Fusenews: Don’t blink. You may miss it.
No picture available (the one on the left here is from a rather fabulous video) but word on the street has it that there’s to be a Hunger Games Barbie doll. So there’s the expected outcry, of course, but I’m thinking this one through. First off, Barbies are the number one most tortured dolls in America by my count. Every day is a Hunger Games day for your average Barbie. Seems to me that G.I. Joe couldn’t handle the horrors Barbie has seen. So with that in mind, sure. Make her Katniss. She’ll just end up bald in a toilet somewhere anyway.
- It’s Mad Men time again. Have you been keeping up with what Sally Draper is reading?
- Alan Moore is one of the finest graphic novelists living today. He also does a helluva duck quack. Observe The March of the Sinister Ducks.
- Would librarians ever have to pay for the right to read a picture book aloud in storytime? The Annoyed Librarian poses the question.
- Yay! The Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist is up and running (and we have most of those titles here in the States). Yay! The Carnegie Medal shortlist is up and running (far fewer here in the States . . . what does that mean about the state of U.S. publishing?).
- Daily Image:
You know, if this New York Public Library gig doesn’t work out, at least I now know that there are street libraries willing to take me in.
Pity the pay’s so lousy. Thanks to Mike Lewis for the link!
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 Kirkus, 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 BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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My favorite responses to the Katniss Barbie’s are the following two tweets from Rick Riordan (@camphalfblood):
Mattel to release Hunger Games Barbie. http://on.msnbc.com/H3zfnB Wonder what Katniss would make of this. Malibu Katniss? (w/flaming costume?)
The fine print: You have to buy a set of 24 Barbies, but only one of them will make it out of the toy store alive.
Actually most of the Carnegie shortlist books are or are about to be published in the US. The Almond, Ness, Hartnett, Mulligan, and Septys are out here already. Evans is coming up from Sterling next week with the title “Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms (I’ve read it and liked it) and Little Brown is bringing out the Pitcher here this August. The only one I am not sure is set to be published here is Everybody Jam.
The Barbie doll doesn’t bother me at all — its an adult collectible, and adult collectible dolls are a whole different entity. My favorite — alas, not a Barbie — is the Marie Antoniette where the head comes off.
“Every day is a Hunger Games day for your average Barbie.” Thanks for the laugh–best line ever. Reminds me of David Sedaris’s description of his sister’s Barbies!
“Every day is a Hunger Games day for your average Barbie” – this got the biggest laugh in the librarians’ workroom here in Baltimore County! Thank you Betsy!
And Monica, thank you for Rick Riordan’s tweets! I think we librarians are beginning to experience major Panem Fatigue.
You forgot Mermaid Barbie who did battle with Coney Island USA…and won!