KBWT - Book Week Online

The people at the Children's Book Council have opened the polls for the Children's Choice Awards.  Are you a child?  WERE you a child?  Well, click here to vote for your favorites from the past year.  There's a nice little place for teachers, librarians and booksellers to vote.  That's us, adults.  Vote there.

I picked Inside Out and Back Again to win in the Battle of the Books for a couple of reasons.  One, I did not like the narrator's voice in Heart and Soul.  I felt it fictionalized the telling and this history is too important to be fictionalized.  But, I am pretty sure that is just me.  That voice also makes the story immediate, which might be more important.

Second,  I liked Ha's story.  I liked how Ha and her brothers overcame bullying and managed to fit in.  This was a story of a victory.  There is a truth to this story of assimilation that transcends one culture.  And yet, I appreciated reading about how Ha and her family kept parts of their culture alive.

Once again, both books had such merit and are so well-written that I would not have been disappointed either way.  BoB gives me a reason to wake up and race to my computer every morning!  Squeee!!! (as the middle schoolers might say!)

Please check out the storytelling page for the latest on StoryFUSION.