Two weeks from today we’ll know the winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards. This is like the Oscars for books and people get just as excited. There are betting pools at stores, libraries have contests about guessing which books might win or receive honors in the big categories.
This past year was a really solid year for middle grade with no book really being a slam dunk for the honor. I think the following books are in contention for the Newbery. Wonder, Liar & Spy, and The One and Only Ivan are my big three. I think any of these can win, and all should get honors. One for the Murphys and Splendors and Glooms are also circling the win column. But if I had to pick one I think My One and Only Ivan will get the win.
I Have a Dream should be in the mix but I wonder if it won’t get a nod, like last year because of its very likely Coretta Scott King award win. Extra Yarn seems to be a popular favorite, although I like More more. Baby Bear Sees Blue is one of my favorites as is the delightful Z Is for Moose. And let’s not forget Homer. The great thing is if any of these books win I’ll be thrilled.
The Printz Medal this year is not easy to call either. Although I think Code Name Verity  will get the win with The Fault in Our Stars getting an honor. There is a scenario where these books are flipped, but I think I’m right on this call. The Diviners and Every Day are among my favorites of the past year.
So, reader, what do you think? Pick your medalists and honorees; the person with the most correct ballot gets a ShelfTalker shout-out.

Yesterday’s blog post about books we love passionately but don’t often recommend to young readers hit a chord with several children’s booksellers and librarians and brought in some wonderful comments. We decided to keep that post current over the weekend, and hope you’ll weigh in with your thoughts and also more book titles.
And while we’re talking about comments, a word of appreciation to all of you who take the time to respond to our blog posts. Not only do your comments add depth and richness–and often humor–to the discussions, but they are a little shout back from the vast Internet wilderness. Thank you!

My iPod was playing during a long drive to Boston, and somewhere amid Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Aretha Franklin, Amy Winehouse, Moxy Fruvous, and Yo Yo Ma (don’t you love shuffle?!), I came upon a lecture from Vermont College professor Julie Larios. She was talking about David Almond’s Skellig. Listening to her words brought the fascinating appeal of that novel rushing back. I remembered discovering the book; I’m pretty sure we received advance reading copies and fell in love with its strange magic before publication. David Almond burst onto the American children’s literature scene with that book. And as much as I loved Skellig, I loved Almond’s next novel, Kit’s Wilderness, even more. Skellig is still on kids’ radar because they come across it in schools, but Kit’s Wilderness has all but disappeared – and it was an extraordinary piece of writing and storytelling. Yet, these days, I rarely find myself recommending either book to kids looking for suggestions. Why on earth is that? Why is it that some of my all-time favorite books – some of the most powerful, moving, beautifully written books I’ve come across in children’s literature – get shunted aside for lighter books when I’m handselling to kid readers?
It’s not just that we are busy introducing kids to all the fantastic new books coming down the pike. Even among backlist favorites, I have realized that I often don’t recommend titles I loved. Am I worried about kid appeal? I do recommend scads of older backlist books that I loved as a child: Edward Eager, Eleanor Estes, Julie Andrews Edwards, and all the great award winners and classics that are classics for a reason. I automatically trust my recommendations that come from my childhood reading self. Perhaps I’m less confident that what I discover and love as an adult will translate to today’s child reader. But I don’t think that’s the whole story.
There are many contemporary backlist and midlist titles that are part of my perennial handselling repertoire. But when I stop to think about it, those books are often funny, fantasy, or adventure stories. Partly this is because those are three of my favorite genres. And before I get pelted with tomatoes, let me reassure readers that I am not saying that humor, fantasy, and adventure are less worthy or have less depth than straight dramatic titles; I just suspect that we (or I) may subconsciously perceive them as ‘safer,’ more universal, recommendations than books with more serious themes. Intellectually and from my own experience as a lifelong reader, I know that’s ridiculous. I loved all manner of books as a child, and while I adored books that made me laugh and that delighted my imagination, I treasured the ones that also made me think, that moved me, that gave me windows into other worlds and showed me many ways of navigating human emotion and interaction.
I love these books I sometimes forget or even hesitate to recommend, love them with an abiding passion. In addition to Kit’s Wilderness, I’m talking about books like Francisco X. Stork’s Marcelo in the Real World, Cynthia Voigt’s Homecoming and Dicey’s Song, Nancy Farmer’s A Girl Named Disaster, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Ellen Wittlinger’s Hard Love, M.T. Anderson’s The Pox Party. Is it that a book like Kit’s Wilderness is harder to handsell because it doesn’t have an easy narrative hook, the way fantasy and adventure novels more often do? Is it that the audience for many of these books truly is narrower? Or is it that, given just five minutes with a reader I don’t know well, I’m reluctant to stir those deeper waters?
Whatever the reason, or set of reasons, it is my job to keep beautiful, worthy, wonderful books alive for young readers. That is one of the best possible uses of my time and efforts. So one of my vows this year, one of my real New Year’s resolutions, is to go through 15 years’ worth of Flying Pig newsletters to remind myself of what knocked my socks off — and to bring those books back into the forefront at the store, helping to knock the socks off a whole new generation of readers.
What backlist titles do you love and hold close? Which do you recommend to young readers? And do you ever find yourself holding back? Why?

At the end of the day yesterday I had two lovely customers come in. They are both high school seniors who have been shopping at the store for all 16 years we’ve been open. One, Sofia, had just been accepted early decision at NYU, and the other, Maryanne, is waiting to hear from about seven colleges.
As I talked with these young women I was struck by how grown up they both were. Each drove to the store themselves, (That kids drive to themselves to the store amazes me.  It tickles me every time they come in swinging their keys) and had her own credit card. But more stunning was how grounded these kids were. Sofia and I had a long talk about the relative merits of John Green novels versus David Levithan’s. Of course we had this discussion in the adult section because Sofia, while a lover of YA literature, felt the time had come “…for a book as good as John Green, but for adults.”
When Sofia was 10 she came to our old location and announced she wanted “to be ashed under the bookstore.” As creepy as this sounded, there was something really touching about this. Her love of books was strong; even as a 10-year-old she knew she needed to be surrounded by them. Although why a little kid would be spending so much time thinking about her death is a bit odd, I was touched that she wanted her final resting place to be our store.
When she was about 11, Maryanne came into the old store crying. I approached her gently and asked if she was all right. She said they had just put her cat down and she just wanted to be in with the books and smell them. I let her be for 10 minutes and then we started talking about how much she loved her cat and she left feeling better.
These moments from years ago touch me deeply and I was reminded of that yesterday. We have been privileged to see these kids grow up to young adults. Sofia used to come and just hang out, when her parents were going through a nasty divorce. Maryanne would come in seeking thoughtful recommendations for books for her father. We talked about the colleges they were going to and the insane expense of it. They both asked for jobs.

Today is my first day back at work in two weeks. I must say, the time off has been as restful as it’s been delightful, though sadly, nary a book was read in whirl that was the holidays and catching up with friends. As I ponder the last year I can’t help but think of things I’d like to be different in the coming year. Below is my all-encompassing list of goals/dreams for the bookstore.
– I will try to not lament about the e-readers taking over the book world. Instead, I will celebrate the physical book. I am going to rejoice in the actual book. I love the feel of them, the smell of them, and the portability of them. I will remember that people walking in the door of my store also love the physical book and there is nothing more fun than meeting a kindred spirit.
– To do more school orders. It’s been hard to break into the public school system in my area and it seems to be getting harder, not easier, for indies to provide books to schools. Even the private schools are hesitant “to show favoritism to one store” over another, as we were told by one administrator. I know schools have budgets to adhere to, but in many cases indie stores are the only ones providing free author visits and I’m tiring of fighting for every order. We do have several extremely loyal librarians and teachers who only shop with us, but even they can’t bring the whole school to our store with purchase orders. My goal is simple: get two more teachers per school to order from us in the coming year. If we can slowly build that way, perhaps come September we’ll be awash in orders.
– Keep better inventory control. I say this every year and every year it gets better, but this is the area that all of us could improve on. Processing returns faster is always a goal, however it always seems to be the law that the minute a hardcover nonfiction political book gets returned, someone suddenly comes in wanting it. Murphy’s Law aside, I think I need to take a more harsh approach to returns and not hang on to books that I hope will sell, eventually, but just return them.
– Make smarter frontlist orders. I say this every year, too, but every year this is a challenge. Do I need to buy every picture book with an adorable bear story? No. Do I? More often than I care to admit. The hard part with frontlist ordering is guessing, to some degree, what the hot books will be and ordering enough of them.
– Read more. This probably pops up on every bookseller’s list, but it is always a goal for me to just spend more time reading. The issue with this is there just aren’t always enough hours in the day.
– Get more creative with displays and signage. I often delegate this to staffers, who do a great job and I’m thankful for them. But I sometimes wish I could come up with really clever displays that make people laugh as they linger over them. This might be a lofty goal for me as I always joke that were it not for Elizabeth, we’d have the exact same display we had when we opened 16 years ago.
– Lastly, have more fun at work.
Booksellers, what are your goals for the coming year?
 

Before the holidays, I had a chance to have tea with my friend, children’s book illustrator Liza Woodruff. I love visiting with Liza. Not only does she always have THE funniest misadventures to share, but she’s a great cook and her house is lovely: bright, colorful, cheery and restful, all at once. And she’s got some adorable pets: dogs, guinea pigs, and chickens.

This time when I came over, Liza was working on spreads for a picture book, a companion to her 2010 title, Ten on the Sled, a rhyming picture book written by Kim Norman and published by Sterling. Ten on the Sled has been a big hit at the Flying Pig, not just because Liza has a local following, but because it is an excellent read-aloud romp with lots of fun details to notice in the art. It’s a fun take on the well-known song, “Ten in the Bed,” a counting book, or really, in this case, a counting-down tale where, one by one, all ten animals in a sled tumble out in various ways on their way downhill. “There were TEN on the sled / and the caribou said, / ‘Slip over! Slide over!’ / So they all slid over, / and Seal spilled out. / There were NINE on the sled….”

The new book is called, If It’s Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws! I got a sneak peek at the text and it’s just as much fun to read aloud as the first. This one is a twist, of course, on the perennial little-kid favorite song, “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.” Kim Norman is really, really good at reworking these popular tunes in fresh ways, and Liza’s art is the perfect tonal complement.

Seeing the art in progress was a huge treat. I love the little watercolor worlds Liza creates in her books, especially her winter worlds. They are cozy and inviting, happy places. Her animals have individual, quirky personalities complete with anxieties and passions. They are hilarious. If you look closely at the animals in Ten on the Sled, whole mini-stories unfold in the art. (The polar bear and the caribou, for example, have a sweet little innocent love story. Cracks me up.) To my mind, Liza and fellow Vermont illustrator Sarah Dillard (Perfectly Arugula) have this unusual ability to take less-often-explored personality traits (for example, over-enthusiasm, or perfectionism) and making them funny and lovable.

I love talking with children’s illustrators about their work. I love how they think and visualize and problem-solve. Seeing someone’s artistic process spread out in sketches and finished paintings reminds me that every single line on the page is a conscious decision an artist has to make against a blank page. Of course that’s obvious, but it’s easy to forget when looking at paintings bursting with life and vibrancy. Writers also face the blank page — but, perhaps because I don’t have that artistic facility and ability, an artist’s blank page seems emptier, more daunting. I greatly admire and envy (in the purest possible way) an artist’s ability to envision something and actually render it on the page. To me, it is actual magic in addition to hard work, practice, skill, and even a little genius.

