Reporting on the latest in MG and YA while on the hunt for great kidlit mysteries and thrillers. Look for DOUBLE VISION, the first book in my MG adventure series featuring Lincoln Baker, in Fall 2012 (Harper Children's)...
February 6, 2012
The Best of Both Worlds
No worries--I won't be subjecting you to that Hannah Montana song of the same title.
Take book XYZ: the print edition is $14, roughly; Kindle sets you back $10. And I still find myself preferring print. Not sure why. Maybe because I'm old-school, maybe because I've lost my share of MP3 files and wish I'd bought the CD.
I for one would love this type of book bundle. The article talks lots about the business angle of it all, but I don't really care about that--from my reader perspective.
The More Things Change (An Un-Scientific E-Book Study)
With my debut coming out (hurrah!) later this year, I find myself getting a bit more serious about studying The Marketplace. I want kids, parents, teachers, librarians and random passers-by with an inclination to read to know how great DOUBLE VISION is, and where to buy it.
So I follow the talk on e-books, Kindles (with and without Fire), Nooks and apps--I mean, there are lots of serious people doing brilliant research on this stuff. All I have to do is listen, one would think. Who's reading what, and in what format?
So I'm still not that much wiser. I remember reading the same books as my friends, and then talking about them at recess. I know, four score and seven years ago...
Are kids really going to be doing all their reading on a phone, or a tablet device? Those things make my eyes hurt--that can't be very different for a kid, right? Will they read on a reading device instead?
I still have no idea, and I have a sneaking suspicion that nobody else really does either. But here's a cool un-scientific study of my eleven year-old. She was texting excessively the other day, so I asked her what the deal was, in my grumpy-mom-monitoring-technology-use voice.
"Emma and I are reading the same books, Mom. We're talking about them."
Maybe print vs. e-book doesn't matter. Maybe it's all about how we communicate our love for books--now isn't that a great kumbaya thought for a Wednesday?
Daughter (in car, buckling seat belt): "Can we listen to Victorious?"
Me (with slight sigh): "Sure."
Daughter (commenting on me singing along): "Hey, you know this song!"
Me (feeling old): "It's an old song, er, a classic, sweetie. There was this group called the Jackson Five..."
To be fair to Victoria (Disney star, for those of you unaware), she did a decent job. But she can't touch Michael Jackson, I think--and how awesome are those pants??
Edgar Nominees
originally posted: January 19, 2012
Mystery Writers of America announced its Edgar nominees this morning; here are the kid lit ones:
BEST JUVENILE
Horton Halfpott by Tom Angleberger (Abrams – Amulet Books) It Happened on a Train by Mac Barnett (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) Vanished by Sheela Chari (Disney Book Group – Disney Hyperion) Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby (Scholastic Press) The Wizard of Dark Street by Shawn Thomas Odyssey (Egmont USA)
BEST YOUNG ADULT
Shelter by Harlan Coben (Penguin Young Readers Group – G.P. Putnam’s Sons) The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (Penguin Young Readers Group – G.P. Putnam’s Sons) The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall (Random House Children’s Books – Knopf BFYR) The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group – Roaring Creek Press) Kill You Last by Todd Strasser (Egmont USA)
F.T. Bradley writes crime fiction, and should really be working on her next MG novel. Right now. Check out F.T.'s website for more info on DOUBLE VISION (MG, due out from Harper Children's in Fall 2012).
Many of F.T.'s short stories have appeared online and in print, in places like Discount Noir, The Thrilling Detective, Shred of Evidence, Versal and Stories for Children. F.T. Bradley is originally from the Netherlands, and now lives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.