Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Newbery Award

The ALA Youth Media Awards were announced yesterday at the ALA Midwinter Meetings in Denver. Interest is always high for featured awards the Caldecott and Newbery Medals and yesterday was no exception. This year there were technological resources abound as ALA's web site had a live web cast defaulting on the main page, the winners simulcast on Twitter and later posted results on Facebook; all before the official press release. At home with my personal dial-up relic, I had the best luck with Twitter and Facebook.

Most of the chatter today seems centered on the Newbery selection. I am pleased to report we have the title in our collection, I even remember seeing it go through technical services. Unfortunately, my web work during the summer and fall derailed my lunch-time reading. While I remember seeing the book (it's blue), I have not yet had opportunity to read it so I am only able to report (no comments). Our cataloging librarian, a fantasy aficionado, both read and enjoyed.

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book was selected as the 2009 Newbery Medal Award winner.

A delicious mix of murder, fantasy, humor and human longing, the tale of Nobody Owens is told in magical, haunting prose. A child marked for death by an ancient league of assassins escapes into an abandoned graveyard, where he is reared and protected by its spirit denizens.

"A child named Nobody, an assassin, a graveyard and the dead are the perfect combination in this deliciously creepy tale, which is sometimes humorous, sometimes haunting and sometimes surprising," said Newbery Committee Chair Rose V. TreviƱo. - ALA Newbery Medal Site, 1/26/09

As I was reading various news stories on the announcement, my favorite is Gaimans Blog entry from yesterday morning: Insert Amazed and Delighted Swearing Here. For more news and announcements:

A quick check shows ten libraries in OhioLINK currently have 59 copies of this book; in each instance it is due, on hold, in transit, or being held. Part of that is a testament to the popularity among readers for Gaiman's work, the rest is an indication of the power of the Newbery. Our second copy is on order and a hold has been placed on the copy currently a week overdue somewhere on campus.

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