Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Edwards Award: Criteria

And a little more about the Edwards Award, from the YALSA website.

Last time, the definitions pretty much set what authors are books are eligible. But what is the criteria to make a selection?



Criteria

The committee making its selection of nominees must be aware of the entire range of books for young adults and will take into account the following:

Does the book(s) help adolescents to become aware of themselves and to answer their questions about their role and importance in relationships, society and in the world?

Is the book(s) of acceptable literary quality?

Does the book(s) satisfy the curiosity of young adults and yet help them thoughtfully to build a philosophy of life?

Is the book(s) currently popular with a wide range of young adults in many different parts of the country?

Do the book(s) serve as a "window to the world" for young adults?


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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Edwards Award: Definitions

And a little more about the Edwards Award, from the YALSA website.



Definitions

"Author" may be an individual or a co-author. The author must be living at the time of the nomination. In the case of co-authors, one must be living. If an author continues to write books of interest and appeal to young adults, then he or she may receive the award more than once as warranted, as long as it is not more frequently than every six years.

"Book or books" indicates either a title or titles written specifically for young adults, or those titles written for adults, which continue to be requested and read by young adults. The title or titles must be in-print at the time of nomination. Only those titles of an author's work which meet the criteria of the award will be cited.

"Over a period of time" means that the book or books must have been published in the United States no less than five years prior to the first meeting of the current Margaret A. Edwards Award Committee at the Midwinter Meeting. The five year period is stipulated so that the book or books have had enough time to filter down, i.e., reach a wide level of distribution, and to be accepted by young adults.

"Continues to illuminate their experiences and emotions" means that the book or books have become a literary cornerstone for young adults.

As you can see, the author must be living at the time of nomination; and that an author may receiver the award more than once.

Also, the books must have been published "no less than five years" prior to the first meeting of the Edwards Award.



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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Edwards Award: Terms and Committee Makeup

And a little more about the Edwards Award, from the YALSA website. While this may be the boring stuff, it's still important to know how this all works. For example, that it's virtual and there are five members; and the other YALSA policies that apply.




Terms

The award is given annually to an author whose book or books, over a period of time, have been accepted by young adults as an authentic voice that continues to illuminate their experiences and emotions, giving insight into their lives. The book or books should enable them to understand themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationship with others and with society. The book or books must be in print at the time of the nomination.

Members who have served two consecutive years as a member and/or administrative assistant may not be appointed to the same committee for three years from the conclusion of their last term. This guideline will not apply to the Chair.  In extreme circumstances, and at the President’s discretion, an exception may be made if a committee member resigns suddenly.  The President, after discussion with the Committee Chair, may determine that the best course of action is to fill the vacancy with an experienced committee member, and appoint a member in good standing who successfully served on the committee in question during the previous three years.

Committee Makeup

How many members, length of term, etc.

Edwards is a virtual committee.  Two committee members are appointed by YALSA's President-Elect and three are elected to serve a 18 month term. There are 5 voting committee members, including the chair. Each term begins Feb. 1st and ends the following June 30th. If someone resigns, the current President of YALSA may appoint a new person to finish out that particular term.

Responsibilities of regular committee positions

Additional information about committee member responsibilities is available from YALSA's Handbook.  All committee members must comply with YALSA's Policies, as presented in the online Handbook, including: Social Media Policy, Ethical Behavior Policy for Volunteers and the Award Committees Conflict of Interest Policy.


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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Review: Gone Crazy in Alabama

Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia. Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins. 2015. Reviewed from ARC. Companion to One Crazy Summer (2010) and P.S. Be Eleven (2013).

The Plot: It's the summer of 1969, and sisters Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are back. This time, they're off to spend the summer in the south, in Alabama, with their grandmother and great grandmother. They will learn about the things that keep family together, and what keeps family apart. And they'll have fun and tears along the way.

The Good: When I wrote about One Crazy Summer, about the sisters spending the summer of 1968 with their estranged mother, I said, "I want a second book. I want to spend more time with the Gaither sisters. I want One Crazy Summer to be the start of a new series, like All Of A Kind Family / Betsy-Tacy / Little House on the Prairie."

Confession: when the second book, P.S. Be Eleven, was published in 2013 I didn't read it. I have a copy, it was just... I haven't read it. Yet. Which right now I'm actually glad about, for two reasons: it means I still have an unread book about the Gaither sisters, and it means that I can say with full confidence that these books stand alone.

The girls are now 12, 10, and 8; their father has remarried, his new wife is expecting (don't worry, the girls love her and she loves them), and the girls are going to Alabama to visit Big Ma, their grandmother.

The things I love about this book: the three girls are sent, alone, by bus, from New York City to Alabama. Delphine has the responsibility for getting them all their safely, but their father also relies on the other children and families who are traveling from the city to their families and relatives in the south. Here is a glimpse at a different time and place, where the father trusts his daughters (and the other travelers) yet at the same time cautions his daughters -- Alabama isn't New York. Be careful what you say to and around white people.

Once in Alabama, the action is mostly with family members. You see, Big Ma's mother, Ma Charles, has a half-sister Miss Trotter who she never speaks to. Miss Trotter's great-grandson, JimmyTrotter, is a friend to all three girls. The family secret is this: Ma Charles and Miss Trotter were born the same year. Their father married both their mothers. It's a complicated situation, learned through the eyes of twelve-year-old Delphine. Jealousy and other things keep these two women apart, yet geography and blood and shared relatives keep them together.

