Libraries and Food: A Natural Relationship

So you don’t need me to tell you that ALA’s youth media awards came out yesterday. But just in case you didn’t know that, then here’s the link to it.

It was my first ALA Midwinter conference and it was just friggin awesome. I had some of the most interesting and entertaining conversations of my life, and I have come back to Queens invigorated and excited about being a librarian again – which is good because I was really in a place where I wasn’t so sure about working in a library anymore. Now I’m ready to kick some ass…in a good way, of course.

If anyone reading this is a librarian who has had their degree for less than 5 years OR is younger than 35, I highly encourage you to apply for the 2009 ALA Emerging Leaders program. It’s really a fantastic program that made me feel empowered and inspired. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask me (via comments or email me personally). I definitely think Leslie Burger was on to something when she created this program – it’s a wonderful way to include up-and-coming librarians in the process and to elicit their ideas about the direction of ALA and the profession as a whole.

I even managed to fit in my love of all things food-related: Harcourt invited me to a dinner at Fork, a swoon-worthy restaurant on Market and 3^rd. Fantastic food. For an appetizer I had the flatbread with sautéed calamari, parmesan cheese, and white beans. A little on the dry side, but the calamari was really flavorful. For my entrée, I got the hangar steak with frites and it rocked. I asked for it rare and they actually gave it to me RARE! It’s an anomaly in the restaurant world – you folks who like your meat rare will know what I mean. For dessert, I had the dark chocolate mousse with cognac, which was very light and flavorful…but I don’t know if I made the right choice. Ellen Greene, Harcourt’s library marketing guru, ordered the ricotta cheesecake and I’ve never tasted anything like it in my life. I normally don’t go for cheesecake because it’s so dense but, lordy, that’s because I’ve never tried Fork’s cheesecake. Light as friggin air. Amazing. And of course, there was wine. See, I prove again how books, wine, and food are so completely interrelated. This whole meal – and Harcourt’s generosity in hosting it – will continue to be the major highlight of the conference for me.

But enough of that, let’s talk about the BOOKS! I still can’t believe it was just yesterday morning that I was sitting in that enormous ballroom, listening to the book award winners announced right before my eyes. As the Batchelder and Schneider Family awards were being announced, I felt all tingly and thrilled and excited. Then…as the moment of truth arrived…I felt all tense. Why? I realized that I was nervous because WHAT IF I HADN’T ORDERED THE RIGHT BOOKS ALL YEAR?! What if I had NONE of the major award winners in ANY of the libraries?!?!?! Luckily, though, I was golden. Granted, not every single library had a copy of every single book but at least we had some libraries holding all of some of the books. You know? Phew! I do have to say – and no description will truly capture it unless you were there – but listening to that enormous audible gasp when Hugo Cabret was announced was awesome, and the wild applause afterward was a thrill. And can I even tell you how pleased I am that Let It Shine got the CSK Award? Well-deserved. Overall, I’m enormously pleased with the award recipients, though there are a few question marks: Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County? Jabberwocky? Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian? And I sure was hoping that Jonathan Bean would get some well-deserved love but, alas, it wasn’t his year. Not to worry because I know his time is coming any year now.

All my gushing aside, it’s damn good to be home and make myself a home-cooked meal for the first time in five days. Even if it was as simple as a salad and a melty camembert grilled cheese sandwich. And pinot noir, of course.

My crystal ball says...

Ooooooh, Fuse #8 got me going early this morning with her Awards predictions post! Coffee in hand, I’m ready to put myself out there as well and predict who I think will be (and should be) the big winners come next Monday.

NEWBERY

WHAT WILL WIN:

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
I do predict this one will win, and it’s a lucky thing because it’s my favorite. It is storytelling at its finest and, I believe, when compared to another historical fiction contender, Wednesday Wars, this one really shines and sets itself apart.

WHAT SHOULD WIN:

I don’t have another choice – the book I feel should win is the book I’m predicting will take it.

HONOR BOOKS:

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
The committee won’t feel passionately enough about it to give it the Award, but they won’t be able to come up with enough reasons to shut it out completely.

Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
This is a tough call because it’s difficult to gauge how much hype this book has really lost. But it really is a fantastic book, and I think they’ll give Gary an Honor – he’ll need to step it up to score himself the gold (which, incidentally, I believe Curtis did with Elijah of Buxton).

