I’m pleased and honored to announce that Citizen Scientists has been named a Green Earth Book Award winner! I’ll be traveling to Salisbury, Maryland to accept the award in early April, and am looking forward to participating in the Read Green Festival at Salisbury University while I’m there. Many thanks to the award sponsor, The Nature Generation; be sure to visit their website for the complete list of the 2013 Green Earth Book Award winners.
And SuperExtraDouble thanks to The Winthrop School in Massachusetts, who were kind enough to reschedule our April visit so that I could attend the award ceremonies. I look forward to hanging out with all you Winthrop School folks on our soon-to-be-decided makeup day!
And don’t forget to comment on yesterday’s post in order to win a signed copy of THE ODYSSEY OF KP2. There are very few entries so far, so your chances of winning are super good!
Happy Nonfiction Monday, friends! I am fresh back from an amazing weekend of celebrating children’s science books, including Citizen Scientists, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and I am super-excited to share some of the other SB&F Prize-winning titles with you. So … let’s have a giveaway!
(In fact, let’s have three. I’m going to raffle signed copies of the SB&F Prize winners in the picture book, middle grade, and young adult categories over the next three Nonfiction Mondays, so be sure to visit again.)
This week’s title is The Odyssey of KP2, by Terrie M. Williams.
Dr. Williams is a rock-star marine mammal researcher (check out her lab web page, and her TEDx talk for proof) and her book shares the story of an abandoned Hawaiian monk seal pup, KP2, who comes to live and work in her lab at UC Santa Cruz. It’s an irresistible tale, but for me, the power of this book lies in the way KP2’s life story is woven into the larger human drama of politics, spirituality, species loss, the nature of science, and the wonder of maternal connection. It’s obviously a great choice for any young person considering a career in science, especially women, but truly, friends, this is a story for all of us.
Okay … want a copy of your own? Signed by Dr. Williams? Just leave a comment on this post before 5pm on Thursday and I’ll enter your name in my drawing. If you spread the word about the giveaway and let me know that in a comment too, I’ll add your name a second time. On Friday, I’ll post the winner’s name here on my blog.
A few ground rules:
1. Winners must live in the continental United States. I will send the book to the winner by USPS Media Mail next Monday.
2. Please remember to check back on Friday to see if you’ve won; I’ll post instructions then for how to get me your mailing address.
3. Good luck, and happy reading!
One last thing: for a look at other nonfiction titles that books bloggers are reading and loving this week, visit this week’s Nonfiction Monday host, Shelf-employed blog. You’ll find a complete round-up there tomorrow.
SB&F Prize weekend was a total blast! A blur, but a blast. I’ve posted a few photos in this album on my Facebook author page for those who want a peek at the festivities. I’ve also decided to publish my acceptance speech here on my blog, because in my excitement, I left both the speech and my glasses on my seat when I took the podium. Plus, these are thanks that bear repeating.
Thank you to Terry Young and the SB&F Prize committee, to Maria Sosa and everyone at Science Books & Films, to AAAS and to Subaru for making this award possible and for allowing me to be part of it.
Thank you to my friends at Henry Holt, especially my editor Sally Doherty.
Thank you to my colleague, photographer Ellen Harasimowicz, who traveled from Central Park to central Mexico with me in search of the pieces of this story;
Thank you to my husband Gerry, who supports every crazy book idea—and therefore the endless research trips—I come up with.
And thank you to my kids, Sam, Ben, and Catherine, who for the past few years have patiently counted more birds, traipsed alongside more vernal pools, chased after more butterflies, and stalked more ladybugs than they may have wanted to. I’m not sure they know how helpful they were to me and, since they are here tonight, I’m going to take a second to tell them…
One of the tough aspects of a book like this was identifying the parts of citizen science and individual projects that would most appeal—or not appeal—to kid readers. I know what spoke to me, a forty-something adult writer with a scientific bent, but to know what appealed or didn’t to kids, I needed help. And, so, I watched you. Everything you did while we explored Hosmer Street or Wachusett Meadow or Trout Brook was supremely helpful to me. In fact, most of it is in the book. Thank you three for helping me get things right.
And finally, a quick but sincere cheer for all of you who read books, especially kids books and extra-especially kids science books. Ours is a tiny corner of the publishing world, but tonight I realize this is actually just fine by me. So long as we can gather every now and again, like this, and talk books, share our passions, swap our ideas, dream about new projects and new ways to excite the rest of the world about science and its stories.
Thank you all so very much.
And thank YOU for reading. I plan to give away copies of the prize-winning titles in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned!
Boston is hosting the annual conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this weekend, and there is lots of crazy cool science-y stuff going on.
Saturday and Sunday are dedicated to kids and families, with interactive science exhibits, tabletop science demos, and plenty of science peeps to talk shop and answer questions for students of all ages. These Family Fun Days are held in the Hynes Convention Center from 11am to 5pm on both days and are completely free. Check out the details here.
