It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA - 1/30/17

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date.  Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and  Jen Vincent of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

Last week, I missed posting because I was at the American Library Association MidWinter Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. On Monday, I attended the Youth Media Awards. I love attending the Awards Announcement and the energy in the room.

The Schneider Family Book Awards are announced right at the beginning. 

Very fortunate to serve with a fabulous group of teachers/librarians. 

And the winners are....

Here's what I have been reading?

Love Is by Diane Adams (Chronicle Books, January 24, 2017) - Just in time for Valentine's Day and Spring, this Love Is story definitely will elicit an aww feeling. 

How to Be A Bigger Bunny by Florence Minor and Wendell Minor (Katherine Tegen Books) - Sometimes a cover is a bit misleading. When I saw this, it had a Little Golden Books feel, but the story was much more. An enjoyable bunny hero story to be read over and over. 

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey by Margriet Ruurs; Illustrated by Nizar Badr - Books are a way that we can share with children (and adults) the world around them. It opens windows and helps to build empathy and compassion. Definitely a book to read. 

Yvain: The Knight of the Lion by M.T. Anderson; Illustrated by Andrea Offermann (Candlewick Press, March 14, 2017) - Different from what I expected from M.T. Anderson, this upcoming graphic novel tells the story of Yvain as part of the King Arthur's Legends. Beautifully illustrated. 

Currently listening to....

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit (Knopf Books for Young Readers, January 2016) - Winner of the Odyssey Awards (best audiobooks for children and teens). I started this book and was immediately drawn into the story. The writing is rich and beautiful and you already know that despite that this is going to be an emotional read you won't be able to stop thinking about the story. (Note: For 13 or 14 years old and up)  

Upon my return from Midwinter, I decided to read through some of the ALEX Awards. These are adult reads that will appeal to teen readers. Since I don't get to read many adult books, I thought this would be a fun way to introduce some new reads into my life. I have decided to start with IN THE COUNTRY WE LOVE: MY FAMILY DIVIDED by Diane Guerrero and Michelle Burford (Henry Holt and Co.)

In case you missed it, here are some posts from the previous week. 

Exclusive Deleted Scene for Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

#Road2Reading - Spotted at ALA Midwinter & the Geisel Award

Artwork by Sarah S. Brannen, 2017

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge - The winners of the Sibert Awards and the YALSA Nonfiction Book Awards

The Someday Birds: Guest Post by MG Debut author Sally J. Pla

So, what are you reading?

The Someday Birds: Guest Post by author, Sally J. Pla

Today Kid Lit Frenzy welcomes Sally J. Pla to the blog. Sally's debut middle grade novel, The Someday Birds, came out on Tuesday. Thank you Sally for sharing about Charlie. 

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Travels with Two Charlies

There is not much about travel that I like—I’m not a carefree tumbleweed sort of person. I wish I were, sure. But instead, I’m more of a rigid-rooted worry-tree, my mind branching off into anxious “what-if” travel scenarios, whenever it’s time to uproot.  I mean, I do travel, of course. I’m a grown-up! I do it! But it doesn’t come naturally.

Which is maybe why I’ve always been so fascinated with tales of travel adventure.

My debut novel, The Someday Birds, is about a 12-year-old autistic boy who is forced on a difficult cross-country journey to see his war-injured father. He, too, hates any change to routine. He likes order, calm, and a small group of comfort-foods. He’d prefer to live out his life admiring nature from afar, sketching birds out of books, and never setting foot on the grass.

As a child, I was a really anxious kid—basically terrified of everything outside my front door. But when I was twelve, I stumbled across a fascinating road-trip story at the local library. I pulled it at random off the shelf, because there was a dog on the cover, and I loved dogs above all things on earth. Also, I thought I vaguely recognized the author’s name. It was John Steinbeck.

In Travels with Charley, Steinbeck and his standard poodle, the eponymous Charley, take off in Rocinante, the old camper-truck he named after Don Quixote’s valiant steed. The goal was to wander, have an adventure. And to take stock of America in the summer of 1960.

“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”

I loved the book. I’d never read anything like it. Travels with Charley was the first “adult” book I’d ever finished, and I remember feeling so proud.

