Bone, Volumes 1 and 2
Jeff Smith
Ghostopolis
Doug TenNapel
Fables, Volumes 1-12
Bill Willingham
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
Bryan Lee O’Malley
The Sons of Liberty #1
Alexander and Joseph Lagos
Amulet: The Stonekeeper
Kazu Kibuishi
|
Bone, Volumes 1 and 2
Jeff Smith
Ghostopolis
Doug TenNapel
Fables, Volumes 1-12
Bill Willingham
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
Bryan Lee O’Malley
The Sons of Liberty #1
Alexander and Joseph Lagos
Amulet: The Stonekeeper
Kazu Kibuishi
|
I’ve got a topic I’m interested in starting a discussion on. It’s something I’ve been wrestling with in my mind for a while, and one which was stirred up by articles such as this one. This is sort of two-pronged, so go with me here.
When the Morris Awards list was unveiled a couple weeks ago, I saw more than one post discussing how this was one of the most balanced lists put out by an awards committee in a long time. We’re talking balanced in the sense of genre and topic, rather than by author’s gender right now. I don’t disagree with this assessment at all; in fact, I think it’s a pretty spectacularly balanced list, except for the lack of a real romance-y title. We have a historical fiction, two contemporary titles (which are themselves worlds different from one another), a paranormal, and a fantasy.
But then discussions popped up like the one I liked to above regarding gender balance and it got me thinking.
As a reader, I don’t think too much about the gender of the book’s author. For me, it’s not really that important. It’s something I think about a bit when it comes to the main character and how well done I think he or she may be — one of my sticking points in many books is authenticity of male voice — and so when one is particularly well done by a female, I take note. I want to read more of their titles to see this strong voice since I do think it’s hard to nail down. Rarely, though, do I consider the author when I’m reading their work. Their backgrounds, experiences, heritage, and gender play little into my reading experience. I don’t think it’s fair. It puts that author in a place where they’re representative of something bigger than themselves, their experiences, and their creative abilities.
When awards lists come around, it fascinates me to no end how discussions of the author’s background and experience can even come into the equation. How something not related to the text can possibly be relevant to the work as written. I think discussion of character voice and gender is entirely relevant — and something we’ve talked about in Cybils discussion — but the authors themselves? It has no place in discussion of the book itself.
This brings me back to my point earlier about the Morris’s extremely balanced list.
I think it’s also unfair to become obsessive about balance. It’s a bonus, though I think it becomes a bit of a clutch in many situations. I don’t think we always need to be balanced in the world, nor do we always need to be balanced when it comes to something like awards. I don’t think we need to have this balanced pointed out, either. I almost find it a bit pandering.
Some books are just stronger than others, and some genres produce stronger books in any given year than others. To exclude books from consideration for an award because another book is in that genre or because it’d make the list unbalanced just feels wrong to me. I don’t think there is obligation for fairness in art or literature.
I’m not writing this to bash the hard work of any awards committee in the least, but instead to raise a discussion about balance and fairness. Thinking back to this year’s National Book Award titles, too, you see sort of what I’m talking about: all of the contenders this year were heavily issue-driven and often dark. There were outcries for how unfair that list was because it leaned so much one way. You can’t make people happy one way or another, and something will *always* get excluded.
What I want to know and hear from you about is this: can we ever be truly fair and balanced? Should we ever? What should be part of consideration for awards lists and what shouldn’t? Where do we draw the line on awarding books for being superb books and creating a list of balanced and representative works for consideration?
