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Impressive New Talent

by Bertha

In celebration of first time authors, a new Award is given out by ALA recognizing high quality teen lit. A couple titles that wowed the judges this year are, Curse Dark as Gold about a certain Jack Spinner, who can transform straw into gold and Charlotte Miller who works out a deal with Jack to save her family's mill. So much more going on than just a re-worked fairy tale. The Honor Titles for this award are, Me, the Missing, and the Dead, Graceling, Absolute Brightness, and Madapple

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2009 Caldecott and Newbery Awards Announced

by kidlit

The American Library Association announced the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery awards this morning.
Neil Gaiman won the Newbery for The Graveyard Book. This was illustrated by Dave McKean.
House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes won the Caldecott Medal.

Kadir Nelson won the author medal of the Coretta Scott King award for We Are the Ship. Floyd Cooper won the illustrator medal of the Coretta Scott King award for his illustrations of The Blacker the Berry, which was written by Joyce Carol Thomas.

For a complete list of all the winners and honor books, go here.

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2009 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

by kidlit

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson is this year's recipient of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.
This is the story of a young slave girl in New York City at the time of the American Revolution. She is owned by a Loyalist, but the Patriots offer her a chance at freedom if she spys for them. Isabel must figure out who she can trust.
The Scott O'Dell Award has been given annually since 1984 to outstanding children's historical fiction. Read your way through this list for a great look at American history.

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January Movies

by muffy

Bio pic Defiance is based on the true story of the Bielski brothers. After fleeing occupied Poland, they holed up in a forest in Belarus where they managed against terrific odds to create a coherent community which continued to fight the Nazis. Read Nechama Tec's Defiance: The Bielski Partisans (1993).

There is still time to catch the Golden Globes Award for Best Picture of the Year Slumdog Millionaire.

Part Dickensian drama, part romance and part life-affirming fantasy, this indie release follows an 18-year-old orphan as he recalls the experiences that took him from the slums of Mumbai to being just one question away from winning India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” --- all for the love of a girl.

The Spirit is adapted from the graphic novels The Spirit Series by Will Eisner.

It tells the story of a rookie cop who comes back from the dead to protect the city he loves and the many women he loves more.

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AAFF Goes Green, Sees Submissions Rise

by Caser

When the Ann Arbor Film Festival finished receiving submissions for this year's March 24-29 festival, they had collected works from over 40 countries that crossed every imaginable genre, with total submissions surpassing 2,600 films, up 25-percent from last year. In an effort to improve the festival's sustainability, the AAFF also waived the press kit component for filmmakers and requested eco-friendly packaging, such as paper cases and recyclable mailers. With the Oscar nominations being announced January 20 and awards given February 22, film auteurs and aficionados have some exciting events to look forward to throughout the cold months ahead.

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #134

by muffy

It is not everyday that a debut fiction is picked as a finalist of the National Book Awards.

Rachel Kushner's FFF Telex from Cuba* impressed a panel of distinguished judges as "a profound and lush evocation of 1950s’ Cuba".

"Though the chief observers are two keen-eyed American children, Kushner masterfully portrays the complex and varied forces of revolution through the perspectives of dictators, workers, the Havana underworld, the revolutionaries in the hills, and the Americans in denial that their colonial paradise is doomed."

Learn more about this fabulous newcomer to the literary fiction scene from a recent interview.

* = Starred Review

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Tree Town in Top Ten Again

by Debbie G.

Add Tree Town to another Top Ten list ... the Center for Digital Government and Digital Communities ranked the City of Ann Arbor the 7th Best Digital City in the country. The City's website was honored for the Citizen Request System, GIS resources, MyProperty, and TRAKiT, a new online service offering 24/7 lookup of permits, registrations and inspections.

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Poet and Novelist Laura Kasischke Named 2008 United States Artist Fellow

by muffy

United States Artists (USA) is a grant-making, artist-advocacy organization dedicated to supporting America’s finest artists working across diverse disciplines.

Since its launch in September 2005 with $20 million in seed funding provided by a coalition of leading foundations, the USA Fellows program has been awarding unrestricted $50,000 grants to 50 artists each year.

Kasischke, an assistant professor in the University of Michigan MFA creative writing program, winner of 4 Pushcart Prizes and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts has published books of poetry and novels.

Here is a complete list of the 2008 USA fellows.

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Happy Birthday Ang Lee!

by darla

Born October 23, 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Stop by the AADL and browse our collection of his movies. For laughs try The Wedding Banquet (1993). For love and relationships choose Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) or Lee's version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1995). For drama try The Ice Storm (1997) or Ride With The Devil (1999). For action try Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) or Hulk (2003). For an Academy Award Winner, try Lee's heartbreaker Brokeback Mountain (2005). Fans of espionage and thrillers should check out Lee's most recent release Lust, Caution (2007). Taking Woodstock, Lee's latest project, is currently in production.

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Amy Hempel Wins Short Story Award

by muffy

Author Amy Hempel has been named this year's winner of the The Rea Award for the Short Story. The award was established in 1986 by Michael M. Rea, a publisher and collector of first-edition short stories who died in 1996.

Ms. Hempel has won several prestigious literary awards for her work, including the Hobson Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Over the years, she has served as a judge for the National Book Award, The PEN/Revson Award, The PEN/ Hemingway Award, and the Mary McCarthy Prize among others. Her Collected Stories (2006), was named one of the The New York Times' Ten Best Books in 2007.

Amy has taught at a number of colleges and universities across the country, including New York University, Saint Mary's College, and the University of Missouri. She is currently a faculty member in the graduate writing programs of Bennington College in Vermont and The New School University in New York City.

Mavis Gallant, John Updike, Alice Munro and Stuart Dybek are among the previous winners. The award comes with a $30,000 prize.