The 2017 National Book Awards For Young People's Literature Longlist!

10 books to add to your to-read list!




Congrats to all!

Find out more (and read synopses of each book) at the National Book Foundation's website page for the 2017 National Book Awards here.

Jacqueline Woodson Wins The National Book Award... And Awards Show Host Daniel Handler Gets Called Out For Racist Comments

There's a lot of attention being paid to Daniel Handler's comments made at the awards ceremony last Wednesday, directly after Jacqueline Woodson's win of the National Book Award for her middle grade memoir, "Brown Girl Dreaming."

But what's getting lost in the discussion are Jackie's own words - her acceptance speech, her grace, and her passion, thanking the community for our love of books and for changing the world.

Courtesy of c-span, here's the edited down nine minutes of the National Book Award ceremony.

Go here to see the video of Jacqueline Woodson (right) accepting her National Book Award from Sharon Draper

While there are enough voices Monday morning quarterbacking the individual and systemic racism (intended or not), enough of an outcry was made that in addition to a social-media-issued apology, Daniel donated $10,000.00 (with a matching donation of up to $90,000.00 additional within the first 24 hours) to the #WeNeedDiverseBooks indieGoGo crowdfunding campaign.

Hopefully the attention can bring about not just heightened awareness, but change for the better throughout our industry.

And as it should be, the final word is Jacqueline's:

"I'd rather continue to move the dialogue forward in a positive light rather than a negative one. This is a moment when our country can grow and learn and better understand each other. It would be nice to put the energy back where it should be -- on the books and what the books are saying and doing -- Redeployment is an astounding novel, Glück is nothing short of an amazing poet. I don't know Osnos' book yet but I plan to read it. Brown Girl Dreaming is about writing and about the history of this country. But more than that, it's about what this conversation should be -- a coming to understanding across lines of race."

*** UPDATE: Jacqueline Woodson wrote an important piece about this in the New York Times, published Sat Nov 29, 2014, "The Pain of the Watermelon Joke" *** 

Congratulations to Jacqueline, and for all of us, let's Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

The 2014 National Book Award For Young People's Literature Longlist

The National Book Foundation announced yesterday it's "longlist" - the ten books it's considering for this year's National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

From the New York Times ArtsBeat Blog post by Alexandra Alter, here's the must-read list:

Laurie Halse Anderson, “The Impossible Knife of Memory,” Viking

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own. Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over?

Gail Giles, “Girls Like Us,” Candlewick Press

Quincy and Biddy are both graduates of their high school’s special ed program, but they couldn’t be more different: suspicious Quincy faces the world with her fists up, while gentle Biddy is frightened to step outside her front door. When they’re thrown together as roommates in the first “real world” apartments it initially seems like an uneasy fit. But as Biddy’s past resurfaces and Quincy faces something that on one should have to go through alone, the two of them realize that they might have more in common than they thought--and more important, that they might be able to help each other move forward, together.

Carl Hiaasen, “Skink – No Surrender,” Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

Classic Malley — to avoid being shipped off to boarding school, she takes off with some guy she met online. Poor Richard — he knows his cousin’s in trouble before she does. Wild Skink — he’s a ragged, one-eyed ex-governor of Florida, and enough of a renegade to think he can track Malley down. With Richard riding shotgun, the unlikely pair scour the state, undaunted by blinding storms, crazed pigs, flying bullets, and giant gators.

Steve Sheinkin, “The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny and the Fight for Civil Rights,” Roaring Books Press 

A group of young African American sailors – many of them teenagers – are assigned to load ammunition at Port Chicago, a segregated naval base in California. But they are never trained to handle ammunition safely, and are constantly being rushed by their officers. When a terrifying disaster rocks the base, the men face the toughest decision of their lives: do they return to duty as ordered, or do they risk everything to take a stand against segregation in the military?

Andrew Smith, “100 Sideways Miles,” Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved. Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned—and learn how to write their own destiny.

John Corey Whaley, “Noggin,” Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Listen—Travis Coates was alive once and then he wasn’t. Now he's alive again. Simple as that. The in between part is still a little fuzzy, but he can tell you that, at some point or another, his head got chopped off and shoved into a freezer in Denver, Colorado. Five years later, it was reattached to some other guy’s body, and well, here he is. Despite all logic, he's still 16 and everything and everyone around him has changed. That includes his bedroom, his parents, his best friend, and his girlfriend. Or maybe she's not his girlfriend anymore? That's a bit fuzzy too. Looks like if the new Travis and the old Travis are ever going to find a way to exist together, then there are going to be a few more scars. Oh well, you only live twice.

Deborah Wiles, “Revolution,” Scholastic Press

It’s 1964, and Sunny’s town is being invaded. Or at least that’s what the adults of Greenwood, Mississippi are saying. All Sunny knows is that people from up north are coming to help people register to vote. They’re calling it Freedom Summer. Meanwhile, Sunny can’t help but feel like her house is being invaded, too. She has a new stepmother, a new brother, and a new sister crowding her life, giving her little room to breathe. And things get even trickier when Sunny and her brother are caught sneaking into the local swimming pool — where they bump into a mystery boy whose life is going to become tangled up in theirs.

Jacqueline Woodson, “Brown Girl Dreaming,” Nancy Paulsen Books

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

Eliot Schrefer, “Threatened,” Scholastic Press

Into the jungle. Into the wild. Into harm's way. When he was a boy, Luc's mother would warn him about the "mock men" living in the trees by their home -- chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night. Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc tries to rob him, the man isn't mad. Instead, he offers Luc a job. Together, Luc and Prof head into the rough, dangerous jungle in order to study the elusive chimpanzees. There, Luc finally finds a new family -- and must act when that family comes under attack.

Kate Milford, “Greenglass House,” Clarion Books

A rambling old smuggler's inn, a strange map, an attic packed with treasures, squabbling guests, theft, friendship, and an unusual haunting mark this smart mystery in the tradition of the Mysterious Benedict Society books.

