Happy Families, and Other Musings

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It’s been a quiet week at Temporary Casa T., mainly because I am working hard and fast on doing the last few edits for a new manuscript before my editor vanishes into a haze of Christmas lights and spinning dreidels. The other reason is because I’m spending a lot of time in the middle of packed auditoriums and tucked up against the kitchen table in the home of friends, people watching.

Anna Karenina begins with a line that Tolstoy actually used in one other book. He said, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

I’ve always hated that quote. Maybe because it’s too general; maybe because there’s no such thing as a full-time happy family. Maybe the shape of what makes family, the texture of the true meaning of the word, includes friends and people at the library you see every Monday, and people you see at the hospital coffee shop every Wednesday at noon. Maybe family is neither as small nor predictable as Tolstoy imagined, but something more.

That’s what I’ve been seeing, anyway. And taking notes.


Christine Carlson from the Salem Church Branch of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library (Man, Virginia has some seriously fun names to spell!) wrote to tell me that MARE’S WAR is “a finalist nominated for our CSK mock awards in 2010!” Christine, thanks for the news! The Coretta Scott King Awards are something people still debate each year, as to whether or not we need them… I have waffled on this point in the past considered the issue from all sides, and still do. (I’ve also continued to visit the School Library Journal mock Newbery blog Heavy Medal, and watching which books they’re reading. I don’t think MARE’S WAR will come up; not enough “buzz.” But, we’ll see!)

As many reviewing bodies are shutting down (I’m *still* spun over Kirkus, which was an institution since 1933!!) it may turn out that the book awards carry the day, to be the people school librarians and booksellers can count on to have read the books they can’t get to, and point out some sterling but unknown reads. Books chosen simply on the basis of buzz and awards…? I’m not sure how I feel about that… because some good books never get awards. I’m really conflicted! On the other hand, the people who have done the work on booklists like the Amelia Bloomer and CSK continue to do their thing, and highlight specific kinds of books, and it’s good to know that at least two libraries (Hi, Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana!) have nominated me for the mock award, even if it never becomes real. It’s truly nice just to be considered.

Speaking of the Amelia Bloomer nominations, they are being discussed at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston. There are some really great books on there with MARE’S WAR, and I’m excited that I have SFF author Saci Lloyd’s The Carbon Diaries, 2015, right here in my hot little hands to read today. Woot!

And now it’s time for breakfast and ten pounds of the Sunday paper at my Uncle P’s house, where we will all stare at him as he does the crossword in ink. (Some PEOPLE.) Happy Reading. Happy Sunday.

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6 Replies to “Happy Families, and Other Musings”

  1. Adrienne, the ALA reads everything??? Really???

    Woot!

    And yes, the crossword people MUST BE STOPPED. That level of …assumed word mastery? Smug ink-wielding perfection? Something. It's just WRONG.

  2. "Maybe the shape of what makes family, the texture of the true meaning of the word, includes friends and people at the library you see every Monday, and people you see at the hospital coffee shop every Wednesday at noon. Maybe family is neither as small nor predictable as Tolstoy imagined, but something more."

    Amen. Amen. Amen.

  3. I hate to judge, but the people who do crosswords in ink are so obviously wrong. It must be said.

    WOO to being on the mock awards lists–I think Mare's War is probably on more than one awards consideration list, never you worry. The ALA awards committees read EVERYTHING, and they fret a lot about missing things.

    Losing Kirkus is such a HUGE blow. When we found out at my library, we all reacted with the same shocked disbelief, searching around on Google news to see if we could find some report that it was really a hoax. One resource that I think will identify some of those maybe-missed readers will be the annual Notables lists from ALSC (http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/childrensnotable/index.cfm) and the various "best of" lists that come out from YALSA (http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.cfm). I rely on those to check my collection development every year already, and with Kirkus gone, I am sure I'll be relying on them even more.

    Good luck with the edits, and family. 🙂

  4. Len does crosswords in ink, too. When you're doing a crossword and ask him for help, he'll always answer with such authority and certainty that you believe him and write the word in immediately. Then, of course, it's wrong. Don't know why I keep believing him. Some people!

    But that's why I still do my crosswords in pencil!

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