How to Write a Book by Dan Brown

Play Dan Brown Libs! Just fill in the blanks to write your own bestselling novel.

A handsome, brilliant, superhuman man named ______ happens to be doing something in the famous city of ________ when the local Secret Service-level police force named _______ drops by to accuse him of the awful murder in the book's introduction of a brilliant person named _______.

The protagonist eventually joins forces with a beautiful, sexy woman named ___________. Somehow, they end up being wanted by every police force in the entire country of _______.
During the inevitable vehicle chase, there's lots of time to come to the brilliant realization that a secret society called _______ is involved. The society members include every famous person that ever existed.

Many, many pages pass. The protagonist performs countless feats that are physically impossible, no matter how many laps a day they swim in the Harvard pool. Endless information about symbolism, secret societies and the city of ______ is recited... all of which ends up having very little to do with the plot. The bad guys go to a ridiculous amount of expense and effort to keep the _______ safe, which ends up being a relatively unimportant object.

The villain is not the person the reader thought it was going to be, but is instead ________. Someone named ________ who was supposed to be dead suddenly resurfaces at exactly the right moment. The handsome protagonist and sexy woman end up exonerated, in a hotel room, having lots of.... room service.

The end.

The book sells millions of copies.

Tom Hanks and a much younger woman star in the movie.

If you want to write a book by your favorite children's author, try this post.

ALA conference tips

Need some advice for the American Library Association conferences? Try these tips and tricks:

• If you ask anyone what their advice is for the annual conference, they will answer "wear comfortable shoes."
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• If there's an event/luncheon/ceremony that you really want to go to and it costs money..... go. Often, people who buy tickets for events are unable to attend because their plans change. It's easy to find free tickets to events during the conference… keep an eye open for listserv postings and ask people with similar interests if they have a ticket they're not using.
  
• You have to pay for the books at the author signings. Hardcovers are $10, paperbacks are $5. If there's an author you love, it's worth it to lug their book with you from home so you don't have to buy it at the conference. If your favorite author is sitting right in front of you signing books (even if you own the book and forgot to bring it)- buy the book and get it signed. It's worth the $10.
• Try to say something to authors that they don't hear all the time. The more specific you can be the better. Instead of saying to a picture book author "I love your illustrations," say "I love the detailed tiger picture in this book. How long did it take you to draw that?" "Why did you dedicate the book to your brother-in-law?" If you know any of their previous lesser known books- definitely mention them.
• Make a list of author signings, and a list of publisher booths that you really want to see. To get an extremely hot or popular book, arrive at the booth 15-30 minutes before the signing.
• Put everything that sounds interesting to you on your schedule. You never know where you'll end up and it's good to know the locations and room numbers of all possible events.
• Take pictures of the authors you see- no matter how stupid you feel about doing it- you'll be grateful ten years later when they win the Caldecott or the Pultizer.
• Even if you're not looking for a job right now, get your resume reviewed at the Placement Center. It's always good to have a current copy of your resume handy, and it's great to get such wonderful, professional advice from library managers. If you plan to get your resume reviewed, go immediately to sign up for a slot..... even before you pick up your registration badge. All the weekend's sessions can fill up by the end of Friday.Plan lunch and dinner breaks, otherwise it's really easy to skip meals and wind up hungry and exhausted. Go to lunch and dinner with an old (or new) friend.
• Soak it all in and don't be shy. Talk to everyone.... lines are great places to meet people. Go to the informal happy hours, get-togethers for your college, interest group, etc. Collect all the ribbons for your badge you can- for all the divisions you belong to. Makes a great talking point.
• Use the bag check at the convention center religiously so you're not lugging so many books around. Keep coming back to it to dump your books. At the end of the day, sort through all the books and freebies you've picked up and take the ones you really want. Ship everything home (even if you're local).
• You don't have to do every last thing on your schedule. Make sure to linger to talk to your favorite authors. Place hooky from a session or two. Go sightseeing. Take a nap if you need one.
• Go to the booths of the large publishers. You'll find multiple copies of books laid out on the floor or on tables in big stacks. These are free and you can take them. Be sure to check back at the booths several times during the conference because, they'll put out different books on different days. Smaller publishers are unlikely to have free books available.
• Ask for books you're interested in. Publishers bring tons of books with them, but don't have the quantities to put every book out in a stack for everyone to take. If there's a book you're dying to read, find out who the publisher is, go to their booth and tell them what book you're looking for. If they don't have a copy with them, they may be able to send you one after the conference is over. Or not. But, it's always worth it to ask. And, even if you don't get to walk away with one, they'll probably have a copy on display that you can take a look at (which is particularly useful for picture books).
• Don't take everything you see. There are tons of free handouts available at ALA. Take only what you're interested in (or what a friend or colleague who didn't get to go would be interested in). If there's a free book or an ARC (advance review copy) that you already have access to, or have absolutely no interest in or use for... leave it for someone else. The same rule applies for fliers, tote bags, pens, and all the other freebies you'll see. Don't worry; you'll still acquire tons of free stuff.
• Talk to the vendors. Don't just look at them as a source of free books. ALA gives you a chance to share your opinions with the publishers and ask them about your favorite and forthcoming books. The exhibit booths are staffed by editors, publishers, owners and salespeople. They may know an interesting detail about an author or the creation of a book that will help you "sell" a book when you get back home. And they'll be interested to hear your feedback about their books and products. And ask them any questions you have. They know a lot more about their books than what's in the catalogs.
• ALA has a free shuttle bus service runs from the convention center to every conference hotel. It's invaluable. Use public transit too, of course… but give yourself permission to take cabs too. Sometimes, the time savings really makes it worth it.
• You can never have too many business cards. Even if you have a professional card (and especially if you don't) make cheap personal ones to pass out. You can buy ready to print blank cards from Staples or Office Depot.
• Don't enter a drawing, raffle, fill out a coupon or hand over your Expo Card to be scanned, unless you want to be on that company's mailing list. If you do, it's a great way to get their catalogs, and get a free gift.
  
