Allen Say at Broadway Books Tonight!

We're so excited to be hosting local author, artist, and treasure Allen Say tonight at 7 pm! We last blogged about Mr. Say a little more than a year ago, with a link to a wonderful article about him by Jeff Baker of The Oregonian.

Tonight he will be here with his newest book, Drawing From Memory -- part memoir, part graphic novel, part narrative history. It is the story of the author's path to becoming the renowned artist he is today. Shunned by his father, who didn't understand his son's artistic leanings, Say was embraced by Noro Shinpei, Japan's leading cartoonist and the man he came to love as his "spiritual father." The book, accompanied by Say's wonderful illustrations, tells the complex story of the real-life relationship between a mentor and his student.

Allen Say won the Caldecott Medal for Grandfather's Journey and won a Caldecott Honor and Horn Book Award for The Boy of the Three-Year Nap. Some of his other books include The Bicycle Man, Tree of Cranes, Ericka-San, and Tea with Milk. Say came to the United States when he was 16 and moved to Portland in 1999.

We hope you can join us tonight to meet this delightful author/illustrator.

A Book of Singing Rocks

We just received a fabulous new kids picture book: If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet, by Leslie McGuirk, published by Tricycle Press. Over many years, on a stretch of Florida seashore, McGuirk has found rocks in the shape of each letter of the alphabet, as well as in the shape of a variety of objects. Now she has put them together in this delightful book. As a child, McGuirk wanted to be a game warden. Fortunately, for us, she grew up to be an author and illustrator, whose favorite topics are animals and the natural world. Here's a little video clip that will give you a good sense of this great new book.

Day 11: The Kids are Alright!

We don't want to leave younger readers out of the 24 Days of Books experience, so today, Day 11, we'll talk about some treats for the younger set, starting with a book that just tickles me: Flip-O-Saurus, by Sara Ball. This oversize, cut-page board book invites young readers to mix and match the heads, bodies, and tails of ten dinosaurs to create their own imaginary creatures, such as the Tryannononytops or the Trisaurex. Loads of fun.

We've talked about several wonderful picture books recently; they would all make great gifts. Check those blog posts out here and here. Another favorite with younger readers is the Five Little Monkeys series, by Eileen Christelow. Now we have a set of five little monkey finger puppets to go along with any of those books!

Little girls (say, 5 to 8), seem to go crazy over pink, and especially over the Pinkalicious books by Victoria Kann. How about a boxed "Perfectly Pink Collection," with three books, dozens of stickers, a color-it-yourself poster, and three double-sided crayons for one of the youngsters in your world?

In the middle reader age group (roughly 8 to 12), it's an embarrassment of riches! The latest installment of the wildly popular Wimpy Kid series is out (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth), and Rick Riordan just seems to keep putting out wonderfully entertaining mythology-based series, with the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the newly launched second Camp Half Blood series, The Heroes of Olympus, and the Egyptian-mythology-based series The Kane Chronicles. I also think his 39 Clues series is just terrific. (Personally, I ignore all the cards and on-line stuff; the books hold together just fine by themselves.)

We've got all sorts of books to recommend for this age group, for girls or boys, eager readers or less passionate ones -- just ask us!


Something new this year I'm pretty excited about is Potato Chip Science, by A. Kurzweil & Son, which comes packaged in, you might have guessed, what looks to be a bag of potato chips! The package includes a 96-page book that instructs the reader on 29 incredible experiments (exploring physics, biology, chemistry, and earth science) as well as a variety of accompanying supplies, such as a potato propulsion pipe, a spud-powered clock, and googly eyes -- gotta have googly eyes to do science!

We've got board books and picture books and chapter books, short books and long books -- and even a few tall books! We have dictionaries and atlases designed for kids, books about horses and space and sports and dinosaurs and animals, and, well, the world! We even have a kid's version of Bill Bryson's terrific book A Short History of Nearly Everything. Oh, and did I mention all things Star Wars??

We've got pop-up books to amuse and amaze all ages -- Peter Pan, Harry Potter, The Little Prince, The Wizard of Oz, The Little Prince, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, about shoes and dinosaurs and superheroes and animals and planets and the alphabet and more!

We've got the classics and our favorites -- from this year and past years. We'd love to be your personal shoppers as you search for just the right gifts for the kids in your life. We're here for you!

