First Weekly Feature, Hanukkah, Interviews

In September I finally started a weekly feature. Listing new releases with kids of color on Tuesday. Normally, I would be doing this now but since its getting close to the end of the year, there just aren't as many. I am too tired to look for more titles. It is the holiday season after all. Speaking of holidays.

Hanukkah begins December 1st* (Wednesday) this year.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch would make a great Hanukkah gift. I loved this graphic novel. I still think. " Just another troll fighting 11 yr old Orthodox Jewish Girl" is one of the best book tag lines of the year. An excerpt via the author's site



If you visit here on a regular or semi regular basis you might notice that I like interviews. Since its the holiday season, I've decided to mention some of my favorites of the year.

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey - my interview . I loved Guardian of the Dead. Its one of my favorite YA reads of 2010. I loved how the interview turned out. I remembered to ask everything I wanted to ask. Kirkus selected Guardian of the Dead as a best of YA sci/fi fantasy book of 2010


I loved One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia. Its one of my favorite middle grade reads of 2010. Back in June, author Zetta Elliott did a three part interview with Williams-Garcia and it was simply WOW. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, One Crazy Summer is a 2010 National Book Award Finalist


The final one is a little more recent. Charlotte interviewed author Robin Mckinley in November about her lastest YA release Pegasus. I love this interview because Mckinley is a well established author who could've easily phoned in, blah answer but didn't. Kirkus selected Pegasus as a best of YA sci/fi fantasy book of 2010


From Zetta and Charlotte's I learned that sometimes its okay to shut up and simply let an author answer. No extra comments necessary.

If you have any favorite 2010 interviews leave the link in the comment box. I'll probably be doing this again next Tuesday.

*December 1st is also the last day to enter author Cindy Pon's Fury of the Phoenix arc contest

Best of List - Personal Opinion (Social Responsibilty)

Best of List are starting to come out now. I like some more then others, in the end it comes down to personal opinion. Yesterday, I said its "Thanksgiving, no computer". I did last half the day before I logged on. At NPR, YA author Gayle Forman lists her favorite YA reads of the year. At first glance I didn't like this list. After sleeping on it, I liked it even less.

I am just going to go ahead and say it, its too White. If this list was on Forman's personal blog, I still wouldn't like it, however everyone would know its her personal opinion. Under the title of Oh, To Be Young: The Year's Best Teen Reads. It has much more influence on buyers. Some customers treat NPR suggestions like gospel, especially best of list.

I've read two of these titles and thought both were over hyped. Overall, I was not impressed by this list. If I was going to do a YA best of list with only White female authors it would be
Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe
Heist Society by Ally Carter
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner
Scars by Cheryl Rainfield
Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams

I would never make such a list. If I did I would call it what it was Favorite Teen Reads by White Female Authors. Chances are great 6 of the lets say 30 people who read this ( it's a holiday weekend) aren't going to like one or more of my five. A few more will love Forman's five picks. That's the great thing about personal opinions-,we are all allowed to have them.

Though, when someone's opinion will influence many there's a social responsibility that comes with that. I don't want a rainbow coalition or a United Nations best of list. However a broader selection of gender and race would be nice, and should be expected when the list is featured on a site like NPR.

I've referenced the title of this best of list, at least twice. So, I don't want to put this out in the world without saying I know NPR probably selected it, not Forman. To that end, NPR should take more care in choosing the title for this feature in the future. "My Favorite Teen Reads" would be more appropriate.

NPR should consider having more then one person submit their favorite YA reads of the year. I think this will allow for more inclusiveness. It would put less pressure on the submitters, knowing their five aren't the only five. It will also let readers know "best of" is relative.

I am going to end with two question.

Do you notice when Best of Lists feature authors/ protagonists of one race, one gender or all are straight?

If you do, does it matter?

I hope no thinks this NPR list is just one of many and this doesn't matter. One homogenous list can quickly turn into more. In April I did a post at Color Online called Would We Forget? I linked to four best of list. There were only nine female authors of color featured.

Cindy Pon's Arc Contest- Fury of the Phoenix

Author Cindy Pon's YA debut Silver Phoenix was released in 2009. I really enjoyed it. It was nice reading a good story that wasn't more of the same. Looking back on it now, I took Silver Phoenix for granted. YA fantasy is so popular right now and there's a lot coming out . I assumed quality original YA would be published. Now that I know that I was wrong, I have a greater appreciation for Silver Phoenix. My review

The sequel, Fury of the Phoenix is scheduled to be released at the end of March. I am really looking forward to reading it. Pon's having an arc contest at her blog. Usually I don't mention author contest because the chances of winning are very slim. Though I am making an exception here

Because
Silver Phoenix was very good. It would make a great gifts. If you go to a bookstore, you'll probably have to order it. But its worth it trust me. Or don't take my word for it, go read the excerpt

A Fury of the Phoenix contest, is one thing I wouldn't mind seeing everywhere.

