Well, everyone, the time has come for me to close down Afterthoughts...
As my job changes, my reading habits change, and I find I can no longer sustain a children's book review blog, an adult book review blog, and the blog I ran mostly for myself where I collected font-, vocabulary-, and typography-related items.
The good news is, they're now going to be combined into one blog to rule them all (I'd say 10 life points to the person who guesses that reference, but that's almost too easy).
Introducing, Wildly Read, my new blog based on the concept that I'm wildly, if not exactly widely, read.
If you're interested in continuing to read what I have to say, please click the link (the title of my new blog) above, check out the new blog, friend/follow me there, and I look forward to seeing you around.
This is officially the last post I'll make on this blog.
Both an online resource and later (next spring) to become a book, this project is perfect for your daily dose of children's lit information. Anita Silvey - former publisher for Houghton Mifflin, children's non-fiction author, professor, and all-around children's and young adult literature expert - is writing daily posts about a children's book or author, something relevant to that date. Giving current information, background stories, historical context, reading audience, and any other tidbits that pop up, you'll find a treasure trove of information from this exalted, knowledgeable source.
While I think this is a brilliant project in its own right, I can't help but be proud of the behind-the-scenes research done by Alison A. Ernst of Alison Ernst Associates, a fellow graduate of the Simmons MFA program in Writing Literature for Children, and librarian extraordinaire-turned-consultant.
I apologize for the long hiatus. For the past 2 weeks, I have been busy settling into my new role as Sales Assistant/Receptionist for Beacon Press, and figuring out where my blogging life fits into that. This is the first position I've had in 5 years where I wasn't required to read something for work. It's an odd feeling - I work for a publishing company, and yet my opinion on the books published isn't sought.
Not that I'm the end-all-be-all in opinions, but whether it was as a bookseller, book blogger, book buyer, or editorial intern reader review writer (say that 5 times fast), I was encouraged to give a well-thought-out opinion on the books I came into contact with on a daily basis. Now as the sales assistant-slash-receptionist, I am required to process book orders via computer, phone, and fax, and above all, have a friendly smile in place while greeting Beacon Press and UUA visitors. Where do book reviews fit into all of that? For the first time, my professional life isn't directly linked to my personal interests, my academic pursuits, or my reading/blogging passions. Eek! Identity crisis in the works!
Not that I have anything to complain about, really. At Beacon, everyone has been incredibly nice and welcoming. I've joined twice-weekly lunchtime yoga and a once-a-week lunchtime knitting group. What's not to love about that? In addition, they were charming and understanding about the one sick day I already had to take. (And can I pause for a moment here to give thanks to the bizarre blessing that for the first time in 2 years, I could actually afford to take a sick day - make that a sick weekend - without getting behind in either grad school homework or employment home work.)
In the meantime, while I get adjusted to my new schedule and figure out where blogging fits in, check out some new book porn in the sidebar, and don't forget to hit up the links of other favorite blogs to see what they have to say. I promise blogging will fit back into my life soon.
Stay tuned for a final "What I Learned From My Fall Internship" post and a hopefully a true Beacon Press introduction.
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
9780375866593, Knopf (Random House), $16.99, Pub. Date: October 2010
This was my first foray into the brilliant David Levithan/Rachel Cohn author combo. Yes, I admit it, I never picked up Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (9780375835339) or Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List (9780375844416). Clearly now I'll have to, because I unabashedly LOVED Dash & Lily.
Maybe it's because this is one of the bookiest romances I've ever read. Maybe it's because a lot of the story takes place in The Strand. Maybe it's because you get to experience all the good and all the bad of the holiday (Christmas) season, which is coming up shortly and yes, I've already listened to Christmas carols, so all you purists waiting until December 1st can just ignore that last part. Maybe it's because David Levithan and Rachel Cohn have the incredible talent of making the everyday profound and of showcasing the idealism versus reality that [should] lives in all of us.
Dash is exploring his favorite haunt, The Strand, when he spies a red moleskin notebook on a shelf. He picks it up, opens it, and reads these words:
I've left some clues for you.
If you want them, turn the page.
If you don't, put the book back on the shelf, please.
How many times have I wished for that very thing to happen to me? Haven't we all? To find mystery and adventure and possibly love hidden away in a place that is meaningful to only us (and the 50 million other people who feel the same way, but we won't think about them right now).
Dash follows the clues, and so begins an epistolary adventure in which he and Lily communicate solely by clues in a notebook they hide all over New York, from the madhouse of Macy's and F.A.O. Schwartz in the days leading up to Christmas, to Madame Trousseau's Wax Museum, to the most well-known houses that showcase Christmas lights.
Romantic, yes? But what happens when they meet up? Will they live up to each others' expectations? Or will the person they've created in their heads be too strong for them to allow for the imperfections of the very real human standing in front of them?
Written in alternating chapters between characters & their authors, this is the perfect book to hand to any teen or tween or hell, adult, who needs a little shot of belief in the spirit of love.
This hardcover picture book harkens back to the post I did earlier about picture books for adults (Part I is posted, Part II is coming soon). Published by Clarion Books just last year in 2009, everything about this book screams "made for an adult audience here!". From the sophisticated collage-style, often abstract artwork (not that children can't also appreciate, understand, and create this type of artwork) to the free verse, deep though poetry about various types of jobs adults have, I can't really imagine children under the age of 12-14 enjoying this book in the "Can we read that book before going to bed?" sort-of-way.
That said, not being a child any more myself (despite whatever my parents may tell me), I greatly enjoy this book and keep a copy above my desk at work. Not only is the cover illustration inspiring, but if I need some inspiration, it's fun to take a 2-minute break and read about what someone else may be doing for work right that very minute, say as a Dog Walker, Filmmaker, Personnel Administrator, or even:
Writer
Paid daydreamer
imaginary soothsayer
odd-fact researcher,
the writer
hovers like a hummingbird
by the
answering machine
computer
mailbox,
holding her breath while
scanning e-mails
listening to messages
sifting through junk mail
waiting, waiting,
forever waiting,
for the next
check
project
or call.
The artwork, in particular, is what draws me to this book, especially the displaced ISBN/barcode on the back cover. I love collage-style art, and also am a huge fan of this illustrator duo, who have numerous other picture books together. Going back to my earlier point about the "sophisticated, often abstract artwork", just to emphasize how much children can appreciate it, this duo has co-illustrated one of my favorite high concept picture book series: Trains (9780761455936, Marshall Cavendish, $6.99), Cars (9780761456162, $6.99), Airplanes (9780761453888, $14.99),Trucks (9780761453284, $6.99), and Boats (9780761455240, $17.99).
Having some experience with sales figures from my previous career as the children's book buyer for the Odyssey Bookshop, it was useful to bring my own knowledge of the bookselling world to the sales information gathered from the publishing world. Book awards like the Newbery, the Caldecott, the Coretta Scott King, and the Pura Belpre are awarded by the American Library Association through the Association for Library Service to Children. When looking at sales figures, in order to understand them, one must have some understanding of the influence and intersection of three separate communities: the library market, the publishing market, and the bookselling market.
Publishers publish a book, doing all the first-tier work: editing, creating an attractive package, sales and marketing promotion and events, etc. Booksellers do the second tier work: showcasing the books available for purchase in-store, on websites, hosting author events, writing reviews, furthering the sales and promotion begun by the publishers, and also often working with schools to partner on making the book available for educational purposes. Libraries are the third tier: making the book available to a non-book-buying audience, also holding author and book events, also furthering the publisher promotion, but then increasing the school/education element, as well as often discussing the book in a more academic context. All three tiers have their own wide reaching, and often overlapping, spheres of influence, and all three tiers will often evaluate the book within the children's literature canon as a whole.
