Big Island Booktalk April 29, 2007

I love the neighbor islands. The Big Island booktalk went well. Enthusiastic students, librarians, and teachers welcomed us to their school. We had a total of 4 sessions the longest 60 minutes and the shortest about 45 minutes. There were several classes in each session mixed with 9th, 10th, and some 11th graders. Booktalking went quickly because I was tag-team booktalking with Linda.

Again my non-fiction was the most popular and got the best reaction. Kenji Kawakami’s Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions is a hit with the teens. Other ones that got a good response were With A Little Luck by Dennis Fradin, Invisible Enemies by Jeanette Farrell and my Optical Illusions book. I can’t wait until the next booktalk! Wooo hoooo!

Kawaii-Kon 2007 April 29, 2007

We came, we saw, we set-up, we promoted.

Today was the last day of Kawaii-Kon 2007. Kawaii-Kon was THE best outreach event that I have been to thus far. I wish we had a little more support from our administration. I did not take an accurate count of how many folks we talked to at the Kon but we passed out 500+ flyers to numerous young adults, children, and adults.

Many of the wonderful young adults were enthusiastic about the library and supportive of our collection of anime and manga titles. I felt so much love for reading and literacy I almost felt like crying. Of course I was semi-delirious from a lack of sleep today. But the love was definitely present. We had a parent on Friday who nearly gave us a standing ovation. It was great talking to the teens and getting a better idea of their reading interests.

Naruto, Bleach, Inuyasha, and Death Note were well represented in the cosplay arena. The costuming was top-notch. Our table was situated in the Artist’s Alley so we were surrounded by artists during their creative processes. It was an environment filled with creativity. The young adults on my left were drawing for nearly 5 hours straight producing wonderful artwork. The room next to us featured vendors who were selling their wares. There were the expected t-shirts, toys, costuming, manga, and other novelties. One of the most impressive were these handmade dolls pictured below.

I did a bit of information mining and found out that I know the creator of this doggie. She’s a college classmate that I run into on occasion. Of course the Kon being in Hawaii we did see many familiar faces. It was a tiring and rewarding weekend.

I think Jolene has a similar take on the Kon but I’ll let her speak for herself.

7 Days at the Hot Corner by Terry Trueman April 29, 2007

This should be the best time of Scott Latimer’s life. He’s a high school senior and the starting third baseman on a team riding a 14-game winning streak. But a few months ago, he touched his friend Travis’s cut lip, and one day ago, Travis told Scott that he was gay. Worried that he may have contracted HIV from coming in contact with Travis’s blood, Scott decides to get tested for HIV. But while getting tested, the nice Public Health nurse tells Scott he won’t get the results for seven days. Now Scott has too many things to worry about — the pressure of maintaining the winning streak so his team can win the league championship, his friendship with Travis, the reaction of people at school if others find out that Travis is gay, and what to do if he, Scott, is HIV positive.

7 Days at the Hot Corner, by Terry Trueman, has received positive reviews, but left me underwhelmed. I found it admirable more for the fact that it’s about a teen (guy!) dealing with his best friend’s sexuality. I wanted to like the book; Scott and Travis were likeable characters, and Scott’s confusion rang true. But too often I felt like the point of the book was its message, not its characters. Like when Dorothy, the nurse, tells Scott about common misconceptions of HIV. Or Scott’s discussions with his parents.

However, my biggest problems have to do with some of the off-the-field baseball issues. What’s the big deal about a 14 game winning streak? It’s a lot of wins, to be sure, but not unheard of in high school baseball. According to this article, the record is 75 games. Other problems (highlight to read, because they are semi-spoilerish): the whole thing about how each game might be his last unless he gets drafted by a Major League team? Huh? If Scott’s good enough to possibly be drafted, isn’t he also good enough for college or juco ball? I’m assuming his grades were okay, since he’s eligible to play baseball and nothing was ever said about him otherwise not being able to qualify. And finding out he got drafted through a letter in the mail, which also tells him he’ll be starting off in triple-A? Wait, if you’re good enough to go to triple-A instead of a rookie league, wouldn’t you be among the top draft picks, getting a phone call and an agent, not a letter in the mail? Wouldn’t you have also known that you would be drafted?

