Lunch with a YA Trifecta: This is Teen with Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, and Maggie Stiefvater

Last Friday I was privileged to be included in a luncheon hosted by Scholastic Books and the New England Independent Booksellers Association for YA writing sensations and all around awesome-women Libba Bray, Meg Cabot, and Maggie Stiefvater. The ladies were in town to visit the Wellesley Booksmith and to promote This is Teen, Scholastic's integrated teen community initiative, which works to unite teen readers with their favorite authors and other like-minded readers, mainly via Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, here is a stellar example of how social media can morph into face-to-face interaction. I swung this invite because of a connection I made on Twitter--an individual who then put my name forward to the woman organizing the event, who was looking for Boston based YA book bloggers. I had never met my Twitter connection, nor the individual who eventually invited me (via Facebook I might add,) but I was more than happy to go and say thank you when we all met, for the first time, on Friday. So if you take grief about your addiction to social media, just remember this--it does pay off. And sometimes, there is even cake involved!

Self-righteous, defensive rant over--back to the main event.

I cannot say enough nice things about Mses. Cabot, Bray, and Stiefvater. Getting back to all that stuff I said about social networking; there's a reason why I find it so appealing--I'm shy. Well, these ladies put me (and everyone else, too, I assume) at ease. They were approachable and--in the case of Meg Cabot, who zeroed in with an outstretched hand and firm handshake--fast-approaching. Those ladies worked the room with charm. If I've learned anything from my recent lunches with authors (wow--it felt good to type that!) it's that an author's job doesn't end once the book is finished. The amount of meeting and greeting that is involved is amazing, and they have to be just as good at the people skills as well as the writing craft.

So many books, only so many pens

After lunch, but before cake, there was the book signing. I had a teeny stack, but there were book sellers there with BOXES of books. The ladies no doubt worked off lunch just by signing them all. Still, I'm sure it's a gratifying task all the same, imagining the excited hands to which those autographed books will be delivered. I know at least one ten year old girl who was beside herself when Mummy brought her an autographed copy of Allie Finkle: Moving Day. And please allow me a fan girl moment to post this:

Lunch, books, and schmoozing finished, the grand finale was, indeed, the cake. Decorated with the jacket covers of each of the ladies' most recent book, enhanced with toys to represent key moments from each, and boasting a most delicious frosting (I think it was Cool Whip,) the honored authors graced us all with one final photo call.

They then proceeded to cut the cake. With relish.

Best of all--they served us the cake. Authors truly are versatile.

A big thank you to the folks at Scholastic and NEIBA for a slap-up lunch, fantastic bookish discourse, and a chance to hob-nob with some truly outstanding writers who just happen to be outstanding--and very fun--women, too.

Picture books for the Stanley Cup: Number Four, Bobby Orr!

Now that the Bruins have made a series of the final, I thought this was a good time to draw attention to Mike Leonetti's Number Four, Bobby Orr! It took ages for Ted Williams to get his own picture book, but this Boston sports legend got his in 2003 (any news on a Larry Bird picture book? How about Yaz--the last winner of baseball's Triple Crown? Someone get writing!) Illustrator Shayne Letain sets the triumphant tone for this book with his rendition of the iconic 1970 photo of Orr's cup winning goal. The book itself is about a young boy named Joey who loves hockey and idolizes Orr. When an injury curtails his season, Joey writes a letter to Bobby Orr, asking for advice on being a better defenseman. Joey's recovery coincides with the progression of the season, culminating with a healed Joey sitting in the Boston Garden to witness his hero make history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orr.jpg

There is quite a lot of information in this book about Bobby Orr and his impact on the Bruins and the city of Boston. For locals there are a number of little details which give fanish delight (such as mention of the fact that Joey is watching the Bruins on channel 38.Remember WSBK?!) Number Four, Bobby Orr! is an unashamed love letter to a hockey legend, and a fun read for Bruins fans as they face the rest of the series.

The Wall Street Journal--saving the world from YA

Last night, as Doctor Who spoilers and Bruins lamentations fought for control of my Twitterfeed, I started noticing a recurring hasthtag: #YAsaves. Someone--specifically, blogger and Youth Services Consultant Elizabeth Burns--was retweeting a vast amount of responses to an article which had appeared in the Wall Street Journal. The article was entitled "Darkness too Visible" and was followed by the following: "Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea?"

