Probably shouldn't be any
everybody. I I hope you're all with us today.
My name is Rhonda Mahalick,
I'm the director of marketing
for Junior Library Guild.
We're so excited to have everybody
here and we're super happy
because we're bringing with us.
Some members of our editorial
dream team to talk to you guys.
About how they consistently pick
a word body books and and just so
you know they're doing this long
before the bookstore even published
so when they're picking them.
They're doing,
it on their own and they have some
sort of magic spell that they're
going to share with us today.
I know you'll all be interested
in hearing about that.
Before we get started.
I want to just give you a quick heads
up about some housekeeping stuff 1st.
This will be recorded so
don't need to take notes.
You can listen to this later.
You'll get ink afterwards,
so you can watch it.
At your leisure rewatch it or share
with people will also be doing a Q&A.
At the end,
so post your questions in the chat box
and we'll see how many we can get to.
Um it around till the very end of
the webcast because we bought some
resources for you, we've also got some.
Exciting announcements about
upcoming webcast.
Anna big sale.
That's going to be starting next week.
You'll want to hear about that.
An one last um make sure if you're
not seeing some lovely faces on
your screen to click on them.
Yeah,
player icon video so that you'll
be able to see and hear them.
Now without further ado,
let me introduce you we've got here with us.
We have miss Susan Marston,
you probably know her.
Miss JLG casts season is already
tauriel director and she's been
selecting books for GLGJLG
for nearly half her life.
So she know
it more than half my life now
that she's been doing it and she's
she's got it down. So we're excited
hear from her also next year,
we've got Alexandra or Alex a service.
Alex is published writers and
she's originally from Mexico City.
She reads for a handful of our elementary
and middle school categories and she also
leads up breeding for our Spanish language.
Categories so she's got some great insight,
you'll love hearing from her.
I better cider season we've got Mister
Dan Josephson also a published author so
we've got we've got it going on here.
Dan help LG's adult crossover high
plus an adult crossover nonfiction,
plus categories and he breeds for those.
We have a natural instinct for picking
the crossover titles that are going
to appeal the high school readers.
The worst super honored to have him.
He's been with us a long time,
too, and last but not least over in
the other corner hailing from his
one man office in North Carolina.
Miss Claus.
All alone.
We could have been with the LG for
13 years and also a published author.
He's had a long specialty and
young adult literature,
so he wins or why wait category.
And he's all hold on what's funny because he
himself does a lot of humor writing so he
has a great perspective when it comes to?
Humor for our categories,
so I'm going to pass the baton
on now to Susan Ann.
I want her to share a little
bit about what this.
Slide in this type by means when
it comes to jail jeez consistently
picking award wording books.
Well we Receive submissions from
all different publishers and we read
them as we go along and we have to
make decisions at the same time.
As when the books are being printed
and because of that our decisions
are way in advance of publication.
Um some books can be as long
as a year and a half.
Um some are closer to publication date.
A lot of it has to do with where it's
printed if it's printed domestically.
Sometimes I said shorter time frame.
A man as you can see for new kid,
we decided on that in.
September 2018. Um undefeated.
Weather in November of 2018.
And dig we decided on also
in November of 2018.
It was a long time ago.
Before
the awards committees read the books,
we read them before they do.
And Speaking of new CAD.
You could uh was a big award winner and Ila
Newberry Caretta Scott King, Author Award.
And this is a book that.
We really liked because of the realism,
but also the humor.
One thing that stuff,
struck out stuck out to me and
probably wouldn't see you also.
Is that their parents in the books?
Who are loving and together very rare is also
graphic novels tend to be very diverse but.
Having a graphic novel
without boy main character.
And an African American
boy that's pretty rare.
Um so this is a very realistic.
Jordan is a 7th grader who goes to A.
Procedures new private school and he's
the new kid so almost everybody can
imagine what it's like to be the new kid.
Everybody can imagine what it's
like to be the bottom of the heap
ease of the 7th grader in a school
that's grades Seven through 12.
Um.
But he also has lots of different
experiences from going to his.
Um upper Manhattan neighborhood
and then going.
North to this prestigious school
where lots of the kids are rich an
we have some interior slides here.
So if you could advance the slide.
Uhm he's very artistic so this
is an example of some of the art
that he drew and this shows a
little bit about his relationship
with his father of how his father
teaches him how to shake hands.
Um and here's the parents are deciding
whether to send him to the school or not.
His mother was very impressed by the
education null opportunities and his
father is worried that he's going to.
Be uncomfortable in the situation and
that maybe he should go to art school.
And in the next one this shows
how he changes during his journey
from home to to school.
Um so when he's in one neighborhood,
he wears a hoodie and he tries to
look cool and another points he feels
comfortable drawing Ann wants to be.
Non threatening.
Uh this. Slide talks a little bit
about the mix of humor an realism
is showing the quote Escapist
Literature for African Americans.
A escaped from slavery escape
from poverty escape from prison,
there's another part of the book
that compares what the kids.
The white kids have on their shelf
of escapist literature and those are
more fantasy and adventure so there.
It's tackling real.
Issues but also I laughed out loud.
Many times while reading this.
Overall, I think one of the things
I love about this book is how much
I grew to how immersive it was how
much I grew to get to know Jordan.
And it's a falls into the category of.
