Food books and Queens

Horn Book has a booklist up about food.  Naturally, I came up with completely different ones here, here, and here.

Which all reminds of some sad news: I just noticed the other day that How Pizza Came to Queens by Dayal Kaur Khalsa is out-of-print.  It's the one book we could truly call our own!  No longer.  

So thank goodness for David Ezra Stein.  Oh, and Mark Siegel.  Both Queens residents.  I'm definitely taking some consolation in that.  So boo to you, Brooklyn, and your silly Jon Scieszka.

Annual Literature Meeting: just another day at Queens Library

So I’ve been doing all kinds of wonderful, fun things lately. My last post is evidence of that. And there has been lots more fun since then and I’ve been so excited to tell you all about it. However, because I’ve been having so much fun, I have become run down and exhausted. Which naturally left me no energy to blog. Indeed, I left work early yesterday and today, sick. So my conundrum is this: do I stop doing so much so that I have more time to blog? Or do I keep doing so much, thus leaving me no time (or inclination) to blog?

The most exciting event for me recently is this: Queens Library’s Literature Meeting*. We held it yesterday at our Flushing branch. We do this event every year and, in the past, we’ve had such luminaries as Paula Danziger and Walter Dean Myers. This year, we decided the time was ripe for a panel on graphic novels. To get to the point, we invited Françoise Mouly (editorial director of TOON Books, art director of The New Yorker, and Art Spiegelman’s wife), Mark Siegel (well-known illustrator and editorial director of First Second), and Elicia Castaldi (illustrator of Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf).

As you can imagine, with a new format, there were lots of difficulties. Hell, with three different MAC laptops in play, there’s bound to be issues!!! Add to that the surprise appearance of Diamond Comics Distributors, who planned a 10-minute presentation that we were not made aware of…oh, and poor Françoise Mouly went to our Central branch instead of Flushing and was very late. Add to that a colleague that repeatedly kept saying to me, “See?! I told you there would be technical glitches! I told you we should have made David [Queens’ techie] come!” Last but not least, the large Chinese population in Flushing decided this would be a swell day to protest the Bush administration outside of the library...a couple hundred of them! If there was ever a need for wine, it was yesterday morning!!!!

You know what, though, it’s funny how things turn out. Elicia Castaldi brought her boyfriend, David, who somehow got every one of the presentations up and running. And it was a good thing that we made room for John, the Diamond Comics guy, because his presentation was really fantastic. And even though Françoise was late and flustered, she pulled herself together and gave a fascinating talk that people stayed for, even though we went over time. And the protest was just another reminder that living in NYC is always an adventure. As for the colleague who wouldn’t leave me alone…well, I still don’t know how I can deal with him in a grown-up manner. Best to keep my mouth shut.

John, the Diamond Comics guy, talked about the history of comics and graphic novels, calling it “the new rock n’ roll.” He was approachable, funny, and interesting. Mark Siegel…well, it’s Mark Siegel. He talked about First Second’s vision and told good stories. Most of the people in the room hadn’t heard him speak before and, well, let’s just say that I had a co-worker that declared she was leaving Queens Library to go work for Mark. I think the whole room was swooning. Elicia was a great complement to the guys – she was sweet and modest, and I enjoyed the images of her artwork appearing in flashes behind her on the screen. And lest I forget to mention, she and her boyfriend are probably two of the most beautiful people you’ll ever meet: someone (I won’t reveal who said it) said, “They look like they came straight off a movie screen!” Also, brave soul that she is, this was Elicia’s first library visit! And with all our crazy technical glitches! Françoise was the consummate pro: gracious and beautiful under pressure. Unfortunately, her talk did have to be abbreviated, but what she did show us was completely fascinating. I’m longing to hear the rest of her talk. Later, on the subway ride home, Mark and Françoise spoke French (I understood every 3^rd word) and talked about visual literacy – needless to say, I was in heaven. I’m such a geek when it comes to these things…not to mention that I have an overdeveloped sense of hero worship when it comes to these powerhouse industry types (authors, illustrators, and Arthur A. Levine fit into this category).

I got warm, positive feedback from the librarians who attended; not to mention that some admitted to not having read a single graphic novel before the event…and were happy that now they have. Glitches aside, I will call the event a success. It seemed to reflect my own personality: flying-by-the-seat-of-its-pants, spontaneous, lack of attention to detail…yet also managed to avoid disaster and it was filled with laughter and fun.

Thank heavens it only happens once a year!

* Elicia emailed me today post-meeting, asking me for the fancy name for our meeting so her rep can include it in Elicia's info. Unfortunately, there is no fancy name. This is only the second one of these I've participated in, and we've always called it "the lit meeting." But I'm sure there's some fancy name we can give it before I email Elicia back tomorrow!