• Enjoy every minute and go again next year.
• Ask everyone you see for more advice. You never know what hidden gems you'll uncover.
  

Got some advice of your own? Please share it in the comments!

Calvin and Hobbes, 15 years later

Are you a fan of Calvin and Hobbes? (Who isn't?) Then check out this interview with cartoonist Bill Watterson, his first in over 20 years. I have a lot of respect for him for never allowing his characters to be commercially licensed. Also, I think he makes a valid point in the article about knowing when to walk away.

For the first time ever, Calvin and his stuffed tiger will legally appear on something other than a book. The United States Postal Service is releasing a collection of "Sunday Funnies" stamps in July, 2010. Ironically, the Calvin stamp is included with several long running comics that haven't known when to leave the party.

Archie first appeared in 1946, Beetle Bailey in 1950, Dennis the Menace in 1951 and Garfield in 1978. All are still being published, even if the original creator has passed away or is only marginally involved. In stark contrast, Bill Watterson drew every panel of Calvin and Hobbes and it only ran from 1985 to 1995.

As a children's librarian, I can tell you that Calvin isn't going away anytime soon. In fact, it's probably the most popular series at our library. Here's a post I wrote for PBS Booklights about the magic of Calvin and Hobbes.

In 2006, Andrews McMeel released a beautiful three volume set called The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. I've never read it. Do you know why? Because it contains every single strip. If I don't read it, there's always a possibility that I'll find one more book or one more strip I haven't read.

Have you read every Calvin and Hobbes strip and wish there were more? Check out Frazz, currently in the newspaper and on the web. It's got a similar philosophy and sense of humor that Calvin does, with its own quirks thrown in. It's one of my favorite comic strips.

Do you wish Calvin and Hobbes was still running or do you think Bill Watterson walked away at the right time? See the poll on the sidebar.

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.

Where have you gone, Wizards Wireless?

Not too far. Just down the road to PBS Parents. I'm posting weekly at Booklights, a blog about inspiring a love of reading in your child.

That's where you'll find my annual post about the Caldecott/Newbery banquet, complete with an impromptu interview with Neil Gaiman. Here's my banquet post from last year, and here's one of my very first blog posts: the 2007 banquet.

The other two Booklights bloggers are Jen from Jen Robinson's Book Page and Pam from MotherReader. I feel honored to be included with such high caliber writers.

I've been trying to keep up Wizards Wireless, but the demands of work and family (plus the PBS blog) have been taking up most of my time. Don't worry, it isn't going away, though. Look here for my Harry Potter posts (coming soon: my thoughts about the movie of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.)

I had so much fun running the Harry Potter Giveaway contest. I've notified the 5 lucky winners, but all of your answers were fantastic.

