October 1999
Staff -- School Library Journal, 10/1/1999
School Media's Bottom Line "A $29,000 starting salary for a job requiring entry-level personnel to have a master's degree is unconscionable." "Seeking Greener Pastures" (News, February 1999) addresses an issue I have always been unable to accept. A $29,000 starting salary for a job requiring entry-level personnel to have a master's degree is unconscionable. Is this because librarians are traditionally women? I was confused, though, at the mention of many public librarians moving into the school system. School media specialists in New York are required to have anMLS in school media and a teaching license. Also, the starting salary of school librarians would be much higher than $29,000. This sounds like the starting salary for a teacher with a BS. School media specialists are at the master's level,which pays $35,000 and higher. I make these points because the switch from public library to school library is not as simple as the article makes it seem. I do strongly agree that public librarians are severely underpaid--and have you read an employment ad lately? The new requirement: "must work nights and weekends." Lauren Hallinan Warren School Media Specialist Huron High School Ann Arbor, MI Illustrating a Point I am responding to Christine A. Moesch's review of Jim McGugan's Bridge 6 (Stoddart, 1999; April, p. 102). As the illustrator of this work, I feel compelled to write to you, not on my own behalf, but in response to the unfair representation of the author's finely crafted words. As I have experienced in over years as a professional painter and sculptor, visual art is a very personal and emotionally charged subject. My work obviously triggered a highly sensitive nerve with this reviewer. So be it. It is my own individual style and I make no apologies for it. The slings and arrows of artistic critique, from wherever or whomever they may emanate, have long since lost their sting. To so flagrantly dismiss Mr. McGugan's work, however, is unfathomable. His story is neither "messy," nor "poorly written" nor "uninteresting." It is simple and charming and classic. When the manuscript was first offered to me, I was immediately drawn to the good-humored and rich characterization of the principal players. It was both a challenge and an honor and indeed a great joy for me to work on this project. Mr. McGugan's first book, Josepha: A Prairie Boy's Story, garnered for him a number of prestigious awards and nominations. This second book was recently reviewed by Hadley Dyer in the highly respected publication Quill and Quire: "What separates 'Bridge 6' from other picture books is the way in which McGugan develops his characters. This is the stuff of novels...(an) exceptional follow-up to McGugan's earlier success." Whatever your reviewer's motivations were for wielding such a sharp pencil are of little interest to me. One can't help but wonder, though, if the cruelly clever closing line "Deep-six this one" (a play on the book's title), wasn't just the starting point for a review in reverse, written to support the final verdict. If that is true, then Mr. McGugan deserves far better for his good work than a passing flip commentary. Judith Christine Mills Mississauga, Ontario Our Reviewer Replies Writing a negative review is difficult because reviewers have to alert potential buyers that a book, for whatever reasons, does not merit purchase, without makingthe review sound like an attack. As with any review, I read Bridge 6 several times and took into consideration several factors, not the least of which, since it is a picture book, were the illustrations. While visual art is indeed very personal,my job as a reviewer is to describe the artwork for librarians who will not see the book before purchase. As a reviewer, it is up to me to provide a description not only of the story line, but also of the writing technique. I stand by my assessmentthat the book is not particularly well written or involving. I must point out that while the closing line of my review was, in fact, a play on the book's title, I spend a great deal of time writing my reviews and it's never my practice to submit "passing flip commentary." Christine Moesch Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Buffalo, NY Not Ducking the Issue After receiving the SLJ review for Daisy and the Egg (Little, Brown, 1999; July, p. 80), Jane Simmons wrote to tell me that duck eggs in a single batch can be many colors, including green, since ducks often mate several times before producing a group of eggs. In fact, a batch of eggs actually has several different fathers. Also, sad but true, females sometimes do abandon eggs they sense are not going to hatch. Finally, ducks often lay eggs in one another's nests. Although this behavior may be unsettling for humans, it is all perfectly normal for a duck and therefore for Daisy's mother and aunt. Jane Simmons is very careful that Daisy and her family and friends exhibit natural duck behavior--apart from speaking, of course! Maria Modugno Associate Publisher, Children's Books Little, Brown and Company New York, NY Our Reviewer Replies While Ms. Simmons may take great care to verify the naturalistic details presented in Daisy and the Egg, the book still does not succeed as a story forchildren. Most young listeners and readers will not have as great a depth of knowledge about ducks as the author, and will wonder why the characters behave the way they do. This book is clearly intended as a work of fiction, nota treatise on ducks, and must be evaluated as such. Joy Fleishhacker Former SLJ Associate Book Review Editor Corrections The link for the University of Illinois distance education program (Letters, August 1999, p. 10) is www.lis.uiuc.edu/gslis/leep3/index.html#head. The link for the AmAcricas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature (Surf For, August 1999, p. 43) is www.uwm.edu/Dept/CLA/outreach_americas.html. The "Books Are Cool!" brochure from the International Reading Association (Send For, August 1999, p. 44) is actually a booklet available for $2, plus $3 shipping and handling.