How is this reflected in sales? Well, remember Venn diagrams? Same concept: the book wants to have as much of the publishing, library, and bookselling market overlap as possible. But, because these are three separate entities, there's no guarantee they're all going to agree. Obviously the publisher is going to be gung-ho about their books, but each book receives a different amount of promotion. Then, the ALA might love a book and honor it with an award, but it turns out to be a book more suited for the library (read: book-borrowing) market, rather than flying off the book store shelves. Conversely, booksellers may love a book and elevate it to a higher sales status than one afforded by publishing promotion, but that still doesn't guarantee it a spot on the ALA best list - or it could, as with the case of recent Newbery winner When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
Now, the neatest part about this project was that there were several books on my list that had been published prior to 1990 (as you might imagine). Specifically two titles - one published in 1970, another in 1976 - did not have sales information available through any HMH computer database. This is because these titles are currently out-of-print, meaning though they won awards, they fell into that category of library appreciation, not bookselling appreciation, and so have fallen out of popularity. The tricky part is that they went out-of-print before the time when records began being recorded in a computer database. This means I got the help of a very nice gentleman in the sales department who kindly looked up and photocopied for me the original recipe card sales records of these books, hand entered, from about 1970-1981 (for the two books combined).
How cool is that?
I got to sit here, holding these photocopies of ancient (okay, I know the 1970s was not an ancient time) records, adding up the numbers by hand (okay, on the calculator on my computer), because they were not in a computer database. Before all of you who remember the '70s start lambasting me for making fun of something 40 years old, the point is I LOVE moments like this, when I feel so connected to a history and a time before the current digital age. (I wish I could scan the photocopy of the card to show, but that would involve revealing sales figures and I don't want to risk that.) So, despite my slight exaggeration in tone, I'm actually very appreciative and excited that I had this experience today.
Going through the slush pile a few weeks ago, I came across an artist who layers photographs and clipart pieces to create ethereal digital collage artwork. I wish I could show them to you, but unfortunately the artist doesn't have a website. While the project wasn't right for Houghton Mifflin, the illustrations were beautiful, and for me, immediately brought to mind the song used in this video:
(The song is Strange Love by Little Annie, and it's eerie, and a little weird, and I love it. If you want to hear the whole song, click here, though I have to warn you that the typewritten lyrics on the YouTube video are a little off.)
I could envision full-color, full-bleed pictures adding their surreal quality to the already haunting lyrics. Of course, with the heavy, sexy lyrics and accompanying illustrations, this picture book is more appropriate for adults than children, and that thought made me consider the concept of picture books intended for adults as a whole.
The picture book that immediately came to mind was Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence (9780877017882, $19.95, Chronicle) by Nick Bantock. There are four books in this series that is a mysterious love story between two people named Griffin and Sabine, spanning continents and time continuums. Each book contains gorgeous hand-designed postcards and letters between the two lovers as they unravel the mystery of their romantic communication. Perfect for fans of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, though not quite as dark.
Speaking of Audrey Niffenegger, she has created several picture books for adults: The Adventuress (9780810970526, $27.95, Abrams), The Night Bookmobile (9780810996175, $19.95, Abrams), and The Three Incestuous Sisters (9780810959279, $27.95, Abrams). In keeping with the classic Audrey Niffenegger style, these picture books are dark and fantastical while exploring complex emotions of primarily female characters.
Not all picture books intended for adults are as serious as these. Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, had quite the naughty side. In addition to writing beloved children's books, Dr. Seuss was also a political cartoonist during World War II; his cartoons have been collected in Dr. Seuss Goes to War (9781565847040, $19.95, Perseus). He also wrote several picture books that are much more adult-themed in nature, including You're Only Old Once!: A Book for Obsolete Children (9780394551906, $17.99, Random House), detailing the hilarious medical checkup one of a certain age might go through, and Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History's Barest Family (out-of-print), a book featuring seven naked ladies romping through tongue-in-cheek explanations of common idioms. Then, of course, there are other Dr. Seuss classics that are favorites to give to adults upon certain graduations and employment transitions, such as Oh, the Places You'll Go! (9780679805274, $17.99, Random House).
Other children's books are often given between adults for various holidays. Two of my favorites make perfect Valentine's Day presents for both friends and loved ones: I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg, illustrated by Jacqueline Chwast (9780395071762, $6.95, Houghton Mifflin) and A Friend is Someone Who Likes You by Joan Walsh Anglund (9780152296780, $9.95, Houghton Mifflin). Both of these offer adorable illustrations accompanying sweet, child-like text celebrating like, love, and friendship. Though those were published as children's books, their full value is understood more by adults, I think, who can better appreciate the nuances of both text and illustration.
