thought that maybe I could hop a quick cab the rest of the way. During rush hour. On a Friday.<br /><br />Fun Fact: Don't ever do that. Ever. Ever ever ever.<br /><br />I made it eventually and zee party? She was hopping. Thanks to the good people at Kane/Miller I remembered to wear a blue dress and all kinds of folks were milling about. I saw <a href="http://planetham.blogspot.com/index.html">Matt Phelan</a> & wife, <a href="http://www.sistersgrimm.com/newsite/index.html">Michael Buckley</a> & wife, <a href="http://classof2k7.com/authors/greg_r_fishbone.php">Greg Fishbone</a> & no wife (though one might well have been floating about), various <a href="http://thelongstockings.blogspot.com/">Longstockings</a>, <a href="http://www.merabb.com/">Margo Rabb</a>, <a href="http://www.timothybush.com/">Tim Bush</a>, a nice microbiologist and a bunch o' bloggers. I finally got to meet our own <a href="http://www.wandsandworlds.com/">Sheila</a>, <a href="http://yzocaet.blogspot.com/">Liz B</a>, and perhaps even <a href="http://www.watat.com/">Adrienne</a>. I'm leaving people out, so please forgive me. The room, she was a little eensy weensy bit packed. I should have rented out the back area, but someone already had it. Lackaday.<br /><br />To my delight, <a href="http://chavelaque.blogspot.com/">Cheryl Klein</a> was there with her <a href="http://www.myspace.com/harryandthepotters">Harry and the Potters</a> fan finger in tow.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526413733/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/526413733_b088083141_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/84964721@N00/526413733/">Harry & the Potters</a></span><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><br /></span> <p></p>And how cool was it that the creator of <a href="http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/">The Leaky Cauldron</a> was by her side?<br /><br />After that it was off to <a href="http://www.thecopacabana.com/">The Copacabana</a>. A place of airbrushed pink fronds, thick carpets, and female waiters (not men) wearing Cat in the Hat hats. Bloomsbury was kind enough to place right smack dab between <a href="http://oinks.squeetus.com/">Shannon Hale</a> and <a href="http://textualities.net/writer-pages/a-m/grantk01.php">Katie Grant</a> for the duration which was all kinds of awesome. They made for great seatmates. And I'd tell you about their new books, but then I'd have to kill you. During the course of their conversation I learned that Grand Rapids, Michigan is a difficult place to find a restaurant in if you're from out of town. Also, Ms. Hale knows many of the verses from <span style="font-style: italic;">I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo</span>, and Ms. Grant's family history is fascinating (it involves two skulls and a single body in a tomb).<br /><br />The real highlight of the evening were the winners of the <a href="http://www.abfc.com/ebwhite.html">E.B. White Read Aloud Award</a>. The winner in the picture book category was <a href="http://www.bcplonline.org/kidspage/kids_howe.html">James Howe</a> and Marie-Louise Gay for the remarkable <a href="http://www.bookpage.com/0604bp/children/houndsley_and_catina.html">Houndsley and Catina</a>. I only recently discovered this book on my own when a young girl asked for it on the Reference Desk. It's a gem of a book. One that somehow got completely passed over on many of the 2006 Best Book Lists. I may have to break my ban on reviewing previous years on this blog just to give this title the attention it so sorely deserves.<br /><br />Howe, for his part, was a delight. He mentioned that he felt "uncharacteristically nervous" that evening. And he quoted Catina who, in the midst of her desire to write a book, says without hesitation that, "My book will win prizes!" And so it has. Most touchingly, Howe mentioned that his partner Art "is my Houndsley". Once you've read the book you'll appreciate that statement. When Gay went up to speak someone at my table mentioned that they'd been admiring her outfit long before they knew who she was. Gay turned out to be a wonderful speaker as well. She spoke of how, when reading the manuscript, it went a long time without mentioning that Catina was a cat and Houndsley was a dog. Her speech was a lovely encapsulation of what it's like for the illustrator when a manuscript arrives on their doorstep.<br /><br />You may recall that the winner of the chapter book read aloud portion went to <a href="http://www.wattkey.com/">Watt Key</a> for <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/08/review-of-day-alabama-moon.html">Alabama Moon</a>. A person gets a certain mental image of a writer when they read them. I'd seen Mr. Key as a 55 or so man of little hair and ample stomach. Instead this young man with a soft Alabama accent took to the stage and spoke of his initial wonder on coming to New York. He mentioned that he had no idea that his book would be published for children, how much he really want to sign something <span style="font-style: italic;">anything</span> when he first came to the city, and his desire for shiny gold stickers to put on his book. He charmed the entire room from the minute he stepped on that stage. If you happen to get the chance, I highly urge you to bring Watt Key to your school or library. The man knows how to give a speech.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/features/markuszusak/">Marcus Zusak</a> was one of the later speakers. It took us a while to figure out, but every table had about ten copies of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Book Thief </span>on them. And every copy was signed with a different dedication (per table, I mean). So... ow. Poor, Mr. Zusak. I'm sure his hand must be throbbing by now. He mentioned at one point that, "Writing is like climbing a mountain and there's sanity at the top." That was nice. And he was followed up by the <span style="font-style: italic;">Fancy Nancy </span>ladies who had a running Powerpoint of little girl fans dressed to the nines behind them.<br /><br />So that was that then. On Saturday I did some more hearty partying, but that will wait for another day. I can't imagine what the poor publishers and authors must be feeling right now. At least I didn't have to get up early all week-end. Foof.<br /><br />No Video Sunday today, m'loves. And a special hug and kiss to Anne Schwartz who asked whether I wrote posts this long every day. Bless your heart, m'darling. I only wish I could do so.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1991401231275125047?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-25799583927961368012007-06-02T00:12:00.000-04:002007-06-02T01:14:33.699-04:00And What Have We Learned Today, Children?Book Expo rages on but for this blogger my convention center days are past. I'll do a nice recap of everything I've seen and done tomorrow, but allow me to say this much for now.<br /><br />What I Learned:<br /><ul><li>This it is unwise to wear painful shoes to a drink night and dinner in the hopes of "breaking them in". My feet have informed me that they will not be taking orders from me any longer. They somehow acquired an agent during the last few hours. I'll be speaking to them in a conference call tomorrow to discuss such issues as moving-from-the-couch and whether-I'll-ever-wear-those-damnable-shoes-again.</li><li>That when one plans a Kidlit Drink Night during a conference one should not naturally assume that it will be a small crowd. One should, if one were thinking clearly, get a room at a nice bar or club.<br /></li><li>That cabs are apparently hard to come by around the Jacob Javits Conference Center. Who knew?</li><li>That Marcus Zusak is not afraid to sign 200+ books, but them on tables in a restaurant, and have a different sentence in <span style="font-style: italic;">every single one</span>.<br /></li><li>Did I mention my feet? Cause they're really putting up a fight right now. I think one of them is going to start verbally abusing me in a minute.</li></ul>I learned other things as well, but those are good for a start. More tomorrow, popples.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2579958392796136801?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-1764685021713301872007-06-02T00:11:00.000-04:002007-06-02T00:34:07.343-04:00The Chain Letters of Blogdom<div>I done been memed by <a href="http://mentortexts.blogspot.com/2007/05/8-things-meme.html">Mentor Texts & More</a>.<br /></div><br /><div>Is it called a meme because it's all about me me?</div><br /><div>Curious.</div><br /><div>Irregardless, there are rules to this sort of thing. Observe.</div><div> </div><br /><div><em>Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.</em></div><br /><div> </div>We are in a contrary mood today, however. I will do the tag, but I talk enough about myself as it is. Now you want to know more? 8 facts? I'm feeling dull at the moment, so I'll instead offer you 8 facts you might not know about my workplace, The Central Children's Room of New York Public Library instead. <ol><br /><li>We have Eric P. Kelly's <em>Trumpeter of Krakow</em> Newbery Medal. No, really! It's in a cute little green velvet case. I've shown it to people who were unaware that the Newbery was an actual honest-to-goodness medal medal. Well, it is, and this is what it looks like.</li><br /><li>We have a bunch o' original paintings by N.C. Wyeth from an edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">Robin Hood </span>he illustrated.</li><br /><li>We have a couple cut paper scenes by Hans Christian Andersen. Andersen enjoyed cutting paper into complex little scenes which he would hand out for fun. We have two, I think.<br /></li><br /><li>We have a collection of letters sent to a little girl. As a child she would write to famous authors and illustrators and she saved all their responses. In her later years, these were donated to the Central Children's Room. One by L. Leslie Brooke (I still feel the Caldecott should have been named the Brooke Medal) is a lovely little creation involving unhappy balloons.</li><br /><li>We have the real Mary Poppins umbrella. Author P.L. Travers donated it to the library. Yet another item Disney will never get its greedy paws on. HA!<br /></li><br /><li>We try to keep every single drawing done in this library by its illustrator. That means that we've a lot of great James Marshall and Jose Aruego pictures done long long ago on butcher paper.</li><br /><li>We're currently about to digitize our entire collection pre-1923. Then it will be available for free online. We're also sending books off-site to a remote storage facility where they will be available only by request.</li><br /><li>We've an original woodcut by Wanda Gag from her book <span style="font-style: italic;">Millions of Cats</span>. It's quite lovely.<br /></li></ol><div>I'd meme 8 more people, but honestly I don't want anyone to feel obligated. If you think it would be fun, however, go wild.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-176468502171330187?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-27024894919401875492007-06-01T00:14:00.000-04:002007-06-02T00:16:02.103-04:00Poetry Friday - The Collected Works of Susan Ramsey<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://adventuresindailyliving.blogspot.com/2007/06/friday-poetry-elsa-beskow.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://lh5.google.com/image/chndlrsblog/RmBFj-SN_DI/AAAAAAAAB34/at3HZsHcKd0/poetry%20friday%20button%20-%20fulll.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>I'm not dead to the irony of posting a poem like this in the Summer of my own years. What the hey, as they say. It's a sonnet, I think.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Year Hits Perimenopause</span><br /><br /><br />Autumn has decided what the hell.<br /><br />She knows the symptoms and already frost<br /><br />has tarnished her. She's not a fool. She knows<br /><br />however much she feels like May the snows<br /><br />are coming, so before this chance is lost<br /><br />she's going to wear red, show off her tits,<br /><br />plump apples, bulge pumpkins. She is going to swell<br /><br />each bunch of grapes to cleavage and shadowed musk.<br /><br />Fuck decorum, honey, take a bite.<br /><br />Take two. Each day is shorter than the last<br /><br />and colder, so her unimpeachable night<br /><br />is thick with glitter, rhinestones, sequins, glitz.<br /><br />She thinks that maybe she'll even try her luck<br /><br />and use her license for a few young bucks.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2702489491940187549?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-66788440869054026192007-06-01T00:12:00.000-04:002007-06-01T00:12:45.311-04:00ReminderThough I seriously doubt that anyone in the NYC vicinity is going to be checking blogs today, please remember to stop by the <a href="http://www.sheckys.com/newyorkcity/search/landmark_tavern_1_1494.asp">Landmark Tavern</a> tonight at 5:00. I'll be in a dress and everything. Come by.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-6678844086905402619?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-7590938058081688152007-06-01T00:11:00.000-04:002007-06-01T00:11:50.670-04:00This Just In!<div align="center"><strong>LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS TO NAME NATIONAL AMBASSADOR FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE</strong> </div><br /><div align="left"><br />The Library of Congress announced today that, through its Center for the Book, it will create the post of National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Appointed for a two-year term by the Librarian of Congress, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will speak to the importance of fiction and non-fiction books in children's lives. Selected for extraordinary contributions to the world of books for young people, the National Ambassador will encourage the appreciation of young people's literature throughout the United States through both personal and media appearances. </div><br /><div align="left"> </div><br /><div align="left">“The Ambassador will be an award-winning author or illustrator whose position will acknowledgeat the national levelthe importance of exceptional authors and illustrators in creating the readers of tomorrow,” said James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress. The National Ambassador program is a joint initiative of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Children's Book Council (CBC). The appointment of the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will be announced in January 2008. </div><br /><div align="left"> </div><br /><div align="left">“We are thrilled. The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will honor and promote the essential role young people's literature plays in every aspect of our society,” said Simon Boughton, Chair of the CBC Board of Directors and Executive Vice President & Publisher of Roaring Brook Press. </div><br /><div align="left"> </div><br /><div align="left">The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature will travel and speak extensively during the two-year term, participating in book and reading promotion events throughout the United States. While each term will bring new events in different areas of the country, the National Ambassador will speak in Washington, DC each fall at the National Book Festival and in New York City each spring during Children's Book Week. </div><br /><div align="left"> </div><br /><div align="left">The National Ambassador will choose a platform on which the two-year term will focus. This platform will emphasize literacy, education, and related issues concerning books and young people. In addition to regular speaking engagements, the National Ambassador will work with national media outlets to promote this platform to an even wider audience. </div><br /><div align="left"> </div><br /><div align="left">The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature position is patterned after the Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. The Center for the Book and the Children's Book Council will administer the project jointly, including naming the Selection Committee, overseeing the selection process, and organizing the National Ambassador's travel schedule. </div><br /><div align="left"> </div><br /><div align="left">The Selection Committee will consider all nationally-prominent creators of fiction and non-fiction books for children and young adults in the United States. Selection criteria will include, but will not be limited to, level of national prominence and popularity with young people, as well as the candidate's known enthusiasm for specific issues in children's and/or young adult literature. </div><br /><div align="left"> </div><br /><div align="left">Financial support for the National Ambassador program is provided by Cheerios(r) cereal, which has been getting books into children's hands and encouraging families to read together through its Spoonfuls of Stories(r) program. Over the past 5 years, Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories has distributed more than 25 million books free inside boxes of Cheerios cereal, and donated more than $2 million to First Book(r), an international children's literacy organization. Additional financial support for this program is provided by HarperCollins Children's Books, Penguin Young Readers Group, Random House Children's Books, Holiday House, Inc., National Geographic Children's Books, Houghton Mifflin Company, Harcourt Children's Books and Candlewick Press. The CBC, through its associated 501(c)(3) entity, the CBC Foundation, is seeking additional financial support for the National Ambassador program from the private sector and encourages those interested in supporting this exciting program to contact CBC and CBC Foundation Executive Director, Robin Adelson at 212-966-1990 or <a href="mailto:Robin.Adelson@cbcbbooks.org" target="_blank">Robin.Adelson@cbcbbooks.org</a> . </div><br /><br /><div align="left"># # # The Children's Book Council, established in 1945, is the non-profit trade association of publishers and packagers of trade books and related materials for children and young adults in the United States. The goals of the Children's Book Council are to make the reading and enjoyment of children's books an essential part of America's educational and social goals; to enhance public perception of the importance of reading by disseminating information about books and related materials for young people and information about children's book publishing; to create materials to support literacy and reading encouragement programs; and to encourage the annual observance of Children's Book Week. The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established in 1977 by Public Law 95-129 to use the resources of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books and reading. Its entire program is supported by private funds. To carry out its mission, the center has created two national networks: affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and national reading promotion partners, mostly non-profit organizations, such as the Children's Book Council, that promote books, reading, literacy, and libraries. The Center for the Book plays a key role in the development of the National Book Festival, held each year on the National Mall in Washington, DC.