thank you p-C!

and Congratulations to Neil -- he may not be one of us, but he feels like one of us

and the controversy begins -- is it too scary for kids. ( this is the talk in the emails at my library) I have to say I think Coarline was much scarier. And we have other books that really should be in the children's section that are there....

The Graveyard Book just won the Newbery.

Which it completely deserved. Just a fabulous book.

and the controversy begins -- is it too scary for kids.

Coraline is a much scarier book, and I think both it and The Graveyard Book are perfect for kids.

Agreed. I have to say that I am also thrilled that Savvy by Ingrid Law got an honor award. Really good and I've been pimping it to kids for months now. ( pimping doesn't really belong in a sentence with kids, but ...)

I think the scariest part of the Graveyard Book is the first few pages but not anymore than many other children's classics. I just read of review of the Dangerous Alphabet that said it was much too scary for its age range, which I disagreed with too.

Abby read Savvy and loved it, Nate read Graveyard Book and loved it.

And best part? They both chose those books of their own volition because they thought they sounded good. Not because I'd heard they were "good" or reading them because they had to.

May I preen a bit at my kids' tastes in reading?

I'm thrilled that Graveyard Book one. It's a fab book. An ex coworker of mine sat on the committee and they had a very hard time agreeing (if he is being honest, and I have no reason to think he isn't). I'm sure they hashed out the too scary nonsense.

I have to say I think Coarline was much scarier.

My bookseller mom totally agrees.

I kind of loved Coraline just a little more -- but The Graveyard Book is truly lovely, and winning the Newbery is fantastic. (Though, does it still have the LKH blurb on the back cover? That made me grind my teeth with snarly irritation.)

and the controversy begins -- is it too scary for kids.

No, with a side order of no, and no sauce. Fer fuck's sake. Have these people MET any kids?

(Though, does it still have the LKH blurb on the back cover? That made me grind my teeth with snarly irritation.)

WORD. It was like having the writers of Sunset Beach being quoted on the blurb for Buffy, or Tori Spelling saying a few kind words about Judy Dench's acting skills. What. The. Fuck.

And, quality aside - they're expecting children who pick up this book to have read the tediously torrid adventures of Anita The Wondercunt? REALLY?

WORD. It was like having the writers of Sunset Beach being quoted on the blurb for Buffy, or Tori Spelling saying a few kind words about Judy Dench's acting skills. What. The. Fuck.

The other thing that pinged me right in the rantypants (whitefonting for overarching theme and plot spoilage) was LKH going all, "Oooh! More more more! I can hardly wait for the next nine jillion volumes in his story!" when the whole point of the end of the book was that he finally found his way into the mundane, normal, daylight world of the living that the assassin had stolen from him, that his graveyard family had spent years preparing to return him to. That he found his way out of that fantastical, half-lit, adventurous, and ultimately frozen and unchanging world into ordinary life, and that this was a good thing. Nine jillion volumes of poor Bod continuing to be alone, not like his family, gently erased from the memories of the humans he manages to connect to and care about? A violation of the whole point of the damn book LKH was claiming to love so much. It made me wonder if she has any basic reading comprehension, any ability to recognize what makes any particular story work, at all.

But, then, considering what other Buffistas have said about the ludicrous length and incoherence of her own epic series, maybe that's just exactly right.

And, wrod to your second point. I'm really not seeing the crossover audience there.