space cadet margaret...

Okay, I just had to make a front page post about this:

I only JUST NOW realized that the lovely Kristin, with whom I have been e-exchanging opinions about books for almost a year now, is freaking KRISTIN CASHORE author of GRACELING which I read ( or, really, devoured) just about two months ago. AH! I have been forcing that book on everyone I know! And they all love it! It's so SMART AND AWESOME AND OH JEEZ I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE BEEN BLOGGING WITH YOU FOR A YEAR WITHOUT KNOWING IT! I recommended this book so strongly that my friend who's teaching in Japan for the year bought it off of Amazon despite the presumably exorbitant shipping cost of buying a hardcover book. AND I ALMOST KNOW THE AUTHOR AND DIDN"T EVEN KNOW IT!

Okay. Fangirlish response done. I don't know how I didn't figure this out before, it's not like it's been in the least secret. It's RIGHT THERE in the very first post, under "Introductions." God, now I just want to go home and read Graceling again. Right now.

Did I mention I really, really, REALLY liked it?

links

On Read Roger, he links to an interview, on Cynthia Leitich Smith's blog, with Cathie Mercier, who many of us had as a teacher at Simmons. Check it out!

the first book of 2009

oh, quiet little blog, what are all of the misfits up to?

all comments about the john green book seemed to have died out, so maybe it's time to pick a new book to read in january. once the ALA awards are announced in late january, we should have some good ideas for what to read in february. anyone have any ideas? i recently read (and LOVED) jellicoe road, by melina marchetta, and would love to talk about that with more people. my currently library line up is chains, by laurie halse anderson and bog child, by siobhan dowd. are there any books coming out soon that anyone is particularly excited about?

(and seriously, what are all of the misfits up to? what are you writing/working on/thinking about/etc?)

recapping 2008

2008 is almost over, so it seems like a good time to reflect on what we read. What did you like? What did you not like? Or, just what did you read, in general (whether published in 2008 or not)? Picture books, middle grade, nonfiction, YA, share it all with us! Next month we'll have to be making our lists for our best guesses for the ALA awards, so maybe these lists will be a good jumping off point.

Misfit news

Yay for Kristin, whose book Graceling is nominated for ALA's inaugural William C. Morris Award, which honors a book written by a first-time author for young adults. Graceling is nominated along with: A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce; Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne; Madapple by Christina Meldrum; and Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine.

NYT Notable Books

Hi people!

The NYT named 8 notable children's books for the year this past weekend -- see the list here. It makes me really happy that The Disreputable History of Frankie Laundau-Banks is getting so much recognition. I was SO IMPRESSED with that book. And 10 Little Finger and ABC3D -- yay! I gave up on Little Brother; I got uninterested and impatient; but plenty of other trustworthy folk thought it was fabulous, so... The Hunger Games is on my floor waiting to be read, and I'm thinking of getting the audio book for the 2nd installation of Octavian Nothing. La la la. Just wanted to post the list, because it made me happy :o)