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ALA Best Fiction For Young Adults
Every year the American Library Association (ALA) puts out a list of the Best Fiction for Young Adults. It’s a very exclusive club. Only 99 books (from the thousands that were published throughout the year) made the list.
And guess what book made the list this year.
That’s right, our very own BEAT THE BAND has been chosen as one of the Best Fiction for Young Adults titles this year and I couldn’t be more excited.
I think I’ll just leave it at that.
Oh, and here’s a link in case you want to see what other books made the cut: ALA Best Fiction For Young Adults
Posted by Don Calame on 1.12.11 at 02:03 pm in Prattlings. (1) Comments
Virtual Classroom Visits
I just did my first Skype classroom visit to a school last Thursday and it was a lot of fun. The kids in the White Pine Reading Club at Bayside Secondary School in Belleville, Ontario where super cool and had some really insightful questions. Their teacher/librarian Karen Morrow had them extremely well prepared. I was incredibly impressed with the organization and ease of the whole session.
I was a little nervous at first because there was a slight delay over the internet and so when I’d tell a funny story and there was dead silence for a few seconds, I thought I was in trouble. But then the room would burst into laughter and I breathed easier. I would definitely do more of these virtual visits in the future. If any teachers or librarians would like to set something up, please contact me. It’s a fantastic use of the technology and works really well.
If you’d like to read a little about the session and see some short clips, check out the BSS link here: Bayside Secondary School
Normally, during a visit, I will do a reading from my book, but I didn’t think that would work so well over Skype and so we just stuck to questions and answers. Still, the hour we spent together just flew and we had a great time.
To top it all off, I even scored a French translator out of the whole deal. One of the students wrote to me afterwards to let me know that some of my French grammar is not entirely accurate in Valerie’s dialogue (darn translator programs!). And so, I must apologize to any of my French speaking readers out there. Anyway, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind helping me with the translations in the third book (and hopefully any reprint of the second book) and she agreed. Thanks so much, Laurence!
Tomorrow, I have my second Skype visit with a book club at the fabulous Christianne’s Lyceum of Literature and Art in Vancouver. Christianne’s groups are always great to talk to because they read a ton of stuff and really think about the material.
Also, I am planning on attending the OLA Superconference on February 3rd and 4th, so if there are any teachers or librarians in the Toronto area that would like for me to visit their school or library around that time, please contact me or Author’s Booking Service in Ontario.
Okay, now, it’ back to the writing. But not before I give you a final holiday gift. A picture of Scooter looking none-too-pleased dressed as Scooter Claus. Enjoy!
Posted by Don Calame on 1.9.11 at 12:14 pm in Prattlings. (1) Comments
Happy New Year! And Why Not?
January first always brings with it a swirl of emotions for me. On one hand, there’s the inevitable holiday hangover (not necessarily alcohol related, but not necessarily not, either). The decorations must come down, the cardboard boxes from all the presents recycled, the Christmas CDs tucked away in a drawer, the refrigerator cleared out of leftover leftovers. There’s the looking back on all the things you planned on accomplishing that maybe you didn’t exactly get to. The resolutions broken. The extra pounds you put on that must be dealt with (or not). And so on and so forth.
On the flip side, though, there’s the excitement of a new year, a fresh start, a pressing of the reset button, a clean slate. So what if you didn’t read as many books as you wanted, write as many pages as you’d hoped, sorted through all those digital photos you took on your vacation, put on five of the seventeen pounds you’d lost? It’s a new day and you can start over. Make a whole slew of new resolutions that you won’t necessarily get around to. Take even more pictures you may never look at again. Buy books to add to the pile of books you still have to get to.
And so, what does 2011 have in store for me this year? What goals would I like to set for myself (that I may, or may not actually get to)?
First and foremost I need to finish the third book in the Swim the Fly series (my editor will be happy to see that at the top of the list, I’m sure).
Then, there will be much book touring, both virtually and physically. I will be doing several online classroom visits this year as well as travelling to Toronto (twice) for Swim the Fly’s White Pine Award nomination. And then there’s a real possibility I will be visiting Kansas City to do some library and school visits. Finally (well, hopefully not TOO finally) I will be travelling to the UK to promote the publication of Swim the Fly overseas.
Beyond that, I actually do hope to sort through the thousands of photos I’ve taken over the last several years and get them out of my computer into the real world.
Also, I’ll need to get back on the exercise/healthy eating wagon (break out that super iPad app again) so that I can re-lose five of the seventeen pounds I shed last year.
I’m going to try to blog a bit more as well. I probably said this last year too (don’t remind me if I did). We’ll see how this one works out.
All right, enough with the New Year’s blather. I need to wrap this up so that I can get to my writing so that I don’t feel guilty watching the Winter Classic later (which, in case you don’t know already, has been postponed until 8:00 EST because of the weather in Pittsburgh)
In lieu of a rosy cheeked Baby New Year, how about I offer you a few more pics from my trip up the Rhine with my mom (I’ll spare you my commentary just this once):
Posted by Don Calame on 1.1.11 at 12:52 pm in Prattlings. (3) Comments
Some Early Christmas/Hanukkah Presents
Growing up, my family celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah. And honestly, when the two holidays overlapped it could seem a little schizophrenic lighting the menorah and reciting the Hanukkah prayer with the sparkling lights of the Christmas tree in the background. But when you factor in the twelve days of Christmas and the eight nights of Hanukkah, well, you’re talking about a pretty nice haul of presents there. So, as a kid, you never heard me complaining.
These days it’s the coziness of family and the traditions that I love the most, though, honestly, I won’t turn my nose up at the presents, either.
Which brings me to a few very nice early gifts I’ve received in the form of rave reviews for BEAT THE BAND.
And since I was always taught to share, I’ll do that right now by posting some links for you to enjoy:
And now, for all you patient people out there, a few gifts for you. Some pics from my recent trip along the Rhine River (with many more to come)
For all those castle lovers out there.
Photography lesson #376: Try not to photograph landmarks straight on. Instead, use them as if they were an afterthought.
Just in case you missed out on autumn.
Just in case you simply can’t see enough pictures of castles.
Me with a castle for a hat (see rule #376)
The reason I threw away my point and shoot and bought a DSLR.
Photography lesson #892: Place something large and ivy-ish in the foreground whenever possible to give a sense of depth.
And one more, because I heard you were good this year.
Posted by Don Calame on 12.12.10 at 11:49 am in Prattlings. (2) Comments