Book Lists

The Edgars!

By on March 13, 2015   /   Book Lists  

Every year, Mystery Writers of America presents an Edgar Award to the best mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, and theater published or produced the previous year. Attending the Edgar Awards ceremony is like attending the Academy Awards, except you’re in New York rather than Los Angeles. Everyone is “dressed to kill” (black tie preferred!). There’s a cocktail party, a dinner, a presentation from the out-going president of MWA, and then each category is introduced. Nominees are read. Suspense builds. No one know who the winners are until the envelope is opened and the titles are read. If you want to know what it’s like to attend the ceremony as a nominee, I blogged about it ad nauseam here.

I’ve also had the opportunity to serve on the Juvenile Edgar Award committee (Twice! But I won’t tell you which years…). I spent those years reading all the mysteries that were published for kids the previous year and discussing them with my fellow committee members. This was an eye-opening experience because I learned that people have very different tastes in books! Of course I knew that before I served on the committee, but given our job was to choose the BEST mystery that was published that year, I sort of thought we’d automatically agree on which books were the best.

We didn’t.

Of course we didn’t. Because we were five very different people, who lived in different parts of the country and wrote different kinds of mysteries. It only made sense we would have different tastes. Just like our readers.

I’m proud of the work we did as a committee because we ended up with a wide range of mysteries on our list of nominees. Something for everyone. The nominees are supposed to represent THE BEST mysteries that were published the previous year, not simply the books one or two people happened to like best. And…we were in agreement on the winner.

It looks to me as though this year’s list of nominees for Best Juvenile Mystery is just as eclectic as our list was. This year’s nominees are:

 

Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)… a contemporary mystery involving an unsent letter hidden inside a first edition copy of Charlotte’s Web and a treasure hunt

 

 

Space Case by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)… a humorous science fiction murder mystery set on the moon

 

 

 

Greenglass House by Kate Milford (Clarion Books – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)…a story about five strangers who show up at an inn over the holidays, each bringing a unique story and mystery involving the inn.

 

 

Nick and Tesla’s Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove by “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith  (Quirk Books)… an action-packed STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) mystery that includes instructions for gadgets kids can build.

 

 

Saving Kabul Corner by N.H. Senzai (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)…a multi-cultural suburban mystery involving a family feud and vandalism of rival Afghan grocery stores.

 

 

Eddie Red, Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile by Marcia Wells (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)…about a sixth grade artist who has a photographic memory and helps the NYPD solve a series of art thefts.

 

 

How many have you read?

Which one do you think will win?

The banquet will be held on April 29, 2015 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York. Check The Edgars official website for more information.

–Dori Hillestad Butler is the author of many books for children, including the Haunted Library series and her Edgar award winning series, The Buddy Files.

 

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Encouraging Young Readers, A Librarian’s Perspective

By on March 11, 2015   /   Book Lists, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

What goes on behind-the-scenes in a library is a mystery to most of us. Some, who perhaps haven’t visited a library since their childhood, envision grumpy librarians sitting behind a desk shushing rowdy library-goers. Others imagine all sorts of secrets and adventures, leading such fabulous books as Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians, and The Haunted Library series.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

In the real world, today’s librarians work their magic for our children every single day. This winter, I had a great talk about inspiring kids to read with Joanna Nelson, Teen Services Coordinator and Librarian for the Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. With 14 locations, PPLD serves a community of almost 600,000 people.

Joanna’s job includes:

  • determining the vision and goal of the teen team
  • planning district-wide programming (summer reading programs, author visits, etc.)
  • teaching students how to research using library resources
  • conducting 1-3 minute booktalks in the classroom

MUF’s own Dori Butler writes this great middle-grade mystery series.

Q: Have you noticed any differences in the types of books that get read or in the popularity of reading since the explosion of ebooks?