A wonderful series that's not more of the same and is diverse should be hyped up.

The contest is open until Dec. 1. - So if you are a Silver Phoneix fan, go enter and talk it up.

Also, Check out Diversity in YA Fiction - Pon is one of the co-founders.

Diversity in YA Fiction is a website and book tour founded by two young adult authors, Malinda Lo and Cindy Pon, to celebrate diverse stories in YA.

DIYA is a positive, friendly gathering of readers and writers who want to see diversity in their fiction. We come from all walks of life and backgrounds, and we hope that you do, too. We encourage an attitude of openness and curiosity, and we welcome questions and discussion. Most of all, we can’t wait to have fun sharing some great books with you.

It's nice to see two authors with the same goal working together. Especially when the book market is set up in such a way that authors releasing Asian inspired YA fantasy around the same time could easily be pitted aganist each other. So much kudos to Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo. Lo's next YA novel Huntress is scheduled to come out in April

On Sale Now : New Releases (Latino Edition)

I didn't set out to make this the Latino Edition but one thing lead to another.

La aventura del Dia Mundial de al Escuela by Shakira, illus. by Kellee Riley and Kuni Tomita. And yes tt's the grammy award winning artist. This Dora Explorer book is making the list because I know Shakira does a lot of charity work.*


Manolito Four Eyes by Elvira Lindo, illus by Emilio Urberuga, translated by Joanne Moriarty. This is a popular children's series in Spain. An excerpt


When the Stars go Blue by Caridad Ferrer. I love this cover. This sounds like a beautiful story, I can't wait to read it. Even more so after the author was kind enough to answer a few questions about Latino authors and Young Adult literature for my blog back in October. Ferrer's answers were just WOW. I (I already have my copy) read an excerpt or Ari's rave review


I've done many features and interviews this year, More Latino Authors/Necesitamos mas autores Latinos was one of my favorites. It was only as good as it was because of the authors

Three of my favorite Latino Picture Books of 2010

Chavela and the Magic Bubble by Monica Brown illus. by Magaly Morales. my review

Floating on Mama's Song by Laura Lacamara, illus by Yuyi Morales. my review

The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez by Rene Colato Lainez, illus by Tom Lintern. my review

*Maybe one of Shakira's people will accidentally find this and tell her about "When the Stars Go Blue" a story about a Latina girl who loves to dance. Shakira reads it and loves it,next thing you know, Ferrer's novel is muy caliente.

Edgar Allan's Official Crime Investigation Notebook - Mary Amato

Edgar Allan's Offical Crime Investigation Notebook by Mary Amato

Edgar Allan is in the 5th grade at Wordswoth Elementary School. After someone steals Slurpy, Ms. Hershel's classroom fish, Edgar Allan starts an investigation notebook to catch the thief. Soon other things start disappearing from Ms. Hershel's classroom. The thief always leaves a poem. Edgar Allan has a few suspect and all of them are in his class. He really wants to solve the case before his rival, Patrick Chen.

I really enjoyed this one. It was a whole lot of fun and very well layered. Edgar Allan is a regular boy who doesn't stand out but still wants to be recognized for being good at something. His parents are talented clowns who make children in the hospital laugh. His older brother, Herni has found what he's good at (the clarinet). Before case of the missing classroom fish Edgar Allan had no special thing to call his own.

"For the rest of dinner, Edgar's parents and Henri talked about the Cabaret. It was supposed to be fun, but Edgar found it stressful because he didn't have a talent. Last year his dad had tried to teach him how to play the accordion, but his fingers kept tripping over the buttons and he quit. "Are you doing anything for it this year, Edgar?" Henri asked. Edgar pushed his plate away. "No." "Why don't you play the cowbell on the song your dad and I are doing?" Twig said. Henri laughed. "Yeah. Play the cowbell." Tubby gave Henri a look. " The cowbell is a great idea right, Henri?" "Right," Henri said, trying unsuccessfully to hide his smile.

Amato does an excellent job with Edgar Allan's voice.

"I am in the bathroom right now because I am too mad to be in the same room with anybody, and they are taking up all the good rooms. I am sitting in the bathtub with all my clothes on because I don't feel like sitting on the toilet, and there are no chairs in here."

Much of the story is set at school. While Edgar Allan is trying to find the thief, Mr. Crews the language arts teacher is on the poetry segment. Like many people at first Edgar Allan doesn't really get poetry, then one day it simply clicks for him. Edgar Allan accidentally finds what he was looking for.

He's still trying to find the classroom thief but with poetry it's a whole new Edgar Allan. Amato surrounds her main protagonist with some great characters, including two of his suspects, Taz and Destiny. I loved the two friendships that came out of Edgar Allan's early suspicions. They were natural and believable making for a more well rounded story. ages 8up

While I read this, I found myself thinking about another middle grade book I enjoyed this year. Preller's Justin Fisher's Declares War. Also set in the fifth grade, taking place mainly at school. Both novels have a fish on the cover and are less then a 150 pages.