<br /><br />Found via the Marketing Director of the <a href="http://www.cbcbooks.org/">CBC</a>.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-759093805808168815?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-82785014647725584682007-06-01T00:10:00.001-04:002007-06-01T00:10:55.651-04:00The Best Children's Novels You've Never Read<div>When <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/">bookshelves of doom</a> linked to the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Magazine</span>'s listing of <a href="http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/2007/32390/">The Best Novels You've Never Read</a>, it got me to thinking. When I first got into seriously reading children's books I would briefly de-lurkify myself on the child_lit listserv and ask people to tell me their favorite unappreciated children's books. I've a bit of an obsession with forgotten classics, you see. Now I've compiled a couple of the books I've found and enjoyed. Undoubtedly a few of you will have read these already. But on the off-chance that you haven't, here are my picks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Best Children's Novels You've Never Read</span><br /></div></div><div><strong></strong> </div><br /><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Winged Girl of Knossos by Erick Berry</span> - My poor sweet lost-to-time Newbery Honor winner (circa 1935). It's the Icarus tale, but if Icarus was a girl. A kick-ass, take no prisoners kinda girl. This story gives a historical feel to the old myth, making it seem real and close at hand. Good luck finding a copy, though. Libraries here and there might still have their old 1934 editions hanging about, but that's only if you're lucky.<br /></div><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Seventh Raven by Peter Dickinson</span> - This one's bizarre, actually. It starts off as a nice story about kids putting on an opera. Then it mixes in some politics, a hostage situation, and becomes this wacked out psychological thriller. Shivers.</div><div> </div><br /><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Jack by Leon Garfield </span>- If you've not read Garfield before, this one's my favorite. I love villains that become oddly cuddly. Especially if they're near-hanged villains. That's even better.<br /><br /></div><div> </div> <div><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea</span> - I'm happy to report that when I put this book on my library's Staff Favorites table it doesn't molder there for months. This puppy has legs. It could be due to the cool cover, or maybe it's just the fabulous premise. I have little tolerance for fantasy novels that go halfway when it comes to the whole Celtic mythology thing. O'Shea plunges in headfirst and damned be the consequences. Plus it has a talking fox. Look me in the eye, right here, and tell me you don't want to read about kids and a talking fox. Right here.<br /><br /></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"> </div> <div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones</span> - You have your favorite Diana Wynne Jones. I have mine. And while <span style="font-style: italic;">The Dark Lord of Derkholm</span> runs a tight second, I'm a sucker for any book containing a hired goon. Particularly a titular hired goon.<br /><br /></div> <div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Little Sister by Kara Dalkey</span> - I actually think I need to reread this one. Tricksters and magic and Japan circa A.D. 1100. Good stuff.<br /><br /></div> <div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stoneflight by Georgess McHargue</span> - Before <a href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/charlie-fletcher/stoneheart.htm">Stoneheart</a> came out, there was <span style="font-style: italic;">Stoneflight</span>. The only work of children's fiction I've found to contain several mentions of the Morningside Heights library branch, the book's just fun and well-written. The personal problems of the heroine meld beautifully with the whole statues-of-New-York-come-to-life plot too.<br /></div><br /><div><span style="font-weight: bold;">Below the Root by Zilpha Keatley Snyder</span> - Speaking of which, why not reprint this puppy with a gorgeous new cover? You could certainly entice children with it. It's like <span style="font-style: italic;">The Giver</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">City of Ember</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Atherton</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">The Wind Singer</span>. Aw heck....<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Wind Singer by William Nicholson</span> - I'm still a little weirded out by the fact that a lot of people haven't heard of this series yet. What's not to like about creepy kids who've been supernaturally aged? Or a cheery marching band from hell? I'm a fan.<br /><br />Suggestions? Additions?<br /></div><br /><div> </div><br /><div> </div><br /><div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8278501464772558468?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-9253347610531943952007-06-01T00:03:00.000-04:002007-06-01T00:03:19.537-04:00New Blog Alert<div>I stumbled across this one in my travels but it wasn't until <a href="http://www.studiojjk.com/">Jarrett Krosoczka</a> recommended it that I thought to give it a serious glance.<br /><br /><a href="http://bottomshelfbooks.blogspot.com/">Bottom Shelf Books</a> has existed since February of this year and, until now, has flown under the kidlit blogosphere's radar. The postings are consistently smart and funny. At this writer's hand the children's book regulars take on an entirely new meaning. Like so:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Saggy Baggy Elephant</span> becomes, "a prophetic warning about the effect of television (the parrot symbolizing the squawk box/tv) on our self-image and predicted the resulting rise of the plastic surgery industry (and in the case of some disturbing reality television shows, the apocalyptic combination of the two)."<br /><br />Sandra Boynton's <span style="font-style: italic;">Moo, Baa, La La La! </span>is now, "a warped democracy where candidates are not allowed to speak their own mind if it is not in line with their party. This only fuels the polarization of American bipartisan politics because candidates are forced to pander to party faithful or they won't even get a shot at the presidency. Obviously, this affects all politicians, whether they be pig, donkey, elephant, or emu."<br /><br />And<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Miss Nelson is Missing </span>completely cracked me up with, "The transformation from good to bad by switching to black hair and black clothing is a common narrative devise. The most recent instance of this is Spiderman 3. Peter Parker, loveable All-American boy, gets infected by an evil alien substance and his dark side begins to emerge. How do we know this? Easy. Peter Parker's every day appearance begins to change... he starts wearing all black, his hair starts to grow long and cascade down his forehead... before we know it, Peter Parker he has gone Emo on us. Bad news. By the way, I never thought that I'd be psyched to see a blockbuster action flick where Toby Maguire and Topher Grace duke it out. Seriously? I think that fight happened in my junior high and no one even stopped to watch."<br /><br />Oh man. Oh man, that's good stuff.<br /><br />Sole blog flaw? The writer has fallen under the spell of <a href="http://bottomshelfbooks.blogspot.com/2007/05/love-you-forever.html">Big Munsch</a>. I find it hard to believe that someone with this much wit in their heads could say of the greatest work of picture book piffle that, "If, somehow, you don't feel anything, then congratulations! You have a heart of pure stone and should pursue a career that will take advantage of your lack of a soul... like guillotine operator or investment banker." This from someone who thinks <a href="http://bottomshelfbooks.blogspot.com/2007/02/runaway-bunny.html">Runaway Bunny is co-dependent</a>. Which it is. But give me my pick of the two and I'll trade in Munsch's magnificently creepy vibe for an eerily overprotective mother any day. Wonder how the author feels about <span style="font-style: italic;">The Giving Tree</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Rainbow Fish</span> . . . .<br /><br />Definitely worth a look, all the same. Blogs of this sort don't walk down the street every day.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-925334761053194395?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-19342533019151511732007-06-01T00:02:00.000-04:002007-06-01T00:03:54.155-04:00As the Library of Congress System Bides Its Time . . .<div><!-- BOXAD TABLE --><blockquote>"A lot of times, patrons feel like they're going to a library and admitting defeat because they don't understand Dewey Decimal and can't find the book they're looking for," said Marshall Shore, adult service coordinator for the Maricopa County Library District and driving force behind the idea. "People think of books by subject. Very few people say, 'Oh, I know Dewey by heart.' " </blockquote>The solution? The new <a href="http://www.mcldaz.org/library/userdef/branches/ud_mcld_branch_GI.aspx">Gilbert library</a> in Arizona has thrown the Dewey Decimal system out the winder and is shelving everything by topic. They say it works for bookstores and that libraries these days are, "in a fight for our own survival."<br /><br />I'll admit that I've always wondered what a library shaped like a bookstore would look like, so I understand the inclination here. I'm used to patrons walking in and looking for the "historical fiction section," and the like. That said, bookstores have a distinct advantage over libraries. They don't stock anything that's old unless it's hugely popular or a "classic". In terms of sheer mass, libraries win nine times out of ten. They can only copy bookstores so much. And if you've enough catalog computers lying about the place then you really don't have to worry whether or not your patrons know Dewey by heart. Sillies.<br /></div><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/">bookshelves of doom</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1934253301915151173?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-69023074207472206322007-06-01T00:00:00.001-04:002007-05-31T23:58:15.177-04:00The Shoes Make the Woman<div></div>Alkelda the Gleeful has found me shoes to wear with my red dress.<br /><br /><a href="http://saintsandspinners.blogspot.com/2007/05/shoes-for-fuse.html">What do you think?</a> I'm thinking I'd have to grow a second pair of feet just the match the fearful awesomeness of these items.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-6902307420747220632?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-15634193846393399552007-05-31T00:10:00.000-04:002007-05-31T00:08:59.598-04:00Review of the Day: Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JceYpQ24L._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JceYpQ24L._AA240_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780618756384-0">Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers. Illustrations by Yoko Tanaka. Houghton Mifflin Company. $16.00.</a><br /><br />It took me a little while to review this one, but better late than never.<br /><br />Things That Are Difficult To Do:<br /><br />1. Eating broken glass<br />2. Changing a baby’s diaper for the first time.<br />3. Digesting aforementioned broken glass.<br />4. Selling a boy on a great adventuresome novel with a female heroine.<br /><br />It’s a bit of a stereotype but one with at least a grain of truth to it. Certain boys of a particular literary persuasion will offer an unpleasant amount of resistance to reading a book when its protagonist is of the feminine variety. This is understood. Few quibble the point. As a result, nine times out of ten a hero who discovers a fantastical world in a fantasy novel will sport a name like Harry or Percy or Sebastian (no one said they had to be manly names). This can make it difficult for girls heroes. Either they have to share the spotlight with a boy (and is pictured on the cover with him if the publisher has their way) or their heroine already exists in a world of her own when the action begins. The latter is the case with one Theodosia Throckmorton. If you called her “spunky” to her face she’d probably grind your foot beneath her boot heel. Theodosia isn’t cute or plucky or wide-eyed. She’s sly and clever with just half a sandwich more intelligence than her fellow man. "Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos" is not a perfect creation, but it has enough originality and sheer verve to make up for those imperfections a reader might find.<br /><br />When you’re living in Edwardian England as the child of easily distracted museum curators, you have to do a lot of growing up on your own. Theodosia Throckmorton, for her part, has done her fair share. While her mother has been scouring Egypt for artifacts to send to the family’s Museum of Legends and Antiquities, Theodosia lives in London at the museum in question with her father and cat. What’s more, she has a purpose in life. Unlike anyone else she knows, Theodosia can physically sense the horrid curses and black magic seeping from the artifacts on display. Her job? Remove the magic and keep away from her father’s meddling curator Clive Fagenbush. And everything would have been perfectly fine had her mother not brought home that wretched Heart of Egypt. Legend says that should this amulet ever leave its native soil it will curse the country that takes it in and topple the kingdom itself. Now WWI is looming, evil forces are conspiring to steal the amulet for their own means, and it’s up to Theodosia to foil the bad guys, find herself some allies, and return the Heart of Egypt to its rightful home.<br /><br />The book lends itself to love. First off, there’s the fact that LaFevers has such a flair for names. It’s just a pleasure to read someone who can create her own unique characters without sounding like a slightly sickened Dickens novel. So it was that I found myself chortling over monikers like Sticky Will, Dolge, Sweeny, and Wigmere. The very voice of the book was also a pleasure. I’m rather taken with any heroine who mentally labels her brother a “cad” when he threatens her with imminent education. And I liked the shout-outs to other works of children’s fiction. E. Nesbit’s, “The Treasure Seekers” gets a mention, which pleased me to no end. A pity the author is never named.<br /><br />Best of all, “Theodosia” works on more than one level. It is my personal belief that LaFevers is making a rather slick anti-colonialism statement couched in an otherwise innocuous fantasy. Theodosia’s parents are stealing a country’s treasures without so much as a drop of guilt. Heck, her mother even alludes to a possible bribery of “local officials” so as to remove the artifacts from the country. And while you’d never accuse Theodosia of being anything other than a patriot (she even goes so far as to say that she would never “betray” her country) that doesn’t mean she can’t be at odds with what the nation, as well as her very own parents, does.Less effective perhaps is the tie made between pre-war Germany and this “curse” upon England. Says Theodosia, “ Germany was using the power of Ancient Egyptian magic to topple its adversaries. Just like Thutmose III and Amenemhab had.” Anti-colonialism I’m willing to buy. The Kaiser using magic? I guess it works in the same way that the Nazis in the Indiana Jones films work. It just seems a little clunky for an otherwise nice book.<br /><br />There are problems here and there. There are no surprises regarding the true villain of the book. You probably won’t mind, but LaFevers makes it fairly evident. Another complaint I’ve heard lodged against this title is that it doesn’t effectively take you into Edwardian England. The smells and tastes and sensations aren’t there. You can appreciate the plot and pacing, but it’s not an evocative novel. I agree with this to some extent. Obviously that wasn’t what LaFevers was going for. For the kind of book that it is, you can enjoy the story without feeling you have to have traveled back in time with the author. For all that the author doesn’t try to conjure up distinct sensations, she’s thought through numerous tricky details. I loved the idea of long-term exposure to curses seeping into a person’s soul like radiation into cells. Plus the illustrations by Yoko Tanaka are used sparingly enough to give the book just enough oomph without detracting.<br /><br />I’m trying to gauge the level of innate kid-appeal in this book, and I’m having a difficult time coming up with anything. What it really feels like is a child-version of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody novels like “Crocodile On the Sandbank”. Same level-headed heroine. Same magic and vibe. Same exciting Egypt-based fight/flight sequences. You can hardly recommend a book to a kid on the basis of the adult novel it reminded you of. In the end, I’m just going to wait for the child who comes up to me and wants a good adventure story with a bit of fantasy for flair. It won’t be a book for every kid out there, true. But when paired with titles like the “Enola Holmes” books by Nancy Springer, “Theodosia” should prove popular with any kid attracting to the intelligent and the arcane.<br /><br />On shelves now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notes on the Cover: </span>Houghton Mifflin is apparently unafraid to make it clear to the world that this book is a historical fantasy. I know that amongst some there is a belief that if kids see anything even faintly antiquated on a book cover that they avoid it like the plague. It's nice to see a book reveling in an original look. The colors are one-of-a-kind, the image of Theodosia more than a photographed and dismembered head or torso, and the font pleasant. Altogether, this is a cover that makes children <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>adults want to pick it up. Well played.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First Line:</span> "I don’t trust Clive Fagenbush."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Blog Reviews: </span><a href="http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/blog/2007/03/theodosia_and_t.html">Jen Robinson's Book Page</a>, <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2007/02/theodosia_throc.html">bookshelves of doom</a>, <a href="http://lindajsingleton.livejournal.com/58550.html">lindajsingleton</a>, <a href="http://nichtszusagen.blogspot.com/2007/04/theodosia-and-serpents-of-chaos.html">nichtszusagen</a>, <a href="http://deeanddeedish.blogspot.com/2007/04/fab-theodosia-and-serpents-of-chaos-by.html">Dee and dee Dish</a>, <a href="http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-ZaFC4cQ8fqi8G00pDVYJ7mFP6Hhl0A--?cq=1&p=116">Menageriemom's Musings</a>, <a href="http://corrinalaw.livejournal.com/46837.html">corrinalaw</a>,<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Futher Info: </span>The <a href="http://theodosiathrockmorton.com/">Theodosia Throckmorton Homepage</a> and <a href="http://www.theodosiathrockmorton.com/blog/">Theodosia's Journal (blog)</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1563419384639339955?