Guy Friday-- Rock Star Guys

Everyone likes to feel like a rock star. You know: adoring crowds, applause, tight leather pants. Well, okay, maybe not the last part. But we all like to feel appreciated for our hard work. The Liebster Blog Award from Iron Guy Carl brightened my day, as did having all three of my district waiver day sessions on 100 Great New Books fill up. If we continue to have waiver days, I really want the auditorium. The spotlight would be nice.

There are plenty of authors who should feel like rock stars every single day. Anthony Horowitz, Rick Riordan, Jon Scieszka and Jeff Kinney should, by all rights, demand that their offices be stocked with only blue M&Ms and grape Fanta if that's what they want. Not that they would, because they all seem like nicer guys than that. And for some reason, Scott Westerfeld makes a lot of librarians blush. We'll try not to get into the authors that librarians find sexy, because that could only be disturbing. Although if David Gilman ever asked me out to lunch, I would certainly cancel other plans.

There are some phenomenally hard working authors who don't get as much press as they should, considering the sheer number of books that they are able to put into the hands of boys. So, gentlemen, feel like rock stars today. I hear that Jarrett Krosoczka has a great leather suit!

Gordon Korman
Wow. Really, what has Mr. Korman NOT written? He seems to have the strongest grasp of any author I know of what 12-year-old boys want to read. Could be because he started writing at the age of 12 and has not stopped for a moment since. If I have a boy in the library who has no idea what he wants to read, we go straight to Korman.


Carl Deuker
Mr. Deuker has had a slow but steady stream of the most phenomenal sports books ever. Lots of good play-by-plays, but beautiful prose, well-developed characters, complex story lines--- why has he not been nominated for a Newbery? He makes me feel like a slacker, because I think he also still teaches. No wonder he is so in tune with what students want. His mysteries that also involve sports are brilliant. Always wait eagerly for his new titles.


Rich Wallace
Short but wonderful sports books. Most boys who love football books don't want a 400 page tome, and Wallace understands this and is able to fit a great plot, engaging characters, and sports descriptions into books that take me 20 minutes to read. His Wrestling Sturbridge is one of the few wrestling books out there for middle grades. I would LOVE to take the writing workshop he offers if I ever get around to writing my cross country novel. I look to him for writing tips. He strikes a perfect balance.

Jordan Sonnenblick
How does Sonnenblick write such hysterically funny SAD books? The first chapter of Notes from the Midnight Driver is nothing short of sheer and utter brilliance. When I had extra money a few years ago, I made sure that I had three copies of everything the man had ever written. And guess what? Not a single copy is on the shelves now. He is also my hero for his stand on standarized testing, and when I e mailed him recently about his book Curveball coming out in March, he had his publicist send me an ARC.


There are plenty of other authors who should also feel like rock stars. Right now, John Flanagan, Darren Shan, Walter Dean Myers and Joseph Delaney can all do a little air guitar and prance around their living rooms. But then they need to get back to writing, because we need more books from them!
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(All photos from author web sites or publisher biographies. If anyone does not want these photos used, please let me know and I will remove them.)