cybils finalists!

January 1, 2010 ~ jama ~ 16 Comments

Happy New Year! Just popping in briefly to let you know the 2009 Cybils Finalists have been announced. First round panelists read a total of 931 books in 10 categories to come up with this shortlist:

Easy Readers & Short Chapter Books
Fantasy & Science Fiction (Middle Grade)
Fantasy & Science Fiction (Young Adult)
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction Middle Grade/YA
Non-Fiction Picture Books
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

Since I’m a Poetry Judge this year, I was most anxious to see these finalists:

African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways, by Avis Harley

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors, by Joyce Sidman

The Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry, ed. by Bill Martin, Jr. & Michael Sampson

The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme by Bobbi Katz

The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science and Imagination, ed. by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston.

I’ll be working with my fellow judges (Greg Pincus, Sara Lewis Holmes, Elaine Magliaro, and Stacey Shubitz), under the guidance of Poetry Coordinator, Kelly Fineman, to pick one of these wonderful titles to receive the 2009 Cybils Award for Poetry (to be announced February 14th). I can tell it’s going to be a tough decision!

Congratulations to all the finalists, thanks to all the first round panelists for their hard work, and thanks to Anne Levy, Cybils Coordinator.

May I just add that I’m extra thrilled to see several of my favorite books from 2009 on the shortlist: Operation Yes by Sara Lewis Holmes (middle grade fiction), Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (middle grade fantasy/science fiction), and All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee (fiction picture book)!! Way to go!!

thursday and friday feast: auld lang syne

December 31, 2009 ~ jama ~ 18 Comments

"For last year’s words belong to last year’s language
And next year’s words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning." ~ T.S. Eliot

"Burns and Highland Mary," oil on wood by Thomas Faed.

Well, it’s New Year’s Eve as I’m writing this, and the song of the hour is "Auld Lang Syne."

The version that’s running through my head at the moment isn’t the traditional one we commonly hear at the stroke of midnight — a kind of drunken, forcibly jubilant shout-song that usually culminates in whoops, hollers, the shrill of noisemakers, and a cloud of confetti.

What I’ve been listening to and loving is Robert Burns’s poem sung to its original, intended melody. Thanks to Mairi Campbell’s beautiful rendition, included on the "Sex and the City" film soundtrack, I’ve definitely acquired an entirely new appreciation for "Auld Lang Syne."

A song of fond memories, friendship, yearning, reflection, and celebration, it’s even more poignant and meaningful when it’s performed with a pristine, angelic vocal and the clean, crisp strains of an acoustic guitar. In an age of overproduced noise and loud-look-at-me electronic mishmash, there is much to be said for pure lyricism, quiet restraint, and the soaring radiance of a simple song.

Here’s another video of Mairi Campbell singing the song live with Emily Smith. Makes me well up every time and long for Scotland!

May 2010 bring you much happiness, success in any way you wish to define it, good health, pleasant surprises, new friends, boatloads of chocolate, cupcakes, and hearty bowls of delicious soup! Thanks so much for reading, following, and supporting this blog another year. I’m taking a short break to enjoy the rest of the holiday season, but will be back on January 6th. Cheers!

The first Poetry Friday Roundup of 2010 is being hosted by Mary Lee at A Year of Reading. Here’s to another year of fine poetry!

♥ 2009 marked the 250th birthday of Robert Burns.

♥ The painting opening this post depicts an imaginary meeting between Burns and his great love, Mary Campbell. She was to accompany him to Jamaica, but died from a fever, possibly typhus, before departure. How ironic that the person singing "Auld Lang Syne" so beautifully these days is similarly named, "Mairi Campbell."

from reinap’s photostream.

show me your red and green!

December 23, 2009 ~ jama ~ 10 Comments

photo by eclectica miami.

The gathering of the red and green!

They’re definitely great colors for book covers.

Would love to see what you’ve got! Post a pic or leave a comment with your red or green titles. ☺

united nation of gingerbread men

December 21, 2009 ~ jama ~ 9 Comments

photo by midntecakefactory.

"One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings. " ~ Franklin Thomas

"We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams." ~ Jimmy Carter

♥ Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men ♥

don’t forget to flush

December 19, 2009 ~ jama ~ 12 Comments

Of all the restaurants I’ve featured recently, the Merton Restaurant in Taiwan has got to be the most unusual. Chocolate sundaes will never be the same. (Sorry about the brief advert at the beginning.)

Don’t think I’ll be going there soon. ☺