Shhhhhh!

Carlisle Webber writes about getting adults to read YA literature in Publishers Weekly. Seems like an awfully good idea. And I'm not just saying that because she mentions Nancy halfway through the fourth paragraph -- I am a chronological adult, and I love Nancy's stuff.

Yes, but which is the best of the Best of the Best?

Impossible is a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books selection for 2008.

Our table is round, too

It's always fun when various book people show up on our doorstep, which happens rather frequently. Yestereve we had the well known children's/YA librarian Cindy Dobrez, she of the Bookends blog in collaboration with Lynn Rutan on Booklist Online.

Tonight we once again have the pleasure of hosting Jane Kurtz, who is in town to see the debut of a musical adaptation of her picture book Fire on the Mountain.

There's inevitably plenty of good conversation, about books as well as people, and it adds life to our cozy little home. I think of it as a modest version of the old Algonquin Round Table, with the obvious advantages that we're all alive, and have less pressure to be clever.

Reminder: Kids Heart Authors today!

"Kids Heart Authors" day is today, Saturday, Valentine's Day, February 14. Check the website to locate participating bookstores, and to see whether a favorite author will be nearby.

By the time you see this, Nancy will be at the Andover Book Store in Andover, MA, so hurry on down if you're in range. She'll be there until noon, at which point you stand a pretty good chance of meeting her dashing blogger as well.

La Théorie du Moustique

The bookclub version of the French edition of The Rules of Survival is out. (Apparently, they have separate editions for book clubs and bookstores, and they don't necessarily come out at the same time.) They call this version "La Théorie du Moustique", which translates to "The Theory of the Mosquito." No word yet on the timing of the bookstore version.

I hope it won't be too long. I'm planning to go to France later this year, and it'd be a serious kick to find one of Nancy's books on the shelves over there...

Best Books for Young Adults 2009

Impossible is an American Library Association BBYA (Best Books for Young Adults) title for 2009. If you look on the site, you'll see that it's got competition - there's a lot of good stuff out there!

Pride and Prejudice, and perhaps some fries with that?

I don't know what to say, so I'll simply link.

Nancy hearts kids

A whole bunch of authors and illustrators throughout New England will be at various independent bookstores on Valentine's Day (Saturday, February 14), which also happens to be "Kids Heart Authors" day. This is a pretty big deal: there will be close to 170 authors and illustrators doing this at 40-some-odd sites in seven states. Plus there are shirts.

Nancy is one of those authors that New England kids heart, and she'll be at the Andover Book Store in Andover, MA, from 10 to 12 a.m. You can drop in and visit her there, or check the website and find an event near you.

Crafty Nancy

This weekend Nancy was up in Vermont for Kindling Words, which is half retreat, half conference for authors, illustrators, and editors of children's books. She led three discussions, and apparently it went well. The interaction was lively, a couple of writers whom she really respects told her they'd learned from her, and her friends reported that she was generally a hit.

I can't say that I'm surprised. Seems to my untutored eye that Nancy really knows her craft: she spends a lot of time thinking about it and working on it, and she's smart, and honest with herself, and it all adds up.