Today is going to be one of those ALL THE BOOKS posts, loosely linked by being by and about women and featuring humor. Which is a pretty loose thread, but let’s roll with it. As is often the case with these roundups, we don’t think any of these are books that are likely to go the distance — but all are books we could see someone else championing, and that could easily be on the table for the RealCommittee, which means the conversation is open and a strong advocate might be all that’s needed. Perhaps one of you will champion one of these in the comments and be that advocate? We’re getting close to Pyrite nomination time, so now is definitely the moment to make a case.
Mirrors and Manson: Another Morris Roundup
There are some fun parallels between the two novels we’re discussing today. Both are debut novels from Ivy-league educated women with impressive resumes in other careers. Both books came out in June and have narrators who are teenage girls struggling to find their place in the world. They are also both strong contenders for the Morris Award. Compared to some of the current Someday favorites, these two probably won’t emerge as Printz contenders this year but there’s enough potential in each that we may see these authors in the conversation in years to come.
Paper Valentine
Paper Valentine, Brenna Yovanoff
Razorbill, January 2013
Reviewed from final copy
Rereading Paper Valentine, I saw a lot of Printz-worthy elements.
In fact, there’s a serious contender here.
Except for one small problem: it’s two stories jammed into one book, and only one of those two is contender material.
Chopsticks
Chopsticks, Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral
Razorbill, February 2012
Reviewed from Final Copy
Chopsticks is a particularly interesting item from the buzzed-about portion of our contenda list. It’s a fascinating format — available digitally and physically — full of arresting visuals and links to outside media. Although there are very few words on each page, the visual elements are all carefully chosen and placed. Analyzing the title feels like it requires a special vocabulary; it’s not quite a graphic novel; it feels most like a found scrapbook. [Read more…]
Penguin! Preview!
(Did I mention my deep and abiding love of previews? How fun is it to dress up and eat food and socialize with other librarians WHILE HEARING ABOUT GREAT BOOKS? It brings out all my geek.)
So really, when I say another day, another preview, recognize that actually I’m dancing around singing “preview! preview!”
(Except it’s metaphorical singing. I don’t really do the actual singing so much. Or at all.)
Anyway.
Last Wednesday morning, in the rainy miserable, weather that initially wasn’t, Sarah and I sloshed our way over to Penguin’s offices on Hudson St. And oh was the journey worth it!
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