I Can't Believe it's Come to This!

It was a sad day for me last week when I learned that Rush Limbaugh had won the Children's Book Council Author of the Year Honor.  I began to question whether I should read this book, although I hated to pay for it and read it on my Kindle, but the shame of interlibrary loaning it and going to pick it up from the library!  I would not be able to look the librarians in the eye while picking up this book.

Thankfully, it won't be necessary for me to read Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims because some brave and respected book reviewers fell on their sword and did the hard work for me!

Travis Jonker, librarian and blogger for School Library Journal, posted a round-up of commentary, all of which is insightful and quite civil.  I personally found the review from Vicky Smith, Kirkus editor, and the commentary from Roger Sutton, Horn Book editor, particularly interesting.  Vicky puts aside the politics, historical inaccuracies and concentrates on the poor writing and even more disappointing editing.  She makes a very well-reasoned argument.  Roger points out that this is a popularity contest, and that Rush Revere was never even sent to reviewers, nor was the Sophia the First series book that earned it's illustrator the top prize.

This episode brings into question the entire CBC Children's Choice Award process.  These awards are based on sales numbers, pure and simple.  Typically the books and authors that are nominated are writing dynamic, plot-driven, but ultimately average books.  This award is not the Newbery.  It is not meant to award the finest in literature, rather, it's meant to recognize the book that kids and teens are reading with passion.

This is where state and regional children's choice awards do a better job.  Take the Rebecca Caudill Award.  I've often been critical of the Caudill, but in order to be in the running for the award, the book must be nominated and reviewed by a panel of librarians.  This leads to an interesting mix of books every year--some bestsellers, which ultimately go on to win, and some mid-list sleeper books.  At least for the Caudill Award, participants must read three books, and they are likely to read something of substance before voting for the latest blockbuster book.

There are no such checks and balances in place with the CBC awards, and I think that is going to change after this year.  There is nothing wrong with recognizing the success of a big-time children's author like Jeff Kinney or Veronica Roth, especially since they are bringing thousands of children and teens to books, but there is something wrong with honoring a person that has no children's writing experience and that has produced a book that is barely edited.  It's a quality issue really.  Not just a quality of writing issue, although that bullet point wasn't met either in this case, but the quality of a product.  Lots of people worked on this book I'm sure, but they didn't take enough time to make it something to be proud of.

My two cents, and that's all!

But, if you want to read a great book about the pilgrims and this time period, check out Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone.  It's much more historically accurate, has a great plot and will leave readers wanting more.

The Horror

During my morning blog checking, I came across a lovely little article from Travis at 100 Scope Notes at SLJ.  In it, he brought my attention to a hilarious Stephen Colbert clip regarding the soon-to-be published children's book by Rush Limbaugh.  Go check it out.  I'll wait here.

Back already?  Good.

Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, eh?  No co-author, bold move.  Time-traveling, talking horse and pudgy substitute teacher, totally feasible.  All of this adds up to complete and total garbage and I'm sad for the libraries that are forced to purchase this preachy and heavy-handed piece of propaganda.

Sadly (so sad), this book is #4 of all books on Amazon.  OF ALL BOOKS!  Millions and millions and millions of lovely and worthy books are being passed over in favor of this!  Granted, books like this are a flash in pan, here today, forgotten tomorrow, and lining sad book sales two weeks after the release date.  I truly wish that all of the people that have purchased this book would visit their local library, their local bookstore, and ask the lovely and talented experts to help them find a brain a better book about our nation's history, or about bunnies, or about cake.  Anything is better than this!

And how much do you love Stephen Colbert?  I love him!  My hubby came home the other night and I was watching the Colbert Report and he couldn't understand why.  I told him that Stephen Colbert is the only person out there that talking about children's literature.  True, it is in the name of comedy, but it's something.  His interview with the late Maurice Sendak was wonderful and hilarious, all as it should have been.

Today, exercise your freedom to read and enjoy whatever type of book you choose, because unfortunately, the right to read goes both ways.  You can either choose to read The Giver, or this garbage.  I'm not going to stop you.  I will mock you mercilessly, but I'm not going to stop you.

Happy Reading!

I Read Banned Books

It's Banned Books Week!  It is absolutely amazing to see what books have been challenged and why.  Right now a big debate is raging over Eleanor and Park in Minnesota, and even though I'm not a fan of that book (and judging by the comments at a YALSA feedback panel at ALA, I'm not the only one) I would still never withhold it from readers.

