First off: Just a reminder (you’ll be getting a lot of these in the next week), that the Cybils are coming! The nominations for the various categories — from non-fiction picture books through to YA fiction — will be open on October 1st. Anyone can nominate one book in any (or all!) categories, so start thinking about the books you’ve loved this year. I know I’ve got a list forming (first choices and backups, in case my first choices are already taken…) in my head (and on a few pieces of paper).

While you’re at it, don’t forget to pick up some Cybils bling — I’m determined to pick up at least a T-shirt before October, and…

the Kitlit Conference!

I’m SO excited to be going this year; I’ve wanted to go since it was started, and — bad economy and all — the stars have aligned in such a way that I’m able to go, meet, learn and enjoy!

Which brings me to what I need from you (hopefully, you’ve made it through until this point)! Pam has asked me (eek!) and several other awesome bloggers (I feel like an imposter!) to throw together a panel on issues in book blogging and reviewing. It’ll be a bit of a Q&A — we hope (I don’t know, maybe we’ll all just get up there and blather a bit about how wonderful the kidlitosphere is or something) — and we’re soliciting Qs beforehand (so we have some time to think about the As). So… what do you want to know? Any issues that you want to addressed? Any ideas/processes you want me to spill the beans about? Any tips you want me to pass along? Any thoughts? (Bueller? Bueller?) (OK. I did just date myself.)

C’mon, people: I’m begging here!

(And, yes, I know you can’t all come — so sad about that, too! — but I WILL blog about this afterward, so you’ll get your As. I promise.)

Because I’m positively giddy about being able to go to this (stolen from Mother Reader):

It is officially time to sign up for the KidLitosphere Conference taking place on October 17th, 2009 at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel. The conference is open to bloggers – and wannabe bloggers – in children’s and young adult literature. Yes, this includes YA/Kidlit authors, illustrators, editors, and publishers who blog or would like to blog.

So what’s the conference like, other than awesome? The day starts with breakfast from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m, where you can catch up with old friends or meet new ones. The sessions go from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will cover:

-The Blog Within: An Interview With Your Inner Blogger
– Building a Better Blog: Best Practices, Ideas, and Tips
– Split Reviewer/Author Sessions:
Better Book Reviews/Writing Ideas for Blogging Authors
– Split Reviewer/Author Sessions:
Social Networking for Fun (and Profit?)
– Authors, Publishers, Reviewers (and ARC’s): A Panel Conversation
– Coming Together, Giving Back: Building Community, Literacy, and the Reading Message (KidLitosphere CentralPBS/RIF/Literacy)

There will also be a Meet the Author time at the end where writers and illustrators can bring their books. A fun dinner to mix-and-mingle is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. with the continuing party moving to the hotel bar. The registration fee for all of this – including the breakfast and dinner – is only $100. It’s a total bargain.

Informal outings will take place on Friday and Sunday. We’re hoping to arrange a Library of Congress tour for Friday afternoon and we’ll gather for dinner near the hotel around 6:00 p.m. Sunday’s expedition may involve a local DC bookstore, Politics and Prose. If I can get some authors to register soon, we may even be able to arrange a reading.

Rooms are currently on hold at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel for the amazing rate of $109 a night. They will only be held until September 16th, and if our block is filled before that low rate may not be available. Book soon. Since I’ve held rooms with two double beds, you could bring your family along to visit DC or share with a blogger buddy.

It should be noted that the hotel is a mile from National Airport and free shuttle service is available. A Metro Station is on the same block and goes to Washington DC in minutes. In fact, Downtown DC is only two miles away. The hotel is right next to the Crystal City Shops and a few blocks from the upscale Fashion Center at Pentagon City. If you want more information about the hotel, visit the website of the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel.

The registration form is available at KidLitosphere Central. There are a limited number of spaces available, so please sign-up soon.

My goal? To enjoy my time there, and to meet as many people as I can. Which means y’all have to come… right?

I’m going to make you work for it today. If you want to know who won, click through to the BoB blog. Can I tell you that I like that Lois Lowry said she was pissed that she didn’t have a book in the running? And that she says she has an ax to grind with Roger Sutton?

Just go read it. It’s worth the time. (Even if the ending’s not really surprising.)

P.S. Don’t forget to read the comments. They’re just as fun as the piece itself.