Lots of other award winning books
and that I just wanted to hug him
and didn't know how to express
that so sometimes I just found
myself hugging the Buck.
I didn't really predict that this is
going to be a Newberry Award winner.
But because of rules are really strict
about how much the illustrations can
enter into the decision but there
was definitely buzz about this one.
At the end of. 2019.
Uhm and I think Dan's going
to talk about undefeated
undefeated by Kadir Nelson
and Kwame Alexander.
This is when we're really excited to see.
The books of consideration of African
American history and kind of an ode
to the resilience of black Americans.
It's a pretty pretty stunning book and
I think it's a fun one to talk about.
And think about it in terms of what we're
looking for and how we make our decisions.
Uh a lot of times will say that we're looking
for something fresh and original and.
Occasionally we'll get books that try
to stand out by doing something a
little bit gimmicky or over the Top.
And with this book,
I thought was really kind of
stunning about it is the restraint.
That the book shows if you look
at some of the spreads here,
you can see that uhm.
Yeah, we could just advance it
to one of the spreads.
That the pros is really pared back
everything in essential is kind of
cut out and even in the artwork.
It largely dispenses with backgrounds
or perspective,
so that you really just have
these amazing portraits.
And I thought that did 2 things that
were really powerful one is that
with everything extraneous cut out.
The text that is still there kind of
echoes with resonances throughout
American history, you can see here,
the italicized bit.
Mentioned by any means necessary if
we look at the next next spread.
The yeah,
I thought I really like the mention of.
Carrying the red, white and weary Blues,
weary Blues is a poem by Langston
Hughes and those are italicized,
so that they're easy.
Easy to find I thought the other
thing that you know this kind of
restraint did was it.
Pushes the focus back onto those portraits,
which seem like they addressed the
reader directly or the people to whom the.
It's being read if you were to use
this as a read aloud and it makes
the book really feel like.
You know an encounter with the
subject of the book.
You know whether those are in
the context of being sort of like
this difficult bits of history,
or A little later in the book
that are more proud and hopeful
if we see like the next spread.
I think we get this is another part.
Where we get the phrase repeated a few times?
This is for the unspeakable
and these images from history.
I think there's one more of those.
Yeah, and then.
Yeah, and now here are some athletes
and there's really helpful back
matter at the end of the book too.
That gives a little bit of a
bio of some of the people who
are portrayed there so yeah,
this is really.
Amazing but that we were happy
to be able to offer and yeah,
it was also wanted like being
open to something new helped us.
Find something that I think
would be like really special
book for young readers.
So anybody can read this talked about
how stunning it was now moving,
it was and every time I
look at these slides or?
At the book. Uhm mean?
Caribal ones from history make me cry,
but this. Image also made me cry
because it's just so beautiful and just
emotion pouring out of their faces.
It's it's there's such an economy of words.
Such an economy of images
and it's over also moving.
So I am read Genesis begins again. Uh,
which ended up being a Caretta Scott team.
You telling author Award winner and a Newbery
honor and Emirates finalist this book.
Did really, really well and when
I first picked it up from my very,
very large pile of middle grade reading?
The thing that caught my eye initially
was actually Genesis is narrative voice,
so the books written in the first person.
Which is a potentially a risky move because
there's definitely a difference between?
An adult writing middle schooler who
sounds like what an adult thing.
Some middle schooler sounds like
an adult braiding middle schooler
who sounds like really.
Really sounds like a tween ager and
Genesis is definitely the latter so
that immediately caught my attention.
Um strong payoff for the taking of
trying to inhabit. First person voice.
Of of a teenage teenage girl, Um.
And so that's what sort of kept me
interested in reading further and
ultimately the thing that made me.
Decide that it would be a great day.
LGI selection is that?
I kind of love for JLG books that
managed to be simultaneously specific
and universal and that's a really
fine needle to thread but.
Facebook does it incredibly well so
the book tackles the issue of colorism,
which is sort of a particular
experience of racism that involved.
Discrimination that's relative
to how dark your skin is uhm.
That's a very,
very specific experience that
that is something that kids.
In minority groups who previously
had walked away from libraries
empty handed because they haven't
necessarily found books that speak to
their own personal lived experiences.
So this,
this book immediately connect
to those readers.
And they can finally find a story
that talks about an issue that's
really specific and important to them.
At the same time, though,
the way that these theme plays
out there at the book.
There's this recurring device of this list.
Genesis has obscene,
she hate.
About herself so you know,
she keeps his running list of things,
she wishes that she could change
about herself.
Including aspects of her physical
appearance and that is actually
super super universal like I don't
know a person who can say that.
At some point in in middle school in
those tweenagers when you're suddenly
becoming super aware of your body.
Everyone is developing a different
race in your body through all
these weird things that feeling
of being like Oh man if I could.
Only just change this one thing about
myself that I can't control that that
I just don't like you know like.
I wish I had a different nose or longer hair.
I wish I didn't have freckles so
that from that perspective the book.
It's actually really,
really universal because every kid has
struggled with that feeling whether or not.
It's about colors and specifically
every kid knows what it feels like.
To wish there was something
about their appearance that they
can't control the to wish
that they could change that.
So you know in a in an ideal world.
Libraries would have infinite space.
Infinite budgets and there could be 1 book.
For every kid struggle but.
In the world we live in there
are finite shelf space and
finite budget so it's amazing
to have one book that can reach.
