From: Melody Allen <melody_allen>
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 07:31:22 -0500

While I agree with Ginny that the annotations cited are weak and useless to the reader (and perhaps indicate that the books listed were not read by the annotation writer), I agree with Norma Jean that book evaluation is a holistic process. As I tell my students, there are no perfect people and likewise don't expect perfect books. Even Madeline (12 girls shown in one illustration while Madeline is in the hospital) and Where the Wild Things Are (a pennant on the sailboat goes in the wrong wind direction on one page - I heard Sendak say a 10 year old boy had pointed that out to him) have flaws in the illustrations, but fortunately they were not seen as
"fatal flaws" in books that have become classics. High standards often encourage the best in bookmaking, and this very discussion of favorites shows how much the efforts of everyone in the process of bringing a wonderful book to young people are appreciated by the adults who advocate on their behalf. Melody Allen (We could all use a Granny Torrelli)

Based on my experience as a former editor, I wonder if the misspelling of Paul's name in the back matter of An American Plague is a typo or a misspelling. To the reader, they are one and the same but in reality they are different in the sense the reason for the mishap is different. In the case of a typo, everyone involved knew how to spell the name/ word but somewhere along the way, letters were transposed, etc. In the other, people did not know how to spell the name/word. Many years ago, a production manager handed me the first bound copy of Pat Lauber's Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens, and I eagerly flipped at random to a spread and the first "thing" that popped out was, "hte," instead of "the." I was horrified; so many of us had read the proof through every single stage and still...a typo. It was a Newbery Honor Book that year and I am forever grateful to the committee for appreciating Pat's skill as a writer and storytelling, and not penalizing us for the typo. Given who Jim Murphy is, as well as the skill of his editor, and her staff, I would bet hands down that the misspelling of Paul's last name is a typo. There are few writers of nonfiction who are also gifted storytellers, and while I appreciate the reasons for good back matter, I would hate to see it become more important than the heart of the book. Many writers provide good, and even excellent documentation but few writers can write An American Plague, a work of nonfiction that has a soul, and is as deeply felt as an excellent novel. Norma Jean
Received on Fri 19 Dec 2003 06:31:22 AM CST