Silly me--for a moment I thought the article was going to explain why it was, in fact, a good idea. What the author wrote instead was damn near medieval in her disdain for and ignorance of what she considers to not just be a current trend in YA literature, but an agenda championed by librarians and book publishers to introduce teenagers to every grim reality this world has to offer--all in the name of freedom of expression and overriding parental controls. Yeah--that's why I went to library school.

There's a lot wrong with this article, and voices across the blogosphere are already starting to point that out. (And by the way, if you want to find any dissenting commentary about this article, stick to the blogosphere and Twitter, because as of this writing--which is 13.02 on Sunday the 5th of June--you won't see much disagreement in the comments of the original article, which is a stunning fact in itself.) I can't let this article pass unnoticed either, so I am going to comment on the anecdote which opens the article: the story of a woman who "popped into [Barnes and Noble] to pick up a welcome-home gift for her 13-year-old, who had been away. Hundreds of lurid and dramatic covers stood on the racks before her, and there was, she felt, "nothing, not a thing, that I could imagine giving my daughter. It was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation, this dark, dark stuff." She left the store empty-handed."

My question is this: if she wanted a book recommendation, what was she doing at Barnes and Noble?

No offense to the many fine folks who work at B&N stores all over the world. There's one in the town where I work, and they do a great job of reaching out to the community and promoting literacy and making books and reading as fun as possible. But let's be honest--Barnes and Nobles is a big-box chain store. If this woman wanted to ask a knowledgeable professional for book recommendations, why didn't she go to her public library? At my library we have all the dark lurid stuff--because some people actually want to read those books for whatever reason that isn't mine or yours to judge--but we also provide alternate titles (because that's what libraries do.) And more importantly, any library worth its salt is going to have someone who can talk to the woman, determine what she is looking for, and steer her in that direction. One of the comments at the end of the article is by this particular woman herself, and she indicates that the staffer at B&N who was trying to help her didn't know anything about the books, and really was no help at all. Was she unlucky to have happened in on the one day that there was no one knowledgeable to help her? Again, no offense to Barnes and Noble, but the answer is--no. Because cashiers and book stockers at B&N are not librarians. They may be book enthusiasts, but are they professionals who can talk knowledgeably and reliably about a range of books even if they are not in their particular department? Probably not--because they are not librarians. They have not made it their business--their vocation!--to be able to recommend titles to any person on any given day who wants any type of book. That's what you get from a good librarian, and it is probably the most under recognized and under appreciated facet of my job by anyone who assumes that a library is just a building to store books.

It seems to me that publishers follow trends as much as they dictate them, so if any given Barnes and Noble is full with only a certain type of book, there's a reason for that--it's a popular type of book. Yet another reason to visit the library, where many different types of books are available for many different types of reasons and readers. I wish the author of this article had focused on that. But I think she had her own bone to pick. Evidently, instead of being helpful, librarians--by sheer virtue of their association with the big bad American Library Association which comes in for a lambasting as well--are, like publishers, trying to "use the vehicle of fundamental free-expression principles to try to bulldoze coarseness or misery into their children's lives." I don't know. Yesterday it looked like The Wall Street Journal, with their strident article, written by their regular children's book reviewer, was the one driving the bulldozer.

I told you picture books weren't just for kids

So. This week's publishing sensation is the as yet unpublished Go the F**k to Sleep, (actually, I started this post last week. And people are still talking about the book. Yup--it's a sensation.) The book started as a personal parental lament from author Adam Mansbach and has resulted in film rights. And the book hasn't even been published yet! Score one for internet piracy, which is credited with spreading the word about this unusual picture book.

The book has generated discussion about everything from hand-wringing about parental devotion, to concern for the feelings of the real-life child at the heart of the book, to cries of enough already. I have not seen the pirated PDF, yet I have the feeling that I've already read this book. But with no swears. And actually written for children. It's called:

This 2006 picture book, written in the tone of "you-know-I'm-kidding-but-not-really" goes like this:

"Love you when you whine.

Love you when you interrupt.

Love you when you don't say please.

Love you when you pour your cereal on the floor."

And my personal favorite:

"Love you when you say "Carry me, Carry me" and I am already carrying two bags of groceries and a backpack full of library books."

You get the general idea. And needless to say, since this is a child's picture book, by the end we are reassured that the mommy really does love her little turd of a kid. As I said, I've not yet read Go the F**k to Sleep, so I can't vouch for any warm fuzzy moment at the end to validate all the four-letter sentiment that comes before. But the fact remains that parenting is hard, and parents know that best. A self-serving laugh at ridiculous bedtime routines and the other ways we bend ourselves into knots trying to raise kids never hurts. With or without the expletives.