If I wasn’t so dissatisfied with other aspects of the book, these issues would not have bothered me so much. But once I started questioning the baseball stuff, I had a hard time accepting the rest of the story. That said, I will recommend this book to readers looking for books with gay characters, basically by default, because I can’t think of many other books about straight teens who, over the course of the book, must learn to deal with the fact that their best friend is gay while not questioning their own sexuality.* Hopefully, the people asking for recommendations won’t be baseball fans.

* Name Me Nobody? The Bermudez Triangle? Both about girls, though.

2007 Celebrate Reading Recap April 29, 2007

The 10th Celebrate Reading: Book Clubs & Literature Festival concluded yesterday at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, after visits to the Big Island and Kauai. The purpose Celebrate Reading is to encourage reading and disucssion, especially among those ages 12-24, by bringing readers and authors together. A booklist is created each year, and many of the authors will attend the culminating festival, giving readers the opportunity to discuss the book, and other questions they may have, with the authors.

Not being a high school or college student anymore, or the book club type, I had never been tempted to go in previous years. Then I saw the list of authors who would be appearing this year and decided this would be my first festival. Chris Crutcher, Chris McKinney, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Lynne Cox, Graham Salisbury, Lois-Ann Yamanaka (who was scheduled to attend, but couldn’t make it)… I couldn’t stay for the whole day, but it was still a very worthwhile experience.

The day began with a performance by Kealoha and readings by several of the authors. First up was Graham Salisbury, who didn’t actually read from one of his books, but rather told a funny story about boys and mud and machines. If there is another Guys Write for Guys Read book, this story should totally be in it. Next Lakambini Sitoy read an excerpt from one of her short stories. It was a brave choice, I thought, since it was about a young woman in the Philippines who decides to have an abortion. Alohi Ae‘a read several short poems. The morning reading concluded with Célestine Vaite, and if you ever have a chance to see her in person, go! Because, man, she has such a cool accent. I was tempted to go to one of her sessions just to listen to her talk.

Then we were off to the first of the breakout sessions. (There are three breakout sessions during the day, each 45 minutes long.) I went to see Graham Salisbury, and it’s a good thing I got there early. There must have been more than 100 people in the room by the time the session started. Every seat was taken. This session took the form of a Q&A so audience members could ask questions about his books, his writing habits, or Salisbury himself. It was very informative; he discussed his plans for the last two books in his Hawaii at War series, admitted that he took a phone book from his uncle back to Oregon so he can look at the local names (and he’s partial to Portuguese names), had a number one song (in the Philippines), and in general learned a lot of cool things about him.

Since Lois-Ann Yamanaka was unable to appear, I decided to go to Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s session next. She had a much smaller crowd, and thankfully this wasn’t a group discussion, since I hadn’t read the books (I know, bad librarian). Instead of a Q&A (though she did take questions), she spent most of her session discussing how and why she wrote Farewell to Manzanar, memoirs, and the power of traumatic experiences. It was inspiring, though I think I would have gotten more out of it if I was interested in becoming a writer.

So thanks to Lorna Hershinow and the generous sponsors and organizers of Celebrate Reading for putting on such a great event.

Are those wedding rings on the cover? April 23, 2007

Okay, so I admit that Charmed Thirds would top my list of disappointing reads from last year. I love Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, but Charmed Thirds just didn’t match my expectations. I didn’t even realize that the next Jessica Darling book, Fourth Comings, will be published this summer until I got Megan McCafferty’s latest newsletter.

But look at this cover. My first reactions when I saw the cover:

1. Are those wedding rings?
2. Charmed Thirds was a New York Times Bestseller?
3. The wedding rings. Are they for Bridget and Percy or Jessica and Marcus? Oh, either way, I’ll probably give in and read the book.

Gayle, any thoughts?

Trendwatch: Demon/Hell Books April 22, 2007

First there were the Ravenscliff books by Geoffrey Huntington (which never concluded, much to my dismay) and Darren Shan’s Demonata books.

Last fall, we had Devilish, Hellbent, Hellphone, and Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (yes, I’m counting it!).

But the whole thing came to a head yesterday when I saw that Repossessed is one of the newest recommendations at Reading Rants!, and it’s about a demon. Then I asked a patron if she wanted to request Succubus Blues, an adult book, before we started talking about other titles, and I kept on getting Prom Nights from Hell and Prom Dates from Hell confused. “Wait, which is the anthology with Meg Cabot and Kim Harrison?”