Just flipping through a couple of challenged book lists over at the ALA website shows me that I am quite the daring reader!  Here's a list of all of the challenged books that I have read, divided into categories.  How many have you read?

Books for Youth:

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Books for Young Adults:

Feed by M. T. Andersen
Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
Go Ask Alice
The Goats by Brook Cole
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

The Classics: 
Note to students:  Trying to ban a book will not get you out of doing your homework!

Beloved by Toni Morrison
Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

That's my challenged book reading list.  I'm sure other books that I've read have been challenged, like The Hunger Games or Going Bovine, but these are the top offenders.  What challenged books have you read?

Happy (Banned) Reading!

When a Book Doesn't Speak to You

I sometimes have trouble getting into a book.  I'll pick it up, give it a try, put it down, and start all over.  Sometimes it's just the wrong time to be reading that particular book.  Maybe it's about a topic that you can't handle right now (cough-The Fault in Our Stars-cough), or maybe you're burned out on the genre and can't appreciate it.  Or maybe, you can't understand all the hype.

This has happened to me several times.  Most of the time, if a book doesn't hold my interest, then I just put it down, walk away, and never think of it again.  But sometimes I keep hearing positive things, or keep getting recommendations, or get pestered by one particular library patron to READ THIS BOOK!  So I try, again.

The first time that I kept picking up a book that I had mostly signed off was Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow.  One particular patron kept begging, no demanding, no threatening, that I read this book.  I tried and tried and finally on the 3rd try with no job and nothing better to do, I finished it.  Jake's parents are archeologists that have gone missing, and due to an ancient artifact, a thunderstorm, and mysterious powers of some type, Jake and his sister are transported to a lost civilization made up of dozens of other types of lost civilizations.  It's all very weird.  And if children's books are to be believed, then 6 out of every 10 kids have a lost archeologist parent.  The whole book was very marginal, but I finally made it through and felt some sense of accomplishment, even though I think the only person that absolutely loved this book was my library patron.

The book that I can't get through but everyone else seems to love is The Scorpio Races.  I bought this book for my Kindle and I've tried twice, but I can't get past three chapters, which is frustrating because I loved The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and she's such a popular author.  Not to mention my friend and amazing librarian, Cinjoella, loved it.  I can't do it.  Every time I try to pick it up, I read about these water horses that I can't picture or understand and I stop.  I'm a quitter.  

But I am about to change my ways.  The Spindlers has been another tough one.  I read a couple of chapters through a free preview, but couldn't finish the whole book before the preview expired.  It was interesting, but not great.   Then I checked it out from my library.  Same thing, picked it up, put it down, now with just one day left on my check out (it's an interlibrary loan, so I can't renew) and half the book to go, I'm determined to finish, even though it's lackluster.  I just keep thinking that I have read this story before, but better and more appealing to a broad audience.  But I will not quit!

What about you, what book do you keep trying to read?  And I'm not talking about some classic tome, or some required reading that you couldn't get into-it's a given that virtually anything assigned in a lit class will be something that someone has trouble sticking with.  No, I mean that one book that every one loved and you tried to love, you did, but you couldn't make it past three chapters.  That's the book I want to talk about!

Happy Reading (or quitting, there's no shame in that!)

Losing Steam

When I first started this blog about 11 months ago, I was full of great ideas and theories about reading.  I knew I could bang out several book reviews per week and I could post old storytimes.  I thought that this will be a super easy, fun way to stay connected to children's literature.  And it was, for a while.

Lately I haven't had much time to read, and my reading theories are about exhausted.  I feel like I have hit a wall.  Everyone goes through those times when you just feel like you can't catch up to yourself, and I am definitely feeling that right now.  

I am determined not to become some abandoned blog though.  I do still enjoy posting a really fun craft idea, or finding a book that makes me believe in humanity.  I like sharing those things.  I like watching my stats go up, even slowly.  I like feeling like I am bringing new books and ideas to people, even if those people are only my family and friends.  

So, I apologize for the slow pace lately, I really don't have an excuse other than I haven't been reading much.  Sometimes even a really enjoyable book like Seraphina can take a while.  And there are other books that I absolutely cannot get myself to read, like The Scorpio Races.  Maybe that's my next blog post--Good books that you just can't get through.

My main point here is, I'm sorry if I've been to silent lately, but stay tuned, here's more to come!

Happy Reading!

Hooray for Publisher!

Call me weird, but I love Microsoft Publisher.  I'm addicted to it.  I know that practically anything you can do in Publisher you can do in Powerpoint or Word, but trust me, Publisher is easier.  You can manipulate everything so easily and overlay text and graphics in a snap and make teeny tiny adjustments.  It's just wonderful!

