Kirby's Lane: A Place for Readers and Writers

Announcing the Kirbery Awards

2012-01-28T08:52:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying I can't even imagine the challenges facing a Newbery committee. Getting 15 book fanatics to agree on a few titles? Im. Possible.

But if Mr. Newbery had given me a magic wand for this year, I would have waved it over a few titles the committee overlooked:

Amelia Lost, by Candace Fleming. Fleming and flyers: what could be better???

Horton Halfpott, by Tom Angleberger. This story begins with a riff on a corset and ends well for the least-born of the manor. Classic.

Hound Dog True, by Linda Urban. Linda can do more with fewer words than anyone I know. And I am in therapy to get over my jealousy of her creating a guide to life based on a school custodian's methods.

The Trouble with May Amelia, by Jennifer Holm. In my humble opinion, this is Jenni's best. BEST. And you don't have to be Finnish to appreciate May Amelia's ups and downs.

What books are you passionate about that were overlooked? I will gladly pass my wand on to you!

Fan Letter Friday

2012-01-27T06:31:00.000-08:00

I love the spunk and hope and out-and-out charm of this letter, written by a student as if she were Hattie writing Charlie.

Thursday's Thought for the Day

2012-01-26T02:34:00.000-08:00

"Ring the bells that still can ring.

Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything.

That’s how the light gets in."

~ Leonard Cohen~

A Passing

2012-01-24T12:05:00.000-08:00

High school graduation

Neil's father, Ted Larson, passed away on Friday. He was one of those guys everyone liked -- maybe because he took the time to be interested in others. He grew up on a farm in Clearbrook, Washington, with Canada as his backyard. The first few years of his life, only Swedish was spoken in the family home but that changed when "Teddy" started school.

He was a child of the Great Depression and, after serving in World War II, started a CPA firm that is now known as Larson Gross, still in business after 60 years. He loved his family, growing things, cold martinis, dinners with good friends, reciting poems like The Cremation of Sam McGee, the WSU Cougars, and a lively game of pinochle.

90th birthday

Rest in peace, you dear sweet man.

I LOVE my indie bookstore

2012-01-23T11:41:00.000-08:00

I was hunting for an OP book on journalism, dated 1922, for some research I am doing. Lo and behold, I discovered that for $9 I could order it from my local indie (in this case, the awesome Third Place Books) for printing and pick-up within 24 hours.

Wow. Can it get any better than this?

Fan Letter Friday

2012-01-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

Shall I tell her I got the idea for Stan and Margie's living room wedding from my cousin's wedding in our family living room when I was a kid?

Thursday's Thought for the Day

2012-01-19T02:33:00.000-08:00

"Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Check out the New Children's Book Insider

2012-01-18T11:08:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, Laura Backes and Jon Bard, founders of Children's Book Insider, invited me to join their team as a contributor. And I said yes! They optimistically call me their Middle Grade Expert. I'm looking at this every-other-month post as tool for learning more about this rich and complex genre by going to the experts. In my first post, I tap the brains of writers Tom Angleberger, Jenni Holm, Barbara O'Connor, and Susan Patron, as well as librarian and blogger, Mary Ann Scheuer.

Laura and Jon have worked hard to update and revamp their website and I invite you to check it out. I also invite you to submit any questions you may have about the genre of middle grade literature (fiction and nonfiction) and I'll do my best to find the folks who can give us answers!

A Civil Rights Hero

2012-01-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

Photo credit: Densho.org

At the beginning of this month, on January 2, an amazing civil rights hero passed away. Dr. Gordon Hirabayashi was a 24-year-old college student when Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt, ordering all people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast -- including American citizens-- to be sent to War Relocation camps.

Instead of boarding the train with his family, he turned himself in to the FBI, submitting a written statement which said, among other things, “This order for the mass evacuation of all persons of Japanese descent denies them the right to live. I consider it my duty to maintain the democratic standards for which this nation lives. Therefore, I must refuse this order of evacuation.”

For his disobedience, he was sentenced to a labor camp in 1943, and later served additional time for other "violations." He eventually finished college and became not only a well-respected professor but his efforts in the 1980s to finally achieve justice for himself and two other men -- the only three to disobey the federal order to evacuate -- led to Congressional reparations to those who had been incarcerated in the camps.

I thought it fitting, on the day we remember one civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, to remember another, equally brave and whose actions impacted, at the very least, the 120,000 people sent to war relocation camps. Can you imagine having the courage to do what Dr. Hirabayashi did? And at 24? He was quite a man. Do read more about him at the Densho Project, which is committed to recording the stories of WWII incarcerees.