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The children have spoken! The finalists in this year's Children's Choice Book Awards have been announced and the voting will continue for a nail biting finish until May. Top favorites, no surprise here, are Stephenie Meyer and Christopher Paolini. Determined by close to 15, 000 teens and children The Children’s Book Council (CBC) in association with Every Child a Reader, Inc. (the CBC Foundation), announced the finalists:

Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year:

The Donut Chef written and illustrated by Bob Staake (Golden Books/Random House Children’s Books)

Katie Loves the Kittens written and illustrated by John Himmelman (Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! written and illustrated by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Book Group)

Sort It Out! written by Barbara Mariconda, illustrated by Sherry Rogers (Sylvan Dell Publishing)

Those Darn Squirrels written by Adam Rubin, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri (Clarion)
Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year:

Babymouse: Puppy Love by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House Children’s Books)

One Million Things by Peter Chrisp (DK Publishing)

Spooky Cemeteries by Dinah Williams (Bearport Publishing)

Underwear: What We Wear Under There by Ruth Freeman Swain (Holiday House)

Willow written by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan, illustrated by Cyd Moore (Sleeping Bear Press)

Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year

100 Most Dangerous Things On the Planet by Anna Claybourne (Scholastic Reference)

Amulet, Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi (Graphix/Scholastic)

The Big Field by Mike Lupica (Philomel/Penguin Young Readers Group)

Swords: An Artist's Devotion by Ben Boos (Candlewick Press)

Thirteen by Lauren Myracle (Dutton/Penguin Young Readers Group)

Teen Choice Book Award

Airhead by Meg Cabot (Point/Scholastic)

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown and Company)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (Viking/Penguin Young Readers Group)

Paper Towns by John Green (Dutton/Penguin Young Readers Group)

Author of the Year

Jeff Kinney, Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Amulet Books/Abrams)

Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn (Little, Brown and Company)

Christopher Paolini, Brisingr (Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House Children’s Books)

James Patterson, Maximum Ride: The Final Warning (Little, Brown and Company)

Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth (Disney- Hyperion Books)

Illustrator of the Year

Laura Cornell, Big Words for Little People (Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Robin Preiss Glasser, Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly! (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Mo Willems, The Pigeon Wants a Puppy! (Hyperion Books for Children/Disney Book Group)

David Shannon, Loren Long and David Gordon, Smash! Crash! (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)

John J Muth, Zen Ties (Scholastic Press)

The finalists for Book of the Year in the Kindergarten to Second Grade, Third Grade to Fourth Grade, and Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade categories were the books that received the highest number of votes in the IRA-CBC Children’s Choices program. This joint project of the International Reading Association (IRA) and the CBC began in 1975. Publishers submit hundreds of titles, all published in 2008, to be evaluated and voted on by 12,500 children.

For the Teen Choice Book Award, the CBC and the CBC Foundation enlisted the help of TeenReads.com to select the finalists. More than 2,200 teens voted for their favorite book of 2008 on the TeenReads website, part of the Book Reporter network. The five books that received the highest number of votes are finalists for the Teen Choice Book Award.

The Author and Illustrator of the Year finalists were selected by the CBC and CBC Foundation from a review of bestseller lists. Only authors and illustrators associated with books published in 2008 were considered.

The Children’s Choice Book Awards program was launched last year with the announcement of 25 finalists in five categories. The Teen Choice Book Award was added this year. The Children’s Choice Book Awards program was created to provide young readers with an opportunity to voice their opinions about the books being written for them and to help develop a reading list that will motivate children to read more and cultivate a love of reading.

Kids of all ages can cast their votes for their favorite books, author, and illustrator at bookstores, schools, libraries, and at www.BookWeekOnline.com from March 16 through May 3. The winners will be announced live at the Children’s Choice Book Awards gala on May 12 in New York City as part of Children’s Book Week (May 11-17, 2009), the oldest national literacy event in the United States. The awards ceremony, hosted by National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka, will include the presentation of an Impact Award to Whoopi Goldberg, in recognition of her vast contribution to the promotion of literacy and the love of reading among young people.  

The Children’s Book Council, established in 1945, is the nonprofit trade association of publishers of trade books for children and young adults in the United States.  Every Child a Reader, the CBC Foundation, is dedicated to supporting positive programs and opportunities that help promote the enjoyment and importance of reading among America's youth.

The options for book buying are many, from Amazon.com to yard sales. I was recently reminded of "traditional" book clubs, ads still found in magazines, where you join the club and get "discounts" on books, and often have to purchase a certain number of titles within a certain number of years. Ads will offer a free tote bag with membership, two additional books for a minimal charge, and other such things to entice. I've gone for these offers before and have some interesting reference titles because of it. I've also heard horror stories of people who are overwhelmed by the influx of books, unable to keep up with the reading much less the response to mailings.

Some of these clubs have themes, like Mystery Guild where you can get your fill of James Patterson or J.D. Robb. Patricia Cornwell or Janet Evanovich, and www.eharlequin.com with a top ten list featuring "His Majesty's Mistress," "Dante's Contract Marriage," and "Secret Baby, Public Affair." One Spirit features books on all things spiritual, while Children's Book of the Month Club offers tons of fun for tots. I did one of these types too and ended up with many volumns of Scooby Doo Mystery books in our home.

If you live in a multi-political view household, you might choose to join the Progressive Book Club where you can find President Obama's books among others such as "Goodnight Bush," a parody of Margaret Wise Brown's "Goodnight Moon," or "Mudbound," a 2006 Bellwether Prize winner. (The prize was founded by Barbara Kingsolver to reward books of conscience, social responsibility, and literary merit. Watch for a review of this title by The Roanoke Times.) While your significant other may join the Conservative Book Club and find titles such as Ann Coulter's "Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and their Assault on America," or Brad O'Leary's "Audacity of Deceit." You can fight over which books get displayed on the coffee table.  

Do you book club through the mail? How is it that working out for you?

I don't watch the Oscars; I find that most years I haven't seen the movies that are nominated, and seeing the show always reminds me of what I have missed out on. I do check out the New York Times Bestsellers list every week, seeing as we pay attention to these things and it is highly relevant to my work. So when I stumbled upon The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2008 I didn't hesitate with Oscar-like dread. I've actually read a few of these books! If such a long list of notables is daunting, the editors of the New York Times Book Review whittled it down to The Ten Best Books of 2008. I was pleased to find that even on the short list I had read one of the titles. Should conversation center around what I missed this year, and what I didn't, I can claim a shared interest in something the New York Times thought was interesting. How about you? Have you read anything notable lately?

Future Missionaries of America. By Matthew Vollmer. 224 pages. $24.00

Reviewed by Danielle Dunaway

Why do we decide we must hide how we feel from others? Why can’t we just say the words that race continually as thoughts but are kept tucked behind facades? Do we hide truths to protect others or to protect ourselves from other’s reactions or rejections?

Matthew Vollmer pinpoints human nature in his collection of short stories, entitled “Future Missionaries of America.”

The characters are struggling through their innermost feelings versus their outward expressions of the various losses that they experience. These people cope with a range of emotions, from the guilt a new widower feels when his late wife dies by a man-o-war sting after an argument to the sadness a young woman feels when the reality comes to light that she could lose her male friend and crush to his future plans that do not involve residing in the United States.

One narrative in particular details a suicidal man’s curious proposal to find an executor to carry out his will. To the reader, it seems that he is not close enough to anyone who could carry out his wishes, so he decides to distribute his will to 27 random strangers in order to find a taker. Vollmer’s plot lines will lead you through the peaks and valleys of thought before bringing you to the precipice of a solution. He does not reveal exactly how each person solves their despair; he only hints at the course they will take.

What readers may find among the pages and the common place dialogue are their friends, family and themselves. The raw dialogue brings a real quality to the stories that are told. The reader feels as though they are witnessing their best friend’s life unfold as only the friend would retell their drama.

People are strange, in both how they act and feel. Vollmer walks the reader through the quirky epicenters of emotions where losing is at stake. These stories are not dramatic Broadway productions or Hollywood tales. They are candid camera anecdotes of how we are all actors in our own lives.

Vollmer teaches in the English Department at Virginia Tech, where he also advises graduate teaching assistants in the composition program. He lives in Blacksburg with his wife, Kelly Pender, their son Elijah, and boxer Ruby.

2.5 million for her memoirs? Jackpot! Condoleeza Rice, former Secretary of State, just signed a three book deal with Crown Publishers. A division of Random House Inc.,  Crown also published then-Sen. Barack Obama's "The Audacity of Hope."