If science books are your thing, consider attending the award ceremony for the SB&F Prizes on Saturday. Here are the details:
Saturday, February 16, 2013
6:30-8pm
Sheraton Hotel, Liberty Ballroom
39 Dalton Street, Boston, MA
And on Sunday, SB&F authors (including me!) will be reading and signing books at the Hynes Convention Center as part of the Family Fun Days festivities. Here’s our schedule:
Readings in Booth #69/70
11:30 -12:00 Sy Montgomery (author of TEMPLE GRANDIN)
12:15-12:45 Penny Chisolm (author of OCEAN SUNLIGHT)
1:00-1:30 Loree Griffin Burns (author of CITIZEN SCIENTISTS)
1:45-2:15 Terrie M. Williams (author of THE ODYSSEY OF KP2)
Signings in Booth #321
12:15-12:45 Sy Montgomery (author of TEMPLE GRANDIN)
1:00-1:30 Penny Chisolm (author of OCEAN SUNLIGHT)
1:45-2:15 Loree Griffin Burns (author of CITIZEN SCIENTISTS)
2:30-3:00 Terrie M. Williams (author of THE ODYSSEY OF KP2)
One year ago today, on a holiday otherwise known as CITIZEN SCIENTISTS Release Day, my son Sam surprised me with the coolest valentine ever (above). I will never get tired of that graphic!
This year, Valentine’s Day morn was spent celebrating the Cybils Awards. More formally known as the Children’s and Young Adults Bloggers’ Literary Awards, these honors are bestowed one stroke after midnight each Valentine’s Day, and they are always a great bet for book lovers.
Need proof?
Click on over to the Cybils award announcement (link below) and scroll through the winning titles. Explore the genres. Read the reviews. Fall in love.
What to do next is up to you, of course, but I recommend you pick a book for yourself. Pick one (or three!) for your valentine, too. Then scroll back up to the top of the page and click on the embedded “Shop Now” link. Find your selections and pop them into your cart. When you check out, a small portion of Amazon’s proceeds will be given to the Cybils.
Your valentine gets some book love. A Cybils author gets some book sale love. The Cybils award gets some thank you love. Three birds, one click.
This past weekend, MassAudubon sponsored its annual Focus on Feeders bird census. My kids and I managed to spot fifteen species of birds over the course of the two days. Most were at our feeders, but a few, like the crows and the red-tailed hawk, just happened to be flying overhead while we were counting. I was thrilled that one of our resident red nuthatches showed up and posed for a photo, and completely stoked that my son Ben was ready with the camera. (If you are into birds, you can compare this red nut to the white-breasted cousin from this recent post.) Here’s our full species list:
American crow
American goldfinch
Black-capped chickadee
Blue jay
Dark-eyed junco
Downy woodpecker
House finch
Mourning dove
Northern cardinal
Red-bellied woodpecker
Red-breasted nuthatch
Tufted titmouse
White-breasted nuthatch
Red-tailed hawk
Don’t worry if you missed the fun; Great Backyard Bird Count is just two weeks away! I’ll be counting with kids from my local elementary school. How about you?
The past few months have brought some nice accolades for CITIZEN SCIENTISTS, each of which makes me proud and very, very grateful. Thank you to the teachers, librarians, scientists, reviewers and children’s book lovers who make these awards happen …
It was awarded an AAAS/SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books (Hands-On Science category). You can read more about this award and all the 2013 finalists here.
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) named it an Orbis Pictus honor book. You can read about the Orbis Pictus winner, the Orbis Pictus honor books, and more NCTE Recommended titles here.
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) included it on their list of Outstanding Trade Books for Students K-12. Access the complete list here.
The New York Public Library included it on their 2013 list of 100 Titles for Reading & Sharing. You can see that complete list here.
Last week, Erica Zappy, the editor of my ‘Scientists in the Field’ books at Houghton Mifflin sent me and author Pamela S. Turner, a link to this video of a dolphin in distress approaching divers in Hawaii, apparently for help. “What to you guys make of this?” she asked.
Pam is an experienced scuba diver, and has just written a new SITF book, THE DOLPHINS OF SHARK BAY. This is what she had to say about the video.
I’ve written a book about ocean trash, and so my thoughts got a bit preachy. But I stand by them. How can the average at-home viewer do anything for that poor dolphin? By changing the way you think about plastic, by making tough decisions about when to use it. By getting real, refusing that plastic straw, and drinking your restaurant soda directly from a glass.
In a beautiful coincidence, I had an email over the weekend from a woman I’d never met, but who is doing work I admire. Sara Bayles has taken the ocean plastic issue into her own hands. Literally. For 365 non-consecutive days, twenty minutes at a time, she has cleaned thousands of pounds of trash off the beach near her home. And she has inspired people around the world to start doing the same thing. Visit Sara’s blog and her website and you are very likely to be inspired, too. In Sara’s words: “One person makes a difference. That one person is you. Together we are an unstoppable solution.”
Amen to that.
(A word on the photo: My friend Betty Jenewin took this photo on Grayland Beach in California when I was writing and researching TRACKING TRASH.)
Is it me, or is citizen science EVERYWHERE? I just opened the January/February edition of Audubon magazine and found a piece about yet another web portal for curious kids and their families to explore citizen science projects that need their help. I’ve added it to my growing list (links below) of places to send folks who need a “real science” fix …