This is a quick post to wish all our readers a very Happy New Year! I hope 2013 is full of great books that are discovered like magic. Picking up a book, any book, is an invitation to another place: a chance to make new friends, learn something, to be moved and just to enjoy.
There are so many books I’m looking forward to reading in 2013 that I can’t really begin to name them all. But a few things have me excited for the coming year. The return of beloved-long-out-of-print Ruth Chew titles in August should make for a great summer. Inhuman, the new dystopian novel from Kat Falls. The newest book from last year’s Caldecott Honoree, Chris Raschka, Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bike, looks to be another winner. Really, the list is huge. The new Chris Lynch novel looks great, there’s a new Fancy Nancy that some kids have already asked about.
What books are you most excited about in the coming year? And, did you get the books you wanted for the holidays?
Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Hello from snowy Vermont! Josie and I had our first completely relaxing day in months, and it felt wonderfully decadent to have a leisurely brunch, hang out with the dogs, and do nothing more strenuous than make cookie dough and write thank-you notes. Ahhhh.
It’s not often my family can completely surprise me with a book-related gift I’ve never seen before, but my sister outdid herself this year by finding a Booksi, which is an iPhone charger made from a book. The one she chose for me was Houghton’s handsome green-and-blue hardcover of The Hobbit with J.R.R. Tolkien’s original cover art and design — the exact version our mom read to us when we were young. This was such a fantastic present! It will sit on my bedside table, acting as charger and stand for my phone so unobtrusively you wouldn’t even realize it isn’t a book unless you caught sight of the slim white USB cord exiting the pages.

My sister discovered it in the Rich Neeley Designs shop on Etsy.com. That website is such a great source of book-related arts and crafts!
The other booky gift was a happy flying pig painting made for me by a student from my last picture-book-writing workshop. I was so touched by the thoughtfulness of this painting and its fun details:

The book the pig is reading?

And the little tag at the bottom reads:
Thanks, Kristen Littlefield, for the painting, and thanks, Tiff, for the Booksi!
And now to settle in with some of the books I wrapped for myself (since few dare to give booksellers actual books)….
What books and book-related gifts were you delighted to find under your tree or at your Chanukah celebration?

Monday was Christmas Eve and as usual there was a massive flurry of last-minute shopping. Along with the craziness, there were some desperate requests.
– Someone called up asking for a handbook on Saab repair. Not just a general book, but one for a 1984 car. Now, I know we’re a general bookstore, but really, that’s a little specific. When I mentioned we didn’t have that he wondered if he could order it in time for Christmas. I told him that no one ships on Christmas and he just kept asking if we could order it. I tried repeatedly to explain that everyone was closed and he just muttered, “I have to have it,” and hung up.
– An anxious man came in for a specific Joseph Roth book which we did not have. He left in a huff when we told him we’d have to order it. He called two hours later to see if the book was in. It wasn’t. On the static-filled cell phone call he also decreed that we find three books for three different people. He didn’t want a selection. “Just pick something.”
– Someone called just before closing and asked, “I know you sell books for kids, but do you sell books for children under two?” This one mystified me. I almost wanted to say no, just to tease them, but the caller sounded so harried, I just couldn’t. I asked what they were looking for and they said rather deadpan, “Something for a kid under two.”
– Several dads came in on Christmas Eve day and really didn’t understand how we could be out of a certain book they wanted. As someone who doesn’t save my shopping until the last possible minute, I don’t have a ton of sympathy for people being unpleasant to me because they didn’t plan ahead. I just don’t understand how Christmas can sneak up on people; it’s the same date every year. But I helped them regroup and found similar titles to what they wanted and I know the kids will love the books. And, they can always get the books they really wanted for Valentine’s or Easter, if they remember.
 
 

I just want to take a moment and wish everyone a very happy holiday. I hope all of our readers can be with their families and friends enjoying time together.
This holiday season my bookstore was short-staffed. Darrilyn, the staffer who most enjoys working during December, fell and broke her wrist, in several places. Consequently, everyone else had to work that much harder. I cannot thank everyone enough for giving up so much of their time to make the store’s holiday season truly great. Our wrapping friend, Sue, kept commenting on Saturday how great our staff was to work with. I couldn’t agree more. Their hard work makes me look good every single day. And I’m also grateful to work with them.
I’m also very curious what books folks got as presents. So, if you got a great book, please share. I’m hoping I get a book, but I doubt that I will. This still saddens me, but it does give me permission to get myself a special book to read during the week the store is closed.
Merry Christmas!