Zoobies!

This year our holiday catalog, which appeared in the Oregonian (come on in if you didn’t get one – we have extras and there’s a “choose your own discount” option in it) featured our favorite new snuggly/cozy/fuzzy things: ZOOBIES! These storybook gifts for little ones are the perfect thing for a child’s naptime or quiet moment. Zoobies are three things in one: a plush animal, a soft pillow, and a warm blanket. The plush animals are all characters from children’s storybooks. We have three different ones: Ian Falconer’s Olivia (every little girl’s favorite bossy pig), Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit, and Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Zipped inside each of the animals is an attached blanket that is super for spreading out on the floor (you can use the animal as a pillow) or taking to bed, or just carrying around. The Olivia and Peter Rabbit Zoobies are $34 each, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar Zoobie is $45 because it includes a copy of the board book. Storytime will be much more fun with Zoobies! We have just a few of these cuddly critters left, so call us quickly if you want one.

Oregonian Article on Allen Say

Jeff Baker had a terrific article in Sunday's Oregonian about Portland children's book author/illustrator Allen Say, whose most recent book is The Boy in the Garden, a creative twist on the Japanese folktale "The Crane Wife."In the article, we learn that Say has just finished a major project, adapting his autobiographical novel The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice into a graphic novel called Drawing From Memory. The only non-picture book Say has ever done, it tells the story of his formative years in Japan, serving as an apprentice to Noro Shinpei, a cartoonist who taught him about art and life and started him on his life's path.

Early in his apprenticeship, Shinpei taught him to pay attention: "Pay attention to all that goes on around you. Remember, memory is the most important asset to an artist. What we call imagination is rearrangement of memory. You cannot imagine without memory."

Allen Say is one of our favorite children's book authors, and we've written about him briefly a couple of times in the past, here and here. In 1994 he won the Caldecott Medal for his book Grandfather's Journey. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Say several years ago at a book conference, and I'm happy to share that he's as delightful as his books.

I hope you caught the article in The Oregonian; if not you can link to it above. Any of Allen Say's wonderful picture books would make terrific gifts.

Great New Picture Books!

Wow! It's been a great week for children's picture books! Here's just a taste of what's arrived recently:

• The Boy in the Garden, by Caldecott Medalist and local author Allen Say. In his new book he puts a creative twist on the Japanese folktale "The Crane Wife." Allen won the Caldecott for his book Grandfather's Journey.
• Art & Max, by three-time Caldecott Medal winner David Wiesner -- only the second person in history to win this award three times. David won the Caldecott for Tuesday, The Three Pigs, and Flotsam.  Art & Max is a gorgeous mixed-media picture book about friendship and art.
• The 3 Little Dassies, by Jan Brett. Another beautifully illustrated, wildly colorful book by the bestselling children's book author and illustrator known in particular for her book The Mitten. This new book is Jan's African version of the three little pigs story.
• The Odious Ogre, by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer. These two greats together again for the first time since The Phantom Tollbooth -- one of my all-time favorite books.
• Late for School, by Stever Martin (illustrated by C.F. Payne) -- yes, that Steve Martin, the wild and crazy guy with an arrow through his head. This picture book about the challenges of getting to school on time includes Martin's Grammy-winning banjo and vocal performance on an enclosed CD.
• Skippyjon Jones: Presto Change-O Edition, by Judy Schachner. Who doesn't love Skippyjon Jones, the Siamese cat who thinks he's a Chihuahua? This special edition of the original book sports a "presto-change-o" cover that changes scenes as the book is moved (cool!), and contains a CD with all five Skippyjon Jones adventures.
• Bats at the Ballgame, by Brian Lies, follows on the heels of the very popular Bats at the Beach and Bats at the Library. Nothing like combining flying rodents and our national pastime in magical, brilliant paintings!

So many wonderful new pictures books -- I have a big weakness for them. Come see these and a whole bunch more! Great for kids of all ages.

Win a Year's Worth of Ham by Hamming it Up!