Hollins University Reading Event

Associate Professor of English at WVU, Lara Farina specializes in English and continental medieval literature, medieval piety, and histories of gender and sexuality. Her research focuses on medieval women’s devotional literature and on medieval readers in their communities. She is the author of "Erotic Discourse and Early English Religious Writing," which explores the role of sexuality in medieval devotional practice, looking in particular at religious writings circulating in England in the tenth to thirteenth centuries. She has also published articles in "Exemplaria" and "Medieval Feminist Forum." Hollins Room, Wyndham Robertson Library, Hollins University.

When: Thursday, March 5, 2009, 8 p.m., reception to follow

www.hollins.edu/calendar

The Star Machine, by Jeanine Basinger, January 2009, Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., $18.95 softcover

Reviewed by Michael Ridenhour

Anyone over 50 or who is a fan of the movies must read this book. It is the authority, IMHO, on the creation of the Hollywood star during the heyday of the all powerful Studio system. Jeanine Basinger writes of complex matters in an easy to read, conversational style. It makes the book hard to put down. She states that she wants to write about the stars who were somehow flawed; big names, but not in the first rank of stars for various reasons. For example, I never knew much about William Powell, but after reading this I am anxious to see him in action. Lana Turner is profiled as is Errol Flynn, both victims of their own inner demons. The cover of the book shows beautiful Loretta Young face to face with equally handsome, or as my daughter says, a pretty man, Tyrone Power. The megastars are written of, but only to amplify the reasons they came to their superstar status, while others, equally talented and as attractive, did not. This is a wonderful book, 553 pages long, but easily one of the best books I have ever read. Highly recommended. 

The Washington Antiquarian Book Fair features 75 distinguished dealers, offering rare books, maps, prints, autographs and more. This year's fair also includes a Silent Auction (opens Friday at 5 p.m. and closes Saturday at 3 p.m.) with signed modern books, first edition, maps, prints, postcards and more. Appraisals, for a fee of $5 per item, will be held on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

When: Friday, March 6, 5 to 9 p.m., Saturday, March 7, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cost: $14 for opening night reception and both days or $8 for Saturday only

Where: Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge, 1900 North Fort Meyer Drive, Arlington, VA, 703-907-2000

Contact information: Amy Ruberl, 301-654-2626, aruberl@wabf.com

Thinking of all of those previously owned books makes me wonder at what might be hiding inside!

A Natural History Guide to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, By Donald W. Linzey,The University of Tennessee Press, 292 pages, $24.95

Reviewed by Lynn M. Davis

Lynn Davis serves on the Virginia Museum of Natural History Foundation Board

Longtime mammal expert Donald Linzey, a Wytheville Community College biology professor for 21 years, has published his 10th book, which is a hybrid textbook-like guide on the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, where he has done five decades of research.

The author, who serves on the board of directors of Discover Life in America which oversees the All Tax Biodiversity Inventory in the Smokies, has pulled together a mammoth body of information.

Read more »

In an earlier post I commented on using bookmarks instead of dogearring pages of reading materials; it brought to mind some interesting things that I've found in the pages of books, other than the written word. I often shop in used book stores and thrift shops and these produce the best fodder for this topic. The most intriguing thing I found was a four leaf clover, pressed for luck...in the pages of a book about the afterlife. I wondered if the previous reader had decided they truly needed some extra luck on that account. I've discovered shopping lists and ticket stubs, an @ shaped metal bookmark, a french fry, and a baby sock, but I think that last one was my own doing.

Curious about what others may have found, I searched the web a bit. Knowing that libraries often have a receptacle for items left in books, this story about a used book store isn't all that surprising, but it is a quirky way to deal with it. Another site mentions that same store but goes into this tucked away and found trend a bit more. What would you do if you found a diamond ring in a book you'd just purchased? A Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card? $40,000?

This website goes into the visual a bit complete with a clipped article about President Wilson that was found in a book on how to teach arithmetic. Interesting! But scroll down on that page and see various tidbits of life that were left behind. This is a user friendly site where you can post photos of things you've found in books.

Shopping lists sounds so mundane now! Be careful what you bookmark with...your item may turn up on a display somewhere, or being blogged about. What weird or wonderful things have you found tucked into a book?