What's Missing? 2008 Cybils and More (Links)

I've been going through the Cybils 2008 nomination lists this evening and considering what is missing. I've been holding my votes until the very last day, and here are some titles I'm considering:

Whew! Someone finally nominated April Lurie's The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine today. So, that means I can nominate Meg Rosoff's odd but powerful What I Was in the Young Adult category.

Another category I follow carefully is poetry. I was happy to see that Imaginary Menagerie was nominated (and early!). I also really liked this year (and they're still not nominated!) J. Patrick Lewis's The World's Greatest: Poems and Pam Munoz Ryan's Our California. Hmmm...what to do? Someone help me out here, okay?

In 2008 there was only one Graphic Novel for me--Joann Sfar's Little Vampire--a book I loved and one I return to frequently. My heart remains true to the little vampire. Why? Because Little Vampire is a graphic novel children as young as six can read and one adults will enjoy as well. Little Vampire is about love and loyalty--to family, to friends, to monsters. My graphic novel nomination is a no-brainer.

The last category I am following carefully is the Middle Grade fiction category. I'm a judge this year (yay! I decided working with the publishers was not enough for me...), so I'm excited by which five-to-seven books will come my way in early 2009. My favorite book of the year (besides Little Vampire) was Frank Cottrell Boyce's Cosmic, but it has been nominated. So I think I'm going to nominate Judy Blume's Going, Going, Gone! with the Pain and
the Great One. I know this isn't an original or an out-of-the-box choice, but I love the Pain and the Great One books and they should be recognized--even if Judy Blume, the Queen of Children's Fiction, wrote them.

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Two other links of notice today:

1) My writing group friend Chris Marciniak has a book deal! Go, Chris! I am so proud of you and can't wait to see your book in print. (I've read Mike & Emma so many times, I am in love.)

2) Need a calming waste of time? Then don't miss This is Sand. Man, many minutes have gone by today creating sand art for me. Notice the passive? Wonderful.

I voted. Now it's your turn!

My blogging has been on the slow side lately. Work has been insane, this political season has got me down, and the Cybils are in full swing.

But here's the good news: I voted today! For President and all the rest of it. And it felt good. I've done my duty and now I can just hope for the best.

Speaking of voting...there are only two days left to nominate your favorite children's books of 2008 for the Cybils. I'm headed over there right now and will do a 'what's missing' post tomorrow.

The Cybils 2008

Nominations are now open for the 2008 Cybils. Read all about it here.

Miscellania

Why am I such a bad, bad blogger the past two weeks? Many, many reasons:

1. I've been putting the Cybils panels together. This is more difficult than you'd think. Reaching that perfect balance of writer-librarian-teacher-other on each and every panel is difficult. Not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings is difficult. Scouring your e-mail to make sure you didn't miss anyone is difficult. But I'm almost there (one panel to go!) and then I should be back in business. (You would not believe the amount of time and angst goes into my work putting the panels together. Seriously.)
   
2. My internet was out over the weekend! During the kidlitosphere conference, which I had to miss because of medical issues at home. Thanks, everyone, for your great posts. I've been catching up all morning now that I'm back online.
   

Okay, tomorrow I'll be back with an interview with a great writer who has a killer new graphic novel out. In the meantime, have you seen the Guardian's Banned Books quiz? I got 9 of 13. Strangely enough, the four I missed were all kidlit related. (Although, of course I knew And Tango Makes Three was the most challenged book in 2007.)

Poetry Friday + Cybils

Poetry Friday + the Cybils = the Cybils Poetry panel of judges announced today over at the Cybils blog. Kelly Fineman heads up this group of talented poets, bloggers, and readers.

Author Amok hosts the Poetry Friday roundup this week. I'll be back later today with another post.

This week's TV note

I'm still here. Sort of. Mostly, though, I'm struggling to put together Cybils panels with Anne this week. It's been busy!

But...I still made time for Project Runway. Did you?

At the beginning of this season I was excited because this set of designers seemed inexperienced and, therefore, more experimental than the designers in Seasons Three and Four. Because of this, there wasn't a clear top three in the first few weeks, like there was last season. (In Season Four, Rami, Christian, and Jillian stood out from the very beginning.)

However, a few weeks ago it became clear: Leanne and Korto are so much better than the rest of the designers in their group. I'll be thrilled if there turns out to be a Final Two this season--instead of a Final Three or Four. Even still...even with Korto and Leanne, there are problems. Leanne phoned it in this week. And, to the right you can see Korto's entry. I love the jacket and the dress. But I do not like them together. Korto came in second, I think, because the jacket + dress combo does not work. That being said...I'd buy that jacket if it were on the market now.

Jerell won this challenge. Okay, I don't dispute that his look was okay. But, seriously...take a gander (to your left)...his design is really "okay." I'd wear this outfit (with an extra inch on the skirt). But...is 40-ish prof the desired Project Runway demographic? I know it's not the desired designer demographic. Still...I like Jerrell, because he seems like a nice guy. He's having fun with the competition and that's better than winning.

Final comments: Suede? Is Suede-of-the-third-person-singular still here? Kenley? Do I have to endure her antics one more week? I do think she's a better designer than Suede, but her spoiled-brat behavior (and her voice) is driving me mad.

Bring on Fashion Week! (Yes, I've cheated and viewed the collections online.) I am ready for this season to be over. Korto or Leanne? If you don't come in first and second, I'm swearing off Project Runway for good.

The Cybils 2008 Panels

Anne and I are nearly finished putting together the panels for the 2008 Cybils. The first panel--Early Readers--will be announced tomorrow at the Cybils blog. If you wrote in with your requests, you'll be hearing from me over the course of this week before your requested categories are announced.

I can't wait to get started, how 'bout you?

Are You an Easy Reader?

We're adding a new category for the 2008 Cybils--Easy Readers. Easy Readers are those 6" x 9" books found in the easy-to-read section. The category will be headed up by none other than Anastasia Suen (Book of the Week, Children's Book Biz News, Picture Book of the Day, Scholastic's Kid Lit Kit) and we're looking for judges. If you're interested, read the judging announcement on the Cybils blog and send me and Anne an e-mail. (If you've already written in, but would consider serving on Easy Readers, then please also drop us a line.)

P.S. I am 24 hours behind responding to Cybils e-mails. Do not panic. I will answer Thursday afternoon.

The Cybils: It's time!

It's time to fill the Cybils panelist and judging committees for the 2008 awards. All the details are available at the Cybils blog, so head on over and read all about it. I look forward to hearing from you soon.