Can you believe Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss, is turning 50 this year??? Where does the time go? Here's something fun and rewarding you can do to help celebrate this birthday: act out a scene from the book and videotape it. Then submit it to win great prizes!!! Here's the skinny:

"Once your masterpiece is complete, upload your video to our contest site and get your friends and family voting and sharing. The videos with the most votes after five weeks will be judged by a team at Random House Children's Books and Dr. Seuss to determine the best overall act. So what are we looking for? We want your most dramatic, your most creative, your funniest, and of course your very, very hammiest! The grand prize winner will take home $2,000 cash, a limited edition Dr. Seuss print worth over $3,000, a year's supply of ham from Ham-I-Am, a Flip cam, and the entire Dr. Seuss library!"

Those are some spectacular prizes!!! Come on, Portland, I know how creative you can be!!! Show us your stuff. The deadline is November 3rd, and the winners will be announced on November 15th. You can read more about the contest at this site.

Reminds me of a great cartoon in The Oregonian not long ago, "Baby Blues," in which the stay-at-home mom greets the working dad at the door with "How was your day? Did you laugh? Did you play? Did you run in the sun? Did you have any fun? The dad says "Dr. Seuss overload, huh?" And the mom replies "Yes, reading is fine! Do we have any wine!" Made me laugh.

I'm not quite sure how someone who is no longer living can participate in the judging, but dead people publish books all the time, so I guess it's possible for Dr. Seuss to speak from the grave and offer an opinion on the best video. When I was a kid my mom was an elementary school librarian. One year she made a recording of Horton Hears a Who: she read the story and my sibs and I got to help provide the sound effects. It was fabulous. My mom does great voices.

New Series from Rick Riordan!

Tomorrow is a big day for fans of Rick Riordan. The first book -- The Red Pyramid -- in his new series The Kane Chronicles officially goes on sale. Riordan, author of the wildly popular series about Greek gods and the offspring of their matings with mortals (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), now tackles a new series about the gods of Ancient Egypt. Told in alternating chapters by siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, The  Kane Chronicles looks to give us more of what we loved best about the Percy Jackson series: fascinating history lessons seamlessly wrapped in rip-roaring adventures, offering us nonstop action, humor, and suspense in an epic tale of loyalty and heroism. I loved all of the Percy Jackson books, from the first book (The Lightning Thief) through the last (The Last Olympian), and I'm stoked for this new series! We can start selling The Red Pyramid starting at 10 am Tuesday morning. See you tomorrow!

Decemberists Frontman to Pen Kids Series

Colin Meloy, lead singer and songwriter for the Portland-based indie rock band The Decemberists, has just signed a contract with Harper Collins for a three-book illustrated adventure series for kids, illustrated by his wife, the acclaimed illustrator Carson Ellis. The first book in the series is scheduled to be published in Fall 2011.

The series, Wildwood, will be a "classic tale of adventure, magic and danger set in an alternate version of modern-day Portland." Meloy says, "I grew up on a steady diet of Lloyd Alexander, Roald Dahl, and Tolkein; this is our humble paean to that grand tradition of epic adventure stories." Ellis adds that this collaboration is something she and Meloy "have been dreaming about for years." In signing the book, Donna Bray, co-publisher of Harper imprint Balzer & Bray said, "Storytelling and rich imagry are hallmarks of Colin's songs, so writing a novel seems like a perfect next step for him."

Meloy was born in Helena, Montana, and attended the University of Oregon before switching to the University of Montana in Missoula to major in creative writing. His sister, Maile Meloy, has published several books including her most recent, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, a collection of short stories named one of the top ten books of 2009 by the New York Times Book Review. Meloy formed the band The Decemberists in 2000. The band's most recent album is 'The Hazards of Love."

Carson Ellis was born in Vancouver, Canada, was raised in suburban New York, and earned a BFA in painting at the University of Montana. According to her website, she has been a nanny, a hot dog vendor, a chairlift operator, an artist's model, and a cocktail waitress, among other occupations. She is the illustrator-in-residence for The Decemberists, creating album covers, posters, websites, t-shirts, and stage sets. She illustrated the bestselling children's book The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart -- one of the most popular kid's series at Broadway Books -- as well as The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greek Myths, Retold, by local author Cynthia Rylant, along with other books.

The Decemberists are playing a benefit tonight with Michael Hurley at the Liberty Theater in Astoria (8 pm) to help offset the medical debt for local artist Jessica Shleif. As Ellis says on her website: "One day we'll look back and laugh at a health care system so dysfunctional that we had to organize benefits to help our friends pay their emergency hospital bills. ha ha." Ha ha is right! That is such a ridiculous concept, and I hope this country is on its way to correcting that. But I digress....

