Shameless Saturday

We ended one month and surged into another this week. The transition has 2k8ers mourning the close of summer and realizing just how close the end of 2008 is!

Fortunately several 2k8ers got to hang out at the Eastern PA SCBWI event where Laurel Snyder, Liz Gallagher, Nancy Viau and Daphne Grab presented a panel on the differences between MG and YA. They also chatted about their paths to publication, inspiration, what keeps them going, what writers can do to keep from quitting when the going gets tough, and general marketing stuff.

Laurel, Liz, Nancy & Daphne

Every children's author -- especially every new children's author -- loves to get mail from parents, telling them how much they and their children enjoyed the book. When they mention it in public, and when that public mention appears in an article citing many classic titles and prolific authors ... that thrill moves toward the top of the Jolt Meter. Wanna know what we're talking about? Click here to see what one homeschool parent calls the best kept secret for teaching your kids and look for her mention of Jody Feldman's The Gollywhopper Games.

Zu Vincent's The Lucky Place is on the Top Shelf Fiction list for 2008 at "Friends of Palms Middle School," one of only four schools chosen to select the 30 best middle school fiction books published between October 2007 and September 2008 for Voya (Voice of Youth Young Advocates).

And Linda Fischer at SSBRC (South Sound Book Review Council) gives The Lucky Place a recommended review saying, "I believe this book may become one of my best read "Girl Books"...Girls will love it."

Last Saturday 2k8ers Lisa Shroeder and Zu Vincent teamed up with 2k9 author Roseanne Parry to give a panel on group blogging at Portland's Kidlit Bloggers Conference. The conference was filled with amazing authors, book lovers, and bloggers. And the general buzz said group blogs like ours are the wave of the future!

Zu, Rosanne and Lisa

Stop by the kidlit blogspot to hear more including Kim Kasch's sound bites of Zu and Lisa.

And don't forget to nominate your favorite books for the Cybils, the children's and young adult bloggers' literary award. We hope you'll consider our 2k8 titles.

Lastly, look for THREE, count them, 1-2-3, author launches this month! On Monday we're pleased to introduce you to Ellen Booraem, MG author of The Unnameables.

Bye Bye Banned Books

We're wrapping up Banned Book Week here at the class of 2k8 and it only seems fitting that we pay tribute to one of the best loved and single most banned authors ever. The incomparable Judy Blume has five books listed on the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000, but many of us wouldn't have been able to survive puberty without her.

Jenny Meyerhoff: "Many avid readers remember the book that got them “hooked” on reading. For me, that book was ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET, by Judy Blume. I read the book in third grade, which, I suppose is bit below the age of the target audience. As a result, I learned earlier than my friends about the changes my body would someday experience. I waited impatiently for a puberty that wouldn’t arrive for several more years. I read the book twenty-one times in a row that year and many, many more times after that. It was the first book I’d ever read that felt so real, so absolutely connected to my own life. I never feared or dreaded maturing, the way other girls did. ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET became the big sister I never had. Like a good sister, she introduced me to other books. I devoured everything that Judy Blume ever wrote, rereading them all many times. Now I have a daughter. I bought the book for her when she was in fourth grade. I’m proud to say that her copy is now dog-eared as well."

“[I]t's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy Blume

Teri Brown: "Judy Blume had a profound impact on me when I was growing up. I was eleven when I first got a hold of Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. I understood her loneliness, confusion and her eagerness to grow up. I wanted to be Margaret so badly that I tried to involve my friends in a club like the one in the book. Except I lived in Alfalfa, Oregon, and my friends weren’t ready for it… It ended badly with a screaming match on the bus where my bf (former) yelled, “You wanted to start a club on periods!” It was a total Blubber moment. They missed the point totally. But then, I think a lot of people miss the point of Judy Blume’s books. They aren’t about what adults need, they’re about what kids need. And kids need to have characters they can identify with. Like I did with Margaret and Deenie and most of her characters. They helped me feel a little less lonely at a time in my life where I didn’t fit in. "

Calling All Librarians!

We interrupt our Banned Book Week blog posts for this special announcement:

School librarians rock, and we know it! Help us spread the word about the Class of 2k8's new fall contest, just for some of our favorite people on Earth. It's easy to enter and fun!

