« "Let's Mambo at the Library" slides | Main | Helene Blowers: Adopt a Continuous Play Strategy! »

April 30, 2007

GSTBA Luncheon

Gennifer Choldenko cited an article in the San Francisco Chronicle as the inspiration for her GSTBA winner, Al Capone Does my Shirts. The article made mention of children who lived on Alcatraz while it operated as a prison (the premise of the book revolves around 12-year-old Moose and his family who move to Alcatraz when his father gets a job as an electrician). Gennifer began her research, interviewing former inmates. She asked herself, “Why is this my book to write.” Gennifer had an autistic sister and made the connection between prisoners trapped behind bars and autistic people trapped in their minds, hence the autistic character in Al Capone (Moose’s sister). It took her 5 years and 6 major revisions before the book was ready. She credits her editor for the fabulous outcome. I met Gennifer in the Author’s Alley and she is just lovely.

Eireann Corrigan appreciated receiving the GSTBA in the 9 - 12 grade category for Splintering because it was teen selected. As primarily a teacher and then a writer, Corrigan stressed the importance of YA librarians and commented on its changing and increasingly important role in the lives of young people, citing teen spaces as a refuge. As a high school teacher, she loves directing kids to good books and telling them why they are good; Librarians help kids choose what books will become important to them.

Bruce Coville touched on many important issues intermittently acting the storyteller. He cited children’s books as the last refuge of good role models. In the absence of parental presence in a consumer driven society, Librarians now act as the Guardians of Dreams. He also pointed out the absence of male role models asking: who teaches children to read? Who reviews books? Who works in librarians? The answer is, of course, that women predominately fill these roles. “If we valued our children, ball players would be paid like teachers and librarians, and teachers and librarians would be paid like ball players.” Children as actually despised by our culture. Today, they are consumers, stripped of any opportunity to meaningfully contribute to society. Currency is power. Adult men have power, kids have none and women are in the middle. We live in a short-term society where real power is long term. Coville urged children’s authors to find the balance between action/comedy (preferred by males) and relationship/interaction (preferred by females) to take children to new places with their storytelling, and for us all to remember, our disapproval is a powerful influence to young minds.

Nicole Politi
Young Adult Services
Ocean County Library, Toms River Branch

Posted by at April 30, 2007 5:28 PM

Comments

Posted by: Amy Kearns at May 1, 2007 4:44 PM

Post a comment