New Member of the For Those About to Mock Team: Misti Tidman

We're feeling pretty excited here at For Those About to Mock today, because we have a new blogger joining our team! Please join us in welcoming Misti Tidman to this space.

Longtime readers might already know Misti's name, as she's done three guest review for us in the past. She and I attended the Morris Seminar together back in 2014, and since then, she's done some great work over at the Guessing Geisel blog. When we were considering expanding our roster of bloggers here, Misti was the first person I thought of, and I'm ecstatic that she's elected to sign on!

New Member of the For Those About to Mock Team: Tess Goldwasser

We've got an exciting announcement to make today! For the first time ever, For Those About to Mock is officially adding a new blog writer. Please join us in welcoming Tess Goldwasser to the For Those About to Mock team!

Longtime readers may recognize Tess's name, as she's already written five guest reviews for us. She's a ukulele queen, an octopus enthusiast, and a style icon. Tess is a Youth Services Librarian at the St. Mary's County Library in Maryland, and has an impressive history of professional service: she's served on the Stonewall Book Award Committee and the GLBTRT News Committee, and she is currently chairing the GLBTRT Advocacy Committee. She's a seasoned book blogger, having written for years over at Kid's Book Blog, and she's been one of our co-presenters at our annual Children's Literature: Best of the Year events for the past several years.

Basically, we can't say enough good things about Tess, and we're bouncing up and down with glee because she's joined the blog team.

And Me! I Salute You Too!

Creating a new blog is sort of like writing an old-school rap song: it’s important that you start out by explaining who you are and what you’re here to say. So, with that in mind…

WHO I AM:

I’m Sam Eddington, and I work at the Eastern Shore Regional Library (MD) as the training coordinator, accordion player, and resident eccentric. I started my library career as the nighttime circulation supervisor at the Sacred Heart University (CT) library, where I achieved notoriety for my demands that doughnuts be saved for me on days when they were brought in the morning. After that, I worked as the library director and school librarian in Amargosa Valley (NV), and the adult services supervisor at the Mt. Airy branch of the Carroll County (MD) library, before finding a place best suited to my “skill set.” I’m the author of a local history volume, Diamond in the Desert: A History of the Amargosa Valley Library, as well as a smattering of published poetry; additionally, I spent three years or so writing music reviews for Superstarcastic.com when the name was owned by a music blog, and it was still a going concern.

WHAT I'M HERE TO SAY:

I love discussing creative things: books, art, movies, and music. I especially love discussing children’s literature, particularly in the context of the Newbery and other major awards. Rachael and I do this all the time; we don’t always agree, but that’s half of the fun of it.

I plan on using this space to take these conversations about the Newbery to the Internet – from winners and snubs of years gone by, to books that I think may be contenders in the present and future. Most of all, I’d like to extend an open invitation to sit in with us, challenge us, laugh with us, and explore with us, as we keep going along our children’s literature journey.

Also, I like dystopia. I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

We Salute You

Yes. It's yet another Mock Newbery blog!

Who I Am

I am Rachael Vilmar, and I have had my professional fingers stuck in the world of children's literature for going on ten years now. First I was the Youth Services Coordinator at the Bartow County Public Library in Georgia, then I was a children's librarian at Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, and for the past five years I've been the Information Services Manager at the Eastern Shore Regional Library in Maryland. One of the best parts of my job is running the Maryland Mock Newbery every January. I'm also on this year's Arbuthnot Committee, and next week I get to attend the Bill Morris Seminar for Book Evaluation (squee!). 

What the Hell I Think I'm Doing

I usually keep my kidlit and Newbery mania to myself around my coworkers, but one year ago I hired a training coordinator who is as much of a lit geek as I am (I'll allow him to introduce himself). Since then, I have often found myself sitting in his office, debating the merits of Criss Cross vs. Princess Academy, graphic novels vs. easy readers, and other thrilling points of literary minutiae. Since this is 2012, we decided to take our ongoing conversation to the internet, where it will be preserved for posterity, or at least until the collapse of industrial society and the onset of inevitable dystopia.

We hope that you, dear readers, will join in the fun.