Two science fiction films are up for best picture this year @ the Oscars, Avatar and District 9!

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The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. They honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theatre published or produced in the previous year. The award ceremony is April 6th so you have plenty of time to read the selections of the best novel mysteries for 2010 or any of the other nominees.

Always on the lookout for a cool website geared towards kids and the big people that love them - this site showed up in my inbox thanks to a co-worker. Mommy Poppins tags itself thusly: "Get more out of NY with kids." So now it's combined two things I love: kids and NY!
A recent feature on a candy store in Brooklyn (Dewey's Candy - love the name!) has me contemplating a trek to Kings County. The maps included with each post help you plan your trip. And there's a great feature on the left side of the site about books. Entitled "What We're Reading," it features an adult title under "Me" and a "Big Kid" and "Little Kid" book too.

If you are interested in hearing authors' speak about their latest books, we highly recommend listening to The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC weekdays @ noon. Mr. Lopate is an intelligent, highly informed interviewer (he actually reads the books before the show) and was the speaker at our Endowment Fund Lecture last year.

Save the date, May 11, to see RVC native, Michael Gross, speak at the 2010 Endowment Lecture. Michael Gross is one of America's most provocative non-fiction writers. A contributing editor of Travel + Leisure and editor of Bergdorf Goodman Magazine, he's written for Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, Town & Country, the New York Times and New York, and authored eleven books, among them, the best-sellers Model and 740 Park. His latest book is the controversial Rogues' Gallery.

The new tv series Caprica is going to explain the rise of the Cylons.
Prequels seem to be the new flavor.

I grew up devouring the Babysitters' Club series and was positively giddy when I got to meet author Ann M. Martin (the perks of being a librarian). And now the series is getting a revamp, read more about it in this New York Times article. Stacy and Claudia were my favorite characters - Stacy because she was from NYC and Claudia because she inspired to wear mismatched shoelaces - the height of 12-year-old fashion.

As we begin the first month of the new year, a great website for all you readers out there, The Millions, has put out a list of the most anticipated books of 2010. Check it out and see if any of your favorite authors have books on the list. One interesting fact is that a number of these 'hot' books have been published posthumously.

I am having a book discussion group Tuesday, Feb 2nd @ 7pm. Come please join us! Sometimes it gets lonely @ the library, lets have a conversation or share a thought.

The 2010 Caldecott Winner is The Lion and the Mouse illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, and the 2010 Newbery Winner is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
Caldecott Honor books are All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee and written by Liz Garton Scanlon and Red Sings from the Treetops: A Year in Colors by Pamela Zagarenski.
The Newbery Honor books are Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, and The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick.
Many other award winners were announced yesterday including the Coretta Scott King Award won by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson for Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall; and Charles R. Smith Jr. for My People.

Monday, January 11 was our annual Mock Newbery Award/meeting of the librarian minds. And the winner (according to us) is:
All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg - Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind and, now, in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.

And the honor books are:
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly - Texas, 1899: A science-y girl learns to be a lady.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead - NYC girl gets enigmatic notes from the future. (This was not a personal favorite of the librarians here - it seems to be a book you either love or hate.)

Stay tuned for the winners of the real Newbery Award, which are being announced today!