Now I've got a question for you. I can repost Booklights posts on Wizards Wireless a month after the orginal post runs. Should I do that? Or are you more likely to read them on Booklights? See the poll on the sidebar and give me some guidance.

Harry Potter Giveaway: Question 2

There's still time to enter my Harry Potter giveaway contest and win a prize pack of Books 5, 6, 7 in paperback! Full details are in this post.

Question 2: If you could bring one person in the Harry Potter series back to life, who would it be?

Here's the catch: You can only bring them back to life after the events of Book 7 are over.

Spoiler alert: don't keep reading if you haven't finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Several people responded to Question 1 that they didn't like the fact that Sirius died. So, of course, you could bring back Sirius, who was a great father figure to Harry. Or, you could bring back James, Harry's actual father. Or, if you were feeling mischievous, you could bring back Voldemort. Or Fred. Or Dobby. Or Dumbledore. Or the tons of other people that perished during the series. Your choice, but it can only be one person.

To enter the contest, simply reply to this post. Please leave a valid e-mail address or your entry is disqualified. You may leave a comment on any of my giveaway posts until the contest ends on July 7, 2009. If you already commented to Question 1, you get an extra entry by commenting on Question 2. U.S. residents only, please.

Also, be sure to vote in the new poll on the sidebar.

Harry Potter Giveaway: Question 1

It's only been two short years since we were waiting breathlessly for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be released.

On July 7, 2009, Book #7 will come out in paperback, and the entire series will finally be available in both hardcover and paperback.

To celebrate, I'm announcing my first ever book giveaway! What am I giving away? Harry Potter books, naturally.

5 winners will receive a prize pack of 3 Harry Potter books in paperback.

The three books are:

#5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

#6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

#7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I will be posting a few Harry Potter questions over the next few weeks. To enter the contest, answer the question in the comments. You may enter one time each per question asked. See the bottom of this post for today's question.

Official lingo: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a breathtaking finish to a remarkable series. The final chapter to Harry Potter’s adventures will be releases in paperback July 7th! It all comes down to this - a final face off between good and evil. You plan to pull out all the stops, but every time you solve one mystery, three more evolve. For more information and fun and games, check out Scholastic's Harry Potter website.
---

Question:

If you could change any single event in Harry Potter books 2-7, what would it be?

(Sorry, you can't change an event from Book 1, because if you did, the series wouldn't exist.)

Contest rules :

Please leave an answer (and a valid e-mail address or link) in the comments to enter the contest.
You can leave a comment on any of my giveaway posts until the contest ends on July 7, 2009.
Winners will be chosen at random. If you don't leave me a way to contact you, your entry is invalid. U.S. Residents only, please.

Spoiler warning: If you haven't finished the series, don't read anything after this point. And definitely don't read the comments.

What would I change? It's mentioned several times that the prophecy could have applied to either Neville or Harry. There's a moment towards the end of the seventh book where Harry is preparing to meet his death and he tells Neville to kill the snake. When I read the book the first time, I believed that Harry was going to die. And I thought, what if this is what she intended all along? What if it's really going to be Neville who kills Voldemort in the end?

So, my change would be to have Neville finish off Voldemort. Harry would still live, but Neville would get all the glory.

What change would you make? I'd love to know.

Coming to a shelf near you: Blueberries for Sal!

I mentioned in this post how sad I was that Blueberries for Sal seemed to be going quietly out of print.

Today, I was thrilled to see this article in this week's Publisher Weekly's Children's Bookshelf. Blueberries for Sal will be back in print again (in a slightly modified edition) with 50,000 copies available in late May or early June.

The article also goes into detail about why Penguin wasn't able to sell the book for about a year.

Welcome back, Sal! We're so happy to see you again.

Is Blueberries for Sal out of print?

Have you tried recently to buy a new copy of Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey? Have you succeeded? I'm pretty sure the answer is no.

What's going on with Blueberries for Sal? It's not possible that it would go out of print, right? It's a beloved classic and a Caldecott Honor book.

Here's the answer: Blueberries for Sal is sort of, kind of out of print.

I had re-ordered it for my bookstore a few times when I was working as a book buyer. The orders kept being canceled and the reason on the invoice was "out of stock." Since this happened more than once, I asked our store's publishing rep from Penguin what was going on. Here's what I recall of the conversation.

