Fusenews: My spellcheck never did learn to recognize the word “Kirkus”

• Last week I had the chance to sit down and have a drink with novelist, memoirist, and short story writer Jennifer Boylan who has penned the upcoming middle grade fantasy novel Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror with Harper Collins.  We met at my library and before we left for our drinks I ran to get my coat from my office.  I returned to find Ms. Boylan in the Pooh room, moved to tears.  She then proceeded to tell me the most extraordinary story about why.  I’d tell it to you myself, but she does it so much better here.

• And you thought the November SLJ cover was controversial?  Think again.  Over at HarperStudio they posted the cover of the December 14th issue of Publishers Weekly and nobody commenting can agree on whether it’s the most controversial thing they’ve ever seen, or clever.  Senior editor Calvin Reid discusses the issue on Twitter at @PublishersWkly as well as the tag #afropw.  Some of the best commentary, however, comes out of the blog at Frolab.  Suddenly librarians holding pink drinks don’t seem as interesting anymore.  Thanks to Jennifer Schultz for the link.

• In other news, Lizzie Skurnick speculates that Judging by the ‘Liar’ controversy, ethnicity is a no-no on young adult book covers.  Thanks to @mitaliperkins for the link.

• Our own Mr. Scieszka is getting in his kicks while he can.  So if he’s not over at the L.A. Times reporting on the state of children’s books today (quote: It’s all good) he’s double quick timing it over to The Huffington Post to reflect on his tenure well spent.  And no.  He doesn’t slip and say who the next Ambassador of Children’s Literature is.  Yeah.  I was disappointed too.  Thanks to Meghan Newton for the link.

• I don’t believe I ever mentioned the Washington Post collection of The Best Kid’s Books of 2009 before.  I’m inordinately pleased by some of the choices.  They’ve selected books that we haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere before.  Tis pleasing.  Thanks to @mitaliperkins for the link.

• It’s probably a little strange, but as a librarian I get to hang out with agents here in town a fair amount.  And what have I learned from this experience?  That agents are fun.  Very fun.  They also have an innate sense of style.  Example A: The delightful Tina Wexler (representing Sara Lewis Holmes, Donna Gephart, and James Kennedy amongst others) who I last saw at a Mad Men party.  Here you may see her interviewed at Alice’s CWIM Blog about her job and why you even need an agent in the first place.

• Getting Out of the Slush Pile by Harold Underdown has been periodically updated over the years.  Now there’s a bright n’ shiny new edition out as of December 9th.  For anyone who finds their manuscripts going to slush piles to die, this may be a bit of useful information for you.

A really excellent piece over at Stacked asks an upfront question: Where have all the fat girls gone?  Which is to say, "When was the last time you saw a fat girl (or boy – I’m inclusive here) being portrayed in a realistic manner on a cover?"  I Am A Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President, but I concede the point.  The piece really does show excellent examples.  There are lots of covers of supposedly "fat" folks, which pretty much never display a plus-sized face.  She doesn’t even mention the Princess Ben jacket, which I had a bit of a beef with back in the day too.  Thanks to Abby (the) Librarian for the link.

• The editors respond!  With the death of Kirkus I’d been waiting around to see what the editorial types at other review publications would say.  So far I’ve found an interview with Keir Graff, the senior editor at Booklist and a blog post on the subject from Roger Sutton, Horn Book‘s editor.  Do be so good as to let me know if you see any others, won’t you, dear?  There’s even been speculation out there about the fate of the archive.

• I know I post a fair amount, but I am but a plebe when compared to the entity that is Galleycat.  I stand in awe of them.  They update with frightening regularity.  So often, in fact, that sometimes you may miss an important detail.  Like, perhaps, the fact that GalleyCat’s Senior Editor Ron Hogan has just joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Ron is one of the few folks in town I can count on seeing at a press event, since he’s one of the few NYC bloggers out there.  I’ll miss him, but smart move on HMH’s part, I must say.

• Monica Edinger, meanwhile, does a remarkable round-up of recent discussions about "extras".  Which is to say, "acknowledgements, flap copy, and back matter."  Exactly the kind of thing I find most fascinating.  Check it out.

• Over at ShelfTalker, Elizabeth Bluemle comes up with The Funniest Reasons Customers Reject Books.  It’s a great post, but makes me feel a little ashamed that I can’t come up with any funny reasons of my own.  Sad reasons?  Oh yes.  Infuriating reasons?  You betcha.  But funny reasons . . . that’s tough.  I know I’ve encountered my own share…  In any case, be sure to leave a comment on her site if you can think of any of your own.

• It’s that time of year again.  Mock Newbery & Mock Caldecott time!  Yes, right now folks are converging all over the country to make their own predictions.  They only ever seem to attempt those two awards, though.  That’s why I was so thrilled to hear about this fantastic little podcast with a couple of my favorite people.  "An impromptu discussion among Heidi Estrin, Mark Blevis of the Just One More Book podcast, author Richard Michelson and author/readiologist Esme Raji Codell during a party at the Planet Esme Book Room. Of seasonal interest: among other things, we discussed potential winners of the 2010 Sydney Taylor Book Award."  Oo!  I want to go to there.  Thanks to Jen Robinson’s Book Page for the link.

• Daily Image:

It’s simply too good to let go.  A mural by an elevator button that turns you into Adam.

Thanks to BoingBoing for the link.

Filed under: Fusenews