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-43686431858907262322007-05-31T00:08:00.000-04:002007-05-31T00:08:41.191-04:00A Fuse #8 Production: Digest Edition<div>Digest <span class="pronset"><span class="show_ipapr" style="display: none;"><span class="prondelim">/</span><span class="pg">v. </span><span class="pron">dɪˈdʒɛst, </span><span class="pron">daɪ-; </span><span class="pg">n. </span><span class="pron">ˈdaɪ<img class="luna-Img" src="http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.png" alt="" border="0" />dʒɛst</span><span class="prondelim">/</span> <a class="pronlink" onclick="pk = window.open('/help/luna/IPA_pron_key.html', 'PronunciationKey','height=700,width=560,left=0,top=0,resizable,scrollbars');if(pk){pk.focus();}" onmouseout="status='';return true;" onmouseover="status='Click for pronunciation key';return true;" title="Click for pronunciation key">Pronunciation Key</a><span class="pron_toggle" style="display: inline;"><span class="prondelim"> - </span><a class="pronlink" onclick="javascript:show_sp()" onmouseout="status='';return true;" onmouseover="status='Click to toggle pronunciation';return true;" title="Click to show spelled pronunciation">Show Spelled Pronunciation</a></span></span><span class="show_spellpr" style="display: inline;"><span class="prondelim">[</span><span class="pg">v. </span><span class="pron">di-<b>jest</b>, </span><span class="pron">dahy-; </span><span class="pg">n. </span><span class="pron"><b>dahy</b>-jest</span><span class="prondelim">]:<br /><br /></span></span></span>1.to convert (food) in the alimentary canal into absorbable form for assimilation into the system.<br />2.to condense, abridge, or summarize.<br />3. to plunk together in a veritable hodgepodge.<br />4. to give the author of a particular blog the excuse she needs to work the word "hodgepodge" into one of her postings.<br /><br />Here are some trinkets and tidbits of an especially shiny nature that I've not had time to properly digest this week. Between this and that my brain is not working to its full capacity. Fortunately that means that the brains of others work where mine has ground to a rusty dusty halt.<br /><br />Less excuses. More postings.<br /><br />First on the list is Roger Sutton. You all know Roger. Editor of Horn Book. Bearer of the sacred throat vinculum. This week, he <a href="http://www.hbook.com/blog/2007/05/place-your-bets.html">mentioned</a> that the Horn-Book Globe Book Awards committee is beginning their deliberations and you are invited to offer your bets on who the winners might be. So exciting! I side with the commenter that suggested that <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/09/review-of-day-drowned-maidens-hair.html">A Drowned Maiden's Hair</a> finally get its due. Roger also done went and linked to the article <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/08/08/bocliche.xml&page=1">Circle of Cliches</a> via <span style="font-style: italic;">The Daily Telegraph</span>. I'll have to speak more on this later this week. It talks about the words or phrases reviewers love far too much. I know that for my part there are certain comfort turns of phrase that I'll reuse more often than I really should. Give the piece a glance alongside <a href="http://www.hbook.com/blog/2007/05/deceptively-simple.html">Roger's response</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://picturebookillustration.blogspot.com/">Children's Illustration</a> we got a glimpse of some remarkable movie posters from back in the day. Blogger Michael Sporn also offered this great bit of info:<br /><p></p><blockquote><p>Through Aug. 1, the <strong><a href="http://www.posteritati.com/">Posteritati Movie Poster Gallery</a></strong> (239 Centre St.) lets New Yorkers escape into the past with a collection of art from fantasy films ranging from 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to modern-day favorites like “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “The Incredibles.”</p> <p>Gallery hours are Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 6 p.m.</p></blockquote><p> </p>If that means I get to see posters like this 1960 Czech image of Dumbo then I'm in.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/wp-content/e/DUMBO%2520CZE.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/wp-content/e/DUMBO%2520CZE.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> Those of you in town for Book Expo might want to consider making a side trip.<br /><br /><a href="http://thelongstockings.blogspot.com/">The Longstockings</a> may have a lock on the Pippi blog name, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't shoot on over to <a href="http://excelsiorfile.blogspot.com/2007/05/pippi-longstocking.html">the excelsior file to read David Elzey's view</a> from an adult perspective of Sweden's hitherto best-known redhead. Great opening sentence too. "Pippi scared me when I was young."<br /><br />If the webcomic <a href="http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=892">Questionable Content</a> is unknown to you, watch and learn. <a href="http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=892">This one</a> goes out to all the librarians out there. I've never heard the term "shush" sounds so very very dirty.<br /><br />And because of <a href="http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/">Mo Willems</a> I now know that Jon Scieszka has a <a href="http://www.jsworldwide.com/">new website</a>. It's very nice. I'm particularly fond of the map that shows <span style="font-weight: bold;">Population That Wishes They Were Reading Scieszka Books</span>. The one thing I would change? I want that big scary picture of Jon at the top to say "Gleep" unexpectedly and without warning. Is that too much to ask?<br /><br />Finally, I've been memed. I'll meme it right back tomorrow. Cross my heart.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4368643185890726232?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-74508082758170669652007-05-30T00:00:00.000-04:002007-05-30T15:52:24.668-04:00Random House Preview: Notes From the InsideLast Thursday I hauled my exhausted carcass from my bed at the ungodly hour of 7:15 (on days that I work 12-8 I usually get to sleep in a little) and high-tailed it over to the Random House building on Broadway for their <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Librarian and Reviewer Presentation: Fall 2007</span>. You know, every publisher's preview has something to recommend it. Little Brown may wipe the floor with everyone else foodwise (and they do) but Random House wins for frequency. Every single season they pull out all the stops for a fabulous production. It's like watching a show. You plunk your tookus down in a seat and stare as imprint after imprint parades onto the stage to present a Powerpoint of upcoming books and titles. I've come to terms with knowing that of the books I think look fabulous I will probably never see them until they come out in stores. Lackaday.<br /><br />First up was a bit of a surprise. A new imprint called <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6431047.html?nid=2286">Robin Corey Books</a> presented by a Robin Corey (coincidence, no?). She's starting off nice with a new Sandra Boynton called <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">What's Wrong, Little Pookie?</span> Otherwise she hasn't quite found her core author/illustrators yet. The bulk of good books coming out this year, hands down, goes to good old <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/about/imprints.html">Schwartz & Wade</a>. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/catalog_cover.pperl?9780375836091"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/catalog_cover.pperl?9780375836091" border="0" /></a> Sometimes I'm not entirely taken with the seasonal selection of S&W, but this particular list seemed especially choice. First of all, the author of the book <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200027/">Riding in Cars with Boys</a> has a picture book. I'll rephrase that. The author of <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Riding in Cars with Boys</span> has a picture book and it looks fabulous. For <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Mary and the Mouse, The Mouse and Mary</span> the illustrator is Barbara McClintock, which was quite a "get" right there. The book parallels the lives of two girls, one human and one a mouse, as they live near one another without knowledge of one another. Their daughters, however, meet near the end and a friendship blooms as a result. Ms. Schwartz (Ms. Wade was elsewhere) compared it to <a href="http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/book.php?id=108">The Borrowers</a> and there's some legitimacy there. Not the least of which is the fact that Ms. McClintock's style is not too different from that of <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Borrowers</span> illustrators, <a href="http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/CLRC-729.xml">Beth and Joe Krush</a>. The book also apparently proves that there is a picture book trend this year concerning <a href="http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=5401">mice who go to college</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.randomhouse.com/images/dyn/cover/?source=9780375936050&height=100"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 100px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://www.randomhouse.com/images/dyn/cover/?source=9780375936050&height=100" border="0" /></a>S&W also got their hands on a new Ana Juan. The author's unknown to me (Monique De Varennes, anyone?) but the feel and illustrations of <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Jewel Box Ballerinas</span> is typically gorgeous stuff.<br /><br />There was also a book called <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Waking Up Wendell</span> by April Stevens that is illustrated by everyone's favorite Tad Hills of <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/11/review-of-day-duck-duck-goose.html">Duck and Goose</a> fame. Two points recommend themselves with this book. 1) The endpapers have a dreamy distance to them typical of his other work. 2) There's a scene where (I think) the cat is slamming itself against the family's bedroom door in an effort to get in. You see everyone in bed and as they look around in confusion while the words, "WACK-SLAM! WACK-SLAM! WACK-SLAM!" are punctuated overhead. My old cat used to do this. And I can attest that the sound was exactly the same.<br /><br />Wendy Lamb then came up to talk about her own imprint's books. The term, "Volcanoes, vampires, and love," summed up her titles this season. First book, <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Night of the Howling Dogs</span>, almost wins my award for <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Best Powerpoint Byline</span>: "From a Scott O'Dell Award winning author, it's just another camping trip - until the tsunami." Oh, Graham. Somehow Mr. Salisbury could make you seriously believe that Hawaii was the most dangerous place on earth. If the Japanese aren't bombing you one moment, you're suffering earthquakes AND tsunamis the next.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n32/n163758.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 100px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n32/n163758.jpg" border="0" /></a>Good news on the fantasy front. Peter Dickinson (Eva) at the grand old age of eighty has written a sequel to <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Ropemaker</span>. It's a 512 page sequel entitled <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Angel Isle</span> (British cover featured here) and takes place 200 years after the first book.<br /><br />Moving on, I came to the conclusion that Random House gets 30-some new editors every season. Why else would I not recognize these people? Well the Random House Golden Books division was mighty pleased to present a new Leonard Marcus title, I can tell you. It was described as the third in Leonard's series on the history of picture books. The first was <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780688171889-6">Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon</a>. The second <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/17-9780060236250-0">Dear Genius: The Collected Letters of Ursula Nordstrom</a>. And now he's created <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Golden Legacy</span> which looks at, "How Golden Books won children's hearts, changed publishing forever, and became an American icon along the way." Veeery informative stuff. Mr. Marcus himself came to the podium and explained how the idea behind Golden Books in the midst of the Depression was to create affordable children's books for all. Many of the artists who worked on the books had fled Europe during the war. . . . or they fled Disney studios. Ho ho. Leonard went on to call the clever marketing of the books in drugstores as "democratizing". Businesses today should latch onto that lingo themselves. Some mention was made of the library community "vilifying" the books, though I can attest that NYPL is purchasing collected editions of the titles these days. Sidenote That I Didn't Know: Simon and Schuster were young Jews in the 30s who couldn't get jobs so they started their own company.<br /><br />I got a bit distracted after this by, of all things, <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Happy Healthy Monsters: Grover's Guide to Good Eating</span>. On the cover is Grover in his standard waiter gear with the now ubiquitous Elmo at his side. It got me to thinking. The cover just proves that even when a book references a classic Grover sketch, he just can't hold his own without Elmo anymore. What if they were writing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monster_at_the_End_of_This_Book:_Starring_Lovable,_Furry_Old_Grover">The Monster at the End of This Book</a> today? Would someone force the author to smuggle in some horrid red monster at some point? Oog.<br /><br />We looked at some of the standard series titles, including a new Magic Tree House Research Guide called <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Polar Bears & the Arctic</span>. After mentioning that polar bears eat more humans than any other animal, one of the editors said offhand, "The perfect book for your collection if you want to see an 8-year-old cry". Good sense of humor, those editors.<br /><br />A big deal was made about a new fantasy series in town, and at first I wasn't interested. Read the byline: "When Max has a cryptic vision he learns that destiny has great plans for him." *yawn* Oh, and the name is <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Hound of Rowan (The Tapestry Trilogy #1)</span>. *double yawn* Then they started to describe it and it got kind of interesting. Author Henry H. Neff quit his high-powered job to become a high school teacher (!?) and wrote this book on top of all that. He also illustrated it and his illustrations actually look cool. But then I got thrown back to my yawns when I heard that it was set in a school like Harry Potter and worked in Celtic mythology. BUT, and here's the kicker, this is a book where the hero is not "The Chosen One". That would be his roommate. Our hero is, in fact, a kind of bodyguard instead. And that is why I may actually wish to read this book.<br /><br />About this time editor Alice Jonaitis mistook <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028597/">The Awful Truth</a> for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033373/">Ball of Fire</a> but allayed the error by talking up <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Dinosaurs</span> by Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. Why should you care about yet another dinosaur book? Well I don't suppose you're hoping to find the penultimate dinosaur title for your collection, are you? This book has the most up-to-date information and covers (according to them) every conceivable topics regarding dinos. I was actually kind of excited to hear about this one.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">No Castles Here</span> by A.C.E. Bauer was another title I didn't much care to read at first (byline: "The story of a boy, a book, and believing . . .") but was described nicely in person. Set in Camden, N.J. (which according to the main character is the armpit of the nation), this is a title for the 9 to 13-year-old crowd in which a kid gets a Big Brother. A gay Big Brother, who the kid really likes but is worried that the bullies at school will find out about. <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">No Castles Here</span> looks as if it might have a lot to say about race and sexuality. We'll see if that's actually the case. I was pleased to discover later that A.C.E. Bauer is a <a href="http://classof2k7.com/authors/ace_bauer.php">Class of Y2Ker</a>. Well done there.<br /><br />Alongside <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/04/review-of-day-wednesday-wars.html">The Wednesday Wars</a> we've another Shakespeare-inspired boy book coming out this year. Jake Wizner's, <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Spanking Shakespeare</span> was described to us as written by an author who could be, "the love child of Judy Blume and Woody Allen". Chew on that image in your mind for a while and then get back to me.<br /><br />I was delighted to see The Listening Library folks troop up to the stage next. This is what separates Random House from other publishers. Because they let Listening Library do the spiel you get to hear about books from a wide wide array of other publishers. So check out what's coming out soon!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oLs9J2lyL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51oLs9J2lyL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><ul><li><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">I Am Not Joey Pigza </span>by Jack Gantos. I simply couldn't be more excited.<br /></li><li><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Igraine the Brave</span> by Cornelia Funke. Looks like <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Princess Knight</span> gone novel-length.</li><li><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Garden of Eve</span> by K.L. Going. A dead mom, but I like the author a lot and this one sounds really good.</li><li><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Thirteen Reasons Why</span> by Jay Asher - Yay, hometown hero!<br /></li><li><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Revolution Is Not a Dinner Party</span> by Ying Chang Compestine</li><li><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Who Discovered America?</span> by Russell Freedman<br /></li></ul>The Bantam Delacorte Dell Young Reader group came up just about the time I realized that my gift bag contained chocolate. Some smart pookie had wrapped milk chocolate bars in advertisements for Libba Bray's upcoming <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Sweet Far Thing</span>. When I looked back up it was just a sea of plunging necklines. The Bantam ladies have it going on, it seems.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51W1PoZP0CL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51W1PoZP0CL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a>Delightfully enough, Judy Blume as a new early chapter book out. A sequel to <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Pain and the Great One</span>, we now have <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One</span>. This book has been paired with James Stevenson for the illustrations which is both a simple idea and a great one. And the gift bag, to my delight, actually had a copy of this in it. Score! <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Lucy Rose: Working Myself to Pieces and Bits</span> by Katy Kelly is also coming out soon. So why the heck isn't Adam Rex doing the illustrations? He did the first two Lucy Rose books and then, suddenly and without warning, they've hired Peter Ferguson. I got nothing against Mr. F, but it seems a very odd switcheroo.<br /><br />Bantam next had a hard time convincing the dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers that a book about rats was viable kiddie fare. For my part, <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Vasco, Leader of the Tribe</span> by Anne-Laure Bondoux looked good if a bit familiar. Vasco = Rasco anyone? I was also a little surprised at the speed with which <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Kiss My Book</span> by Jamie Michaels has come out. The premise is basically the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaavya_Viswanathan">Kaavya Viswanathan</a> Story from her point of view. Actually, it makes for a fabulous YA novel. I can't blame Michaels for going there. I'm just a little awed at how quickly it's coming out, that's all.<br /><br />And I'm actually kind of tentatively excited, against my will no less, by <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Grimpow: The Invisible Road</span> by Rafael Abalos. The Templar Knights have never really appeared in a big-time fantasy novel. Surprising, when you think about it. I liked the idea of tying them into the Philosopher's Stone and I had high hopes for this book. Then the editor introducing it invoked the name of <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Eragon </span>not once but TWICE. The kicker? When she said it was, "Part <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">DaVinci Code</span> and part <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Eragon</span>". These sweet editors need to start adjusting their descriptions of these books for their librarian audiences. That kind of talk probably gets corporate bookstores and fellow publishers all hot and bothered, but you could actually see the audience cringe as they heard the dreaded "E" word invoked repeatedly.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y943CKWCL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Y943CKWCL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a>Now I'm not usually lured by teen novels but when an editor described <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Before I Die</span> by Jenny Downham as, "one of the most accurate views of what it feels like to fall in love as a teen," I was hooked. It's a dead heroine book (terminal disease, no less) but I couldn't quite tear myself away from that description. Next, without ever invoking the name of <a href="http://gottabook.blogspot.com/2006/05/oddaptation-rainbow-fish.html">Rainbow Fish</a> (branch #2 on the <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/04/triumverate-of-mediocrity.html">Triumvirate of Mediocrity</a>), Leo Lionni's, <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Tico and the Golden Wings</span> sounds at the outset like Pfister's original inspiration. Bird gets golden wings. Bird give away golden feathers. The difference is that when Tico gives away his feathers (ala Oscar Wilde's <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Happy Prince</span> more than anything else) the ending makes it very clear that though he now looks the same as everyone else, his experiences have made him different on the inside. Reprints of this book have made Tico's wings look a dull yellow. Random House, then, is going to use golden foil to make the books as shiny and enticing as it was when it was first published. And since the word of the day in the marketing departments is "Shiny Shiny!" this manages to be both a good publicity stunt and entirely faithful to the original publication of this classic work. Janet Schulman's a smartie.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">A Song in Bethlehem</span> by Marni McGee is another nativity story, albeit a whitey white white one. The next <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Max & Pinky</span> book is coming out (<span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Adventures of Max & Pinky: Superheroes</span> by Maxwell Eaton) and I am horribly excited about it. I love those books! I was happy to see a mention of Sue Stauffacher's <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/04/review-of-day-nothing-but-trouble-story.html">Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson</a>. Unfortunately, since I've already reviewed the book, I could tell that they somehow failed to put the coolest paintings from its pages (illustrated by Greg Couch) in the Powerpoint slideshow. Tsk tsk tsk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51X5AKX5ZNL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51X5AKX5ZNL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a>The upcoming reprint of Ray Bradbury's <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Halloween Tree</span> was just a delight to me. Look at that cover. They don't hardly make 'em like that no more. Some mention was made of the fact that Ray Bradbury was once friends with Chuck Jones and that they made a movie together. If anyone has any additional information on this, I'd like to hear it.<br /><br />Edward Bloor has a new novel coming out called <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Taken</span>. It does the idea of a "near future" right by placing its events squarely in 2035. That's the way you do it. None of this silly 2011 crap. The future should be within our lifetime but far enough away that when child readers reach it they are no longer children.<br /><br />Finally, to round out the presentations, author Jerry Spinelli came up to the podium to speak. He called everyone "Bookies" and spoke about his <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Love, Stargirl</span>, which is due on shelves this coming August. Spinelli, it soon became clear, is a natural born public speaker. He seems so laid back, but give him a question with a little bite to it and watch him tuck in. It was odd seeing him so soon after reviewing his other book out this year with Little Brown, <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/05/review-of-day-eggs.html">Eggs</a>. Still, he's was a good "get". Everyone, I think it is fair to say, had a remarkable time. So! Awards!<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"></span></span><br />Some Good Covers: </span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">My Swordhand is Singing</span> by Marcus Sedgwick - The byline read like a zombie novel but the title is just another vampire book. Why are there not any great YA zombie books? I'd show you the American cover but they haven't posted it online yet. Bother.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">No Castles Here</span> by A.C.E. Bauer. Actually, this is unfair. You really have to see the full cover, front and back, to appreciate it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://classof2k7.com/images/no_castles.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://classof2k7.com/images/no_castles.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac</span> - Listening Library introduced this one.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vf-M3-XoL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51vf-M3-XoL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Worst Covers: </span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">A Bridge to the Stars</span> by Henning Mankell. One of the editors loved it too. The problem is that it's sporting an adult font for the author and title and if it's "A magical mystery that leaves readers spellbound," then why not make it look less dreamy and more exciting? The American cover is not yet available for viewing online. Hopefully there is time to change their minds about it.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Most Familiar Cover: </span>Wow. This here is a Lisa Yee lookalike. I didn't even know they made Lisa Yee lookalikes. Let's play a fun game now. Which one of these covers <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">isn't </span>a book by Lisa Yee. Look carefully now...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NXMBZAPSL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NXMBZAPSL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-G5jvAuoL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-G5jvAuoL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51s7R3J0K3L._AA240_.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51s7R3J0K3L._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Hd0KC6GXL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Hd0KC6GXL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Did you find it?<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Best Celebrity Lookalike On a Cover: </span><span style="font-size:0;">With</span> <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">One Trick Pony</span> by Daniella Brodsky (it's, oddly enough, <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Chocolat</span> for teens via coffee) we have an Anne Hathaway impersonator.<br />They were selling this book by telling us that 75% of teens report daily coffee consumption. Really? Really really?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IZfHUitGL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IZfHUitGL._AA240_.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Best Phrase<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">: </span></span>Of illustrator Greg Newbold it was said that the artist, "Gives good Santa".<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Worst Phrase: </span>Ironically it was for the same book (<span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The Barnyard Night Before Christmas</span>) which some ill-advised editor mentioned had equal doses of, "hilarity and heart". *shudder*<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Most Enjoyable Powerpoint By-line</span>: I can't help it. I loved the one for Louise Plummer's <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Finding Daddy</span>: "Mira opens a Pandora's box from the past and unleashes a horror of a daddy." So wrong it's right? Or just wrong?<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Best Use of the Term [Blank] Meets [Blank]: </span>I was a little disappointed this season. Last time I went to a RH preview they were pulling out the "meets" like it was nobody's business. They closest they got this time was a half-hearted <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">"The Devil Wears Prada </span>meets <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Ugly Betty</span>". Which is to say... <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Ugly Betty<span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">. </span></span>It was meant to describe <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Susanna Sees Stars</span> by Mary Hogan. FYI.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Best Description of a Book: </span>I'm not biased. Karen Breen herself said he was a remarkable speaker. Yes, Jack Linkey (or whatever his name is) described <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">When Randolph Turned Rotten</span> by Charise Mericle Harper so well that if they'd been selling copies before us I think every person there would have bought themselves a few. It looks great, sounds great, reads great, and is great. I. Want. This. Book.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7450808275817066965?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-78465966246833200862007-05-29T00:14:00.000-04:002007-05-29T00:14:55.496-04:00Kidlit Drink Night - Book Expo<div style="text-align: center;"><a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32214865@N00/388832848/"><img style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/388832848_006195485e_m.jpg" /></a><br /></div><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" >Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/32214865@N00/">Stefan DW</a>.</span></div><p></p><div></div>By executive decision, I hereby declare the following:<br /><br />We shall meet at the <a href="http://www.sheckys.com/newyorkcity/search/landmark_tavern_1_1494.asp">Landmark Tavern</a> located at 626 11th Ave. (@ 46th St.) this Friday at 5:00. The place is seven blocks north of the convention center, which shouldn't be too terrible a walk. Then, at 7:00 or so, those folks who are attending the ABC 7:30 dinner can take off and the rest of youse can stay.<br /><br />Here's how Landmark is described:<br /><blockquote>This bar might as well be in New Jersey it’s so far west. But its history alone is worth a visit. The first beer, costing a nickel, was poured during the Johnson Administration (that’s Andrew, not LBJ), and rumor has it the tavern is haunted by an Irish girl and a Confederate soldier. During prohibition, Landmark was closed for 30 minutes, or the time it took to move the barrels of whiskey upstairs. The bar, carved from a single mahogany tree, is original, as are the floor tiles and stamped tin ceiling. Even the men’s bathroom with swinging saloon doors has a kind of old world charm. If that isn’t enough of a walk down memory lane for you, you’re better off at the Intrepid. The rest of us who like our history in the form of stories told by bartenders will stay put and enjoy a Magner’s Irish cider and an Anglo-Irish dinner menu that suits the surroundings perfectly.</blockquote>So those of you inclined to have a meal will have the option of doing so too! Hopefully the volume will be less than it was during the drink night at Bar 9 back during the SCBWI Conference.<br /><br />And if anyone's looking for an explanation of what Book Expo is and what it's like for your average author/illustrator, take a gander at the Mo Willems piece <a href="http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/2007/05/book-expo-america-schedule.html">Book Expo American Schedule</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7846596624683320086?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-82245217415594572582007-05-29T00:12:00.000-04:002007-05-29T00:13:44.766-04:00Picture It. Secret of the Andes: The Graphic Novel!<a href="http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/05/up-betimes.html">Neil Gaiman</a> reported it and <a href="http://medinger.wordpress.com/2007/05/26/coraline-the-graphic-novel/">Monica Edinger</a> followed up on it. It seems that images from the upcoming <span style="font-style: italic;">Coraline</span> graphic novel are available for viewing. This is an interesting move on Gaiman's part. Recent children's novels for the middle grade set have been adapted into graphic novel formats with reasonable success. Until now, however, most of these have been series. <a href="http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/publisher/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001085715">The Baby-Sitters Club</a>. <a href="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-02-05/tokyopop-and-harpercollins-set-to-bring-erin-hunter%27s-bestselling-children%27s-series-to-manga-format">The Warriors</a>. Now we've a stand alone fantasy novel in a GN format. Will this confuse those readers assigned the book in school? If other stand alone books follow suit will they all be fantasies? Or will we see things like graphic novel adaptations of things like <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/06/review-of-day-penny-from-heaven.html">Penny From Heaven</a> and <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/08/review-of-day-rules.html">Rules</a>? Frankly, the thought of GN Newbery books excites me quite a lot. One would never replace the other, but I love the idea of tackling serious children's books with new formats.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*cough* Of course, only REALLY smart and forward-thinking publishers would attempt this *cough*</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8224521741559457258?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-31253235452366209612007-05-29T00:11:00.000-04:002007-05-29T00:11:39.874-04:00Mmm. Social Poison.He's so cute when he's mad. According to <span style="font-style: italic;">The Guardian</span>,<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Philip Pullman recently opened up a can of whoop-ass on children's television broadcasters with phrases like, "Children are regarded by broadcasters as a marketing opportunity at best, a dangerous and feral threat at worst, and an expensive nuisance otherwise" and "This social poison goes much deeper than broadcasting, of course, but it's particularly visible there". Unfortunately the <a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2089132,00.html">article</a> in that reported this news was a bit lacking in the where-exactly-did-Pullman-say-this? department. Ah well.<br /><br />It's nice to see that Pullman doesn't finger any specific country with these statements. I just shiver with delight when I hear him say things like, "There used to be ... a sense of responsibility among broadcasters: a feeling that this extraordinary medium ... should be used to make things better, richer, more interesting for those who made up the audience - especially for children." We're sailing dangerously close to Old Fogey Territory (where all the When-I-Was-A-Kid topics tend to surface), but I'm happy to see that somebody remembers how television once served a purpose above and beyond marketing.<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/">Big A little a</a> for the link.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-3125323545236620961?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-57323461928642621852007-05-29T00:09:00.001-04:002007-05-29T00:10:14.222-04:00Talking Polar BearsSpeaking of Pullman, I thought this was something I'd seen before but obviously I was wrong. Here we have the <a href="http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808718640/video/2778562/standardformat">brand spanking new trailer</a> for <span style="font-style: italic;">The Golden Compass</span> all pretty and bright in its shiny shiny glory. Niiiice.