Such like a wide.
Range of readers and one book that all
different kinds of readers can pick
up and find something to connect you.
I saw her speak at the Morris Awards.
And she talked about how her grandmother
was the one who gave her the.
The support that she needed to overcome
those things an her dedication in the
book says for every person who felt as
if they weren't good enough. You were,
and you always will be.
Just really lovely. And there, he is.
The next book that we're going to
talk about is the friend, Scott King,
down step to New Talent Illustrator Award.
And that is was given to April Harrison
for what is given from the heart?
We were taken by this story about
generosity and I have to say that.
My whole everybody on our team will tell you
that generosity is one of those qualities
that really get me when I'm reading books.
'cause I see children showing tremendous
Keran love rather people and seeing
this boy in this book with his.
Being selfless and softball was.
Very moving, it also made it a perfect.
Book for our.
Crap character building category.
And we can look at some of the art
from April Harrison on the next bread.
So what happens is uhm.
This mother and son have? Lost.
Uh the boys father has recently died,
they lost their house there
in very dire straits,
but they learn.
At their church that the Church
of making a gift to a family
who lost everything in a fire.
And the boy thinks that he doesn't
have anything to give but he sees his
mother is making aprons of her best.
Uh. Cable bar. For this.
Family and he tries to think about what
he can get so here he is thinking about it.
And then he decides after much consideration,
He decides to make her a Buck in here,
he is working on it.
He can go to the next slide.
And here he is offering it says the
little girl who obviously is very shy.
But then on the next spread we can see
how much it means to her to have a book.
Just written for her about her and
she tells him not to read it to
her 'cause she wants to read it.
Partners now.
Um.
So this is April Harrison dedicated death
to her grandchildren when her children were
small, she used to special order books.
By Patricia Mckissick,
the author of this book that was amazing,
but she got to illustrate this book but.
Pictures of mackenzie had died before.
April Harrison had the book so that was.
A shame but she dedicated the
book to her grandchildren and PW.
I think had a really good insight into
talking about the illustrations, they said.
They like in it, too.
Um stain glass window. Ann.
One thing I thought that was
really nice about this book was,
it's not teaching anyone to be
Christian but it's showing.
That the church is just part of
the daily life of these characters
and that's pretty rare.
We're also very excited that we
have April Harrison's next book.
Nana Akua goes to school so that
will be coming.
And a future box.
OK.
So the next one is big by asking
and this one won the Prince metal
this year for best way of the year.
Uhm I will say despite my many
years of experience doesn't take a
genius to take the new asking novel.
She's been. Doing it for a long time.
In fact, one of the very first
books that we took when I started
working for jail G was.
Please ignore Vera deeds,
which one the Prince honor that year.
And ever since then,
I think we've taken just about everything.
That she's written.
So that made certainly Fred everything.
Absolutely.
It's a testament to
somebody genius,
whether it's ours or her than not sure.
But maybe both I will say having
been a fan of hers for so long.
This book actually did manage to
take me by surprise and that's
one of the reasons that I.
Also, happy to take this,
I kind of you if you read other her books.
You kind of know that you expect
maybe something a little bit.
The real combined with.
A really kind of gut punching emotional
issue and and it's fun to see how
these 2 things play out this one.
Is a bit more methodical and how it goes?
It's a bit more surprising
and how those elements come
together and there's a lot more.
Perspective that go into this
story and the way that they build
over the course of the novel.
It's It's a very surprising,
saying it in a gradual.
Oh, I opening kind of away not.
Not exactly A twist, ending sort of way.
Um.
But it's something that when you
come away from it, your life well.
How did she?
How did she do that so?
That that is something I imagine I made
an impression on the Prince Committee,
Having said that I never.
Make predictions about what's going to
win the Prince because I'm always wrong.
But we do in general have a very good track
record in terms of picking Prince winners.
I looked back and we have 8 of the 10 past.
Frank award winners along.
Many point dozens of the honors as
well so we're doing pretty well.
Yes,
for sure.
So I think we're doing pretty well
with those and I think one of the
reasons and we were talking about this.
Earlier.
What kind of looking at a lot of the
same criteria that the board convenes
are looking for we're just doing it.
Months and months in advance,
so we're looking for something
that really stands out.
Among even the best stuff we're
just bring those eyes to it a
lot earlier so that's I think.
Part of the reason we had
such a good track record.
In in choosing these.
OK so I looked at dancing hands.
Which one the Buddha Bisbee
Illustrator Award as one of the
editors who read for several of our
nonfiction elementary categories?
And so as such, I read a lot
of picture book biographies.
It's a big component of what I look at.
And. There's this sort of recurring
motifs that comes up over and over
again in picture book biographies.
Usually the subject being
treated as somebody who's.
Major accomplishment happened when
they were already adults and you know,
these are important historical figures
and authors do a great job of.
Trying to make these people
accessible to younger readers.
But what really jumped out at me immediately
when I looked at dancing hands is that?
It's talking about data center
in Yahuza was a valid Venezuelan
immigrants who came to the USA.
During the Civil War and ended up
playing the piano at the White House for
Abraham Lincoln because she was such a.
Talented pianists and she did this at age 9,
so the story is actually
focused on a person who's.
