SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE POST
Where We At?
You might, perhaps, have noticed the blog has been slow. You might have found yourself, say, spending scads of money on Thinkgeek or Onlineshoes or Etsy while waiting for a blog post to load. Oh, was that just me? Well, I’ll have some happy relatives come Christmas.
But you know what I am talking about, and we’ve all been frustrated. Well, we have some good news and some not so good news.
The good news: the blogs are migrating! Soon, Someday will be shiny and new and we’ll have a new logo and it will all be clean design and fast loading awesomesauce.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The bad news: Instead of some lead time, and waiting until the optimal time in terms of the blog (which would be after the YMA announcements, of course), the server situation is dictating immediate action.
As in, midnight tonight.
Sadly, this means five super exciting posts that are in the works but not ready to go live are now on hold until the migration is over — which could be as late as New Year’s. Comments made after midnight tonight might not migrate. Basically, at midnight we go dark, and we’re not sure when we’ll go back up.
When we do, we’ll have The Brides of Rollrock Island (short version? Stunning but pacing not perfect, but did I mention stunning?), The Raven Boys (love! But there are flaws. Although it might still be a top fiver for Karyn), Bomb (Joy is doing that one, and she is obsessing over chapter endings in YA nonfiction right now), Ask the Passengers (Sarah, thumbs up), and Dodger (Sophie loves it!) queued up and ready to go.
So that’s where we’re at.
On the bright side, although we’ve got a few books yet to read plus the five I just mentioned stuck in limbo for a week or two, we HAVE covered, in some form, most of the official contender list we put together in September. And we’re doing our best to pick away at the write-ins, the books that were added to the list because someone nominated them for the Pyrite*, or they short-listed for the Morris, or made more than one year-end list.
Click through for the list of 93 (!) books that ended up being the long list (auto-contenders, general buzz, and write-ins), color coded and linked. And there’s an opportunity to write a guest post on behalf of an as-yet undiscussed book!
And in the meantime, start taking notes for the Pyrite* — we’ll be discussing those titles starting as soon as possible after Jan 1, so use this server-forced downtime to really get your arguments for and against all lined up. Remember to consult the RealPrintz P&P, which we, like the RealCommittee, should use to help organize our arguments, and be prepared for some seriously intense discussion. Because we plan to bring it!
And also in the meantime (and thanks to Miriam for the suggestion), you can go ahead and take our new readership poll — we’ll post results when we are live again!
Linked titles are, obviously, the books we’ve already written about, and the links will take you back to the post in case you missed it or have since read a book and want to comment — all comment threads are still open.
Unlinked titles in black are from the original contender list (or are additional 3-star autocontenders) and we’re getting to them, slowly.
Struck-through titles have been eliminated from the running and we’re not doing them — in most cases, reader input dictated this decision; in one or two cases we determined the book was more J than YA. And yes, yes — we KNOW that is subjective. We know we could debate that for ages. But it is our firm feeling that a 10-12 or even 14 book is rarely a true YA book, and we looked at the ones that skew young before striking them off to be sure we really believed they capped out at 12 or 13. If we missed any in this category, let us know and we’ll gladly strike through a few more.
Red titles are the write-ins. We’re going to try to get to these, because it sounds like they deserve a moment in the spotlight,but we might not make it. So if you are a reader who wants to do a guest post on one, say the word. We’d rather have the books talked about than not, and time is tight!
