American Libraries

Rose Treviño: The Graveyard Book, which is exciting. It was just that whole combination of the assassins, the orphan, the dead, the graveyard that made it just the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

Darwin Henderson: The committee was very excited to see the consistency of the paintings of the children within that book. There was a sense of joy, there was a sense of radiating happiness, and children celebrating who they were as African-Americans.

Claudette McLinn: It covers this beautiful struggle—the hauntingly beautiful story—of the struggle of freedom for the Cuban people.

Mary Arnold: Mostly, it was the dual narrative and it's a mystery; it's kind of a genre blending. There are two groups of friends that are separated by twenty years in an Australian boarding school, but they are somehow mysteriously connected.

Marti Goddard: That book is about a young girl with learning disabilities. But the most important part about Waiting for Normal is that, actually, the “normal” she's looking for is a stable home and a stable family life.

Jeff Schwartz: This was the most outstanding electronic source of the year and it incorporates a lot of new interactive Web 2.0 stuff.

Pam Spencer Holley: The person narrating was really the only person who could do this book. It's got all his foibles and interesting way of speaking.

Darwin Henderson: We felt that this was a true piece of storytelling in the African-American oral tradition and that Kadir Nelson's words fit the tone of the illustrations and that it was superb.

Carol Phillips: He worked for eight years on this book and it's evident in every word that he writes and every picture that he draws.

Claudette McLinn: It's a whimsical, beautiful story—part ghost story—about the events or the journey of Señor Calavera as he picks up gifts for Grandma Beetle.

Marti Goddard: It's just a wonderful, affirming story of music in his life. And he's a real American icon. So we're really happy we had that book.

Joan Atkinson: We, of course, look for bright colors and really anything that will attract children—subject matter that will attract children and presentation of that subject that will attract them.

Barbara Bibel: It's a sweeping historical epic that spans centuries in Russia, Poland, Israel, and the United States.

Margaret Tice: It's a personal memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s sister, about the march that took place on August 23, 1963. And because it's a personal memory it brings the whole event alive for children of today.

Marti Goddard: Something we had never seen anybody write about before. It's a man with Tourette's Syndrome, writing from his own personal experience with it.

Bonnie Kunzel: We choose Elizabeth C. Bunce's retelling of Rumplestiltskin, set against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution. The adventures of a mill owner's daughter, as she tries to save her mill and at the same time cope with threats from the outside world.

Unknown Speaker: That is a fantastic book.