The thoughtfulness of the writing pulled me in. The descriptions of nature–of autumn leaves bursting with sun-soaked color in New England, of flat, undulating fields of the Midwest – struck a cord in me and filled me with wonder. I had never been much beyond my home state.

And his wise old observer’s eyes noted the ugliness, too—the newly unfurling seeds of environmental damage. “American cities,” he wrote, “are like badger holes, ringed with trash--all of them--surrounded by piles of wrecked and rusting automobiles, and almost smothered in rubbish.”

He mentioned the loss of regional accents, which he supposed was due to the breakdown of individualism into a collective, media-influenced way of speaking and thinking. He foresaw the media-driven dangers of groupthink. Or of Mobthink.

It’s interesting, flipping back through this book today, imagining the child’s brain that first read it.  What had I made out of those passages?

What I most remember, at twelve, were the portraits of people Steinbeck met along the way. There were some horrific caricatures—a description of a lady of sallow cheek who, when she entered a room, turned the very air to grey. I felt that way about some of my junior high school teachers!

But mainly, the people he met were kind.

As a socially awkward child who viewed interactions with others, especially strangers, as downright terrifying, it struck me powerfully to read about traveling alone and vulnerable, across an entire stretch of continent, and surviving. Sharing diner coffee with innumerable new folks. Striking up all those conversations! And surviving…

His journey demystified, for me, the fearful realm of What Lay Beyond, both geographically, in America, and emotionally, in adulthood. At twelve, I was on the cusp. And scared. I read this book, and a light flickered, out there in the Beyond, past my home and school and my small, fearful, circumscribed life. A tiny flicker of a light. Who knows? Maybe, in my future, there really is some navigable terrain out there. Maybe someday, I’d be ready for a journey, too.

But for the moment, as a twelve-year-old, I got to go along, safely.

Because of a book.

My main character in The Someday Birds is named Charlie, as a private nod to the influence Steinbeck’s book had on me as a middle-grader. My Charlie also travels the country, coast to coast, as an act of bravery, He, also, travels with a dog, and has difficult adventures. He makes observations about nature, and people, that remind us about being human, and being kind, and relating to each other.

My Charlie learns, all too well, in Steinbeck’s words, that “we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” He learns that travel can be hard, as life can be hard.

But the people along the way? For the most part, they are kind.

And that makes all the difference.

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Pick up a copy of The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla at your local indie bookstore. 

Watch the Official Book Trailer for The Someday Birds:

About the author: Sally J. Pla is the author of The Someday Birds, a Junior Library Guild Selection for 2017 and a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Kirkus called it "hopeful, authentic, and oddly endearing." Booklist called it "a delight from beginning to end."

She's an advocate of neurodiversity, and currently lives with her husband, three sons, and an enormous fluffy dog near lots of lemon trees in Southern California, where she's hard at work on her next novel. 

Find her on Facebook | Twitter

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: And the winners are.....

Recently, the American Library Association held it's annual Midwinter Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Various book award committees met at the beginning of the weekend to discuss books and award the best of the best with shiny medals. Though I managed to pick two of the Sibert books correctly, I was surprised to see that Some Writer! by Melissa Sweet did not win. I wonder if it was a casualty of time? I have no concrete evidence of this but six out of the nine winners listed below deal with significant historical events dealing with World War II, Civil Rights, Immigration, or biographies of presidents and other activists. Given our current political climate I wonder if readers are looking for answers in the past? Even if it is unintentional. The other thing I noted this year is that there is only one picture book on this list resulting in lots of reading for older readers. Regardless of the reasons behind the decisions, I would like to thank the Sibert Award Committee and the YALSA Nonfiction Committee on their hard work and selection of fabulous books. 

Here are the winners of the two nonfiction award categories: 

Sibert Winners:

Winner:

March Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin; Illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions.

Honor Books: 

Giant Squid by Candace Fleming; Illustrated by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook Press)

Sachicko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story by Caren Stelson (Carolrhoda Books)

Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II by Albert Marrin (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books)

YALSA Nonfiction Winners: 

Winner: 

March Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin; Illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions.

