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Odds & Ends On The Web: May 12th Edition

5/12/2012

19 Comments

 
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First, we’d like to take a moment to remember one of the most brilliant writers and illustrators of this century.
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Maurice Sendak, 1928 - 2012
Here’s a beautiful tribute written by Michelle at Chronicles of a Book Evangelist.

And here’s a comic released last week by the New Yorker, which was an unused cover for the magazine.  It’s written and illustrated by Art Spiegalman, and is based on an interview he did with Maurice Sendak.  In particular, we love this quote from it:

“People say, ‘Oh, Mr. Sendak, I wish I were in touch with my childhood self, like you!’  As if it were all quaint and succulent, like Peter Pan.  Childhood is cannibals and psychotics vomiting in your mouth!  I say, ‘You are in touch, lady – you’re mean to your kids, you treat your husband like shit, you lie, you’re selfish….  That is your childhood self!  In reality, childhood is deep and rich.  It’s vital, mysterious, and profound.  I remember my own childhood vividly….  I knew terrible things….  But I knew I mustn’t let adults know I knew….  It would scare them.”

He really seemed to understand and respect childhood, even though he never wrote his books specifically for children.  He will be missed very much.

The quote above makes me (Catie) wonder what he would have thought of this blog post and discussion (in the comments) over at School Library Journal, about whether the Printz medal should be given based on “quality” alone or should take into account popularity and “appeal” to teens.  It makes me think about all of the categories that we place books into – are they really necessary?  Teen readers (and child readers) come in all flavors, just like adults.  Some teens love fluff and romance; some love fast-paced mystery; some love literary fiction.  “Appeal” is such a nebulous word and really has no meaning when applied to the population as a whole.  What’s appealing to one teen is horribly unappealing to another.  And further, I think that there’s an assumption made there that the popular books will not also be of high quality. 

Okay, yes.  That one is actually often true.  Although, check out this graph of the top-ten most read books in the past fifty years.  Sure, there’s Twilight and The Da Vinci Code on there, but there’s also The Lord of the Rings and Gone With the Wind and Harry Potter.  It’s not all bad!  Still, I find that whole debate very interesting.  What do you all think?  Should literary awards (like the Printz) be given based on quality alone or include factors like “appeal”?  (And here ends Catie’s personal interjection.)

Sarah from Clear Eyes, Full Shelves had an equally thought-provoking post this week about the future of reviewing and book recommendations, in response to an article in The Atlantic. 

And there was a really cool (and inspirational) post from The Intern, about the reality of book deals – it’s not all hype and huge advances (and that’s okay).

Stacia Kane also had AMAZING NEWS this week: there will be a Chess prequel in our future, called Finding Magic.  Its expected release date is June 4th (seriously…how many works can this woman release over a single summer?!!) and it will probably be 99 cents.  Can’t wait!

In more depressing world news, the United States’ acceptance of gay marriage rights got one state darker this week, but we loved this rant from Hank Green all about it.

And speaking of Hank Green, Cassi posted all about his project with Bernie Su, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. This prompted me to watch the first episode and now I’m completely hooked.  I’m just going to leave this youtube video here.  I dare you all to watch it and not marathon the rest.
Finally, here are two hilarious things for your Saturday:
a)      One of the most egregiously hilarious typos I’ve ever seen and
b)      Saturday Night Live clearly has its finger on the pulse of Twi-moms.

Happy Weekend!

19 Comments
Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/11/2012 10:16:42 pm

I am not sure why exactly that post about Printz bothers me so much, considering that I respect it and love many books that end up on their lists of winners and honorees (maybe not the last year's though; the last year's committee definitely consisted of people whose reading tastes were completely opposite to mine) . You formulated it best to express my feelings, I think, in this quote: "And further, I think that there’s an assumption made there that the popular books will not also be of high quality." Because I agree, there ARE popular books that are written very well, and yet they don't get acknowledgement from Printz, because of their commercial appeal. It can be said about "Daughter of Smoke and Bone," "Harry Potter," "The Hunger Games," "Graceling."

Not so long ago I've read (maybe on the same blog), how "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" was immediately dismissed from Printz consideration because it was a part of a series and because it had a lot of romance in it. This truly upset me back then, because it seemed unfair, as if any commercial/popular appeal disqualifies such well-written books automatically. And instead something like "Why We Broke Up"/"The Returning" gets the awards, while hardly anyone reads or likes it.

So, to wrap it up, I feel that appeal and quality are not mutually exclusive, it's just that the committee needs to have teen audience in mind while making their picks, so that we don't end up each year with 5 books that have librarian appeal, but no readability or teen appeal.

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Cassi Haggard link
5/12/2012 02:12:16 am

That's interesting that they said that series automatically disqualified it because I'm pretty sure "The Ship Breaker" is supposed to be part of a series.

I agree that people don't often give these awards to the popular books. But at the same time I would never trust an award based completely upon popularity. Normally the Printz award sticker is one that I actually listen to. Some of my favorite books have won the Printz aware.

An on an unrelated note YAY for passing along The Lizzie Bennett DIaries. The more watchers the merrier!

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Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2012 03:00:01 am

I have finally found the blog post about "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" I was talking about. Here it is:

http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/printzblog/2011/11/22/the-thin-line-between-love-and-criticism/

Speaking of Ship Breaker, the difference with it is that it is a self-contained novel, and I am not even sure there was a plan for a companion novel at the time of its original publication.

BTW, that (2011) Printz was a year of excellent choices, that both were of quality and appeal. So was the year of 2009. I can't say the same of 2012 Committee, I didn't love even one of their picks and none of them, seemed to me, had any teen appeal or a potential to be popular.

Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2012 03:00:08 am

I have finally found the blog post about "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" I was talking about. Here it is:

http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/printzblog/2011/11/22/the-thin-line-between-love-and-criticism/

Speaking of Ship Breaker, the difference with it is that it is a self-contained novel, and I am not even sure there was a plan for a companion novel at the time of its original publication.

BTW, that (2011) Printz was a year of excellent choices, that both were of quality and appeal. So was the year of 2009. I can't say the same of 2012 Committee, I didn't love even one of their picks and none of them, seemed to me, had any teen appeal or a potential to be popular.

Catie (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2012 11:22:53 pm

I always like to imagine what the next century is going to look back on and remember from our crop of literature, and I think it's going to be the popular books more than the critically acclaimed ones. Or maybe it will be the few books that manage to straddle that line. I guess I do have a problem with awarding the Printz based on appeal, because it's so hard to define. I guess it would be highly subjective to whatever the current panel finds most appealing (...which it sounds like...it kind of already is) or would guess is the most appealing to teens. So what should they use instead? Sales figures? Teen input? I think the Printz will always be subjective to the panel in place at the time, so it won't always be the most appealing books, but I guess I'm okay with that. I still respect the award. I'm sad that the massively popular books seem to be discounted though.

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Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2012 11:49:11 pm

Catie, I believe that the books that will stand the test of time are those that are both well-written and have wide appeal, meaning that they are very readable, have relatable characters and engaging story lines. A book can be well written, but if it doesn't have that elusive appeal, something that attracts readers and makes them want to read this book again and again, then nobody will remember it in a few years, even if it has an award associated with it.

If you look at the list of the past Printz winners and honorees, do you think "Looking for Alaska" and "Jellicoe Road" will be read a decade, two, three decades later? I think they will. How about "Where Things Come Back"? I doubt it.

When Printz committee chooses to only consider the literary excellence criteria during its selection process, completely discounting "appeal," I think it is bound to end up with books that will have very limited, if not non-existing readership.

Catie (The Readventurer) link
5/13/2012 12:04:55 am

Yes, I agree that they will have some winners and honorees with limited appeal. I just wonder if that's something they're even concerned about. I guess what we're asking is: what does the Printz stand for? If it's awarded based on appeal then it feels more like a popularity award. It's possible to take into account literary merit AND appeal, but there's still that question of - how to measure appeal? What's appealing to some will not be to others. You could use current reviews/ratings or sales numbers, but what of the books that the panel itself finds appealing but that are lesser known? There's no way to pre-measure their appeal.

Some of the other commenters mentioned that there are other lists for recommending the most popular, or teen-selected reads, so there are other avenues for finding and purchasing books with appeal.

Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/13/2012 12:27:22 am

This is directly from Printz Policies. The goal is "to select from the previous year's publications the best young adult book ("best" being defined solely in terms of literary merit)."

I actually don't advocate for picking books based on "appeal" only, or we will end up with "Hush, Hush" and "Divergent" on our hands as winners. I feel that both appeal and excellent writing should be factored in though. To me, it doesn't seem like much of an effort for the librarians on the Printz committee to at least test their choices on some teens and see if any of them would be interested in finishing any of those chosen books.

I guess I am so involved in this topic, because I think last year's committee did an awful job picking winners. Whereas previously there were enough compelling books for me to read and appreciate.

And also, this goes beyond Printz and spills over into adult lit, to Pulitzer, for instance.

Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/13/2012 12:27:27 am

This is directly from Printz Policies. The goal is "to select from the previous year's publications the best young adult book ("best" being defined solely in terms of literary merit)."

