Shelf Awareness for Friday, November 2, 2007


Quarry Books: Yes, Boys Can!: Inspiring Stories of Men Who Changed the World - He Can H.E.A.L. by Richard V Reeves and Jonathan Juravich, illustrated by Chris King

Simon & Schuster: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers: Nightweaver by RM Gray

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers: The Meadowbrook Murders by Jessica Goodman

Overlook Press: Hotel Lucky Seven (Assassins) by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Brian Bergstrom

Letters

Prices Printed on Books? No Lo Quiere

For another perspective on the printing of prices on books in several currencies, Jaime Tolbert of Baja Books and Maps, Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico, writes:

As an English-language book distributor in Mexico who imports 90% of our titles from the U.S. and pays a 30% importation fee, I have long urged U.S. publishers to cease placing prices on book covers. We must pass our importation costs on to our accounts and ultimately the consumer so our suggested retail is usually higher than the price printed on the book. This coupled with dual pricing in both dollars and pesos causes a strange kind of sticker shock as store clerks are often told, "I thought everything was cheaper in Mexico."
 
Of course, we must adjust our suggested retail when there is significant change in the dollar/peso exchange rate.
 
In a truly worldwide economy, U.S. prices have no place on book jackets.

 


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News

Notes: Upbeat CIROBE; Booksense.com @ NPR & NYT

Marshall Smith, co-owner with Brad Jonas of the Chicago International Remainder and Overstock Book Exposition, was "very positive" about the 2007 edition of CIROBE, held October 26-28.

"There were about 6% less tables this year," Smith told Bargain Book News. "There are fewer and fewer bookstores, too. But we picked up lot of international and non-traditional book buyers, which is good. . . . We were down total number of bodies, about 60 to 70, this year. But we had the largest walk-up crowd (on-site registrations) in four or five years. We can't explain that."

The most significant change for 2007 was an earlier opening time of 9 a.m. on Friday. "I think it changed some things," said Smith, "It accomplished what we wanted it to, maximize the number of hours on peak day, which is Friday. I was concerned that it seemed slower on Saturday, but I talked to a lot of people and even though it didn't look busy it was steady and I heard from a lot of people that it was the best show ever." 

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Bookselling This Week reports that, thanks to the efforts of the ABA and a number of independent booksellers, websites for National Public Radio and the New York Times have added Booksense.com as an online book purchasing option.

"We are pleased that BookSense.com is now offered as an option on both the New York Times and National Public Radio websites," said BookSense.com director Len Vlahos. "There is no question that many serious readers who frequent independent bookstores often turn to NPR or the Times 'Books' sections to help them find the next great read. It's only fitting then to provide these consumers with the choice of shopping at a local bookstore by including a link to BookSense.com."

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Black Friday is just around the corner, and BTW features a list of helpful reminders regarding deadlines, supply resources, and marketing suggestions for booksellers as they prepare for the impending holiday shopping season. 

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Is Miami a "bookstore desert?" On the eve of the Miami Book Fair International, when the city momentarily becomes "the nation's largest bookstore," the Miami Herald lamented that "if you're looking for a comprehensive, general-interest bookstore within city boundaries any other time of the year, buena suerte. There is none."

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A new Rowling book.

The Guardian reported that in "the first book she has completed since the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling has re-entered his world, writing a collection of five wizarding fairy stories entitled The Tales of Beedle the Bard."

Rowling wrote and illustrated the book by hand, and only seven copies will be printed. While six will be gifts "to people closely connected with the Harry Potter books over the years of their gestation," the seventh, "bound in brown morocco leather and mounted with silver and semiprecious stones, will be auctioned at Sotheby's on December 13 with a starting price of £30,000 ($62,455). Proceeds will benefit Rowling's charity, the Children's Voice."

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And a non-Rowling book.

J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. filed suit against RDR Books, a small Michigan publisher that plans to publish the Harry Potter Lexicon, a book version of a popular website. According to the AP, the suit "claims that RDR Books will infringe on Rowling's intellectual property rights" if it publishes the book.

Rowling contends in the lawsuit that the book would interfere with her plans to write a definitive HP encyclopedia. "I cannot, therefore, approve of 'companion books' or 'encyclopedias' that seek to preempt my definitive Potter reference book for their authors' own personal gain," Rowling said in a news release issued by Warner Bros.

Roger Rapoport, RDR Books publisher, was "dismayed" by the suit, "but vowed that he wouldn't allow it to block plans to release the Lexicon next month."

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That long tradition of dismissing Los Angeles as "a cultural wasteland where nobody reads" has been upstaged by a lit scene that "continues to grow and thrive, powered by a battalion of independent bookstores, small presses, writing programs and blogs," according to a Los Angeles Times profile of "a literary scene entirely unique to L.A., where the more homely book clubs of the '90s and glaring lights of bookstore events have morphed into a new twist on the literary salon--club-like and often celeb-studded affairs."

 


GLOW: Berkley Books: The Seven O'Clock Club by Amelia Ireland


Booksellers' Halloween at McNally Robinson NYC

In response to Robert Gray's column yesterday (Shelf Awareness, November 1, 2007), McNally Robinson NYC's events coordinator Jessica Stockton Bagnulo checked in with a report on some devilishly clever bookselling:

Loved your column--the ghost story slam is on my list for next year, but this year we had a pretty kick-ass Literary Halloween Party at the bookstore, and I think we're going to have to make it a tradition.

We held a literary costume contest with prizes donated by publishers (among the winners: a couple dressed as Lenny and Curly's wife from Of Mice and Men and a girl dressed as The Literary Cliche with hackneyed phrases pinned all over her cape); a Ouija board attempt to contact Poe (he wasn't interested, sadly); and nine contemporary authors, ranging from comic book artists to poetry to straight-up genre horror, signing, reading, and selling books.

I don't know how big our sales were, but the cafe was packed, and everyone kept saying what a great idea this was, such a great alternative for those wondering what to do on Halloween. You can see the details on our website. I had to push for this one, and some of my co-workers were a little exhausted at the end (staff costumes included The Little Prince, the twister from the Wizard of Oz, the White Rabbit, a "display copy" [art book buyer], Huck Finn, and my own Miss Havisham), but I think it was another brick in building our reputation as the place to go for literary, relevant community activity.

Thanks for advocating for Halloween (and for plugging The Haunted Bookshop, one of my favorites)--maybe this will make things easier next year!

 


Congratulations: ABA Promotions

In a "fine-tuning" and restructuring of staff in part to help implement "ambitious education and marketing plans," the American Booksellers Association has announced the following promotions, which "largely reflect the role each already plays," according to CEO Avin Domnitz:
  • Len Vlahos has been named chief program officer. A 15-year ABA veteran and former bookseller, he will continue to have overall responsibility for the ABA education program, including the Winter Institute, as well as BookSense.com, of which he has been director since its inception. He will also pursue strategic business opportunities for the association.
  • Meg Zelickson Smith has been named chief marketing officer. She will be responsible for overseeing strategy and implementation for all ABA marketing initiatives as well as press relations, and will continue to oversee the independent bookstore bestseller list. She was most recently director of membership marketing and joined ABA in 1999 as business development consultant for BookSense.com. She earlier practiced entertainment law and worked in marketing at Yoyodyne Entertainment.
  • Dan Cullen has been named senior director, editorial content. A staff member since 1986, he directs all ABA information efforts, including Bookselling This Week and BookWeb.org, and is editor-in-chief of the Book Sense Picks.
  • Mark Nichols has been named senior director of publisher initiatives. He continues to be the liaison between ABA and the publishing community and directs the ABA's Book Sense publisher partner program and other publisher-sponsored ABA initiatives.
  • Jeff Wexler has been promoted to senior IT director, overseeing the information and technology services department. He was previously IT director.
  • Jill Perlstein has been named director of member services and will continue to manage the Book Sense gift card program and other ABA member programs as well as develop customer relations within the association.
  • Kristen Gilligan has been named director of meetings and events, better reflecting her duties.
  • Ricky Leung, senior technical lead for BookSense.com the past five years, will take over day-to-day direction of the program.

Media and Movies

Media Heat: Tom Perkins's Education

This morning on the Today Show: Bonnie St. John, author of How Strong Women Pray (FaithWords, $16.99, 9780446579261/0446579262).

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This morning on the Early Show: Stephen J. Sansweet, author of The Star Wars Vault: Thirty Years of Treasures from the Lucasfilm Archives, With Removable Memorabilia and Two Audio CDs (HarperEntertainment, $85, 9780061257315/0061257311).

Nicole Richie, author of The Truth About Diamonds: A Novel (HarperEntertainment, $15.95, 9780061137334/0061137332), will also appear.

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Today on Live with Regis and Kelly: Charles Grodin, author of If I Only Knew Then . . . : Learning from Our Mistakes (Springboard Press, $24.99, 9780446581158/0446581151). He will also appear tonight on the Late Night With David Letterman.

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Today on the View: Jessica Seinfeld, author of Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food (Collins, $24.95, 9780061251344/0061251348).

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Tonight on 20/20: Terri Irwin, author of Steve and Me: Life with the Crocodile Hunter (Simon Spotlight, $25.95, 9781416953883/1416953884).

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Tomorrow on NPR's Chefs Table: Bobby Flay, author of Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook: Explosive Flavors from the Southwestern Kitchen (Clarkson Potter, $35, 9780307351418/0307351416).

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Tomorrow on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered: Ha Jin, author of A Free Life: A Novel (Pantheon, $26, 9780375424656/0375424652).

Corey Seymour, author of Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson (Little, Brown, $28.99, 9780316005272/0316005274), will also appear.

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On CBS Sunday Morning: Sir David Frost, author of Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews (Harper Perennial, $14.95, 9780061445866/006144586X).

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Sunday on 60 Minutes: Tom Perkins, venture capitalist and author of Valley Boy: The Education of Tom Perkins (Gotham, $27.50, 9781592403134/1592403131).

 



Books & Authors

Image of the Day: Sherman Alexie at High School

At an event at Jackson High School, Mill Creek, Wash., sponsored by the University Bookstore, Sherman Alexie talked to more than 600 students about his experience growing up on the "rez" and thanked a student who recreated an illustration from Alexie's book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

 

 


Children's Reviews: Holiday Highlights

Now that Halloween haunting has ended, it's time to make Merry! We've highlighted just a few selections with which to deck the halls (and bookshelves).
 
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline (Candlewick, $16.99, 9780763629205/0763629200, 32 pp., ages 4-8, November)

The week before Christmas, as young Frances prepares for the nativity play, she notices a monkey on the corner across the street from her apartment and the organ grinder who looks after it. DiCamillo leaves unspoken the girl's thoughts of the paradox between the festive nature of the holiday season and the harsh life of the organ grinder and his pet, who, she discovers, sleep on the street and whom she attempts to befriend. Through his use of a 1940s urban backdrop, Ibatoulline emphasizes the girl's sense of empathy due to the absence of her father, presumably the man in uniform in a prominently displayed photograph. When the organ grinder appears in the church just as Frances, playing the angel of the Lord, is about to say her line, the famous words from Luke take on a modern-day relevance: "Behold! . . . I bring you tidings of great joy!"
 
It's Christmas by Tina Burke (Kane/Miller, $14.95, 9781933605449/1933605448, 32 pp., all ages, September)

Having proven herself a master at minimalism, Burke (Fly, Little Bird) heightens the Yuletide humor by juxtaposing universal images with a tongue-in-cheek text. "There are things to do . . ." reads the text opposite an image of a boy licking the cookie dough bowl while the baking project is still in process--eggs and milk spattered across the table, a cookie sheet only partially filled. "And people to see," the text continues, as an animated girl counts off to a delighted Santa the items on her wish list. The expressions on the children's faces convey far more than words could: a pair of illustrations show two very determined, joyful girls focused on their tasks (stringing popcorn, setting out a snack for Santa) while their pooches reap the benefits. Best of all is the portrait of a boy sitting literally in the fireplace awaiting St. Nick's arrival. This paper-over-board book will be a surefire hit with Santa-seeking youngsters.
 
Finally two titles involving favorite characters (all pigs, as it happens). Ian Falconer's porcine star, wreaking red-and-green havoc wherever she goes, must not be missed in Olivia Helps with Christmas (S&S/Atheneum, $18.99, 9781416907862/1416907866, 60 pp., all ages, October); two gatefolds spotlight Olivia's especially large gaffs atop and beneath the Christmas tree.

A welcome antidote to the commercialization of Christmas, Holly Hobbie's tale demonstrates how much a true friend values thoughtfulness over financial outlay, Toot & Puddle: Let It Snow (Little, Brown, $16.99, 9780316166867/0316166863, 32 pp., ages 4-8, October). Paintings of the two buddies awestruck by the first snowfall are particularly memorable.--Jennifer M. Brown

 


Deeper Understanding

Whole Language at 20--And No Child Left Behind

Ken Goodman, who most educators think of as the father of the Whole Language movement, is among the many who believe that the No Child Left Behind Act, which is up for renewal before year's end, was written as an anti-Whole Language document. No Child Left Behind "defines reading in the context of the law and asks people to use methods only approved by people who believe in that approach to teaching," said Goodman, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, in a phone interview from his home. "It's a very strange notion."
 
It's an especially strange notion if one subscribes to Goodman's theory, based on research he did in the 1960s, about how people make sense of print. His oft-cited paper published in 1967, "Reading: A Psycholinguistic Guessing Game," suggests that when reading, people use all of the systems of language--not in a sequential way (letter to word to sentence to paragraph), but instead by inference and prediction and sampling of text.
 
Goodman's research progressed from how people make sense of print, to how people learn to read and then how to use that research to teach reading. His book What's Whole in Whole Language?, published initially by Scholastic's Canada division and in the U.S. in 1986 by Heinemann, has 250,000 copies in print and is available in eight languages. It was the catalyst that gave tens of thousands of teachers the substantive research they needed to confirm what they had already observed in their own classrooms. They believed that children became better readers by reading authentic texts--literature that students often chose themselves--rather than formulaic chapters from a basal textbook.
 
A grass roots movement, Whole Language spread from teacher to teacher, school to school, district to district. Educators credit Goodman's book with the movement's groundswell of support. "It was certainly something that influenced how people explained Whole Language to each other," Goodman said. "Because Whole Language was very bottom up, teachers were bringing it into schools and their school districts." Publishers and booksellers began to feel the impact in book sales as teachers purchased class sets of titles and bought classroom libraries out of their own pocketbooks.
 
If Whole Language was bottom up, No Child Left Behind is top down. NCLB measures success or failure with tests that stress a rigidly defined approach to learning. Patricia Enciso, associate professor of literacy, literature and equity studies at Ohio State University, who co-edits Language Arts (whose May 2007 issue was devoted to NCLB), said, "Teachers have to have all children successfully completing these tests, [which] are given every three years. If [the students] don't achieve, their school can become a failing school. If it becomes a failing school, teachers are asked to resign." Even if the children are improving, but they're not passing, teachers can lose their jobs, and those schools can also lose their federal funding--and the options open to parents with children in failing schools are few. "The notion that a parent can transfer a child from one school to another if the school is failing makes no sense if all the schools around them are failing. And parents want to keep children within their own community," Goodman said. "The irony is that the promise of NCLB was that it would eliminate the disparity between the rich and poor, but it's increased the disparity."
 
Shelley Harwayne, former superintendent of Manhattan's District #2, who also co-directed the Teachers College Writing Project at Columbia University with Lucy Calkins, echoed Goodman's concerns: "Suburban kids and the good schools are getting literature, but the kids in the poor schools, the ones that don't test well, get the skills and drills. I think No Child Left Behind has taken [literature] away from the kids who need it the most." In many cases, Harwayne said districts use the term "balanced literacy" to describe their approach to teaching--and wind up using literature only as a means to improve children's performance on tests. "So Llama, Llama, Mad at Mama [by Anne Dewdney] becomes a lesson in short A sounds," Harwayne explained. She said she believes "balanced literacy" was coined to answer the critics of Whole Language, who felt that students weren't learning phonics. "But they did learn phonics, widely and well, within a context, when a child needed it. It was investment-driven, it was child-centered and it required a smart teacher," said Harwayne. "You can't have shortcuts in professional development."
 
One of those shortcuts may be attributed to the way teacher education has evolved, according to Barbara Keifer, the Charlotte Huck professor at Ohio State University and also a co-editor of Language Arts, who points to the founding of the Holmes Group in 1987. (This group of 96 universities with education programs formed in response to some "disturbing trends" in the aftermath of the Nation at Risk report.) "It was an attempt to raise the status of teachers," Keifer explained. "Teachers used to be trained as undergrads with majors in elementary education and do their student teaching and go into the classroom. The Holmes Group said they need a liberal education first and then they can get their master's degree. Children's literature was not a separate requirement in a lot of courses of study."
 
Keifer pointed out that because teachers are teaching to the tests, they overemphasize reading and math. "At its best, [Whole Language] trained children to think, and it went beyond learning to read and write, to engaging them in inquiry, and major questions in social studies and science," Keifer said. "That's the other thing about NCLB, with the emphasis on reading and math, who's learning social studies or science?"
 
Perhaps the most alarming fallout from NCLB is the pressure it creates on earlier grade levels. Cynthia McCallister, associate professor in New York University's Department of Teaching and Learning, who has worked with classrooms from Staten Island to Brooklyn, talked about research such as Vivian Paley's that stresses the importance of play--which is being overlooked in early childhood classrooms today. "European education is less politicized, and they've realized the importance of play in academic development. Here, it's been the opposite," McCallister said. "There's a push for accountability, and it's really depressing what it does to the kids."

Goodman made a similar point, saying, "For the first time in our history, it's possible for a child to fail a test the first week of Kindergarten," referring to the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) test, the subject of his recent book, The Truth about DIBELS: What It Is, What It Does. "It's turned Kindergarten into a pressure cooker, and caused many parents to pull children out of [school]."
 
As NCLB comes up for renewal, what alternative solutions are there for educators? A fairer means of testing children on reading, for one. Keifer suggests that one such test already exists and that it be used as the national standard: the National Assessment of Educational Progress. "It's a pretty fair test that looks at reading in terms of strategies rather than multiple choice, and the kinds of things readers need to be doing."
 
Drafting parents into the cause is another--advocated by both Harwayne and Goodman. "We should put the smartest thinking out there and dazzle the parents. Invented spelling dazzled parents," Harwayne said, referring to one of the celebrated hallmarks of the writing process approach, which also grew out of the Whole Language movement. "First-graders were writing these incredible things, and the parents understood [that]. They knew that in the end [the children] were going to learn to spell well. If we'd had a good P.R. firm working for us, we would have been better off. Even today, I think parents could be our best advocates."
 
Despite (or perhaps because of) his work with politicians, Goodman said he also believes that parents are key to changing the approach to education in this country. "I've been working with our local congressman on the house education committee, but I'm not optimistic," he said. "But I'm hopeful that parents and educators will say, 'That's enough.' Teachers have not been able to make the changes themselves, and I blame some of the unions and professional organizations who've not supported them a lot. No Child Left Behind is beginning to affect large numbers of middle class kids, and those parents may make a difference."--Jennifer M. Brown

 


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