School librarians can enter by sending us an anecdote about books, reading, or life in the school library, or a snappy quote about books and writing. We'll be posting our favorites on our Class blog during November, but winners will be chosen randomly from among all entries. In addition, if you pass this on to other school librarians and they mention the referral, you and your school will be entered in the drawing twice--double the chance to win!

Prizes include:
First Prize: Your choice of a full set of Class of 2k8 books OR a free author visit from a Class of 2k8 author in your region (if available)!

Two Second Prizes: A $50 gift certificate from Indie Bound (formerly BookSense) plus three books from the Class of 2k8 to add to your school library.

Three Third Prizes: Three books from the Class of 2k8 to add to your school library.

Anecdotes and quotes must be e-mailed to us at contests@classof2k8.com. Pleas bee sure to include your name and contact information at your school with your entry. Entries will be accepted from October 1- November 10, and the winners will be announced November 24.

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

Day 3: Banned Books Week

CLOSING BOOKS SHUTS OUT IDEAS.
That's one of the theme's of this year's Banned Book Week, a week when we celebrate our freedom to choose what we read.

When books are banned choice is taken away and what may offend someone may move another. Just ask Zu Vincent and Kristen Tubb.

Zu: "When The Catcher in the Rye was assigned to us in high school, I was already a voracious reader so far past the mere size of Salinger’s book that its slimness looked subversive. Not to mention the vaguely controversial English teacher who introduced it.

I thought I’d fall for Holden Caulfield, and I was surprised when I didn’t.

In fact, as a kid used to holding down jobs I found Caulfield annoying the way he slouched around whining about existence while others took care of him.

Who I fell in love with was J.D. Salinger. Here was a writer willing to tell the truth. He didn’t care if he pleased you or not. He just opened up his gut and sang.

The Catcher in the Rye taught me that truth is not so far off you can’t get it on the page. Like Caulfield himself tells us,
“What really knocks me out is a book that, when you’re all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.”


CLOSING BOOKS LIMITS UNDERSTANDING.
Kristen: "I had a blessed childhood. The only death I knew belonged to far-away grandparents. Even my cat 'ran away.' Yes, I was sheltered. But no less curious about death. When I stumbled across Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, it was my first 'real' experience with death. Those characters – Jess and Leslie – were so real to me, I mourned Leslie’s death like I would the death of a dear friend. This book showed me not only how powerful books could be, but also how powerful my own emotions could be. To that point, I’d never felt anything as sorrowful as the loss of Leslie.

When I read that this book is often challenged by parents who believe that death is not a suitable topic for a children’s book, I am amazed at how parents could deny their children those same feelings. Because while I was profoundly sad at losing Leslie, I learned from Jess that love continues even after death. I learned that honoring those we’ve lost with happy memories helps us heal. I learned there is hope – if Jess could recover, so could I.

To this day, no other book has affected me as profoundly as Bridge to Terabithia."

CLOSING BOOKS CLOSES POSSIBILITIES

The ten most challenged books of 2007 were:

1. “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
Reasons: Anti-Ethnic, Sexism, Homosexuality, Anti-Family, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

2. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Violence

3. “Olive’s Ocean,” by Kevin Henkes
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language

4. “The Golden Compass,” by Philip Pullman
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint

5. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain
Reasons: Racism

6. “The Color Purple,” by Alice Walker
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language,

7. “TTYL,” by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

8. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” by Maya Angelou
Reasons: Sexually Explicit

9. “It’s Perfectly Normal,” by Robie Harris
Reasons: Sex Education, Sexually Explicit

10. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Have you read a banned book today?

Day Two Banned Book Week

Today, Ellen Booraem talks Harry Potter, which surprisingly has been banned or challenged numorous times. Take it away, Ellen!

I’m always puzzled when people try to ban the Potter books. Although they are supremely entertaining, these books also have an unusually strong moral message—you’re never in any doubt about the distinction between good and evil, or our responsibility to choose between them. The last book makes it clear that redemption is always possible, and the only completely evil person is the one who refuses to seek it.

J.K.Rowling is not a polemicist, though. Her story’s enthralling plot is driven by the character of Harry, a flawed hero whose salvation is his capacity for love. And the books are funny even when tragic—the wizarding world often is a hilarious send-up of our own, from the bureaucrats to the journalists. One of my favorite characters dies with a joke on his lips.

