You can Bank on our region

Forgive the pun headline, but check out how many of our region's books made the Bank Street List in addition to Joni Sensel (and apologies if we missed anyone).

from the under 5 list:
And Then Comes Halloween
by Tom Brenner, illustrated by Holly Meade
(Candlewick, $16.99) 978-0-7636-3659-3
The excitement and fun of this favorite holiday fill the pages of this book. Lively watercolor and collage illustrations.
(3-6)

*Don’t Lick the Dog: Making Friends with Dogs
written and illustrated by Wendy Wahman
(Henry Holt, $16.95) 978-0-8050-8733-8
Simple rhyming text and vibrant, playful drawings offer good advice to young children who encounter new dogs. (4-6)
(the star means outstanding merit)


from the 5-9 list:

Zelda and Ivy: Keeping Secrets
written and illustrated by Laura McGee Kvasnosky
(Candlewick, $15.99) 978-0-7636-4179-5
In three easy-to-read stories, siblings Zelda, Ivy, and Eugene have dramatic, humorous adventures. Animated
illustrations. (5-7)
(read-aloud)

from the 9-12 list:

Runaway Twin
by Peg Kehret
(Dutton, $16.99) 978-0-525-42177-1
After a difficult journey to unite with her twin, Sunny realizes that home is where there is love and caring. (10-14)

from the 14 and up list:

North of Beautiful
by Justina Chen
(Little, Brown, $16.99) 978-0-316-02505-8
Terra, beautiful and talented but insecure, struggles to create a life that is not defined by her portwine birthmark and bullying father. (14-17)

Our past faculty made good appearances, too: Grace Lin, Mitali Perkins, Patty Lee Gauch, Lisa Graff, Suzanne Morgan Williams, and Chris Crutcher.

Thanks to Laurie Thompson for putting together this list. And congratulations to everyone on it.

Assorted bits of good news

Joni Sensel's THE FARWALKER'S QUEST is a finalist in the middle grade fantasy category of the Cybils award (right between Laini Taylor and Neil Gaiman--what a talent sandwich).

Our former member Joan Holub has an easy reader on the list: SHAMPOODLE.

Justina Chen is on the list in the YA category for the oft-starred NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL.

Our honorary member Lisa Schroeder also gets a nod in the YA category for FAR FROM YOU.

And in other bits of happiness, Brenda Z. Guiberson's LIFE IN THE BOREAL FOREST is featured today on Anastasia Suen's site (and it was featured last night in my living room; my 9-year-old wanted to know how Gennady Spirin did the fantastic illustrations).

http://6traits.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/nonfiction-monday-life-in-the-boreal-forest/

Good news for Justina Chen

Not only was Justina's book NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL honored with a best YA book of the year designation, the Curator for the distinguished Kerlan Collection of Children's Literature in the University of Minnesota contacted her and asked for her manuscripts and notes.

These will be added to the collection along with the likes of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. She sent an early draft of GIRL OVERBOARD, the notes she took while studying up on snowboarding, and some signed first editions and galleys.

As the kids say these days: ZOMG!

(ZOMG is an updated version of OMG, which stands for Oh My God. The Z, which is next to the shift key, is in there because the typist is theoretically so excited she has hit the Z key as well. And that is it for today's Geezer Vocab News Flash, your source for probably already outdated Internet slang.)

A Book for All Seasons

A couple of weeks ago, husband and I went on a little trip into the Cascade Mountains to Leavenworth, WA, a community that rather ingeniously saved their town from recession after the Great North Railroad relocated by restyling the entire town into a Bavarian village. It's an odd weekend that Leavenworth doesn't have something going on, from Oktoberfest to Maifest to the Christmas Lighting Ceremony.

Here we are in front of A Book for All Seasons, and you can tell we haven't quite emerged from the Seattle cloudcover unscathed (wow, so THAT's the sun!).

Going into the store was even better - my friends' books on display! Like...

Janet Lee Carey's Dragon's Keep:

And Justina Chen's North of Beautiful:


And Lorie Ann Grover's Loose Threads:


And Dia Calhoun's Firegold (did you know the cover is by Adam Rex?):


And Deb Caletti's The Secret Life of Prince Charming:

And lots more, too many to document! Everyone, give a shoutout to the teens of Leavenworth, who are reading some excellent books in between all of those festivals. Authors and Illustrators, think of Leavenworth as the perfect stop for promoting your next book.

Tag, alles!