- There's a new issue of Hunger Mountain full of great things, including a heartfelt tribute to Norma Fox Mazer. I'm looking forward to reading all of it.
- But in that issue, I especially want to call your attention to Kathi Appelt's wonderful essay "Blurring the Lines," touched off by anonymous comments calling her writing too self-conscious and suggesting her novel The Underneath is more for adults than kids. Seriously, you need to read this if you write for children and young adults, or even just enjoy a fine essay. A snippet I loved, but which is only a side point: "Remember this when you're writing: We carry these stories with us all of our lives. There is no delineation. We don't become fifteen and set aside the stories that we grew up with. We don't become forty-five and forget the rodeo."
- David Byrne wins some and loses some with his NYC bike racks.
- Maggie Stiefvater on the inherent problem with assuming "teen voice" comes standard issue. (Related to Kathi's main points, I think.)
- Three pubs are rejecting Amazon's ebook payment model in favor of the agency model so far. And a post about what ebooks could mean for bookstores (spoiler: the poster thinks The Worst), something we don't talk about much, and which I'd be curious about people's thoughts on. How do ebooks eventually get integrated into indie bookstores–or not?
- I want these shoes. Even though I know I'd get them dirty in two seconds.
2 thoughts on “Friday Hangovers”
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Saddle shoes. Man. Those take me waaaay back!
Thanks for the link to Appelt’s essay. The Underneath broke my heart when I read it this past year. It would have broken my heart if I’d read it as a child and I would have loved it just the same. I actually read it out loud over a series of evenings to a group of three sick, foster kittens. The reading helped them settle in for the night when they were ill and restless and it helped me stretch the enjoyment of the book out. Her use of language is beautiful and well suited to being read out loud.