Is Accelerated Reader really a good idea?

Accelerated Reader says it “guide[s] students to the right books.” It is “a ‘reading management’ software system that helps teachers track student reading through computerized comprehension tests and awards students points for books they read based on length and difficulty, as measured by a scientifically researched readability rating.” Sounds good, right? But one author who is also a mom looked closer. The fifth installment of the Gossip Girl series, I Like It Like That is given 8 points - which means it’s worth more than Hamlet (7 points). The author’s daughter pointed out that if students really wanted to get a lot of points, they should read Harry Potter. The Order of the Phoenix was worth 44 points. Another daughter, in an Advanced Placement class, was reading Frankenstein (17 points), The Remains of the Day (13 points), Heart of Darkness (10 points). Notice how together they don’t add up to the Order of the Phoenix? Teacher says kids often won’t read books that aren’t on the list because they won’t get any points. And some say Accelerated Reader has increased reading among students, who like collecting points and getting prizes. You can read the whole article here. If you are a teacher, I would be really curious to hear what you think about Accelerated Reader. Curious after reading the article, I looked up Shock Point. 7 points. So not as that Gossip Girl (8 pts), but better than Hamlet (7).

Far North - a book for writers to savor

[Top is the UK cover - I wonder why they are different?] Last night, I finished reading Far North: A Novel, a book writers should read just for its lovely use of language. It's a dystopian novel. The main character, Makepeace, is the only person left living in a city in the far north (Siberia). While there were certain approaches the author took that I didn't agree with (having a character from the past rather improbably turn up, letting a main character die and referring to it only in passing), all of that was made up for by the simply stunning use of language. Page 16: "There were a few last signs of human settlement along the riverside - a burned-out cabin, a wooden cross on a grave, some tumbledown walls..." [I admired how the author had the narrator describe them as signs of settlement, when they were really markers of death and absence.] Page 198: "I lay down to sleep thinking that as much as I missed what was gone, maybe this was the best thing: for the world to lie fallow for a couple hundred years or more, for the rain to wash her clean. We'd become another layer of her history, a little higher in the soil than the Romans and the people who built the pyramids. Yes, Makepeace, I thought, maybe one day your mandible will show up under glass in a museum. Female of European origin. Note the worn incisors and the evidence of mineral deficiency from a poor and unvaried diet. Warlike and savage. And beside it some potsherds." Page 224 [the narrator is in a long-deserted city, with no food or water, and has broken into what used to be a girl's bedroom]: "In the story of Goldilocks, the little girl sneaks into a bear den, eats the animal's food, and finds a place to sleep. That night I felt I was the story in reverse: a stinking, scarred bear, reeking of blood and gun smoke, turning up in a world of clean sheets and flowers."

Do you have a Kindle? Do you have $1.99?

This week, I put one of my old books on Kindle, about eight months after all the cool kids figured out how to do it. http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Fly-Novel-ebook/dp/B0030EG3BS/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_9 This isn't just any book. It was a Booksense Pick, an Otto Penzler Pick for Amazon and the recipient of starred reviews in Booklist and Library Journal. Library Journal also chose it as one of the best books of 2002. Foreign rights sold in the Netherlands, Japan and France. The book is about Free Meeker, a 19-year-old with a shaved head, a tattoo around her bicep, an unplanned pregnancy, and a jerk of a boyfriend. All she wants is a new life. And when she is involved in a multi-car accident and is mistakenly listed among the dead, and ends up with a dead drug dealer's bag of money - fate seems to be handing her her ticket out . Here's a selection of what some critics said: "Compulsive reading ... A classic tale of an innocent on the lam, Learning to Fly has the kind of plot that would have made Hitchcock smile in evil anticipation of its cinematic possibilities." - Penzler Pick, Amazon "The suspense becomes deliciously unbearable. With Learning to Fly, Henry soars straight into the big leagues." - Starred Review, Booklist "Features a most interesting plot, told with easy grace, choice characterization and mounting tension." - Starred Review, Library Journal "A sure-footed chase novel that starts with a bang and rarely slows down." - Seattle Times "A high tension thriller [with] an endearing heroine." - Denver Post "April Henry's debut, Circles of Confusion, garnered a lot of attention. This book proves that she's a talent tot watch, delivering solid characters, good plot, and a great sense of place." - Canada's Globe and Mail "Learning to Fly soars with suspense." - South Florida Sun-Sentinel "A carefully plotted look at what can happen when a person's dreams come true, she has all the money she can spend - but she can't shake off the ties of the past." - Dallas Morning News

Kirkus is no more.

Just saw this on PW: "As part of the sale of its business to business publications, Nielsen Business Media has announced that it is closing its book review publication Kirkus Reviews as well as Editor & Publisher. No details on the closing have been released yet. Nielsen is selling its major publications, including The Hollywood Reporter and Adweek to e5 Global Media Holdings."

The tone of Kirkus was often mean, but I still have mixed feelings about seeing a publication go down. And I took any book with a star from Kirkus extra seriously, given their normally crabby-pants reviews.

Their review of Shock Point ends with this: "Henry writes with a quick-moving, superficial style and often glosses over awkward plot points with quick explanatory paragraphs. He delivers some shocking moments while making no attempt to examine realistic adolescent problems. A potboiler that may appeal to a wide range of young readers and could be useful for reluctant readers. " A. I'm a girl. B. Talk about mixed messages.

Are you a budding author?

Are you a budding writer? Then you might be interested in bidding on one of the following items in an online auction to benefit Bridget Zinn, a YA author. She has had a crazy year, one that including getting an agent, getting married, getting diagnosed with colon cancer, and make her first sale. The services that would appeal to authors include: * Chapter critique of your middle grade novel by author Jennifer Cervantes * Critique of the first 20 pages of your manuscript By New York Times bestselling author April Henry * Foot in the Door Critique Package Critique of your whole novel, synopsis, and query letter by Through The Tollbooth * One Critique of a QUERY plus FIRST 10 PAGES of your Middle Grade or Young Adult Novel By Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency * One critique of a QUERY plus the FIRST 10 PAGES of your middle grade or young adult novel By Jill Corcoran, Herman Agency * One Critique of a Query Plus the first Ten Pages of Your Middle-Grade or Young Adult Novel By Michael Stearns, Upstart Crow Literary, LLC * Picture Book Critique from Picture Book Author, Jean Reidy Detailed critique of a fiction picture book manuscript up to 1000 words * Proofreading services for one query letter and synopsis By Martha Brockenbrough, Punctuation Activist This is Bridget. Auction items can be viewed at http://www.32auctions.com/view_auction?id=bridget&pwd=rules - or just go to www.32auctions.com and use the Auction ID: bridget and Password: rules (as in: Bridget rules!!) to view the auction. In order to bid on auction items, you will need to create an account on the site in order to bid. (Creating an account simply requires your name, email address, and a password, and it is required so that you can be contacted if you win an item.) Bidding ends 9 p.m. Central time on Dec. 11.

Laini Taylor is a winner in our hearts

If you haven’t read Lips Touch: Three Times, you should. It’s a wonderful book, playful, inventive, moving. The Oregonian featured a great story about its author and illustrator, National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor and her husband Jim. It begins, “She writes, he draws. Her hair is pink, and her laugh is infectious. His hair is red, and he laughs a lot, too. They live and work together in a little yellow house in the Cully neighborhood of Northeast Portland with a new daughter named Clementine Pie.” Read the rest of the story about Laini and Jim here.