Odyssey Award; Michael L. Printz Book Award
At Monday's award ceremony in Denver, the Odyssey Award, jointly sponsored by ALSC (the Association for Library Service to Children) and YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association), went to Recorded Books for Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, narrated by the author. Three of the five Odyssey honors went to books for older readers: Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady, written by L.A. Meyer, narrated by Katherine Kellgren (Listen and Live Audio); Elijah of Buxton (a Newbery Honor book last year), written by Christopher Paul Curtis, narrated by Mirron Willis (Listening Library/Random); and Nation, written by Terry Pratchett, also named a 2009 Printz Honor Book (see below), narrated by Stephen Briggs (Harper Children's Audio). The other two Odyssey honors went to picture book texts: I'm Dirty, written by Kate and Jim McMullan, narrated by Steve Buscemi (Weston Woods/Scholastic); and Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, written and narrated by Carmen Agra Deedy (Peachtree).
The Michael L. Printz Book Award, established in the name of school librarian Michael Printz, went to Jellicoe Road by Australian author Melina Marchetta (HarperTeen), a "roller coaster ride of a novel [that] grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't let go," in the words of the award committee. The four honor books are: Nation by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins), as mentioned above; The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves, the sequel to the National Book Award winner by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick); The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (Hyperion), which was a National Book Award finalist this year; and Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan (Knopf), whose Black Juice was a 2006 Printz Honor Book.
William C. Morris Award; May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture
A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Levine/Scholastic) won the first-ever William C. Morris Award, which honors "a book written for young adults by a first-time, previously unpublished author." The other four finalists were: Graceling by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne (Geringer/HarperTeen); Madapple by Christina Meldrum (Knopf/Random House); and Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine (HarperTeen).
The award's namesake, William C. Morris, whom many of us knew as Bill, "left an impressive mark on the field of children's and young adult literature," reads the award's citation. "He was beloved in the publishing field and the library profession for his generosity and marvelous enthusiasm for promoting literature for children and teens." Those of us who knew him also know how much Bill would have been thrilled not only with the idea of an award for new authors--in whom he took particular interest and looked after with special care--but also that the first year his award would be given would also coincide with a Newbery winner (Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book) from HarperCollins, where Bill spent 48 years (when it was Harper & Brothers).
That Katherine T. (or K.T., as many of us know her) Horning was named the 2010 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecturer would also have delighted Bill, as we feel certain he takes credit for Harper having published K.T.'s book, From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. In addition to being an author, Horning serves as director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) and is a recent past president of ALSC. "Three threads clearly run through Horning's long and distinguished career," reads the Arbuthnot Committee's citation: "Freedom to read and open access to information for young people; the continued struggle to produce a body of authentically multicultural literature for young people in the United States; and the need to provide clear practical training for both new and experienced librarians, especially with regard to evaluating (and setting high standards for) literature for young people." The lecturer, announced annually at the ALA Midwinter Meeting, "may be an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, of any country, who shall prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children's literature." Congratulations to K.T. and all of this year's winners.--Jennifer M. Brown