Anderson, Jodi Lynn Tiger Lily
Andrews, Jesse Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Anthony, Jessica and Rodrigo Corral Chopsticks
Arcos, Carrie Out of Reach
Aronson, Marc Master of Deceit
Bacigalupi, Paolo The Drowned Cities
Barnaby, Hannah Wonder Show
Barraclough, Lindsay Long Lankin
Bobet, Leah Above
Bray, Libba The Diviners
Brennan, Sarah Rees Unspoken
Buzo, Laura Love and Other Perishable Items
Cashore, Kristin Bitterblue
Castellucci, Cecil The Year of the Beasts
Chambers, Aidan Dying to Know You
Coats, J. Anderson The Wicked & The Just
Crockett, S.D. After the Snow
Crowley, Cath Grafitti Moon
Danforth, Emily The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Doyle, Roddy A Greyhound of a Girl
Durst, Sarah Beth Vessel
Ellen, Laura Blind Spot
Ellis, Deborah My Name is Parvana
Ellison, Kate The Butterfly Clues
Fama, Elizabeth Monstrous Beauty
Flake, Sharon Pinned
Freedman, Russell Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship
George, Madeleine The Difference Between You & Me
Green, John The Fault in Our Stars
Griffin, Adele All You Never Wanted
Griffin, Molly Beth Silhouette of a Sparrow
Hand, Elizabeth Radiant Days
Hartman, Rachel Seraphina
Hautman, Pete The Obsidian Blade
Hoose, Philip Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
Hopkinson, Deborah Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
Hopkinson, Nalo The Chaos
Hunter-Gault, Charlayne To the Mountaintop: My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement
Johnson, Angela A Certain October
Kephart, Beth Small Damages
Kindl, Patrice Keeping the Castle
King, A.S. Ask the Passengers
Knowles, Jo See You at Harry’s
Kokie, E.M. Personal Effects
Kontis, Alethea Enchanted
LaCour, Nina The Disenchantments
LaFevers, Robin Grave Mercy
Lake, Nick In Darkness
Lanagan, Margo The Brides of Rollrock Island
Larbalestier, Justine and Sarah Rees Brennan Team Human
Laybourn, Emmy Monument 14
Leavitt, Martine My Book of Life by Angel
Levinson, Cynthia We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March
Levithan, David Every Day
Lowry, Lois Son
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Marchetta, Melina Froi of the Exiles
Marriott, Zoe Shadows on the Moon
Marsh, Katherine Jepp, Who Defied the Stars
Matson, Morgan Second Chance Summer
McCormick, Patricia Never Fall Down
Michaelis, Antonia The Storyteller
Mieville, China Railsea
Milford, Kate The Broken Lands
Murphy, Jim Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure
Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux No Crystal Stair
Nix, Garth A Confusion of Princes
Osborne, Linda Barrett Miles to Go for Freedom: Segregation and Civil Rights in the Jim Crow Years
Peterfreund, Diana For Darkness Shows the Stars
Pitcher, Annabel My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece
Pratchett, Terry Dodger
Rapp, Adam The Children and the Wolves
Rappaport, Doreen Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust
Rosenfield, Kat Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone
Rosoff, Meg There is No Dog
Rossetti, Rinsai The Girl with the Borrowed Wings
Saenz, Benjamin Alire Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Saldin, Erin The Girls of No Return
Sandler, Martin W. The Impossible Rescue: The True Story of an Amazing Arctic Adventure
Schabas, Martha Various Positions
Schrefer, Eliot Endangered
Sheinkin, Steve Bomb: The Race to Build–And Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
Shusterman, Neal Unwholly
Smith, Andrew Passenger
Sonnenblick, Jordan Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
Stiefvater, Maggie Raven Boys
Taylor, Laini Days of Blood and Starlight
Telgemeier, Raina Drama
Volponi, Paul The Final Four
Wein, Elizabeth Code Name Verity
Williams, Carol Lynch Waiting
Woodson, Jacqueline Beneath a Meth Moon
Woolston, Blythe Catch and Release
Zettel, Sarah Dust Girl
See you soon, we hope, and find us on Twitter or via email in the meantime! Happy Solstice and any other holidays you might celebrate. We’ll miss you!
*The Pyrite Printz, or Pyrite, is the Someday My Printz Will Come mock Printz deliberation, and should not in any way be confused with YALSA’s Michael L. Printz Award, often referred to here as the RealPrintz or Printz. Our predictions, conversations, and speculation about potential RealPrintz contenders and winners reflect only our own best guesses and are not affiliated with YALSA or the RealPrintz committee.
Filed under: Housekeeping, Process
About Karyn Silverman
Karyn Silverman is the High School Librarian and Educational Technology Department Chair at LREI, Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School (say that ten times fast!). Karyn has served on YALSA’s Quick Picks and Best Books committees and was a member of the 2009 Printz committee. She has reviewed for Kirkus and School Library Journal. She has a lot of opinions about almost everything, as long as all the things are books. Said opinions do not reflect the attitudes or opinions of SLJ, LREI, YALSA or any other institutions with which she is affiliated. Find her on Twitter @InfoWitch or e-mail her at karynsilverman at gmail dot com.
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
A LOUDER THAN HUNGER Giveaway!
The Young Ambassador of Poetry Returns: A Q&A with Micha Archer on What’s New, Daniel?
NBM Fall Titles a Diverse Group of Non-Fiction Graphic Novels | News
Becky Calzada and John Schu Discuss Louder Than Hunger and Libraries
The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT