Library awards and graphic novels

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Although it may seem strange to some folks the Superbowl was not the only big event in the world this week. No, in libraryland and in the publishing world ALA Midwinter occurred. And why is this a big event that people should care about? Because it's where the winners and honors of some of the major book awards, such as the Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and many others are announced. And this year...this year some fantastic graphic novels won some of these awards. And yes...yes this is important and I'll explain why in a minute.

Some of the winners include:

• This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki and published by First Second which won the Caldecott honor, which is awarded "to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children." It is the first graphic novel to ever win such an award (although The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick did win the award in 2008, it does not typically get classified as a true graphic novel, since it mixes written chapters with illustrated chapters.) Not only that, but the book also won a Printz honor, which is given for excellence in writing in young adult literature. It is only the second ever graphic novel to be given this award, the first being Gene Yang's American Born Chinese. This One Summer is a beautifully written and illustrated work by the Tamaki cousins and you can find my review of it here.

• An award that I don't hear much about, but is important none the less, is the Batchelder award, which is given to the best book published in another language and then translated into English. And one of this year's honor winners was Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust by Loïc Dauvillier, Marc Lizano (Illustrations), Greg Salsedo (Ink), Alexis Siegel (Translator) and published by First Second. As far as I can find (and I maybe wrong on this) this is the first time that a graphic novel has ever been honored with this award. This is a moving and powerful book on what it's like to experience the Holocaust from the a child's perspective, something that I don't see much of.  You can find my review of it here.

• The last major award is the Newbery award, which is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.  Think about that for a second...distinguished contribution to American literature for children.  And for the first time ever a graphic novel won a Newbery Honor.  El Deafo by Cece Bell, which is written and illustrated based upon her experiences growing up with hearing problems and getting a hearing aid for the very first time and discovering it is like a superpower!  One that can be used for good, or for evil.

OK so graphic novels won awards, yay! Happens all the time right?  True, they do....but not generally from the library awards committees!  And why is that important?  Here are some of the previous winners of the Newbery awards:  The Giver by Louis Lowry, Holes by Louis Sachar, The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman, and Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan among countless others.   Caldecot winners? The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, and Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall, among many others.  How many of these titles do you recognize?  How many have you read or your kids read?  Probably close to all of them.  And why is that?  Oversimplifying a bit, but its because libraries typically buy and promote award winning books.  They know they've been vetted, have name recognition, and an award that a lot of folks will recognize.  And now graphic novels have cracked into the Newbery and Caldecott award winners.  This not only gives them instant recognition and status among libraries, but also allows them to start finding their way onto more shelves into more libraries.

These awards are like Hollywood status among books.  Rock stars, movie stars, famous athletes, etc. It gives them an instant cache among many people and a front of the line pass of "Oh you won that award! Well sure we can let you have a table now."  Should it take graphic novels winning awards to make their way onto library shelves? No...they shouldn't.  But it's a start to make inroads.  It's a start to get people to realize that graphic novels and comics aren't just superheroes or Archie comics.  That they are so much, much more.  And that even superheroes and Archie comics have changed drastically in the last 10 years! But that's a post for a different day.  

One day it will be common place for graphic novels to win awards like the Newbery, Caldecott, and Nobel Prizes.  But today is not that day.  Today we celebrate the books that are not only great works of literature, but have started breaking the barriers of awards.  That are proving that illustrated works are just as important as straight prose books.  That are finally allowing many authors, illustrators, educators, librarians, publishers to shout "Booyah! See we told you graphic novels were fantastic!" and then get back to work to continue the fight.

Congrats to the winners and may we see many, many more graphic novels in the years to come.  

Going tiny(er)

At least a few times a year I look at the books and media and everything else that I own and have and think "Why do I have this?  Do I use it? Do I watch it?" and go about sorting and selling or giving it away.  In the process of moving from GA to VT I went from a two bedroom apartment to a one bedroom and sold and gave a lot away. But lately I've begun feeling like maybe I still have too much stuff.

A couple of weeks ago I read a book called "The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir."  In it the author, Dee Williams, talks about how a near death experience helped her reexamine her life and look at what was really important to her, focusing on friends, family, and enjoying life.  She downsized to an 84sq ft home she designed herself.  And Dee isn't alone.  There are countless others who have made the move to go smaller and simpler.  And I'm thinking maybe this is what I'll do some day.  And then I thought...why wait til some day?  Why can't I simplify my life a bit more?

While I can't yet build a tiny house of my own, after reading "The Big Tiny: A Built-It-Myself Memoir" I began to take a look at what I owned again and began asking myself why I have some of the things that I do.  Some things I have because I really do enjoy them (you can have my art supplies when you pry them from my cold fingers.)  Others, I have because "I'm supposed to have them as an adult"...like various things in the kitchen or things that look nice.  And I've begun sorting through things to sell or give away.  DVD's of TV shows that I like...but not enough to keep them.  Items that I have because I bought and swore that I liked, but have never actually used them.  And books.  God knows I love books, but do I need all of them?  Do I need them all in print?

