At the recent American Library Association Midwinter Conference in Boston (January 15-19) the winners of the numerous 2010 ALA childrens’ and young adult book awards were announced. Here are some of the front runners, but you can find the full list here.

The winner of the 2010 John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children’s literature is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

The winner of the 2010 Randolph Caldecott Medal for most distinguished American picture book for children is The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney.

The winner of the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults is Going Bovine written by Libba Bray.

The winner of the 2010 Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults is Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.

The winner of the 2010 Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award winner is My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr. The book was written by Langston Hughes.

The winner of the 2010 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award winner is The Rock and the River written by Kekla Magoon.

The winner of the 2010 Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience is Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day; Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros illustrated by Rafael López and written by Pat Mora.

The winner of the 2010 Pura Belpré (Author) Award is Return to Sender written by Julia Alvarez.

The winners of the 2010 Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience are:

Django written and illustrated by Bonnie Christensen wins the award for best young children ages 0 to 10.

Anything but Typical written by Nora Raleigh Baskin is the winner for middle grades (ages 11-13).

The teen (ages 13-18) award winner is Marcelo in the Real World written by Francisco X. Stork.

The winner of the 2010 William C. Morris Award that honors a book written by a first-time author for young adults is Flash Burnout written by L.K. Madigan.

The winner of the first ever 2010 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award is Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith written by Deborah Heiligman.

Finally, the Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences (this was the committee I served on!) are:

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.
The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff.
Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.
The Good Soldiers by David Finkel.
The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman.
My Abandonment by Peter Rock.
Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger.
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson.

Many of these titles are available through your LREI library. Please come see me or any of the librarians for more information on any of these great books!

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian.

September 26-October 3 is National Banned Books Week, co-sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores.

Since school has started, students have been coming up to the librarians with questions about our Banned Books Week bulletin board, questions like, “Does this mean I can’t read this book?” “I love that book! Why was it banned?” and “If it’s a banned book, are we allowed to have it in our library?”

The librarians have used these questions as starting points for conversations about why we celebrate Banned Books Week and the freedom to read. The American Library Association has some great online resources that are worth exploring with your child or on your own. Also, this video produced by the Office of Intellectual Freedom uses to humor to explain the concept of Banned Books Week.

Want to read a banned book to celebrate your freedom to read? Try some of these. And don’t be surprised if you find one of your favorites on the list!

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian

This past Wednesday several of our middle and high school students met with Young Adult author Lauren Myracle to discuss her latest novel, Peace Love & Baby Ducks. Often hailed as the new Judy Blume, Lauren is the author of several books for tweens and teens, including Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen starring Winnie Perry, the TTYL series, and most recently, the YA horror novel Bliss. She is also the co-author of Let it Snow and How to Be Bad. Like the Laurie Halse Anderson author visit blogged below, Lauren’s visit was part of a joint venture between Penguin Young Readers and LREI to bring students and authors together to talk about books and have their discussions filmed for use on both Penguin’s and LREI’s website. PLBD is at it’s heart a story of two high school sisters trying to navigate the treacherous waters of high school, but it also presents issues of social class and race in a realistic and nuanced way that teens will relate to. This was evidenced by the lively, frank discussion Lauren had with our students, who ended their time together sitting on the floor, laughing and posing with our stuffed library shelf shark. Before Lauren left for the airport to fly home to Colorado, she took the time to personalize each student’s signed book and pose for a ton of photos. We hope to host more Penguin author events in the future, and will post the videos of the book discussions on the LREI website as soon as they are edited. Until then,

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, MS librarian

Today I was thrilled to host award-winning Young Adult author Laurie Halse Anderson in the Sixth Avenue library. Laurie is currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of her first novel, the now classic Speak, and also promoting her new title, Wintergirls, a dark story of friendship gone wrong and eating disorders, which will be published in March. She was also recently awarded the Margaret A. Edwards award by the American Library Association for her “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.” LREI was asked by Laurie’s publisher, Penguin Group, if some of our students could read Wintergirls and then participate in a filmed book discussion with Laurie for their website. Time was short, Laurie was only going to be in town for a few days, so I had to find readers, and fast! When I solicited the 8th grade during lunch last week, several students jumped at the chance to interact with one of their favorite authors, and read ARCS (Advanced Reviewer Copies) of Wintergirls over the weekend. The discussion was lively and thought provoking, touching on everything from eating disorders and depression to celebrities and popular music. Afterwards, the students had their books personalized and signed by the author. I was so proud of our students, and once Penguin Group edits the video, we hope to post it on our school website as well for all to enjoy.

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, MS librarian

Three of the four LREI librarians were lucky enough to attend the American Library Association’s Mid-Winter Conference in Denver, CO from Jan. 23-26. This is an exciting conference to attend because it is the conference where all the big children’s and teen book awards are announced, including the 2008 Newbery (best book for kids aged 8-14), Caldecott (best picture book) and Printz (best book for teens, 7th-12th grade). As you can see, I was pretty thrilled to be there and hear some of my favorite titles announced:

The following link will take you straight to the award lists with the titles and authors of the winning books. Most of these books will be available (if they’re not already) in the LREI library.

ALA’s official press release of literary award winners in childrens’ and young adult books

I also worked on an ALA committee this past year called The ALEX Awards, which honors 10 adult books published in the past year that would have potential appeal to teen readers. When we finished our deliberations, we took this snazzy picture of our winners, which were also announced at the Mid-Winter conference:

All of the LREI librarians are currently serving on ALA committees, so if you have any questions about our school’s participation in ALA, or are just looking for a good book recommendation for yourself or your child, please come and see us. We love to talk about our committee work and of course, BOOKS!

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, MS librarian

It is Book Week once again at LREI, and the middle school author line-up is HOT! Here’s who’s coming to visit the 5-8th grades:

Heather’s 5th: Jill Santopolo, author of The Nina, The Pinta and the Vanishing Treasure
Thursday, December 11: 8:30-9:30 AM

Wendy’s 5th: Trish Marx, author Elephants and Golden Thrones. Friday, December 12: 2:15-3 PM

6th Grade: Lucy Frank, author of Lucky Stars. Monday, December 8: 10:00-11:00 AM

7th Grade: Steve Sheinkin, author of The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey. Friday, December 12: 2:15-3 PM

8th Grade: Sarah Mlynowski, author of the Magic in Manhattan series and co-author of How to Be Bad. Tuesday, December 9: 1:30-2:30 PM

Make sure to ask your middle school student about his or her author visit, and browse the authors’ books in the school book fair in the Sixth Avenue auditorium, December 9-12.

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian

Today, the eighth grade had the privilege of attending the National Book Award Teen Press Conference. We traveled by subway to the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to hear the five finalists read aloud from their books and answer questions from the audience. For more information about the finalists and their books, please see my earlier post. The event was hilariously hosted by famous children’s author and former teacher Jon Scieszka, who is currently serving as the first National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature. Afterward, teachers and students lingered in the lobby of the library where staff served them cookies and juice, and they could stand in line to meet their favorite author and get their book signed. A fun time was had by all, if the picture below are any evidence. Please be sure to ask your 8th grader about the trip and if he or she was able to chat with one of the authors.

8th graders with host Jon Scieszka and NBA finalist Tim Tharp

Getting a book signed by award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson

Enjoying some refreshments after the panel discussion.

I’ll see you in the library,

Jennifer Hubert Swan, Middle School Librarian