|
Seventeen year old Emma Paxton has bounced in and out of foster homes since she was four years old, when her mother left her at a friend’s house for a play date, never to return again. After being framed by her leering, skeevy foster brother for petty theft and facing an uncertain future, Emma is shocked to discover a video uploaded online that shows a blindfolded girl being strangled and falling unconscious–a girl who looks exactly like Emma. After making connection with this doppleganger, Sutton Mercer, on Facebook and being invited to meet her in Arizona, Emma immediately sets out, thrilled at the thought of finding a family once again. However, what she soon finds is not a pair of welcoming arms, but a missing Sutton. Their resemblance is so remarkable that Sutton’s friends and family, and even the police, not only mistake Emma for Sutton, but don’t believe Emma when she tries to explain the mistake. And while Sutton’s luxurious life may be a far cry from the foster child lifestyle that Emma has lived, Emma soon finds that all is not as it seems in this tony Arizona town. Mysterious notes show up, claiming that Sutton is dead and that Emma must play along—or else. Sutton’s friends are all involved in something called ‘The Lying Game,’ a mean-spirited prank war that is escalating fast. And Emma can’t quite figure out who is responsible for her sister’s death. No one, friend or family, can be eliminated.
|
Welcome to another installment of In My Mailbox, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It’s a showcase of the books received for review, purchased, or picked up at the library during the week.
I’m still knee-deep in Cybils titles, but this week a few other titles made their way to my door.
For Review:
The False Princess by Eilis O’Neal: Looks like a nice change of pace from my other reading! A Fantasy and mystery about a girl who thinks she’s royalty but just may not.
Human .4 by Mike Lancaster: This sounds like an interesting readalike to M. T. Anderson’s Feed.
Bitter Melon by Cara Chow: I dig the premise here, about a Chinese-American girl pressured by her parents for perfection.
Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacCall: This is one of our Cybils titles. A historical fiction set in London that’s been compared to The Luxe.
Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers: I preordered this one after I finished the ARC, but I also received a finish copy this week from the publisher. So I guess that means I’ll be giving away a third copy of this title. You can enter here.
Leap by Jodi Lundgren: This one comes out in March, I believe, and it’s about a competitive dancer. Looks really good!
Joe Rat by Mark Barratt: An adventure set in historical London. This one might have the creepiest cover ever.
Virginia by Susan Hughes: Secrets, secret powers, and more. Another Cybils title.
Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini: A debut supernatural romance, blurbed by Lauren Kate. My friend’s the editor of this one, so despite being a bit out of my normal reading tastes, I am VERY excited.
Bumped by Megan McCafferty: I dig the Jessica Darling series and am eager to see something different from McCafferty.
Alex Van Helsing: Voice of the Undead by Jason Henderson: Second in the series. You can’t beat the tagline – “No sparkly vampires here!”
Scary School by Derek the Ghost: A middle grade novel with illustrations. A funny one!
This week, we had a meeting at our library system center, and there were some books available for us to take. I grabbed these two for post-Cybils reading.
One Day by David Nicholls: This one got a ton of summer buzz.
At Home by Bill Bryson: Bryson is the quintessential man of the midwest. Anything he writes (except his memoir) I have loved, and I suspect this won’t disappoint, either.
From the library:
Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner: I am really looking forward to this middle grade novel. When it came across my desk post-processing, I took it home immediately.
One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau: By the author of Bible Camp Bloodbath is an earlier bloody horror (and guaranteed laugh fest, at least for me). We all have our escapist reading. I don’t even pretend.
Folly by Marthe Jocelyn: Historical fiction in multiple voices and multiple time settings in London. Very Dickensian and I am very much not feeling it. Too confusing for me.
|
Are you going to San Diego for Midwinter?
Are you a YA blogger librarian, a YA author, or publicist interested in hanging out with a bunch of your kin?
You’re in luck. We’re having a party.
We’ll get together Friday night, starting at 8:30 p.m. Tentative plans have us at the Hilton Bay Front but depending on interest, we might move it somewhere else.
That’s why we ask if you’re interested to shoot us an email at midwinteryabloggerfest@gmail.com. This is a super informal but fun way to meet one another, chat about our favorite books and authors, gossip over wine and screwdrivers, and relive our own teen years (Dream Phone and The Babysitter’s Club game may be involved).
And hey – we’re librarians. We’re into this whole skype thing. We’d love if anyone interested would dig phoning into our party to hang out for a while. Let’s make this multimedia!
Pass along our contact information to anyone you think may be interested. We’ll send an email when it gets closer with firmer details.