Media News
-- School Library Journal, 7/1/2009
The Graveyard Book (Harper Audio/Recorded Books), written and read by Neil Gaiman, was named Audiobook of the Year and The Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jackie Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady (Listen & Live Audio), written by L. A. Meyer and read by Katherine Kellgren, received the Distinguished Achievement in Production award at the 14th annual Audio Publishers Association Audio Awards gala held at the New York Historical Society on May 29, 2009. Each book also won top honors in its respective category—Children 8–12 (Gaiman) and Teens (Meyer). The Audie Awards honor spoken word recordings in 29 categories. Among the other winners were James Herriot's Treasury for Children (Macmillan Audio/BBC Audiobooks America) read by Jim Dale (Children's Titles Ages Up to 8) and Charles Dickens's Great Expectations (Tantor) read by Simon Vance (Classics). For a complete list of winners, visit theaudies.com.
The film Africa Today is available for free (ExploreAfricaToday.com) for classroom use through a partnership between The Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership, and Discovery Education. "Capturing the journey and experiences of six teachers and students from Los Angeles who travel to Uganda to engage in a cultural exchange with African teachers and students, Africa Today documents frank and open discussions regarding stereotypes and preconceived notions about both cultures." Viewers learn about Africa's culture, arts, environment, politics, technology, and more. Lesson plans correlated to the topics presented in the film have been created by Discovery Education.
The Fantasy Road Contest, sponsored by Listening Library, asks teens ages 13–18 "to create videos based around an imaginary road trip" with characters from Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper series, or Rick Riordan's Olympians series (all published by Listening Library in audiobook format). Contestants' videos should answer the questions "If you could go on a road trip with a character from one of the authors' books, where would you go? What would you see along the way? How would you get there?" Winners receive an iPod and a signed collection of audiobooks. Entries must be received by August 17, 2009. For rules and submission guidelines, visit fantasyroadtripcontest.com.
