If I were a good book blogger, I would blog heavily on topics such as the ALA book awards. Also, I would have blogged about them a couple of weeks ago, when they were topical.
Here is my question: Does anyone besides librarians (and possibly booksellers) care about these awards? Maybe just the Newberry and the Caldecott? I feel like if anything, a Printz seal on the cover of a book (awarded for fanciness in writing for teens) is the kiss of death for getting a teenager interested in a book.
I think there is an element of the teen population that cares, maybe not for specific awards, but for the fancy seal on a book. I think it's the "I am so grown up" teen, who probably is already reading Tolstoy though. So the answer is no. No one cares.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if the awards committees, on the whole, chose better books? At least this year I'd heard of all the Printz nominees, and both Ship Breaker (this year) and Going Bovine (last year) were great. But I have no delusions that Going Bovine really speaks to the average teenager. So: no. Librarians, myself included, geek out about these things, but at least I don't kid myself that the teens give a flying poop.
ReplyDeleteBrandy, I am embarrassed to say that I was only vaguely aware of all of the Printz nominees this year except for Ship Breaker (which, incidentally, I reviewed for SLJ).
ReplyDeleteYeah, I saw that one was your review--how do you make SLJ send you stuff that's actually good, instead of the junk they send me month after month? It's all pink-covered girly fluff, except for the one month it was an actually-offensive "guy book" with a cavalier attitude towards date rape. (I breathed a sigh of relief on the next chick lit that came through.)
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ReplyDeleteWhat was the date rape book?! I recently read a teen book that had a worse than cavalier attitude about date rape, but it was a contemporary chick fantasy book.
ReplyDeleteI review sci fi for SLJ, and Ship Breaker is the only book I've gotten that was any good. After it won the Printz I felt like a jerk for not starring it. I really liked it a lot, but I'm still a little surprised it won the Printz. I worry that I am just a mean, crotchety reviewer, crushing the spirits of authors nationwide.
I have considered asking SLJ to send me contemporary realistic stuff, but I guess it's bad all over. I think the sad truth of the matter is that most books written for any age group are not so good.
Second-Base Club. I sputtered about it on my GoodReads; you can follow the comment thread for a little more articulation of my issues. (Main idea: horny teen boy tries to feel up a girl who pushes him away and says no several times, he decides he's too far gone and tries to rip off her shirt anyway, she decks him; like an hour later he mumbles "sorry I was a jerk" and that was the end of it.) Outside of that one incident, the book still didn't sit well with me.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I told SLJ that I like speculative fiction, but the only spec stuff I've gotten was (a) an entry into the Pandora Gets ____ series and Sara Shepard's latest (which I confess I kind of enjoyed). Most of my reviews are of the "well, it'll probably go out, but it's terrible" ilk. (And oh, the STORIES I could tell you about the MAJOR AUTHOR who stalked me around the internet for my negative review of his book! ... not in public, though.)