This is true for many other children's picture books, whose humor, while appealing to children, is of a particularly cheeky, sarcastic, implied, or ironic nature that is greatly enjoyed by adults. Some of my personal favorites catering to the dual audience are the Knuffle Bunny trilogy, the Pigeon books, and the Elephant & Piggie series created by Mo Willems. A classic of this genre is The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (9780670844876, $17.99, Viking/Penguin), hilarious retellings of classic fairy tales by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith. Lane Smith is quite the connoisseur of this type of work, both by discussing children's books in an adult way on his blog Curious Pages, and by creating books of this nature, such as the recent release It's a Book (9781596436060, $12.99, Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan), a book about the introduction of a hard copy book in a digital age.
It's a Book walks that fine line between being really intended for an adult audience but being published in a children's market. There are many picture books published in this vein, such as All My Friends Are Dead(thanks to A. Neff for this!) by Avery Monsen and Jory John (9780811874557, $9.95, Chronicle), just published in June, about all the people, animals, and objects who have deceased friends. I can't think of a single friend who wouldn't snort with laughter at this snarky book.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Let me tell ya - it works!
After literally months of job searching, cover letter-writing, resume-restructuring, informational interviews, actual job interviews, nail biting, and losing sleep, I have an announcement to make:
As of Monday, October 4, 2010, I will be the new Sales Assistant/Receptionist for Beacon Press, located on Beacon Hill, in Boston, MA.
I can hardly believe my good fortune. Not only is Beacon Press located in one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in Boston, but the company itself is such an inspirational institution. Associated with the Universal Unitarian Association, Beacon Press is known for publishing outstanding works of poetry (Mary Oliver is published by Beacon), liberal and thought-provoking works of adult fiction and non-fiction, and most recently some YA graphic novels.
In my position as Sales Assistant/Receptionist, I will be at the front desk, serving as a representative of both Beacon Press and the UUA, meeting & greeting Beacon Press visitors, answering phone and email inquiries, and other sundry receptionist duties. I will also be assisting with the website, online marketing, and coordinating with organizations hosting author events with Beacon Press authors. I'm sure there will be other duties I can speak about later as I settle into the position and find out what they are.
But Rebecca, some of you might be gasping, this isn't editorial work, nor is it related to children's literature!
Good point, but this is an opportunity to work within a small, independent, well-respected publishing company in Boston. This is obviously an entry-level position, and as I have only internship experience within the publishing industry as a whole, I am thrilled to gain full-time employment in the industry. I can learn so much about various aspects of publishing I've never experienced, while also keeping my eyes open for a future position in editorial work. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I am so lucky my publishing career has begun at Houghton Mifflin and now at Beacon Press.
ABC is for Circus
by Patrick Hruby
9781934429617, Ammo Books, $14.95, Pub. Date: November 2010
Whimsical. Bright. Colorful. Creative. A must-have for a baby or design library.
I realize I haven't reviewed any board books as a stand-alone post, a gross oversight I'm going to correct beginning with my latest find. For those who stopped by the Odyssey Book Shop while I was Children's Department Manager there, you might have noticed my taste in design work similar to this. Board books featuring the work of Charley Harper and Dwell Studio received front-and-center placement on the board book shelves, while Bruno Munari's ABC picture book was featured on both the picture book shelf and in my own personal library. Now I can add the up-and-coming Patrick Hruby to my list of favorite designers in this vein.
While his artistic influences are clear, Hruby's illustrations in ABC is for Circus are unique, inspired, and delightfully cheerful with a mix of colors and shapes that are both riotous and carefully constructed. I love the clean, crisp geometric shapes among the bursts of color, as well as his use of color against black and white silhouettes. The subject matter is charming, too! Who wouldn't love learning "A is for Acrobats" and "B is for Big Top," but you'll also want to pay attention to "H is for Horses" as they're horses on the carousel (which, believe it or not, is not featured for the letter "C"). I think my favorite is "N is for Nighttime" because I love the switch of a colorful starry background with the Ferris Wheel silhouette layered on top.