And so I've started reducing and paring away.  Books that I do want, but I don't need them in print have made there way to an Amazon wishlist to acquire electronically to reduce the footprint of my bookshelves.  Things are being sold, some things will be given away, some things thrown away.  Some mental spring cleaning and parring as well.  

While I may never live in an 84sq foot house, I will not be carrying things around with me that I don't need.  Things that take up space or things that I don't treasure or just things that are not me.  I will be going tiny(er) where I can, while still being me.

Help me continue my dream

If you've known me for longer than two minutes, you know that one of my passions is graphic novels and comics.  I love showing them off, talking about them, and helping introduce them to new readers.  Last year when I was thinking about life and everything during my leave from work, I realized that I wanted to make comics and graphic novels part of my everyday job and life. My goal, and my dream, is to be able to help schools, libraries, businesses, hospitals, the community connect with comics and graphic novels and to help connect comics and graphic novel community to the world.

To that end I'm starting my own business, but more importantly I'm working on a MFA in Applied Cartooning at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, VT.  I've completed the first semester of the program and can say that I'm a lot happier, I've learned a lot, and I know that this is the right place and path for me.  The completion of this MFA program is part of the process for me, as I learn about making my own comics, building connections, and laying the ground work for what I want to do.

And now here's where I ask for help, as hard as it is for me to do so.  The school is a great one and widely recognized and accredited by the state of Vermont to grant MFA's.  Because the program is more focused in an area that others still...view as less than a real career, it isn't accredited at the federal level, meaning that I can't get federal financial aid, and can only get private loans.
I have funds to carry me through the end of May (hopefully), but I'm really wanting to avoid taking out a loan for the second year of the program, which would cover tuition and living expenses.  

And that's where I need your help.  I've started an Indiegogo campaign to help me raise funds to cover living expenses/tuition.  I'm in the process of launching my own business and finding PT employment, and if those pan out then all I need to cover is tuition.

So what do you get out of the deal?  Everyone that donates will get a hand drawn item.  Postcard, picture, something.  It may take me a while to get them out, but I'll get them there.  More importantly though you help me help the larger community experience the joy of comics and graphic novels, how important they are to mental health, to education, to literacy, and more.  So please consider helping me out, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I keep going

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2014 was a banner year: dealing with a bullying situation at work, continued battles with depression and anxiety, discovering that I was on the Asperger's spectrum and discovering what that means to me, enrolling and completing a certificate of advanced Data Studies from the iSchool at Syracuse, leaving a job that I had for eight years, moving to Vermont, and starting an MFA program in comics.  Lots of things yeah?  One thing that I haven't discussed publicly, or talked about a lot, is that I took emergency leave from my job back in May.

I haven't really talked about it, and I've mostly avoided talking about it here, because I didn't want other people to think I was dragging them into something or whatever.  I still don't.  But I've come to realize people are going to think what they want, regardless of what reality is, and some are going to do their best to keep their head in the sand.  But I shouldn't be afraid to talk about why I took leave.

A few people think that I took leave because of particular person at work.  They're partially right.  But also wrong.  And some of them didn't really seem to want to hear the real reason, but here it is:  I took emergency leave because it was the closest I've ever come to ending my own life.

The depression, anxiety, and situations at work made my life so miserable, that I didn't want to keep on anymore.  Some of what was going on was my own making. Of not trusting in myself, of not believing in myself, of not being me.  Some of it was the fault of others.  Some of it was just things.  Either way, I couldn't be at work.  In conjunction with my awesome counselor and other medical folks, I took leave to figure out what I was going to do next and to put my head back on straight.  It was during that time that I decided that one way or other I was going to leave my job by the end of the summer, even if that meant moving to some random part of the country and working at a bookstore or some other random job.  Or joining the Rangers led by Isildur's heir.  I looked into graduate programs to apply to, jobs, etc.  I came back from my leave, still somewhat shaky, but with a plan in place and made it happen.  I got out.  I left a place that was going to literarily kill me.

I'm sure I made mistakes as I left and shoved back against what made me so miserable for so long.  But I also know that it was the right decision when I was criticized for how I took my leave and not following the "normal protocol" and "normal rules"...even though nothing about the situation was normal.  I lost people that I cared about as I left.  Splits, strains, cracks, and fractures appeared and I know I took a hammer to some of those to separate, because I wanted to put out how I really felt, in the hopes that they'd understand me a bit better.  I did what I thought was right at the time.  Not sure I'd do it any differently now.

The point of all of the rambling?  To say that if you are in a similar spot, or if your job makes you feel so miserable that you don't want to go on, you aren't alone.  Ever.  And regardless of what other people tell you, of what they try to shove down your throats about "that's just part of life" or "all jobs are miserable" please tell them to kindly fuck off and make a plan to find something new.  Set a deadline. Set goals. Get help.  Life is too short to be miserable where you spend the bulk of your days.

I'm in a better place as 2015 starts and I'm enjoying the new path that I'm making for myself.  There are scary and exciting things ahead.  And I can't wait to see what happens next.