Great accomplishment happened when
they were the same age as the readers
who are going to be looking at the
books so that's you know really,
really cool immediately this is.
Someone that those readers can
connect with right away and you know.
Similarly,
the biographies of great adults when
they look back towards their childhood.
There's this kind of recurring device of.
Everyone else wanted to go out and play,
but so and so just was sitting at their
desk working hard and reading and.
And I'm sure that that's true of a lot
of people who are successful adults,
but it's.
State this narrative that only one
kind of kid grows up to be successful
and I think that that can be kind of
distancing for readers if they're not.
The kid who just wants to sit
at their desk reading books,
so this book completely sidesteps
that by just focusing on.
Getting your as a 9 year old girl
playing for Abraham Lincoln and
she did in fact go on to become.
A famous adult musician and the book.
You know the back matter does address this.
But I think the fact is that book
really hones in on this one anecdote.
I've heard the 9 year old girl.
We just worked hard and loves music
and gets to play for the president.
Is that really,
really smart and in terms of speaking
to actual 9 year old readers and trying
to draw them in and engage them.
And the thing that really stayed
with me after that sort of immediate
note of interest.
Play the art which is completely stunning,
um really beautiful.
It's so, so expressive so again this book is.
That during the Civil War,
which is kind of a dark period
in American history and.
I think I've seen other picture
books that address dark schemes
have the instinct of sort of
uhm protects young readers by.
Making like sort of making the art
a little bit more cartoonish or
softening that seems in some way.
With the art and I think it's amazing
that little bit does not do this at all,
I mean He.
When he's doing that when he?
To take things the scenes of war,
he is really leaning into these Moody
expressive dark colours, he's not.
Condescending to the young reader,
he's like OK,
you can handle this, this is like.
This is what it was really like
it wasn't just you know.
June if it was there, you know real.
Dark texture to what life was like,
at that time.
Conversely, though,
when he is illustrating the scenes
of getting your playing music.
Suddenly,
the pallet just explodes into
color is so beautiful vibrant and
textured and rich and you have this.
The conceit that he uses to visually depict.
The music is,
he's like strains of color and
these birds and Flowers and
notes floating in the air.
I just think that what you immediately
recognize when you look at this is that
feeling of doing something that you love
and that you are so excited about it,
I think.
Elementary schoolers you know they don't have
the like teenage chip on their shoulder.
Yet they're still really good at.
Being enthusiastic of other things,
they like and really like being excited
about the things that they care about.
And that may not be music that maybe you
know art or you know playing basketball,
whatever it is,
though, that.
That feeling of joy that explodes
out of you when you're doing
something you like I think a kid.
Really can recognize that and so there's
just something about this art that
I think a kid will look at unsafe.
Yeah, I know exactly how that feels to just.
Think burst with joy and just doing
my favorite thing ever, but in here
also said. She looks completely
engaged in her playing the music,
yeah, look at Lincoln.
Just lost in the music having
a moment of relaxation,
yeah, absolutely you can feel that
he's really drawn in by her playing.
We hope that you know they're
reader definitely relates to that to
looking at the art being like yes.
I'm just like it's washing over me.
This this art that's
representing this girls playing.
An actually think it's kind of cool
that Lopez the artists. He come.
Also in the musician in his spare time.
And In addition to being a very talented
illustrator and so apparently when he was.
Working on dancing hands,
he would go to his studio and play.
The Quattro,
which is a string instrument from Venezuela,
which is the country work better,
Angels from.
And so he would play that to get
in the mood for illustrating and
I actually think the fact that
he loves playing music to really.
Inform his ability to visually represent.
The experience of playing.
All right, the next book.
We're going to talk about
is midnight in Chernobyl by
Adam Higginbotham, which one.
The Carnegie Medal for excellence
in nonfiction and yeah.
I took that for our adult crossover
nonfiction group what it is,
is really a minute by minute.
Account of the disaster in Chernobyl.
And yeah for me,
there is one moment in particular.
That sort of encapsulated what
was so amazing about this book.
Which I'll try to describe really briefly?
In the midst of describing the physics of
what happens during a nuclear meltdown
and a detailed description of how these.
The town was evacuated and their these
helicopter pilot is trying to draw
bags of sand onto the melted core.
Without getting caught in the Top 16
that's coming up. Higginbotham
focuses in on this one tiny moment
where a woman who's been out of town
visiting family for a couple of days.
Ends up coming back.
Because even though the town was
evacuated nobody in the chaos had let
the railway lines know that they should.
Skip the stop there and this woman
is found in the evening just kind
of wandering around this abandoned.
City. With her suitcases,
not having known that anything
happened and just hasn't left
a couple of days previously.
And yeah that was the moment where I.
Well, right now, I know just
imagine what that must have
felt like like what happened
and writing, so I put the book
down and went talk to Susan said.
Yeah, we should.
See if we can get this one.
Um and yeah, there are a couple of things,
I mean, it encapsulated this real
like virtue of the book that.
You know how it tuned it is to the
kind of eerie very idiosyncratic
experience of individuals who
are caught up in this tremendous.
Historical disaster and that's
part of what I thought would make
it relatable as a crossover title.
That would be of interest to high school
readers even though it was written.
You know with adults in mind
reads like a thriller, yeah,
yeah, it is,
and the other thing that I think
you're right like that.
Shows is that this book is based on
a tremendous amount of research,
but it wears really lightly and.
