November 1999

I purchased the first Harry Potter book on SLJ's recommendation and enjoyed it before I even realized there was going to be a worldwide craze. The only publicity, other than the starred review in SLJ (October 1998, p. 145), that I've seen was a televised interview on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. During that interview, J. K. Rowling stressed how poor she was while writing Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone (Scholastic, 1998). She stated on the show that she was so poor that she could not afford to make many copies to send to editors, so she bought plastic covers and asked editors to be careful. She also stated that she was a single mother receiving public assistance in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Imagine my surprise when she states in your interview (September 1999, pp. 137-139) that this is untrue. After all, it was not the "press" making up things about her, but her own words which led me to a conclusion she now states is false. Well, Ms. Rowling, which is it? Were you poor during the time you were finishing and sending out your first Harry Potter? If not, why did you say it and now blame it on the press?

This will not diminish my enjoyment of the continuing saga of Harry Potter, but I find it more than slightly irritating that celebrity status seems to have adversely affected Ms. Rowling, or at least her memory.

Rating SLJ's New Look

SLJ's new design is great! I had already been impressed last month with the silver and orange cover. The September issue is fantastic. I love the color-coded sections for the reviews and the contributors page. The color photos of the columnists are fun, too (except what is up with Walter's hat?). Of course the Rowling article will be of great interest to all of our teachers. You could20not have chosen a better cover topic. I had to open the magazine and read that article right away. SLJ looks great--sharp, snappy, and very "now."

I just read your September issue and wanted to congratulate you on it. I found every article relevant, well-written, and very applicable to my job as school librarian. Thank you.

Just received the September issue of SLJ and I loved it! The new format and typeface made perusing this issue much more enjoyable. The cover story on J. K.20Rowling was the icing on the cake. Congratulations!

Interesting to read "How Does Your Library Stack Up?" (News, pp. 111-112). Enjoyed finding out that I am part of a"proficient" library team. Keep up the good work.

I love the "new" School Library Journal. Thank you for finally adding an intellectual component while retaining the practical--perhaps this will help our profession be taken seriously by others. I found any number of items to copy for my teachers from this issue.

I have been devotedly reading SLJ for many years. I get a little thrill of excitement when I have a new issue, wishing I could leave work right then to pore over articles and reviews.

I do not like the new format. The band on the top of the page in the review sections is so similar to that used in magazines for advertisements that my inclination is not to read. The print is small. It is not friendly and homey anymore. It is difficult to read and easy to put down. Please either return to your former format or create a more palatable one. It has the feeling of the New York Times, which I do not like. Wading through half a hundred or more pages of advertisements before getting to the real magazine was a real turnoff.

The Web as Burden

Walter Minkel certainly wrote a thought-provoking article (Chat Room, September 1999, p. 125). I don't entirely agree with him, but that's okay.

Is Minkel suggesting that each library set up a Web site with links to many different subject areas? Most in the field simply do not have the resources and time to do that. I beg to differ when he wonders "whether many librarians are wishing the Web would go away and stop bothering them." I think many would like someone else to categorize and organize it for them. Who has the time to do it? Even if they set it up, who has the time to maintain it? Yes, I select other books and media, but not from a pool of millions. This is a dilemma we face.

Many librarians (especially in public libraries) have little input into what is offered on their library's site. As a children's librarian, I am unusual because I am the one doing most of the work on our Web page. That is somewhat unfortunate, because I am part-time and do not have the time to devote to it that I would like. I cannot maintain the site the way I would like, and that is extremely frustrating. If I started categorizing by subject I would never be done! That's what Yahooligans and Ask Jeeves are for!

I am certainly going to rethink the links I already have there. Offering one of the news services would be great. I do think they are more appropriate for high school and adults. When Minkel referred to "safe" search engines, he didn't elaborate; I think of them as offering age-appropriate information for children in an organized manner.

Harvested from the Field

Lillian Gerhardt's Arbuthnot Lecture ("Tilling the Field of Children's Literature," July 1999, pp. 30-32) surely points to a gap in the literature of our field that is also pointed out by the editors of the Encyclopedia of Children's Literature (Continuum, 1999). Of course they are not alone in recognizing the contributions of that polyglot group of people who collectively bring books to life and thence into the hands of youngsters.

Our first book of interviews, Artists of the Page: Interviews with Children's Book Illustrators (McFarland, 1992), focused on the most obvious--the primary creators. But our more recent collection of interviews, Creating Picturebooks: Interviews with Editors, Art Directors, Reviewers, Booksellers, Professors, Librarians and Showcasers (McFarland, 1997), is with those whom Ms. Gerhardt properly identified. Perhaps your readers might want to investigate the book to see how it may help them move along the path that she has pointed out. SLJ chose not to review it on publication, so perhaps Gerhardt as well as the myriad readers of SLJ were unaware of its existence.

Editor's Note

Story Versus History

I am writing in regard to your review of Ann Rinaldi's My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl (Scholastic, 1999; April, p. 141). This book contains unacceptable errors about the Native American experience. The indigenous people of North America are living, dynamic nations working to overcome romantic stereotypes, rebuild their cultures, and reclaim their societies. Their people have struggled for generations to overcome the historical inaccuracies found in various texts, from the Little House books to basic history texts used throughout the U.S. To promote the use of this book to teachers and librarians as a useful portrayal of Native American history is a grave injustice to Native America. I ask that you print a retraction as soon as possible and to refrain from further reviews of books on Native Americans until you can avail yourself of persons qualified to do so. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Our Reviewer Replies

I assessed My Heart Is on the Ground as a work of fiction according to traditional elements including plot, theme, and characterization. I also independently confirmed basic historical facts about the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and its dates of operation. As a reviewer, however, I do not attempt to replicate the author's research or to speak to the details the author has incorporated into a fictional piece. I did not recommend this title as curriculum material, as your letter seems to indicate, but as a novel that would engage readers. On a literary level, I found the culture-stripping it depicted to be horrifying, at best. Rinaldi succeeded in bringing a complex ethical issue to a young audience in an accessible manner. The clash of cultures was convincingly drawn, creating an awareness in majority-culture readers of their own assumptions. While I welcome comments by those who can provide additional information on the Native culture or the period, I stand by my literary assessment that readers will not see a "romantic stereotype," but rather a strong and resilient main character whose resourcefulness allowed her to survive the degradation of cultural assault.

Editor's Note

Same Name, Different Family

I'm writing to clear up any notion of nepotism that may have been implied in Marlene Gawron's rebuttal to Debbie Carton's letter (July 1999, p. 60) regarding Emma Kallok's The Diary of Chickabiddy Baby (Tricycle, 1999; May, p. 127). As it was the author Jonathan London who worked with Emma on her writing and recommended the book for publication to us, I feel it important that your readers know that Jonathan London is not related to Emma's teacher, Judy London, who is thanked in the acknowledgments.

Corrections

Two URLs in "Creepy Crawlies" (Surf For, September 1999, p. 127) contain typographical errors. The correct link for "Alien Empire"20 is www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/alienempire. The correct link for "Infection Detection Protection" is www.amnh.org/explore/infection/index.html.

Call for Reviewers

School Library Journal is looking for librarians/media specialists to review videos, audiobooks, music recordings, and educational CD-ROMs in all subject areas and for all grade levels. We are especially interested in recruiting middle school and high school librarians with subject specialties in science and social studies. All librarians/media specialists interested in volunteering their services should e-mail Phyllis Levy Mandell for more information at pmandell@slj.cahners.com or write to her at School Library Journal, 245 W. 17th St., New York, NY 10011.