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10/15/09

In which I give up my rash quest to find the Undiscovered Gem of middle grade fantasy and nominate a book I love

The past 24 hours I have been (rather foolishly, I now know) trying to discover an Un-nominated Middle Grade Fantasy/Sci Fi Gem of Unsurpassable Child Appeal to nominate for the Cybils. Although I ended up reading some pretty good books, there was nothing that I simply had to nominate (except for Ghost Town, by Richard Jennings, which I ended up nominating in Middle Grade, because the fantasy-ish elements in that don't drive the plot particularly, and don't necessarily happen, in a happening in reality sense. I hope they like it over there in MG. I think it is one of the best books I've read all year).

But back to me, and my own category of mg sff. In the end, I decided just to nominate a book that I love--The Serial Garden, a collection of stories by Joan Aiken. So there it is.

There are, however, still a few hours during which Other Gems can be nominated.

And now that I've gotten that settled, and have found Inner Peace, I shall pack for the kidlitosphere conference in DC!!!! Actually, I have packed my books already (oh my gosh I am so looking forward to travelling without my children and actually being able to read on the airplane....). I am also looking forward, in a shy and cautiously optimistic way, to meeting my fellow bloggers....
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7 comments:

  1. DoretOctober 15, 2009 at 10:58 PM

    I LOVED GHOST TOWN. It deserves some Cybils attention. Enjoy the conference.

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  2. tanita✿davisOctober 16, 2009 at 4:04 AM

    I just had the slightly horrified realization that Devil's Kiss didn't get nominated in the YA SFF... I didn't care for it, but I'm sure it is a contender, and now I'm sorry I didn't remember it to tell someone else! Oh, well. You did well enough for all of us!!

    Have fun at the Conference. I am silently jealous.

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  3. CharlotteOctober 16, 2009 at 4:48 AM

    Hey Doret,

    Do you think Ghost Town is fantasy? I waffled on that quite a while before nominating it in straight middle grade....

    I wish you both were coming to the conference too!

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  4. ChristinaOctober 16, 2009 at 1:33 PM

    Just to clarify--are you talking about Ghost Town by Richard Jennings? The only other kids' book published in 2009 with that title that I could find is a Beacon Street Girls book, and somehow I didn't think that was it. : ) The description of the book by Jennings makes me think it's a book my 11-year-old and I would both love.

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  5. CharlotteOctober 16, 2009 at 1:49 PM

    yes, that would be the one, and I added that to the post.

    I'll be reviewing it next week, when I get home again. It is very memorably strange...

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  6. DoretOctober 18, 2009 at 10:11 AM

    Is Ghost Town fantasy? That is such a hard question. Its one of those on the bubble books. There are elements of it with the camera but there was so much more reality. So I think MG fiction is the right place for it.

    But really as long as more people discover Ghost Town, I don't care where it is placed.

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  7. Kate CoombsOctober 18, 2009 at 6:22 PM

    Oh, hooray! I too love The Serial Garden!!!

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