Fusenews: Pointy Birds. Pointy Pointy. Anoint My Head. Anointy Nointy.

Lots to cover today and not much time.  Let’s just dive on in then.

I had heard rumors speculate that in the paperback edition of Adam Rex’s The True Meaning of Smekday there would be an extra added comic section.  This excited me, as I would very much like to see a graphic novel series starring J. Lo (the alien) and this may be the closest I get.  As it happens, Mr. Rex has been kind enough to place the comic panels on his blog here.  Anything involving superstars with cars coming out of their noses is fine upstanding literature to my mind.

• We don’t talk about it much, but ALA’s magical powers of frumpification upon actors and authors that pose for READ posters are well documented.  I hadn’t looked at some of the recent ones, but then an anonymous commenter on a Read Roger post mentioned that Neil Gaiman has suffered much in the same way.  Maybe, though I think that may just be the anti-beard crowd talking.  The anonymous poster also referred to Your Neighborhood Librarian’s many fine posts on the subject, which make for fine n’ fancy reading in case you missed them the first time around.

• Nancy Drew gets a pronounced shout out in The New York Times, citing fans of the series who grew up to become big names.  Is it just me or do the Hardy Boys not garner the same love?  And will that change when that Ben Stiller/Tom Hanks Hardy Men film comes out?  Come to think of it, what if they did a new Nancy Drew television series, only they set it in the 30s?  Has there ever been a regular historical live action TV show for kids?  Little House on the Prairie and Avonlea, I guess.  Well Nancy Drew would be the logical next step.  Thanks to Michael Joseph for the link.

• Wanna buy The Onion?  It’s for sale.  Not sure what I feel about that.  If they muck with the writing in any way, shape, or form there will be blood.  Thanks to Neil Gaiman’s Twitter for the link.

• As someone who feels that facial twitch in her cheek act up every time she has to reshelve Eragon or Swordbird, I took an inordinate amount of pleasure in The Guardian article Teen authors should be encouraged, but not always published.  Tell it like it is . . uh . . (looks up name) Imogen Russell Williams.  Thanks to Tasha Saecker for the link. 

• My own host site and I didn’t even see the piece.   For shame, me.  Apparently a lower school librarian in Spain wrote an "open letter to kids’ book publishers recently called Tough Love.  In it she asks for the usual requests.  Better bindings.  Attractive covers (read: not brown).  Indexes.  That sort of thing.  I pretty much agree all the way, particularly when she mentions that she’s had it up to HERE with WWII titles.  I agree.  Why the allure?  Is it because it shows up on a lot of tests in school?  Is it the sheer scale of the drama?  No idea.

• Book Blogger Appreciation Week is coming up.  Have you voted for your favorites?  I did just today.  Dunno if anyone shares my tastes, but my fingers are crossed for some of my pet favs.  Thanks to bookshelves of doom (who is up and running again, by the way) for the link.

• Surely I’m not the only person who shudders deep down to the very bowls of her soul when she hears the term "safe library".  Unless they’re the kind of library that plays the song Safety Dance 24/7.  That kind of library I can get behind.  Thanks to Jennifer Hubert Swan for the link.

• As failed covers go, none have gone so terribly awry as this one, I think.  Wouldn’t have caught it myself since it’s YA.  That’s why it’s nice to have other bloggers out there that you trust.  Puts me in the mind of the Wizard of Earthsea jackets out there.  Mind you, the author herself doesn’t seem to mind.  Hmm.  Confusing, to say the least.  Anyone care to clarify the situation for me?

• Oh, heavens above.  People who had tables at the 2009 Newbery/Caldecott Banquet, look at your CDs.  The ones of the speeches.  See anything wrong?  I have my own but it wasn’t until I read Peter’s blog that I saw that they spelled Ashley Bryan’s name wrong.  Now, COME ON!  Not cool, dudes.  You can bet that if they’d written that the Caldecott was to Beth Cromes or Neil Gayman someone would have picked up on that before now.

• Am I ranting too much these days?  I feel like I’m stuck in a perpetual rant.  Tain’t healthy.  I’m off to go eat some sunshine, roses, and puppies to buoy my spirits.

• Daily Image:

Oz and Ends found it, and what he says on the topic cannot be improved upon in any way. 

Filed under: Fusenews