Digressions: Those Who Run in the Sky, by Aviaq Johnston

Piturniq, an Inuk youth, has begun making a name for himself in his village. He is a talented hunter, and Tagaaq, an elder, is training him to be the next village leader. Pitu's talents don't stop there; with the proper guidance, Tagaaq believes that Pitu will be able to serve as a shaman. However, the shaman who would be able to train Pitu disappeared years ago, and no one knows where he might be.

One day, while Pitu is out hunting, a blizzard hits. He manages to survive the storm, only to find himself transported to the world of the spirits -- a dangerous place filled with frightening beings of enormous power. It will take all of his skill -- as well as finding the right allies -- if Pitu is to make it back home to his village, his family, and the woman he loves.

I found myself captivated by the world of Those Who Run in the Sky. Aviaq Johnston, herself an Inuk author, perfectly conveys the arctic setting and Inuit culture without compromising them or watering them down. The back matter includes a helpful glossary and a thoughtful author's note, but it's entirely possible to enjoy the book without having to constantly refer back. The setup for the main plot is fairly long, but I didn't have any trouble with the pacing -- and the last 50 pages are a thrilling burst of adrenaline.

Those Who Run in the Sky is more YA than juvenile, but I think you can argue that it scrapes the top of the Newbery age range. If I were evaluating the book for the Newbery and using the award criteria, I'd note that it's outstanding in its interpretation of theme, development of plot, and especially, delineation of setting. The delineation of characters is somewhat weaker, and though the style is appropriate, the prose overall is more workmanlike than exceptional for most of the novel. Those Who Run in the Sky was published in 2017, and I would have loved to have included it in our Maryland Mock Newbery reading list that year. I don't know that I would have voted for it over Landscape with Invisible Hand (my favorite from that list), or Orphan Island (our MMN winner), but I think it would have sparked some fascinating discussions. (For what it's worth, recognizing that it's just my opinion, and Your Mileage May Vary And Probably Will, I do think I would have voted for Those Who Run in the Sky over that year's actual Newbery winner, Hello, Universe.)

Sadly, Those Who Run in the Sky wasn't eligible for the Newbery, as Aviaq Johnston is from Nunavut, and still lives in Canada. If I could change one rule about the Newbery, it would actually be the prohibition against Canadian authors specifically; the American Library Association has many Canadian members, and the ALA annual conference has actually been held in Canada six different times (most recently in 2003, as an ALA/CLA joint conference). It frustrates me that we welcome participation from Canadian librarians on our committees and boards, but don't allow Canadian authors to compete for what's possibly the most prestigious literary award we hand out.

Alas, I don't make the Newbery rules. What I can do is encourage you to read this book, buy it for your library, and get it into the hands of kids who will appreciate it. A sequel, Those Who Dwell Below, was just published last month, and I'm excited to see how Pitu's story continues beyond the confines of this novel.


Published in 2017 by Inhabit Media

Rachael's Departure and Greatest Hits

It's with a heavy heart -- but also with a lot of gratitude -- that I announce that Rachael Stein, who co-founded this blog with me back in January 2012, will no longer be contributing in this space. She's moved to the exciting (and important!) world of correctional libraries, and won't be involved in children's services in her new position, and so she felt it was time to step away from For Those About to Mock.

I could tell you about the professional debt I owe her, how I probably wouldn't have become involved in ALSC, or participated in the Morris Seminar, or known half of what I know about children's literature without her. But instead, I'd like to invite you to take a stroll back in time to revisit some of her greatest hits.

- Rachael was (and is) a huge fan of Jeanne Birdsall's Penderwicks books. In her review of The Penderwicks in Spring, which was Rachael's most-read post of all time, she provides a thoughtful, nuanced examination of the penultimate volume in that series. Also worth a second look is her final review for this site, a discussion of the series' conclusion, The Penderwicks At Last.

- I always appreciated Rachael's ability to defend her opinions about books, even if they were a bit out of the mainstream. To take two stellar examples, witness her argue for the Newbery eligibility of Tom McNeal's Far Far Away, and then thrill to her encomium of the "only skink" in her review of Polly Horvath's Mr. and Mrs. Bunny -- Detectives Extraordinaire! 

