And the Newbery Goes to....

 Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos!

 Click here to find out about the other awards given.

Last November our Mayfield Pics/Mock Newbery group reviewed books published in 2011 that we had read and that could possibly be chosen for the Newbery award.  We decided that most of the books we had read were not contenders. Many were not appropriate for the age level of our group of 3rd through 5th graders.  

The only book I confessed to reading was "Dead End in Norvelt".  I was not sure how it would go over since the main character had  dysfunctional feuding parents and the premise of the story revolved around a boy with nose bleeds avoiding being grounded by taking notes and typing for an old woman who prepares obituaries for the local newspaper. I thought it was a great book for guys who need a lot of twisted tails to keep one's attention.

I screamed when I found out that it won. First because I had read it and second because we have it at our library in the Youth Services department (it is currently check out). It also won the Scott O'Dell award for Historical Fiction . Last year we had read dozens of possible contenders and the winner, "Moon Over Manifest" written by Clare Vanderpool, was not even on our radar. It turned out to be a great book.  How do they find these books and how do they get on all the Mock Newbery lists?

One of the Newbery Honor books was "Inside Out & Back Again" written by Thanhha Lai. I love this book. It was written in verse and very easy to read.  It details the challenges of growing up both as a foreigner learning English  and living in a culture difficult to understand. Many of the challenges with peers are universal regardless of culture.  It would be and interesting book discussion. The other Honor book, "Breaking Stalin's Nose" written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin I have not read. All these books have something in common,  history through the eyes of youth.  Great choices.

Congrats to the Newbery winning author Jack Gantos! 

Margaret Atwood, Internet app developer

Re-posting stuff you read elsewhere is not the mark of a creative blog writer. I know that. But I can't resist today referring again to Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac.

November 18 is author Margaret Atwood's birthday. Keillor has posted a capsule biography of her that I can't get out of my mind, so I'm sharing it with you.

You probably know Atwood has written many novels, including The Handmaid's Tale, The Robber Bride, and The Blind Assassin, which won the Booker Prize in 2000. But did you know that she invented an Internet-based device and application? Me neither.

According to Keillor, Atwood got so sick and tired of going on tours to promote her books that she figured out a way to be present to fans in a distant bookstore without physically leaving her home in Toronto. At the age of 66, she invented the LongPen.

It's ingenious, really: Say there's a book-signing event at a bookstore, where fans of Atwood come to talk with the author and, of course, have their books signed. Atwood is at home, connected to the bookstore by live, 2-way video chat via the Internet.

Also at the bookstore is the LongPen, which is basically a small robotic device holding a ballpoint pen and sitting on a tabletop. The fan approaches the table and places Atwood's book under the robot's pen. Atwood chats with the fan and then writes an inscription and her signature onto a touchpad, like the one you use when buying by credit card at a store. The touchpad controls the LongPen device via the Internet. What Atwood writes on her touchpad is immediately written by the robot onto the open page of the fan's book.

How cool is that! And it came about because one of the great authors of our time got fed up with business travel. How many of us can identify with that?

However, as impressive as her LongPen is, Atwood's true achievements are her books. See for yourself by checking out any of her 21 works available at your and my favorite library.

Find your Hugo winner at the library

They announced this year's winners of the Hugo Awards for science fiction and fantasy literature the other day at Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention, in Melbourne, Australia (I guess they move the announcement site around). The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi tied with The City & The City by China Mieville for Best Novel of the year. I just checked the catalog in Evergreen, and there are several copies of The Windup Girl available at the library. Now would be the time to check it out before the other sci-fi fans start liniing up for it.