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.

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