NEWS AND NOTES

"Tillie Olson" Documentary
On Feb. 18, 2008 at 7pm there will be a showing of the documentary “Tillie Olson,” a local author. It will be shown at the California Theater in Berkeley; tickets sold at the box office.

OTTER AWARDS DINNER
The Northern California Children's Booksellers Association annual Otter Awards Dinner will be held on Sat., March 22, 2008. Guest speakers include Professor Stephen Krashen, author of The Power of Reading, picture book author/illustrator Mark Teague, and author Ying Chang Compestine. For tickets, contact your local Independent Bookseller.

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AWARDS ANNOUNCED

The American Indian Library Association (AILA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), is pleased to announce the recipients of its American Indian Youth Literature Award. This new literary award was created as a way to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians. Books selected to receive the award present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in present and past contexts.

Picture Book
Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom by Tim Tingle, illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridge. Cinco Puntos Press, 2006.
A beautifully inspired story of a friendship between Martha Tom, a Choctaw girl and Li' Mo, a slave boy and how their relationship brought wholeness and freedom to Mo's family and also to many slaves. Bridge's illustrations enhance the story of the joy of friendship, the light of faith, and the leadership of children.

Middle School
Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond by Joseph Medicine Crow. National Geographic, 2006.
This appealing autobiography of Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow (Absarokee) is a winner with young and old. The author recounts his adventures and training as a traditional Crow warrior and his service as a decorated World War II veteran. Walk, run and ride with him to learn first-hand about real-life on the Crow reservation before, during, and after encounters with newcomers. In a text that is not preachy, Joseph Medicine Crow tells how he overcame many challenges to fulfill his role as Chief of the Crow Nation.

Young Adult
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Little Brown Publishers, 2007.
A realistic, bitter-sweet yet, humorous look at the life of Arnold, a Spokane Indian teenager making his way in life on the reservation while attending an all white high school. Alexie brings to life the challenges many young native people experience as they learn to navigate and balance Indian life in a modern non-Indian world. Part autobiography, Alexie's Arnold reminds us of the complexities of coming of age, bigotry, bullies, loyalty to family and the meaning of love.

Penn State University announced the 2008 recipients of the LEE BENNETT HOPKINS POETRY AWARD:

WINNER:
BIRMINGHAM, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford (Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press).

HONOR BOOKS
BLUE LIPSTICK: CONCRETE POEMS by John Grandits (Clarion Books)
THIS IS JUST TO SAY; POEMS OF APOLOGY AND FORGIVENESS by Joyce Sidman (Hougton Mifflin).

PROFESSIONAL READING

Cart, Michael and Jenkins, Christine A. THE HEART HAS ITS REASONS: YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE WITH GAY/LESBIAN/QUEER CONTENT, 1969-2004. Scarecrow Press, 2006. $42. ISBN 9780810850712.

Approximately 200 novels for teens feature GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer) characters; starting in 1969 with John Donovan's I'll Get There, It Better Be Worth the Trip. Although this looks like a reworking of someone's Ph.D. dissertation, the main text of the book is an intriguing read. Michael Cart is a great writer; he can make an academic study like this sound like a conversation. The book includes footnotes, a timeline, an index, a listing of the books by copyright year, and a chart showing the narrative role of the gay characters.

The need for a study like this is clear, since teens often look to literature to “see” people like themselves or their friends for validation. Cart and his coauthor Christine Jenkins describe how most gay characters were tragic (often dead by the end of the book) in the 1970's, but that happens much less often now. The text of the book is arranged in chapters by decade, starting with the 1970's, moving on to 1980's with more gay parent/teacher characters and the influence of AIDS, then on to the 1990's which the authors refer to as “Was More Less?” Finally, on to the new century which featured books with more positive, well-rounded characters.

The 1980's chapter focuses on the landmark book, Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind, which featured nonstereotypical, positive lesbian characters. It is a book that is a benchmark: a standard that other characterizations can be measured against. There are many other books described in detail, which made me want to find and read those I have not read. But the detailed descriptions are not too plot-heavy, so they can serve as booktalks with some modifications.

Cart and Jenkins conclude with an accounting of how many of the authors of these GLBTQ books have gone on to win the Margaret A. Edwards lifetime achievement award for young adult literature. This is just one way of demonstrating that most of these books are well-written, and are likely to stand the test of time. If you serve on teens and do readers advisory, this is a must-read.

Penny Peck, San Leandro PL

Submitted by : Penny Peck, San Leandro Public Library