I actually don't advocate for picking books based on "appeal" only, or we will end up with "Hush, Hush" and "Divergent" on our hands as winners. I feel that both appeal and excellent writing should be factored in though. To me, it doesn't seem like much of an effort for the librarians on the Printz committee to at least test their choices on some teens and see if any of them would be interested in finishing any of those chosen books.

I guess I am so involved in this topic, because I think last year's committee did an awful job picking winners. Whereas previously there were enough compelling books for me to read and appreciate.

And also, this goes beyond Printz and spills over into adult lit, to Pulitzer, for instance.

Catie (The Readventurer) link
5/13/2012 12:51:42 am

I haven't read the two selections that you mentioned but I haven't seen any glowing reviews of them either. It does seem like their choices were pretty odd, especially after reading Cassi's comment about the mock Printz group. The panel is made up of humans, so they are bound make subjective choices (even collective ones). At least we can comfort ourselves that DOSM got a lot of critical acclaim anyway, and sold well, and will probably be read by teens for years to come. That's a sort of award in itself. (Plus I hope that Laini Taylor starts getting bigger deals now.)

Cassi Haggard link
5/13/2012 03:37:13 am

I think sometimes people get - dare I say - a little pretentious thinking that books that are popular cannot possibly be literary and want to educate about the errors of our ways. I've known people who discount things that are popular immediately just because they are popular.

I went back and found some of the mock Printz posts from last year and thought I would share them because they are interesting.

<a href="http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/printzblog/2012/01/24/did-someone-say-something-about-egg-on-faces/">Egg on my face post</a> Notice that 2 of the books the blogger couldn't even finish.

They also tried multiple types of polls to try to predict the winner.
<a href="http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/printzblog/2012/01/17/predictions-or-time-to-vote/">Predictions or Time to Vote</a>
<a href="http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/printzblog/2012/01/18/those-pesky-numbers/">Those Pesky Numbers</a>
<a href="http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/printzblog/2012/01/19/decisions-decisions/">Decisions Decisions</a>

Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/13/2012 05:51:27 am

Thanks for the links, Cassi. It looks like they've only called "The Scorpio Race" correctly. "The Returning" was sort of called, with a side note that it was so niche that not many will read it, and they had very little good to say about the other 3.

Although I myself haven't read "A Monster Calls," I have seen predominantly positive reviews of it, so I am pretty sure that book has "appeal," alas, it won no awards.

Cassi Haggard link
5/12/2012 04:49:30 am

Was the Ship Breaker truly self contained? Maybe I'm in the minority but I really didn't feel like it was. It had a story for that book, but the general safety of all the main characters was left hanging at the end. I remember when it was announced as the Printz winner--at that point they knew there was a second book (because somehow even I knew that).

I haven't read any of the 2012 picks. Considering the number of books I read and the fact that they weren't even on my TBR list, it's not a good sign in the way of "appeal".

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Tatiana (The Readventurer) link
5/12/2012 05:10:24 am

Ship Breaker was as self-contained as any Bacigalupi novel. His books always have opening endings, with characters having even more challenges to overcome in future. Even now, it is unclear if Paolo will get back to Nailor and Nita.

The highest I've given to 2012 picks is 3 stars, and, actually, the other 4 books I couldn't even finish. How much of an appeal to they truly have then?:(

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Cassi Haggard link
5/12/2012 05:22:10 am

Ah! I have not read his other books. Some are on my TBR list but it's rather long and scary anymore. I suppose I was just comparing it to other series. I'm still unconvinced of it's self-containedness, but the Printz committee is probably basing it on his previous books which does make sense.

It doesn't seem fair to eliminate books based on not being self contained when most YA novels are part of a series anymore.

On the Printz blog they did a mock committee/selection process last year. They even seemed a little baffled by the selections (they would never say they were bad, but every possible scenario they explored it never came up with those books).

Cassi Haggard link
5/12/2012 04:50:02 am

Was the Ship Breaker truly self contained? Maybe I'm in the minority but I really didn't feel like it was. It had a story for that book, but the general safety of all the main characters was left hanging at the end. I remember when it was announced as the Printz winner--at that point they knew there was a second book (because somehow even I knew that).

I haven't read any of the 2012 picks. Considering the number of books I read and the fact that they weren't even on my TBR list, it's not a good sign in the way of "appeal".

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Maggie, Young Adult Anonymous link
5/12/2012 08:34:07 pm

Bandersnatch Cummerbund *snicker*

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VeganYANerds link
5/13/2012 12:04:21 pm

*giggles*

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VeganYANerds link
5/13/2012 12:05:51 pm

Great post this week, ladies. I agree that it's a shame that popular books are dismissed if they are truly well written books.

And I enjoyed the Lizzie Bennett video, I'll be watching the rest - thanks!

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