Blog Archive: May 2008

A friend of a friend has until Monday to spend a $50,000 gift on books for a brand-new elementary school library in New York City. She's not a librarian, so she's even more overwhelmed than the average librarian would be. What would you buy to build a core collection? I've put my list of initial ideas here:

How to Spend $50,000 on an Elementary School Library

Obviously these are just my opinions, and kind of slap-dash at that. Also, all my collection development experience is in fiction and AV, not nonfiction. I'd love to add your suggestions to the list, if you leave your comments on either this page or the list itself!

A friend of mine posted this meme in her LJ, and it's too good not to pass on. When it comes to books, it's nearly impossible for us avid readers to choose superlatives. So name just one--not *the* one, but *any* one!

1. One book that changed your life.
The Ordinary Princess, by M. M. Kaye. It cemented seven-year-old me's desire to be a writer.

2. One book that you've read more than once.
The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper. And it's almost always at midwinter.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island.
The one I'll write while I'm there.

4. One book that made you laugh.
Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems, by John Grandits.

5. One book that made you cry.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein.

6. One book that scared you half to death.
Life as We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Whenever we have a cold, cloudy day, I think, "Well, at least the sun hasn't been blocked by volcanic ash!"

7. One book that you wish had been written.
Oh, that's tough. How about another book by Harper Lee?

8. One book that you wish had never been written.
The Sky's Not Falling! Why It's Okay to Chill About Global Warming, by Holly Fretwell. Stop deluding yourself, Holly; you would do well to fret!

9. One book you're currently reading.
The Kayla Chronicles, by Sherri Winston. So far, so good.

10. One book you've been meaning to read.
I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith. Yeah, yeah, I know. I still haven't read it.

I tag...
If you're reading this, you're invited to play along!

We all know the current trend of photographic book covers for novels. Much has been made of trends to show just feet, just torsos, or various other truncated body parts. But lately I’ve been noticing more photographic book covers that show actual faces.

One side effect, of course, is that readers are given a very strong suggestion of what the main character looks like, rather than letting them use their imaginations—like seeing a still shot from the movie based on the book.

I wonder if the trend is part of our society’s general obsession with things that are “real”: movies “based on the true story,” reality television, etc. If the main character of a novel has apparently been captured on film, does that make the story seem more real?

This past week, I’ve been struck by something else about these headshot/full-body photo covers—something that’s made me wonder about just what-all goes into publishers’ decisions about which models they use…

Case Study #1: Suite Scarlett, by Maureen Johnson
Quick, who’s the most famous Scarlett you know? Scarlett O’Hara, you say? Okay, second-most famous, then—and a real person, to boot. In fact, the only real person I can think of named Scarlett. (It’s not a common name, after all.) That’s right: Scarlett Johanssen.

Is it just a coincidence that the model on the cover of Suite Scarlett looks startlingly like Scarlett Johanssen? I’m not saying she’s a dead ringer (okay, it's mostly the hair), but take a look at Photo A and Photo B and tell me there’s not a resemblance.

So, is Scarlett Johanssen unwittingly selling books for Maureen Johnson? Not that Maureen Johnson needs help selling books! And maybe most of her young fans don’t know or care about Scarlett Johanssen anyway—but adult buyers, on the other hand…

Case Study #2: Band Geek Love, by Josie Bloss
Stop me if this rings a bell: “This one time? At band camp?” Yeah, I thought that would be enough. Even if you’re lucky enough to have missed the movie American Pie, a few years back you probably heard that line repeated often enough to feel like you’d been there after all. It’s spoken, of course, by Alyson Hannigan’s character. Alyson Hannigan… the band geek… with red hair… cut in a pageboy.

She played the flute (you probably knew that, too) instead of the trumpet. And again, many/most of this book’s readers haven’t seen American Pie either. But is Alyson Hannigan unwittingly helping sell Band Geek Love to adults?

Of course, Hannigan gained most of her fans through her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I’d bet a very healthy percentage of those fans were band geeks themselves. So, maybe it’s only natural!

Case Study #3: Allie Finkle’s Rules for Life: Moving Day, by Meg Cabot
I’m stretching a bit here, but I can’t help looking at this book cover without thinking of one very famous person. Wait, make that two very famous people. Maybe it’s the clothes. Maybe it’s the hair. Or the complexion. Or the mouth. But all my brain can think is Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

(Amazon’s images for this book are pretty crummy, but Meg Cabot’s got a good image on her site.)

This may all be in my head. Or maybe it’s only my astounding television/movie star ignorance that has kept me from seeing celebrities in the faces of all photographic book covers.

What do you think?

ETA 5/30/08:

Case Study #4: How to Be Bad, by E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle
Tell me you look at this one and don't think of everybody's (latest) favorite British waif, who in various films has played soccer, fought pirates (including undead ones), and worn tight, Victorian dresses in the rain. That's right, I'm thinking of none other than Keira Knightley.

MsMac and Laini Taylor are ramping up the planning for the 2nd Annual KidLit Bloggers Conference! The location: Portland, Oregon. The date: Saturday, September 27. The fee: if it's anything like last year, ridiculously affordable.

I went to last year's conference, which was organized by Robin Brande, more or less on a whim. It was held ten miles from my home, and it was, as I mentioned, ridiculously affordable. At the time, I didn't have a public blog about anything, much less children's literature, though I was a reader of quite a few blogs. (I heard about the conference through Fuse #8.)

I hadn't been sure what to expect, but here's what I got: a friendly, enthusiastic group of bloggers passionate about children's and YA literature and eager to share their knowledge and ideas about blogging in general and the "kidlitosphere" in particular. It was a very inspiring and informational day. I met a lot of really cool people and learned about way more blogs than I could ever keep up with.

In short, it was an experience I'd recommend to anyone who blogs about children's and YA lit or would like to. That includes authors.

I don't think I'll be making it this year, even though I know it will be great and I'd love to revisit Portland. There's just a bit too much going on. I'm hoping to make it to SCBWI Wisconsin's fall retreat, and I'll probably end up at the Illinois Library Association conference. That'll do me in for conferences this fall. But I'll be sad to miss it. It truly was a wonderful and inspiring experience. It inspired me to start this blog, after all!

Have you visited Google today?

I initially clicked the image because the rich, rainbowy watercolors are reminiscent of Eric Carle; I thought maybe it was his birthday or something. But no, it's the winning entry from the 2008 Doodle 4 Google contest! Sixth grade winner Grace Moon wrote this about her design:

My doodle, "Up in the Clouds," expresses a world in the sky. This new world is clean and fresh, and people are social and enlightened. Every person here is treated as family no matter who they are. The bright sun heats this ideal place with warmth, love, and brightens everyone's day.

That's a dream worth pursuing any day of the year, but it seems especially timely given the past week's good news in California and the United Kingdom. I'm cautiously optimistic about the gay marriage news. There's still far too many anti-gay marriage bans tacked onto state constitutions, many of which materialized directly following the landmark Massachusetts decision. (Oregon is currently struggling with theirs; I imagine and hope other states are as well.) Still, it's a significant step forward, one worth rejoicing.

You can view the other Doodle 4 Google finalists here. Included are such whims as "What if pumpkins can walk and buffalows can talk?" and "What if I made a robot?" Hmmm, there's another dream worth pursuing...