It’s pretty much spring here in Kansas, which means I’m reading less and spending time outside basking in the warm sun. Thankfully, my laptop has a high enough wireless reception that I can take it outside and catch up on all the fun stuff that’s going on this month.

First of all, if you haven’t been following Fuse #8’s Top 100 Children’s Fiction Book list, why not? It’s been a lot of fun to see what’s shown up. There have been lots of books that I’ve thought “Oh, man! Should have put that one on my list!”, a couple that I’ve never heard of and at least one (Order of the Phoenix?!) that I’ve said “Huh. Why that one?” Betsy’s put an amazing amount of work into this, and it shows. (Speaking of Betsy, check out the Forbes article: The Double Life of Betsy Bird. Way cool that a kidlit blogger’s made it *that* big!)

Since we’re all feeling the void that the Cybils finishing has left in our lives (well, I am), it’s a good thing that we have both School Library Journal’s Battle of the Kids Books and Nerds Heart YA coming up. You can nominated books for Nerds Heart YA (link goes directly to the nominating form; stop by the blog for guidelines). Like Liz at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy, I had a hard time following this last year, only catching some of the judges decision. Thankfully, they took care of the problem this year by setting up its own blog. And, for those of you on Twitter, a Twitter account. And, in a really cool difference from last year, we get to vote a book back from the dead (zombie books… oooh…) in the Battle of the Kids books. The catch is that we have to do it before the battle starts. So, go, and choose wisely my friends. (Did I mention that they’re on Twitter, too? They are!)

Finally (last but not least), there are two tours of going on this week. First, Varian Johnson’s book Saving Maddie is released this week, and he’s going on a blog tour. There’s some great stops on the tour (okay, I’m one of them… but really, it sounds like a good tour)… be sure to check it out. From They Call Me Mr. V:

Monday: I’ll be discussing religion, stereotypes and cover art with Melodye Shore in The Author’s Tent.

Tuesday: I’ll be debuting the Saving Maddie Playlist at Reading in Color with Ari. (This is also Release Day. And my birthday.)

Wednesday: I’ll be at Gwenda Bond’s Shaken and Stirred, where I’ll be talking about my writing process for Saving Maddie. (FYI–Gwenda is also a graduate of Vermont College, and is AWESOME.)

Thursday: I’ll be at Book Nut with Melissa, where I’ll be answering questions like, “What’s my favorite scene?”

Friday: I’ll be talking to a student interviewer at Crazy Quilts.

And secondly, it’s time for Share a Story – Shape a Future. The tour begins tomorrow and runs through Friday. (Shameless self-promotion: Jen Robinson asked me to be a part of her day on Friday, so do check back!) This year’s theme is It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader. Do follow along, either on the blog or on Twitter at #sas2010. I’m sure there will be many great posts and great ideas about sharing books with children.

And that’s about it for me, this week. I’m off to go outside and enjoy the day. Hope you are, too!