(Note: Since I don't like posting anything unconfirmed and without details, I've been trying for a while to find confirmation for this. But I've scoured the internet and used all my librarian tricks- and can't find any official information at all. If you have a link to a news story, or better yet, if you have direct information, please post it here. I'm sure there's more to the story than what I've heard.)

Our rep said there was a lawsuit involving the book. An injunction has been issued to Penguin forbidding them to sell the book. That means they can't sell it in any form: paperback, hardcover, in a collection, with a CD, etc. So, not only is it not possible to buy the book itself, you also can't buy collections of Robert McCloskey books that contain Blueberries for Sal. If you go to Penguin's website, Blueberries for Sal is listed... but if you try to put it in your cart, you'll get a note that the publisher is out of stock.

Penguin isn't actually out of stock... they have a warehouse full of the books, but they can't sell them. There wasn't any warning, so they couldn't offload them before the injunction hit. My (unconfirmed) understanding is that relatives of the McCloskey family sued Penguin.

Also, it seems to be a permanent thing. The injunction has no end date.

It's breaking my heart to remove copies that are falling apart from our library's collection, because at the moment, it seems doubtful they'll ever be replaced.

If you're desperate to find a copy, you'll have to look for one used. The prices of the used copies on Amazon have skyrocketed recently, so at least the used book dealers know that the supply is scarce. I'd recommend library book sales and used book stores as good places to look.

The strange thing is, nobody seems to know what's going on. I haven't seen any publicity at all. The extremely well informed and savvy buyer at my library didn't know why her orders weren't be filled until I told her. If this is a permanent thing, I'd love to see a little more ruckus raised and more people made aware of the situation.

UPDATE: Blueberries for Sal is coming back! See this post for more information.

How do Caldecott and Newbery winning books get their shiny stickers?

I just got an interesting comment on this post:

Kim asks: "I was wondering if you could share how long it takes for copies of the winners get the medals on the covers? My daughter and I have been reading and picking our own Caldecott and Geisel favorites for the past couple of months. She understands what the medals on the covers mean now and I'd like to get some of this years winners but want to get them with the stickers on them. I can't seem to find an answer on how long this takes to happen. I assume book stores are sent stickers to put on their current stock?"

Brian responded with this comment: "It generally takes about a month."

I've always been curious about the stickers myself. I'm not sure that I have the definitive answer, but I've worked as a bookseller, a librarian, been a member of the organization that gives out the awards and had a talk with the publisher of an award winning book. I think I have a pretty good idea of what happens. To the best of my knowledge, here's the story behind the stickers.

Kim, before we get to your question, let's back up a little and talk about print runs and the incredible selling power of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals. When a book is published, a publisher decides how many copies to print. These initial copies are all first editions. If a book sells out its print run, the publisher will do additional printings and editions, but not every books gets a second printing.

There's no way a publisher can expect or predict a Newbery or Caldecott. Regardless of the pre-awards buzz, you never know what the committees will actually decide. No matter what the winning books initial print run was (with Hugo Cabret for example, it was quite large) there will never be enough copies to meet the demand. Available copies are purchased immediately by bookstores, libraries, schools, and a huge influx of customers. Typically, within a few hours of the announcements, all available copies of the book are sold out.

By that point, it's impossible to get the book, no matter what. The publisher has no more copies and thousands (I'm not exaggerating) of orders are pouring in. The publisher immediately starts a new and much larger print run to meet the sudden demand. Those copies typically come out within 1-3 months of the award announcement, depending how long the printing takes.

For booksellers, especially ones at independent stores like the ones I worked at, it is crucial to have as many of the winning and honor books in stock at the time of the announcement. If you don't, you won't get that initial rush of sales and you won't be able to get the book back on the shelf for at least a month. See this post for more about that.

Now, let's get back to the stickers. I wish I could tell you that on the day of the award announcement, everyone stops what they're doing and puts the stickers on the books. But really, it's much more mundane and gradual than that.

Nobody gets sent a batch of stickers. (That would be lovely, though). You have to pay for the stickers and they're purchased through the American Library Association Store. Anyone can buy them, incidentally, not just bookstores and libraries.

Even the publisher has to pay for the stickers, plus the cost of paying someone to physically put the sticker on the book. No publisher minds this, though, because of the enormous increase in sales the stickers represent. The publisher puts the stickers on the second printing and every printing thereafter.