Honor Books: 

Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History by Karen Blumenthal (Feiwel & Friends)

In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis (Henry Holt & Co.)

Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune by Pamela S. Turner; Illustrated by Gareth Hinds (Charlesbridge Publishing)

This Land is Our Land: A History of American Immigration by Linda Barrett Osborne (Harry N. Abrams) 

Winner Information: 
Linda Baie has won the Mock Sibert Giveaway. I assigned a number to each person who left a link with a Mock Sibert post. With the use of a random number generator, the number generated was how the winner was selected. I will be emailing Linda to work out details. 

Artwork by Sarah S. Brannen, 2017

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews....

#Road2Reading Challenge - The Youth Media Awards Edition

All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.

Michele Knott of Mrs. Knott's Book Nook and I kicked off a new reading challenge at the beginning of the year. To read about the challenge you can check out my initial post here. 

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the American Library Association's Midwinter Conference. I love Midwinter. I get to connect with friends, talk with publishers about new releases coming out, sit in on the Children's Notables Discussion and meet with other members of the Schneider Family Book Award Jury. On Friday, my committee spent hours discussing out short list and choosing winners. I will do a post later this week on the winning books for the Schneider Award and tomorrow, I will post about the Sibert Award books. 

Since we started the #Road2Reading, I walked around the exhibit hall looking specifically for early readers and transitional chapter books. At each booth, I would ask the publisher reps to show me what they had that was coming out.

Last week, I shared just a little about the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award. You can read the post here. Below are some of the books spotted in the wild at ALA Midwinter or found their way into my suitcase.

Before I cover the winners, I wanted to talk a little bit more about the purpose and criteria of the award. The information below comes from the Geisel Manual which is found here. 

From the manual:
The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award was established in 2004, to recognize those books for beginning readers which meet a particularly high standard of excellence.

Purpose: The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award recognizes the author and illustrator of a book for beginning readers who, through their literary and artistic achievements, demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading.

Terms: The Award is to be given annually to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature that encourages and supports the beginning reader published in English in the United States during the preceding year.

Critera:
In identifying the most distinguished children’s book for beginning readers, committee members will consider the following important elements and qualities:
* The subject matter must be intriguing enough to motivate the child to read;
* The book may or may not include short "chapters";
* New words are added slowly enough to make learning them a positive experience;
* Words are repeated in an easily recognizable pattern to ensure knowledge retention;
* Sentences are simple and straightforward;
* There is a minimum of 24 pages. Books are not longer than 96 pages;
* The illustrations demonstrate the story being told;
* The design of the book includes attention to size of typeface, an uncluttered background that sets off the text, appropriate line length, and placement of illustrations;
* The plot advances from one page to the next, and together with the illustrations, creates a "page-turning" dynamic.
* The book creates a successful reading experience, from start to finish;
* The book is respectful and of interest to children
* The book shows excellent, engaging and distinctive use of both language and illustration.

Based on the above terms and criteria, this year's Geisel Committee selected four (4) honor books and a winner.

Honor Book Winners:

Good Night Owl
by Greg Pizzoli
Disney-Hyperion (April 2016)

Go, Otto, Go!
by David Milgrim
Simon Spotlight (May 2016)

The Infamous Ratsos
by Kara LaReau; Illustrated by Matt Myers
Candlewick Press (August 2016)

Oops, Pounce, Quick, Run! An Alphabet Caper
by Mike Twohy
Balzer & Bray (February 2016)

The Winner:

We are Growing! (Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! #2)
by Laurie Keller, Mo Willems
Disney-Hyperion (September 2016)

Don't forget to check out Michele Knott's post here. Please link up your #Road2Reading posts below. 

Exclusive Deleted Scene: Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team
by Steve Sheinkin
Roaring Brook Press * January 17, 2017
Nonfiction * Sports * Football
Indiebound | WorldCat
 

Read an interview with Steve Sheinkin on BookPage
Read an additional deleted scene at Fuse Eight/SLJ here. 