WHAT WON’T WIN:

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz
I’m going to have to deal with Betsy’s wrath on this one, but I don’t predict it’ll get anything. It’s a phenomenal book – I’m not in any way saying that I don’t love it dearly – but there are just a lot of other books that will be bigger and brighter in the committee’s eyes. Obviously, I will be glad to be proven wrong on this one.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Oh, but wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if it could win? Clever, smart, and funny – not to mention that it actually has lots of kid appeal, which definitely can’t be said for all the books we’re chatting about here.

Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
No way, not happening. Notables list is the only place you’ll see this one.

CALDECOTT

WHAT WILL WIN:

The Wall by Peter Sis
I do not predict this one with confidence. On the one hand, it’s innovative, creative, and stunning – who can deny that? And it’ll be in the back of the committee’s collective mind that Sis should finally be given the gold. On the other hand, it really is for older children, and I can see some committee members getting hung up on the “persons of ages up to and including fourteen.” It’s tough to say…

WHAT SHOULD WIN:

Let It Shine by Ashley Bryan
Why oh why does no one else seem to love this book as much as I do?! I’d call it “stunning”, but I already used that for The Wall. So I’ll use…come on, Thesaurus… “spectacular.” It’s not just the large-format, colorful nature of the art, but it’s that Bryan also creates texture and movement that just seems to pulsate off the page. I was breathless the first time I read this book…and I find that is still the case after about 10 viewings.

HONOR BOOK(S)

Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington, illus by Shelley Jackson
I can put this one out there with confidence. There won’t be enough love for the Medal, but I can’t imagine that there won’t be enough support for the Honor.

At Night by Jonathan Bean
Again, in our Mock Caldecott discussions, I was the loudest supporter of this book while everyone else seemed to be lukewarm on it. It’s not big and bright and sexy…which is part of its charm…and dare I say, genius? All the framed, tight illustrations in the middle of the page and then that gooooorgeous spread that opens up to the night sky and city below? Again, I lost my breath.

WHAT WON’T WIN

Jabberwocky by Christopher Myers
For better or for worse, whether it’s in the Caldecott’s collective subconscious or not, this is a dead-lock for the CSK…and it’ll be overlooked by the Caldecott.

Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
This book was a rather large point of contention in QL’s Mock Caldecott discussions – a number of vocal librarians wanted it included in our finalists. But stop the madness, already. Most will argue that it doesn’t even fit the criteria. Away to the Notables with you, Hugo!

Snow* and Best Books of 2007...already?!

Apparently I’m not the only one excited about the upcoming holidays and the end of 2007: PW has just released their Best Books of 2007 list. I was unsurprised to see some titles: At Night by Jonathan Bean is just a gimme, you know? The Invention of Hugo Cabret is on the list – gasp! We’re going to see it on every Best of 2007 list. And I got warm fuzzies when I saw Before I Die – a well-deserved spot on the list.

However, I was enormously dismayed not to see Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban on there. It was an exceptionally well-crafted novel: equal parts humor, poignancy, coming-of-age, and conflict. It was smart and it didn’t condescend. So what happened to it in the shuffle? Perhaps it’s too quiet, too endearing, too…something? And where – oh, for goodness sake, where! – was Let It Shine by Ashley Bryan?! That omission is glaring and I think some readers are going to have something to say about that. Like me.

Lastly, since when did “children’s fiction” become ages 7-18??? I missed that somewhere.

Thanks to Fuse #8 for the info.

EDIT: Kirkus also came out with their Best of 2007 list.

*Apparently the omnipotent weatherpeople are forecasting possible snow showers this weekend for the NYC Metro area. Mwah?!

As if you needed another reason!

As if you needed another reason to love Ashley Bryan! Nevertheless, Alison over at PW gives us many more reasons. If you do anything today, go over to her blog and check out her wonderful pictures. Stained glass, puppets, toys suspended from the ceiling, dolls, hearts drawn by children, whimsy, comfort, happiness: Ashley Bryan's home has it all. And to welcome all these people into his home and let Alison take such lovely pictures of his private space. Wow. I'm overwhelmed. It's rare to get an intimate glimpse of a person's personality in just a few pictures, but Alison managed to give us one.

I can't say enough about it. Go check out her blog post now.