A New Book and a New Newbery Winner (and Caldecott too)

I have a handful of books that I widely recommended whenever I can. A Drowned Maiden's Hair is one of them (I recommended it the other day, and it is checked out. Whoo hoo!).



Victorian seances, two weird old ladies, and an orphan. Fabulous story.

Cool fact #1: Laura Amy Schlitz is a school librarian in Baltimore.

Cool fact #2: Laura Amy Schlitz is a Newbery medalist.




Cool fact #3: She has a new book coming out. You'll be drawn in by the lovely cover and the fact that it is about fairies (especially if you are a girl between the ages of 8-11). You'll stay for the exquisite writing. From her website:

"I work in a school library and little girls come to me every
week, asking, “Do you have a book about a fairy?” They don’t want a
fairy tale; they want a story with a fairy as the main character. They
want to gaze at fairy pictures and think themselves small, alive in a
dewy jungle of flowers.
I wrote The Night Fairy for these little girls. They are often quite
interesting little girls — animal lovers, adventure lovers, and future
wild women. I wanted to give them a fairy book that would combine
the minute prettiness of fairy life with excitement and suspense."

When the exhibit floors opened at 9 AM last Saturday morning, I made a beeline to the wonderful people at Candlewick, only to find that no copies of The Night Fairy were on display. I chatted up the friendly rep and was soon presented with an advance reader's copy (which is why it always pays to 1) engage in conversation with the folks at the table and 2) have an idea of who is publishing what when). It's diviiiiine, and I can't wait to recommend it.


While you're waiting for our copies, check out the website.

Speaking of Newberys, here is a nice piece from Publishers Weekly about the Newbery and Caldecott winners.