Sometimes, with paperback books or books that are perennially popular, the publisher will put a photograph of the sticker on the book. That way, for example, they don't have to keep buying Newbery honor stickers for every copy of Charlotte's Web that is ever published. Sometimes, in later printings, they don't even put the stickers on... it will just say "Newbery Medal Winner" above the title. I don't really understand that, though. My feeling is if you've got it, flaunt it.

Libraries typically have many of the medalists and honor books already on their shelves. Whatever they don't have, they'll order immediately (budget permitting), and they'll receive the second printing a month or two later. My library has rolls of all the various stickers in the area they process books. Eventually, they'll go through the books currently in the collection and add the stickers and will put them on the new books as they come in. School librarians do the same thing.

Bookstores are a different story. All of the copies purchased on the day of the announcements don't have stickers... if for no other reason than that there is simply no time. When I was a bookseller, I watched the winning books go out the door before I could blink. Booksellers typically wait for the second printing of the book which already has the stickers on it.

So the short answer is : it generally takes about a month. Usually a bit longer.

But your question raises an interesting point, which is that not everybody wants the edition with the sticker on it. Sometimes, I'm proud of the unstickered books, because I bought them before everyone else. And at other times, the book look naked to me without the sticker.

So, now you know. Travis at 100 Scope Notes wrote a great post last year predicting where the stickers would end up on the predicted winners. But, since the stickers go on gradually and (except for the ones put on by the publisher) haphazardly, the stickers can end up any place on the book.

Thanks for asking. It's a good question.

2009 Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz winners and honor books

Here are the American Library Association's 2009 youth media awards winners. The official press release is available on ALA's website.

I'm having trouble getting onto the website at the moment because of the heavy traffic, but I was at the press conference in Denver this morning and was handed a press release after the announcement. I have to catch a plane, so forgive me for not including authors and publishers. All of that information is on ALA's website.

Caldecott Medal: House in the Night
Caldecott Honors: A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, How I Learned Geography, and River of Words: the Story of William Carlos Williams.

Newbery Medal: The Graveyard Book
Newbery Honors: The Underneath, The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba, Savvy, and After Tupac & D Foster

Printz Award: Jellicoe Road
Printz Honors: Octavian Nothing Volume 2, Nation, Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and Tender Morsels.

Geisel Award: Are You Ready to Play Outside?
Geisel Honors: Chicken said Cluck, One Boy, Stinky, Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator.

Coretta Scott King Author Award: We are the Ship
Coretta Scott King Author Honors: The Blacker the Berry, Keeping the Night Watch, and Becoming Billie Holiday

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award: The Blacker the Berry
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honors: We Are the Ship, Before John was a Jazz Giant and the Moon over Star

Coretta Scott King /John Steptoe New Talent Award: Bird by Zetta Elliott

Schneider Family Book Award for young children: Piano Starts Here: the Young Art Tatum
Schneider Family Book Award for middle grades: Waiting for Normal
Schneider Family Book Award for teens: Jerk, California

Sibert Medal: We Are the Ship
Sibert Honors: Bodies from Ice and What to Do About Alice?

Carnegie Medal: March On! The Day by Brother Martin Changed the World

Batchelder Award: Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
Batchelder Honors: Garmann's Summer and Tiger Moon

Margeret A. Edwards Recipient (lifetime achievement for Young Adults): Laurie Halse Anderson

Pura Belpre Illustrator Award: Just in Case by Yuyi Morales
Pura Belpre Illustrator honors: Papa and Me, The Storyteller' s Candle and What Can You Do With a Rebozo?
Pura Belpre Author Award: The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom
Pura Belpre Author Honors: Just in Case, Reaching Out, and the Storyteller' s Candle

Odyssey Award: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Odyssey Honors: Curse of the Blue Tattoo, Elijah of Buxton, I'm Dirty!, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach and Nation.

Arbuthnot Honor Lecture: Kathleen T. Horning

Wilder Award: Ashley Bryan

William C. Morris debut award: A Curse Dark as Gold

What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them. Leave a comment below or vote in the poll on the sidebar.

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.

The real me

Wondering who I am? After a year and a half of blogging, I'm finally posting my name and photo on Wizards Wireless.

My name is Susan Kusel, I'm a children's librarian in Arlington, Virginia, and I look like this:

The real debate is: where do I put my polls now? Above the picture and info on the sidebar or below it? I can't find a Blogger template that uses three columns.

