Just Not My Thing

I’ve been thinking lately about the great books that fall outside of the genres that I tend to be drawn to.  I often overlook those books all together until forced to give them my attention.  One of the greatest things about a Mock Newbery – whether running it or just attending it – is being forced to read outside of genre preference.  I imagine the real Newbery committee does WAY more of this, and also has a chance to really explore this issue in a deeper way.

I’m thinking right now about Polly Horvath’s My One Hundred Adventures which took me far longer to finish than it should have.  It’s a wisp of a book in a way.  It’s not exceptionally short, but it is fast-paced and full of interesting stories and characters.  But it’s a bit outside of the genres I usually go for and uses some plot devices that I personally find frustrating.  Had I not had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with the very charming author, and had I not seen the book amongst the suggestions of Newbery conteders, I’m sure I wouldn’t have bothered to pick up this particular title.  But I’m quite glad that I did.

I’m thinking about this especially in light of all the conversation surrounding the Anita Silvey article.  It has made me think about my own bias in reading, but also the ways in which I put those biases aside when it comes to reviewing a book and especially in terms of considering a book for a Mock Newbery short list or in a Mock Newbery discussion.  I can tell excellence outside of my own personal preferences.  And even beyond that, when I finally get to the end of a book that has been a challenging read to me (either because it’s a challenging book or because it is outside of the realm of what I ususally gobble down) it’s a pretty instantaneous sense of, "Wow.  That was an excellent book!".  And on top of that, I most certainly think about its audience – children – and how it would work for them.  Not ALL of them.  But any of them.

In a way, I think a book like that, for me, gets almost a more fair shot because it breaks through my preconceived notions and touches me anyhow.  And this makes me start to think about how and why it was distinguished.  A book that I know I’m going to love, I can read through so quickly I have to really remember to pause and look for its nuances.  

Last year the title that gave me the hardest time was Rosemary Wells’ Red Moon at Sharpsburg.  The year before it was Megan Whalen Turner’s The King of Atollia.  And in the end each of these books led to really interesting discussions at the Mock Newbery for entirely different reasons.   

And I learned a lot about how to look at a book for distinguishedness within the Newbery criteria even when it’s not my favorite book of the year.  

Would love to hear your thoughts on books you had a hard time getting through and ended up either loving, or acknowledging at truly distinguished in spite of still not loving them.  Any books this year or in the last couple of years that felt that way?  

And what about My One Hundred Adventures?  In what way have you found that book to be distinguished or lacking distinction? 

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