And the Cybil goes to...The Shadows!

Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Cybils awards!  All of these books combine literary merit and kid appeal, the twin criteria of the Cybils; but I'd especially like to call your attention to the winner in the Middle Grade Science Fiction and Fantasy category: The Shadows, Volume 1 of The Books of Elsewhere, by Jacqueline West (illustrated by Poly Bernatene; Dial, 2010).  This was my second year as first-round panelist in this category, which means that I read a lot of mg sff in the fall.  The Shadows, though, I already loved: I had read and reviewed it last summer, as part of my Middle Grade Gallery series (the paintings in Olive's old house are actually portals to an alternate reality), and I recommend it often--my copy is out on loan to a fifth-grade reader right now!  I think I'm allowed to say that it made it onto my own shortlist easily (although I know the judges' panel must have had quite a time choosing a winner from among the our seven finalists).  And that I'm thrilled that it won.

In other good news, Spellbound, the second volume of The Books of Elsewhere, will be out in July.  Here's the official description:  "With no way into the house's magical paintings, and its three guardian cats reluctant to help, Olive's friend Morton is still trapped inside Elsewhere. So when Rutherford, the new oddball kid next door, mentions a grimoire--a spellbook--Olive feels a breathless tug of excitement. If she can find the McMartins' spellbook, maybe she can help Morton escape Elsewhere for good. Unless, that is, the book finds Olive first."  Grimoires are great, but I hope we haven't seen the last of the magical paintings!

Heart of a Samurai

This book was already on my to-read list when it was recognized with a Newbery Honor last month. I had picked it up from the new book display at the library (the same new book display from which I picked up and then put back the eventual Newbery winner, Moon over Manifest.  I'm still waiting for that book) on the strength of the gorgeous cover art by Jillian Tamaki; and the jacket copy, which promised "An action-packed historical novel set on the high seas!" Not to mention samurai. Which is a little misleading; the actual book is more complicated than that.

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus (Amulet, 2010) is a fictionalized account of the life of Nakahama (John) Manjiro, who is believed to be the first Japanese person to set foot in America.  A poor fisherman's son, Manjiro was shipwrecked off the coast of Japan in 1841 and rescued by an American whaling ship.  The captain of the ship brought Manjiro home with him to New England, where he studied for several years before making his way back to Japan.  In keeping with Japan's isolationist policies at the time, Manjiro was immediately taken into custody; but he was later released, reunited with his mother, and given the rank of samurai.  His diplomatic work eventually helped open Japan to the world.

Heart of a Samurai encompasses Manjiro's entire journey; the central section of the book is concerned with his time in America. On a farm. Manjiro himself is very likable character: thoughtful, observant, optimistic, and funny; and the book is at its best when it stays close to his thoughts and observations about the differences, practical and philosophical, between Japan and America; and to his realizations about them both.

As I was reading, some incidents and characters struck me as more "fictionalized" than "historical."  And as it turns out, these were precisely the ones that Preus, in her Historical Notes, acknowledges having invented "to provide conflict and advance the story as well as to acknowledge the prejudice and ill will that Manjiro faced."  I wish Heart of a Samurai had been either more fictionalized or less; as it is, it's an uneasy balance--probably not unlike Manjiro's own.

[See also Pam at Mother Reader's take on Heart of a Samurai during her Newbery Discussion Week.]

Middle Grade Gallery 11

The main character in this recently-released middle grade fantasy novel is obsessed with art history.  In addition to memorizing art historical facts, she likes to imitate (in the privacy of her bedroom, of course) Venus in Front of the Mirror, as seen in Peter Paul Rubens's famous painting of the Goddess of Love looking pleasingly plump (c. 1613/1614; Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna).  It helps that she's got the plump part going for her, too--even if it's not always pleasing outside of a Rubens painting anymore.

This book merits a special exhibition in the Middle Grade Gallery, there are so many references to major artists--from Watteau to Degas to Picasso, and lots more--as well as to specific works in it.  It's also absolutely delightful.  Review forthcoming, I promise.

In the meantime, there's a clue to the title of the book in this very painting: it's Cupid, otherwise known as (ahem) the small person with wings holding the mirror.  For the reverse angle, compare Titian's Venus with a Mirror (c. 1555; NGA).  Which do you prefer?

April and Esme, Tooth Fairies

My kids had already lost a lot of teeth (Leo, almost all of them) before April and Esme, Tooth Fairies by Bob Graham (Candlewick, 2010) came out last fall, but til then I hadn't found a tooth fairy book I really liked.  The search is over. This one arrived just in time for Milly, thankfully, and we both love it.  Graham's fairies (you might remember them from Jethro Byrd, Fairy Child; Candlewick, 2002) aren't the sparkly sort; more like ordinary kids with wings, they live with their fairy parents in a little house by a tree stump, just off of the M42.  This is the story of their first "tooth visit," and I especially like the way it connects, for readers, the experience of losing a tooth with other childhood rites of passage; the sense of accomplishment that kids feel, as well as their parents' mixture of pride and concern for them.

You can see more of Bob Graham's ink and watercolor illustrations, full page and panels, for April and Esme in "Two Unforgettable Picture Book Heroines from 2010" at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (I like it when they follow the trail of toys up to the little boy's bedroom).  Unfortunately, there aren't any of the interior of the fairies' house, the bathroom of which features a tub made out of a creamer.  Graham's work is whimsical but not overly sweet; look closely at the cover image here and you'll see that the fairies are wearing mismatched clothes, the wildflowers are common weeds, and the grass is littered with popsicle sticks and pull tabs.  Yet there's even a little sparkle, too.

[And now for something completely different!  Well, there's a Tooth Fairy in it.  Silverlicious (HarperCollins, 2010) is the latest in Victoria Kann's popular picture book series.  Pinkalicious is increasingly sour about the loss of her sweet tooth until Toothetina delivers an Important Message along with three silver coins.  Could they be sweet silverlicious chocolate?  Digital collage illustrations.  Compare and contrast!]