<br /><br />Thanks to Rosie for the link.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5732346192864262185?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-26665037296877230982007-05-29T00:09:00.000-04:002007-05-29T00:09:43.330-04:00You Go Pogo?This is a new one on me. Check out this <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/25/pogo_collectors_fant.html">cry of help</a> that the publisher Fantagraphics recently sent out:<br /><blockquote><a name="035162"> CALLING ALL POGO FANS & COLLECTORS: </a><p><a name="035162">We are requesting the help of Pogo collectors who may have original art or high quality reproductions of Walt Kelly’s Pogo strip. </a></p><p><a name="035162">We are currently assembling Walt Kelly’s POGO: The Complete Daily & Sunday Strips. We are looking for the best possible black-and-white reproduction of both Sundays and dailies — especially the Sundays. If you have original art or proofs that you would be willing to let us scan, we would be grateful if you’d contact us. You may e-mail me directly at </a><a href="mailto:groth@fantagraphics.com">groth@fantagraphics.com</a> </p><p>(Please put POGO in the header). Thank you. </p></blockquote> <p> Wow. I love the Fantagraphic collections of <span style="font-style: italic;">Peanuts</span> n' such and I'd been really really looking forward to seeing the new Pogo editions of their books. I just never dreamed the original reproductions would be difficult to find. Fascinating.<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2666503729687723098?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-52669776860404861992007-05-28T00:12:00.000-04:002007-05-28T00:12:31.615-04:00Have a Seat. I Have Something to Tell You.<div>This isn't going to be easy.<br />I'm moving.<br /><br />No no no no no! I'm not moving from New York. That won't happen for a good year and a half, if ever.<br /><br />No, I'm talking about Fuse #8. It's moving. I thought about waiting to tell you this until the day in question, but I figured it might be a better idea to let you know ASAP. We've had some fun times together here on Blogger, haven't we? The pageantry. The fact that Blogger will randomly, and for no apparently reason, shut down when you least expect it. The random nature of the comment selection. But for all that, I'm going to miss the old place.<br /><br />You see, School Library Journal expressed an <span>interest</span> in the old Fuse. So they offered the following: Appear on their website and do exactly the same thing I'm doing now but with pay. Negotiations were made. They're going to lift all my archives and put them on their site. I retain the right to leave them insofar as I give them a month's notice (and vice-versa). When I leave, the posts I've made are my own, though they have the right to use them however they please.<br /><br />There is, however, a requirement. Hold onto your seats now. To appear on their blog I must write...<br /><br />... drumroll please ...<br /><br />THREE POSTS A WEEK.<br /><br />I don't know if I can handle that kind of pressure.<br /><br />So basically I'm going to get paid to do exactly what I'm doing now, but on a website which may raise my visibility. Here's a FAQ or two, though you can definitely pummel me in the comment section if you like (and I'm <span style="font-style: italic;">certain</span> you do like).<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Q: </span>You say they're not going to touch your content. Really? Even if you wrote a scathing expose of SLJ? Even if you wrote reviews that contradicted the ones written in the magazine?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A:</span> Actually, SLJ informed me that they'd prefer that I contradict them in my reviews. They want a variety of opinions on their site. As for scathing exposes, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I write on the news and nothing is going to affect what I do or do not comment on.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>So the blog is going to look exactly the same as it does now?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>Oh... uh. Um. About that. Okay, so here's the deal. We're switching from Blogger to Wordpress, so that'll change things right there. And of course, there won't be a banner (which is fine since it's out-of-date with the whole review a day mention). There <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span> be a picture of my mug with every post. And this, in turn, will affect my posts because, quite frankly, as much as I love my mug, I don't really want to see it over and over and over, five times a day. So I might start consolidating my pieces a little. And, most importantly, there are my links to consider. At this moment in time, I can't create any for the side of my blog. However, I have been assured that in time they'll find a way to allow us to modify our links. When that happens I'll reinstate everything. It'll just take a little time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>You've sold out, old man! You're going to have ads on your site, won't you? Won't you?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>(Old man?) Yeah. There will be ads. SLJ ads for books n' stuff. There are worse ads to have and I've never found the SLJ ads to be intrusive. So that's too bad but there's nothing to be done. Hopefully you won't find them distracting.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>What's to stop people from thinking that your reviews of books are the official stance of SLJ?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>Nothing. SLJ and I talked about this. There's bound to be confusion and complaints, but that's life. If they don't mind, I don't mind.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>Oh, bloody hell. Am I going to have to change your URL on my website?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>Probably you will if you have a RSS feed or LiveJournal link. For those of you who link from blogs and websites, I've been told that SLJ will link the site in such a way that Fuse #8 will immediately redirect clicks to the new site. We'll see how that goes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>When will this happen?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>Early June. The end is near.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Q: </span>I don't like this. I fear change.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A: </span>So do I, sweetie. Don't worry. We'll just have to see how it goes.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5266977686040486199?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com64tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-23363380349222042622007-05-28T00:07:00.000-04:002007-05-28T00:13:56.789-04:00It Was a Dark and Stormy Night Redux<div></div>Editorial Anonymous has just opened a <a href="http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2007/05/psst-next-contest.html">Worst of the First Contest</a> for you creative types out there. And I quote:<br /><blockquote>This will be your chance to enter both real first lines of manuscripts (for you gluttons for punishment) and made-up-just-for-the-contest first lines.<br /><br />I'll offer a Bulwer Lytton Prize for overall, overwritten awfulness, but remember, this is the easy one. It's tougher to write first lines that are bad in ways that many people achieve accidentally--but those are the ones I'll really be on the lookout for.<br /><br />There will also be a Seuss Prize for poetry as rhythmic as a pounding migraine, a Drivel Award for uninspired use of cliches, a Robert Munsch Citation for most dysfunctional relationship in a first line, and other honors based on the varieties of dreck you foist upon me.</blockquote>My eyes stray longingly towards a couple self-published items I received last year. We'll see if I ever give in to temptation. As for yourself, go wild.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2336338034922204262?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-10912992002513946002007-05-28T00:05:00.000-04:002007-05-28T00:06:01.497-04:00The Demented Children's Book Photoshopping Contest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.somethingawful.com/inserts/articlepics/photoshop/05-25-07-books/Livestock.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://i.somethingawful.com/inserts/articlepics/photoshop/05-25-07-books/Livestock.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The website Something Awful has a <a href="http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/childrens-books2.php?page=1">Photoshop Phriday piece</a> of mildly twisted children's book covers. What I appreciate about these is that with a couple exceptions here and there they've limited themselves to just changing the titles. There are the usual groaners and infantile natterings, but I do appreciate some here and there. Particularly "Sly Little Bear Undresses You With His Eyes" and "A Child's Guide to the Eurovision Song Contest".<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/05/25/demented_kids_book_p.html">Boing Boing</a> for the link.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1091299200251394600?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-20532235866277102742007-05-28T00:04:00.000-04:002007-05-28T00:04:33.886-04:00Party TimeHey, New Yorkers. Or, as I like to call you, Norkers. It's time to go ah-partying with author/illustrator Meghan McCarthy. To celebrate the most fabulous publication of her remarkable <a href="http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/strongman1.html">Strong Man</a>, Meghan is throwing <a href="http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/strongman_party.html#">a shindig</a> and you are personally invited. Be good. I will be present as well, and it is your chance to visit fabulous Williamsburg at a beautiful time of year. How can you pass it up?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2053223586627710274?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-59652100543275936572007-05-28T00:03:00.000-04:002007-05-28T00:03:34.918-04:00New Blog<div>I've grown a bit fond of a new blog out there that hadn't really caught my eye until now. <a href="http://kidliterary.blogspot.com/">Kid*Lit(erary)</a> is penned by author Laurel Snyder. Her blog is a nice mix of personal opinions and professional information. I was particularly taken with the <a href="http://kidliterary.blogspot.com/2007/05/little-bit-dark.html">post</a> that mentioned that her mother's friend from church is <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/search/label/Laura%20Amy%20Schlitz">Laura Amy Schlitz</a>. Ms. Snyder then ties that into the work of Joan Aiken (justifiably, I'd say) and continues on from there.<br /><br />Worth a peek in any case.<br /></div><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/">Cynsations</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5965210054327593657?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-51150433681911365242007-05-27T09:47:00.000-04:002007-05-27T09:47:49.819-04:00Video Sunday: The In-Laws Are In Town EditionWhich is to say that I didn't have much time to rustle up anything. Still, enough cool items popped up this week to make up for the loss. The best known of these is the first. By now I'm sure that many, perhaps most of you have already seen copyright law described with the sole use of Disney clips. Well, if not, here it is. Some people say it makes their teeth hurt to watch, but you can't deny that it's skillfully done.<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CJn_jC4FNDo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed><br /><br />You know I'd sooner die than link to an ad. Then I saw <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1231i_vw-phaeton-shadow-plays">this</a>. I didn't know it was an ad until I hit the end. I think that shadow plays have enough kid cache (though, to the best of my knowledge, no picture book has ever taken advantage of them) to include them here. Thanks to Megan for the link.<br /><br />For the aspiring authors amongst us, the Great American Children's Novel is <span style="font-style: italic;">Holes</span>. Nuff said. You may not agree with this assessment, however. If that is the case then consider writing one of your own. This video shows you how.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PFFJ9iiKbhI"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PFFJ9iiKbhI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />And finally, last week I linked to Spiderman in Japan. This week it's Bollywood and Spiderman's been... uh... chickified. I could only really watch about a minute of this, but it was a good (if painful) minute. Voila.<br /><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TgUJK0cwBco"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TgUJK0cwBco" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Via <a href="http://boingboing.net/">BoingBoing</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5115043368191136524?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-69692300853787081302007-05-26T00:08:00.000-04:002007-05-26T00:07:31.733-04:00Children's Books That Defined an Era<div>When <span style="font-style: italic;">The Guardian</span> requested that readers vote on the <a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/pilsnerurquell/story/0,,2059060,00.html">books that defined each successive era of the 20th century</a>, that got Monica Edinger thinking. <a href="http://medinger.wordpress.com/2007/05/25/another-day-another-list/">Asked she recently</a>:<br /><br />"...would it be possible (or has it been done already?) to come up with similarly defining children’s books of the various 20th century decades?"<br /><br />Chall-onge!<br /><br />My boss came up with the following:<br /><blockquote>1900s: Wizard of Oz<br />1910s: Anne of Green Gables<br />1920s: Millions of cats<br />1930s: Caddie Woodlawn<br />1940s: Curious George<br />1950s: Cat in the Hat<br />1960s: Snowy Day<br />1970s: A tossup between Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret and The Outsiders<br />1980s: Arnold Lobel’s Fables<br />1990s: Harry Harry Harry [he means Mr. Potter]<br />2000s: Man Who Walked Between the Towers</blockquote>Not bad. Not bad at all. I mean, it really all comes down to how you want to define said eras. If you want to show how the course of children's literature has changed over the years, this is a darn good collection. Personally, my sole objections lie with the 80s and 2000s. My boss explained that <em>Fables </em>was one of the few titles he was familiar with that really delved into the notion of making fables accessible in a quite format (or something to that effect). As for Gerstein's book, it's impossible to get a hold on changes in kidlit publishing in this particular century. I might opt for <em>Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus</em> since Mr. Mo is particularly good at wrangling the old marketing machine. <em>Pigeon </em>sort of defines how it is that we're selling books to kids these days. But if I wanted to be snarky, I guess I could find a book covered head to toe in glitter and spangles and say that IT was the defining book (The <em><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Fancy Nancy</em> ripoffs, perhaps?) but I could never be so cruel.<br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-6969230085378708130?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-45021530149012359822007-05-26T00:04:00.000-04:002007-05-26T00:03:11.021-04:00Just Another Kidlit Attraction<div>Speaking of Monica, not long ago we were discussing the cult authors you read voraciously as a teen. Douglas Adams, Piers Anthony, Orson Scott Card, Douglas Copeland, etc. Tom Robbins was one of my favorites back in the day. So naturally when I heard that he was proposing <a href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/writers/317083_writer25.html">writing a book for children about beer</a>, I was . . . . would it be appropriate to say "elated"? Probably not.<br /><br />Well, it's not true. Just a joke, it seems. A good one though. He had me going until I started reading his written sections. Just smack me upside the head with the term Gullible McGee.<br /></div><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://www.bonnybecker.com/">Bonny Becker</a> for the link and for saying that she's relieved that he isn't actually writing for kids (less competition that way).</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4502153014901235982?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-5788985480102775292007-05-26T00:01:00.000-04:002007-05-26T00:00:38.682-04:00Hot NPR Action<div>Skimming the blogs. Minding my own business. Then, suddenly, I stumble on ShelfTalker and see that she has written <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/530009853.html">the following</a>:<br /><p><a href="http://www.markpeterhughes.com/"><u></u></a></p><blockquote><p><a href="http://www.markpeterhughes.com/"><u>Mark Peter Hughes</u></a> shared some uber-cool news with the <a href="http://www.abfc.com/"><u>Association of Booksellers for Children</u></a>'s list-serv today, and I am thrilled to be passing that news along!</p> <p>First let me say that Mark has (as of March 30th) quit his job to write full time. As if that wasn't brave enough, he is currently planning a seven-week road trip with this family to travel across the country visiting bookstores (mostly independents) and promote his most recent novel, <a href="http://www.lemonademouth.com/"><i>Lemonade Mouth</i></a>, which I've mentioned <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266/post/1380007738.html"><u>previously</u></a>. Here is where we come to the biggest piece of news: <a href="http://www.npr.org/">National Public Radio</a> has asked Mark to record "audio postcards" during his road trip -- "audio postcards" that will be broadcast to the 12 million regular listeners of <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=2">All Things Considered</a>!! Wow, wow, wow! How fantastic is that?!</p></blockquote><p></p>She goes on to explain how one goes about proposing this kind of thing. It's ironic that I heard about this today since I had just learned too about Jon Scieszka's recent <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10279178&ft=1&f=1032">obit for the great Lloyd. Alexander</a>. Apparently noses come into the conversation.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-578898548010277529?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-22989883949540315542007-05-25T00:19:00.000-04:002007-05-25T00:19:04.762-04:00Poetry Friday: The Collected Works of Susan RamseyThis one's going out to the ladies and lad-inclined boys out there. It's a sonnet, hitherto unpublished with an honest-to-god kidlit reference smuggled in there.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Crone's Delight </span><br /><br /><br />Down at the shop we call them Junior Mints.<br /><br />Just a tongue-tip of sugar and eyelashes,<br /><br />chocolate and cheeks and mint and muscled forearms,<br /><br />broad shoulders tapering down to the hollowed<br /><br />small of their backs under baggy t-shirts.<br /><br /><br /><br />They're Junior Mints because you wouldn't want<br /><br />to make a meal of them, have to hear them talk.<br /><br />There's no nutrition there, no tendon, fiber<br /><br />into which to sink long, yellow teeth<br /><br />and hold on, bucking--<br /><br /> just a smear of sweetness<br /><br />to idly smash against the roof of your mouth<br /><br /><br /><br />We stare at them from under level brows<br /><br />or with one eyebrow cocked ironically<br /><br />all we want. We are invisible<br /><br />to them, their mother's or grandmother's age.<br /><br />We look them over. We are not their mothers.<br /><br /><br /><br />You could eat a whole boxful, thinking of something else,<br /><br />and never even notice what you were doing,<br /><br />until you shook its hollowness, surprised.<br /><br />Hansel had a delectable lower lip.<br /><br /><em></em><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2298988394954031554?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-13436349097611589402007-05-25T00:18:00.000-04:002007-05-25T00:16:57.776-04:00The Shocking Truth About the Slushpile<div>Don't look at me. That's just the name of this <a href="http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/05/the_shocking_truth_about_the_s.html">article</a> I found via <a href="http://www.bookninja.com/">Bookninja</a>. Here's a taste:<br /><blockquote>Often, the most awful stuff was written by <a href="http://www.underdown.org/slush.htm">aspiring children's authors</a>. It appears to be a widely-held notion that anthropomorphising pavements, natural disasters or household appliances is the way to secure a place in the children's canon. But while your grandchildren may appear to really enjoy Tommy the Tenacious Toaster, the chances of it charming anyone else are slim.</blockquote>It may be preaching to the choir, but it's just so <span style="font-style: italic;">good</span> to hear. Read the <a href="http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/05/the_shocking_truth_about_the_s.html">rest</a>.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1343634909761158940?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-54882390733413474182007-05-25T00:15:00.000-04:002007-05-25T00:14:20.399-04:00"Are You Saying My Apples Aren't What They're Supposed To Be?"<div>A finely-honed, well-crafted pounding of a picture book is a beautiful thing. I scour the Internet for such items day after day but they're far more difficult to find than you might think. Thank God for <a href="http://yourneighborhoodlibrarian.blogspot.com/">Your Neighborhood Librarian</a> then. In her post <a href="http://yourneighborhoodlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/05/one-meatball.html">One meatball</a>, our hero takes a good long look at the Eve Bunting title <span style="font-style: italic;">One Green Apple</span> and she dinna no like what she see.<br /><br />And while we're on this site, this librarian also has a <a href="http://yourneighborhoodlibrarian.blogspot.com/2007/05/for-tricia.html">post</a> on hipster kidlit material that's worth a glance. This may well be my favorite new blog (new = blog I just found).<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-5488239073341347418?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-32089538065376171522007-05-25T00:13:00.000-04:002007-05-25T00:12:21.324-04:00Hey! I Know Her!<div>With the demise of <a href="http://misssnark.blogspot.com/">Miss Snark</a>, you may be suffering from literary agent-withdrawal. I don't know where you might get a permanent fix, but here's something to hook up to in the meantime. Agent <a href="http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2007/05/novel-secrets-series-interview-with_24.html">Rebecca Sherman is interviewed on Cynsations</a> and it's a particularly keen look into the profession. Required reading for anyone foggy on what exactly kidlit agents actually <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span>.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-3208953806537617152?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-32501636802777412232007-05-25T00:05:00.001-04:002007-05-25T00:29:34.794-04:00Silver Screen Skeletons<div>I'm so easily distracted. Wave a piece of shiny aluminum foil in front of my face and suddenly I can't seem to remember what my first name is anymore. Anywho, somehow I got the wrong impression about that new fire-throwing skeleton, <span style="font-style: italic;">Skulduggery Pleasant</span>. When I heard that his <a href="http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070524f.php">movie rights just got sold</a>, I thought that this was old news. Turns out, I was incorrect in my assumptions. Remember, Derek Landy <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> make a ton of money, but that was just when he signed with HarperCollins in the first place.<br /><br />So I reread this old <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/ireland/article737587.ece">Times Online article</a> on the topic and ran into this amusing quote:<br /><br />"Derek Landy, 31, from Lusk will now follow in the lucrative footsteps of Cecilia Ahern, John Connolly and Eoin Colfer after HarperCollins signed him up to write three children’s books." <br /><br />And by gum it put <span style="font-style: italic;">them</span> on the map!<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070524f.php">Dark Horizons</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-3250163680277741223?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-37483224333950723502007-05-25T00:05:00.000-04:002007-05-25T00:16:13.228-04:00Boobwatch '07<div>We turn our eyes to Scotland now where the topic of the day is boobs. Boobs in children's books, that is. The fact of the matter is that statistically, the number of women breastfeeding their children is down since 2006 and the Highland health board has turned to kidlit for help. They've hired children's author <a href="http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/catalog/authorcb.htm?authorID=1016">Mairi Hedderwick</a> to promote breastfeeding. I understand that it's to show kids how breastfeeding is natural, but I like the idea that her books are being written to convince babies that it's a good thing. And wouldn't a rah-rah-rah / drink-babies-drink kind of book make for amusing bedtime reading?<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://achuka.co.uk/achockablog/">Achockablog</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-3748322433395072350?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-69628758643185157842007-05-24T00:42:00.000-04:002007-05-24T00:40:57.138-04:00Review of the Day: The Puzzling World of Winston Breen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51URB1Xp3cL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51URB1Xp3cL._AA240_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.winstonbreen.com/">The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin. G.P. Putnam’s Sons (a division of Penguin). $16.99.</a><br /><br />I'm going to be honest here. Mr. Eric Berlin is no stranger to me. In 2006-07 he served on the judging committee of the <a href="http://dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils/">Cybil Award</a>'s Middle Grade Novel category. He has a <a href="http://www.ericberlin.com/">blog</a> of note and I often steal his postings when they're particularly choice. It would logical for you to think then that because of all this I might be more inclined to like his book than I would that of your average anonymous joe. As far as I've been able to ascertain, however, the opposite is more often true. I have a very very hard time reviewing the books of anyone I've come into contact with. Certain authors and illustrators may publish and publish until they're old and grey but if I know them personally and don't think their work is superb, I will not immediately. A book must <span style="font-style: italic;">actually </span>be good, if I know its creator beforehand. Hence, the following.<br /><br />When adults start reminiscing about the books of their youth, they can grow eloquent in their praise. Amusingly, when those same adults starts comparing said books to the ones coming out today, they are in very great danger of suddenly contracting a case of Old Fogeyism. “Why when I was a kid we had GOOD mysteries. With lots of clues and puzzles and clever dialogue. We had ‘The Westing Game’!” (slams down cane) “I’d like to see you whippersnappers come up with a book like that today. Hah!” If that sounds like you (or, rather, the 108-year-old part of you that comes to life whenever the subject of “kids today” crops up) then I have good news. It's good news for actual honest-to-goodness child readers as well, now that I think about it. First-time newbie kidlit book author Eric Berlin (a crossword creator for <span style="font-style: italic;">The New York Times</span>) is a fan of puzzles. Such a fan, in fact, that he’s worked them into the narrative of, “The Puzzling World of Winston Breen.” You have an old-fashioned treasure hunt on the one hand, puzzles galore on the other, and some fun dialogue, memorable characters, and an action sequence or two just for spice. Hard to resist.<br /><br />Twelve-year-old Winston isn't like a lot of other kids out there. He loves him his puzzles. Mind games, riddles, crosswords, you name it. So it was only logical that when his little sister Katie discovered a hidden puzzle in the old antique box he bought her, she thought he put it in there on purpose. The two siblings soon learn, though, that there's more to these three wooden pieces than immediately meets the eye as they find themselves involved in a real life treasure hunt. Glenville's richest resident Walter Fredericks died years ago, and now his puzzles have reemerged. That means that Winston and Katie need to solve some puzzles alongside an ex-cop, a librarian, two untrustworthy hooligans, and a news reporter. The only problem is, someone else wants the reward at the end of this game. Someone who's willing to do almost anything to get it. Along the way, readers can solve puzzles alongside Winston, checking their answers in the back of the book.<br /><br />I liked how the novel framed the book in such a way that Winston was trying to puzzle out the real life mystery (i.e. Who broke into a local librarian's home and threatened her?) alongside the real puzzles. It's kind of a pity that Winston doesn't figure out the villains before they reveal themselves. It's always good to have a proactive protagonist. Berlin makes up for this missing piece though by then allowing his hero the chance to solve the book's central mystery instead. Still, the last line of the book would have made a little more sense if Winston exhibited crime-solving as well as puzzle-solving skills. I do love that this is a book that requires that kids get actively invested. Besides the puzzles themselves, Berlin foreshadows his action nicely with a newspaper article near the beginning of the book that mentions various robberies that later turn out to be our villain's work. And I’m pleased to say that I didn’t see the real villain of this book coming until it was too too late. I don’t know if Mr. Berlin means to lead you astray, but a guy who can fool a child and an adult reader has his elements firmly in place.<br /><br />Berlin's particularly good at keeping potentially dark elements kid-friendly. At one point the local librarian has an out-and-out breakdown when Winston shows her something by accident. But how do you justify that kind of a reaction without suggesting that the victim (in this case, a librarian) has had something terrible happen to her. Berlin instead explains that it would be easy to harass someone. "Phone calls in the middle of the night, notes left in the mailbox, perhaps a stone tossed through a window. Small, nasty things that individually would mean little, but taken all together could make someone very afraid." It's a clever way to convey darker elements without compromising the appropriateness of the narrative.<br /><br />Now the stats. Total number of puzzles/riddles I successfully solved in this book: 3. Not that I tried to do every single one, but of the ones that I <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> try, I only got three. I liked the sheer variety of puzzles in this book, to be honest with you. Some are skewed easy and some are skewed very very hard. One puzzle on page 68 is "explained" in the back of the book, but the explanation ends up being just as difficult to understand as the original question itself. Still, the thing about the book is that it has something for everyone. True puzzle fans will be adequately challenged and for those kids who don't know the answers immediately there's at least one or two they might be able to stumble through. It's funny to say, but this book awakened a kind of visceral thrill whenever I flipped to the back to read the solution to one question or another. It was as if I was reading an old <span style="font-style: italic;">Encyclopedia Brown </span>novel, with the answers just waiting to be looked at in the back. Visceral thrills such as this are not cheap.<br /><br />Berlin's careful with his details too. It used to be that a villain could kidnap a hero and you'd truly feel the kid was in dire straits. Now we live in a cell phone age. Some authors ignore the contraptions. Others work solely in the genre of historical fiction. A cell phone is a recipe for disaster when it comes to dramatic tension. That's why clever authors work them into the plots, flukes, flaws, and all. For example, at one point Winston is in a bit of a pickle and he manages to get his hands on a cell. Unfortunately, he's underground at this point and that means he's not getting any reception. Slick storytelling uses these kinds of complications to their advantage.<br /><br />A librarian’s motto mimics that of a Boy Scout. We try to be prepared. If someone comes up to me and asks for books that are similar to their favorites, I need to have a complex array of smart sounding titles in mind to recommend instantaneously. And until this moment in time I was empty in a particular area. If someone, a fan of Ellen Raskin’s, “The Westing Game”, came up to me and asked for similar books, I would have been stumped. Stumped and perhaps inclined against my will to recommend “Chasing Vermeer”. Berlin’s book maybe isn’t on the same level as Raskin’s, but it’s probably more fun to read anyway. Clever kids will adore it. Mediocre kids will enjoy the treasure hunt. And those children that only like non-fiction reads will probably skip all the narration and just solve the puzzles. Nothing wrong with that. This book offers quite a lot to an array of different readers. Definitely worth a peek.<br /><br />On shelves September 20th.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notes On the Cover: </span>I'm going to give a thumbs up to this one. You may remember that artist <a href="http://www.adammccauley.com/books/index.html">Adam McCauley</a> did the new <span style="font-style: italic;">Wayside School</span> covers, so this seems an appropriate match. He's worked in elements of the book that are consistent with the narrative. Interestingly enough, I'm having a bit of trouble with the title, and I think I've pinpointed why. The phrase "The Puzzling World of Winston Breen" is not dissimilar from "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty". Which means that when I'm discussing this book in polite society, I have a tendency to refer to Winston as Walter. But that's just me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Reviews By: </span><a href="http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/blog/2007/05/the_puzzling_wo.html">Jen Robinson's Book Page</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-6962875864318515784?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-2357711790209672422007-05-24T00:15:00.000-04:002007-05-24T00:14:17.643-04:00She Is: The TranslatorTranslation! How come we never talk about it? We're always jib-jabbering on about editors and authors and the like. When do translators of children's books get their due? How come there isn't an award for Best Translation of a given year? Yes yes, we all know about the <a href="http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/batchelderaward/batchelderaward.htm">Mildred L. Batchelder Award</a>. But that goes to the book, not the translator. If you were to ask me to name my favorites, the only person to come to mind would have to be Anthea Bell, best known for her work with Cornelia Funke.<br /><br />Fortunately for us all, <em>Criticas Magazine</em> recently published an interview entitled <a href="http://www.criticasmagazine.com/article/CA6441984.html">Yanitzia Canetti - The Silent Task of the Good Translator</a>.<br /><br />Wouldn't "The Good Translator" make a great film title? Sorry. I'm easily distracted.<br /><br />Anywho, this is an interview with the aforementioned Ms. Canetti. She's considered quite the "get" as she has the ability to <a href="http://www.criticasmagazine.com/article/CA6441984.html#booksby">translate Seuss</a>. No easy task, I'm sure.<br /><br />The interview is a fabulous look at the challenges facing translators. This exchange particularly caught my ear:<br /><br /><blockquote><strong>I have received some translations and bilingual books that are awful: they have grammatical errors, strange syntax, and typos. Why do you think that is?<br /><br /></strong>Unfortunately, many English-speaking publishers or editors who outsource translations cannot judge the quality of the final product. More times than not, they hire a Spanish proofreader, but they are not able to judge that person’s work either. They tend to go with someone who has a decent résumé. Some even think that if someone speaks Spanish, that’s good enough. This underestimation of a foreign language only results in terrible translations.<br /></blockquote><br />Give it a glance.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-235771179020967242?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-14164154463567380272007-05-24T00:13:00.000-04:002007-05-24T00:12:07.898-04:00My Buddy and Me?<div>If blogs were books, then this topic would tie-in nicely to the overarching theme of Fuse #8. Mainly, whether or not hanging out with the workers in the publishing industry is a good or bad thing. I think good. Some think bad. A similar, if unrelated, topic comes to us via <a href="http://www.nextbook.org/">Nextbook</a>. In an article entitled <a href="http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=598&page=1">On Literary Love</a> the byline reads, "What happens when the writer you admire most becomes your friend?"<br /><br /></div>It's different for writers. If you're particularly inspired by a single individual, how odd would it feel to not only meet them but to suddenly become their buddy? Surely this happens in the kidlit world on occasion. Only with us, it becomes a little more extreme. If you read someone and were shaped by their books as a child and <span style="font-style: italic;">then </span>became their pal, how would that affect your writing as a whole? I wish I could pull out a piece talking about just that, but nothing comes immediately to mind. Anyone know of a story that runs along these lines?