Information is always at the
service of a narrative that in
order to make it really vivid
and to make it really accessible.
I think
I think like Steve Shinten,
who writes lots of.
A high interest nonfiction,
he is to write textbooks and he
said he got into writing too.
Right all the good stuff that were left
out of the text coverage right so a lot
of times you read nonfiction where the?
Author just said, OK,
I researched this,
I have to put it in but he
avoids doing that right.
Where you are just immersed in this
situation and it's hard to stop reading
right and all those details are there,
but you've discovered that they're all?
He's focused on how they affect
the people involved in that's
often something that will look
for in picking a nonfiction book,
especially as a crossover.
A couple of other titles that I'll just
mention are the second kind of impossible,
which is another book about physics that
has an amazing narrative story to it.
The schoolhouse gate,
which is about Supreme Court cases that
were made that tackles questions of
Education and public education and stuff.
Uh. And I mentioned those in part,
'cause I noticed that we've sold
out of. He has
been a internal so for similar titles,
but those aren't the only like virtues
for nonfiction will also take.
Memoirs and stuff that have
very different virtues.
So I think you know in terms of thinking
about how we make those decisions.
Being open and receptive to the
things that are really special about
a particular folk are important
thinking about all different
kinds of readers. So if you go
to my I do have a secret weapon,
which is my teenage sons,
so sometimes I bring a book Oh man.
Bring it to them and they?
Especially had their nonfiction will
high School Raiders be interested.
Helpful test case to see what will be.
You know special books or particular readers.
OK. Now we're going to
talk about Odyssey winner.
Um all of our audio books start
out as selections that we take.
As print books, so I first
came to know the story of Hey
kiddo by the graphic novel and.
The graphic novel,
it would kind of blew my mind because I
use Jerejak Rosolska as the author of.
Punk farm and lunch Lady Bugs and
books that I had read a million times
with my kids as they were growing up.
And this is very different this
is guaranteed Kosovska grew up
his grandparents raised him.
He grew up in Worcester, MA.
Um and His mother was a teen mother,
who became addicted to heroin.
Um so he was raised by his
grandparents and I do have a little
clip about the audio when I first.
Heard of the idea of doing a
graphic novel of an audio bug.
It seems I mean, an audio book.
From a graphic novel, it seemed amazing.
How could you do that because you know
based on the illustrations and my first one?
And I listened to was new Mona and
if you haven't listened to that.
We need to listen to that 'cause
it was amazing and blew my mind.
And this bug or this audio bug Jerrod J,
Chris Aska.
Uh I ended up using a full cast,
which included his daughter as a
young jerret his people who are.
Actually,
in his life in the veterans retold
in the bugs are his art teacher
is insane in place themselves.
And his birth father plays himself and um.
He had people from the area so that the.
Accents would be correct and Jeanne
Birdsall plays his grandmother,
so I have a little clip uhm this is when.
The family says.
Jared's mother has been away.
He doesn't really know where he's a
little boy and she's in sort of A.
Have. House and they go to visit.
So here is the clips.
I'm sorry dad but
I have to stay here,
it's just for a little while.
Though then I'll be home
again, you'll see. Don't
cry now, I didn't even give you my gift.
She handed me a big white teddy bear
do you like he's going to need a name
name him? Snow cone because he's a polar
bear makes perfect sense to me come on
now jerrit it's getting late.
I love you so much. I want
you to come home like that come on pal.
I'll see you mom again soon.
When you don't see
your mom much it treasure
anything she gives you. I'm
calling with the closest thing I had to hurt.
So that is from the audio edition
of OK kiddo Badara Jakubowska.
It was produced in directed by
Western Woods for scholastic audio.
Copyright 2018 and a Junior Library Guild
selection and honestly award winner.
I think it's back to you make a?
They cannot see me too.
Yeah, yeah. You can still
see me OK. Sorry I had to,
I went to my Cousins House,
so my son wouldn't crash my
presentation. I seem to have.
Crash my own presentation by not
ringing a charger for my laptop.
OK, so field guide to the North
American teenagers for you are
you good on that. Yeah, so
I did say earlier that I don't.
I don't make predictions,
but I do have favourites and so
I was really rooting for this one
to win will Morris Award and was.
Deeply gratified when it did win.
This is a really.
It's I really stand on novel and the
main reason is it just made Maine.
Laugh a lot as mentioned earlier, I'm a big.
Comedy comedy snobs how many
nerd I'm always looking for.
Why is that are going to uh?
Not really stand out in humor
Department and this is definitely
one of those I think once this book.
I've been feeling has become you know,
one of the funniest voices in why
a I was kind of compared him to.
Jessie Andrews if anybody's red.
Me Earl and the dying girl.
Mine mine both books that we've
also taken at geology.
Is as funny or more funny that out?
I'll be at with a very different
perspective and I think that's another
reason this book really stood out to me.
Um.
I've been reading you know for 13 years
as I mentioned before for geology.
An I can't do that I've ever read
Hawaii novel from the perspective
of a black French Canadian
teenager living in Austin,
TX this is a really.
That is interesting,
it might be a Fern.
I think uh. It's a very funny perspective,
it's also really interesting taken through
the concept of this uh a field guide.
Kind of a quasi scientific approach
to living in in the new country
for this character, something like
that could come across as kind.