Match 1, Octavian Nothing really long title vs. Chains. Winner: Octavian Nothing. I’m running out of things to say about this book. It must be amazing, if people keep effusing over it. Let’s see if I’m changing my mind about reading it…. um… Nope. Betcha it wins, though.

Match 2, Hunger Games vs. The Lincolns. Winner: Hunger Games. No surprise. Really. I enjoyed reading Chris Crutcher’s commentary, though.

The real question now is: will final judge Lois Lowry go for a huge, sprawling work of genius or a hip, intense dystopian novel? (Not even going to try to answer that. But it’s fun to think about it…)

Match 1, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing , The Kingdom on the Waves vs. Trouble at 8. Winner: The Kingdom on the Waves. As judge Wynne-Jones said, “The Kingdom on the Waves is dense, grand, epic in terms of its scope and virtue. And yes, it’s a marathon to read, by today’s standards, but that’s why it’s a book, rather than, let’s say a video game or a tweet. Books are what we turn to for the heavy lifting!” So… does that mean we’re looking at the eventual winner here? Very possibly.

Match 2, Chains vs. Tender Morsels. Winner: Chains. I was rooting for this one, and it came through. I possibly will read Tender Morsels, eventually, but I really, really loved Chains. So glad it made it through to the next round, though I have no idea how it will stack up against the heavyweight Kingdom of the Waves…

Match 3, The Hunger Games vs. We Are the Ship. Winner: Hunger Games. The judge was John Green. I would have been more surprised if We Are the Ship had won. But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy with the result…

Match 4, Graceling vs. The Lincolns. Winner: The Lincolns. What? No grrrl matchup? So sad. Though on the plus side, after Nancy Werlin’s thoughts on The Lincolns made me want to search it out…

This does mean that one non-fiction has made it through to the semi-finals… granted, I think it’s pretty predictable at this point that the ending matchup will be Kingdom on the Waves versus the Hunger Games. (Oh, dear: I’m predicting. It probably won’t happen then…) Then again, anything could happen….

I was going to wait until Sunday to put this up, but I figured why not get it out there in time for Friday’s Peanut Gallery posts? Here’s my take on the matches this week:

Match 1, Octavian Nothing, Vol. II vs. Ways to Live Forever. Winner: Octavian Nothing. I really have no opinions on this one, mostly because I haven’t read either one. I know I should read the Octavian Nothing books, but I can’t seem to bring myself to want to. However, after reading Roger Sutton’s commentary, I want to read Ways to Live Forever. I’m not sure that was the intention of the game, but there it is.

Match 2, The Graveyard Book vs. The Trouble Begins at 8. Winner: Trouble Begins at 8. I’m SO excited about this one. I liked The Graveyard Book, but it’s had enough accolades, and I thought (hoped, wished) that Trouble would get more. And so it has. Granted, it’s not the Newbery, but at the very least, it knocked the “champion” off. YAY! (And see: if I had predicted this, it wouldn’t have happened.)

Match 3, Chains vs. Washington at Valley Forge. Winner: Chains. So, I figured Chains would win this round, but I was fascinated by what judge Elizabeth Partridge had to say:

“So read ‘em both. You’ll be glad you did, and your mind will zigzag back and forth across the big gap between the general and the slave girl. But since, in a painful moment of triage, I have to chose one, I pick Chains. Why? Because I’m more interested in a scrappy underdog heroine than a war hero.”

Fascinating. And Washington at Valley Forge is now on my TBR list.

Match 4, Here Lies Arthur vs. Tender Morsels. Winner: Tender Morsels. I don’t have much to say about this one, either. I haven’t read either of these, and had little desire to read Tender Morsels up until this point, incest, gang rape and all. But… but… but… I don’t know. I may change my mind.

Match 5, Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs. We Are the Ship. Winner: We are the Ship. I wasn’t expecting this one, mostly because I’ve never been a big baseball fan, and had no interest in We are the Ship. However, how can you ignore a comment like this one, by judge Rachel Cohn: “Simply put, We Are the Ship is an exquisite marriage of art to words (terrific story, well told), but also down-home enjoyable, visually stunning but accessible, and never succumbing to coffee table book pretentiousness.” The answer is: you can’t. Another one for my TBR list.

Match 6, Hunger Games vs. Porcupine Year. Winner: Hunger Games. I have one thing to say: of course. I didn’t expect anything different. (Not really.)