First Tintin, and now Katniss Everdeen!

It's been a big day for news pertaining to popular book franchises that are making the jump from the page to the screen. First, the official movie trailer for The Adventures of Tintin was released. Then, Entertainment Weekly released this week's cover, featuring the first look at actress Jennifer Lawrence all kitted up for The Hunger Games. I love days like this!

Adventures of Tintin--almost here!

Okay, maybe 23 December 2011 isn't technically almost, but it's pretty darn close! However, it is still far enough away that repeated assertions about how Tintin is unknown in the United States will be numerous enough to make me throw myself over the side of the Unicorn! We can't keep Tintin on the shelves at this library, or any other where I have worked. The cub reporter and his little dog, Snowy, has a loyal fan base in this country, and I am fed-up of the media saying otherwise! And with current Doctor Who show runner, Stephen Moffat, one of the contributors to the screenplay, you can bet there will be interest in him alone. Anecdotal evidence suggests the allure of a big name has the power to bring new fans to an  established fandom.

Lunch with an Author--Jerry Pinkney

Now--I know what you're thinking. Two days in a row. Lunch with an author. Is this woman a librarian or a professional nosher? Well, I am a librarian, and this week I have been an especially fortunate one. After dining yesterday with Jacqueline Davies, today I was invited to eat with Caldecott-winning illustrator Jerry Pinkney. He was on a school visit to my daughter's school (those lucky kids!) and the librarian told me to come along to a special luncheon being held in his honor.

My previous degree of separation from Jerry Pinkney--I reviewed this for School Library Journal in Fall 2010. Now, I have lunch!

Jerry talked about his upcoming fall release Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, his current show at the Norman Rockwell Museum, and shared a great story about his relationship with his father, which we all felt should be the subject of a future picture book. He was friendly and personable..... and at the same table as me! Talking picture books! What a thrill.

It's been an exciting week, full of good food and fantastic company. If any other authors are swinging through the Boston area and need a lunch date--my calendar is open.

Lunch with an Author--Jacqueline Davies

This afternoon I had the pleasure and privilege of participating in a lunch given in honor of author Jacqueline Davies and her new novel, The Lemonade Crime. This sequel to The Lemonade War is already picking up stars and praise a plenty--so no real change from the first book! I have to confess that I only recently read The Lemonade War--like, as soon as I received the invitation (no time like the present.) However, I am very familiar with her Ms. Davies' picture books, particularly The Boy Who Drew Birds, because of my own love affair with John Audubon and his dynamic paintings.

I have been following Ms. Davies' career with interest, because she lives in the town where I started as a children's librarian. She was sort of a local celebrity, even though I met her for the first time today. She was gracious and natural, and put this starstruck blogger at ease. And she pored a heavy pitcher of lemonade without dribbling any of it onto the tablecloth, which is always an impressive skill, and more than I was able to do (I must remember not to order collapsible sandwiches when trying to make a good impression.)

A big thank you to the kind folks at Houghton Mifflin who included me in today's lunch.

This weekend I have been mostly reading.....

......Jacqueline Davies and Jerry Pinkney as I prepare for not one, but two, author lunches this week. Ohhh....I could get used to this!

SLJ's Battle of the Kids Books--place your bets now!

After weeks of guessing, and then watching favorites fall, the School Library Journal Battle of the Kids Books has its finalists. Kathi Appelt's Keeper, which has enjoyed a charmed journey through the rounds,  goes against the heavily favored Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud. Megan Whalen Turner's Conspiracy of Kings, back for a second chance as the Undead selection, is a fan favorite and could still run away with it all.

Is anyone else pleased to see two series books in the mix? Traditionally shunned at award time, (although, considering that The Hunger Games was the very first BoB champion in 2009, there is already precedent in this competition,) the inclusion of two series titles in this year's final is tres exciting and gratifying for fans of series fiction. I suppose RoS is technically a stand-alone with a connection to an established series, but that is a technicality I can over look for the purposes of my argument. Which is--two series books have made it to the end!

In an attempt to avoid a trifecta of failure (not having read any of the finalists for the third year running) I am currently reading Ring of Solomon. So when Richard Peck announces his winner in the Big Kahuna on Monday, I will at least have one horse in the mix.

My methodology is not very scientific, (since it is based entirely on my choosing to read one title over another,) but it stands: I'm betting on Bartimaeus.