Now I find out about Demon Envy, and, well, I suppose if there has to be a paranormal trend, I much prefer books about demons and/or hell than vampires. I’m tempted to make a joke about how it’s because they haven’t been done to death yet, but I’m too lazy to come up with a halfway decent one right now. Must think on it…

Haruki Murakami and the Big Island Booktalk April 20, 2007

I’ve been obsessing over Haruki Murakami who technically isn’t a YA author but changed my life in 1995. I was a senior in high school and finicky reader as I still am today, Murakami opened new doors for me in the literary realm. He was one of the first translated authors that I read and opened my eyes to the possibilities of works from around the world. I’ve debated with myself whether or not to include one of his works in the YA section in my library, since he had such a profound effect on me and my attitude toward literature in general, but have always come to the same conclusion: there is a decent sampling of his work in our adult fiction and the protagonists in his stories although young are not technically young adults–they’re college age and thus adults. Murakami for me fills a void in perspective. The lack of Asian American voices in writing to this day haunts me. We will cover this topic in a separate entry at a later date.

The reason for my newfangled obsession with finding information is that Murakami is doing a Q&A for a Youth Literature Conference being held at the University next weekend. The likes of Chris Crutcher and Graham Salisbury will also be there. I’m excited to say the least.

I’m also hyped about my booktalk on Kona. Although I find flying out at the crack of dawn exhausting, the enthusiasm that greets me on the neighbor islands more than rejuvenates me. I’m planning on bringing this cache with me:

My Dead Girlfriend by Eric Wight April 20, 2007

I said before that my manga knowledge is rather low. Well, my knowledge of other types of graphic novels? Even lower. So, really, even though My Dead Girlfriend is an OEL published by Tokyopop, the only comparison I can think of making is with My Friend Rabbit.

Finney Bleak’s family is no stranger to death. His ancestors had a talent for dying in truly bizarre, macabre ways. Even his parents (who seem rather Sandy and Kirsten to me*) managed to die pretty spectacularly when they went to the carnival and were electrocuted in the Tunnel of Love. It was at the annual carnival that Finney met Jenny. They go on rides together, swap carnival stories, and agree to meet again the following day. Finney waits for two hours, but Jenny never shows. You can guess why from the title.

The most striking thing to me about this book is the art. With heavy, thick lines, it is unlike any other graphic novel I’ve ever read**, hence the comparison to My Friend Rabbit. Actually, make the art the second most striking thing. What got my attention the most were all the blurbs. Quote from Joss Whedon on the cover, another one from him on the back, along with Meg Cabot, Brad Meltzer, and Josh Schwartz. Inside, more quotes from more people, and an introduction from Allan Heinberg, whom I’ve never heard of, but apparently has written for several TV shows in addition to winning awards for his comics. Anyway, this is the first time I’ve seen a graphic novel with quotes on it and an introduction in it.

Getting back to the story and art, for a book with a “Teen” rating, the art makes it look suitable even for a younger audience. I’m guessing the rating has to do with all of the death in the book, but Wight’s style here is very, well, once again, My Friend Rabbit. Even the panels of Cornelius Bleak dying at the beginning of the story are cute (or maybe I’m just twisted). Bold lines, but cute characters. Striking, yet simple. Very cinematic.

As if it wasn’t totally obvious by now, I didn’t love the book. It’s good, it’s appealing, it’s just not for me. Like Twilight. I read it, it was good, I just don’t care enough about it to read the rest of the series. There are some books you love despite their flaws, some books in which you can’t see past the flaws, and some that just aren’t the right book for you despite everything it has going for it. So give My Dead Girlfriend a try; I’m sure there are a lot of people who will enjoy it.

* Wight, as the book’s cover points out, was the “ghost artist from The OC, ” which is probably why I thought of them. I only saw the first season of the show, but from what I’ve read, I probably should say that they’re like the first season Sandy and Kirsten. Also, no comparisons to Seth’s comics, since the only thing I can remember from that season about Seth and comics is Summer dressing up like…some comic book character. The artist stuff came later, right?

** Again, no graphic novel expertise here.

Oh look, another interview with a YA author April 20, 2007

Once again, I should finish going through my Bloglines feeds before posting.

“I completely adore children’s books from the seventies where the main characters die in terrible, heart-breaking ways…” 

Elizabeth Merrick interviews Aury Wallington (author of Pop!) for Bookslut. 

Ypulse interview with Deborah Reber April 20, 2007

I’ve been meaning to link to this for a couple of days now.

Interview with the author of In Their Shoes, Deborah Reber.