Instead of today has a very sharp insights.
Um an provide this fun way of looking
at this young man's new experience in.
A foreign Country Club, Texas. So.
That's a big reason I liked it.
Another thing that's no fun for
a lot of us at JLG.
And for librarians and readers 2 is when.
Authors also have a great social media
presence, so I encourage you all.
To check out Ben Phillips Twitter
at go home then. Um happy very.
They have the same kind of sardonic wit.
On his Twitter that he does in this book,
so I have noticed that he was
recently retweeted by.
Padma Lakshmi,
though he's someone on the rise,
Fisher at
big in the world.
OK, so I read asylum
Gabby break the universe,
which was the 2020 pulled over today,
author Award winner.
And I read that again as in my
capacity as an editor for several
of our middle grade categories. And
there's actually a quotation
in the book that perfectly encapsulated
my feelings about it, so assigned.
These aren't the protagonist of the book is
describing his house which is just like.
Weird awkward Neo Gothic building an he says
quote I liked it because I like weird things.
Weird is the opposite of boring and again,
he's talking about his house there.
But in that moment as I
was reading I was like.
He could kind of be describing
the entire book.
I mean, this book is just so
delightful E refreshingly unusual.
I think as JLG editors would
probably all agree that we read a
really large volume of content in.
Very quick succession
and sometimes it feels like
we're reading the same book.
Over and over and over, yeah,
exactly so when you read
a ton of books in a row 1 right after
the other, especially their narrow down.
By age range, you started to become
really hyper attuned to repetition
to sort of whether it's market
trends or just really, really.
On preferred themes that come up over
and over again and you start to be very,
very good at predicting what's
going to happen next in a book.
And with this book,
I truly can say that I was not
able to do that every chapter
would end and I would think.
I have no idea what's going
to happen in the next chapter.
I couldn't even even hazard a guess.
And that's actually extremely
refreshing when you've been reading
so many books in a row that.
That where you are getting very good at
guessing what's going to happen next.
It's kind of like it.
It's it's really exciting sort of jolts.
You awake,
so specifically for example,
we mentioned this earlier a little bit,
but a lot of middle grade books.
Deal with sort of incomplete
parents whether the parents are
negligent or dead or abusive.
They come up a lot and I guess
it's kind of A.
It's useful plot device because kids
with absent parents can go out and
get into trouble a little bit more.
And it's also I guess a good like
metaphor for coming of age and
certainly be more independent, but uh.
But you do sort of you see a lot of
it and you wonder where the good
parents are and the amazing thing about.
Abby is that in one sense it sort
of deals with the same themes
and I don't want to say too much
because this is a book that.
In far far better unspoiled like definitely
best to go into and not knowing too
much about what you're going to get.
But technically on paper,
both style and Gabby have what you
could consider incomplete or non
conventional non nuclear families.
And yet Both characters that have
this overabundance of loving parents.
There is more good parents in the book.
Then you could imagine I would
like both of them.
There's different sort of unusual quirky
ways happen to have like an excess of great.
Parents so it's it's neat because
it's sort of tackling this same.
I don't know like Belows archetype of.
Middle grade fiction,
but coming into hermit completely new angle.
So you know Kid Reader is going
to immediately perk up when they
look at this because, like?
I am suddenly don't know what I'm important.
I really,
really want to know what happens next.
OK read lunch by Recado won the
excellence in nonfiction for young adults.
Um and I can understand why an
I'm don't make predictions,
but I think I would have nominated this an.
Probably given at the award is
well the subject is poverty.
I think that any.
Person can put themselves in
this place a kid knows what it's
like to be in the lunch room.
Teacher knows what it's like to
be in the lunch room as a parent.
I could imagine my kids in the lunch room,
but then to have to announce
that you're on free lunch.
Um and Said Um,
Just the feeling of that and the Wendy
who read this book first before I did.
She said she had to take positive?
Because it was hard to take um,
but that's I think because.
She related to it, so much. Um.
So it definitely stood out for
that I like that is written for
a middle grade audience. Um.
Not elementary I wouldn't say I
would say Middle School Ann on up.
And it's definitely a stand out.
We are going to be hosting Rex
Ogle in a webcast in March for our
own your own story webcast series.
So I'm really looking forward to that.
Quotes from the book and just broke my heart.
Thank you guys so much.
This is Rhonda back again we really.
I really enjoyed hearing from
you so I'm hoping that everyone.
On the web captain too.
It's so exciting an so it I listening
to how passionate you guys are about.
Your jobs and about the books and I
love mounting suzon hugging new kid.
I think I would be hugging a lot
of the different books actually.
Will you picture that you mentioned
hugging that one so I had to picture that
alright so we're going to do a little Q&A.
I've gotten some questions during the session
and we got some ahead of time as well.
So we're going to move into those but real?
And to just talk to you about a
couple of things uhm because go
away once the webcast is done.
There's a resource box that you can
click on and we have some things
in there for you to download.
We got bookmarks that are for each of
these books that we discussed today.
You can click on the link there.
And shop that was Ala winners in honoring
that we still have in our collection
like Dan said some of them have.
Sold out already but you can get him
for $12.00 apiece and that's a great
deal because some of these book.
Available on our backlist, yes, so this.
And we also have a link there that we
have a collection of categories that
we've called Storytime selections.
