Speaking of meetings of the juried committees: the Monday morning quarterbacking has already begun and it is not even the weekend yet. The Heavy Medal blog has declared its picls as have loads of mock Printa and Newbery reports. It will be fascinating to see and hear the response of the audience Monday during the ceremony. I know I am always a little surprised by some of the winners. But having served on a few of the selection committees, I know that I have not read all of the books nor listened to all of the audios the other committees have.
And speaking of heavy reading loads, YALSA is once again attempting to make changes in BBYA. ANd when I say YALSA, I mean the board and not the general membership. The latest suggestion is that BBYA not consider nonfiction, graphic novels, or adult books. My response to this is that the committee then needs to be called Good Fiction for Tweens and Some Teens. Certainly it cannot be BBYA if it eliminates adult, GN, and nonfiction. I hate to see this type of recommendation as it (IMHO) takes focus off nonfiction and GN, both of which could use more and more places on lists in order to assist educators who want to learn more about these books.
I understand the heavy reading loads. But perhaps instead of changing the charge to the committee, YALSA might consider some other avenues such as training, screening, selecting people up to the task.
I will be blogging from ALA as I can find time. I will definitely blog live from the awards ceremony Monday.
