Congratulations to the SCIBA Finalists!

The SoCal Independent Booksellers Award finalists have been announced – congratulations!

Children’s Novel:

• The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith (Feiwel & Friends)
• The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens (Random House)
• Summer According to Humphrey by Betty Birney (Putnam)
• One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street by Joanne Rocklin (Amulet)

Children’s Picture Book:

• When I Grow Up by Weird Al Yankovic (HarperCollins)
• Me, Frida illustrated by David Diaz (Abrams)
• Otis & Sydney and the Best Birthday Ever by Laura Numeroff (Abrams)
• Bear With Me by Max Kornell (Putnam)

The complete list of finalists is here. Winners to be announced October 22, 2011.

Always to good to have more books to read – the only ones I’ve read from the above lists are The Marbury Lens and One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street, but I’ve read other Humphrey books…  it’s obvious the award committee doesn’t have a certain type of book in mind!

Be sure to get your copies from your favorite indpendent book store!

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

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Friday Thoughts, Book and Otherwise

I just finished reading One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street, by Joanne Rocklin.

From the author’s website: (This story) revolves around a neighborhood’s one remaining orange tree and the secrets told, grand ideas shared, and events witnessed in its presence. The story is told in the viewpoints of the street’s many inhabitants, past and present.

This charming, sweet (and tart), middle grade novel is almost a collection of linked short stories, but not quite. I do so love stories of community interconnectedness. I thought the time frame was especially effective ~ looking at one amazing day from the perspective of several characters. We are all living our own separate stories each and every day, but some days truly are more significant than others.

And sometimes life converges into one wild weekend ~ like the one we’re about to experience.

Our church has an annual three-day block party where the whole community is invited – and many of them come – to hang out with friends, listen to music, eat delicious food and play games. In years past we have spent the entire weekend there both working and partaking in the fun. Reveling in interconnectedness. We look forward to seeing that great big balloon in the sky that lets us know the Fiesta has begun. But this year we are having one of those everything happening at once kind of weekends…

Besides the Fiesta, various members of our family have a band festival performance at Disneyland, a dive meet, baseball championship game, work training, more baseball, goodbye party at water park, Tim McGraw concert, Picture Book Party, S.A.T… hmmm, seems like I’m forgetting something.

They are all wonderful things that must get done but I am a bit wistful that we won’t be able to lounge the weekend away having balloon races and playing Bingo while pigging out on lumpia.

But if you are having a lazier sort of weekend, go pick up a copy of the magical One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street.

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