Tuesday, January 1, 2008

ALA Awards

I hope we can use this website to discuss all kinds of things about young adult books (and more) in addition to just talking about the book we've chosen for the month. On January 14, the Printz (etc) awards will be announced. What do you think will win? What do you want to win? Any guesses on Caldecott, Newbery, or others?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'll go out on a limb and make some guesses. you can mock me if they're all wrong. ;)

caldecott, in no order and not disdinguishing between medal and honor:

AT NIGHT by jonathan bean
JABBERWOCKY illus. by christopher myers (unless... is there a rule against retellings?)
DOG & BEAR by laura vaccaro seeger

some part of newbery: ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by sherman alexie (which would make this group super timely!)

Anonymous said...

ps, and a caldecott special wish of mine:

ORANGE PEAR APPLE BEAR by emily gravett

Amanda said...

i'll add my picks later this week. i have kept some little scraps of paper with titles as i've read/read reviews of different things throughout the year, so i'll have to compile my list.

Cassandra Mortmain said...

I am really shamefully ill-informed about possible contenders, considering my part-time employment as a children's bookseller, but I can say that The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt is getting *heaps* of praise over on Rutger's child_lit listserv, and a lot of people there have it pegged to win the Newbury. I've never read any Gary Schmidt, but I currently have a copy of The Wednesday Wars winging its way to me through the BPL.

Of course, I'm going to have to finish re-reading all the Libba Bray books and our current reading selection for this month before I even consider starting it.

Thank goodness MIT pays me a larcenous amount of money to sit at a circ desk and do as much reading as I want to. Universities are the best.

Amanda said...

well, rebecca, it may be just the two of us throwing our guesses out there! for what it's worth, here are my thoughts:

Printz:
*Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
*The New Policeman by Kate Thompson
*Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
*The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci
*Someday this Pain will be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
*A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

Newbery:
*Diary of Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
*The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
*Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis
*The Invention of Hugo Cabaret by Brian Selznick
*The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
*Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Caldecott:
*A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
*The Magic Rabbit by Annette Cate
*Dog and Bear by Laura V. Seeger
*The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson and Jonathan Bean
*The Wall by Peter Sis
*The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice Harrington and Shelly Jackson

Meaghan said...

I don't think Hugo is eligible for the Newbery. The rules state: "Each book is to be considered as a contribution to literature. The committee is to make its decision primarily on the text. Other aspects of a book are to be considered only if they distract from the text. Such other aspects might include illustrations, overall design of the book, etc." Hugo wouldn't make sense without the illustrated sequences so I don't think it can be considered. Sorry Amanda!

Amanda said...

i guess it's been a while since i've read the rules for the awards. that probably knocks diary of a wimpy kid off my list, too. oh well! anyone else want to shoot holes in my picks? :)

Meaghan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meaghan said...

I don't know the rules particularly well either, but I was recently discussing the Hugo Cabret situation with a professor. The larger context of our conversation was wondering if it's time to revise the Newbery / Caldecott standards as our ways of telling stories are evolving.

In 1991 an issue of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic won the World Fantasy Award for best short fiction, and the rules were promptly changed so that the award can't go to comics anymore. It seems like we're now moving in the opposite direction.

BTW, I'm heading off to Philadelphia this afternoon for ALA Midwinter - I was hoping to post the winners for you as I heard them, but my laptop went kaput!

Amanda said...

that's an interesting point to think about, meaghan, if it's time to change the rules. have fun at ALA. you can be our reporter, live on the scene!

Anonymous said...

Here are my choices for the Caldecott:

What I want to win:

Space Boy (!!!)
Leaves
Fred Stays With Me
A Good Day
The Great Doughnut Parade
At Night
Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars

What I think will win:

The Wall
First the Egg
Let It Shine
Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal
Little Red Riding Hood (Pinkney)

Amanda said...

leo, i OF COURSE meant to say that my greatest wish is for space boy to get the caldecott!!