A: Surprisingly, teens generally prefer paper books to ebooks. We have more than 640,000 eMaterials (ebooks, audiobooks, emagazines, movies) titles for all ages, but that is just 9.1% of the total number of items that check out. So, since the beginning of 2014 we have checked out 6,434,522 physical items. Since the beginning of the year 647,797 ebooks/audiobooks have been checked out.

Q: Do you have a recent favorite middle-grade book?

A: Wonder by R.J. Palacio blew me away. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman was written in 2012 and I really enjoyed that story. Another series I love, but is older is Alcatrez vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson.

Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians

Q: Have you noticed any recent trends in children’s literature?

A: There are a couple of trends I’ve noticed in teen literature. First, teens LOVE series! They can’t get enough of the characters and stories that authors create. The characters become their friends and they want to know more. Second, dystopian is incredibly popular right now. I think this is because teens overcome huge challenges that they have to work to solve – and it makes their lives seem relatively better.

Q: You’re also an adjunct professor for the University of Denver Masters of Library and Information Science program. – What advice do you give your students about connecting with teen readers?

A: The class I teach at DU is the Young Adult Materials and Services class. Most of the students are going to work in libraries (school or public), but I do get a few students who will be English teachers.

Connecting with teens is about being honest – with them and with yourself. Teens can tell when someone isn’t genuinely interested in what is important to them. Teens appreciate straightforwardness and it is fun to banter with them, but it can be good to avoid sarcasm (not in all cases, but sometimes teens take things quite literally).

As far as Readers’ Advisory goes, it is really important to not pass judgment on what anyone (no matter the age) is reading. My opinion is that if someone is reading, that is excellent! Finding someone’s next good book isn’t necessarily about what they’ve read in the past. It is important to use a variety of interests to get teens a book they will enjoy. I encourage my students to read a variety of genres, watch teen movies, play video games – and know about books that are about sports, graphic novels, difficult issues and more. It is so important to welcome teens to reading no matter where they are coming from.

Q: How has the recent “We Need Diverse Books” campaign come up in your work and does it influences how you choose books for your classes?

A: Diversity in books is a huge issue. It does come up in our work regularly – even before this campaign started. The collection development team here at PPLD makes every effort to get good quality, diverse books. In teen services at PPLD, we create displays for minorities for Black History Month in February; Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15); and Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month in May. We highlight fiction and nonfiction written by or about people of the respective ethnicity. For non-ethnic specific celebrations (Poetry Month, Women’s History Month, etc.), we include people of all ethnicities. We’re also working on building and updating more book lists that are diverse.

For my class, I try to focus on diverse issues and diversity. I only get to assign 5 books per class, which makes it difficult to touch on everything. So, the assignment requires that they read a variety of books on a variety of topics geared towards a diverse audience.

Thank you for your time, Joanna! And thank you to librarians everywhere who help us celebrate and appreciate books!

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The View from Under the Fantasy Umbrella

By on March 9, 2015   /   Book Lists, For Librarians  

timeofthefireflies_cover01finalftp1Hello Mixed-Up-Filers!

During the last 10-15 years Fantasy has **exploded** in children’s literature with hundreds, if not thousands, of marvelous and exciting titles. But each book we describe as “fantasy” actually fits within a sub-category under the Umbrella of Fantasy.

the little white horse miss-peregrineHerewith are the definitions of all those genres and a book list with suggested titles to explore.

 

 

Definitions of Fantasy Sub-Genres:

Fantasy: Stories where supernatural phenomena is a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. The stories take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common.

High Fantasy: Hero’s Quest or Big, Epic Fantasy with many species of creatures, and fully realized worlds (like Middle Earth) with its own particular history. Dragons and Knights-in-shining-armor usually abound.

Paranormal: Stories with fantastical creatures or situations that give you the creepy crawlies. i.e., vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, angels, demons, to name a few.

WinterfrostDystopian: An alternate timeline or future in which modern day society has crumbled and is in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being a utopian. Dystopian societies are often imagined as police states with unlimited power over the citizens. Includes end-of-the-world scenarios.

Science Fiction: A genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings with futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities. Exploring the consequences of scientific innovations is one purpose of science fiction.