I guess it’s the witchcraft that bothers the banners, but it would be hard to find a less satanic brand of magic. I mean, a world where the first wizard Harry meets is a half-giant with a pink parasol for a wand? What’s not to love?

Thanks Ellen! If you don't think books are still being banned or challneged, think again. The following is an excerpt from a press release from the American Library Association and the Office for Intellectual Freedom,(OIF).

Each year, the OIF receives hundreds of reports on books and other materials that were "challenged" by people who asked that they be removed from school or library shelves. There were 420 known attempts to remove books in 2007, and more than 9, 600 attempts since the ALA’s OIF began to electronically compile and publish information on book challenges in 1990. Unfortunately, it is believed that for every challenge or banning reported to OIF, there are four to five incidents not reported.

You can read more here.

Banned Books Week!

This week is banned book week and 2k8er’s are taking a good long look at some of the books that have been challenged or banned. What have these books meant to us and what might our world have been like if we hadn’t read them? How have these books affected our writing or our life?

First off, we have Barrie Summy, author of I So Don’t Do Mysteries talking about a family favorite, The Great Gilly Hopkins.



The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson (published 1978 for approx 10-15 year olds) was banned by many libraries and schools for rough language (the “n” word) and Gilly’s inappropriate behavior. (At the start of the story, she’s racist.)

The Great Gilly Hopkins won many, many awards including the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, the ALA Notable Children’s Book List, The Horn Book’s Honor list, the Jane Addams Award, the Christopher Award, and the list goes on.

The book opens with Galadriel or Gilly as she prefers to be called and her social worker on their way to yet another foster placement for Gilly. This eleven-year-old girl is tough and mean and manipulative and purposefully difficult to get along with. Imagine her behavior when she finds herself living with Maime Trotter, an illiterate, religious and obese foster mother; William Ernest Teague, a shy, nervous, slow, seven-year-old foster child; Mr. Randolph, her blind neighbor who is black; Miss Harris, her sixth grade teacher who is also black.

Over the course of the book, Gilly learns respect for others and for herself. She learns that family comes in all different shapes and sizes and isn’t necessarily connected by blood. And when her maternal grandmother shows up to claim her and reunite her with her biological mother, Gilly learns that getting what you wish for doesn’t always turn out to be all that great.

In our family, The Great Gilly Hopkins is the first decent-sized chapter book (as in over 80 pages) that Child #1 requested after listening to a fellow classmate’s book talk.

So, a book that encourages discussion about family shapes, racism, and anger (to name a few topics) seems to me like a book you’d want kids to read. Hard to believe some people are still trying to get it banned. Thirty years after the fact.

For a really good sized excerpt, click here

What a week! Let's get right to it!

The Class of 2k8 took over the New England Independent Booksellers trade show last week! Nina Nelson (Bringing the Boy Home) and Ellen Booraem (The Unnameables) signed books, and Donna Freitas was there, too, accepting kudos for The Possibilities of Sainthood.


Ellen Booraem At the NEIB


Nina Nelson Signing at the NEIB


Next, TheHappyNappyBookseller says Sherry (short for Sherlock) Holmes Baldwin, reluctant sleuth of I So Don't Do Mysteries is "just the right amount of pink."

The review goes on to say, "Summy has created a very lovable character in Sherry Baldwin and doesn't skimp us on the others. I look forward to reading more."

Thanks TheHappyNappyBookseller! You're the right amount of pink for us too! Check it out here! Congrats to Barrie Summy!

Guys Lit Wire reviewed N.A. Nelson's book Bringing the Boy Home, saying "This is a book for anyone who is after a classic adventure tale, and who enjoys survival stories with extreme settings. Nelson's tale really rips along...introducing us to a writer to watch." Yay Nina!

"Kiss the Book" says about Zu Vincent's The Lucky Place...

"The Lucky Place really shows everyone exactly how hard it can be to have an Old Dad and a New Dad and having to think you have to choose between them. Great book, an eye opener for sure. I would recommend (that) parents read this book to their children if they have to go through the same thing, also for Middle Schoolers, High Schoolers, and adults...This book is for everyone at every age." What a great review, Zu!