Illustrate, Write, and Read On,
Lee

The Five Finalists for the 2013 National Book Award for Young People's Literature Are...

Here are the finalists and their book blurbs:

Kathi Appelt for “The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp” (Atheneum)

Raccoon brothers Bingo and J’miah are the newest recruits of the Official Sugar Man Swamp Scouts. The opportunity to serve the Sugar Man—the massive creature who delights in delicious sugar cane and magnanimously rules over the swamp—is an honor, and also a big responsibility, since the rest of the swamp critters rely heavily on the intel of these hardworking Scouts.

Twelve-year-old Chap Brayburn is not a member of any such organization. But he loves the swamp something fierce, and he’ll do anything to help protect it.

And help is surely needed, because world-class alligator wrestler Jaeger Stitch wants to turn Sugar Man swamp into an Alligator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, and the troubles don’t end there. There is also a gang of wild feral hogs on the march, headed straight toward them all.

The Scouts are ready. All they have to do is wake up the Sugar Man. Problem is, no one’s been able to wake that fellow up in a decade or four…

Cynthia Kadohata for “The Thing About Luck” (Atheneum)

Summer knows that kouun means “good luck” in Japanese, and this year her family has none of it. Just when she thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her parents away to Japan—right before harvest season. Summer and her little brother, Jaz, are left in the care of their grandparents, who come out of retirement in order to harvest wheat and help pay the bills.

The thing about Obaachan and Jiichan is that they are old-fashioned and demanding, and between helping Obaachan cook for the workers, covering for her when her back pain worsens, and worrying about her lonely little brother, Summer just barely has time to notice the attentions of their boss’s cute son. But notice she does, and what begins as a welcome distraction from the hard work soon turns into a mess of its own.

Having thoroughly disappointed her grandmother, Summer figures the bad luck must be finished—but then it gets worse. And when that happens, Summer has to figure out how to change it herself, even if it means further displeasing Obaachan. Because it might be the only way to save her family.

Tom McNeal for “Far Far Away” (Knopf)

Jeremy Johnson Johnson’s life has begun to feel like a cruel fairy tale. He hears voices – “strange whisperings” – so the citizens of the small town of Never Better treat him like an oddity and an outcast. Meanwhile, his mother takes a bite of a cake so delicious it’s rumored to be bewitched and runs away with another man. Jeremy’s heartsick father goes into his room and stays there unhappily ever after. Then the town’s coltish, copper-haired beauty takes a bite of the cake herself and falls in love with the first person she sees: Jeremy. In any other place, this would be a turn for the better for Jeremy, but not in Never Better, where the Finder of Occasions—whose identity and evil intentions nobody knows—is watching and waiting, waiting and watching. . . 

Meg Rosoff for “Picture Me Gone” (Putnam)

Mila has an exceptional talent for reading a room—sensing hidden facts and unspoken emotions from clues that others overlook. So when her father’s best friend, Matthew, goes missing from his upstate New York home, Mila and her beloved father travel from London to find him. She collects information about Matthew from his belongings, from his wife and baby, from the dog he left behind and from the ghosts of his past—slowly piecing together the story everyone else has missed. But just when she’s closest to solving the mystery, a shocking betrayal calls into question her trust in the one person she thought she could read best. 

and Gene Luen Yang for the graphic novel “Boxers & Saints” (First Second).

In two volumes, Boxers & Saints tells two parallel stories. The first is of Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy whose village is abused and plundered by Westerners claiming the role of missionaries. Little Bao, inspired by visions of the Chinese gods, joins a violent uprising against the Western interlopers. Against all odds, their grass-roots rebellion is successful.

But in the second volume, Yang lays out the opposite side of the conflict. A girl whose village has no place for her is taken in by Christian missionaries and finds, for the first time, a home with them. As the Boxer Rebellion gains momentum, Vibiana must decide whether to abandon her Christian friends or to commit herself fully to Christianity.

The winner will be announced in a ceremony in New York City on November 20, 2013.

It's cool to note that his year there were five additional titles that made it onto the National Book Awards for Young People's Literature "long list" of heralded books:

Kate DiCamillo, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (Candlewick Press)

Lisa Graff, A Tangle of Knots (Philomel, A division of Penguin Group USA)

Alaya Dawn Johnson, The Summer Prince (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)

David Levithan, Two Boys Kissing (Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House)

Anne Ursu, The Real Boy (Walden Pond Press/an Imprint HarperCollinsPublishers)


To find out more about the National Book Awards, you can check out The National Book Foundation's website here.

 We all have some wonderful reading ahead of us!  


Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Books For Your Reading List: The 2012 National Book Award for Young People's Literature Finalists and Winner!

Let's do the Winner first!  The National Book Award For Young People's Literature Winner is...

William Alexander for Goblin Secrets
(Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)

Here's what it's about:

Rownie, the youngest in Graba the witchworker's household of stray children, escapes and goes looking for his missing brother. Along the way he falls in with a troupe of theatrical goblins and learns the secret origins of masks. Now Graba's birds are hunting him in the Southside of Zombay, the Lord Mayor's guards are searching for him in Northside, and the River between them is getting angry. The city needs saving—and only the goblins know how.

The Finalists:

Carrie Arcos, Out of Reach (Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing)

Rachel has always idolized her older brother Micah. He struggles with addiction, but she tells herself that he’s in control. And she almost believes it. Until the night that Micah doesn’t come home. Rachel’s terrified―and she can’t help but feel responsible. She should have listened when Micah tried to confide in her. And she only feels more guilt when she receives an anonymous note telling her that Micah is nearby and in danger. With nothing more to go on than hope and a slim lead, Rachel and Micah’s best friend, Tyler, begin the search. Along the way, Rachel will be forced to confront her own dark secrets, her growing attraction to Tyler… and the possibility that Micah may never come home.