<br /><div> </div><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://gwendabond.typepad.com/bondgirl/">Shaken and Stirred</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1416415446356738027?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-49962835482649348522007-05-24T00:11:00.000-04:002007-05-24T00:10:29.808-04:00I Spy With My Little Eye, Something That Rhymes with Vaughnfest<div></div>I don't suppose that this sort of thing is limited to librarians, but certainly members of my profession would take an interest in the prizes. DK Publishing is riding the publicity machine via <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/info/CA6438158.html">a contest</a>. Whaddaya win?<br /><blockquote>GRAND PRIZE<br />One grand prize winner will receive 100 Eyewitness books* of their choosing!<br />(*based on availability)<br /><br />RUNNERS-UP<br />Five Runners-Up will receive a set of the four new Eyewitness titles, plus a set of the eight re-launched backlist titles!<br /> <br />THIRD PLACE<br />25 Third Place winners will receive a set of the four new Eyewitness titles!</blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Eyewitness</span> has its charms. Nobody in their right mind would ever use it as a reliable reference text, but for those kids who bat their long lashes at you and <span style="font-style: italic;">plead</span> for something ANYTHING on one topic or another, they tend to do very well. Go wild, pretty kitties.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-4996283548264934852?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-72967267817497695372007-05-24T00:07:00.000-04:002007-05-24T00:06:23.894-04:00Penguins Skim Across the Pond<div>I showed a patron yesterday a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Popper's Penguins</span> for the very first time. She was unfamiliar with the title, having never heard of it before. To sweeten the deal I told her that penguins were very "in" right now. You've your <span style="font-style: italic;">Happy Feet</span>. Your <span style="font-style: italic;">March of the Penguins </span>(not to be confused with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NhSQARojp0">March of the Emperor</a>, of course). And now Silo and Roy, of <span style="font-style: italic;">And Tango Makes Three </span>fame, are <a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,2086371,00.html">appearing</a> on English bookseller's shelves for the very first time. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Guardian</span> has the skinny in their piece, <a href="http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/story/0,,2086371,00.html">March of the penguin protesters</a>.<br /></div><br /><div> </div>Oh. And <a href="http://web.onetel.net.uk/%7Emelvinburgess/">Melvin Burgess</a> is quoted. Because he... gets banned a lot? No idea.<br /><br /><div>Thanks to <a href="http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/">Big A little a</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7296726781749769537?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-89888187775430532732007-05-24T00:03:00.002-04:002007-05-24T00:03:32.588-04:00Beckoning You Towards the Becker Man<div></div>Psst!<br /><br />How talented an Art Director is Chad Beckerman anyway?<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://cwdesigner.blogspot.com/2007/05/some-of-my-ya-design-work_23.html">some of the covers he's worked on</a>. Puh-retty amazing.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8988818777543053273?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-28137912317656141582007-05-23T00:29:00.000-04:002007-05-23T00:28:08.415-04:00Maternal Feelings and my Poor Little Maggot<div></div>Colleen Mondor and I don't intersect very often in the blogosphere. She dwells on adult and YA topics. I stick to kidlit with the occasional YA aside if I'm feeling distractable. But when it comes to insightful analysis from a cool clever head, there are few places better to head towards than <a href="http://www.chasingray.com/">Chasing Ray</a>. Colleen recently wrote out a rather beautiful piece entitled <a href="http://www.chasingray.com/archives/2007/05/a_question_about_the_big_pictu.html">A Question About the Big Picture</a> which takes in hand the recent kerfuffle surrounding the notion of blog reviews vs. print reviews. The focus of the article is a <a href="http://bookcriticscircle.blogspot.com/2007/05/frankly-my-dear-you-should-give-damn.html#links">Critical Mass entry</a> that seemingly came out of the blue by a less than wholly talented critic. I read Critical Mass when I've a chance but I missed this particular smackeral of tripe when it aired. Take a glance at Ms. Mondor's piece if you've a chance to do so. One of the finest pieces of writing I've seen in quite a while.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-2813791231765614158?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-18104302567778573722007-05-23T00:27:00.000-04:002007-05-23T00:28:39.567-04:00Little Women: Now With Guns!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://z.about.com/d/womenshistory/1/0/z/4/louisa_may_alcott.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://z.about.com/d/womenshistory/1/0/z/4/louisa_may_alcott.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>So I'm following a lovely little website located via <a href="http://www.greenlakelibrary.org/kidslit/">Kids Lit</a> that was created to accompany the upcoming PBS documentary on Louisa May Alcott's life. It's called <a href="http://www.alcottfilm.com/index.html">Louisa May Alcott: The Real Woman Who Wrote Little Women</a>. The site is beautifully done. There's a <a href="http://www.alcottfilm.com/real_world.php">Timeline</a>, great <a href="http://www.alcottfilm.com/links.php">Links</a>, a portion on <a href="http://www.alcottfilm.com/real_life.php">Ms. Alcott's life</a>, and so much more.<br /><div><br />I'm searching through the <a href="http://www.alcottfilm.com/gallery2.php">Gallery</a> of images, when I come to an odd link. In the lower right-hand corner is an odd little Anime picture. The caption reads, "March sisters as superhero anime stars."<br /><br />Um. Come again?<br /><br />Oh, it is true. <a href="http://www.burstangel.com/">So horribly wrongly true</a>. And in an interesting twist, Beth is completely done away with. I guess it wouldn't be any fun to watch the show if you expected her to die each and every week.<br /><br />That said: Whaaaaaa? What odd times we live in. What odd times indeed.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1810430256777857372?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-86710731677263836462007-05-23T00:25:00.000-04:002007-05-23T00:24:42.813-04:00Bing Bunny and the Shrunken Head<div></div>Ladies and gentlemen I assure you that no worthy news story passes before my eyes without a thorough, rigorous process of testing for quality and human interest. We are a classy operation here at A Fuse #8 Production. Only the best will do.<br /><br />And thus it was that I learned that children's author and artist Ted Dewan had <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6679697.stm">offered his head to be shrunken and donated to an Oxford museum</a>. I think the byline says it all: <span style="font-weight: bold;"><blockquote>An artist has offered to donate his own head to an Oxford museum - if a collection of shrunken heads has to be returned to South America.</blockquote></span>Unimpressed? Would you be heartened to know that Mr. Dewan has already created <a href="http://www.wormworks.com/images/ted/Ted_dewan_shrunken_head72.jpg">his own mock-shrunken head</a> that approximates what he thinks he'd look like?<br /><br />All that aside, I had to check up on the man's credentials. You can bet that if Lane Smith or Jon Scieszka went about offering <span style="font-style: italic;">their </span>heads for shrinking it would stir up a bit of interest, no? So how much of a children's author/illustrator is this guy? Well, here's his <a href="http://www.wormworks.com/tedpages/tdhome.htm">website</a> for a start. It finally led me to a book series that made me go, "Oooooh! <a href="http://www.wormworks.com/bingbunny/featurepage/origins.htm">THAT</a> is how I know the fellow!" He can leap from Bing Bunny to donating his soon-to-be teeny tiny cranium. That's called "range", chickens. And who's got some? <span style="font-style: italic;">That</span> guy.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8671073167726383646?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-38617438106694027172007-05-23T00:23:00.000-04:002007-05-23T00:22:11.516-04:00Didn't See That One Coming<div>I take back what I said. When I learned that <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/04/al-roker-declares-war-on-summer-reading.html">Al Roker had paired with Scholastic Books</a> to bring us his new bright n' shiny summer reading thingy (I think he went and called it <span style="font-style: italic;">Al's Book Club</span>) I got all snarky and started trying to predict what books he'd do. Needless to say, and I don't think this was much of a stretch, I said he'd do all Scholastic titles. And certainly book #1 was <a href="http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2006/11/review-of-day-invention-of-hugo-cabret.html">Hugo Cabret</a>, just as I thought. Now <a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/18699889/">they've announced book #2</a> though, and my pet theory has taken a dive head-first out the nearest window.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>The second book for Al’s Book Club for Kids is Rick Riordan’s book, “The Lightning Thief.” This is the first book in his “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series. The main character is a 12-year-old dyslexic boy who discovers that he is the modern-day son of a Greek god. For the series, Riordan draws upon his experience teaching kids Greek mythology. “The Lightning Thief,” chosen as an American Library Association Notable Book, was optioned for a feature film to Twentieth Century Fox.</blockquote></span>Well, you can just knock me over with a feather then. That's not a Scholastic title! That's Miramax's baby. I can attest that it is also a great bookgroup book. I did it with my homeschooler group a month or two ago. It went over like gangbusters too.<br /><br />So let's do a quick search here. If this announcement came out on May 18th then how many holds are on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Lightning</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Thief</span> in the New York Public Library System? Survey says: <a href="http://leopac1.nypl.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=11Q9T852784B1.50&profile=dial--3&uri=link=1100002%7E%21P174903%7E%211100001%7E%211100087&aspect=basic&menu=search&ri=1&source=%7E%21dial&term=The+lightning+thief&index=TL">9</a>. And five of those are for the large print edition. Perhaps Al is not the mover and shaker I supposed him to be. I remain very impressed that his Book Club is doing more than Scholastic titles, though. Very impressed indeed.<br /><br />Thanks to <a href="http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/">bookshelves of doom</a> for the link.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-3861743810669402717?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-12750888289210443482007-05-23T00:21:00.000-04:002007-05-23T00:20:17.703-04:00There Is Nothing Like a Dame - Off Topic Posting of the Day<div>You want to know why so many blogs link to online quizzes? It's a space filler. Oh sure, I <em>could</em> write a review of <em>Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos</em>. OR I could find out what kind of classic dame I am. The sad fact? There's no contest as apparently I am a ...<br /><br /><div id="testResultInfo"><h1><span></span></h1><blockquote><h1><span>Rosalind Russell</span></h1> <h2>You scored 9% grit, 71% wit, 23% flair, and 2% class!</h2><br /> <div style="text-align: center;" id="testResultInfoImg"><img src="http://is0.okcupid.com/users/850/490/8504912322575776397/mt1124295479.jpg" /></div><br /> <p><br /> You are one wise-cracking lady, always quick with a clever remark and easily able to keep up with the quips and puns that come along with the nutty situations you find yourself in. You're usually able to talk your way out of any jam, and even if you can't, you at least make it more interesting with your biting wit. You can match the smartest guy around line for line, and you've got an open mind that allows you to get what you want, even if you don't recognize it at first. Your leading men include Cary Grant and Clark Gable, men who can keep up with you.<br /></p><p><br />Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the<br /><a href="http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=8651547809586515731%20">Classic Leading Man Test</a>.</p></blockquote><p>Wow. 2% class. That sheds some light on my inexplicable love of the word "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">yowse</span>" and "yowza!". This quiz was thanks to <a href="http://gwendabond.typepad.com/bondgirl/">Shaken & Stirred</a> who apparently doesn't want me to get any work done.<em></em> Unfortunately, just when I thought I was in the free and clear, the <a href="http://www.blogthings.com/howrareisyourpersonalityquiz/">How Rare Is Your Personality?</a> via <a href="http://blbooks.blogspot.com/index.html">Becky's Book Reviews</a> cropped up on my horizon.<br /></p></div></div><br /><table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="350"><tbody><tr><td bg="" style="color: rgb(221, 221, 221);" align="center"><span style=";font-family:Georgia,Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-size:14;color:black;" ><b>Your Personality is Very Rare (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">INFP</span>)</b></span></td></tr><tr><td bgcolor="#eeeeee"><center><img src="http://images.blogthings.com/howrareisyourpersonalityquiz/personality.jpg" height="100" width="100" /></center><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.<br /><br />Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men<br />You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/howrareisyourpersonalityquiz/">How Rare Is Your Personality?</a></div><br /><br />I love it when two quizzes contradict one another so perfectly.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1275088828921044348?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-83563167658834667102007-05-22T00:15:00.001-04:002007-05-22T00:15:59.660-04:00Review of the Day: Numero Uno<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FS3S1V59L._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FS3S1V59L._AA240_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780810957640-1">Numero Uno by Alex Dorros and Arthur Dorros. Illustrated by Susan Guevara. Abrams Books for Young Readers. $16.95.</a><br /><br />You know what instantly sounds like an awful idea for a picture book? A father-son writing team. Even worse, a father-son writing team where the son wrote a book when he was twelve and then the dad signed on later and got it made. Sounds icky-sticky sweet without any possible redeeming qualities, doesn’t it? And your mind probably wouldn’t be changed too much if you knew that the author in question was Arthur Dorros of “Abuela” fame either. Even good authors of picture books have been known to be suckered into poor writing decisions at the hands of their darling beloved offspring. But then, what if I told you that the illustrator was Susan Guevara? Which is to say The Great Susan Guevara? The woman who brought Gary Soto’s “Chato” books so swimmingly to life? Certainly you’d be swayed neither way when I told you that the book, “Numero Uno” was a fable, but then you might actually get a chance to pick up and read the book. And in doing so your skepticism would just melt out of your ears, I assure you. Dorros and Son (as they shall hitherto be known) make a pretty good team. Add in a magnificent illustrator and a solid storyline and what once felt like an awful idea for a picture book turns into a fairly swell idea instead.<br /><br />In a small village in Mexico lived two men of monumental ego. On the one hand was Hercules. He thought himself a pretty primo guy due to his manly physical prowess. On the other hand there was Socrates. He’s scoffed at the notion of muscles, placing his trust entirely in the realm of the cranium. As it happened, Hercules was in the construction business and Socrates the architectural side. So when a bridge needed to be built across the local river, both fellows felt they were of the greatest importance to the villagers. So vehemently did they fight about this that a contest was thought up by a local boy. Both men would leave the village and the people remaining would try to build the bridge without them. Whoever they missed more would be of the greatest importance to everyone. Well that’s all well and good but that means that these two rivals have to spend time together in the wilderness. Bickering all the way, they find food, warmth, and shelter with a combination of brawn and brains, never realizing how much they rely on one another. Inevitably, when they return home they’ve both been equally missed. The bridge is completed with their help and there is at least one thing everyone can agree on. They may have missed their intelligence and strength but when it comes to arguing, nobody missed Hercules and Socrates one little bit.<br /><br />The writing doesn’t feel like a twelve-year-old came up with it. Obviously Dorros Sr. did some cleaning up in that particular area, leaving a tidy little story in his wake. Spanish words are worked effortlessly into the text, cropping up best where they make the most sense. There’s also enough repetition to keep the story hopping along. The old man in the village often says, “Basta!”. Socrates and Hercules rely mostly on the word, “Yo!” And I can’t help but think that this kind of repetition would make for a pretty good readaloud. Just get half of the kids in the audience to say whatever Hercules says while the other half takes the side of Socrates (the parents or teachers could take the part of the old man). Not only would that make for a more interesting reading, you’d actually get the kids actively interested in who’s going to win the contest. After all, they’re going to believe that they will either end up the winning side or the losing side, as chosen by the book.