>The Cybils Speak

by Roger Sutton
Feb 14, 2008 | Filed in Articles & Opinion
>The winners of the 2007 Cybil Awards have been announced. A group project of the children's-book blogosphere, the Cybils attend to both literary quality and child appeal. Losers I'm most interested in hearing the gossip on: Shaun Tan's The Visit [ed: OOPS, The Arrival] and Sherman Alexie's Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I thought they'd be shoo-ins.
Roger Sutton
Roger Sutton

Editor Emeritus Roger Sutton was editor in chief of The Horn Book, Inc., from 1996-2021. He was previously editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and a children's and young adult librarian. He received his MA in library science from the University of Chicago in 1982 and a BA from Pitzer College in 1978.

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Brooke

>(Slaps forehead)

That's right -- I had forgotten that The Arrival and Artemis Fowl were in different age groups.

As for the book's appeal to kids, I suppose I was swayed greatly by Monica Edinger's fascinating series of posts about teaching The Arrival to her fourth graders. Here's a sampling:

http://medinger.wordpress.com/2007/09/27/in-the-classroom-introducing-the-arrival/

Just for the record, I enjoyed Artemis Fowl - I think the transition to graphic novel was brilliant, but it's hard not to get uppity when you see a favorite book get passed over. :-)

Posted : Feb 20, 2008 01:24

Andrew Ogus

>Much as I love Shaun Tan's The Arrival, a brilliant distillation of the immigrant experience, I think it may have more appeal for adults than kids — even young adults. Perhaps it should be distributed in newcomer highschools.

Posted : Feb 19, 2008 09:49

Chris Rettstatt

>I was a judge in the Fantasy / Science Fiction category, so I don't have any gossip on the two titles mentioned. However, I'm glad to see others are as excited about Smekday as I was.

Posted : Feb 19, 2008 09:39

Roger Sutton

>Yes, David Elzey linked above to a thoughtful post on the difference between considering The Arrival as middle grade and as YA. It's a tough call when there are no words and the characters are adults.

Posted : Feb 19, 2008 07:46

J. L. Bell

>Folks have mentioned Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel and The Arrival. It's important to recall that we Cybils judges weren't asked to compare those two books. They were short-listed in different age categories.

Posted : Feb 19, 2008 07:38

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