Patricia McCormick, Never Fall Down (Balzer+Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)

When the Khmer Rouge arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock 'n' roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp. One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. In order to survive, Arn must quickly master the strange revolutionary songs the soldiers demand. This will save his life, but it will also pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be liberated, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier. He lives by the simple credo: “Over and over I tell myself one thing: never fall down.” Based on the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, this is an achingly raw and powerful novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace.

Eliot Schrefer, Endangered (Scholastic)

When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos in Congo, she’s not thrilled to be there. It’s her mother’s passion, and Sophie doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. At least not until Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels the bond a human can have with an animal. But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle. Caught in the crosshairs of a lethal conflict, they must struggle to keep safe, to eat, and to survive.

and

Steve Sheinkin, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon (Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press)

In December of 1938, a chemist in a German laboratory made a shocking discovery: When placed next to radioactive material, a Uranium atom split in two. That simple discovery launched a scientific race that spanned three continents. In Great Britain and the United States, Soviet spies worked their way into the scientific community; in Norway, a commando force slipped behind enemy lines to attack German heavy-water manufacturing; and deep in the desert, one brilliant group of scientists was hidden away at a remote site at Los Alamos. This is the story of the plotting, risk-taking, deceit, and genius that created the world's most formidable weapon. This is the story of the atomic bomb. 

It's also fascinating to learn about who judged the books in this category:

Born and raised in England, Susan Cooper has been writing books for children and young adults since 1963. Her classic five-book fantasy sequence, The Dark Is Rising, won the Newbery Medal and Carnegie and Newbery Honors, and she is the 2012 recipient of the American Library Association’s Margaret Edwards Award for lifetime achievement. A board member of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance, she lives on an island in a saltmarsh in Massachusetts.

Daniel Ehrenhaft is a bestselling author of books for teens, among them The Wessex Papers, winner of the 2003 Edgar Award, and most recently Americapedia (2011), which The New York Times has called "Jon Stewart's America for the YA set." As an editor, he helped to create the Gossip Girl and Peaches series. He is now Editorial Director of Soho Teen, whose first list launches in January, 2013.
www.danielehrenhaft.com

Judith Ortiz Cofer is the author the YA story collection An Island Like You (1995); YA novels The Meaning of Consuelo (2003), Call Me Maria (2004), and If I Could Fly (2011); and other works. She has published poetry and prose in The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, Glamour, and other journals and anthologies. She is the Regents and Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia.
judithortizcofer.english.uga.edu

Gary D. Schmidt is a Professor of English at Calvin College, where he teaches courses in writing, medieval literature, and children's literature. He is the author of the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor-winning novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2004), the Newbery Honor- winning The Wednesday Wars (2007), and Okay for Now, a National Book Award finalist in 2011. He lives on a two-hundred-year-old farm in Alto, Michigan.

Marly Youmans is the author of nine books, including novels, poetry collections, and several Southern fantasies for young adults. She is the recipient of the Michael Shaara Prize and was a finalist for the Southern Book Award for The Wolf Pit (2001), won the Ferrol Sams Award for A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage (2012), and received several Hoepfner Awards, among other honors. A Carolinian, she lives in Cooperstown, New York with her husband and three children.
www.thepalaceat2.blogspot.com

Congratulations to the finalists and winner!  

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Kid Lit Industry Catch-Up

A lot's been going on lately, and as we head into November, I wanted to make sure you knew about these stories:


Lauren Myracle is a National Book Award Finalist. Err, wait. She’s not.

Evidently "Shine" sounds a lot like "Chime."  And "Lauren Myracle" sounds a lot like "Franny Billingsley."  Hold on there...

Here are three angles on the story:

The Publishers Lunch version

Libba Bray pulls no punches in her backstage pass assessment of the situation (her husband, Barry Goldblatt, is Lauren Myracle’s literary agent.) It’s funny and passionate, but if f-bombs offend, read the other two links instead. Here's Libba's blog post.

Vanity Fair has an interview with the remarkably gracious Lauren Myracle, here.


Amazon's exclusive digital rights deal with DC comics, and what happened next

The new deal means that hundreds of DC’s popular graphic novels (think Superman, Batman, Watchmen...) will only be available on Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet. Barnes & Nobel and Books-a-Million responded by pulling all the physical volumes of those titles from their shelves, saying they wouldn’t carry any book it they’re denied the right to sell the digital version. The New York Times story is here.  


Sales Data Sharing With Authors

And there was more news featuring Amazon, this on Amazon driving changes in how publishers do business – since Amazon announced they would share some sales data with their authors, Simon & Schuster (and now Random House and Hachette Book Group) will do similarly. It’s an interesting article in Publishers Lunch.


New Radio Book Club for Kids

“Prisoners of NPR” (kids in the back seat forced to listen to ‘All Things Considered’ because their parents are listening) are getting their own Back Seat Book Club.  Here's the story at Publishers Weekly.


Traditional Publishing's path of Print first, digital second gets flipped

Ruckus Media is teaming up with Scholastic to publish digital first, and print second.  You can read more about it here.


Is a book ever finished, or just published?

For the 40th anniversary edition of the best-selling horror classic, "The Exorcist," author William Peter Blatty not only polished, but revised and added a whole new character.  You can hear the interview (and read the article) from NPR's Weekend Edition here.


And finally,

If you won the Newbery Medal, would you want that gold sticker on the cover?

On the right, the old cover, Newbery Medal flashing.  On the left, the new cover

Turns out this isn't a mistake.  It's the strategy for attracting adult readers.

Find out more about the new cover without the Newbery Medal for Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" at this Media Bistro post.

And interestingly, "The Graveyard Book" will be the inaugural title for the new NPR Back Seat Book Club.  Fun how that came full circle, isn't it?