- Rachael's writing was often at its most entertaining when she encountered a book she really didn't care for. One of my favorite instances is her review of The Island of Dr. Libris, by Chris Grabenstein ("...if you hand it to to the literary-minded kids you know, I won't even judge you. Much."). And then there's her legendary look back at Eric P. Kelly's 1929 Newbery winner, The Trumpeter of Krakow, which she at one point refers to as "Project Runway: Medieval Krakow."

Farewell from this space, Rachael! The correctional library is lucky to have you!

Mock Caldecott Results and Future Plans

Librarians from the Eastern Shore of Maryland (and some from the other side of the bay too) met to discuss six candidates for our Mock Caldecott medalist. When we cast our votes, the winners were...

Winner: Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans, by Don Brown
Honor: Wait, by Antoinette Portis

Thanks to everyone who attended, and especially to our discussion leaders, Julie Ranelli and Natalie Lane. Special thanks to Heidi Hammond and Gail Nordstrom for their wonderful presentation on reading the art in Caldecott books. It was a fun day! 

Long-time readers of this blog may ask why we held a Mock Caldecott rather than the usual Mock Newbery. Well, we wanted to try something new. I started the Mock Newbery several years ago as a opportunity for local librarians to hone their book evaluation skills. I was really excited about it at the time, but the last couple of years I have noticed my excitement waning, so Sam and I decided it was time to get excited about something else. 

(I am always excited about art - especially picture book art - but I had never really immersed myself in the critical language of evaluating that particular medium.) 

What does that mean for the future of About to Mock? Well, we don't have any plans to close up shop (especially since we just added Tess!) but the format of the blog may change slightly next year. More on that to come. 

Digressions: two bits of Penderwick trivia.

My daughter and I finally got our hands on the audiobook version of The Penderwicks in Spring, so my favorite Massachusetts family has been much on my mind this week. This has led to a couple bits of silliness:

1. I finally looked up the GPS coordinates that Birdsall gives as the location of the Penderwick house. They lead to 49 Gothic St, Northampton, MA, which appears to house a massage therapy practice. I wonder if the address has some personal significance for Birdsall.

Honestly, I expected the coordinates to lead to the Eric Carle Museum or something.

Here's something fun, though: in the book, the Penderwicks always call upon Ernie's Service Station to care for their elderly vehicles, and there is actually an Ernie's Garage around the corner from that address! Curious.

2. Since music plays such an important role for Batty in this novel, I thought she should have her own playlist, including all of the songs that she hears, hums, listens to or loves. So here it is.

Digressions: Seeing Red, by Kathryn Erskine

Note: I wrote this entire post after having listened to the audiobook of Seeing Red. I did not realize  (until I double checked the publication dates) that the print version was published in 2013, rendering the entire discussion moot for our 2015 Mock Newbery purposes. 

As it turns out, the novel was ignored by all of the YMA committees. It did receive a starred review in Booklist, but it was otherwise a blip on the literary radar. Nevertheless, Recorded Books chose to record an audiobook version of it. I assume that's due to the author's National Book Award winner status, but really, who knows? I've been on this committee for six months now, and while some of the book-to-audiobook choices are obvious, some are still mystifying. And it's only getting weirder as it becomes cheaper for audio publishers to put out digital-only titles. Onward!

___

In a lengthy author's note at the end of Seeing Red, Kathryn Erskine explains (among other things) the reasoning behind her protagonist's name:

"Finally, Red’s last name is Porter for two reasons. Pullman Porters

were early leaders in the civil rights movement, successfully creating

a union and organizing events leading up to and including the March

on Washington in 1963. I wanted to pay tribute to them. Also, a

porter is a person who carries burdens and, symbolically, all of us are

like Red, carrying the burden of our history and the responsibility for

our current society." 

(http://www.usborne.com/downloads/teachers-notes/seeing-red-authors-note.pdf)

A noble sentiment, to be sure. But man, is that a heavy burden (no pun intended) for one kid to carry, and that kind of front-loaded symbolism is my biggest issue with this novel.

To back up... Red Porter is living in a small town in Virginia in the early 1970's. There are racial tensions in his town, but Red's family has never, of course, perpetrated any racial injustice. His recently deceased father was a kind of saintly Atticus Finch figure, and the whole family is having trouble adjusting - financially and emotionally - in the wake of that unexpected death. Of course, history is not always what it seems, and Red is going to have to adjust his view of his family and his town many times before he grows into his new status as the "man of the house."