I don't typically have high hopes for books written by "celebrities," but I have a good feeling about this series. And in fact there is a good parallel precedent in the books by local (ok, Scappoose) writer -- and singer/songwriter -- Willy Vlautin. Vlautin, frontman for the alt-country band Richmond Fontaine, has written three terrific novels: The Motel Life, Northline, and his newest, Lean on Pete. [One of my favorite quotes about Vlautin is another author saying that he "writes like the secret love child of Raymond Carver and Flannery O’Connor." What a great recommendation! But again, I digress....] So good songwriting and good fiction writing can go hand in hand.

Suffice it to say that I'm excited about Wildwood, and I look forward to a great series from Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis. I hope they raise tons of money in the benefit tonight, even though it sucks that that's what we have to do to pay medical bills these days.

Story Time with Kate!

We're excited to announce the launch of Kate's Story Time at Broadway Books, a weekly story time for children! Beginning at 10: 30 on Friday, April 2, staff member Kate Bennison will welcome children up to age ten to enjoy a story or two. We invite parents, grandparents, and anyone else who has a young friend to come to the store and settle in for a good read. If your child can sit quietly outside your lap, please feel free to browse our shelves while Kate is reading. And here's a little bonus: When you bring a child to Kate's Story Time, you can take 25% off any one children's book in the story while you're here. Watch the video to learn about the themes for each story hour, but of course we'll be starting with bunnies for this week's theme. We look forward to seeing you and your story-happy kids this Friday and subsequent Fridays!

Wimpy Kid Movie Opens Friday!

The first movie based on the wildly popular kids' series The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, opens at theaters this Friday. Want to go behind the scenes in the making of the movie? Come get Kinney's newest book, just released today: The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: How Greg Heffley Went Hollywood.

Presented in the traditional "wimpy diary" format, but adding color photographs, script pages, storyboad sketches, costume designs, and original art, the new book tells how the original book was translated into a major motion picture -- the perfect companion to the bestselling series.

The next book in the series, the as-yet-unnamed Book 5 -- won't be out until October, so this book and the movie will have to satisfy your wimpy kid cravings until then!

Shhhh. It's a Secret!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a total sucker for great picture books. My mom was an elementary school librarian for years, and in return for helping her catalog new books in the summer we got to read them all first! And we did. My little sister is now a middle-school librarian, so clearly she caught the book bug too.

I was thrilled that The Lion & the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney, just won the Caldecott Award. And I've gone on and on about how much I love Yummy, by Lucy Cousins. It's, well, just totally yummy!

But there's another great picture book that I'm loving right now that has just recently come back in stock (it's been in great demand): It's a Secret, by John Burningham. In this beautifully and whimsically illustrated story, little Marie Elaine (who grows even smaller in the book) learns where her cat, Malcolm, goes at night, when she joins him to attend a cat party

Portland Authors Win Major Book Awards

Several major children's book awards were announced this week, and for a couple there's a local connection!

But first, let's start with the Caldecott Medal, which went to one of my favorite picture books of the year: The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkney. This nearly wordless book set on the East African Serengeti is a retelling of the Aesop's Fable, and it is truly remarkable.

Caldecott Honors awards went to Marla Frazee for her illustration of All the World, written by Liz Garton Scanlon, and to Pamela Zagarenski for her illustration of Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors, written by Joyce Sidman.

The 2010 Newbery Medal went to Rebecca Stead for her novel When You Reach Me, a remarkable second novel set in the Upper West Side Manhattan neighborhood of Stead's childhood. Four Newbery Honors were awarded as well:

• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (which also won the National Book Award), by Philip Hoose
• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly
• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lin
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick

The 2010 Michael L. Printz Award went to Libba Bray for her novel Going Bovine, about a 16-year-old diagnosed with Mad Cow disease who takes off on a road trip in search of a cure with a Sancho Panza-type sidekick he meets in the hospital. It involves parallel universes, a dwarf, and a yard gnome. Nancy Pearl raved about this book, and I can tell you from first-hand experience that Libba Bray is hysterically funny.

