Fusenews: Fight fight, inner light. Kill, Quakers, Kill!*
Well, kids, here’s the deal. While I’d love to tell you that I won’t be blogging for the next few days or so because I’ll be at the Kidlitcon in Minnesota this weekend, truth be told the real reason for my sporadic bursts is that it’s my 10-year college reunion and I am in the heart of this metropolitan: Richmond, Indiana.
I may try to blog on the side while dodging rampaging Friends (mine was a Quaker school). If I fail miserably, though, here are some tidbits to tide you over.
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First off, this sort of reeks of awesome. Nathan Hale (perhaps best known to you because of the art he did on Shannon Hale’s Rapunzel’s Revenge books) has paired with one Rick Walton and together the two of them present a parody of Madeline called (appropriately considering the season) Frankenstein. Each day they’ll release a little more of the story. You can see the first spread here, the second one here., and others on Nathan’s blog. Frankly, I don’t see why this couldn’t be marketable. If the parody laws allow for Goodnight Goon, Runaway Mummy, and Furious George Goes Bananas, then why not Frankenstein? The name may have to change, of course.
- From the Mixed Up Files presents a few thoughts on what happens when you go about Amending the Classics.
- Say the words “historical fiction” to a room full of fifth graders and prepare for a bit of synchronized snoring. Laurie Halse Anderson proposes an alternate name: Historical Thrillers. Works for me. Might make for an interesting series of booktalks anyway. Thanks to Margo Tanenbaum for the link.
- A Virginia history textbook for fourth graders has come under significant fire for its claim that thousands of black soldiers fought for the Confederacy during the civil war, some of them under the command of Stonewall Jackson. The Washington Post has the scoop. The author of said textbook defends the choice, having gotten much of the information off of the internet. Who is she? None other than Joy Masoff, author of Oh Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty and Oh Yikes! History’s Grossest Moments. Oh yikes indeed. Thanks to @PWKidsBookshelf for the link.
- J.K. Rowling just won the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Nice to see, though I don’t suppose she particularly needs the dough. Now will she please write us a new book?
- Along similar lines, author/illustrator Roxie Monroe considers what it actually takes to start a new book.
- Fun Fact: What pair of successful children’s book authors have been friends since they were sixteen? If you answered Cressida Cowell and Lauren Child then you probably already read this article in The Independent. Thanks to Jenny Schwartzberg for the link.
- Well, the original cover of Charlotte’s Web just went for a whopping $155,000 in auction. Fun Fact: It probably wasn’t you. It wasn’t me either. Guess we better go round up the usual suspects.
- Daily Image:
Anyone else find this weird? Apparently Barnes & Noble has just added a new section to their shelves. Can you see the rogue element?
One of these things is not like the other… or one of these authors anyway. Thanks to @PWKidsBookshelf for the link.
*Actual Earlham fight chant. The other one was “Fight ’em, fight ’em, beat ’em senseless / Do it till we reach consensus.” Oddly, we won very few games.
Filed under: Fusenews
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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Jody says
Your title for this post caught my eye, glad to hear they are still using that chant at losing football games. I’ve never heard the one in your footnote, must have been after my time there. Cheers.
Kathy says
Talk about contradictions! I thought that fight song must belong to Earlham; I moved to Richmond almost three decades ago for my very first library job and discovered Earlham while living there…a lovely little campus.
Melissa (Book Nut) says
LOL. My husband works for Friends University here in Wichita (yet another Quaker school, though it’s now just plain nondenominational Christian). Their fight song ends with “good old FU.” Better than the original name (Friends University of Central Kansas) which really didn’t make a good (well, acceptable) acronym.
Have fun at your reunion. You will be missed at KidlitCon, though.
Judy Hijikata says
I could not believe it when I saw this the EC “fight song” on my Twitter stream!!
Have a great Homecoming weekend!
Tricia says
Yay Earlham!
Adam Rex says
Why would they have to change the title from “Frankenstein?” That novel is almost two hundred years old.
Elizabeth Bird says
I just figure it would lead to confusion, Adam. This from a librarian search standpoint. Even if it was a small tweak to the title (subtitle “A Parody”) it would sufficiently keep folks searching on library catalogs from getting the wrong book.
Meredith says
Glad to see Nathan Hale getting some love. And I for one, would totally buy Frankenstein.
Lisa says
hilarious combination of headline and content on a day I’m researching not-too-violent graphic novels to add to a k-8 Quaker school library.
KHazelrigg says
“Madelinstein!” I’d read it.
Sam Bloom says
Ahhh, RIchmond. One of the highlights of our drive from Cincinnati (current home) to Fort Wayne (where I grew up) is the fact that there are *two* Dairy Queens in Richmond. So, theoretically, I could have two butterfinger blizzards in the span of ten minutes. Have one for me, will you?
Joanne Fritz says
Well, I work for an indie bookstore and we shelve E.D. Baker in Middle Grade Fantasy, NOT Teen Paranormal Romance!
And, hmph, WE started our YA Paranormal Romance section six months ago! (Grumble, grumble, Barnes & Noble, grumble, grumble).
Elizabeth Bird says
Well, no one ever gave Barnes & Noble an award for originality, after all.
mhg says
Francostein, oui? 🙂