it's all about perspective, folks

If someone told me last week that Selznick's Invention of Hugo Cabret won the Caldecott, in what seems to me (and plenty of other people) to be a violation of the Caldecott criteria, I would have been annoyed. I would have questioned how one could possibly say that "The committee is to make its decision primarily on the illustration", when the book is equally reliant on text and illustrations.
So - last week, in the land of hypotheticals, that would have bugged me. But today, I barely care at all, because Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! won the Newbery. Pardon my language, but - WTF? That's crazy. It's the kind of decision I'd expect from a group of school librarians or teachers with more enthusiasm for curriculum tie-ins than genuine ability to choose "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children published in English in the United States during the preceding year". But - that wasn't the composition of the Newbery committee.
So how in the world did this happen? This makes my dismay about Crispin look small. At least I could see how it was a Newbery-ish book. This one, though, is just - no.
Ugh.

Top 10 books of 2007

I've been thinking about the best books of the year lately. A local group (of which I am a member) will be choosing their list a fortnight from now, and ALA announces the Newbery/Caldecott/Printz/Sibert/etc. in less than 12 hours. So it occurred to be that it would be fun to create a list of my own.
These are the ten books that I most enjoyed this year (not necessarily the ten best - for example, Fun Home and American Born Chinese were better than several of these, but I didn't love them in the same way. I might not re-read either one, which is usually a sign of affection (though I recommended them to others, which is also a sign of affection). I excluded from consideration anything that I had read before - these are all books I'd read for the first time in 2007 (though most of them were published earlier). And because I'm old-fashioned, I won't include this fanfic, which made me consider the Vorkosigan books in a whole new light. I stayed up until 5 in the morning to read that one!
I also excluded picture books, because I'm arbitrary that way. But fingers crossed that Seeger's First the Egg and Sis's The Wall win awards tomorrow!

So, here's my list:
10) Pippa Passes, Rumer Godden
This isn't my favorite Godden book (In This House of Brede and Thursday's Children are), but I came across it unexpectedly, and I still remember being engrossed in it (I read it back in March).
9) D.A., Connie Willis
I've blogged about this one before, so I won't now.
8) Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain
A particularly well-respected colleague of mine was appalled by my enthusiasm for this book. I explained that I read a blog fairly regularly that rivals all of Bourdain's "Man, I partied hard! I was hard core!" bluster, so those parts of the book didn't bother me at all.
7) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling
The scene with the radio broadcast alone would make me consider this one. The book wasn't perfect, but it tied everything together better than I would have thought possible.
6) The Chivalrous Fifth, Christine Chaundler
I thought this book was very well done. It's a school story about a girl who mentions that her mother owns a shop. Of course, her classmates assume her mother's a rag-and-bone woman, but she's titled and she owns a very posh antiques shop. Her daughter keeps up the pretense of poverty for most of the book, and a few classmates condescendingly decide to be friends with her.
5) Sold, Patricia McCormick
This isn't like the other books on my list. It's far more serious. But it was thoroughly engrossing, anyway. I do have a sneaking feeling that this should be higher on my list - or even up with Fun Home and American Born Chinese.
4) Forever and Ever, Amen: Becoming a Nun in the Sixties, Sister Karol Jackowski
This book was fascinating and funny.
3) The Traitor's Tale, Margaret Frazer
This title won't be surprise to anyone who knows of my love of books about nuns. I'd put this in the top five of the Dme Frevisse series (and there are 18 now). I had no idea who the eponymous traitor would be - and even now, I still think it could apply to more than one person.
2) Missing You, Meg Cabot
When Meg Cabot wants to, she can write angsty romance better than nearly anyone I can think of. No offense to her, though, but you can tell I didn't read enough new books this year, if a Cabot series title was my second favorite of the year!
1) Long May She Reign, Ellen Emerson White
Well, friends and family knew I'd pick this one, I think. Even if it hadn't been well-written, I would have enjoyed the chance to read more about Meg. but it was - and if it doesn't make it onto the Top Ten BBYA, I'll be disappointed in YALSA. (Of course, I'd prefer a Printz Honor for it, but I'll take anything.
Speaking of children's book awards. I would love it if, in the acceptance speeches this summer, one of the winners (Christopher Paul Curtis, for choice) ignores the usual convention of pretending that they were terribly surprised when the phone rang. I want someone to say, "Well, I knew I'd written a good book, received several starred reviews, and won a few mock awards, so I was pretty sure the phone would ring. The only question was: what color sticker would they put on the book?"