Revealing my name is pretty much a moot point, because if you Google me, you'll find this blog. But, I just read the third recent link that referred to me as "the children's librarian who blogs at Wizard Wireless" and I couldn't take it anymore. So, the time has come to fully step out of anonymity. I think it's the right decision for me.

Also, on the sidebar, you'll find out a few things about me. As long as I was going for the big reveal, I thought it was a good idea to post a bit of information about me and Wizards Wireless.

I said I don't do reviews on this blog, but actually I have done a couple. To clarify, if I do a review, it'll be about a book I've picked on my own and never an unsolicited one. (Excepting the Harry Potter Lexicon, which I'll be writing about shortly.) That being said, if you want to send me picture books, comic strip collections or books about Harry Potter, I won't complain. And if you've got any original comic strip art kicking around, I'd be happy to take that off your hands anytime.

Have you wrestled with the issue of using your real name on your blog? What conclusions have you come to?

Also, tell me who you are. I honestly have no idea who reads this blog and am always surprised when someone mentions something I blogged about in real life. Leave a comment in this post, join the Wizards Wireless Facebook page, or add Wizards Wireless to "Blogs I Follow" under your Blogger Profile. It would be great to find out who my audience is!

As always, I'm so glad you stopped by.

The Cybils Finalists!

Head on over to the Cybils (The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards) to see the list of 2008 finalists.

I know the judges worked very hard to come up with such an excellent list. I can't wait for the announcement of the winners on February 14.

And, hey, this year a book I nominated actually became a finalist. Three cheers for Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw, by Deborah Kogan Ray, a finalist in the non fiction picture book category.

How to write a book by your favorite author in ten steps or less

I love it when I read a great book and then find another book by the same author with a similar plot. Sometimes I get so familiar with an author that I can predict the plot of a book before I open it.

Here's an example:

Basic Harry Potter Plot Summary

1. Harry is at the Dursleys for the summer and he’s miserable.
2. An event happens before Harry gets to school. After it’s over, Harry visits Diagon Alley (or Mrs. Weasley visits it for him) and takes the train to Hogwarts.
3. Harry arrives at Hogwarts and finds out who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is (who is always someone Harry’s met before school started).
4. Harry gets a lot of homework and Quidditch practice and games happen.
5. Major events occur on Halloween and/or Christmas.
6. Harry, Ron and Hermione are trying to solve a mystery.
7. Harry and friends study for exams. In the afternoon after the last exam, the answer to the mystery is suddenly discovered.
8. The climax of the book occurs and something terrible or miraculous happens. Harry meets Voldemort and narrowly avoids death. The climax lasts all evening and takes up several chapters of the book. At the end of it, Harry ends up in the hospital wing.
9. Dumbledore explains it all.
10. Harry deep in thought about whatever happened during the climax, takes the train home and dreads another summer with the Dursleys.

Of course, there are deviations to this structure in various books. Harry doesn’t take the train to Hogwarts in Chamber of Secrets, he doesn’t meet Voldemort in Prisoner of Azkaban (although Voldemort is discussed during the climax), he doesn’t play Quidditch in Goblet of Fire, etc. But basically, if you think about it, the events listed above happen in Books One through Six.

**Begin spoiler alert. Don’t read the comment below unless you’ve read the Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.**

One of the things I love in Book Seven is that Dumbledore STILL explains it all. He doesn’t let a minor thing like death stand in his way of summing up the entire plot and explaining every mystery that’s happened during the book.

**End spoiler alert**

Stock plot summaries can work for lots of books. Take a look at this one:

Basic Amelia Bedelia Plot Summary

It only takes five steps.

1. Mrs. Rogers gives Amelia Bedelia a list of things to do and then leaves the house.
2. Amelia Bedelia bakes a pie before she starts working on the list.
3. Amelia Bedelia does every item on the list and takes each task literally.
4. Mrs. Rogers comes home to find that the house is a big mess and that Amelia Bedelia hasn’t done anything correctly.
5. Amelia Bedelia’s pie makes everything better again.

This always makes me wonder. Hasn’t Mrs. Rogers figured out by now that Amelia Bedelia is an incompetent maid? Why doesn’t she hire someone else? Amelia Bedelia can open a bakery and contract on the side with Mrs. Rogers to bake pies.

