Jan 2 2009
Publishing News Round Up
There has to be a better phrase I can use than "round up". That seems so inelegant. Publishing News Collection? News of the Publishing Realm? Update on whether the dinosaur has disappeared?
- Words we should banish in 2009 include "maverick" and "green" (as in go green).
- NYTimes article on how an adult wishes she could immerse herself in books like her daughters.
- Controversy swirls amongst Children's publishing folks over the Newberry Award. Is it time to retire the award? Get new judges? The controversy is that there isn't much diversity and that the books are inaccessible to young readers.
- A spoof of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club vetting process.
OWVT: Pages 157 through 186 are completely blank.
Margaret Hibernium Coulat: The better to let a reader imprint his or her own thoughts onto the pages and see those thoughts–really, really SEE them–as if for the first time. As if…
(Ms. Coulat cries)
Margaret Hibernium Coulat: Excuse me–I was just thinking about the time I left my hometown of Titusville, Florida for the first time.
Send to Kindle
Jan 02, 2009 @ 18:34:44
That was flat to me. :-/ re Oprah spoof. Just sayin.
Jan 03, 2009 @ 00:23:01
I definitely agree with the article on recent Newberry choices being “out of touch.” Lately they strike me as being “improving” books–the stuff you’re told to read because it’s good for you. And, more often than not, rather depressing. From the article, I can see it’s just a rehash of the old highbrow/lowbrow fiction dilemma, and I expect that some of the judges need to at least consider the notion that a book need not deal with Big Heavy Issues to have merit. Or, if it does, it can do so in an entertaining way. Charlotte’s Web is beautiful, and not at all heavy-handed. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (I know, not exactly a kid’s book, but we all read it as kids) is about Big Heavy Issues but, again, is written so well that, not only do you not feel preached at, you also are not constantly reminded that you are reading Art.
But I don’t think they should do away with the Newberry (nor do I think books that have won it are undeserving). Instead, they need to find a way to spin it so that that medal on the cover of the book means “you’ll really like this!” and not, “plow through this because adults want you to.”
Jan 03, 2009 @ 01:11:57
The problem with the Newbery (note the correct spelling!) is that people use it to decide what their children should read. It has far too much weight. There are dozens of other awards, some voted on by children themselves, but most people are totally unaware of them.
Jan 03, 2009 @ 02:13:19
Considering the turbulence in the industry, ‘rodeo’ is probably more appropriate.
Jan 04, 2009 @ 15:54:20
Hmm. I’m intrigued by the Newberry controversy. Aside from the high brow/low brow problem, how DO adults judge literature written for children? It’s a conundrum, of course… Can there be a prestigious award judged by the intended audience of children or young adults?
Still, I can’t tell you how many (adult) reviews of YA books I’ve read that end with (or are riddled with) the assertion that the book just isn’t appropriate for “my kids”. Or that the heroine was “silly” or “immature”, meaning what? That she acted like a teenager?
Hmm. I can’t help but think that adults want to direct children to books rather than meet them on their own level. Hell, I’m certainly guilty of that. I think it’s human nature and probably pretty damn blind of the award people not to be able to recognize that in themselves.