My ALA Awards reaction post

Surprise! I didn't watch the webcast (being somewhere over the North Atlantic at the time), so I can't confirm whether or not someone actually jumped out from behind a couch to announce the winner of this year's Newbery Medal, debut author Clare Vanderpool for Moon over Manifest (Delacorte), but he or she may as well have. I haven't even read it yet!  The Caldecott Medal likewise went to debut illustrator Erin Stead for A Sick Day for Amos McGee (written by her husband, Philip Christian Stead; Roaring Brook). I haven't read that one either! They're both on my hold list now, though.  Congratulations all around!

 
More reactions and reviews to come!  It's good to be home.

2011 Newbery Hopefuls

My Newbery Hopefuls tend to have more hope than my Caldecotts, but this year, who knows?  I'm very deliberately leaving off a few books which may be strong contenders but were most definitely Not For Me.  These, I loved.

• A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner (I might love this one best).
• Alchemy and Meggy Swann (Ye toads and vipers! I'm still in London, after all).
• The Dreamer by Pam Munoz  Ryan (Maybe it will win the Belpre, too).
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (See my story here).
• Only One Year by Andrea Cheng (For younger readers).
• Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Reviewed here).
• The Shadows (Probably not a Newbery, but it's my list! Reviewed here).
• Something I'm forgetting, I'm sure (See: London).

I'm wishing everyone involved, from authors to committee members to readers (and bloggers!) a good night's sleep and a happy ALA awards day.  See you on the other side--of the ocean and the announcements!

Maybe a Newbery story

Here's my story: I met Rita Williams-Garcia at ALA last summer.  She was signing One Crazy Summer (Amistad).  I hadn't come prepared to buy any books (I know; silly me!) and was counting out my loose change in hopes of having enough for one copy when someone at the booth took pity on me and let me have it for the cash I had on hand.  I was debating whether to ask Ms. Williams-Garcia to sign it to Leo or Milly and decided to ask her to sign it to both, remarking that they could fight over who got to keep it after it won the Newbery.  At that point,  the same someone (thank you!) handed over another copy and Rita came out from behind the signing table, gave me a hug and whispered, "From your lips to God's ear."  I hope so!

2011 Caldecott Hopefuls

I'm posting my list of Caldecott Hopefuls (I don't even try to pick the winners; these are just some of last year's personal favorites) from a borrowed computer on our last night in London.  Sadly, I scheduled our plane trip home such that we will be IN THE AIR when the ALA awards are announced tomorrow morning.  It's going to be a long flight!

• Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan and Sophie Blackall (Viking Juvenile; reviewed here).
• Bunny Days by Tao Nyeu (Dial).
• Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein (Candlewick). 
• Nini Lost and Found by Anita Lobel (Knopf).
• Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Salley Mavor (Houghton Mifflin).
• Young Zeus by G. Brian Karas (Scholastic).
• Dotty by Erica S. Perl and Julia Denos (Abrams).

Nonfiction edition (links are to my reviews of these titles):

• Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg, Sandra Jordan, and Brian Floca (Flash Point).
• Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle and Julie Paschkis (Henry Holt).

International edition (I know, not eligible, but these are MY Caldecott Hopefuls after all):

• The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood and Renata Liwska (Houghton Mifflin).

And that's it, except for the ones on my desk at home that I'm forgetting.  Maybe the Caldecott Committee will remind me, or maybe they'll choose Art and Max by David Weisner (Clarion):  a worthy choice!  What are your personal favorites and/or Caldecott picks?  Remind me.