And if you're looking for anything like that.
We have an offer going on right now.
If you'd like to add any of those.
Your subscription you can get 10
free books for every.
Um featured reading math.
And then there's also a
downloads about failed D,
including a history of our award
winners that similar to that timeline.
We talked about at the very beginning
with this kind of shows how.
We have a track record of.
Or being able to is awesome,
word where the books to their subscriptions.
This is why it season just reference.
We have an exciting webcast coming
up in March. It's actually not just.
One webcast it's a series of web casts
on the 3rd Jackson Bird, who wrote sort.
It is going to be with us?
We have Nikki Grimes, coming on the 12th.
Talk about ordinary hazard and
then wrecks on the 1918 or 19,
there's going to be talking about.
We want and we're really excited about that,
it ties in with right there,
I'm sorry man.
Then uhm you talking about how
powerful it is to write their own
stories and they're going to share.
You know their feelings about how
their students can tell their stories
and own their stories as well.
So it's exciting work looking forward to it.
And that also Mark your calendars because,
on Monday, or leap year sales start
an it's a members only. Down.
All the dollars apiece and so,
if you're not a member get become
a member now so you can shop it.
And if you are you can start
building your cart now, so that you,
you can just check out and enjoy that.
Awesome right.
Let me move on to the some of
the questions that we received.
Uhm you ever abandoned books before
reading them all the way through.
We do that happens is we try to look.
Spend a short time,
reading all of the possibilities so that
we can rank are reading so we can say.
Alright I looked at these 10 bucks.
I spent 10 minutes with each of them,
um and these 3 are the most.
Interesting so then we would read
the Top 3 all the way through an
we may or may not ever get back.
To the bottom ranked one.
Um. It's It depends so yeah.
To find out. How?
Strong it is sometimes but we've
also think about kids as being
people who we don't necessarily
know necessarily feel like they
have to read to the end if they
don't like the beginning. Yeah.
That's very true how many books
do you as a team review each
year and how far in advance.
We talked a little bit about
that with the timeline. But.
How far in advance do you receive AM?
How far in advance varies depending
on the size of the publisher and
sometimes sometimes really big books
actually we get late because they are.
Push through wanna faster schedule.
Um. But the timing can if a publisher
is making a coalition with uh the
British part of their company.
They may be publishing, they may be printing.
Well, in advance of?
When is publishing in England even though
it's publishing later here so it could be?
Far in advance, sometimes when we see
books are on our schedule, we think.
Wait. That's not out,
yet because we read them so,
so long ago.
But it's usually
something like that, like that,
like 6 months to a year, something
like that, for the most part, but
sometimes it can be a year and a half.
For a picture bug come and it can be.
3 four months. For a novel sometime?
Yeah. Count numbers.
Yeah, and how many on average would you mind
I looked at them
from the books that we looked
at it that are in our system is?
About 5000. But then we do things
like I'll give Dan a price guide and
he'll look through it, and decide.
And books that we should request
so he will have an idea of what a
publishers full list looks like.
But he won't request something on the
economy of for business majors that
really would not interested team reader.
Um so there are more those don't
get counted into the 5000 but they
exist and similarly active look at.
Books that are coming out from
a Spanish publisher and we may
or may not request all of them.
So the ones that we actually get
here that we do take a look at.
That I touch at some point
unusually read I'm asking.
Well, Speaking of Spanish.
We just gotta question and do do you
foresee an opportunity for a Spanish
language category for high school?
I would love to do a Spanish
language high school list if if
the if the all the pieces were
able to fall into place obviously.
Fat like working with Spanish language
materials is there a lot of extra logistics,
but we don't deal with.
With the front list of like English.
The titles. But but I do think you know,
we select for middle grade Spanish
and I think actually there are more.
Anecdotally, it seems like there
are more books translated and
published in Spanish for high schools
and for middle school so.
If if other pieces fell into place.
I would love to do that.
I love reading for the Spanish categories.
I don't get to read in Spanish
in my spare time much anymore,
so it's nice to continue to use that
line, the other category,
Yeah that will help give.
Yeah, if we can demonstrate
that there is strong demand.
I think we can make a case for it,
which I would love to do.
Well, on the other end of the spectrum.
Let's go back to the The Little readers
when choosing put picture books.
You consider read aloud ability.
We definitely do listen.
I sometimes are reading to
each other holding up the book,
which we learned is old-fashioned,
but we still do it.
Sometimes we consult actual children.
Uhm I used I used to have a
nieces and nephews and children.
Then I could read you an that was
a common part of the equation,
but they're little obsolete now my love.
My son auto my son.
I don't contribute interviews occasionally.
For sure.
And we did do it more time
doing like read aloud when
we would get materials.
In Yeah, we don't have as much
time to do that now we used to.
But yeah, that's certainly a
big consideration for books
that are like potential read
aloud just to see if they work.
You might discover somebody at
their desks reading under there.
Even though we're in a small office an?
Uh not too many doors and
Walls that still happens.
So uhm. One of the questions that came
in was talking about sometimes books
that are going to be popular with kids.
In the books that are going to be
popular for awards or different?
Can you talk about what you're?
You're looking for in terms
of the reader satisfaction.
Well, our idea is something that kids will
pick up themselves and read themselves
without any interference by adult.