Simon and Schuster's Summer 2008 Preview event

Last Thursday was the summer preview event at Simon and Schuster and, like the last one, the editors shared some exciting upcoming books and invited a hilarious author to speak. The last time was Jon Scieszka – not too shabby! – and this time was Alan Katz, author of Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs (S&S, 2001) and the newly published poetry collection, Oops (McElderry, 2008). Well, I can tell you that Mr. Katz is one of the funniest authors I’ve had the pleasure of listening to – he just had the whole room in stitches, telling such fantastic stories. It was the perfect way to start off the morning.

Demi has a new book coming out, The Magic Pillow (6.3.08). Demi’s work is visually stunning and does not disappoint here. My only concern with Demi’s style is that it lacks some accessibility with children; that’s been my impression, anyway. Has anyone encountered any kids that were really drawn into Demi’s books? Or able to use her books in programs? Just curious… Nevertheless, it’s always a treat to pore over the details and beauty in her books.

What are two things that are sure things to grab kids’ attention? Pirates and penguins, of course. Put them together in one book and you have Uncle Pirate by Douglas Rees, illustrated by Tony Auth (6.3.08). I didn’t get to look at the interior of this one but, at 112 pages, I’m thinking it’ll be a good “boy book” recommendation. According to the editors, a sequel is already planned.

When I saw the cover for Bees, Snails, and Peacock Tails by Betsy Franco and illustrated by Steve Jenkins (6.17.08), I sort of felt nonchalant. My initial impression was “there they go again.” Then I mentally kicked my own rear because that’s really no way to think. How can you be blasé about so much talent and gorgeousness? So they’re at it again and there’s nothing ordinary about its fabulousness.

Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman have another “Bear” book coming out, Bear Feels Scared (8.5.08). There really isn’t much else to say about that. The books are enormously popular, and there will definitely be multiple copies purchased for my library system.

Okay, so let me tell you the book I am most excited about. Seriously, this sounds so cool. It’s called Acting Out (6.17.08) and it’s a collection of one-act plays. Every library needs more plays, right? Okay, maybe it’s just Queens… Anyhoo, wait for it…you won’t believe the line-up of Newbery stars: Avi, Susan Cooper, Sharon Creech, Patricia MacLachlan, Katherine Paterson, and Richard Peck. Shazam! All edited by Justin Chanda, publisher extraordinaire. Justin explained to us that he and the authors wanted some way to unify the whole work. So each author picked a single word – six words total – and each author had to incorporate each of those words into their own play. Justin shared the six words, but I don’t remember all of them. I can tell you one of the words, though, because it’s a hard one to forget: “Justin.” Funny, right? I’m real excited about this one.

Yay, another middle-grade graphic novel! More of them, publishers! More! This one is called Chiggers by Hope Larson (6.17.08). It’s a summer camp story centering on female friendships and the growing pains of adolescence.

Andrew Clements book about twins, Lost and Found (7.1.08). He’s a master. Enough said.

Delight! A picture book illustrated by Mark Siegel and written by Lisa Wheeler, Boogie Knights (8.5.08). I love Mark’s style, for one thing. For another thing, having listened to him speak to groups of librarians a couple times, I have no problem admitting I have such a crush on him. He’s incredibly eloquent, artistic, wrote a book with his wife, handsome, and brings graphic novels to all us librarians starving for them – how could you not love him?

The Reminder by Rune Michaels (8.26.08) is possibly the oddest novel I’ve heard of. A girl’s mother dies. She hears her mother’s voice. Then she hears her dad talking to her mom behind a closed door. Yeah, so she finds out that her dad has constructed a robotic head in the likeness of her mom, and he’s been conversing with her! Wha?! So the dad starts dating again and the head disappears…naturally, the girl has a chance to save her mother this time. Totally out there, right? Which naturally means I’m intrigued and longing to read it.

The Fartiste by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (6.3.08). Need I say more? This will crack kids up.

Independent Dames by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner (6.3.08) looked fantastic. Can’t wait to have it in the collection.

Doing a happy dance! Tony DiTerlizzi is coming out with a new middle grade fiction, Kenny and the Dragon! (8.5.08)

Got a galley of Dan Gutman’s new one, Nightmare at the Book Fair (7.29.08) How must it feel to be so universally popular among kids?

S&S is also publishing an intriguing series: 10 Days That Shook Your World (7.1.08). The concept is almost like time travel where you take a single historical figure (Thomas Edison, Anne Frank, and Benjamin Franklin) and you zoom in on the 10 most important days in their life. And on the front of the covers that S&S showed us, it states in big numbers how many days each person lived. Obviously, Anne Frank’s cover is incredibly poignant. This appears to be an exciting addition to the biography genre.

Unfortunately, I can’t report on the Simon Pulse presentation because I had to leave early to get to another meeting. Alas, perhaps next time!

The photos are thanks to Baker and Taylor. Keep in mind that all the covers, pub dates, titles, etc. are based on the information given to me at the time. All subject to change.