CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus

That would be Best Books for Young Adults, the list published annually by YALSA, the Young Adult arm of the American Library Association.

Earlier this year there was considerable debate about the future of this popular list, which, like the Carnegie Medal nominations (see previous post) provides a terrific source of titles for keen readers. It’s difficult to find the final decision without being a member of YALSA ; this post in response to the SLJ article suggests that none had been made, certainly at the time of writing, but this post refers to a proposed readers’ choice award, possibly taking BBYA’s place at some future date.

No matter for now. We have a 2009 list of nominations and we are delighted to see the following titles on it:

• Michelle Cooper – A Brief History of Montmaray
• Alison Goodman – Eon : Dragoneye Reborn (aka The Two Pearls of Wisdom)
• Steven Herrick – Cold Skin
• Simmone Howell – Everything Beautiful
• Catherine Jinks – The Reformed Vampire Support Group
• Justine Larbalestier – Liar
• Shaun Tan – Tales from Outer Suburbia

Selections for the final BBYA 2009 list will be made at the January 2010 YALSA Midwinter meeting to be held in Boston.

The two most prestigious awards in the UK are the Carnegie Medal for outstanding writing and the Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration. The first stage of the 2010 process has begun with the lists of nominations for both awards announced overnight. From here it becomes:  shortlist (23 April 2010); winners (24 June 2010).

The lists are long, and keen readers will want to devour as much as they can get their hands on from the Carnegie list, Those who love illustration will savour the titles in the Greenaway list.

Eagle-eyed Judith Ridge alerted us to the nomination announcements via twitter, where she noted that the beautiful and poignant Harry and Hopper (a Margaret Wild / Freya Blackwood collaboration) was in the running for the Greenaway.

The shadowing site will be up and running soon, and worth keeping an eye on.

Image of Kate Greenaway used under Creative Commons licence.

Here’s another terrific free resource from the UK. Everyone’s Reading Plus is a 108-page PDF document listing titles suitable for readers of both genders aged between 11 and 18.  A few Australian authors are included.

This School Library Association publication complements previous free lists Boys into Books 5-11 and Boys into Books 11-14. All are part of the SLA Riveting Reads series.

The titles on the Everyone’s Reading list can also be browsed online in a searchable database on the dedicated website. UK schools can select 15 titles from the list as part of a gifting program.

Everyone’s Reading has recently started on twitter.

Publishers Weekly has listed its best of 2009 (the heads-up came from Monica Edinger via twitter. Monica is aka educating alice).

Whilst the list is mostly North American in flavour, one or two foreigners have crept in, including this comment about a certain Shaun Tan’s Tales:

Tan proves that his prose is every bit as hypnotic as his artwork in this wondrous collection that reveals the banality and strangeness of the suburbs.

The full list is here.

Fever Crumb, Philip Reeve’s prequel to the Mortal Engines quartet, is due to be published in Australia in November. It’s set well before the events of Mortal Engines, Predator’s Gold, Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain.

If you can’t wait, you can be teased by the first two chapters here. And read reviews from The Independent and The Guardian.

Just in case you haven’t had enough of the limp heroine of the Stephenie Meyer saga, ABC Radio National’s Book Show is exploring just why the novels have been so popular. After all, vampires in fiction are hardly new.

Author James Bradley briefly discusses the vampire phenomenon here and writes about the historical context here.

Most of us love reading lists. Lists compiled by people we respect that we can take to the bookshop or library and tick off titles as we work our way through them.

Earlier this week we commented on Newsweek’s choice of Jenna Bush to suggest suitable titles for readers in the northern summer.

The UK Telegraph has gone 22 better, with no fewer than three Children’s Laureates and many other distinguished authors and illustrators creating a terrific reading list for holidays, or any time. And yes, some of ours make the cut. Here’s Meg Rosoff on Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels:

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan is a genre-smashing novel. Set in the dark, dark fairy tale world of the Brothers Grimm, it raises questions about the price of living without risk, and how unspeakable trauma can be passed on to children. The sexual content, though not exactly explicit, made me gasp with shock, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone under 15. But everyone else? Definitely.

This is a list ideal for a lazy (northern) summer day that can just as easily be enjoyed in front of a cosy fire in (southern) winter.

Image used under Creative Commons licence.

The current issue of Newsweek has another of those lists – you know, the best 100 books. Best. Books. Ever. Always good for a debate.

If you check the links on the right hand side of the page, you’ll note that nine authors are commenting on their favourite books:

We asked nine authors to tell us the essential books in their chosen areas of expertise.

Patricia Cornwell on True Crime, Bob Woodward on Political Scandal – you get the drift. So far, so good.

Children’s literature gets a mention, too. The expert here? None other than the former First Daughter, Jenna Bush. Well, she has written a book. And her mum was a school librarian, so that’s OK.

The Child_Lit listserv brought this one to our attention. We share their incredulity.

Flickr image used under Creative Commons licence.

Naomi Bates, blogger and contributer to the yalsa-bk listserv, is setting up a creative, collaborative initiative to generate some interesting YA booklists that she is calling YA:A2Z using Web 2.0 application Writeboard.

The idea:

Let’s collaborate and create lists of YA books (no more than five years old) from A to Z. One is by title (ie A is for Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson); one by author (ie M is for Mazer, Norma Fox, author of Missing Girl); one by subject (ie S is for steroids, Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte).

If you would like to contribute, visit Naomi’s blog, register and start creating.

Our CMIS take on this year’s CBCA Notable Books (including the Shortlisted titles) is now available. The lists were announced on Tuesday and are just starting to arouse discussion.

The Notable Books are in effect a long list of the very best titles presented to the judges from all the books published in 2008, so are definitely worth considering for your library collections. Reviews of most titles on the Older Readers Notables list can be found on the CMIS Resource Bank.

Older Readers Shortlist 2009

• D.M. Cornish – Lamplighter (Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two)
• Anthony Eaton – Into White Silence
• Jackie French – A Rose for the ANZAC Boys
• Melina Marchetta – Finnikin of the Rock
• James Molony – Kill the Possum [available soon]
• Shaun Tan – Tales from Outer Suburbia

Home and Away the probably controversial Matt Ottley/John Marsden production is short-listed in the Picture Book of the Year category and a notable in the Older Readers category.

Announcement of the contenders for the Book of the Year Awards heralds the countdown to Book Week, which runs from 22-28 August 2009. This year’s theme is Book Safari. The CMIS webpage to support your Book Week celebrations has just been uploaded and will be expanded in the next few weeks. Bookmark it today!