CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus

Michael Morpurgo has compiled a list of 100 books ‘every child should read’. Being a list, and a British one at that, it is obviously subjective, but sadly, not one Australian author features in any of the titles he recommends, including those for early teens. Australian YA authors have proven that they can take on the world. Shaun Tan, Sonya Hartnett, Markus Zusak (watch the interview with Markus on American School Library Journal) and Garth Nix are just a few who are very popular overseas. Judith Clarke was noticed at the recent ALA awards, so it’s a pity that such talent has been overlooked. Morpurgo’s list includes a few recent titles, but the classics predominate. What do you think of his choices?

CMIS has developed a list of ‘books not to be missed‘ which features Australian and international authors and titles for all phases of development. Take a look.

So what Australian books do you think every early teen should read? What would be on your list? Let us know.

Brian Selznick is receiving extensive media attention after receiving the Caldecott Medal for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. This interview in the New York Times gives some background to the writing of the work, and the film influences that permeate it.

We reviewed this title in Fiction Focus, Issue 2, 2007 and pointed to the accompanying website which includes a screening of the world’s first science fiction movie, A Trip to the Moon, made in 1909 by Georges Méliès. Take a look - it enriches the whole Cabret experience.

The awards for Shaun Tan’s The Arrival continue to flow in. At the weekend, this title received the award for Album of the Year at the Festival Internationale de la Bande Desinée at Angoulème. This festival is considered to be the Cannes of the comic world. We already knew anecdotally that the French had embraced this remarkable work. Now it is official. Congratulations (again), Shaun.

The Aurealis Awards for 2007 were announced on Australia Day. These awards acknowledge the best sci-fi and fantasy titles of the preceding year, with award categories that include fiction for young adults and younger readers.

Best fantasy novel overall was awarded to Lian Hearn’s prequel to her acclaimed Tales of the Otori series, Heaven’s Net is Wide. This title is currently with a reviewer, and we hope to have the review in the first issue of Fiction Focus for 2008.

Best Young Adult Novel went to WA’s Antony Eaton for Skyfall, also out for review. This is the second title in Anthony’s Darklands trilogy.

And although a little young for Fiction Focus, it should be noted that Kate Forsyth’s Chain of Charms series has scooped the pool with Books 2-6 collectively winning the Best Children’s (8-12) Long Fiction Award. These titles are part of the 2008 Primary Focus list and display.

On the subject of Awards, here at CMIS we also try and keep on top of major international and national awards on the CMIS Evaluation web pages. As well as information about recent prize winners, the pages also include an archive of past awards.

You can view the CMIS Book Awards pages here.

News from the UK is that the Nestle Book Prize, which has been honouring children’s books for 23 years, will be discontinued. A report in the Guardian indicates that the administrator of the prize, the UK charity Booktrust, will be concentrating its energies into its Bookstart and Booked Up programs.

The 2007 winners of the Nestle Book Prize can be found here.

The first literature awards of the year have been announced. The American Library Association presents a number of prestigious awards each January, notably the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal. The Young Adult section of ALA (YALSA) presents the Michael L. Printz Award for the outstanding Young Adult novel of the year.

Winners for 2008 were:

• Newbery Medal : Laura Amy Schlitz (a school librarian) for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village.
  Honor Books: Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
  The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
  Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
• Caldecott Medal: Brian Selznick for The Invention of Hugo Cabret
  [See the video interview with Brian Selznick, courtesy of the AdLit site]
• Honor Books: Henry’s Freedom Box : a true Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine
• First the Egg, written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
• The Wall : Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, written and
  illustrated by Peter Sis
  
• Michael L. Printz Award: Geraldine McCaughrean for The White Darkness
  Honor Books: One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke (Australia)
  Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox (NZ)
  Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins
  Your Own, Sylvia : a Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill