BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts | Mark Haddon up for Carnegie medal
This article also lists the other nominees on the shortlist for the Carnegie. They are:
Fire Eaters by David Almond
Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird
Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo
Sisterland by Linda Newbury

I’m heading off to the WAPL (Wisconsin Association of Public Libraries) Conference for the next couple of days, so don’t expect any posts until this weekend.

Inside Grandad by Peter Dickinson (0-385-74641-5)
Peter Dickinson has been one of the authors I always read since he wrote Eva. With this book, he writes in a completely different way, but infuses it all with the magic always present in his writing.
Inside Grandad follows Gavin who has always been taken care of by his grandfather while his mother and gran work. Grandad builds model boats, takes Gavin fishing, and both of them enjoy their near-silent time together. Then Grandad has a stroke and everything changes. Gavin feels an enormous pressure to help Grandad, feeling that he is the only one who can reach him.
This one is certainly appropriate for classroom use, especially with its depth that will generate discussion and its short length. The cover matches the story beautifully, but it may take some pushing to get it into the hands of kids.

Coming Soon! – Latest News
I suppose technically Oliver Twist isn’t a children’s book, but plenty of teens still read it in high school. Looks like they are doing a new movie of Oliver Twist with one of my favorite actors, Ben Kingsley as Fagin.

L.A. Daily News – News
The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine will become a children’s book, to be released in September.

Children’s books celebrate spring, baseball – PittsburghLIVE.com
A nice list of some of the newest spring and baseball books for children.

No Laughter Here by Rita Williams-Garcia (0-688-16247-9)
This is a very powerful book about female circumcision. Akilah and Victoria have been friends for years. They both feel free to be unique girls. But then Victoria goes with her family to Nigeria for the summer and returns changed. She will no longer speak in class, refuses to play during recess, and will not laugh.
The author takes a very difficult subject and makes it accessible to kids, demonstrating her skill as a writer. Akilah is an amazing female character, filled with both a powerlessness and a powerfulness at the same time. And finally, the cover of the book is wonderful, one of the best this year.
I recommend this one. It may not be one that you hand out to every kid who comes in the door, but the cover and the writing can stand on their own.

The Looking Glass
The Looking Glass, an online children’s literature journal, has a very timely and important focus this month. The entire volume (free online) focuses on children’s books about Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East.

L.A. Times Honors 10 Authors at Book Fest
Free registration is required to access the article above. The winner for YA fiction was Jennifer Donnelly for A Northern Light, one of my favorites from last year.