A not-helpful post:

Micole is quite amazing, just for the record.

Lyra Jane, that's such a lovely story.

t Natter Kate P and Jess M - I hardly ever "see" either of you anymore, so it's nice to post with you here t /Natter

t making notes

It's hard to triangulate similar authors from those two points -- Gibson and Dick don't have much in common besides from writing near-future SF that's been recognized as "literary" (and they're both good, of course). Do you know what your brother likes about them?

Hmm. I know he got into Dick because he loves Blade Runner with a passion (he's studying film), and I think I gave him Gibson's Neuromancer a few years ago and he finally read it recently and liked it. I don't really know of any other authors he likes--like I said, he doesn't really enjoy reading, which is why I really want to encourage him reading the stuff he does like. I'd guess that it's the ideas he finds really exciting in both Gibson and Dick, and probably the cyberpunky style too (at least in Gibson--Dick preceded cyberpunk, didn't he?).

Neverwhere might also appeal unless he hasa big hate on for fantasy - then it might be to far out of his interests

He doesn't hate fantasy (loves the Lord of the Rings movies and is slowly working his way through the books) but for the most part it doesn't appeal to him like SF does.

Will definitely check out Stephenson, Sterling, Delany, Lethem, et al. at the bookstore today. Thanks!

Hi Nilly! Lovely to see you around.

Any other suggestions, beyond what's been posted?

For age 7-8, I think that's about when I started reading Lloyd Alexander, so I'd definitely rec the Prydain Chronicles.

that's a good suggestion, thanks Kate.

Will definitely check out Stephenson, Sterling, Delany, Lethem, et al. at the bookstore today.

Hayden's Jonathan Lethem article from The High Hat, Vol. 1.

Jess, Picture books for the kinder?

My faves of the past two years are (and they might not already own these):

Daisy Comes Home, by Jan Brett. A chicken named Daisy runs away and she has to go through trials and tribulations to get home.

Snowmen at Night, Caralyn Buehner. What do the snowmen do when you aren't around?

Goldfish and Chrysanthemums, Andrea Chang. A grandmother is homesick for hong kong so her granddaughter attempts to build a koi pond to make her feel better.

"Let's get a pup!" said Kate, by Bob Graham. I love this family. They go to the pound to get a puppy and they end up falling in love with a dog.

Max, by Bob Graham, Max is the child of a superhero family, but he himself lacks superhero powers.

Blabber Mouse, True Kelley. Blabber Mouse is always blabbing everyone else's secrets. His friends turn the tables to show him what it feels like.

I stink, Kate McMullan. A sad sad dumptruck. I adore this book.

Old standbys I love?

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (best rhythm EVER!)

Also, I have to tell my ZKS story: When I was 16 or 17, I found her web page and sent her a fan note. In it, i mentioned being sad that The Changeling isn't in print anymore. She wrote back and said she'd send me one of her copies if I gave her my address. I did, and the copy I have now is signed by her. I've always thought that was incredibly nice of her.

That's so cool. The Changeling is one of the few books that made me cry and I still remember so much of it. I've never read The Egypt Game (I should try to find it) but I loved the Stanley family books and The Birds of Summer. I've actually been to her website too and I liked the essays she has there about how she got started as a writer and her writing process.

Fantastic Kat!

I liked the essays she has there about how she got started as a writer and her writing process.

I haven't been to her web site in years! I should go look for those.

She's one of the writers who has probably had the most influence on my prose style, if I can be pretentious enough to say I have one. (Shirley Jackson, Kurt Vonnegut, Lorrie Moore and Stephen King would be some of the others. It's an oddball list of influences, but you can't help the voices you hear in your head.)

Oh, the nostalgia! I read Snyder and that tearjerker of the 4th grade set, Willo Davis Roberts, a whole lot during one summer when I was a kid. (Also Alan Garner's Owl Service, of which I couldn't make heads or tails, and it wasn't till I was a grownup that I realized that it's just really hard to make heads or tails of him period.)

Black and Blue Magic and The Girl with the Silver Eyes were favorites of mine. Also, Snyder's lesser-known fantasy trilogy starting with Below the Root. I think that book was my introduction to the fact that books can be about ideas, not just about stories.

I don't remember when I started the Prydain books, but I was obsessed with Alexander's Westmark trilogy when I was in the 6th grade. (Also books about ideas, but also funny and character-driven.) Okay, I haven't read a book of Alexander's that I haven't liked.