The Graveyard Book wins the Newbery

Yesterday, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals were announced and the American Library Association's midwinter conference in Denver (yay Denver!) I was  thrilled to learn that Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins) won the coveted Newbery. I love Neil Gaiman (Coraline, Stardust) and have wanted to read this new book for some time (it's in my to-read pile, but that's a very tall pile!) Congratulations Neil, well deserved I'm sure.

Other winners were The House in the Night (Houghton Mifflin) by Susan Marie Swanson who won the Caldecott, and another favorite of mine, Savvy (Dial/Walden Media) by Ingrid Law was named a Newbery Honor book. I hadn't read or even heard of any of the Printz winners for young adults, so I'm not sure what that means. Mo Willems won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for his Are You Ready to Play Outside? (Hyperion) The William C. Morris Award for YA Debut went to A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C Bunce (Scholastic/Levine) a book I've heard is fantastic.

For a complete list of winners, and the entire Publisher's Weekly article, click here. Congratulations to all the winners and honorees!

UPDATE:  I would also like to say how FANTASTIC it is to see a fantasy writer win this award!

Go to the official website to read more. 

Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Admittedly, I am a bit behind in getting into these books as the first one, The Angel Experiment, came out in 04. However, I just finished the audio book version and although it took me a good two discs to really get into it, I am now officially hooked. And it's not so much on the story, although I'm dying to find out exactly WHY the scientists at "The School" did all these experiments on kids and animals, I'm really most drawn to the characters themselves.

The story is about a group of mutant kids who have been rescued from a lab where their DNA was grafted with the DNA of birds, creating winged children. Oh, and they each have unique superpowers. The scientist who rescued them, and who has been a father figure ever since, has disappeared and soon, the Erasers -- the evil werewolf-meet-young-Nazis trackers -- will find their hide out. When the youngest of the group, six-year-old Angel, is kidnapped by the Erasers, the leader of the "Flock", Max, knows they have to get her back. Even if that means going back to the source of all their nightmares, The School.

Max is a strong, female character with a special purpose which will be revealed, but without clarity. She is in charge of the flock, who have all been trained in martial arts and can fight off even the strongest of adults. Rounding out the flock are pre-teeny bopper wanna be Nudge, the eldest boy Fang, Angel's brother Gazzy and the blind Iggy. This group makes up an odd family, but they show a love and loyalty that inspires. 

The story gets fairly violent at times, but I would say it would be appropriate for kids 10 and up. Patterson lists it for 8 and up on his website ReadKiddoRead as he does Daniel X, but to me, I think 8 is a bit young.

I am a fan of Patterson (read my review of The Dark Days of Daniel X) so I had high expectations. As I said, I was surprised not to be sucked in more quickly, but stuck with it and was not disappointed and look forward to the rest of the series. For this particular book: 3 1/2 bookmarks and a good recommendation. 

Looking Forward to: Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron

It upset some people when Susan Patron's book The Higher Power of Lucky won the Newbery. Yes, it had a word that might offend conservative parents, and yes, Lucky loses her mother in a horrific way, and is pawned off on a French babysitter, and yes, Lucky eavesdrops on the Hard Pan (population 42) AA meetings... but this book had such an amazing warmth and tenderness in dealing with all these harsh things that you couldn't help but love it. At least, I couldn't.

Susan Patron's follow up, Lucky Breaks, is due out in March, and the Publisher's Weekly review is up. (Scroll down to the fiction section.)

Back with Lucky are Miles and Lincoln, and a new possible best girl friend, Paloma -- who shows up in the tiny California desert town with a group of geologists. Not a stellar review, but something to put on your "for future" list if you liked the original.

You can also view a video about Susan Patron here where she talks about The Higher Power of Lucky.

What you read when you're young stays with you forever.

Thanks to Jon over at Children's Book Insider for pointing out this great article by Tim Kreider about how the books we read when we're young have the greatest influence over us. (An article for the parents in the house -- it's a bit long-winded for the kids.)

Think back on the books you loved as a child and see if this isn't true. For me, even as an adult, the emotions created when I read them are just as palpable today. I remember the first book that made me cry (like the author of this article, it was Charlotte's Web), the one that made me sob hysterically (Where the Red Fern Grows), and the ones that taught me things about the past (the All of a Kind Family books).

There were the books brought me closer to my mother (Betsy, Tacy and Tib, the Little House books), the books that made me laugh (How to Eat Fried Worms, Harriet the Spy) and the ones that intrigued me about the world's mysteries (A Wrinkle in Time).

In fact, it was the emotions connected with books I read as a child that returned to me full force when my son and I started reading them together. And it was those emotions that ultimately made me want to write one of my own.

Brandon Mull talking about how he sees "Dragons" for Fablehaven

I think one of my absolute favorite fantasy series of all time is Fablehaven and I CAN'T WAIT until the next one comes out, especially, because it deals with dragons. Brandon posted this video on his site where he talks about how he imagines these mythical creatures, and to me he hits it right on. Dragons are by far the coolest fantasy creatures and the way he portrays them is just fantastic.

Another Upcoming Release -- The Octopus Effect by Michael Reisman

Only a few weeks away from the next Simon Bloom installment... The Octopus Effect. If you haven't discovered this immensely enjoyable series, you must!! I reviewed the first Simon Bloom: Gravity Keeper, and it received rave reviews from Kirkus, Publisher's Weekly and School Library Journal (those are the ones you want good reviews from, folks!) I can totally see this being a movie series and apparently it has been optioned by Universal Pictures (nice!)

The Octopus Effect comes out next month so check it out!

Stephenie Meyer confirms: Taylor Lautner IS Jacob Black.

As of this morning, Stephenie Meyer, and New Moon director Chris Weitz, confirmed that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in the second film installment of the Twilight series.

There was a lot of criticism about the casting of the young actor for the first film (but then again, there was about Robert Pattison as well, and now all those girls are lining up at the mall to scream his name), but the director seems confident that Lautner is the right kid for the role.

"... it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part. I think that fans of Twilight the book and the movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in New Moon; and I'm looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film." -- Chris Weitz

Meyer also says on her site (www.stepheniemeyer.com) that she was very much a part of the decision to keep Taylor in the second film. 

The movie is currently slated to come out November 20, 2009.

So what do you think, Twilight fans? If you don't like the former Shark Boy for the role, who would you cast?

Counting the days until "Eternal"

Only a month and a few days until Cynthia Leitich Smith's new book ETERNAL comes out and I am so "chuffed" (as my UK friends would say). If you haven't read her first YA novel TANTALIZE, and you like authors such as Libba Bray and Stephenie Meyer, you'll love CLS. She's also from Austin and as a fellow Texan I'm morally obligated to support her. Luckily, I think she's awesome, so it's easy.