And it's not always plot devices. Some authors seem to have lists of characters that often appear in their books. Here are several reoccurring characters from one of my favorite authors:

L.M. Montgomery's Stock Characters

For those of you who have just read Anne of Green Gables series, believe me, these characters surface in nearly every other L.M. Montgomery book.

Primary characters

• A female ingénue who is deeply in love with the house she lives in. She often has a teaching degree and sometimes a college degree (unusual for the time period). She has a creative imagination and writes stories and sells them to magazines for a small profit. She is usually (but not always) an orphan. The story is always told for her point of view.
• A handsome, perfect male who grew up with the female ingénue. He crosses signals with her multiple times and moves away (a letter is usually lost or destroyed.) But he always manages to come back three pages from the end of the book at the perfect moment and declare his undying love.
• An older female who takes care of the ingénue in a strict and no-nonsense way. She is usually not the ingénue's mother.
• An older man who falls in love with the ingénue. He proposes and is engaged to the ingénue, but she only sees him as a friend and she eventually breaks the engagement. (Not in the Anne books, but in many others).

Secondary characters (optional, but usually included)

• A wonderful housekeeper that the family couldn’t live without who has a mother that occasionally gets ill.
• A gossipy female neighbor who does beautiful needlework and feels there's a enormous difference between Presbyterians and Methodists. (Presbyterians are always favored.)
  
• A female friend who's had a rough life and only opens up to the ingénue.
• A female friend or sister that dithers for years over which of two identical men she should marry, and then falls in love with a third man and marries him immediately.
• A rich, crotchety elderly woman who dies and leaves her fortune to the ingénue.
• Small children who have big imaginations and provide amusing stories about adventures and local people. (The stories are typically the same from book to book.)
• A town doctor who makes house calls. (In the Anne books, he’s a primary character).
• A town minister.

Setting

• A farm on Prince Edward Island near a small town, where everybody’s primary occupation seems to be keeping track of the entire life histories of everyone else.

There are a few obvious exceptions. The Blue Castle is the only book that is not set on Prince Edward Island. And the male hero and the ingenue are together and happy for half the book and not just the last three pages. And Kilmeny of the Orchard is an exception because it's told from the man's point of view, not the woman's.

Conclusions

I love these kinds of books when they're written by a favorite author. Sometimes it's great to find many variations on the same theme. And just because stock characters or basic plot points are used, doesn't mean the books aren't original and delightful.

Also, it makes me intrigued about an author's life and when I see obvious patterns, I like to research them. A lot of it tends to be based in fact as authors frequently write what they know.

Compare the stock characters to L.M. Montgomery's actual life. Her mother died shortly after she was born and she was raised by farm on Prince Edward Island by her grandparents. She had both a teaching license and a college degree. She fell in love with the perfect boy- someone she had grown up with (her cousin) but didn't marry him and married an older man who was a Presbyterian minister instead.

Unfortunately, though, I'll never get to read a Harry Potter book again for the first time. And after a trip to Prince Edward Island and a careful search through tons of used bookstores there, I think I've exhausted all the new-to-me L.M. Montgomery books. But, by knowing the formula, I can also appreciate departures from it. I love Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Blue Castle, precisely because they break the mold.

And sometimes, only one book really rises to the top. I liked The DaVinci Code and read other books by Dan Brown. I was disappointed that not only were they all the same, but The Da Vinci Code (which still had flaws) was the best.

A Plea

If you found this post by googling "Anne of Green Gables characters" or "Harry Potter plot summary," please don't use what I've written above for any kind of informational purposes. They're just generalizations, and I hope that you read the books discussed above if you haven't before. Despite what I said, each one truly is unique and I've enjoyed every one. (Some more than others, of course).

Your Turn

How about you? Is there an author whose plot summary, typical setting and stock characters you know even before you start reading one of their books? Post it below. If you chose to write your own post about it, I'd love to see it and please include the link in the comments.

Which children's book author would you like to meet?

In the past few weeks I've gotten a change to hang out with Emily Gravett and Jennifer Holm, two of my favorite children's book authors. Stay tuned for details... including how long it took to write and illustrate Orange Pear Apple Bear and the name of the newest (and yet to be published) Babymouse book.

This got me to thinking. Due to a lucky combination of working in book stores, attending conferences, being active in the Kidlitopshere, and founding a book club, I've had the chance to meet many amazing authors and illustrators in the last few years. And, I hope to meet many, many more.

This leads me to ask a few questions.