And it gets an additional layer of confusion when Delphine finds out that the Charles side of her family is related to a white family in town. Or, as Ma Charles puts it, "the white side." A family who is clearly racist, and maybe worse. And everyone knows about it but few people talk about. There are no easy answers or explanations; instead, it's presenting matter of fact truths: the ways that people talked to each other. The things that could and could not be said. The words used. The frustrations and fears.

Since this is about the Gaither sisters, once again Williams-Garcia captures sisterhood perfectly. These are sisters who fight fiercely and love even more fiercely. Who crave both independence and support. The way these girls interact is real and true; and also, look at that cover! Who wouldn't want to be them? To be friends with them? To have those amazing 1960s clothes?

And heck yes, a Favorite Book in 2015. With fingers crossed and much hope that this is not the last time we visit with Delphine, Vonetta, Fern, and the rest of their family.








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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Review: All The Rage

All the Rage by Courtney Summers. St. Martin's Griffin. 2015. Reviewed from ARC.

The Plot: Romy is an outsider in her small town for so many reasons. Her father, the drunk; her mother, who married too young and just moved in with her new boyfriend. The new boyfriend who has never really held a full time job, living off government checks in the shabby house he inherited from his mother.

And at school, Romy is known as a liar, a target for ridicule and mockery.

She can escape to her work in a small diner, where people know her and like her and she doesn't have all the baggage of who her family is and isn't and what Romy did and didn't do. Where she can be herself; or at least, one version of herself. A version where people don't know about her and her family and her past.

Until the day Penny, one of Romy's tormentors, shows up at her work and refuses to leave.

The next day, both Romy and Penny are missing. Romy is found, with little or no memory of the night before. Penny is missing, and that just brings more torment to Romy because anyone looking for her meant they weren't looking for Penny.

What did Penny tell Romy? And what will Romy do now?

The Good: All the Rage is so good! It's a painful story because Romy's story is painful to read, but it's an important story because her pain, her anger, her age, her story is not unique.

This is not an attractive look at a small town and it's inhabitants, in part because it is Romy's story and she sees the worst around her. Yes, her father is a drunk who got fired, but the story behind shows a man in pain who didn't know what to do. Yes, her parents were young teenagers when they had Romy, but her mother is a kind and compassionate woman who is doing the best she can for her daughter. The new boyfriend is actually an old friend of her mother's, who is kind and loving. These are people without much money, and with no power, but they love Romy.

Sometimes, love isn't enough.

Romy had had a crush on a boy, back when she still had friends. The boy was popular and well liked, and his family was well connected in the town. And because she liked him, and dressed up for the party, because she wanted to be kissed, no one believed her when she said she said no. And so she became the liar, the outcast. Penny went from being a good friend to one of those siding against her. Until the day Penny came to see Romy.

Romy is angry but trying to contain her anger, trying to survive it by going to work at the diner but that illusion disappears when Penny shows up, when her work-self and home-self can no longer be kept separate. Her anger is fierce and sad and lonely; it comes out in many ways. Upon learning that a friend has had a baby, her first thought is please, let it not be a girl. It is a girl. When she holds the child for the first time, she thinks of how hard her life will be, how hard a girl's life always is.

Because all Romy can think of is how she was hurt and betrayed: how the price for having a crush on a boy, for wanted to look pretty, was to be called a liar who was trying to ruin a poor boy's life. Of course, both those things meant she had to have said yes to him; she could not possibly have said no. How can she not be angry and full of rage, to live in a world where the default view of a woman is that a boy has a right to her body, based on her clothes and her crush?

My heart was broken again and again for Romy, for the pain she was in, for her isolation. For how the world turned against her, because it was easier to not believe her. Because not believing her meant that the world still made sense. Because it's not real until it happens to you.

But Romy is one thing, besides being angry and full of rage. She's a survivor. She will survive, even if it takes time. She will survive, even if it takes her time to heal. And she's going to have hard choices to make, not only because of what happened to her, but also because of what happened to Penny.

This is a Favorite Book of 2015. And I wish I could say more about Romy and her journey, and about Penny and what happened to her, but this is about getting you to read the book, and go on Romy's journey with her. Not to judge her.

One last thing, but in a way an important thing: Romy wears red lipstick and red nail polish. She puts it on with care, with dedication. The lipstick and nail polish is sometimes to establish her identity, "I'm still here and real"; sometimes it's a protection, a wall of defense to hide behind; and sometimes it's armor, to give herself strength. I'm not much of a nail polish person, I go in cycles with using it (I have bad nails and little patience, not a good combination for painting one's nails), and this book made me dig out my nail polish, and to see it as something more than a way to be pretty.



















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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Edwards Award: About and Justification

Why, what is the award about?

"The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. The annual award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by School Library Journal magazine. It recognizes an author's work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world.  The Edwards award celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013."

And the justification for the Award?

"ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), on behalf of librarians who work with young adults in all types of libraries, gives recognition to those authors whose book or books have provided young adults with a window through which they can view their world and which help them to grow and to understand themselves and their role in society."


You can see why the Edwards Award is sometimes referred to as a Lifetime Achievement award,

All quotes from the YALSA Website

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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy