STACKED

books

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

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If you haven’t heard of this book before, you might believe that it’s a teen romance from the title. Do not let the title fool you. It has a very small romance in it, but it is mostly peripheral, and this story is about something entirely different.

There is so much involved in this 197-page book that it’s hard to know what to mention in this review and what to leave out. Miranda lives in New York City with her mom. It’s 1979, Miranda is twelve years old, and she’s been receiving mysterious notes from a stranger that discuss things that will happen in Miranda’s future. And then those things come to pass, like the fact that Miranda’s mom becomes a contestant on the game show $20,000 Pyramid. Within this time-travel mystery, the book also touches upon class, race, friendship, bullying, homelessness, and so many other issues. Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time is a recurrent theme, and any kid who loves that book (as so many did in 1979 and so many do now) will also love the many references to it here.

When You Reach Me starts a bit slow. Miranda doesn’t receive the first note until page 60, and before that happens, I wasn’t sure where the book was heading. Once the first note hit, however, I was hooked.

The book benefits from short, snappy chapters (2-3 pages each) with interesting titles deliberately mimicking the game show (Things That Go Missing; Things That Sneak Up on You; Things That Turn Pink). (For those of us who haven’t ever watched the $20,000 Pyramid, the second round involves one contestant trying to get her partner to guess the category of the words she recites. For example, she might say “Lever, Handle, Hair,” and the answer would be “Things you pull.”)

I think young fans of genre fiction, particularly mysteries and science fiction, will find a lot to like in this book. It has those mystery and sci-fi elements, but it really is something unique that makes it stand out from these genres. At times Miranda’s voice seems a bit too mature, but for the most part she is engaging and seems like a twelve year old. If a young reader makes it to page 60, he or she will not be able to stop until reaching the end. The end is really spectacular, perhaps not as surprising to an adult as it might be to a child, but beautifully written and just challenging enough to require some thought after the last page is turned but also be understandable for its intended audience.

The biggest thing that will prevent this book from moving off the shelves, or at least the copy that I read, is the cover. Not the front cover, which isn’t too bad, but the back. There is no book blurb. Instead, it’s a litany of praise for Stead’s earlier book, First Light. That isn’t terribly unusual, but the book doesn’t have an inside flap. There’s no way for a tween browsing the shelves to find out what this book is about. Something like that is vital, and I’m sad that it’s missing from this copy, because I really think this book could have a fairly large audience. I can think of a half-dozen ways to pitch it: how Miranda’s friend Sal gets punched in the face for no apparent reason on the street one day, the time travel enigma, the mysterious notes…the blurb could easily grab someone.

Despite that (or because of that, really), I encourage you to give this one a try. It’s refreshing and interesting, and you could read it in an afternoon.

Stitches by David Small

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This week, the finalists in consideration for National Book Awards were named, with much kerfuffle over one title named to the Young People’s Literature category: Stitches by David Small. Throughout a number of list servs and through the discussions on various blogs and Twitter, it seems many are disappointed that a number of worthy titles in the Very Large category were left out, while Stitches — published as an adult graphic novel — was given a nod.

Since last year I missed out on reading the nominees before the winning title was announced, I have made it my goal to be on top of it this year. I’ve got Charles and Emma and Jumped on my pile right now, with Claudette Colvin available to be at work, too. Lips Touch, on the other hand, is going to require some hunting, as a prior attempt to purchase it for my library’s collection met with an inability to find it. I digress.

Stitches is Small’s memoir about growing up in an abusive household. At this point you’re probably thinking his name sounds familiar — it is. He has done a lot of work on children’s books, so chances are you’ve seen his work.

Small’s story is dark. His mother had a deep seeded hatred for him from an early age, and his father may have been responsible for him being a sickly child and ultimately developing cancer. It is Small’s therapist who becomes his real savior in the story. It’s the first scene between Small and his therapist that brought tears to my eyes.

Depressing and dark indeed, but an absolutely moving story with, I think, an optimistic ending. This is a story very conducive to the graphic novel format and would be one in which non-graphic novel enthusiasts would find themselves wrapped. This is the *perfect* companion to Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It, and I think many of us working in libraries can attest to this particular title still being one asked for again and again by teens and adults alike.

This is where it is crucial to discuss category. Where does Stitches belong? Is it an adult novel or a teen novel?

I say it does not matter. It will find its audience.

We use categories for convenience, and as in all things in life, there are rule breakers. You know how there are men and women in the world? Well, there is also a whole spectrum between those two polar ends, even though we only have categories for those two. People who live in that middle find their way and find one another, even as they often have to dodge the bullets from those who see things as one or the other, not both or neither.

Stitches is that sort of book. And for that matter, so is A Child Called It. In the case of the latter, I don’t think anyone can say that the book has become lost nor not received any attention because it’s not clearly for a certain audience (or if it falls clearly into fiction or non-fiction – it’s a memoir!). It will have appeal for so many ages and readers that its classification does not matter. For sake of locating an item, we have to put it somewhere, but look: there is no “right” place for it. It will find its audience whether or not it’s shelved in teen graphic novels, adult graphic novels, or among memoirs penned by authors.

It’s also worth stepping back for a second and looking a little closer at the particular publisher here: W. W. Norton. Know anything about them at all?

They only publish one imprint and thus do not publish for any specific audience in mind. So, sure, this book was definitely not marketed for teens when it came out because, well, that’s not what Norton markets for any time.

