how well do you know me?

Esme Raji Codell has a blog post about an issue on which I am perpetually undecided: whether it's okay for Pura Belpre awards to be won only by Latino/Latina authors, and Coretta Scott King awards by African-Americans. Read if it you like, and let me know what you think.
But that's not what compelled me to blog. I'd never been to her website before, so I was struck by the heading at the top. It includes this: "I hope this book-a-day plan will be a boon to anyone who would like to play a supporting character in a child's reading life story." I am certain that people who know me in real life will be able to imagine my strong reaction to these words!

a weak Foundation

I was chuffed to see a new book by Mercedes Lackey about the Heralds of Valdemar. I was surprised that she called it Foundation; seems to me that there should be only one Foundation in SF/fantasy, and it isn't hers.* And then I was wearied by the poor editing. Mags, the hero, dreams of someday seeing those things he'd heard about, called "books". And then about twenty pages later, someone is reading a book to him, as they often do at mealtime. In other words, Lackey forgot that he had been longing to see a book - I suspect these two scenes were written well apart in time. And then about 30 pages later, Mags is tremendously excited to see a book for the first time. The same thing happens with a chalkboard/slate and chalk; it's a normal occurrence for his teachers to use chalk to write on the board when he is young, but when he arrives at the Collegium he has no idea what chalk is, and the concept of chalk and slate needs to be explained to him.
The plot itself is not terribly interesting - Mags is like Alberich, in that he has awkward turns of speech and a similar "only he sees the corruption at the Collegium" storyline.

*Yeah, I know. I'm a fuddy-duddy. And yes, of course, it's true that Asimov was not a great stylist himself. But still, I'd bet that in 30 years, more people are reading his Foundation than hers.

"I always say..."

I just came across Streatfeild's Dancing Shoes, and I was moved to blog about one of my favorite parts. Hilary's about to be in a dancing/acrobatic competition, and she's arranging for clothes. She tries a cartwheel in her borrowed finery, and we get this:
"'Couldn't be better,' said Alice. 'I always say there's nothing to touch lace when you're working upside down.'"
And of course this is here to establish what a little professional Alice is - but no matter how much of a professional you are, does anyone ever speak about upside-down work enough to have an "I always say..." phrase about it?

Princess Diaries

I went on a binge of reading the last five Princess Diaries books - I'd been waiting until the end of the series before I caught up. While I deplore the way that Cabot had to give J.P. a character assassination to make Forever Princess plausible, overall it was a really good effort. I particularly like the ways that as Mia and her classmates got older, they gained more perspective (both on the dumb things they did as freshmen and sophomores, and on each other as friends). The Ling Su/Perin relationship was a nice touch, too.

oh, why do I bother?

I'm so tired of the recent arguments about the Newbery awards, but I can't stop reading them. Many critics of the award clearly haven't read the criteria, which is frustrating. But many defenders of the award just don't seem to care that not only are the recent winners unappealing to most kids, but they also aren't the most distinguished books of their year.
Here, let's raise a glass to Avi's Crispin: the Cross of Lead, or the Higher Power of Lucky, or the inexplicable Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!. I've read all three, and I've read the Newbery criteria, many times, and - seriously, there's room for debate here. The recent shifting of the Newbery committee selection, so that more members are appointed than elected, could easily make the problem worse.
And in the meantime, if you've won the Newbery Medal, I'm not sure you're the best person to comment on how valuable the Newbery books are to children. No one is saying that thought-provoking books shouldn't be published. Really.

overheard at the library

A teen girl dashed out of the library. As she passed the desk, she said to herself: "Oh, hey, do I want a bookmark? Oh, no, wait - I don't read!"

Underneath

After a day of thinking, I finally realized what Appelt's writing style in The Underneath reminds me of: the overwritten passages in Cold Comfort Farm. Sad, but true.

does Garfield count as reading?

It seems incredible to me now, but there was a time when I genuinely enjoyed Garfield. I even had a couple of the comic strip compilations. In my defense (should I need one; I'm not sure), it's worth noting that I was young when the Garfield craze hit, so it's not a surprise that I liked it.
Anyway, there was one strip that I loved - I think I still have the book it appeared in, even! Garfield minus Garfield finally got to it yesterday. In the full strip, Jon's about to start eating, and Garfield and Odie are on either side of him. He keeps turning his head as they keep stealing parts of his dinner in turn, but he can't catch him. As he's being taken away, he says "food all gone! food all gone!" and Garfield tells Odie that "they say we can visit him on weekends and holidays", or some such.
Yeah. I know I have a freakish memory, but being able to quote a Garfield comic? Scary.