<br /><br />I don’t know if I would have immediately have thought that this was a Susan Guevara book if I hadn’t been told. It’s a quieter effort on the artist’s part. Guevara’s paintings for “Numero Uno” don’t have the raw intensity of her Chato books. That’s due in part to the change of location. Instead of gritty city streets and back barrios we’re in the countryside now. According to the bookflap, Ms. Guevara has been studying <span style="font-style: italic;">plein air </span>painting with the Canadian landscape painter Ian Roberts. “Numero Uno”, therefore, gave her a chance to try her hand at capturing hills, valleys, streams, and fields. It’s a quiet cool style that shifts perspective constantly. One moment you see Hercules and Socrates being rowed out onto the river by a clearly jaded young boy. The next we’re soaring high, just above an owl with a world of greens and blues, and yellows stretching away below us. In this particular scene we can also see several different versions of the two men on their own separate paths, trying to reach their destination before the other. Whenever they talk, words leap from their mouths. Of course, being the fellows they are, that usually consists of the “Yo!”, “No!” and “Si!”. Guevara’s is a blotchy style and won’t be to everyone’s liking. For this book, however, it matches the narrative and dialogue just fine.<br /><br />The moral is nothing new and kids will guess at it long before the self-absorbed heroes do. The ending could have stood a little more oomph, but as it stands this is a lovely little book. Insofar as the human race continues to argue the brains vs. brawn question (and they will) this book will continue to have a lot of cache in the years to come. An worthy addition to any folktale section of libraries, both personal and public.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8356316765883466710?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-4571353044507935622007-05-22T00:15:00.000-04:002007-05-22T00:15:32.736-04:00Kidlit Drink Night: Book Expo StylePiece by piece we're putting this thing together. I received word recently that the mysterious ABC dinner (no idea) is occurring on Friday, June 1st at 7:30. The following suggestion was then sent to me:<br /><blockquote>. . . I was wondering about trying to find a place near the Javits and the Copacabana (does Desi's ghost play there?:) where the ABC dinner is and then making it for 5 (right after the exhibits close for the day). Then those going to the ABC dinner could drop by (as the silent auction and reception is 5:00-7:15 and then dinner itself begins at 7:30) and it might work better for others not going to the dinner (but perhaps most do, I have no clue), but are not staying in the area or not night owls (admittedly, like me:).</blockquote>Sounds good to me. That would give those people inclined to attend the dinner a chance to mingle beforehand. Those who were not going could either continue to hang out or simply fade into the mist. As it were.<br /><br />We've established time and date. All we need now is a place. A location near the Javits and the Copacabana. Now due to the fact that the Javits is situated in a part of the city I enter only when the lure of attending a <a href="http://www.visitingdc.com/images/jacob-javits-convention-center-2.jpg">building</a> made entirely out of the lenses of sunglasses cannot be resisted any longer, I don't know of any cool restaurants or bars. I thought that maybe the Javits Center might offer a list of nice local bars. <a href="http://www.javitscenter.com/nightclubs/">Not so much</a>.<br /><br />Other places look more promising. There's <a href="http://www.zanzibarnyc.com/">Zanzibar</a> (you might want to turn down the volume on this one). It looks nice but probably will be loud. They've their own DJ, after all. If you've any other suggestions of good places in the area, do let me know. I'll do a thorough check for any and possibilities this week.<br /><br />Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go dance to the <a href="http://www.thecopacabana.com/">Copacabana website's</a> music.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-457135304450793562?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-8819696549452779962007-05-22T00:13:00.000-04:002007-05-22T00:13:29.572-04:00Miss Snark Retiring!<div><a href="http://booksellerchick.blogspot.com/2007/05/retirement-in-air-not-me.html">Bookseller Chick has thoughts</a> on the issue.<br /><br />My thoughts run somewhere along the line of, "NO! No no no no no! No no! No no no... yes? I mean, NO!"<br /><br />Now we need a new book agent blog to follow. Shoot. Any suggestions?<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-881969654945277996?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-6544101046592825152007-05-22T00:12:00.000-04:002007-05-22T00:13:03.932-04:00Animalia & the NewberyOh good. Monica has begun to use her blog in a <a href="http://medinger.wordpress.com/2007/05/20/thoughts-on-newbery-wha/">Newbery-related way</a>. This is good news. It's not everyday you get to read the words of someone on such a committee as that. Not that Monica is going to give her thoughts on the current crop of literature. Last year's... let's say <span style="font-style: italic;">brouhaha,<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span>has left her disinclined to draw undue attention to thoughts on the matter. Instead, she prefers to bring up topics like <a href="http://medinger.wordpress.com/2007/05/20/thoughts-on-newbery-animal-fantasies/">this one</a> posted just this week.<br /><blockquote>"What do you think about animal fantasies? Is there one out this year you think we should be considering for the Newbery? Or is there one we should NOT be considering?"</blockquote>Monica is looking at older Newbery winners rather than the current crop, but that isn't to say that you, dear reader, can't offer opinions on questions such as these. Current animal fantasies. Are there any <span style="font-style: italic;">Charlotte's Webs</span> or (heaven forfend) <span style="font-style: italic;">Wittingtons</span> crossing your line of sight these days? I have to admit, I'm stumped. Talking animals appear to be few and far between in 2007. Last year I saw a whole troop of different farm critters. This year? Not so much.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-654410104659282515?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-76103239406966947402007-05-22T00:11:00.000-04:002007-05-22T00:11:40.645-04:00A Good Get<div>7-Imp captures <a href="http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=633#more-633">a rare glimpse</a> of fellow kidlit blogger David Elzey this week. It's an interview worth taking note of. After all, if you're not a regular reader of <a href="http://excelsiorfile.blogspot.com/">the excelsior file</a> by now, you should seriously reconsider your blog-reading priorities. Aside from his intelligent commentaries on classic folktales and tropes, the man has the rare ability to pin down <em>exactly </em>why a book does or does not work. I refer you at this time to his comments regarding the new <a href="http://excelsiorfile.blogspot.com/2007/05/sticky-burr.html">Sticky Burr book</a>. Smurfs in burr form? Precisely.<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-7610323940696694740?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-12691048602567743502007-05-22T00:10:00.002-04:002007-05-22T00:10:24.473-04:00New York Library News: Skip if BoredI feel so bad. I meant to mention this yesterday. You see May 21st was the <a href="http://www.nypl.org/press/2007/MulberrySt_opening.cfm">grand opening</a> of New York Public Library's brand spanking new Mulberry Branch! It's the first SoHo location to open and has several points with which to recommend itself.<br /><ol><li>David Bowie lives above it. At least this is what I've heard. Now the librarians who work inside can hope that maybe someday he'll happen to stop in "just to chat".</li><li>It's located in a building that was once a candy factory named Hawley & Hoops. Having heard that, I couldn't help but wish that NYPL had named the branch The Candy Factory. I mean, what kid wouldn't want to take a class trip to The Candy Factory?</li><li>It's the 40th Manhattan library location and the 87th in the NYPL system.</li><li>It contains a children's librarian who I snaggled via my contact with <a href="http://motherreader.blogspot.com/">MotherReader</a>. It's true! Go ask her.</li></ol>So welcome, oh beautiful bright and shiny <a href="http://www.nypl.org/branch/local/man/ml.cfm">Mulberry Branch</a>. Now let us discuss upping the number of branches in the <a href="http://www.nypl.org/hours/index.cfm?Trg=1&b=bx">Bronx</a>, shall we?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1269104860256774350?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-13800686246243605682007-05-22T00:08:00.000-04:002007-05-22T00:08:34.047-04:00Neato LinksThere are a couple places on the Series of Tubes you can go to find lists of useful kidlit links. Until today, however, I'd never stumbled across a set of them created by author Meghan McCarthy. The <a href="http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/links_1.html">Useful Sites for People Who Want to Write and Illustrate Kid's Books</a> is worth a peek. It allowed me to discover <a href="http://www.members.aol.com/thedrawing/">The Drawing Board for Illustrators</a> mere moments ago.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-1380068624624360568?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-82138508147372400082007-05-21T00:10:00.000-04:002007-05-21T00:00:54.337-04:00Review of the Day: Eggs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IIilKynFL._AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IIilKynFL._AA240_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780316166461-0">Eggs by Jerry Spinelli. Little Brown & Company. $15.99.</a><br /><br />You read enough of an author and you begin to get ideas about them. And if that author in question cuts a wide swath about them, the urge to stereotype them is strong. Jerry Spinelli cuts such a swath, yet all I’d read of him until now was a little “Maniac Magee” here and a touch of “Stargirl” there. Books that are nice enough in their own way but that don’t really make my pulse pound any faster. There is a blessing one should bestow upon all authors: May your reviewers have low expectations. Cause honestly, I got a kick out of “Eggs”. I mean, it’s basically “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” for kids. Edward Albee would love this book, I’m sure. And while some people may see that as a deficiency, I’m all for it. You can find plenty of books where a boy and a girl meet and become bestest buddy buddies and skip happily off into a relationship that hasn’t so much as a thimbleful of oomph or excitement to it. Far rarer is the title where the words leap off the page and begin to gnaw on the reader's anklebone. There’s a true streak of anger at the core of “Eggs” which will make it equal parts adored and reviled by its potential readership. Want a book that sparks discussion and red hot emotions? Spinelli delivers.<br /><br />David found the dead body hidden under a pile of leaves in the woods during an Easter egg hunt. The girl was about thirteen and beautiful, and he told her all his secrets, knowing she’d never tell. So imagine his shock and horror when a couple months later that same girl is sitting in the local storytime, asleep. She is not dead. She is Primrose and once it is made clear that she was never dead in the first place (the gal has a seriously twisted sense of humor) she and David are inseparable. They’ve their own family problems, of course. David’s mom is dead, his father is always away, and he loathes his kindly grandmother for everything she isn’t. Primrose, on the other hand, lives in an abandoned van outside her house. Her mother is an embarrassment to her, believing herself to be a fortune teller who (at this moment in time) will read feet like some people read palms. But with two such violent personalities, it’s only a matter of time before David and Primrose are on the outs. They’ll either fix what’s broken in the other, or be worse off because of their friendship in the end.<br /><br />First off, I can’t think of better booktalk material. Seriously. Boy sees dead girl in a storyhour? Did someone just spill a whole cup of awesome all over this book? Some books grab you by the throat from page one and don’t let go until you’ve read them cover to cover. This is such a book. It’s not, however, an easy read. You’re constantly on your guard as you go through it. With two such unpredictable characters, Primrose and David are just as likely to slap you as kiss you. Their little pre-adolescent nerves are all ah-jangled and it’s this herky jerky clash of personalities that keeps the book consistently interesting.<br /><br />The title is also very good at showing the true unattractiveness of desperation. David’s grandmother would do anything for her grandson. If only he’d just throw her a bone. Some kind of thoughtful gesture and all would be well. But the lines are drawn very clearly here. He has decided to hate her because she’s not his mother and she, for her part, doesn’t know how to break through to him. It’s the rare children’s novel, actually, where the main character says that he out-and-out HATES the innocent family member taking care of him. Spinelli sets it up so that you dislike David for what he’s doing to his grandma and, at the same time, you understand where he’s coming from. The woman is a suffocating presence. Her neediness just serves to repel the people she’s trying to befriend. And that you don’t end up detesting David from start to finish is a kind of accomplishment of writing in and of itself.<br /><br />I also thought that the sheer absurdity of the narrative has a way of sucking you in. Spinelli reveals his characters in fits and starts. Primrose is the kind of person who’d wave at an imaginary car, then not like the imaginary driver’s response and start yelling and spitting. David’s the kind of kid who can weigh down the carrot that his grandmother gives him to eat every day with a kind of heady symbolism, entirely of his own.<br /><br />There are unanswered questions by the story’s end, I’m afraid. The one that comes to my mind in particular concerns Primrose. The van outside her house where she stays is egged on a regular basis. We never get any specifics about this except when Primrose mentions that the kids who did it “followed” her and that they get their older siblings to drive them over to her van. It’s a mighty odd element to leave unexplained. Otherwise the ending is a strong one. It doesn’t cheat. You don’t get flowers and sunshine and a sudden smattering of scales falling from various characters’ eyes just in time to wrap up the narrative. None of that. It’s a good ending. A strong ending. An earned ending.<br /><br />The best section in this book comes from the character of Refrigerator John. Night after night the kids take refuge in his home. Looking at them he sums up their relationship nicely: “What brought them together? Sometimes they acting their own ages, sometimes they switched. Sometimes both seemed to be nine, other times thirteen. Both were touchy, ready to squawk over nothing. They constantly crabbed at each other – yet at the same time he might be braiding her hair, or she might be making him lunch. Half the time they left his place snarling, yet the next day there they were, together, knocking on his door.” Good children’s books with complex characters and motives are sometimes a little difficult to locate. “Eggs” at times feels like a bookclub’s dream. You could parse many an action taken and word said in this story without ever quite running out of topics for discussion. A book that is worth reading, at the very least.<br /><br />On shelves now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Notes on the Cover:</span> Mm. The old no-title-is-good-title route. Clever work, Spinelli’s an old hand at this technique, what with Stargirl and all. Then again, Stargirl was a completely different publisher than this one. Looks like ye olde Hachette Book Group is looking to make their own titleless mark. I’m a fan of the photo. Very appealing but I do wonder if any kid who is not yet already a Jerry Spinelli fan will feel inclined to pick it up.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Other Reviews By: </span><a href="http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2007/02/eggs-by-jerry-spinelli.html">A Year in Reading</a>, <a href="http://grammargirl.livejournal.com/523557.html">Our Lady of Syntax</a>, <a href="http://scholarlybrio.blogspot.com/2007/05/eggs-by-jerry-spinelli.html">Scholarlybrio</a>, <a href="http://pamspostings.blogspot.com/2007/05/eggs.html">Pam's Postings</a>, and a host of others that aren't showing up on Google's blogsearch.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8213850814737240008?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15089389.post-81616556002887323992007-05-21T00:08:00.000-04:002007-05-21T00:01:06.749-04:00Horn Book - Now in Paper!<div>Roger Sutton <a href="http://www.hbook.com/blog/2007/05/tell-us-what-to-do.html">poses</a> the following query:<br /><blockquote>What could the Horn Book Magazine do better, or more of, or more interestingly? I always have this question running around in my mind (this is not necessarily a sign of dedication; it stems as much from my default anxiety as anything else) and I've come up with plenty of ideas that usually involve money we don't have. Like becoming a monthly, or printing in color, for example. Some ideas don't cost anything, but they do collide with Tradition: changing the logo, say, or making the magazine a standard size (which would actually save money).</blockquote>Ix-nay on the ize-say ange-chay, I say.<br /><br />Got me thinking though. What's a literary mag to do in this era of digital updates? In many ways <span style="font-style: italic;">Horn Book</span> was ahead of the pack by having their own resident blogger. <a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/660000266.html">Publisher's Weekly</a> and <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blogs.html">School Library Journal</a> are following suit, but <span style="font-style: italic;">HB</span> was the first of its kind in this respect. One wonders if <span style="font-style: italic;">Kirkus</span> has thought much on the subject. What a blog THAT could be!<br /><br />But in terms of the actual physical magazine you hold in your hand, I like how Roger has phrased this question. What can they do, "more of, or more interestingly?" You'd have to look to the adult equivalent of <span style="font-style: italic;">Horn Book</span> to find an answer to this, perhaps. Worth thinking about, just the same. Brian Kenney of <span style="font-style: italic;">SLJ</span> recently gave a talk at Dominican University (yay, my graduate degree's pseudo-alma mater!) entitled <a href="http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/850000285/post/1760008976.html">Does Print Still Matter?</a>. Spoiler Alert: It does. His talk didn't concern itself specifically with <span style="font-style: italic;">SLJ</span>'s status in print, but in terms of the immediate future it may tie in nicely with Roger's query. And back and forth it goes.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/15089389-8161655600288732399?l=fusenumber8.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>fusenumber8http://www.blogger.com/profile/16216979020263363698noreply@blogger.com9