Four books were recognized with Printz Honors:

• Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman -- this book was a finalist for a National Book award
• The Monstrumologist, by Rick Yancey
• Punkzilla, by Adam Rapp
• Tales from the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, by John Barnes

The William C. Morris Award for best debut Young Adult novel went to Portland author L.K. Madigan, for her book Flash Burnout. L.K. -- otherwise known as Lisa Kay -- works in Portland in the operations department of Becker Capital Management. Her novel features wise-cracking, girl-crazy Blake Hewson, who provides the comic balance in a story that deals with heavy issues, including meth addiction. Madigan's next book, The Mermaid's Mirror, is due out next Fall.

The committee also named four honor books for YA debut:

• Ash, by Malinda Lo
• Beautiful Creatures, by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
• The Everafter, by Amy Huntley
• Hold Still, by Nina LaCour

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for "the most distinguished book for beginning readers" went to Benny and Penny in the Big No-No!, by Geoffrey Hayes, published by Toon Books, the publisher of high-quality comics for kids that was founded by Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman. The four Geisel Honor books are I Spy Fly Guy, by Tedd Arnold; Little Mouse Gets Ready, by Jeff Smith (Also a RAW Junior/Toon book), who is also the author of the popular Bone series; Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends, by Wong Herbert Yee; and Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day, by Kate McMullan and illustrated by R.W. Alley.

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal went to Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, by Tanya Lee Stone. The three Sibert honor books were The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors, by Chris Barton and illustrated by Tony Persiani; Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, by Brian Floca; and Philip Hoose's Claudette Colvin, mentioned earlier in this blog.

Another local author, Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, won a Pura Belpre Honor Award for her book Diego: Bigger Than Life, illustrated by David Diaz. Bernier-Grand's book was also a finalist for a 2009 Oregon Book Award.

This has been a big year for kids' books authors from Portland, as local author Laini Taylor was a finalist for the National Book Award with her book Lips Touch: Three Times. Congratulations to all!

Day 21: Sing-Along Songs

Welcome to Day 21 in The 24 Days of Books. We're almost to the end of our parade of books -- only four more books to talk about. Today it's all about the kids in your life, with Sing-Along Songs -- with accompanying music CD. This adorable board book from Priddy Books, one of my favorite publishers for kids' treasures, contains thirteen classic favorites, all included on the sing-along CD for parents and children to enjoy together. Who can live without such classics as "The Wheels on the Bus," "This Old Man," "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" and that irresistibly infectious song, "If You're Happy and You Know It"???? What a terrific gift for the whole singing family!

For many more gift-giving ideas, check out our gargantuan December newsletter, which you can read by clicking here.

Day Seven: Waddle!

Welcome to Day Seven in The 24 Days of Books! Today we're going to highlight a book for younger readers. Two years ago one of the hottest books for kids was a book called Gallop!, by Rufus Butler Seder, which incorporated a new technology called "scanimation" to show animals in movement. It was HOT! The following year he followed up with a book called Swing!, which showed athletes in motion. For 2009 he brings back animals with Waddle! In this adorable blue book, the penguin waddles, the frog hops, the pig prances, the elephant stomps, the snake slithers (ok, I couldn't really look at this page -- I have a thing about snakes), the hummingbird flaps, the bear scampers, and the dolphin leaps. But I'm not going to tell you what the alligator does; you'll have to check that out for yourself! Kids love these books, and frankly lots of adults do too! They're way fun.

Nationl Book Awards Ceremony Tonight!

Tonight's National Book Awards presentation offers a local angle for Portland readers: one of the nominees in the Young People's Literature category lives among us! Local writer and artist Laini Taylor is the author of the nominated title Lips Touch: Three Times, illustrated by her husband and collaborator Jim Di Bartolo. Check out the wonderful profile of Laini and Jim by Jeff Baker in the Oregonian. The awards presentation will start about 9:15 Eastern time.

You can read the full list of nominees here, in a previous blog post. Tonight is also the 60th Anniversary of the National Book Awards, and as part of that celebration they've asked the public to select the Best of the Best, the most popular of all of the National Book Award winners for fiction -- the first time in its history that the National Book Awards folks have opened things up to a public vote. Here are the six finalists: The Stories of John Cheever; Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison; The Collected Stories of William Faulkner; The Complete Stories, by Flannery O'Connor; Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon; and The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. Hmmm. Which one do you think should win? At this snazzy looking page you can see the book covers of ALL of the fiction winners from previous years, from 1950 (The Man with the Golden Arm, by Nelson Algren) to 2008 (Shadow Country, by Peter Matthiessen)

Good luck, Liani & Jim! Congratulations on this wonderful acknowledgment of your work.

