Just Press Play

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

When I first heard about Going Bovine, I was immediately intrigued, in no small part due to the cover design: a cow standing upright, holding a garden gnome.  It started popping up on recommended and best-of lists for young adults.  Not long after, it won the prestigious Michael L. Printz Award for literary excellence in young adult literature.  The cherry on top is the video on Amazon of author Libba Bray talking about the book while dressed in a cow suit.  Pretty compelling!

The story starts out with a traumatic yet exhilarating catastrophe at Disneyworld’s It’s-A-Small-World ride, which sets the tone and the pace for Cameron’s story.  Now a sharp albeit unmotivated 16-year-old, Cameron is diagnosed with mad cow disease.  Sounds like a downer, but even in the midst of the serious subject matter, Bray is fiercely witty and draws some interesting though unsubtle parallels to Don Quixote.  Narrator Erik Davies does an excellent job with the sardonic tone often used to portray the intelligent disenchanted teen.  Though written for a young audience, the story and the writing make Going Bovine captivating for an adult audience as well.

********************************

Posted by Caroline Duke, Playaway Collection Development Manager

Confessions of a Sex and the City Fan

So much contemporary young adult literature is widely received and popular with adults – think Twilight, Hunger Games, and Eragon among others.  I understand the appeal, but never really took an interest myself...until now.  Any bonafide Sex and the City fan is excited about Candace Bushnell’s latest title and first book for teens – The Carrie Diaries.  Although young Carrie is the same trendsetting fashionista as her adult counterpart, Bushnell takes us back to her high school days when she’s just a fledgling writer in the early stages of finding her talent for social observation and suffering through her first love.

Timing is key and with Sex and the City 2 releasing in theaters in May, this prequel will surely send more fans to the theaters & book stores.  Playaway releases The Carrie Diaries simultaneously with the print edition on April 27. 

***************************************

Posted by Caroline M. Duke

Playaway Collection Development Manager 

2010 Youth Media Awards

For me personally, the highlight of ALA Midwinter this year was the Youth Media Awards.  Relatively new to the industry, I really didn’t know what to expect.  Would I even be able to find a seat or does the 7:30 am start-time only draw the most enthusiastic early-birds?  Would people yell and whistle for their favorites books and film or would we remain in our seats quietly? 

To my surprise, the ballroom in which the awards were announced was only two-thirds full, but with enough energy to fill the convention hall.  I sat in the back so I could take-in the event as a whole and watch the audience’s reaction.  It wasn’t long before I was sharing in the excitement, applauding and “woo hoo-ing” for my favorite titles too. 

No small part of the thrill was to see so many titles from the Playaway catalog awarded medals and honors this year:

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Newbery Honor
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, Newbery Honor & Sibert Honor
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, Sibert Medal
In the Belly of the Bloodhound, Odyssey Award Honor
Peace, Locomotion, Odyssey Award Honor
We Are the Ship, Odyssey Award Honor
Anything But Typical, Schneider Family Book Award
My Abandonment, Alex Award Winner (available on Playaway, April 2010)

I’m already looking forward to next year!

____________________________________

Posted by Caroline Duke 

Playaway Content Development Coordinator

Green Metropolis: What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability

With the beginning of a new year, many of us are looking for a good read (or listen:) to inspire a new & improved life in 2010.  My selection may be a little heavier than the traditional motivational title -  "10 steps to success" or weight-loss - but as Playaway released David Owen's Green Metropolis this month, I thought it was worth highlighting as we form our new year's resolutions.

David Owen, staff writer at The New Yorker and prolific author, challenges conventional thinking on how lifestyle impacts the future of our environment.  The current movement focuses on green pastures, condemning cities for their over-development, energy consumption, and overall lack of green space.  Owen argues against that popular belief and suggests that metropolis - specifically Manhattan - is a model for sustainability.  Citing numerous examples, he demonstrates how a city-dweller consumes fewer resources and creates less greenhouse emission than the average American living in a suburb or more rural area.  Walking or taking public transportation, residing in apartment buildings that are more energy efficient than stand-alone houses, and living in concentration in place of sprawl – these are among the impacting lifestyle choices that Owen believes are crucial to sustainability.   While some environmentalists may disagree with Owen, Green Metropolis provides an interesting perspective on the current environmental crisis: good food-for-thought as we start a new year and reflect on our own lifestyle choices.  Besides, it got great reviews and was one of the "Best Books of 2009" from Publisher's Weekly, so it can't be half-bad.

