ALAN v25n1 - THE MEMBERSHIP CONNECTION

Volume 25, Number 1
Fall 1997


THE MEMBERSHIP CONNECTION

Chris Crowe, Editor
Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

I've now done a year's worth of these columns, but I'm still uncertain about what exactly a "Membership Connection" should provide for ALAN Review readers. Obviously, one of my assumptions is that the column can, maybe should, provide stuff of interest to ALAN members: ALAN information and news, notable books, award winners, conference announcements, etc. However, I wonder if this column shouldn't be something more than that. What, I've asked myself, do I as an ALAN member want to know about ALAN or the field of YA literature? What can I read that will help me feel connected to ALAN?

Using my own answers to the above questions, I've tried to put together columns that interest me, but a nagging doubt remains about whether or not these columns are useful and/or interesting to you. I'm certainly not looking for fan (or hate) mail, but I would be thrilled to hear suggestions, requests, or ideas from ALAN Review readers.

Feel free to call, write, fax, or e-mail me with your $.02 worth at the following addresses: [phone](801) 378-3429; Chris Crowe, 3135 JKHB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602; [fax](801) 378-4720; [e- mail] chris_crowe@byu.edu.

1997 ALAN Workshop

This year's ALAN Workshop, "Young Adult Literature: Moral Journeys, Moral Truths," will again meet immediately following the NCTE Fall Convention in Detroit on Monday and Tuesday, November 24 and 25, 1997.

Program Chair, Gary Salvner of Youngstown State University, has invited a wide variety of well-known authors and new voices (see announcement on the inside back cover).

The Annual ALAN Breakfast is on Saturday, November 22. The featured speaker is Gary Paulsen.

Registration fees for the Workshop are $85 for ALAN members and $95 for nonmembers.

Apply for an ALAN Foundation Research Grant

ALAN Foundation, funded by royalties donated by Don Gallo and a portion of membership dues, provides grants to ALAN members doing research in some aspect of YA literature. Grants of up to $1000 are available to approved applicants. If you would like a grant application, request one from Dr. Ted Hipple, College of Education, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. The application deadline is September 15 of each year.

Freak the Mighty To Be a Feature Film (with Sharon Stone, No Less!) Rodman Philbrick's novel, Freak the Mighty (1993), is currently in production as a major movie from Miramax Films. The film, which will be titled The Mighty, will feature Sharon Stone, Kieran Culkin, Gillian Anderson, Harry Dean Stanton, and Gena Rowlands. It is scheduled for a Christmas 1997 release.

de Grummond Children's Literature Collection Receives NEH Grant The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection of the University of Southern Mississippi is the recent recipient of a $206,352 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The 18-month project entails the archival processing of the papers of 150 women authors and illustrators who have had a significant impact on the changing nature of children's literature. In addition, the published books of these women will be catalogued. Dee Jones, curator of the de Grummond Collection, is the Project Director. Finding aids and cataloging records will be accessible through OCLC and the de Grummond Collection's website (http://www.lib.usm.edu/degrumm.htm).

New Staff at VOYA

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) recently announced a number of new staff members: Kermit Hummel, who came to Scarecrow Press from HarperCollins, has been named Publisher of VOYA. Cathi Dunn MacRae, who served as VOYA's Book Review Editor, will now work as Editor of the magazine, and Avis Matthews will take over as Book Review Editor. About the changes, MacRae says, "As VOYA readers ourselves, we can be counted on to maintain what readers value in VOYA while adding more varied voices to our pages."

1997 AASL/SIRS Intellectual Freedom Award

Ginny Moore Kruse and the Cooperative Children's Book Center of Wisconsin are the winners of the 1997 AASL/SIRS Intellectual Freedom Award, presented by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). The award, $2,000 to the individual, and $1,000 to the media center of the recipient's choice, donated by SIRS, Inc., recognizes a personal member of AASL who has upheld the principles of intellectual freedom.

The selection committee noted that 1997 was an especially significant year to honor Kruse because this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Cooperative Children's Book Center's Intellectual Freedom Services, of which Kruse was the founder.