There's also a young, progressive anti-war teacher; a Klan-like organization; an idealistic lawyer; a simple-but-wise man; an old alcoholic who beats his kids; and a strong black woman. There is, in short, a whole lot of history packed into this novel (which weighs in at a hefty 352 pages). The four page author's note makes it explicit that Seeing Red is Erskine's attempt to deal with some of the injustices she saw while growing up. Again, that's a worthy goal! But it doesn't make for an effective novel. The didacticism weighs down the plot, and the transparent symbolism of the characters makes this feel more like allegory than realistic fiction. 

Seeing Red is not a complete failure, of course. Erskine effectively evokes the atmosphere of a small town in the seventies (I lived in one, for a few years anyway). Her prose is accomplished as well (as can be expected from a National Book Award winner).

Prepping for the Morris Seminar!

When Rachael attended the Invitational Morris Seminar in 2012, just after we started this blog, she mentioned in her post about it that the name "Morris" always brought to mind images of the world's most finicky cat.

For me, on the other hand, the name brings to mind images of Jack Morris, one of the most feared pitchers in baseball during my childhood, and co-holder of the record for winning World Series titles with the most different franchises (3: the 1984 Detroit Tigers, 1991 Minnesota Twins, and 1992 Toronto Blue Jays). My baseball card collection is in storage right now, but somewhere in that box is his 1989 Donruss card, shown here.

But the Morris Seminar isn't about cats or baseball players -- it's about book evaluation skills, and I'm really excited to be a part of it next week. This year's reading list is fascinating, and I'm curious to see how the discussions about these titles go.

Group I (Picture Books, more or less)

1. Mr. Wuffles!, by David Wiesner

I didn't review this one here, as it doesn't have any words, but it's simultaneously goofy and lovable, and it actually might be my favorite Wiesner that I've read, sacreligious as that may be.

2. Penny and Her Marble, by Kevin Henkes.

3. If You Want to See a Whale, by Julie Fogliano, illustrations by Erin Stead

4. Locomotive, by Brian Floca

5. On a Beam of Light, by Jennifer Berne, illustrations by Vladimir Radunsky


Group II (Books for older readers, give or take)

1. Bluffton: My Summers with Buster, by Matt Phelan

I didn't review this one because it's a graphic novel, but my oh my is it a good one. I love Phelan's art style -- I thought he was a perfect fit for The Higher Power of Lucky several years ago, and his work when he's doing the writing is just as good. I also think this book tells an affecting, powerful story, without actually explicitly stating very much.

2. Far Far Away, by Tom McNeal

Rachael reviewed this one for the blog, and declared it to be her favorite children's book of the year. I'm less sold on it, and I think it has some very real structural issues. It's worth noting, however, that I'm not the ideal reader for this novel, and Rachael is basically the perfect reader for it, so my opinion may not be the best guide.

3. P.S. Be Eleven, by Rita Williams-Garcia

4. Salt, by Helen Frost

5. Eruption!, by Elizabeth Rusch


Anyway, next week in Philadelphia, I'll have the chance to hear some amazing conversations about these titles. And maybe, a few days later, we'll see some of them show up in the YMAs!

Mock Newbery List is Coming! Plus a Scary Poster!

Hear ye! Hear ye! On the morrow next, we shall be announcing the final reading list for the Maryland Mock Newbery! Huzzah!

In the meantime, please enjoy this poster that I made for a horror movie adaptation of Rita Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer.

National Book Awards Longlist

The National Book Awards have published a longlist for the first time, and here are the Young People's Literature contenders.

A couple of thoughts.

1. The Thing About Luck is shaping up to be one of those books that everyone else likes more than I do. At the same time, I can't argue with the idea that its characters, settings, and style are all distinguished. Probably theme too. But... so many combines.

2. The Real Boy! Great to get some vindication here, because I'm not seeing our love for this title reflected in the greater blogosphere or even review-journalosphere. (Except Colby Sharp, and his top choice did just  fine last year.)

3. Glad to see Flora and Ulysses there too. Books that are not super serious and weighty don't get enough award love.

I haven't read Far, Far Away yet, so I guess I need to get on that. The more clearly YA titles will have to wait until January (my designated YA Reading Month).

