Jane Addams Children's Book Awards and birthday in NYC

I'm just back from the Jane Addams Children's Book Award Ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for books that promote peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races. This was an especially celebratory year, as it was also the 150th anniversary of her birth.

I was incredibly honored that Marching for Freedom was the winner for older children. The awardees all came to the presentation, except Phillip Hoose, who had a previous commitment. He sent his publisher, Simon Boughton, to stand in for him. The speeches were all incredible. I was brought to tears by Andrea Davis Pinkney, who came up to the podium and ... sang. I don't even remember what the song was, just that it was so incredibly beautiful to hear her. It was as if everyone in the room stopped breathing, for just a few stanzas. Then she rolled right into a moving speech.

Here are the amazing women who served as the awards committee:


And the Jane Addams Literature Circle for Girls who read all the honored books and talk about the themes of social justice around the world. Amazing girls, amazing facilitators.



Linda Belle, exec. director, closed out the ceremony with: "Become a dangerous woman!" Love that.

And a new experience for me. My hotel was right across from the United Nations. so before I could enter the building, my suitcase was carefully checked out by a bomb sniffing dog.



He looks relaxed here, but he swings into nose-sniffing gear with a quick command.

Battle of the Books final round

It's almost over.

Fast, furious, contested, cranky, and apologetic, the judges on Battle of the Books have almost all had their say. It's been a wonderful glimpse into the minds of how people pick one book over another to "win."

A few days ago, my book, Marching for Freedom, beat out Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan. Judge Walter Dean Myers put it this way.

Shannon Hale, who had judged Tales in an earlier round, had a completely different take on the book, and blogged about how her opinion was so different from Walter Dean Myers.

I've judged several award contests myself -- last year, I was a judge for the Battle of the Books (Chains vs. Washington at Valley Forge), and have also served on the LA Times Book Prize and National Book Award for Young Adults committees. I wonder if contests judged by authors are more subjective than those judged by librarians or book reviewers. American Library Association, for example, has very stringent guidelines for judges. From what I've heard about those quiet, well-behaved librarians picking winners (not that people are allowed to say much) there can be a lot of thumping on the table and shouting out the guidelines to defend choices and knock out others.

Thoughts, anyone? The bottom line for me is that contests create energy and excitement around books, and this is a good thing.

There's a new twist on this year's Battle, which is the Undead Poll. The Frog Scientist has made a run away Zombie comeback, and is up against Marching and The Lost Conspiracy.

Fascinating. Two illustrated nonfiction and one incredibly detailed fantasy novel. Results posted tomorrow- being judged by Katherine Paterson, this year's National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

United Nations International School visit, lovely shout-outs for Marching

I had a blast at the United Nations International School last week, invited by librarian Lisa Moore. Jim Hoover, the Viking designer I've done three books with, appeared with me and we tag-teamed the kids. For the K-2 group I talked about putting together a book, read one of my picture books, then with enthusiastic participation by the kids we wrote a story all together. Jim drew the pictures: fast, furious, and full of character. So much fun. Here are Jim's quick sketches:

Then Jim and I talked to third through fifth graders about putting together Marching for Freedom. We were in the library, with a great book display of my books. That's Lisa Moore in the upper left corner. Isn't that the most book-rich library you've seen in awhile? And in the middle of the kids coming and going and working at tables, Lisa is a calm center at her desk.

I explained how Martin Luther King and President Johnson worked together behind the scenes and got this question: "Was that president black or white?" The student was too young to have been dancing in the streets with the rest of us just over a year ago. Change does happen, in unexpected ways.

The third group, sixth through eight graders, were incredibly savvy. It was wonderful to talk to an international group of kids.

Good news: Marching for Freedom was featured in several book round-ups for Black History Month: USA Today, and The Washington Post. In addition to being on  Best Books for Young Adults and Notable Children's Books lists, Marching made the  International Reading Association 2010 Notable Books for a Global Society. Mitalia Perkins is also on the list for her new book, Secret Keepers, and has an excellent blog post on the award and the twenty-five books which got a shout-out. I'm honored to be in such great company!

Award lists, and behind the scenes with photographer Plaxton

This time of year thoughtful, enthusiastic "best books of the year" lists are compiled by hard-working librarians,  reviewers, and readers. Marching for Freedom has made the cut on Kirkus Best YA Books of 2009, Hornbook,  Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Books of 2009, Booklist Editor's Choice, School Library Journal, NYPL Top 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. I am incredibly stoked and honored to be in the company of such terrific books.

Sometimes I forget how incredible the internet is, and then something like this reminds me: here's a New Yorker portfolio of portraits of world leaders, by photographer Platon, with his comments. You get to look at each photo, up close, and hear his story of taking the shot while he was set up in a hallway at the September meeting of the United Nations. Start with the photo of Platon in the lower right corner and listen to the interview of how the whole shoot went, and then click on the images to hear his specific comments. It's amazing how difficult the shoot was, how hard he worked, and how revealing the photos are.

Here's my favorite: Evo Morales, President of Bolivia. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous photograph.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice wins the NBA and goes viral

This year's short list for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature had not one, but two non-fiction titles. Very, very exciting. Both fantastic books: Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, and Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose.

[Late breaking correction!! Since I originally posted this, several people have pointed out that the short list actually has three non-fiction titles. I was so captivated by the graphic novel aspect of Stitches by David Small, I completely overlooked that it's a memoir. I wonder if the judges looked at their short list and said...wow, we've come down three non-fiction titles. Is this okay? Will people say this list is unbalanced?]

Unlike many other awards, the committees for the NBA are made up of authors. Two years ago I chaired the Young People's Literature committee, and I'll tell you: deciding which are the "best" books of the year is incredibly difficult. It's relatively easy to start winnowing, but it gets harder and harder as the list gets shorter. In order to prevent leaks, the NBA committees meet for lunch on the very day of the awards to choose their winner. In my year, a rumor flashed around the banquet hall as we gathered for the award ceremony that the adult non-fiction committee was still out in the hall, duking it out.

 This year's Young People's Literature award went to Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. I can't even begin to tell you how fantastic this book is. Well researched. Beautifully written. Compelling. And the best part: it has, suddenly and without warning, shifted our view of history, and put Claudette Colvin into her rightful place in the civil rights struggle. Her story has gone viral, on the Newshour, and in the New York Times.