Match 7: Graceling vs. The Underneath. Winner: Graceling. This, next to The Graveyard Book-Trouble Begins at 8, was the most interesting match for me. But I shouldn’t have fretted: judge Tamora Pierce (yeah, that Tamora Pierce) chose the fantasy over the dark animal book. Good for her. And I like what commentator Jonathan Hunt said (he said this about Hunger Games, but I think it works here): “As plucky and resourceful as Omakayas is, she wouldn’t stand a chance against Katniss. Come to think of it, neither would Octavian Nothing, Frankie Landau-Banks, Nobody Owens, or most of the characters from this past year. Maybe Katsa from Graceling? Now there’s a cage match I’d pay to see! Grrrl Power! “ There’s the match I want to see.

Match 8: The Lincolns vs. Nation. Winner: The Lincolns. Nonfiction has done well in this battle, taking down entertaining, and popular, fiction titles. Who knows: maybe a nonficiton title will go home champion?? (Oh, and another two for my TBR pile. I really ought to read Terry Pratchett… soon.)

So, for round two we have:
Octavian Nothing II vs. Trouble Begins at 8, judged by Tim Wynne-Jones
Chains vs. Tender Morsels, judged by Coe Booth
We are the Ship vs. Hunger Games, judged by John Green
Graceling vs. The Lincolns , judged by Nancy Werlin

Sticking to my assurance that if I predict anything it won’t come true, I’ll refrain from making any calls. I’ll just say that this is going to be interesting….

Tomorrow, the Battle of the (Kids) books will begin. (YAY!) Abby (and others) helpfully alerted me to this (really cool) idea, and I’ve been following along on their blog. They’ve been introducing this week’s judges, and have put up a popular opinion poll so the rest of us can choose who should win (but not necessarily who will…) (As of right now, Hunger Games is out in the lead in the poll…)

The official battle begins tomorrow with Roger Sutton deciding between Octavian Nothing II and Ways to Live Forever… I would venture into the predictions game, but I learned (very early one while watching football) that if I voice my preferences, the ones I *really* want to win will most likely loose. (Though if you’re interested in predictions, check out Book Bracketology.) As for me, I’m just going to sit back, quietly root for my favorites, and enjoy the show.

I don’t usually do this, but before I left today, I checked my email and found this:

76 days until the release of Rick Riordan’s

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5: The Last Olympian

www.PercyJacksonBooks.com reveals cover image for the highly anticipated fifth and final book in Rick Riordan’s blockbuster series.

Rick’s blog, http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/, features exclusive short interview with Blackjack the Pegasus.

At 12:01 am EST, on Wednesday February 18^, 2009, www.PercyJacksonBooks.com will unveil The Last Olympian cover image. Leading up to the one-day laydown on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, Percy fans who visit the dedicated website (www.PercyJacksonBooks.com) will be treated to exclusive content that will be posted on a regular basis including: teaser videos, downloadables- chat icons and wallpaper, new never-before-seen character art from the series, discussion board/message post, an all-new quiz, and soon-to-be-announced sweepstakes information!

In addition to the interview with Blackjack the Pegasus on Rick Riordan’s blog (http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/), Rick will be sending out a series of inside details on a weekly basis about The Last Olympian that will only be available on Twitter: http://twitter.com/camphalfblood.

More exciting news to come!

We’re all — well, me, M and C — are a bit fangirly about this. We can’t wait!

I was happy to find out via Fuse #8, my go-to place for all kidlit news, that there’s now a central web place for the kidlit blogging community: Kitlitospehre Central. The general aim is “to provide a passage to the wonderful variety of resources available from the society of bloggers in children’s and young adult literature.” I think this is incredible, and I’m not just saying that because I’m on the list. (I did a happy dance, though… 🙂 Thanks, Pam (and the rest of the board; you’re awesome), for setting this up: it’s an amazing resource, one I hope to make use of regularly.

(Though I think what we need now is a little logo button we can all stick on our blogs…)

The Graveyard Book won this year’s Newbery. Congrats to Neil Gaiman!

Three other shout-outs: Savvy won a Newbery honor (yay!), Frankie-Landau Banks won a Printz Honor, and Mo Willems got the Geisel Award (again) for Are You Ready to Play Outside? All made me quite happy…

For a full list of all the awards, visit the ALA webpage, here. (The list should be up by 10 a.m. MST today.)