Urban Fantasy (or Gothic fantasy): descriCinder-the-lunar-chronicles-34174401-842-1271bes a work that is set primarily in a city and contains aspects of fantasy. These matters may involve the arrivals of alien races, the discovery of earthbound mythological creatures, coexistence between humans and paranormal beings, conflicts between humans and malicious paranormals, all set in a big city somewhere in our own world, such as London, San Francisco, Vienna, or Prague.

Myth: A traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and ex-plains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

Legends & Fables: These terms usually refer to stories that are handed down by tradition. Legend denotes a story (sometimes involving the supernatural) usually concerned with a real person, place, or object, as in the legend of the Holy Grail. A fable is specifically a story (often with animals or inanimate things as speakers or actors) designed to teach a moral.

Lumiere-Jacqueline GarlickSteampunk: incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction. Steam power is widely used in an alternate history such as Victorian era Britain, Wild West America, or a post-apocalyptic time —that incorporates elements of science fiction or fantasy. Steampunk features anachronistic technology based on a Victorian perspective.

Ninth WardMagical Realism: A style of fiction which firmly takes place within the regular world in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the “real” and the “fantastic” as equal or the same.

SinisterSweetnessFairy Tales: A story that features folkloric fantasy characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants, mermaids or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments.

 

Examples of Each Sub-Genre:

(Basic) FANTASY:
Howl’s Moving Castle by Dian Wynne Jones
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

the false princeHIGH FANTASY:

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Chronicles of Prydain (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The High King) by Lloyd Alexander

URBAN FANTASY (or Gothic fantasy):

Tantalize (Series) by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Borribles by Michael de Larrabeiti
The Painted Boy by Charles de Lint
Vodnik by Bryce Moore
The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby

PARANORMAL:

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
My Haunted Library (Series) by Dori Hillestad Butler
The Time of the Fireflies by Kimberley Griffiths Little

picture deadDYSTOPIAN:

Z is for Zachariah by Robert C. O’Brien (same author as Rats of N.I.M.H.)
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Giver by Lois Lowry

SCIENCE FICTION:

Chronal Engine by Greg Leitich Smith
Invisible Sun by David Gills
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

MAGICAL REALISM:

When the Butterflies Came by Kimberley Griffiths Little
Winterfrost by Michelle Houts
You Will Call Me Drog by Sue Cowing
Bigger than a Breadbox by by Laurel Snyder
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker-Rhodes

When the Butterflies Came Cover Art from ErinMYTH:

Seven Wonders (Series) by Peter Lerangis (Greek Myths)
The Mermaid’s Mirror by L.K. Madigan
Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline Cooney
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

LEGENDS AND FABLES:

The Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser
Tyger, Tyger (Series) by Kersten Hamilton
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Richard Yancy
Avalon High by Meg Cabot
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

STEAMPUNK:

Clockwork Angel (Series) by Cassandra Clare
The Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
Lumiere by Jacqueline Garlick
The Mesmer Menace (Gadgets & Gears Series) by Kersten HamiltonCinderskella Cover

FAIRY TALES:

Beauty by Robin McKinley
Mira, Mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
Cinderskella and Little Dead Riding Hood by Amie & Bethany Borst

In the comments, please tell us some of your favorite fantasy genre titles. We’d love to add more to our list!

Kimberley Griffiths Little’s best ideas come when taking long hot baths, but instead of a sunken black marble tub with gold faucets and a dragon-shaped spigot, she has New Mexico hand-painted tiles in her adobe home along the Rio Grande. She makes a lot of chocolate chip cookies when writing/revising.

Her four Middle-Grade novels with Scholastic have won several awards and Forbidden, the first of a Young Adult trilogy recently published with Harpercollins. Find Kimberley on Facebook. and Twitter:@KimberleyGLittl Teacher’s Guides, Mother/Daughter Book Club Guides, and fabulous book trailers “filmed on location” at Kimberley’s website.

 

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