_____________________________

Posted by Caroline Duke

Playaway Content Development Coordinator

Farewell, Kirkus!

Many libraries will be sad to see Kirkus close shop, as will I.  The publication produced in the ballpark of 5,000 reviews each year and for those of us who relied on those advance reviews, we’ll be at a loss without them.  Nielsen has made an overall effort to shed many of their publications, some sold off and others put to rest.  Although the details have not yet been publicized, this may be the last year for their annual YA Best Book list, which I found to be a great source for current titles that could become classics over time.  It seems appropriate to highlight a few titles from the Kirkus 2009 YA Best Books list available on Playaway and take advantage of their expertise and insight before they say goodbye:

Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson

Soul Enchilada, by David Macinnis Gill

Liar, by Justine Larbalestier

The Miles Between, by Mary E. Pearson

_________________________________

Posted by Caroline Duke

Playaway Content Development Coordinator

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice 2009 National Book Award Winner

Competition is stiff for the National Book Awards.  Current classics are recognized and awarded for their literary excellence through which they achieve a certain level of immortality to their shelf life.  The 2009 finalists were impressive as usual and I can’t imagine the burden of selecting just one per category.  Still, I was pleased to hear that Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose won for Young People’s Literature. 

The book retells the story of Claudette Colvin, the fifteen year-old African American girl who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama months before Rosa Parks kick-started the Civil Rights Movement with that same rebellious act.  The NAACP considered making Claudette the poster-child for the Movement, using her case to help take other issues of inequality up to the Supreme Court.  In the end, her teenage pregnancy and social status made her less eligible for the job and 9 months after Claudette was dragged off the bus, Rosa Parks made a stand.  The courageous acts of that teenager were lost, overshadowed by what came next, making Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice news to many of us who never learned about her in school.

After extensive interviews with Ms. Colvin, Hoose wove together an intimate portrait of a girl with the tumultuous backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement.  It’s not the first time Hoose has set out to teach history to kids through examples of kids in history.  His 2001 title, We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History is a collection of true stories about kids and young adults (all 18 and under) who made an impact – a title which was, in a sense, the catalyst for his writings on Claudette. 

Channie Waites’s reading is crisp, providing a clear juxtaposition of the girl’s story and the world in which it’s set, and transitioning between a history lesson and a firsthand account of one person’s experience.  Her narration, while matter-of-fact on the details, takes on the personality of the cast when shifting into Claudette’s mind & words.  The character voices are wonderfully expressive, whisking the reader into the courthouse or the Colvins’ living room.  Rich with detail and historical fact, Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice holds interest in and out of the classroom, across all ages. 

Also available on Playaway through Recorded Books, the 2009 National Book Award Winner for Fiction, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.

---

Posted by Caroline Duke
Playaway Content Development Coordinator

Youth in Revolt

November ‘09 may be the best month for great content in Findaway history.  Naturally, that made it difficult to choose just one title, but my weakness for humor prevails and despite some unflattering reviews, Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp by C.D. Payne is my favorite. 

Nick is a sharp 14-year-old, victim of a broken home and savvy to life’s irony, who is primarily focused on girls and continuing education.  Well-read and well aware of his intelligence, our hero/narrator is full of cheeky humor, making his mom’s truck-driver boyfriend and girlfriend’s zealous parents funnier than they are depressing.  Despite his intellectual maturity, Nick’s primary goal is doing-away with his virginity and, more specifically, winning over a girl named Sheeni, whose cool and haughty demeanor makes Nick seem pubescent.  Youth in Revolt doesn’t offer any moral guidance or inspire sympathy, but I guess I’m a sucker for a good laugh and the recent trend of smart-alecky humor and brazen subject matter is churning out some great books & films. 