Digressions: The Longest Wait (for the Newbery)

So Rachael and I were talking the other day, and our conversation turned to when in a Newbery-winning author's career the award comes. Occasionally, a debut book wins -- I count seven of those, with Clare Vanderpool's Moon Over Manifest (2011 award) being the most recent. But what of those that have to wait...and wait, and wait some more? And whose wait has been the longest, of those who've finally claimed the medal? I decided to investigate further.

First off, since some Newbery-winning authors moved to children's books from the adult world, I figured it only made sense to start the clock from an author's first published Newbery-eligible book, rather than their first published book in general. With that in mind, here are the top five longest waits that eventually ended in victory.

5. Avi. His first children's book, a collection of "very short stories" called Things That Sometimes Happen, was published in 1970. 32 years later, he published Crispin: The Cross of Lead, which picked up the 2003 Newbery. He'd snagged Honors in the meantime for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (1991 honor) and Nothing But the Truth (1992 honor), but it wasn't until Crispin that he finally was the winner.

3 (tie). Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. This one requires a whole slew of caveats. Bailey's writing career spanned the time that the Newbery Medal was introduced, so it was only 23 years from the year the first Newbery was handed out to Bailey's 1947 win for Miss Hickory, a novel she'd published the previous year. Additionally, her first published book, The Peter Newell Mother Goose (1905), wouldn't have been eligible for the Newbery had the award existed, since it was largely a collection of already-existing poems. So, while it was technically 33 years from the for-all-ages The Children's Book of Games & Parties (1913) to Miss Hickory, you'll have to decide for yourself how much of that time she was actually waiting for the award.

3 (tie). Beverly Cleary. From the moment Henry Huggins was published in 1950, Cleary was a force to be reckoned with in children's literature. But, even though she picked up Honors for Ramona and Her Father (1978 honor) and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1982 honor), a 1981 National Book Award for Ramona and Her Mother, and enough other awards to fill up several trophy cases, it wasn't until Dear Mr. Henshaw (1983 publication, 1984 Newbery) that she finally took home the gold. The 1983 publication year was a noticeably weak one, and almost no one considers Henshaw Cleary's best book, but nonetheless, 33 years after her first book, she'd published a winner.

2. Elizabeth Borton de Treviño. Treviño started out her writing career as the person tasked with writing sequels to Eleanor Porter's Pollyanna series; her first published novel was 1931's Pollyanna in Hollywood. Although she eventually moved on to more original works, she received no notice from the Newbery committee until she won the 1966 award for 1965's I, Juan de Pareja. Even if the 34 years from her first book to her Newbery winner is only good for second place, she's easily the author who went the longest between her debut and receiving any ALA awards.

1. Jack Gantos. Admittedly, Rotten Ralph (1976) was a picture book, a format that's rarely honored by the Newbery committee. Nonetheless, it was eligible, and it kicked off Gantos' amazing career. He took an Honor in 2001 for Joey Pigza Loses Control, and received both a Printz Honor and a Sibert Honor two years later for Hole in My Life, but it wasn't until 2012 that he won a Newbery for the previous year's Dead End in Norvelt. As with Cleary's award, it came in a strange publication year -- several books that were seen as top contenders turned out to be far too divisive to win, place, or show (Okay For Now, Breadcrumbs, Junonia). Nonetheless, it ended Gantos' record-setting 35-year drought, and gave his remarkable oeuvre a fitting capstone.



The follow-up question, of course, is: are there any authors whose books we've covered this year who would make this list should they win the Newbery? The answer is yes. Should the committee decide that humorous poetry is worth a look after all, and Jack Prelutsky were to take the Newbery for Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems, it would come for a book published a mind-boggling 46 years after his first book, 1967's A Gopher in the Garden, and Other Animal Poems. No one else is even close to that, but it's now 32 years and counting since Kevin Henkes' first book (All Alone, 1981), and 34 years since Patricia Reilly Giff debuted with Today Was a Terrible Day (1979). Will any of them break their winless streaks? We'll have to wait until January to find out!

Smart People Talking About This Year's Books

I don't imagine that we have a whole lot of readers who don't also enjoy reading the undisputed champion of the Newbery blog world, Heavy Medal. They're on hiatus right now, but over the last couple days, there's been a lively discussion in the comments of their last post before their yearly break about what people think the leading 2014 Newbery contenders are as we near the halfway point.

It's well worth reading! I'm pleased to see that we've at least hit most of the consensus high points, although I also see a few books that we'll need to cover post haste! At any rate, I strongly recommend having a look at it if you'd like to see a snapshot of the books that have captured the interest of a lot of smart people.

Digressions: Comment fail and Horn Book win

Good morning, blogland. How are ya?

Two things:

1. There seems to be some glitch in my home computer that renders it resistant to posting comments. If you've commented and I appear to be ignoring you, rest assured that I have tried to post a reply, and then have forgotten to try again when I'm at the office.

2. One more plug for my Horn Book article, in case you don't read our tweets: I wrote about the Penderwicks and bibliotherapy and such over at the venerable Hbook. If you see me at a conference, ask me to perform my party trick of reciting entire paragraphs of those books from memory.

And now I'm off to Ocean City (MD) to learn (even more) about ECRR.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Psst. I'm on the ballot for the 2015 Newbery committee, and I sure would appreciate your vote!

(Don't you want to see Sam try to run this blog all by himself next year?)

Digressions: Reading Out Loud

A Friday digression for you all, as I sit here with my coffee and prepare to do my taxes.

I've been reading Ginger Pye to Ella at night (Winner's Circle entry to come), and I have been pleasantly surprised by what a good read-aloud it is. It's filled with the kind of prose that rolls effortlessly off the tongue; that requires no special theatrics on the part of the speaker to infuse it with energy; that's conversational without being choppy and languid without bogging down in description.

For the life of me, though, I can't pinpoint the exact qualities that make up a good read-aloud. It's unpredictable. There are definitely some excellent books that fail this particular test (reading A Wrinkle in Time aloud was excruciating).

So, dear readers, I was hoping that you might be able to lend me your insights, especially since some of you are classroom teachers and school librarians who have more than one-on-one experience with reading novels aloud. Tell me: in your opinion, what makes a good read-aloud? 

World Read Aloud Day Challenge: Part One

World Read Aloud Day Blogging Challenge!

What do you think is special about reading aloud?

You know how, in fantasy novels that involve portals to other places/times/dimensions, there are always rules about bringing other people through the portal with you? Generally you have to be touching the other person in order to bring her through with you, though not always.

Well, the real world has rules like that too. In order to bring a person with you through the portal to Narnia - or to Prydain, or to Harriet M. Welsch's New York City -  you have to read the magic words aloud. I know this works, because just last night Ella and I were hanging out in The Birchbark House with Omakayas. I have whisked Sam away to The Rookery to spy on David Copperfield. One year my entire fourth grade class followed two dogs and a cat on an Incredible Journey across Canada.

In seriousness, reading aloud together is one of the only times I can think of where more than one person can participate in the co-creation of an imaginary world. You could argue that watching a movie together accomplishes something similar, but I think that's just two people alone in the dark. Reading - even solitary reading - is more active, since the reader is charged with transforming code into pictures, sounds, and feelings. And when you add a human voice and a listener (or several listeners) to the equation, something amazing happens. All of you get to see (and create!) the pictures, hear the sounds, and feel the emotions. You get to visit another place, or try out another life, and you get to do it together.

There's a reason we humans have been telling each other stories for millennia, and it's not just to improve our comprehension skills. It's the way we make sense of the world. It's the way we create meaning. 

I think that's fairly special.

This train is bound for galley.

Well, there it is: our great big shelf full of 2013 ARCs*.

Look at all the majesty!

It seems like just yesterday that it was home to Three Times Lucky and Splendors and Glooms**. (Not The One and Only Ivan, though - no ARC of that for us! Nor Bomb.)

Time to dive into a new year of reviewing. But not until I finish the decadently enjoyable Seraphina.

*Sam did well at Midwinter! I hope he didn't knock anyone over in the attempt to quench his unholy thirst for pre-publication reading material. 

ETA: He tells me he asked for them very politely. Like this:

**Actually, it was just yesterday. I brought them home last night.

Midwinter is Coming!

...but not for me.

While you lucky ducklings are enjoying the grayer pastures of Seattle, I'll be at home this weekend, trying to cast my eyes upon as many celebrated YA titles as I can. Code Name Verity, Brides of Rollrock Island, Seraphina, Beneath a Meth Moon, I'm coming for you.

If you see Sam out there, tell him hello!

I'll be on Twitter Monday morning, squeeing along to the Youth Media Awards. 

(Credit for excellent, excellent meme to http://www.theanalogdivide.com/)

(Deliberately not using a Field of Dreams reference to title this post.)

So Cen Campbell of Little eLit and I were playing on Facebook professionally networking, and the subject of BWI's recent demise came up. Now, every children's librarian I know pretty much loved BWI, particularly their TitleTales ordering tool. Cen and friends were wondering if it would be coming back, and I said I didn't think so. Boo.

"Alrighty then," said Cen. "We need to build something to replace it, only awesomer."

"I'm all over that," I replied. "You know what would be great? A children's book search engine that included all the review sources, plus tags, blog reviews, and user reviews. Like some kind of Goodreads + TitleTales genetic hybrid monster."

(Except it wouldn't include all of that weird YA author drama that lurks in the dark crevasses of Goodreads. It should include apps, though.)

Seriously, this needs to happen. I am not a software developer or database engineer, or I'd start working on it right now (plus - fingers crossed - I may be real busy with committee work next year). 

Another challenge: something like this should be free, I think, and I know that review content isn't cheap. Somebody has to keep Roger Sutton in bow ties, right? 

Digressions: Okay for Newbery

Meanwhile, on Google chat... 

Sam:  Man, I hope Wonder doesn't win.

Me:  I think it probably won't, but I would actually rather have Wonder win than something that's both flawed and unappealing. coughsummerofthegypsymothscough... 

Sam:  Gah. I'm trying to think how many of this year's books I'd actually be ok with winning.

Me:   Good question!

It is a good question, isn't it? At some point in the discussion and voting process, I guess that's what the committee members have to decide: not only which book they're pushing for, but which ones they would accept as winners. Which books would leave them at the "I'm not super excited, but I am at peace with this choice" level on the consensus meter.

For me (and these are, of course, my feelings prior to the Mock Newbery discussion next Monday, so everything is subject to change), the list looks something like this. 

Top Choices (totally behind any of these; smiley face on the consensus meter) 

• Twelve Kinds of Ice (my actual first choice right now)
• Splendors and Glooms
• Liar and Spy
• Starry River of the Sky
• Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, Detectives Extraordinaire 

Second Tier (wouldn't go away from the table seething; "meh" face on the consensus meter) 

• Wonder
• The One and Only Ivan
• No Crystal Stair
• Crow
• Moonbird

I won't go into my third tier. I've already mentioned my non-fandom re: Summer of the Gypsy Moths, but to delve further would be petty. 

How about you guys?

Reflections on a Year of Blogging

We'd discussed it for a while before that, but it was last January when Rachael and I decided to stop talking about it, and go ahead and start that Newbery-themed blog. I'm not even sure what our expectations were, but I think as long as we actually managed to keep writing, we would have been satisfied with the results.

On the "keep writing" front, we were able to succeed. In 2012, we wrote reviews of 59 different Newbery-eligible titles, as well as 14 previous winners, and 2 other books; posted our reactions to the YMAs; and managed to put up a few essay-style posts as well. I don't know if I would have kept at it without having a writing partner, but Rachael always helped me to read more and organize my thoughts.

And, to my surprise anyway, people started reading! Indeed, as the year went on, I got a chance to interact with some of my children's lit heroes, including, but not limited to, Travis Jonker of 100 Scope Notes; Nina Lindsay and Jonathan Hunt of the legendary Heavy Medal; Monica Edinger; K.T. Horning; and even, for all too brief a time, the brilliant and sorely-missed Peter D. Sieruta. I've appreciated their comments, suggestions, and kind words more than I can say, and my experience in blogging has only heightened my respect for what they do and how well they do it. I've also gotten to know many other bloggers, librarians, publishers, authors, and readers, and I'm grateful to all of them.

This year, I'm fortunate enough to have a ticket to ALA Midwinter, where I'm planning on live-tweeting this year's YMAs. Then it'll be on to the 2014 books, and another year of reading, writing, thinking, and learning.

So many thanks to everyone who's encouraged us along the way, and a special, special thanks to Rachael, who is awesome, and who always makes me want to read more deeply, write more clearly, and think more elegantly.


Here's to a wonderful 2013!

Your passport to revelry!

We interrupt this blog to report the publication of a new Cat Valente book, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There.

Doesn't sound like it stands alone, so not a Newbery contender, but it is a highly anticipated book. By me.

(Will you like it? Ask yourself, "how do I feel about that there eleven word title?" You will have your answer.)