James Preller's Blog

Still pleased about the good news from Vermont, I’m happy to announce that Bystander has been also named to the 2011 Kentucky Bluegrass Children’s Book Award Master List.

It is an honor to be one of the few titles selected for consideration. Now may the ballot box-stuffing commence! Vote early and vote often! That’s P-R-E . . . L-L . . . E-R . . . like the shampoo, but with an E-R at the end.

My books will leave you more radiant!

Wait. Was that not dignified? I’m getting the feeling that maybe Jean Craighead George might have handled it differently.

Also included from Feiwel & Friends, in the grades 9-12 category:

In the Path of Falling Objects by Andrew Smith

The other titles in the grades 6-8 category along with Bystander:

All The Broken Pieces/By Ann E. Burg.
Scholastic Press, 2009.
Two years after being airlifted out of Vietnam in 1975, Matt Pin is haunted by the terrible secret he left behind. Now in a loving adoptive home in the United States, a series of profound events forces him to confront his past.

Bystander/By James Preller.
Feiwel and Friends, 2009.
Thirteen-year-old Eric discovers there are consequences to not standing by and watching as the bully at his new school hurts people. Although school officials are aware of the problem, Eric may be the one with a solution.

Faith, Hope, And Ivy June/By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
Delacorte, 2009.
During a student exchange program, seventh-graders Ivy June and Catherine share their lives, home, and communities. Surprisingly, both girls find that although their lifestyles are total opposites, they have a lot in common.

Flawed Dogs: The Shocking Raid On Westminster /By Berkeley Breathed.
Philomel Books, 2009.
After being framed by a jealous poodle, a dachshund is left for dead, but comes back with a group of mutts from the National Last Ditch Dog Depository to disrupt the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and exact revenge on Cassius the poodle.

Jane In Bloom/By Deborah Lytton.
Dutton Children’s Books, 2009.
Devastated when her beautiful, older sister dies from anorexia, twelve-year-old Jane recovers slowly from the tragedy with help from unexpected sources.

Leviathan/By Scott Westerfeld.
Simon Pulse, 2009.
In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek is on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery. Alek soon forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn, a girl secretly disguised as a boy so she can serve in the British Air Service, who is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts.

Million-Dollar Throw/By Mike Lupica.
Philomel Books, 2009.
Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie’s family is feeling the stress of the troubled economy, plus his best friend Abby is going blind. When he gets a chance to win a million dollars by completing a pass during halftime of a New England Patriot’s game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.

Slob By Ellen Porter.
Philomel Books, 2009.
Picked on, overweight genius Owen tries to invent a television that can see the past to find out what happened the day his parents were killed.

The Storm In The Barn/By Matt Phelan. Candlewick, 2009.

Eleven-year-old Jack Clark struggles with everyday obstacles while his family and community contend with the challenges brought on by the Dust Bowl in 1937 Kansas.

Woods Runner/By Gary Paulsen.
Wendy Lamb Books, 2010.
From his 1776 Pennsylvania homestead, thirteen-year-old Samuel sets out toward New York to rescue his parents from the band of British soldiers and Native Americans who kidnapped them after slaughtering most of their community. Includes historical notes.

When I was a kid, I sat like a zombie and watched commercials like this 1970 Prell advertisement. Younger people don’t understand, even people just 5-10 years younger don’t always get it, but my childhood was like the show “Mad Men” . . . but all the time. Like, I mean, it wasn’t an artful, critically-acclaimed television show that millions watched on HBO. It was the WORLD I lived in, without the knowing wink-wink of irony. Crazy, right? Trust me on this, people, and watch . . .