I’m thrilled such a book has made the short list for the National Book Award. This sort of book needs this attention to reach the multitude of audiences it could reach. I think it’s quite an honor a book like this can make the Young People’s Literature category among so many tough competitors. Who cares whether or not it was marketed as a teen graphic novel — there’s something much deeper here than category or marketing.

Kid-Friendly Graphic Novels & Knights of the Lunch Table by Frank Cammuso

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Every two months, all of the children’s librarians from my entire system (73 libraries!) gather downtown for an information order meeting. One of the presentations at a recent session? You guessed it – graphic novels for kids. Our fearless leaders in Children’s Services have been trying to broaden the world of graphic novels in the Los Angeles Public Library. The battlecry? No longer will the Young Adult area hold a monopoly over the graphic novels! Publishers, children’s librarians, and patrons are demanding more content for younger kids.

I managed to coerse the graphic novel committee into letting me post their great powerpoint overview of the graphic novel genre and how Los Angeles Public Library is incorporating these books into the children’s collections… and programming around it! As a verified non-expert in this genre, I appreciated the synthesis of a huge amount of information into a simplified format. I only wish I could’ve grabbed some snapshots of the cute insanely cute crafts that were demonstrated. I hope you enjoy the efforts of Marc Horton, Eva Mitnick, Carey Vance, Joanna Fabicon, and Maddy Kerr – I know I did.

The September issue of School Library Journal reflects this trend. Peter Gutiérrez wrote an article entitled “Good & Plenty: It used to be hard to find good graphic novels for the K–4 crowd. My, how times have changed.” Okay, the title is a bit of a clunker, but the article itself offers a great primer to some of the awesome material for children. And I decided to challenge myself to read a few of the novels mentioned.

My favorite of the bunch? Frank Cammuso’s Knight’s of the Lunch Table series, without a doubt.

I accidentally ordered the second volume of the series, the Dragon Players, instead of the first volume, the Dodgeball Chronicles. No matter – the story was easily picked up without needing an introduction.

King Arthur and the Round Table seemlessly fits into this modern day story about middle school. Artie attends Camelot Middle School with his evil sister Morgan. Of course, there’s a Mr. Merlyn, a science wiz with a mysterious raven as a classroom pet. And Percy and Guen show up as Artie’s best friend and love interest respectively. That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to references to the Camelot legend. At times, I really want to go back and grab my copy of the Once and Future King, just to catch more obscure allusions in the text.

In the Dragon Players, Artie finds himself in a competition of dueling dragons – robot dragons, that is. The bullies of the school, appropriately named “The Horde,” have forced Percy to build them a fearsome dragon competitor. Cammuso weaves the theme of duality from the beginning of the story to the narrative climax. I particularly loved the scene where “the ladies of the lunch” dispense a warning.

Arthur, King of Middle School,
Within thy heart, two dragons duel.
One is warm and one is cook,
In thy life just one shall rule.

All pretty standard stuff, right? Of course the mystic lunch ladies would speak in cryptic gibberish. But Cammuso continues the exchange… with an appropriate food-related sense of humor. This, of course, totally confuses Artie.

French fries… or veggie sticks?
Who knows which dragon you shall pick?
Chef salad… or pizza cheesy?
One is right and one is easy.

I couldn’t stop laughing, and then I forced several co-workers to listen to the dialogue.

A shadowy figure in the guise of a dorky kid named Evo shows up with an easy answer to Artie’s dueling robots dilemma. And of course, Artie and his friends have to go through harrowing hijinx before they must make a decision. Kids will definitely identify with Artie; he’s savvy, street-wise, but a little uncertain at the same time. Like most kids, he looks to his friends and his mentors for advice… but Artie can also look to his magic locker (a middle school version of Excalibur) for a more unique form of guidance.

The art is fantastic – the characters are drawn with deft, broad strokes. The coloring is vibrant, appealing to both younger kids and their parents. I’m not extremely visually oriented; I read text too fast. But I found myself going back through the pages a second (and even a third) time to absorb all of the small details in the background of the panels. The stories pertain to middle schoolers, but younger elementary school readers will eat up this series.

Your friendly neighborhood PSA

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This is the last day you can vote for a title to be considered for the 2009 Cybils. Not sure what to add to the list? Here are a few suggestions. You don’t have to have read it to nominate it – I didn’t read the one I nominated but plan to and had heard such good things about it, I thought the committee should give it a shot.

What I’m reading, Twitter style

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…to be fair, it’s more like a few of what I’ve read and a few of what I’m reading.


Crank: On audio – Kristina’s deep decent into meth use. Powerful & terrifying yet gripping listen. Will turn anyone off to thought of using drugs.


Feed: All in society born with feeds telling them how to live, act, buy. Feeds get hacked. Who will survive? May make you cry. BEST AUDIOBOOK EVER.

Someone Named Eva: World War II story. Czech-born Milada taken to reprogramming camp & adopted to German family. Becomes Eve. Terrifying based-on-truth story.

An Off Year: What happens when you turn around and decide not to go to college? A lot of nothing, in this case. Book about nothing but still interesting.

A Great and Terrible Beauty: Slow moving with little action and not yet compelling enough to begin my 4th audio disc. Seems like so many other books & not that exciting.

Her Fearful Symmetry: No candle to author’s prior works. Poor editing & writing style. Story of twins & too much happenstance. Can’t tell story on chances alone.