American Bar Association Publications for Yas

Students who have read and enjoyed Doreen Rappaport's "Be the Judge/Be the Jury" series (The Lizzie Borden Trial, The Alger Hiss Trial, The Sacco-Vanzetti Trial, Tinker vs. Des Moines: Student Rights on Trial), may be interested in Preview of the United States Supreme Court Cases. Each issue of Preview contains concise, readable analyses of cases given plenary reviews by the Supreme Court. Subscription information may be obtained by calling (312) 988-5522.

Aspiring law students may also be interested in two new career publications of the American Bar Association: a brochure, Legal Careers, and a booklet, A Life in the Law. Either publication can be ordered by calling 800- 285-2221.

KLIATT Review of Paperback Books, Software, and Audiobooks

If you're looking for a handy review source for paperback books, educational software, and books on tape, you might want to take a look at KLIATT. For more than 30 years, this journal has reviewed paperback books of interest to YA readers. In recent years, it has included an extensive review section of audiobooks as well. A recent issue contained nearly 100 reviews of fiction and nonfiction books on tape, including Jerry Spinelli's Crash, Joan Bauer's Thwonk, and Rich Wallace's Wrestling Sturbridge. Write to KLIATT, 33 Bay State Road, Wellesley, MA 02181 or call (617) 237-7577 for more information.

Electronic YA Review

David Gill of the University of Tennessee recently introduced a new internet site devoted to Young Adult literature, the YA Review. YAR features reviews of fiction, non- fiction, textbooks, and reference books. Its URL is <http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~dgill> Gill is currently recruiting reviewers for the site. The electronic journal already has several on board, a mix of teachers, academics, and freelancers, but they have a decidedly East Tennessee slant. If you are interested in reviewing material for YA Review, contact Gill at one of the following addresses: S. David Gill, University of Tennessee, College of Education, CA 142, Knoxville TN 37922 or davidgill@mindless.com.

PRIZE-WINNING BOOKS

1997 Virginia State Reading Association Young Readers Award

Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons won the 1997 Virginia State Reading Association Young Readers Award (middle school level). This award is given annually to the book voted their favorite by Virginia students who have read books from the masterlist of ten middle school titles selected by the Virginia State Reading Association. The Association sent Creech a pewter cup commemorating her award.

Walk Two Moons Wins First Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature

Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons won the 1997 Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. Students in grades 6-10 in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, and Iowa voted it their favorite among the ten titles on a widely circulated masterlist.

This is the first time for this award; it will be presented to Sharon Creech in October in Lawrence, Kansas, at a literature festival that 300 to 400 young people are expected to attend. This award program is sponsored by a non-profit organization of English teachers called The Writing Conference, Inc.

1996 Americas Book Award Winners

In 1993, the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) initiated a yearly children's and young adult book award with a commended list of titles. Beginning in 1995, a new category of "Honorable Mention" was added, to properly recognize the books that contended as finalists for the award.

The award is given in recognition of a U.S. work (picture books, poetry, fiction, folklore) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly presents the experience of individuals in Latin America or the Caribbean, or of Latinos in the United States. By combining both and linking the Americas, the award reaches beyond geographic borders, as well as multicultural-international boundaries, focusing instead upon cultural heritages within the hemisphere.

The award winner and the other commended books were selected for their quality of story, cultural authenticity/sensitivity, and potential for classroom use. The winning books are honored at a ceremony held each summer at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Fiction Award Winner: Parrot in The Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez.

1996 Americas Honorable Mention Fiction: So Loud a Silence by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins.

1996 Americas Commended List: Alphabet City Ballet by Erika Tamar. Anthony Reynoso: Born to Rope by Martha Cooper & Ginger Gordon. Barrio Streets, Carnival Dreams edited by Lori Marie Carlson. Firefly Summer by Pura Belpre.

Americas Review Committee: Patricia Enciso (Ohio State University), Lorrelle Henry (Borough of Manhattan Community College), Graciela Italiano (Centro de la Familia, Utah), Linda Miller (Queens College, North Carolina), Christi Rentsch de Moraga (Farmington Public Schools, Connecticut). Americas Award Coordinator: Julie Kline (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).

For more information (and an annotated version), contact Julie Kline, Center for Latin America, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201; Tel: (414) 229-5986; FAX: (414) 229-2879.

NOTABLE BOOKS FOR YAS

The New York Public Library 1997 Books for the Teenager

The annual New York Public Library Books for the Teenager list has been published since 1929 and selects the best of the previous year's publishing for teenagers.

Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen

A Nightmare's Dozen edited by Michael Stearns

Lights, Camera, Poetry! edited by Jason Shinder

SOS Titanic by Eve Bunting

Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey

Beyond Providence by Steven Schnur

Send Me Down a Miracle by Han Nolan

Letters from the Mountain by Sherry Garland

Myth Maker by Anne Neimark

Little Sister by Kara Dalkey

Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura

The Amazon Papers by Beverly Keller

Gideon's People by Carolyn Meyer

Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons by Ann Rinaldi

1997 ALA Best Books for Young Adults

Here are the books recently honored by the American Library Association as this year's "Best Books for Young Adults":

Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories

Avi. Beyond the Western Sea, Book One: The Escape from Home

Barron, T.A. Lost Years of Merlin

Berry, Liz. The China Garden

Blum, Joshua, Bob Holman & Mark Pellington. The United States of Poetry

Bode, Janet, & Stan Mack. Hard Time: A Real Life Look at Juvenile Crime

Card, Orson Scott. Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus

Cart, Michael. My Father's Scar

Chambers, Veronica. Mama's Girl

Coles, Jr., William. Another Kind of Monday

Conly, Jane Leslie. Trout Summer

Cooney, Caroline B. The Voice on the Radio

Dash, Joan. We Shall Not Be Moved

Denenberg, Barry. An American Hero: The True Story of Charles A. Lindbergh

Dessen, Sarah. That Summer

DeVries, Anke. Bruises

Farmer, Nancy. A Girl Named Disaster

Fleischman, Paul. Dateline: Troy

Fleischman, Sid. The Abracadabra Kid: A Writer's Life

Freedman, Russell. The Life and Death of Crazy Horse

Freeman, Suzanne. Cuckoo's Child

Gilstrap, John. Nathan's Run

Glenn, Mel. Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? A Mystery in Poems

Gould, Steven. Wildside

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Running Out of Time

Hanauer, Cathi. My Sister's Bones

Hautman, Pete. Mr. Was

Hesse, Karen. The Music of Dolphins

Hobbs, Will. Far North

Huth, Angela. Land Girls

Ingold, Jeanette. The Window

Keillor, Garrison, and Jenny Lind Nilson. The Sandy Bottom Orchestra

Klass, David. Danger Zone

Kozol, Jonathan. Amazing Grace

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild

Lane, Dakota. Johnny Voodoo

Levy, Marilyn. Run for Your Life

Macy, Sue. Winning Ways: A Photohistory of American Women in Sports

Matas, Carol. After the War

McKissack, Patricia C., & Fredrick L. McKissack. Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts

Mead, Alice. Adem's Cross

Meyer, Carolyn. Gideon's People

Myers, Walter Dean. One More River to Cross: An African American Photograph Album

Myers, Walter Dean. Slam! Napoli, Donna Jo. Song of the Magdalene

Nix, Garth. Sabriel

Nye, Naomi Shihab, & Paul Janeczko. I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You

Paschen, Elise, & Molly Peacock & Neil Neches (editors). Poetry in Motion: One Hundred Poems from the Subways and Buses

Patterson, Katherine. Jip, His Story

Paulsen, Gary. Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers: Reflections on Being Raised by a Pack of Sled Dogs

Pausewang, Gudrun. The Final Journey

Pennebaker, Ruth. Don't Think Twice

Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass

Rinaldi, Ann. Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley

Salzman, Mark. Lost in Place

Savage, Candace. Cowgirls

Schmidt, Gary D. The Sin Eater

Shevelev, Raphael, & Karine Schomer. Liberating the Ghosts: Photographs and Text from the March of the Living

Southgate, Martha. Another Way to Dance

Spinelli, Jerry. Crash

Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Dangerous Skies

Thesman, Jean. The Ornament Tree

Thomas, Rob. Rats Saw God

Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief

Wallace, Rich. Wrestling Sturbridge

Welter, John. I Want to Buy a Vowel

Westall, Robert. Gulf

White, Ruth. Belle Prater's Boy

Wilkomirski, Binjamin. Fragments

1997 International Reading Association Young Adult Choices

The thirty books on this list, all of which were published in 1995, were chosen as favorites by students in middle, junior and senior high schools in various sections of the U.S. An annotated list of "Young Adults' Choices for 1997" is in the fall 1997 issue of the IRA's Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Here are the 30 titles on the list:

Bearing Witness: Stories of the Holocaust by Hazel Rochman & Darlene Z. McCampbell

The Bomb by Theodore Taylor

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson

Hate Crime by Phyllis Karas

How I Changed My Life by Todd Strasser

If He Hollers by A. G. Cascone

Infield Hit by Thomas Dygard

It's a Matter of Trust by Marcia Byalick

Look for Me by Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn

Mick Harte Was Here by Barbara Park

Middle Passage by Tom Feelings

Much Ado About Prom Night by William D. McCants

Part of Me Died, Too: Stories of Creative Survival Among Bereaved . . . by Virginia Lynn Fry

Place to Call Home by Jackie French Koller

Possibles by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Prophecy Rock by Rob MacGregor

Quake! A Novel by Joe Cottonwood

Real Christmas This Year by Karen Lynn Williams

Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Home Front... by Penny Colman

Secret of Sarah Revere by Ann Rinaldi

Slot Machine by Chris Lynch

Spyglass: An Autobiography by Helene Deschamps

Summer of Wheels by Gary Soto

Tales from the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird by Vivian Vande Velde

Time for Dancing by Davida Hurwin

Time of Angels by Karen Hesse

The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman by Louise Plummer

Voices of AIDS: 12 Unforgettable People Talk About... by Michael Thomas Ford

The Watsons Go to Birmingham Ñ 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

What Kind of Love?: The Diary of a Pregnant Teenager by Sheila Cole

1997 IRA Teachers' Choices

The "Teachers' Choices" List includes fiction and nonfiction selected by teachers using the following criteria: should require introduction to students by a knowledgeable educator; should contain high literary and aesthetic qualities; and could be used as a teaching tool across the curriculum. An annotated list of the following "1997 Teachers' Choices" titles is in the Fall 1997 issue of the IRA's The Reading Teacher.

Intermediate

Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully Echoes for the Eye by Barbara Juster Esbensen In Flanders Fields by Linda Granfield Iditarod Dream by Ted Wood Leah's Pony by Elizabeth Friedrich Minty by Alan Schroeder & Jerry Pinkney Painting the Wind by Michelle Dionetti Satchmo's Blues by Alan Schroeder Sees Behind Trees by Michael Dorris Tornado by Betsy Byars

Advanced

Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White Dear Mrs. Parks by Rosa Parks & Gregory J. Reed Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons by Ann Rinaldi Hold Fast Your Dreams by Carrie Boyko & Kimberly Colen Life and Death of Crazy Horse by Russell Freedman Search for the Shadowman by Joan Lowery Nixon Sky by Hanneke Ippisch True North by Katherine Lasky Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? by Mel Glenn

Lend a Hand (a letter from Grand Forks, ND)

As you probably know by now, in April, Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, experienced terrible flooding. The Grand Forks Public Library and the University of North Dakota's library were not flooded, although materials that were checked out were prey to flood waters. In the case of the public library, this means the heaviest losses were in their most popular collections: popular fiction and children's books. At UND, the losses are clearly the greatest in the literature collections (for which I am the bibliographer).

The East Grand Forks library, which is across the river from us, was totally inundated, and all of the materials were lost. It did have a collection of over 30,000 books plus tapes, videos, periodicals, etc. Right now the library is operating out of a warming house (think hockey and ice skates!) on an honor system with what they have received back of items that miraculously escaped damage. (East Grand Forks was, as a town, quite heavily damaged during the flood.)

I'm coordinating an effort to get the libraries and their collections rejuvenated. If you have books you would like to donate, please send them to me: Janet Spaeth, ChL PO Box 12942 Grand Forks ND 58206

If you are an author, I'd invite you to inscribe a greeting to the people of these towns. Unless you specify otherwise, I'll offer your donations first to the East Grand Forks library, since that's where the need is the greatest. I'm not handling money, so if you want to make a monetary donation, you can email me and I'll tell you whom to contact or mail it to. I hope you can help. It's been two months since the flood; and, although the flood waters have gone, the clean-up and emotional impact is still with us. I know this will give people in this region a greatly needed boost right now; they are so very tired.

Thank you very much!

Janet Spaeth

jspaeth@badlands.nodak.edu