About the book: 
Jim Thorpe: Super athlete, Olympic gold medalist, Native American
Pop Warner: Indomitable coach, football mastermind, Ivy League grad

Before these men became legends, they met in 1907 at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where they forged one of the winningest teams in American football history. Called "the team that invented football," they took on the best opponents of their day, defeating much more privileged schools such as Harvard and the Army in a series of breathtakingly close calls, genius plays, and bone-crushing hard work.

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team is an astonishing underdog sports story—and more. It’s an unflinching look at the U.S. government’s violent persecution of Native Americans and the school that was designed to erase Indian cultures. Expertly told by three-time National Book Award finalist Steve Sheinkin, it’s the story of a group of young men who came together at that school, the overwhelming obstacles they faced both on and off the field, and their absolute refusal to accept defeat.

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Enjoy this deleted scene: 

[intro] One of the main things I needed to establish early on in Undefeated was the shockingly raucous and violent nature of early day football. This scene describes a famously nasty game between Harvard and Yale in 1894—we wound up cutting it because we get across the same points with Pop Warner’s experiences on the Cornell team.

Everyone knew football was a violent game—but was it becoming too violent?

      The game that brought this question to national attention was the 1894 edition of the annual Harvard-Yale showdown, essentially the Super Bowl of early-day American football. “It was a game in which an unusual amount of bad blood and foul playing was shown,” noted the New York Times.

      And that was saying something.

       Yale captain Frank Hinkey set the tone before the players even took the field. In his team’s hotel the night before the game, Hinkey urged teammates to intimidate the Harvard boys by ignoring their fair catch signals on punts—the signal meant the returner couldn’t advance the ball, but defenders couldn’t hit him.

      “Tackle them anyway,” Hinkey said, “and take the penalty.”

      The next day, at Hampden Park in Springfield, Massachusetts, 25,000 fans roared as the teams as they took the field. Some waved banners of Yale blue; most waved Harvard crimson. Police officers had made the trip from Boston to keep the peace between rival student bodies. But it was action on the field that needed policing.         

      When Yale punted early in the game, the Harvard returner waved for a fair catch. Frank Hinkey launched himself, knee raised, into the returner as the ball arrived, snapping the man’s collarbone. Yale was flagged for roughness. Harvard fans called for revenge.

      A few plays later, a Crimson lineman reared back and punched Hinkey in the jaw.

      “My friend,” Hinkey said, “if you hit me another blow like that, you will break your hand.”

      The battle was on. And keep in mind, the players were not wearing helmets. Or any other protective equipment.

      A Harvard man jammed his finger into a Yale player’s eye, causing blood to flow. Yale’s Fred Murphy broke a Harvard player’s nose with his fist. Harvard then gang tackled Murphy, working him over on the ground. Murphy got up and stayed in the game, but was so dizzy that between plays teammates had to guide him back to his position and point him in the direction of the opposing team. Eventually, he staggered to the sidelines, lost consciousness, and lay on the sideline as play resumed.  

      This was all in the first half. The second half, newspapers reported, was worse. “An ordinary rebellion in the South American or Central American States is as child’s play compared with the destructiveness of today’s game,” commented the Times. “Fully one half of the players suffered injuries of a more or less serious nature.”

      Seven of the twenty-two starters had to be carried off the field.

      Five, including Fred Murphy, were hospitalized.

      Two were ejected for excessive roughness.

      After the game, a 12-4 Yale victory, each school blamed the other. Horrified by what became known as the “Springfield Massacre,” and the “Hampden Park Blood Bath,” officials at Harvard and Yale agreed to cancel their heated football rivalry.

      But it didn’t last. Two years later, they started playing again.

About the author: 
Steve Sheinkin is the award-winning author of fast-paced, cinematic nonfiction histories for young readers. The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights, was a National Book Award finalist and received the 2014 Boston Globe/Horn Book Award for Nonfiction. The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery, won both the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award and the YALSA award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World's Most Dangerous Weapon was a Newbery Honor Book, a National Book Award Finalist, and winner of the Sibert Award and YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War was a National Book Award finalist and a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award finalist. Sheinkin lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife and two children.  Found Steve on his blog or twitter.