Talking 'bout Books at BB

We had so much fun at our sold-out Book Talk events last spring that we're going to have another one! Thursday, November 12, at 7 pm is the date for our next Book Talk, this time with an eye to holiday gift-giving. You can learn about the best new books of the season, with a peek at what's to come, mingle with other book lovers and share good reads, have a little nosh, win prizes, and perhaps get some of your holiday shopping out of the way!

Space is limited, so sign up now. Reserve a spot for the next Book Talk by paying $5 in advance, which will be refunded toward any purchases you make that night. Call us at 503-284-1726 to reserve your spot, or just stop by to sign up. We're open from 10 to 7 Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 on Sunday. After Thanksgiving we'll change to our extended holiday hours until Christmas.

Hope to see you there!

Great News for Percy Jackson Fans!

Fans of Rick Riordan's series based on Greek mythology, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, got some great news recently: Riordan will soon launch a new series involving Egyptian Gods loose in the modern world. The series, featuring siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, will launch May 4, 2010, with The Kane Chronicles, Book One: The Red Pyramid (Disney-Hyperion). You can read more about the new series on Rick Riordan's blog.

You can also read more about Rick Riordan and Percy Jackson in a previous blog here about the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

A film version of the first book in the Percy Jackson series, The Lightning Thief, will be released in February 2010. The final book in that series, Book Five: The Last Olympian, was published last May. Both of Riordan's series are targeted to the 10-14 age group, but kids of all ages have been known to devour the Percy Jackson books (including yours truly).

2009 National Book Award Finalists

In 1950, the very first National Book Award -- an award given to writers by writers -- was presented to Nelson Algren at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City for his novel The Man with the Golden Arm. Today the finalists for the 2009 awards in the now four categories were announced, and there's much to be excited about -- including an author (Laini Taylor) from Portland!

The judges for the fiction category this year are Alan Cheuse, Junot Diaz, Jennifer Egan, Charles Johnson, and Lydia Millet. Here are the five finalists for fiction, chosen from 236 nominees:

• Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage
• Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin
• Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
• Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite
• Marcel Theroux, Far North.

In the nonfiction category, the judges are David Blight, Amanda Foreman, Steve Olson, Camille Paglia, and John Phillips Santos. Selected from 481 nominees, the five finalists are

• David M. Carroll, Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook
• Sean B. Carroll, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species
• Greg Grandin, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City
• Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy
• T.J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

In poetry the judges, who selected from 161 nominations, are Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, A. Van Jordan, Cole Swenson, Kevin Young. Here are the finalists they selected:

• Rae Armantrout, Versed
• Ann Lauterbach, Or to Begin Again
• Carl Phillips, Speak Low
• Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Open Interval
• Keith Waldrop, Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy
  

The judges for the Young People's Literature category are Kathi Appelt, Coe Booth, Carolyn Coman, Nancy Werlin, and Gene Luen Yang. From 251 nominations, they selected the following finalists:

• Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith
• Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
• David Small, Stitches
• Laini Taylor, Lips Touch: Three Times
• Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped

The winners will be announced at the 60th National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Wednesday, November 18th. Also being recognized at that ceremony will be two previously announced winners: Gore Vidal, Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and Dave Eggers, Literarian Award. In 2008, the winners in each of the four categories, in the same order as presented, above were

• Peter Matthiessen, Shadow Country
• Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
• Mark Doty, Fire to Fire
• Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied

Have you read any of these? Which ones would you pick as the winners? You've got just over a month to fill in your reading gaps before the award ceremony -- sort of like trying to watch all of the Academy Award Best Picture nominees before the Oscars!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book Four!

Monday is the big day! Book Four in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Dog Days, by Jeff Kinney, finally goes on sale. The wait is over! We'll be open at 10 am tomorrow, so give us a holler if you want us to hold a copy for you. I've been stealing peeks at the book today, and I think it might be the funniest one yet! Greg has lots of "interesting" summer adventures in Book four.