The "Uber-Talented" Eleanor Davis

Eleanor Davis has been a star in our Children's Room for some time. Kids just learning to read love her graphic novel reader, Stinky, while her book, The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook, is one of our most popular graphic novel check-outs among young readers.

 But Davis' recent presentation at our library (part of our partnership with Politics & Prose) wasn't about kid stuff. Instead, Davis was focused on her new graphic novel for adults, How To Be Happy. Even more than that, her presentation, which was riveting, fascinating and more than a bit confounding, was rated PG-13. (Davis herself gave it that rating because of strong language and discussion of sexual topics).

It was a thought-provoking presentation of truth and lies, woven together and mixed with Davis' lyrical commentary and artwork that is simply stunning in its emotional impact and artistic vision -- much like her new book. After the program, Davis noted that she was tired of talking about her life,  and figured that presenting variations on her life -- mixing truth with falsehood -- would make things more interesting. It certainly did, and it was entertaining for me -- a former reporter -- to be taking notes on Davis' talk and then suddenly be told that the facts presented in that section were "90 percent lies."!

 While I've read How To Be Happy a couple of times and am awestruck by Davis' imagination and artistic talent, I would have a hard time trying to review it. The book is a series of short stories, each done in a different artistic style, so there are many different pieces to interpret and review. And I'm still very much a neophyte when it comes to graphic novels. So let me link to a couple of folks who do know graphic novels and are fans of Davis' work in general and of How To Be Happy in particular.

In his April 19, 2014 blog for Forbidden Planet, Richard Bruton noted that, "Eleanor Davis is, without question, a major young creator," adding: "Despite (her) changing styles, the constant is an incredible storytelling sense....." You can read more here.

Eleanor Davis signs books for a fan.

 And Tim O'Shea, in an interview with Davis published on June 30, 2014 on ComicBookResources.com says that "her work often strikes me as the comics equivalent of an interpretive dance. I have no other way to describe the core response that her work elicits from me. I look repeatedly at some of the pages in this collection (How To Be Happy) and still find something new each time." O'Shea's interview with Davis can be read here.

Best of all, take a look at what my library colleague, graphic novel guru Dave Burbank, has to say about Davis and her work here.

My only disappointment of the evening was when Davis said she wasn't planning to do a sequel to The Secret Science Alliance. Noting that she frequently gets letters from young readers asking for a sequel, Davis said that the book just took too much time, even with the lettering help from her talented graphic novelist husband, Drew Weing. But Davis urged disappointed readers to follow Weing's web comic, The Creepy Casefiles of Margo Magoo, which she likened to The Secret Science Alliance. I've just started reading it, and I'm enjoying it so far. Perhaps Weing will publish a book someday containing the entire story. That's how it goes these days in the comics world. Things that start as web comics can become big sellers in published print form -- just look at the success of Smile, Raina Telgemeier's best-selling graphic novel that started as a web comic.

One last note on Davis. In searching for information about her on the Internet, I discovered that she had been invited to do a Google Doodle a few months ago. Like all of Davis's work, it is quirky, beautiful and incredibly unique. Check it out in this interview that Davis did with Michael Cavna, who covers comics for The Washington Post and who deserves the credit for correctly labeling Davis as "uber-talented."

Kate (the Great) DiCamillo Is Coming!

Yes, the current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature AND the current Newbery Medalist is coming to my library! If you're in the Washington, D.C. area, mark your calendars for Friday, August 29 at 7 p.m., when Kate will speak in the auditorium of the Takoma Park (Maryland) Community Center, which connects to our library. I'll be moderating (whoo-hoo!) the program; I've been told that Kate likes to do a Q & A format at her programs. Then she'll sign books afterwards.

How did my library, which is, after all, tiny -- as well as the only small, city-run library in Maryland -- get the honor of hosting the great Kate DiCamillo? Well, chalk it up to our partnership with Politics & Prose Bookstore, the independent bookstore in DC.

A couple of years ago, the P&P folks asked if we'd like to partner with them on author events; we provide the space for the events, and they provide the authors. Talk about a deal for us  See, P&P has more authors for events than they have space and time on their store calendar, which is why they reached out to us and to several other libraries in the area to see if we could form a partnership. The benefits for my library are immense because we get to host authors we never could afford to pay to come. P&P sells books at the events for people who'd like to have the visiting author personally sign their volume, but no purchase is required to attend any of the programs.

Ben Hatke

Recent authors whom we have hosted with P&P include graphic novelist Ben Hatke, of Zita the Spacegirl fame, Llama Llama picture book creator Anna Dewdney, and internationally-acclaimed author/illustrator Maira Kalman.

And now Kate DiCamillo! She's actually coming to DC for the National Book Festival, which will be held indoors for the first time on Saturday, August 30 at the Washington Convention Center. It was Kerri Poore, energetic coordinator of children's & teen events at Politics & Prose, who had the brilliant idea to ask Kate's publisher, Candlewick Press, if she might be willing to tack on an extra event the night before the festival. Lo and behold, she was!

I've interviewed Kate several times and so know how amazingly nice she is. Still I have to admit that I'm a tad nervous about moderating the program.
But I know that Kate will put me, and the audience, right at ease, as we talk about her ambassadorial platform -- "Stories connect us" -- her latest Newbery-winning book, the utterly delightful Flora & Ulysses, her newest book, LeRoy Ninker Saddles Up, and more. It's sure to be a wonderful night, so watch this space for a wrap-up right after it happens.

Kate's not the only author we're co-hosting this fall with P&P at the Takoma Park Maryland Library. Our partnership with P&P has produced a great line-up of children's (and adult) authors who will be speaking in our library's Children's Room (that's where we generally host authors and illustrators; hosting Kate in the auditorium is an exception).

For example, at 7 p.m. on August 28 -- just the night before Kate speaks -- Caldecott Honor author/artist Peter Brown will be talking about his newest picture book, My Teacher Is a Monster! (No I Am Not). It's great timing because that's the first week of school around here, so Brown's pitch-perfect, comic send-up of teacher-student dynamics should draw a good crowd of preschoolers and early elementary-age students.

Other upcoming events include: graphic novelist Eleanor Davis, who will talk about her new adult short story collection, How to Be Happy, on Monday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m.; a trio of middle-grade authors -- Annie Barrows, E.D. Baker and Jessica Day George -- who will talk about their latest books on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m.; and author Shannon Hale, talking about The Princess in Black, the launch of a new early chapter series, on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. I'll be blogging about each event as they occur, so stay tuned for more!