Our Books – #alamw18

Here are the winners that my committee selected:

The winner is:

Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961 by Larry Dane Brimner, is published by Calkins Creek, an imprint of Highlights. 

In 1961 on the seventh anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling, 13 freedom riders boarded two buses in Washington D.C. bound for New Orleans. The riders were willing to risk their lives to challenge illegal Jim Crow practices on interstate buses and in bus terminals.

“Spare text, bold graphics and arresting photos combine to take young readers on a 12-day journey through the Jim Crow American south of 1961,” said Sibert Medal Committee Chair Tali Balas.

Larry Dane Brimner is the author of 200 books and divides his time between Tucson and San Diego. He taught elementary, high school and university for 20 years. Despite the seriousness of his many award-winning books, his presentations to schools are a blend of stand-up comedy and storytelling. He believes everyone has a story to tell.

The Sibert Medal Committee selected four Honor Books:

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, illustrated by Man One and published by Readers to Eaters Books.

Part biography, part culinary adventure, this vibrant and energetic book captures the essence of the LA street food scene. Graffiti-inspired art and hip-hop flavored text blend food, community and identity into a delicious feast for the eyes and ears that reflects the melting pot of America.

Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of many award winning children’s books. She lives in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and tries to eat kimchi every day.

June Jo Lee is a food ethnographer and co-founder of Readers to Eaters. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, she now lives near Seattle. This is her first children’s book.

Pioneering graffiti artist Man One grew up in Los Angeles, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at Loyola Marymount. He is a global leader in the movement to legitimize graffiti art.

Grand Canyon, written and illustrated by Jason Chin and published by Roaring Brook Press, a Neal Porter Book.

Through magnificent panoramic illustrations, meticulously researched diagrams and lucid text, Jason Chin has created a book as grand as the canyon itself. Readers join a father-daughter pair on an imaginary hike through the canyon’s ecological communities, inviting readers to look at this unique natural wonder.

Award-winning author/illustrator Jason Chin lives in Vermont with his wife and children.

Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability, written by Shane Burcaw, illustrated by Matt Carr and published by Roaring Brook Press.

In this candid book, award-winning writer Burcaw answers ten frequently asked questions about his life with a disability in a humorous and approachable manner. Carr’s brilliant photos of comically-staged scenes, along with family shots and outsized graphics, add to this book’s tone and liveliness.

Bestselling author Burcaw, a professional speaker and president of Laughing at My Nightmare, Inc., lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Matt Carr, based in Brooklyn, New York, has a background in photojournalism and has received awards for his visual storytelling.

Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem, written by Patricia Newman and published by Millbrook Press, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

Chemical runoff from California’s farms kills seagrass. But in Monterey Bay’s Elkhorn Slough, the seagrass is thriving. Why? Readers dive into the waters of the slough along with biologist Brent Hughes as he doggedly pursues the answers to this puzzling ecological mystery.

Patricia Newman has authored several books that introduce children to scientific exploration and discovery. She lives in Northern California.

The award was established by ALSC and named to commemorate Mr. Robert F. Sibert, founder of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc., of Jacksonville, Illinois. Sibert is known for his early work in establishing standards of bookbinding.

 

Members of the 2018 Sibert Medal Committee are Chair Tali Balas, Convent of The Sacred Heart, New York; Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library; Ericka C. Chilcoat, Merced County Library System, Merced, Calif.; Marna L. Elliott, Swarthmore, Pa.; Adrienne Gillespie, Beaverton School District, Portland, Ore.; Danielle Hartsfield, University of North Georgia, Cumming, Ga.; Danielle Jones, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore.; Debra Marshall, Farmers Branch, Texas; and Mary Michell, Skokie (Ill.) Public Library.

Day 4 in Denver – #alamw18

Sunday morning, I was up early for the MacMillan Children’s “Rise and Shine Breakfast. I had to leave a before the presentations ended, for my final Sibert meeting.

This meeting was fun. We divvied up the books and wrote the text for tomorrow’s announcement and the press release.  The criteria are tight. The winner of the award gets 50 words for the description of the book, 25 words to quote content or comments and another 50 words for the author and/or illustrator bio(s). Honor books get even less: a 50 word description of the book and a mere 20 words for authors and illustrators. It was fun, intense work.

Once each group finished, we read aloud what we’d written. And then we placed medals on the books that will appear in the YMA presentation. It felt like a coronation.

I spent some time in the exhibit hall later and shipped home some books. Then, I went back to my hotel for a nap. I can’t tell you how exhausting the process has been. It has been wonderful, but I am pooped.

