Unpredictable

I used make predictions about which books would win the Newbery and Caldecott.
I even got pretty good at it.

But then, a crazy thing happened.

I got on the Caldecott committee.

To quote Into the Woods: “I know things now, many valuable things, that I hadn't known before.”

I know now that until….

-your porch has filled with boxes of books that all have to be read and evaluated carefully…

-you’ve spent a year reading during every ounce of time you have, during evenings, weekends, during time you would have spent with your family…

-you’ve read and analyzed every single book eligible for your award to the best of your ability…

-you’ve weighed and debated over and over which books should be nominated…

-you’ve carefully researched and written nominations with all the intensity of a graduate school thesis…

-you’ve sat in a room for hours and hours and hours and discussed books with people who knew them just as well as you did….

-you’ve taken a book you loved off the table…

-you’ve stared at a small piece of paper asking for your choice for the medal- and you knew that choice mattered….

-you’ve pushed aside all the stars, mock results and commentary and voted for the books you truly thought deserved to win…

-your committee has reached a consensus….

-you’ve been on a speakerphone call and heard the exact second when a person’s life changed completely….

-you’ve held the hands of the other committee members as your winners were announced and as the crowd literally gasped at your decisions…

…. there are a lot of things that are hard to know.

Now that I know what these things feel like, I find it hard to second-guess the work and decisions of someone else who knows too.

There are books I like, books I love, books I hope will win… but I haven’t done the work these committees have, and I haven’t read and studied the full field of eligible contenders.

I wish the members of all the America Library Association Youth Media award committees the best of luck as they prepare for their discussions and decisions this weekend. You’ve worked incredibly hard. Enjoy the phone calls and accolades!

And be sure to read this on Sunday. It says everything I want to tell you the night before the announcement.

I look forward to applauding your choices Monday morning. I will try not to gasp.

If you'd like to follow me as I tweet live from the press conference, join me at @susankusel 

Of all the prediction posts I wrote over the years, this one is my favorite.

Wonderful Wonder

A few months ago, I was invited to a small children's book preview event, where twelve authors were going to talk about their new or upcoming books. I tried to read as much as could before attending the event... I  always like to be as familiar as possible with an author's work before meeting them.

One of the books, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, only became available at my library the day before the event, so I found myself in my hotel room the night before with a long unread book. I figured I'd read the first chapter or two just to get a sense of the setting and the characters. I loved it. So I read another chapter. And another. Until it was four hours later and I'd read all 315 pages without stopping, writing down questions along the way. And then I just sat there in awe.

The next morning, I was surprised and delighted to find author R. J. Palacio sitting at my table. I told her how much I loved the book, and that I had a long list of questions to ask her. I think this put her off a bit, because it took her a few hours to start talking to me again. But she did- and we ended up having a lovely conversation. And she even answered all my questions.

I've waited a few months to post this because I wanted to let this book sink in. When I think about it, I can't help associating it with that mad, frantic rush I read it in. But really, Wonder is a book to savor and to enjoy over time. The craftsmanship, the exquisite turn of many a phrase, the humor, the way the author captures the essence of middle-schoolers... it's really something to slow down and appreciate.

I almost don't even want to tell you the plot because I don't want you to categorize or dismiss the book before you read it. Ostensibly, it's about a boy named August Pullman who has a facial deformity and who is starting public school for the first time. But it's really a lot more than that, and there's so much to learn as we see the world from Auggie's viewpoint.

When it comes time to making my 2013 Newbery predictions, you can bet that Wonder will be on the top of my list. Whether it'll win or receive an honor is really dependent on this year's committee and the other books published this year. I'll be on the edge of my seat at the press conference on January 28, 2013 at the American Library Association Midwinter meeting in Seattle and I'll bet many of my colleagues will too.

The other award that many people have predicted Wonder will win is the Schneider Family Award which is given to an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. But as Palacio reassures us multiple times, Auggie's facial differences do not make him disabled. So the question is, will the book be considered as an embodiment of disability? Auggie does, however, have trouble hearing- and the issue of his partial deafness is dealt with in a funny and endearing way, so if the book does get recognized by the Schneider committee, it may be due to that.

I'd also love to see it win or get nominated for the National Book Award, particularly since most of the winners in the Young People's Literature category lately seem to be written for young adults. It would great to see a younger book win some accolades.

As most of you probably know by now, R.J. Palacio is a pseudonym. To learn more about the author (whose actual name is Raquel Jaramillo) click here for an article from Publisher's Weekly about her and how she wrote the book.

Random House has launched an anti-bullying campaign based on Wonder called "Choose Kind." There's more about it here. 

Of all the books I've read so far this year, nothing has stayed with me like Wonder. Nothing else has made me both laugh and cry at the same time. It's a book I hope everyone has a chance to read.

On the Eve of the Caldecott Awards

Twas the night before the awards and all through the conference
Librarians were stirring, all full of inference.
The books were placed in the exhibits with care
In hopes that a shiny sticker soon would be there.

The authors were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of phone calls danced in their heads.
And try as they might to take a long nap,
They wondered if awards would fall in their lap.

When up on the Internet there arose such a clatter
They sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.
Away to the blogs they went with a flash,
To read all about the mad, final dash.

To what to their wondering eyes did appear,
But lots of guesses where nothing seemed clear

Now City Dog! Now Country Frog!
Now Amos McGee leaves readers agog!
And Ballet for Martha and Art and Max too!
Will Flora's Windy Day breeze right through?

We'll find out tomorrow in the earliest morn
Which ones met with praise and which ones with scorn
Who won the Caldecott and who won the Printz,
Who won the Newbery and who got jinxed.

The announcements will be made, the winners applauded
The committees all thanked and then lauded
But we all should be happy for 2010
And all the wonderful books. Please authors, do it again!

2011 Caldecott Predictions

Caldecott predictions already? But, Susan, it's only August.

Yes, I know. But 2010 has been such a fantastic year for picture books that I want to get my predictions in early, before everyone else starts making them. I've seen one beautiful, poignant, funny, wonderful book after another.

Where to start? Here are some of the ones that have stood out from the crowd for me.

There's the beautiful and touching City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Williams, with amazing watercolor illustrations by John Muth.


There's the funny and spunky Dotty by Erica Perl, illustrated by Julia Denos.


There's Feeding the Sheep by Leda Schubert with wonderful text and exuberant pictures by Andrea U'ren. (Don't write this one off as just another "how something is made" book.)


There's the endearing and deceptively simple How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills. (See my review here.)

But, I'm afraid that these books (along with a few others) are going to have to slug it out to see which ones get Caldecott honors.

Because this one blows them all away.

I can hear a question forming on your lips. It sounds something like this:

"David Wiesner?! AGAIN?!! Doesn't that man have enough awards??"

And I have a question for you in return.

"Have you read Art & Max?"

When you do, you'll see that this incomparable illustrator has topped both the competition and himself. Again. Talk about a genius. When a copy of this book finds it's way into your hands, savor it. Read each panel slowly. Spend some time with it. Take a look at this video.

And then, sit back, and wait for January 9, 2011 when we'll find out if Wiesner becomes the most decorated Caldecott Medalist in history.

Susan's last minute Caldecott, Newbery and Geisel predictions for 2010

Look, it's a new post!

I've been predicting the Caldecott and Newbery Medal books for a while (okay, 2 years) and think I should give this year a shot before we all find out the answers in a few hours. I'm going to try to get these in just under the wire. The press conference is very, very early tomorrow and I have to wake up in a few hours. Did I mention it was early?

There's only one winner I'm going to guess outright... that the Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney will win the Caldecott Medal.


If it doesn't win... there will be gasps if it shows up as an honor and dead silence if a different book wins the medal. Pinkney has won five Caldecott honors and zero Caldecott Medals. But I don't think he should win just because of that (and actually the committee is specifically not allowed to take that into account.) I really think he illustrated the best book of the year, and that's why I hopes he wins.

Caldecott honors: Hard to predict. No clear favorites this year but a lot of possibilities. Here's a couple that may or may not show up on the list:

• Otis by Loren Long
• Alphabeasties by Sharon Werner (check this one out, it's very cool)
• All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee
• Moonshot by Brian Floca (I'm not sure where this one will end up. Caldecott? Newbery? Sibert?)
• Christmas Magic by Lauren Thompson, illustrated by Jon Muth (this one will never end up on any of the lists, but it's my long shot favorite and well worth checking out)

Newbery Medal: I think this one is a lot harder. There are several very strong books, any of which could win. I'm not sure which one will get the medal and which ones will get the honors. But I wouldn't be surprised to see any of these books turn up on the Newbery list:

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (I would love to see this book win).
• When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (could end up anywhere- either the medal or an honor)
• Crossing Stones by Helen Frost (also a possibility for the Printz).
• Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose (this one may end up winning the whole shooting match: the Newbery, the Sibert, the new YA non fiction award, etc. Or it will end up on a multitude of honor lists.)

I think the Geisel might surprise us.

• Mo Willems could win for the third year in a row, but I don't think so. (Although you never know). I predict an honor for him.
• Duck, Rabbit by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (a book that's gotten a lot of Caldecott buzz, but I think is more likely to win the Geisel or an honor.
• Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas (might be a surprise winner).

The Siebert is impossible to guess this year. It was a very good year for non-fiction. Here's some titles that may show up:

• Moonshot by Brian Floca
• Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice by Phillip Hoose
• Written in Bone by Sally Walker
• Mission Control- This is Apollo by Andrew Chaikin (it would be very interesting if this book appeared on the Caldecott list).
• The Frog Scientist by Pamela Turner
• Marching for Freedom by Elizabeth Partridge (could up end on the Newbery list too).

For a complete list of all the awards (and their criteria) and how to follow the press conference live, see this post.

To see my previous prediction posts, try my last minute picks and my earlier choices for 2009. I also predicted Trouble by Gary Schmidt early on, but alas. Here are my predictions from 2008 and my scorecard.

Congratulations to all the lucky people who recieve those 6 am life changing phone calls. Hopefully, the winners don't live in California... like Brian Selznick and Neil Gaiman, they'll get their phone calls at 3 am.

I can't wait to see what happens in a few hours.

Hey, look! What's that over there on the sidebar? A bird? A plane? Nope. A new poll! Actually two new polls... which ALA award winners are you the happiest about and which ones shocked your shorts off.

Update: How did I do? The ALSC award announcements are here, and the YALSA announcements are here.

Got an opinion? I'd love to hear it.

Susan's last minute Caldecott, Newbery and Geisel predictions

In October, I posted my early ALA awards predictions. Today is the actual day of the annoucements. In fact, I'm in Denver at the American Library Associations' Midwinter Meeting and am getting ready to head to the press conference in a few minutes. We'll all know the winners within a few hours, but I wanted to post my last minute thoughts. These are the books I want to win, whether that happens, we shall see.

Caldecott: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee
Honor: Bear's Picture by Daniel Pinkwater and Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger. (I wouldn't be surprised to see House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson on this list somewhere).

Newbery: I really wish it was going to be Trouble by Gary Schmidt, but I'm thinking that's not going to happen. I think it's going to be The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.
Honor: The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, and a few surprises.

Geisel: Red Sled by Patricia Thomas.
Honor: Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems and Mr. Putter and Tabby Run the Race by Cynthia Rylant. Plus, a surprise picture book or two.

Siebert: I'll Pass For Your Comrade by Anita Silvey (or at least an honor).

I hope you tune in to the live award announcement webcast (be sure to log-on to the webcast early so you don't get shut out). Click here to find out other ways you can find out about the announcements, both during and after the press conference.

Congratulations to every author who just had their life changed with a phone call.

Score card

About 10 days ago I wrote a post about how tough it is to predict the ALA award winners. It's also important, though... and as a small independent bookseller, you want to have all the books in stock when the winners are announced.

Now that the big moment has come and gone, a lot of people have asked me about my predictions. Was I right? Did I have the Newbery and Caldecott books on hand at my store? Here's my score card:

Newbery Medal: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Yes.
Newbery honor: The Wednesday Wars. Yes.
Newbery honor: Feathers. Yes.
Newbery honor: Elijah of Buxton. Yes.

Caldecott Medal: The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Yes.
Caldecott honor: First the Egg. Yes.
Caldecott honor: The Wall. Yes.
Caldecott honor: Knuffle Bunny Too. Yes.
Caldecott honor: Henry's Freedom Box. No.

Eight out of nine. Not bad. And I got Henry's Freedom Box in the next morning.

Remember my post last week about how Hugo Cabret wasn't going to win anything? It seems that I convinced a lot of people, except myself (and fortunately, the Caldecott committee). Hugo Cabret was the only book that I ordered heavily in advance a few weeks prior to the announcement. But my books from Scholastic hadn't arrived yet and at the moment the Caldecott was announced, I only had one copy of Hugo in stock. Yikes. It seemed that all my pre-planning had gone to waste.

However, the stars aligned perfectly for me on Monday. Around lunch time, the U.P.S. delivery guy came in with a cart laden with beautiful Scholastic boxes. I think I may have hugged him. I rifled through the boxes, found all my magical copies of Hugo Cabret... and put them proudly on the shelf. Talk about perfect timing. Did I mention the U.P.S. guy thought I was nuts?

Predicting the winners

I'm really looking forward to the ALA awards announcement on January 14th, but the stakes are much higher for me this year. As a children's book buyer (for an independent toy and book store), I need to have the winning books available in the store as soon as possible after they are announced. Part of this involves immediately calling distributors and publishers on January 14th at 7:46 am. The other, and more difficult part, is to guess correctly at what the winners might be and to already have copies on hand before the announcement.

Now, if the Caldecott and the Newbery awards were similar to the Oscars, it would be relatively straightforward. You'd simply order the five nominated books for each award, perhaps getting a few extra copies of the ones that were heavily favored. But it doesn't work like that. The Caldecotts and Newberys (and the other ALA awards) are decided by committees and discussions. There are no nominees. ANY eligible book could win.

How on earth can you guess? You can start by listening to the buzz. You can read all the mock Newbery and mock Caldecott winners. You can look at listservs and blogs and see which books are mentioned the most often. You can read Best of the Year lists produced by newspapers and journals.

But there's one big problem with that method... it doesn't always work. 2007 is an excellent example. If you followed all the buzz about who the winners would be in 2007 (and I did) you'd have heard two titles mentioned over and over for the Caldecott... Flotsam by David Wiesner and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, illustrated by Kadir Nelson and written by Carole Boston Weatherford. It turns out that Flotsam won the Caldecott Medal, and Moses won a Caldecott Honor. But, what about the other honor? It went to Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans, which I never even heard of until it won the Caldecott honor.

And the 2007 Newbery is an even better example. The book that won, The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, wasn't on anybody's radar screen. In fact, in her Newbery acceptance speech, Susan Patron mentioned how sad she was that a book she'd poured ten years of her life into wasn't getting any buzz. It won anyway... even without the buzz. And then it was very difficult to find a copy anywhere for weeks (see my review of The Higher Power of Lucky for my struggle to find the book.)

Really, no matter how hard you try, you're never going to be completely right, because you're not sitting in the room with the committees listening to the discussions. And you haven't read every eligible book, like the committees have. But you can at least stock some of the most buzzed-about books... because they probably have a pretty good shot. And, even if they don't win or receive honors... they're still excellent books and deserve to be on the shelves.

In alphabetical order, here are some of the books I'll have on hand at my store on January 14th... just in case. Keep in mind, these are just wild guesses and they are primarily books that have been appearing on multiple lists. Also, in addition to my hunches for the 2008 Caldecott and the Newbery, this list includes some of my guesses for awards such as the Printz, Geisel, Siebert and Odyssey.

• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
  
• At Night by Jonathan Bean
• The Bearskinner retold by Laura Schlitz
• The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, illustrated by Shelley Jackson
• A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
  
• Dog and Bear by Laura Vacarro Seeger
  
• Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
  
• First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Schlitz
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (audio book)
• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Jabberwocky by Christopher Myers
  
• Old Penn Station by William Low
• Pssst! by Adam Rex
• The Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (audio book)
  
• Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
• The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
• Who Was First?: Discovering the Americas by Russell Freedman
• And all the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems

I'd love to add The Arrival by Shaun Tan to this list... but since it's not eligible for the Caldecott or the Newbery, I just don't know what award it would win.

Are there any books you would add to this list? I'd love to hear what you think. Remember, though... it's not about the books that you want to win (although there are certainly a lot of books on this list that I'd love to see win). It's about the books that you think will win.