Some of our categories have a
little bit more of a curriculum
focus and if that's the case,
then we're looking for books. That.
If a kid has to read a biography or
needs to read some science books.
These are the ones that stand
out from this year.
So uhm we are always looking at the books
that are being published in a in a season,
so we can't really determine
what is being published?
But we try to pick the highest quality
books with the most kid appeal,
so kid appeal is a very big factor.
And if you were to go through our
evaluations and read them over.
You could see many times where somebody says.
Not sure about the kid in last
one or this one is a little more
kid apili than that one.
Yeah, especially
there are plenty of books
that I love that are clearly
going to win awards but are.
You know clearly like written
for adults without without
having teenage readers in mind,
and it just wouldn't wouldn't
work as crossover books,
so that's Big part of those
decisions for those groups for sure.
Also. Just within the group
you know certain groups like.
A high interest or mystery
adventure groups those have just
inherently a more emphasis on.
Mobb kid appeal just in the.
In the groups themselves,
but that's when I'm reading for those groups.
I definitely place a higher value on that.
Um. As opposed to wear maybe more general
groups or more mature literary groups.
Right so for example,
a high interest category.
Um Lucas reads fire, the team,
the high schools high interest category.
We might say OK well this one.
The literary quality of it how
well it's written in terms of.
Literary quality is not as good,
but if it's hot as it's very
exciting and draws you in and.
Had lots of twists and turns.
Um fast paced.
Then that would win out
like we know that Wednesday.
Maybe not going to win an award,
but it's gonna win over a kid reader
that is more important.
That's great well, let me do one
last because we're just about
to come to the end of our time.
So can you talk about what age
level is the hardest they have
found selecting books and wine?
Oh, it's funny from season to season,
it really changes uhm sometimes.
There are there's an abundance for a
particular category and sometimes?
We have to dig and dig and dig an?
As a group we do a lot of digging so we
reach out to lots of publishers, we might.
Here about a book from a presentation
at Ala or we might hear about a book.
By seeing something on Twitter or
we might see something listed on
Edelweiss or our office spaces right
next to school Library Journal.
Library Journal so sometimes we trip over
books that from publishers who don't.
Automatically,
send us material so we will go
out and look for those books if
it's a specific category will say.
Oh, Hey, I think this publisher is
really good at this kind of books,
they'll reach out to that publisher and say.
Do you have any books in this category,
but there also?
Certain specific outdoors that
Alex would like to talk about.
I think I think the the noticeable gap
in the market for the middle grade.
Categories is the upper end of middle school,
so the way books are marketed.
They're sort of put into age groups like
8 to 1210 to 14, twelve 14 and up and.
Um often for the middle grade categories,
whether there 8 to 12 or 10 to 14,
you see a lot of.
11 year old six graders and you see
a lot of 12 year old 7th grader,
then it's not quite as many.
13 year olds hardly any 14 year
olds and not very many 8th graders,
then by the time you move to Hawaii.
The kids are all teenagers are
already in so there are these 8th
grade readers who are sort of.
Like middle school their their over it there,
but they've got it down there.
Not worried about anymore.
But they also like don't have drivers
licenses aren't allowed to date, yet so.
High school books aren't of concern
to them yet and books for that
kind of like Micro Age range.
Surprisingly,
difficult to find and actually
the author Angie Thomas,
who wrote the hate you give
which was a JLG selection that
went on to win the Morris Award.
A Prince honor and all kinds
of different accolades.
She was tweeting about her
next project and she said.
Trying to decide if I'll do middle
grade or why even though I'd
really like to write for that.
In between age that publishing
doesn't seem to recognize.
And that's we ended up going viral with
all these librarians and teachers and
parents responding and saying I can't find.
Books for those right just
write books for tweens.
The upper end of middle grade,
either so it was nice to see that because.
Now I know that it's not just a
falling through the JLG cracks,
there does actually seem to be.
A gap in the market there and there
is there was so much response to that
tweet but it seems like there is demand.
For that type of book and I think
some of them may have to
do with the new adult.
Trend where a lot of adult read why a
man and so why a grew older and and and.
More mature and so did the same.
Yeah, an I would say sometimes
that are adult crossover books.
Are not necessarily filled with
as much content of some of our
mature young adult books because?
They're going,
the mature young adult books are
looking for that adult audiences.
There's a really
good school library Journal kind
of covered this too, they wrote A.
Piece about looking for the just
write books for tweens that was
also kind of looking at this.
Upper middle grade range in the way that
it sort of falling through the cracks a
little bit in the publishing industry.
Is a really interesting read that
that was published last November?
So yeah if there any writers
acquisitions editors or agents?
Turning in the books for tweens,
we would love to see more
of those humor for for
way more humor for way.
Oh, and the broad I don't know we
told you but we assembled all 63
books from the LA Award winners.
Can you see them
wow? So yeah, JL Genie selections
took home 63 awards and
honors at Ala this year, an.
A lot of those In addition to the
ones that they talked about today
are available in that link to.
Shop that Allie winners for $12.00,
so not just the ones we talked about,
but all those puppies there on that.
It's very exciting.
Well, thank you. Everyone for joining in.
You'll be getting a link to that soon,
and we're just so glad that you all came.
Will be happy when pass with
these guys soon an don't forget
to register to see all or some?
But our series for memoirs.
Thank you all. Thank
you thank you.