We reconvened Sunday evening to call the winners. Let me just say, there were tears and cheers, from all of us and on the other end of the phone.

You can watch the presentation live here at 8 a.m (Mountain Time)

 

Celebrating

My stomach was knot most of Friday mooring as I awaited the announcement of the ALSC elections. I was one of ten people on the ballot for the 2018 Robert F Sibert Informational Book Award, but only five of us would be elected. When the e-mail arrived, I took a deep breath before opening it.

Dear Adrienne,

Congratulations upon your election to the 2018 (Robert F.) Sibert Award Selection Committee!

A copy of the election results will be posted at the end of business today. Your term of appointment will begin with the adjournment of the ALA 2016 Annual Conference in Orlando, FL and ends with the adjournment of the 2018 Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. You will be receiving a letter from the ALSC office with your official paperwork.  Again, congratulations!

Thank you,

Courtney

I squealed quietly (I was at work, after all) and went next door to tell my teaching partner my good news.

For now, I just get to bask in the celebratory glow that is enveloping me. My term doesn’t officially begin until July 1st. My job will be to read as many informational (non-fiction) books with a 2017 publication date. It means I will have to go to conferences in Atlanta in January 2017, Chicago in June 2017, Denver in February 2018 and New Orleans  in June 2018.

 

Identity: #GNCelebration

Goodreads Summary: Yumiko is a young Japanese woman who has made London her home. She has a job, a boyfriend; Japan seems far away. Then, out of the blue, her brother calls to tell her that her father has died in a mountaineering accident.

Yumiko returns to Tokyo for the funeral and finds herself immersed in the rituals of Japanese life and death – and confronting a decision she hadn’t expected to have to make.

Fumio Obata is a Japanese exile himself.  He moved to Britain in 1991 to study illustration at Glasgow School of Art and never left, so he knows all about the conflict of belonging. This is a lovely book that leads me to an illustrated work, which is NOT a graphic novel.

The Inker’s Shadow, by Allen Say, is a companion to the Sibert Honor Book  Drawing From Memory. 

In The Inker’s Shadow, we follow young Allen as his father  sends him to an American military academy, so that his son could learn English and “become a success in life.”As the school’s first and only Japanese student, he experienced immediate racism among his fellow cadets and his teachers. Allen  an American military academy, so that his son could learn English and “become a success in life.” He works part-time and his talent is eventually “discovered” by a teacher or two leading to special opportunities and scholarships.

ALA Youth Media Awards Predictions & Musings

They’ll be here Monday.

8 am ET, so 5 am here, I will be up & ready to watch before I go to work. You can, too, by clicking HERE.

What are the ALA Youth Media Awards, you might ask. My funny answer is the OSCARS of the youth book world: The Newbery, Caldecott, Prinz, to name a few. The YALSA Morris/Nonfiction Challenge I;ve been reading is about the nominees for 2 YA awards. So, let me begin with those.

1. Morris Award for a debut YA novel: I really hope Sex and Violence  by Carrie Mesrobian wins this and I think it will.

2. YALSA Nonfiction Award: This is more complicated. I want Neal Bsscomb’s  The Nazi Hunters to win

but I am pretty sure that Courage Has No Color by Tanya Lee Stone or Imprisoned:The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War  II by Martin W. Sandler will win.

3. The Caldecott is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.I’m torn here between The MightyLalouche and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild.

4. The Newbery is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. You have to be American to win this one. As much as I’d like to say Kevin Henkes’ The Year of Billy Miller  will win this one, I think it’s intended audience is to young & the committee won’t pick it. I also wish they’s pick Flora and Ulysses  by KAte Di Camillo, but humor rarely wins. That said, I’d like it to be The Center of Everything  Linda Urban but it will probably be The Thing About Luck  by Cynthia Kadohata, which I still have not read because I can’t get into it.

5. The Prinz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. I hope Reality Boy by A S King os somewhere on the list.

6. The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.My top 2 are Loteria  and  The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

7. The  Pura Belpre Award   is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. Hands down, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina should win this one. I also predict that Yuyi Morales will win for Niño Wrestle the World. 

8.The Robert F. Sibert Award goes to the the most distinguished informational book published in English. This one always overlaps with the YALSA Nonfiction award, so my prediction there also applies here. I hope to see Elizabethe Rusch’s  Eruption  as well. This list also includes informational books for younger readers so I’d like to add a  A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant or  Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909  by Michelle Markel or Who Says Women Can’t be Doctors: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone.