Newbery Update: 1980s

Posted by on Jan 1, 2010 in dish | 0 comments These are the transition books, the last ones of my childhood and the first of my teaching career.A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl’s Journal by Joan W. Blos – xxxJacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson – xxxA Visit to William Blake’s Inn by Nancy Willard – Interesting this was the Newbery choice the year I began college and studied (and fell in love with)...
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Newbery Update: 1990s

Posted by on Jan 1, 2010 in dish | 0 comments These are the books I first reviewed with teacher eyes rather than reader eyes. Interestingly enough, you discover that good writing doesn’t really have an age limit.Number the Stars by Lois Lowry – xxxManiac Magee by Jerry Spinelli – xxxShiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – Frack fell in love with this book when her second grade teacher read it to the class, prompting a...
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Newbery Update: 2000s

Posted by on Jan 1, 2010 in dish | 0 comments The end of the journey at last! These are the most recent ten books awarded the Newbery Medal, not counting this year’s winner, xxx by xxx. (comment on it later??)Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis – xxxA Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck – xxxA Single Shard by Linda Sue Park – xxxCrispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi – xxxThe Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo...
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Roundup

Posted by on Dec 31, 2009 in dish | 0 comments Closing the book on 2009–it’s been a good year. Interesting. Weird. Frustrating. You know, the usual. I did manage to read 135 books (some re-reads, but mostly new titles). I’m finally unstuck with the current WIP, and even though it’s moving more slowly than I’d like, it’s moving. We took a family trip to Washington, DC (awesome!), rode/survived the train,...
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Romance is the Shizz, Y’all

Posted by on Dec 29, 2009 in dish | 0 comments Check out this terrific blog about romances posted to DailyKos by Laura Clawson, a self-proclaimed romance lover who also happens to be an Ivy-League Ph.D. with, as she says, “nary a pink sweatsuit in sight.” She does a great job deconstructing many myths about romance novels and their readers. You know, the “porn for housewives” and “rape fantasy” memes that...
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Why Men Shouldn’t Write Advice Columns

Posted by on Dec 28, 2009 in dish | 0 comments My college roommate sent me this in an email, but the .jpg isn’t enlarging well. Here’s a transcript, and enjoy!Dear John: I hope you can help me here. The other day, I set off for work, leaving my husband in the house watching TV. My car stalled, and then it broke down about a mile down the road, and I had to walk back to get my husband’s help. When I got home, I...
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