1. Which authors\illustrators have you met or talked to via e-mail? Which experience were the most meaningful to you?

2. Which authors\illustrators would you most want to meet or to e-mail you? (Caveat: they have to be alive, so that it would actually be theoretically possible to meet them or receive e-mail from them).

I have to mull about my answer to Question 1 a little longer.
Question 2 is easy though. J.K. Rowling, of course.

How about you?

An Annoucement/ Plea for Help

I'm delighted to finally be able to share some very exciting news. Starting in mid-January, Jen Robinson, MotherReader and I will be working together on a children's book blog for PBS! Topics will include getting kids interested in reading, early literacy and reviews across a variety of genres.

It's really an amazing opportunity and I'm so honored that PBS wants me to be a part of it. None of it would have been possible without Gina Montefusco from PBS and Jen Robinson who have been the driving forces behind this project.

We're trying to come up a terrific name for the blog. Got any good ideas? Please, please, please send them my way. I'm usually good about this kind of thing, but this time I'm drawing a blank (probably because it's PBS and a lot of people will see it). I know you creative folks out there in the Kidlit world can come up with something perfect.

P.S. This blog isn't going away because I'll be writing for PBS only once a week. And yes, I promise, I'll start updating Wizards Wireless again. Sorry for the long drought.

Happy Beedle the Bard Day!

You've flown your Firebolt to the nearest bookstore.

The Amazon.com owl has tapped on your window.

And now…

you have the Tales of Beedle the Bard in your hot little hands.

You open it, see how big the font size is, and dive right in.

You're finished in less than an hour.

WAIT! Don't do that.

Read slowly. One story at a time. Savor it.

When's the next time you're going to get a chance to read original J.K. Rowling stories set in the Harry Potter world?

Not anytime soon, I can tell you.

After you've enjoyed the book, come back and tell Wizards Wireless what you think.

I'd love to hear your opinions, even if you've only read part of the book.

And be sure to take the new poll on the sidebar.

Easy Halloween costumes for characters from children's books

Looking for a quick and easy Halloween costume you can make yourself? Try these great ideas from fellow bloggers for characters from popular children's books. These ideas work for both kids and adults.

Maureen from Confessions of a Bibliovore suggests:

• Fern from Charlotte's Web: a farm girl costume
• Mrs. Whatsit from A Wrinkle in Time: Crazy scarves, hats and skirts.
• Harry Potter: Graduation gown, round glasses and a mascara scar
  

Pam from MotherReader suggests:

• The Cat in the Hat: get a red and white striped hat and a black tail. Wear all black. Cut the "bib" from a white T-shirt/undershirt. Tie a red bow around your neck with cloth. Draw on whiskers.

Andrea from Three Silly Chicks suggests:

• Pippi Longstocking: Make a wig with red warn and wire.
• Waldo: Dress in red and white striped clothing and a stocking cap. Go from house to house asking if anybody if they've seen Waldo.
  

Wendie from Wendie's Wanderings suggests:

• Professor McGonagall: Use your grad gown. A loooong pretzel makes a good wand. It's great for keeping that feather in the air, too. Additional suggestion from Susan: Add glasses, a witch hat and put your hair in a bun (if possible).
• Little Red Riding Hood: A red cape and carrying a basket (with a wolf inside it).
  
• Wear an orange blouse and put pumpkin eyes, nose, and mouth on the back of it. You could be Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater or The Great Pumpkin.
  

Stacy from Booktopia suggests:

• Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson is Missing: Black dress, striped tights, black nails, messy black wig.
  

From my friend Cate, who always has great suggestions:

• Knuffle Bunny: Put on bunny ears, a tail and whiskers.
  

Also, see this post from last year, for some punny Harry Potter Halloween costume ideas that Cate and her husband came up with.

My ideas:

• The Pigeon from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus: Dress in blue. Draw on a beak. Carry a toy hot dog and a bus.
  

Do you have any more ideas? I'd love to hear them. Please leave them in the comments.

Change of topic

Many people have told me that they think of Wizards Wireless as a bookseller blog.

But, when I first started writing it,

I was a library school student.

Then I became a bookseller.

And now I'm about to start a new job as a children's librarian.


It'll be interesting to see how the blog changes as I change careers.


But, it will still be about what it's always been about:

Children's Books,


Comic Strips,


and Harry Potter.

I want to say

to all my regular readers.

Feel free to drop me a line.


There will be a brief hiatus but I'll

soon.