If you’re interested in the title, but don’t have the 25 hours to dedicate, there’s a film adaptation, starring Michael Cera (think Superbad and Juno) and Zach Galifianakis (Hang Over) among others, releasing January 8.

---

Posted by Caroline Duke
Playaway Content Development Coordinator

Playaway’s already-impressive Fall rollout just got better

Posted by Caroline Duke, Playaway Content Development Coordinator:

I was already excited about releasing Dave Eggers' Wild Things (in tandem with the movie release), Breathless (the upcoming Dean Koontz release) and The Humbling (a shiny new title from Philip Roth), among others.  But with the news that we’d be dropping-in a bunch of new Hachette titles, it felt like Christmas indeed! 

The new Hachette drop-ins include Oprah’s latest book club selection (Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan), upcoming releases from David Baldacci and James Patterson, some literature to satisfy kids, teens, history buffs, and more.  Most of these are releasing simultaneously on Playaway or within a couple months of the original release date.   See below for the full list of our Fall Hachette drop-ins and the Playaway release date:

  

Nine Dragons, Michael Connelly, 10/13/2009 
The Last Song, Nicholas Sparks, 10/15/2009 
Nurtureshock, Ashley Merryman,Po Bronson, 10/15/2009 
School of Fear, Gitty Daneshvari, 10/15/2009  A Separate Country, Robert Hicks, 10/15/2009 
True Compass, Edward M. Kennedy, 10/15/2009
True Blue, David Baldacci, 10/27/2009

Clique - Charmed and Dangerous, Lisi Harrison, 11/1/2009
Hope for Animals and their World, Gail Hudson, Jane Goodall,Thane Maynard, 11/1/2009 
Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies, Emma Walton Hamilton, Jim McMullan, Julie Andrews, 11/1/2009 
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold, 11/1/2009 
Say You're One of Them, Uwem Akpan, 11/1/2009
This Book is Not Good For You, Pseudonymous Bosch, 11/1/2009 
What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell, 11/1/2009

The American Journey of Barack Obama, The Editors of Life Magazine, 12/1/2009
Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia, Stohl Margaret, 12/1/2009 
Cleaving, Julie Powell, 12/1/2009 
The General's Daughter, Nelson DeMille, 12/1/2009 
Gossip Girls: I Will Always Love You, Cecily von Ziegesar, 12/1/2009 
Hollywood Moon, Joseph Wambaugh, 12/1/2009 
I Drink for A Reason, David Cross, 12/1/2009 
The Imperial Cruise, James Bradley, 12/1/2009 
The Love Revolution, Joyce Meyer, 12/1/2009 
Nubs - The True Story of a Mutt & a Miracle, Kirby Larson, Major Brian Dennis, Mary Nethery, 12/1/2009 Witch and Wizard, Gabrielle Charbonnet, James Patterson, 12/14/2009

Happy listening!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and the birth of a new genre

Editor's note: Beginning with this post, Caroline Duke, Playaway's Content Development Coordinator, will be a regular contributor to the blog.  Look for her posts on new and noteworthy Playaway releases, literary awards, movie tie-ins, and other items of interest. 

---

Jane Austen fans are either thrilled or appalled with this zany take on her classic novel, Pride and Prejudice.  As a bona fide fan, I’m torn – sorry for Ms. Austen that her masterpiece was tampered with, but admittedly, I also loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (launched on Playaway October 1st) and look forward to more blasphemous spin-offs. 

Since Pride and Prejudice is public domain and not protected by copyright, Seth Grahame-Smith simply took Austen’s original text and added a few zombies.  In the end, he didn’t do much writing, albeit cleverly weaving the living dead into a classic love story.   Compare the famous first line of the original: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”  Now Grahame-Smith’s: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”  Still holding true to Austen’s original themes, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies breathes new life into an old classic. 

Katherine Kellgren’s narration is unbeatable, giving each character his or her own voice, and she even does a convincing zombie impersonation.  I recommend this title to open-minded Jane Austen fans as well as anyone who enjoys a good romance with some paranormal activity.  Keep your eyes peeled for the next Austen spoof releasing in November on Playaway: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.