Tea Cozy: Tell us something about yourself.
Melissa Rabey: In some ways, I think I'm more interesting because of the things I can't do. I'm unable to snap my fingers, and I can hardly whistle. To hear me sing is to wish for me to stop--quickly.
Yet I think this lack of ability has actually helped me. I spend a lot of time contemplating ideas and talking them over with others, so I don't make snap judgments.
I'm determined to help other people get a chance to sing their own song--just like the Mama Cass song says.
And although I can't whistle while I work, I do try to stay positive and proactive, and not just at work.
Tea Cozy: Name one YA title, published pre-1998, that would have made an excellent Printz Award winner.
Melissa Rabey: I know that there's lots of people who would support either Rats Saw God
But there's another book, one which has stuck with me ever since I read it: Eva
I think the best books have two aspects: what they're saying and how they're saying it. I feel Eva succeeds on both counts, and therefore would have been my pick for a Printz Award, if this award had existed in 1989.
Tea Cozy: What has prepared you to read for the Printz?
Melissa Rabey: Over the last nine months, I've been consciously preparing for the Printz Committee. I started a blog to review teen literature and have started posting at Liz Burns' Tea Cozy blog. At my blog, I evaluated the Morris Award shortlist as a way to practice my analytical skills. I served on the Maryland Author Award committee, reviewing the works of young adult authors with Maryland ties in order to select a winner. In this period, I've strived to read more books in general, and to read these books in a more critical manner.
Yet I've also been preparing for the Printz committee ever since I became a teen librarian. I've always sought to be aware of the important and/or popular books published for teens, and to read as many as I could. Through my service on Popular Paperbacks, I learned how to manage a reading workload and discuss books with my colleagues.
I feel that this mix of conscious and unconscious planning has me as ready as possible for the Printz committee. I don't know if anyone is really prepared for the amount of work that's involved in the Printz committee, but I think I can do a good job. I hope you believe that, too.
Tea Cozy: What's your area of pop culture expertise?
Melissa Rabey: I seem to be an expert at nitpicking historical inaccuracies in movies and TV shows. I understand why history gets changed to create or enhance drama--or at least, what's seen as drama. I feel that if you can't see the tragedy, the humor, the entertainment in historical fact, you've got an unusual definition of drama. It's for this reason I haven't watched any of The Tudors : it's a marvelous time period, full of sex and fights and political wranglings, yet all that isn't interesting enough on its own, apparently. But if, in the end, a show like the Tudors gets people more interested in history, then I can't really complain all that much.
Tea Cozy: I guess I should confess now that I've never read Eva. Oh, well, I better start reading! Thanks, Melissa!
As a reminder to all YALSA members:
Here's the official YALSA slate
And video interviews with the candidates, including Melissa
The Election category on the blog with all Election information
Cross-posted at Pop Goes the Library
© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy
1 comment:
Good luck, Melissa!
I was talking to a librarian who read for another ALA list and she said that the only bad part about reading 300+ books in a year was "when you got behind." Eek!
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