2004 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
And the winners are:
For Picture Book: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
For Fiction: The Fire-Eaters by David Almond
For Non-Fiction: An American Plague by Jim Murphy
The link above will also lead you to the list of honor books which include one of my favorite picture books of the last year, Snow Music, a perfect read-aloud here in Wisconsin.

Joel writing children’s books
Well, now Billy Joel is getting into the business of writing children’s books. It is interesting to see that his books will be based on his songs, with the first one being released in September.

ALA | Professsional Development Center
YALSA has released its new competencies for people serving young adults. The ten core values now reflected in the competencies are:
Developmental needs
Youth development
Youth advocacy
Youth participation
Collaboration
Information literacy
Adolescent literacy
Learning and achievement
Equity of access and intellectual freedom
Bravo! I especially appreciate the core values, since they are a great way to communicate with library boards the changing role of libraries with regard to teens.

Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman (0-8072-0971-6)
Son of the Mob is the story of Vince Luca, mob prince, who is just trying to live life separate from his father’s business. But every time he thinks he has completely become free of the business, he gets dragged back in. What made this book really work was the witty writing and one-liners continually used by Vince. The rhythm and pacing of the novel were wonderful, truly capturing the wild ride of the book.
I listened to the Random House Audio version of this one in my car and really loved it! This is one of those audio books where the reader really enhances the book. The perfect mobster accent by Max Casella made the whole book sing. Marvelous.
Recommend this one to older elementary kids and teens. Kids of both sexes will be caught up in the genuine tone of Vince and his family and friends. Even better, at the heart of this book is a love story told from the point of view of a teen boy. A great read, especially for those Soprano fans out there.

Teen Read Week
The 2004 Teen Read Week theme focuses on horror books with “It’s Alive @ Your Library.” The week will run October 17-23. ALA’s site has information for people doing Teen Read Week for the first time, as well as links to horror sites.

Pages of Discovery
This is a pdf file (so you will need Adobe Acrobat to read it) that offers a list of recommended titles to use with the Discover New Trails @ Your Library Summer Reading Program that Wisconsin and several other states are doing this summer. It was compiled by Megan Schliesman at the CCBC, so you know it contains wonderful titles.

Get Caught Reading
The Get Caught Reading site offers a great section on the power of reading to children with quotes like the following:
“Early reading experiences are now recognized as being of such importance that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that “pediatricians prescribe reading activities along with other instructions given to parents at the time of well-child visits.” The President of the Academy, Dr. Robert E. Hannemann, stated: “We strongly recommend daily reading to children from six months of age.”

Dilbert.com>The Official Dilbert Website
Check out today’s Dilbert!

The Miami Herald — Author who helped kids read dies at 91
Syd Hoff is dead at age 91. His Danny and the Dinosaur is still one of the books I continually hand to little boys learning to read.