I use Publisher for everything!  Storytime outlines, newsletters, posters, calendars, banners, craft templates, postcards--basically if I have to design something from scratch, I do it on Publisher.

Then I went all Mac and lost my precious Publisher forever!  (Cue screaming and gnashing of teeth.)

Seriously, I hate using Powerpoint and Word to create fancy stuff.  Word is great for term papers and Powerpoint is great for presentations, but if I want to design and print my own wedding invitations, I need Publisher!  That really happened.  To save money, I bought a print-your-own wedding invitation kit, but my hubby-to-be's computer was a Mac, so no Publisher.  I worked and worked and worked on Powerpoint to get those invitations printed and used every curse word I could think of and quite a few creative additions of my own.  I almost didn't get married because of it.  A difference in desktop publishing software is a big issue in a marriage.  Almost as important as your favorite baseball team.

Moving on.  We recently purchased a new computer, a PC laptop with Windows 8 that I'm still learning, but the best news is that I bought Publisher this week!  And not a moment too soon honestly!  Not only can I now start sharing my old storytime outlines again (because let's face it, I'm running out of things to say here) but I can also start designing fun crafts and posters for VBS.  Plus I can start converting all of those little awards and posters that I created on Publisher at work to Powerpoint (stupid, high tech work iMac).  Just doing one of those conversions already has been screaming work appropriate obscenities at my computer.

By the way, work appropriate obscenities include "blast it all", "son of a mother", "good night", "for the love", and my favorite "Einstein's whiskers!"  Okay, I've never said that last one, but I'm going to.

Basically this means that you can look forward to some more storytime posts, which are always fun and usually popular.

Happy Reading!

Book Blurbs

I usually receive a couple advance reader copies of upcoming books per month.  These books range from pretty good to alright to downright unreadable.  When I read the advance praise for this new book just hit my mailbox, I was intrigued.

"Escape Theory kept me up way past curfew, with no regrets" --Cecily von Ziegesar of Gossip Girl fame.

"Escape Theory is a riveting psychological journey"-Sara Shepard of Pretty Little Liars

"Margaux Froley's debut...is a sexy, smart page turner, a must read!" Octavia Spencer, Academy Award winning star of The Help

Let's play my favorite Sesame Street game One of These Things is Not Like the Other.  We have three book blurbs.  Two from formula fiction franchises (say that three times fast) and one from an actress.  Now, not that Octavia Spencer can't have a hobby, and I would personally welcome her into my book club, but what makes her a good person to blurb this book?  And, what did she say in the span of those periods.  Hmm.

This brings me to my main question:  Do you trust book blurbs?  If a book is recommended by your favorite author, is that an automatic read?  If your favorite actress endorses a book, or maybe the wacky weather man on a morning television show, does it go on your list?  Have you ever been let down by a blurb?  Do you have trust issues because your favorite fantasy author endorsed Fablehaven and you just hated it?  Maybe I was the only one that hated that book.

And reviews!  What about book reviews?  This is getting into dangerous territory for me because I do review books, both for fun here and for benefit for a company (not exactly monetary benefit, I'm kinda literally paid in books).  Escape Theory has earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, but I always found that Pub Weekly gave out stars like I give out treats to my dog, sometimes because she does the trick, and other times just to shut her up.  I personally trusted School Library Journal, The Bulletin, and Kirkus much more.  In fact, Kirkus was usually so mean, that if they liked it, I would buy two.  Also, the librarian at my best friend's school was an SLJ reviewer and I loved her!  If Elaine said buy, I'd buy, if she said it's an additional purchase, I'd pass.  That is some level of trust there.

Let's get back to the book in question-Escape Theory.

Here are the covers that I found on Goodreads.  I received the green cover which looks pretty marginal, especially since this is supposed to be about an upscale boarding school mystery.  Honestly, doesn't it kinda look like that Fiona Frost novel from months ago?

Maybe not, but the gate is what made me think of Fiona Frost. 

The other cover looks awfully grungy.  I feel like I should be listening to Nirvana with that cover.  

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not finished Escape Theory yet, although the more I type that title the more ridiculous it seems.  At first, I was really excited to read this book.  I have a strange affection for Gossip Girl and others like it.  But right away, Escape Theory is not hooking me.  It's brand dropping, but it's dropping middle class brand, like Ikea and Target.  Okay, that's already my life, so that's not fun.  The plot seems implausible at this point too, so I'll have to see where that goes.  I'll let you know what I think on Monday, but it's going to be an uphill battle.

Let's circle back to the original question:  Book Blurbs-yay or nay?  Do you trust them or do they make you extra wary?

Happy Reading!

So many ideas!

So, yesterday's post was a little popular.  It's funny, just when I think that no one is reading this blog and it's safe to share family secrets, I write a post and it gets nearly 100 hits.  I guess that brings me back to one of the main Torbeck family rules, you don't have to tell everything you know.  (The other rule is also good, if you have to say you're helping, then your not helping.)  But a lot of people got a glimpse at my dad and were able to wish him a happy birthday so all is well.

Moving on.  I started my Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Program Monday and I started brainstorming about my first assignment which is to create a story time for 2-5 year olds and incorporate one science and one math activity.  Easy-peasy.

Here's exactly how my thought process went:

Bats!  I could do a sonar demonstration and have the kids close their eyes and try to find me in the classroom, but that would lead to some crying children I'm sure, so table that.

Bugs!  I could have the kids build a bug on a flannel board one piece at a time and identify all of the parts!

Construction!  I could read Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site and have them build a structurally sound tower out of styrofoam cups.  Or toilet paper rolls.  Or kleenex boxes!

Three Little Pigs!  I could build three walls and have them blow them over and see which is the strongest.  We could wear plastic hardhats that said Three Little Pigs Construction.  We'll read great books and build with egg cartons!

Then my head exploded.  I haven't planned a story time in over two years and there is just so much that I want to do and it's only a four week class.  That means that I only get to plan four story times.

But the really crummy part of all of this is that even though I get to plan the story times, I don't actually get to use them.  Bummer.  I'm not working as a librarian.  Double bummer.  It's like being all dressed up with no where to go.  At least I have one outlet for all of this work--right here on Miss Tiff Reads.  You can benefit from my work.  I just ask that if you use something you found on this site, come back and tell me how it went so I can live vicariously through you.

Plus, only six months to Vacation Bible School.  You better believe that this year's VBS will include some STEM programming after all that I've learned.  Get ready for a bigger, better, more common core based VBS!  It will be great I promise, once I pick out a theme.  Details, details.

Happy Reading!

Happenings

 So, I had this great post planned for today all about the fun little bookmarks that I bought last night at a local art sale.  I took a couple pics of them with my Instagram app and uploaded them to Twitter, like always, so I could add them to this blog later.  Twitter is like my little Instagram Album, my place to store the pictures I want to share, but maybe don't want out on my Facebook.  Accept, that doesn't work anymore!!

ARRGH!  I'm so frustrated with digital content and rights that have nothing to do with the user.  You can read more about the Twitter/Instagram Feud here from CNN.  Also, since Blogger is a Google product, and Instagram is a child of Facebook now, Blogger and Instagram don't play nice together.  And then you have the fact that my phone is a Droid and my computer is a Mac, and my reader is a Kindle, but I love my iPod, and I'm in a very dysfunctional relationship with social media and technology.  Why can't everyone just play nice?

And why can't I save and use the photos that I took how I see fit?

Maybe I should have paid more attention during all of those DRM lectures in grad school.  Maybe I wouldn't be in this mess if I actually did my term paper instead of just BS-ing exactly what I knew the professors wanted to hear.  Digital Rights Media is topic that librarians must be educated on, but as a children's librarian, I never thought it would come back to bit me so hard.

ARRGH!  So, tonight, I will go home, take new pictures with my icky Samsung camera, and tell my hubby again how I need to get a new camera, since Instagram is being mean.  If Instagram were a kid on the bus, my mom would be talking to his mom-that's how mean he is.

Moving on to a better topic-my newest batch of reviews came in!  Just as I expected, I have been demoted to the world of series non-fiction.  I understand, I'll do the time.  I received four books from the same series of craft books for tween girls.  Fantastic!  I get to read about bedazzling for hours!

But, I also received a Book/CD kit that was pure gold.  Let's just say this book wishes a pleasant evening to implements used to build roads and such.  I immediately read it to Doug, despite his eye-rolling, and he liked it.  And Lucy was mellowed by it too, so I'd say it's a great book.

Hopefully, I will have two reviews done by the end of the weekend.  Then it's just slow and steady until the rest are finished.  Actually more steady than slow.  I have that slow part down to a science!  And maybe tomorrow I'll sneak in a quick review of The True Confessions of Charlottle Doyle.  I've been checking out some backlist stuff lately, just to mix it up.

I hope that your day is blissfully free of technological annoyances, and if not, then have a cookie!

Happy Reading!