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Crystal Kite Winner Interview Week Two: Kathryn Erskine, MOCKINGBIRD

We wrap up week two of winner interviews with Kathryn Erskine, whose book MOCKINGBIRD won the 2011 Crystal Kite Award for the Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey/Wash DC/Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland region. (Her book also won National Book Award for Young People's Literature.) To learn more about today's award-winning author, visit her website, check out her blog,  follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook.

Please tell my readers a little about your winning book.

In MOCKINGBIRD, Caitlin seeks closure after the death of her brother, Devon, a process made more difficult by the fact that she has Asperger's, and Devon was key in helping her understand and navigate the world. I know, it sounds incredibly heavy and depressing, doesn't it? And yes, there are sad parts, but it's actually an uplifting book with a fair amount of humor. I write about heavy subjects but my goal is to write "hopeful." I don't care for depressing books, myself, so I work hard to ensure that, despite the tough topics, it's still an enjoyable read.

How does it feel to receive an award voted on by your peers? What does this award mean to you?

Since I think we as writers can be our own harshest critics, I feel particularly honored for my work to be recognized by my peers.

How long have you been a member of SCBWI? How has your SCBWI membership been helpful to your career?

Wow, I think I've been a member of SCBWI since 1997, when I took my first class in writing for children. I've attended so many wonderful SCBWI events I've lost count! I've volunteered at our mid-Atlantic conference and spoke at the event last fall. It's a wonderful, supportive organization.
The workshops and retreats I've attended have taught me much about craft, the online information and publications have taught me about the business side of writing, the conferences have given me access to editors, agents, and other professionals in the field, and the members have become my advisers and good friends.

What will we see from you next?

THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE (Philomel) comes out June 9, 2011. "When his genius father sends him to live with relatives and help with an engineering project, Mike, who has a math learning disability, discovers there's more to life than meeting his father's expectations." With wacky characters, MIKE is lighter and funnier than MOCKINGBIRD, but still addresses the need to accept people's differences--especially your own.

In the News This Week

Weekly on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. I've been doing this on Fridays since the blog debuted, but look for Saturday news round-ups occasionally in the next couple of months (due to a hefty freelance writing gig).

As you peruse the articles beginnings below, click titles to get to read the rest of the stories.

This week's stories include Google eBooks launch, trends courtesy of Scholastic, research tips from the recent NBA winner, a best YA list from GalleyCat, bookscan stats on Amazon, hard times for Borders, why teens don't tweet, eBook predictions, trouble for GLBT teens, and more.

Google Launches Google eBooks, Formerly Google Editions (PW)
After months of anticipation, Google today launched its long-awaited cloud-based e-book program, Google eBooks. Rebranded from its original moniker, Google Editions, Google eBooks overnight becomes the largest e-book provider in the world, at least in terms of its offerings, launching with nearly three million books available for purchase or download, including “hundreds of thousands of e-books” available for purchase and over two million public domain titles available for free.

Research Advice from National Book Award Winner Kathryn Erskine (GalleyCat)
Kathryn Erskine tackles tough subjects through children’s books. Her debut novel, Quaking, responded to the Virginia Tech tragedy. Her second novel, Ibhubesi: The Lion, dealt with apartheid. Her third book, Mockingbird, featured a character with asperger’s syndrome–winning this year’s National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. We caught with her to learn about her writing process. Here are some highlights from the interview.

Best YA Books of 2010: A Literary Mixtape (GalleyCat)
What’s the best young adult book you’ve read this year? Share it in the comments and we’ll add it to our new literary mixtape of the Best YA Books of 2010. This GalleyCat editor makes an annual mixtape (CD actually, but the idea is the same) collecting his favorite songs from the year–allowing his friends and family to sample some of the year’s best music. We love reading “Best Books of …” lists, but we want to build a list focused exclusively on sample chapters. Using your suggestions, we will create a giant directory linking to sample pages from your favorite YA books from 2010–allowing readers to sample the books like a literary mixtape. 

What Children's Publishers Are Doing in the Apps Space (PW)
Last week we looked at how some adult trade houses view the potential market for apps, finding that most publishers are cautiously moving into this area. While adult and children’s divisions face many of the same questions about apps—costs, sales potential, and whether they should drive profits or market books—children’s content is generally more suited to this space. Still, like their adult counterparts, children’s publishers are developing apps slowly. PW contacted a number of children’s divisions and houses and found that many publishers are experimenting with different formats—some are creating heavily educational material (which occasionally doesn’t even link to a specific title), others are investing in games, and still others are looking for more direct ways of adapting existing fiction into an app.

Scholastic Experts Issue List of ‘Ten Trends in Children’s Books from 2010’ (Scholastic.com)
Scholastic, the largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, today released a list of 10 Trends in Children's Books from 2010. The list was compiled by editors from Scholastic, including children’s literature experts from Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs, divisions of Scholastic that distribute books from all publishers through schools nationwide. "We've seen some exciting innovation in children’s publishing in 2010, including new formats and platforms for storytelling that are helping more and more kids become book lovers," said Judy Newman, President of Scholastic Book Clubs. "At the same time, we’re seeing a rejuvenation of some classic genres, which I think is evidence of the timeless power that stories and characters have on the lives of children."

5 Useful Tools to Monitor Twitter Hashtags (AllTwitter)
Want to know what’s being talked about on Twitter right now? Or how about what people are saying about your or your brand? Monitoring hashtags is a great way to get in on a conversation on Twitter, whether it’s a trending topic or a few tweets per day. We’ve compiled 5 useful tools that will help you monitor hashtags on Twitter, so you can keep up with the conversation.

'Get the Xanax ready': Authors respond to BookScan on Amazon (LA Times)
Authors responded to Thursday's news of Amazon making Neilsen BookScan's sales numbers available with both enthusiasm and trepidation. "Get the Xanax ready," tweeted David MacInnis Gill, author of "Black Hole Sun," a sci-fi thriller for young adults. In an e-mail, he explained: "Authors worry. We worry about writing. Worry about our editors, our agents, our reviews, and our readers. We worry about everything, including all forms of social media including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and personal websites. The one thing we haven't been able to obsess about is real-time sales numbers."

Borders Sales Disappoint, Loss Soars; Liquidity Issues Arise (PW)
Borders third quarter results, released just after the market closed Thursday afternoon, provided little sign that the company is turning around as total revenue fell 17.6%, to $470.9 million and comparable store sales dropped 12.6%. The loss from continuing operations was $74.4 million compared to a loss of $37.7 million a year ago. CEO Michael Edwards called the results disappointing, adding they reflect “the business challenges facing Borders and the industry at large.”

Gay and lesbian teens are punished more at school, by police, study says (WashPost)
Gay and lesbian teens in the United States are about 40 percent more likely than their straight peers to be punished by schools, police and the courts, according to a study published Monday, which finds that girls are especially at risk for unequal treatment. The research, described as the first national look at sexual orientation and teen punishment, comes as a spate of high-profile bullying and suicide cases across the country have focused attention on the sometimes hidden cruelties of teen life.   

Why Teens Don't And Won't Tweet (ReadWriteWeb)
I'm 16 and, unusually, I use Twitter quite a bit. I say unusually because perhaps you've heard that teens don't tweet. This first came to light last year when a 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern wrote a report [PDF] where he explained that teens "realize they are not going to update it," and that "no one is viewing their profile, so their 'tweets' are pointless. Teens' lives are entirely built around their actual friends. Quite simply, why would teenagers bother using Twitter when Facebook exists, and offers so much more? Teens want a platform that allows easy, fully-functional communication to an exclusive social circle. That is, solely to their friends and peers. Twitter is a platform built for inclusive broadcast (to everyone), and to teenagers it offers no obvious value.
 
Figment Looks to Attract Young Writers (PW)

Founded by New Yorker staff writer Dana Goodyear and former New Yorker managing editor Jacob Lewis, Figment.com is an online writing community aimed at attracting a membership of young people, ranging from kids to teens and older, to post, share and comment on each other’s original writing. Launched this week, the site is also teaming with YA author Blake Nelson, author of the well-received 1994 adult novel Girl, who is serializing Dream School, a long unpublished YA sequel to Girl, on the Figment site. 

eBook Readership Will Grow To 30 Million Readers Globally By 2013 (eBookNewser)
eBook readership is predicted to grow to 30 million readers globally by 2013, almost double the predicted 2012 total, according to ABI Research. According to ABI analyst Jeff Orr, a number of these people will come from Western Europe followed by China. Orr had this statement: ““In two or three years we will enter a period in which much more digital printed matter will become available in other countries and regions. Western Europe will be first, followed by Eastern Europe and Asia, especially China.”

eBook Predictions Are Futile (HuffPo)
It's the end of the year, which means prophets will soon be flooding every possible venue with predictions for the future. Most of them will end up being laughably wrong. And because it's the end of the decade, they'll be wrong about what happens for the next ten years. The publishing industry is especially difficult to speculate about because it's undergoing so much upheaval.

SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-conference Interview: Author Sara Zarr

When I found out Sara Zarr was on the faculty for the SCBWI Annual Winter Conference, I called dibs on doing her pre-conference interview right away. (There was a quiet throwdown, but I'm captain of TEAM BLOG so I won.)

There were several reasons I wanted an excuse to talk to Sara. I first met her several years ago at a Kidlitcon and heard her speak from the heart about her first foray into blogging. I immediately liked her and immediately devoured STORY OF A GIRL, her debut novel and a National Book Award Finalist.

A couple years later she stopped here in the Nati on a book tour and I attended both her events, one at a Barnes & Noble and one at Joseph-Beth. The B&N event, for some reason, was not well attended. (It was pretty much just me, the store events person, and a teen and her father who stopped by.) Still Sara spoke to us as if it was a packed house, and I was moved by the story behind her writing SWEETHEARTS, her second YA novel (a Cybil Award Finalist). I bought a copy, read it on a plane a few weeks later, and wept.

And in 2009 I got to edit Sara Zarr (!) when she wrote a piece for me for CWIM. Her topic was revising books. "Not the craft of that, the technique," she explained, "but the emotional complications of engaging deeply with your work and accepting, even embracing, failure and humility as part of the process." (See the 2010 CWIM, page 52.)

Sara is a deep thinker, a terrific and interesting human being, and an amazing writer. Her third book, ONCE WAS LOST was a Kirkus Best Book of 2009. She's a three-time finalist for the Utah Book Award. She's had short fiction and essays published in print and online and is working on a fourth novel. And she's a keynote speaker at the SCBWI Annual Winter Conference!

Click here to register for the event and hear Sara Zarr--and the rest of the terrific faculty--offer insights and advice in person.

And in the meantime, enjoy my interview with Sara, in which we talk about writing, public speaking and attending conferences.

You recently served as a judge for the National Book Awards (for which you were once a finalist). What was it like being on the other side? How did it feel attending the event as a judge?

The judging process was challenging and sort of took over my life for six months of 2010, but ultimately I found the experience extremely rewarding. It gave me the chance to read widely and deeply, and consider what a book really is and what we are trying to do as writers.

I also enjoyed working with the other four judges on the Young People's Literature panel, finding common ground as well as passionate disagreements, and coming away with a ton of respect for each other. Attending as a judge was way more fun than attending as a finalist! I could actually relax and enjoy the whole night without it feeling surreal or panic-inducing.

You're delivering a keynote at the SCBWI Annual Winter Conference. What's the theme? Can you give us a teaser?

I'm going to talk about crafting a satisfying writing life. I think it's easy--especially when you're starting out--to get caught up in and stressed out by the business end of things. It is important to understand that part of the job, and of course it's something you must navigate to become a traditionally published author.

But I see so many people forgetting the joy that first led them to write, neglecting the care and feeding of their creative selves, getting anxious and burned out before they even get out of the gate. (And I'm talking about myself here, too.)

I want to talk about habits of thought and action that help sustain a writing life at all phases of one's career--how to persevere in looking for that balance between smart career management and care of the creative self.

Your bio on your sarazarr.com says you majored in Speech in college. (For me, that would be right up there with swimming in shark-infested waters or contracting Ebola.) Lots of newer authors suddenly find themselves having to give speeches and presentations. Could you offer a few pieces of advice to the nervous ones?

Well, my emphasis in the Speech & Communications major was Organizational Communication, so it wasn't so much about public speaking. That said, I've always been comfortable talking in front of people. And when I say "comfortable," I don't mean I don't get nervous or scared. But I usually come out of it feeling energized and glad I did it, especially if I feel like I made a real connection with the audience. That doesn't always happen, and it's definitely a sinking feeling when you realize you've failed to get the audience on board with you.

As for advice: When I first started talking in front of audiences as an author, I would get very stressed out and spend weeks taking notes and organizing thoughts and writing stuff on index cards. Then I realized: I'm an expert on me and my books. That freed me up to take a more extemporaneous approach with my talks. So if at all possible, only agree to speak about things that fall in your area of expertise, then remind yourself that you are an expert. You talk about this stuff with friends and family and colleagues all the time in casual conversation, and there's no reason to think talking in front of an audience needs to be that different or super formal.
 
An off-the-cuff approach also tends to lead to better connection with the audience. I try to see every talk as a conversation, even if the audience may not be talking back. (But I am nervous about my SCBWI talk. It will be by far my largest audience ever. So I will have notes!)

Can you tell us anything about your next novel?

I'm excited about it! There are two narrators with very different lives, whose worlds collide around an open adoption by one of the narrator's mothers. The title hasn't been finalized yet, but it should be out sometime in fall 2011.

Had you attended any SCBWI events before you found your agent and got published? Why would you recommend writers working toward publication attend conferences?

I came to SCBWI NY twice before I was published. I believe the years were 2001 and 2005. For me, conferences during that time were all about inspiration and feeling like a writer. It can be hard for non-writer friends and family to understand what it is we're doing, and why, and being around other people pursuing the same goal and talking about that goal is a relief from the isolation (and, possibly, frustration) of working toward publication. "Finally, people talking my language!"

I was never great at the networking part of conferences--small talk and cocktail parties scare me--but I listened and observed well, and all of that information helped me out in some way down the line. Also, investing the time and the money in coming to a conference demonstrates to yourself and to others that you take writing seriously, and there is a lot of value in that.

In the News This Week

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

This week's news includes PW's coverage of NBA winner Kathryn Erskine's acceptance speech, goodbye to Tricycle Press, a pair of some studies on the teens' dating habits and buying habits (including books), MySpace/Facebook partnership, help with e-reader holiday shopping, and more.


Erskine Wins NBA in Young People's Literature (PW)
Kathryn Erskine was filled with gratitude as she stepped up to the podium on Wednesday night to claim the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, for her novel Mockingbird (Philomel), about a 10-year-old girl with Asperger’s syndrome. She thanked the National Book Awards "for supporting reading and our culture," as well as the judges, her publishing house Penguin, and "readers and friends and supporters and family." She also thanked educators, for teaching children "to think critically and deeply, and think for themselves." And she saved special thanks for her mother, for teaching her not only the "what" of the world, "but also the 'why.'"

Random House to Shutter Tricycle Press (PW)

As of January 31st Random House Children’s Books is discontinuing the frontlist publishing program of Berkeley-based Tricycle Press, the 18-year-old children’s book imprint. As part of the change, v-p and publisher Nicole Geiger and her four-person editorial team will leave the company on the 31st as well. Tricycle marketing and publicity manager Laura Mancuso will stay on in the same capacity at RHCB.

A study confirms every suspicion you ever had about high-school dating (Slate)
In the Darwinian world of high-school dating, freshman girls and senior boys have the highest chances of successfully partnering up. Senior girls (too picky!) and freshman boys (pond scum!) have the least. These are truisms known to anyone who has watched 10 minutes of a teen movie or spent 10 minutes in a high school cafeteria. Now, however, social scientists have examined them exhaustively and empirically. And they have found that for the most part, they're accurate. So are some other old prom-era chestnuts: Teen boys are primarily—obsessively?—interested in sex, whereas girls, no matter how boy-crazy, tend to focus on relationships. Young men frequently fib about their sexual experience, whereas young women tend to be more truthful. Once a student has sex, it becomes less of an issue in future relationships.

Teen Girls as Avid Shoppers (AdWeek)
 Don't blame teenage girls for the sluggishness of consumer spending. In a survey just released by Varsity Brands (which sells cheerleading apparel) and Ketchum Global Research Network, girls age 13-18 identified shopping as their favorite pastime. And the list of purchases they've recently made confirms this isn't just talk. But other parts of the survey may leave you wondering how the girls' immersion in new media leaves them with time to buy things.

You Can Now Log in to MySpace with Facebook (Mashable)
In a move that has been rumored for nearly a year, MySpace users can now log in to the once dominant social network using Facebook. At a press event this afternoon, the two companies announced an expansion of their existing partnership that puts a connect with Facebook button on the MySpace homepage and enables a wide range of personalization and sharing features on MySpace.

Closing the book on Harry Potter (NYT)
A LOT has happened since the screenwriter Steve Kloves began working on his adaptation of the very first Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” in the late 1990s.
The three central characters — Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) — have grown up on screen, enduring the twin horrors of Voldemort and adolescence before our very eyes. The stories have become progressively darker and more complicated. And Mr. Kloves has immersed himself so deeply in the world of Harry Potter that by the time J. K. Rowling’s seventh and final volume, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” came out in 2007, he said, he knew the characters almost as thoroughly as she did herself.

Holiday Gift Guide To eReaders (eBook Newser)
The holiday shopping season is here and eReaders and tablets are poised to be the hot items of the season. To help you navigate through all of the devices out there, we have compiled a Holiday Gift Guide To eReaders featuring the latest eReaders on the market. The below list includes eReaders that have come out over the last year and will be hot this season:

Great Holiday Expectations for E-Readers (NYT)
E-readers will be widely available at stores like Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, and offered at prices that make sense for Christmas gifts—less than $150. Publishers and booksellers are expecting that instead of giving your mother a new Nicholas Sparks novel or your father a David Baldacci thriller in the hardcovers that traditionally fly off the shelves and into wrapping paper at this time of year, you might elect to convert them to e-reading.

And the 2010 National Book Award for Young People's Literature Goes to...

...Kathryn Erskine for her book MOCKINGBIRD!

Here's the complete lists of Finalists in the Young People's Literature category:

• Paolo Bacigalupi, SHIP BREAKER (Little, Brown)
• Kathryn Erskine, MOCKINGBIRD (Philomel)
• Laura McNeal, DARK WATER (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Walter Dean Myers, LOCKDOWN (Amistad/HarperCollins)
• Rita Williams-Garcia, ONE CRAZY SUMMER (Amistad/HarperCollins)

This year's judges YLP Judges were Laban Carrick Hill, Kelly Link, Tor Seidler, Hope Anita Smith and Sara Zarr. (Here's a link to their bios.)

Here are links to some reviews of all the NBA finalists:

• School Library Journal's reviews
• Review by Liz at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Congratulations to all the wonderful nominees and to winner Kathryn Erskine!

Wednesday Tweet Roundup

It's humpday which means it's time for me to share some of my favorite tweets of the last week from the many writers, illustrators, editors, agents, and publishers who are out there sharing information and joining in the conversation on Twitter.

Click on the Twitter handles (@name) to find each tweeter's page should you wish to follow them or read more of what they're saying. Follow the included links to read the articles or blog posts these tweeters recommend.

Remember--whether you're signed up with Twitter or not, you can read tweets and click links to find helpful blog posts, useful articles, and timely news bits (like the ones below).

This week's tweet buffet offers links to tasty crafty blog posts, a delicious collection of lists of top titles, advice from agents and editors to savor and more, starting off with a reminder that the NBA awards banquet will start, oh...any minute now.  

AWARDS TWEETS

@TatteredCover: 2010 National Book Awards will be announced TONGHT! 60 Years of Honoring Great American Books: http://fb.me/KSGqVZh3

@GuardianBooks: Louise Rennison has last laugh by winning Roald Dahl funny prize http://gu.com/p/2y7ve/tf  

HIRING AND FIRING TWEETS

@literaticat: :-( crying. RT @PWKidsBookshelf RH shutters Tricycle Press; publisher Nicole Geiger & staff will leave as of 1/31/11

@tabithaolson: from @PublishersLunch: Movable Type Literary Group hires Brianne Mulligan as assoc agent; YA and MG and some adult

 

CRAFTY BLOG POST TWEETS

@TracyClark_TLC: Strengths and Weaknesses. Do you know yours? My latest blog post: http://bit.ly/bHzRHT

@AimeeLSalter: Self-edit tips to help you 'show' rather than 'tell': http://bit.ly/b500ge

@tabithaolson: Roaring Brook Press editor Katherine Jacob's brilliance regarding pacing. http://bit.ly/czF5M3

 

LISTY TWEETS

@WritersDigest: Have you been to any of the world's best bookstores?

@sljournal: "Nonfiction wasn't as strong in the categories of nature and science this year..." Insight from review staff http://bit.ly/ddyz3K 

@teachingbooks: Bank Street COE announced their outstanding books of 2010! Very focused list. So many books. http://tinyurl.com/34dm5yd

@KirkusReviews: 2010 Best Books for Teens: Contemporary Novels #kirkusbestbooks http://ow.ly/3bs1o

TIPS FROM EDITORS & AGENTS TWEETS

@stacylwhitman: #pubtip: I am not an agent. Don't query me asking me to represent you to publishers bc I'm a "select agent."

@ColleenLindsay:"Bad grammar & syntax can end your publishing career before it ever gets started." Great post by @DGLM --> http://tinyurl.com/23hll2r

@RachelleGardner: My best advice: Find where your passion meets the market. http://bit.ly/aT5Tit

@SashaVilch: Guide to Literary Agents - Agent Katharine Sands On: 4 Agent Pet Peeves http://t.co/j891CnI via @AddThis

LET YOUNG READERS CHOOSE TWEETS

@pwkidsbookshelf: Let kids be the judge: force-feeding the 'right’ sort of literature can put them off for life: http://bit.ly/c4hz7x

@editorgurl: Letting teens (gasp) pick their own books: An awesome speech from the author of The Marbury Lens. http://bit.ly/930GkI

NO MORE HARRY POTTER TWEETS

@GalleyCat: To 'reward' Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe, J.K. Rowling won't write more HP books: http://mbist.ro/av8mkg

@PWKidsBookshelf: From io9: Why J.K. Rowling shouldn't write any more Harry Potter books http://on.io9.com/arjVUO

HAZARD OF BEING A WRITER TWEET

@LAGilman: Pending royalty statements make me twitchy. It's like being 10 & waiting to hear if you'll have a snow day or not... 

BUNNIES... IT MUST BE BUNNIES! TWEET

@johnmcusick: Lots of bunny themed queries today. But what does it MEAN?

In the News This WeeK

Fridays on the SCBWI blog, I share snippets of and links to some of the publishing/media-related news I've read during the last week that I found interesting, helpful, and/or fun. Click titles to get to the full articles.

Among this week's news: two pieces in the Huffington Post offer (yet more) reactions to the NYT picture book piece; kids and screen time; National Book Award finalists (in case you missed it); a new Seuss manuscript and new book from Hilary Duff (did I just mention them both in the same sentence?); Facebook vs. Twitter for content creators, children's comics; iPad news, authors who wrote in their birthday suits; Grover spoofs the Old Spice Guy (video below); and more.


There's Good News and Good News about Picture Books (HuffPo)
The recent New York Times article, "Picture Books no Longer a Staple for Children" set off understandable ripples of concern, anger, worry, and dismay. But I have to say it didn't bother me because what I see in my little corner of the reading world has me certain that the picture book is alive and well. What I do see as changing is a broadening (not narrowing) of the age of the audience and a wonderful extending of the concept and form of the book itself.

Adults Take the Fun Out of Reading, Again (HuffPo)
The big story on The New York Times today is that parents are again urging children to ditch children's books. Sure, Where the Wild Things Are and Green Eggs and Ham may be beloved by generations of kids, but many parents are concerned that colorful pictures and imaginative stories aren't going to give their 5-year-old a leg-up on their SATs. According to the Times:

Screen Time May Consume Nearly 1/3 of Day for U.S. Kids (Yahoo)
Children and teens in the United States spend an average of seven hours a day using television, computers, phones and other electronic devices for entertainment, compared to an average of three hours a day watching TV in 1999, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).  Parents, physicians and educators need to understand the effects of this increasing exposure to media and educate youngsters about media use, the academy said in an updated AAP policy statement released online in advance of publication in the November print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Patti Smith, Peter Carey Among National Book Award Finalists (PW)
Today, writer Pat Conroy announced the finalists for the 2010 National Book Award from the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home in Savannah, Georgia. The finalists include rock legend and poet Patti Smith, whose memoir Just Kids (Ecco) is a nonfiction finalist, and Man Booker finalist Peter Carey, for his novel Parrot and Olivier in America (Knopf).

Dr. Seuss Manuscript Surfaces (GalleyCat)
Would you pay $1,000 for a handwritten Dr. Seuss book? That’s the current bid for a long lost Dr. Seuss manuscript up for auction at Nate D. Sanders. The collection is pictured above, via the auction site (click to enlarge).

Someone alert the Pulitzer board! Hilary Duff turns author as she debuts her new novel (Mail Online)

It's not enough to just be an actress these days... or a singer... or a fashion designer...or a model.... or a combination of all five as Hilary Duff is. Today's young stars seem to feel the need to try their hand at absolutely everything, especially crafting their words of wisdom into the novel form. 23-year-old Duff is the latest celebrity to join the ranks of author, with the release of her new book, Elixir.

Kids' Comics Everywhere at New York Comic Con (PW)

While sales of graphic novels are down, comics for children and teens seem to be a bright spot, and they were attracting plenty of attention at New York Comic Con last weekend.

Traditional children's publisher Archie Comics had some of the biggest news of the show with the announcement of a new line of Mega Man comics, based on the character from Capcom's video game. The comics will be written by Ian Flynn and drawn by Patrick "Spaz" Spaziante, who both currently work on Sonic the Hedgehog. The new series will debut in spring 2011.

Open Road Media in Deal with Albert Whitman; Adds More Mysteries (PW)
Children’s book publisher Albert Whitman & Co. has reached an agreement with Open Road Integrated Media to publish all 150 titles of Whitman’s Boxcar Children Mysteries series in e-book format. The first 19 e-titles in the series will be released in time for Christmas 2010. Originally written by Gertrude Chandler Warner, who wrote the first 19 books, the popular series has sold more than 50 million copies across the 150 titles.

Children’s Story Apps Dominate Top 10 Paid Apps (eBook Newser)
Oceanhouse Media’s The Berenstain Bears app tops the Top Paid apps in the book category this afternoon. Disney Publishing Worldwide’s Winnie the Pooh app follows this $2.99 children’s story app at No. 2.

Facebook Vs Twitter: Which Performs Better? (AllFacebook)
Which has more value to content producers – a tweet or a Facebook share? New data from SocialTwist throws up some interesting answers. The company’s Social Media Sharing Trends 2010 Report is based on the social media sharing analysis of millions of referral messages sent using the Tell-a-Friend widget from August 2009 to July 2010. It suggests that Facebook is the dominant social networking site for sharing links but Twitter might be better for click-throughs.

Apple’s iPad Is Coming To Walmart (eBook Newser)
Apple is gearing up to push iPads this holiday season by stocking up on the popular devices in big box retail stores. The iPad is going to go on sale at WalmartWalmart this season, and according to reports, it could be any day now.

20 Kid-Friendly YouTube Channels That Moms Need To Know (+ 5 Channels for Moms) (SocialTimes)
A lot of my mommy friends have expressed frustration that there are no good lists of kid-friendly YouTube channels and playlists out there, so here at Social Times we’ve decided to compile one. I’ve put together a list of 20 great YouTube channels and playlists for kids that moms will love, based on recommendations from friends as well as my own love for children’s television. Check out our 20 picks after the jump and stay tuned at the end for 5 fun YouTube channels geared towards moms as well!

Seven Authors Who Wrote While Nude  (GalleyCat)
Writers have always had interesting stories beyond the ones they put down to paper. Here’s the naked truth: Neatorama has outed seven well-known authors as nudist writers. The authors are Victor Hugo, Ernest Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence, James Whitcomb Riley, Edmond Rostand, Benjamin Franklin, and Agatha Christie.

The Story Behind Sesame Street’s Viral Old Spice Spoof (Mashable)
Sesame Street’s spoof of Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” commercials has reached 2.6 million views in just five days. Given the video’s rapid spread, we reached out to Miles Ludwig, vice president and executive producer of Digital Media at Sesame Workshop, to find out how the concept was hatched.