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Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the ShipApril 15, 2009
Judge Rachel Cohn's Statement Let me state from the start that I am not a fan of the cult of book awards. The whole process makes me cringe, and grieve for worthy books (and their authors) that get passed over because they didn’t happen to meet the sensibilities of that year’s particular set of committee members. The system, from my outsider’s perspective, often appears mired in elitism and political correctness, with little bearing on what young readers actually enjoy reading. Wait, did I say “enjoy?” I did. And that’s the simple merit upon which I decided to make my choice. Because truthfully, if award selections are indeed the beauty contests they’re often accused of being, well then, I’ve met Ms. E. Lockhart on several occasions, and she’s ridiculously smart and attractive, and I’ve Google’d Mr. Kadir Nelson, who apparently has a movie star’s good looks to go along with his prodigious talent, which leaves them at an even draw in the beauty contest category. So I have been forced to go with my gut instinct. We Are the Ship. I choose this book knowing that perhaps I was set up to choose The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. A cool teenage girl tale, steeped in feminism and humor? That’s so my kind of book. And while I certainly admired and enjoyed it very much, I chose We Are the Ship simply because it was a book that spoke more to my personal sensibilities. When judging my own writing or that of other authors for young people, I often rely on one overriding criterion: I ask my younger self if I would have liked this particular work? And in this battle of books, young Rachel, a tomboy jock as a kid who loved baseball and softball and never ascended to a haute hot teen girl persona, responded definitively with We Are the Ship. Interestingly, while both books seem to be wildly different and unevenly paired, they do share the common trait of having adult narrators. Frankie herself might recognize best what she shares with the players of Negro League baseball. “Frankie wanted to explain about the door being closed, about wanting to push through the door, about wanting not to feel small and second-best at the table.” Both books are tales of outsiders who long to be insiders, but therein is a crucial difference – the outsiders of We Are the Ship are not outsiders by choice but by circumstance, whereas Frankie, who perceives herself as an outsider, is in fact inside an enclave of privilege that certainly does not diminish her story, but does narrow her tableau of feelings and experiences considerably in comparison to the stories of the players of Negro League baseball. “So I was a monster, she thought. At least I wasn’t someone’s little sister, someone’s girlfriend, some sophomore, some girl – someone whose opinions don’t matter.” I loved Frankie’s intelligence, humor, and gumption. But as a character, I liked but not love her; this could have something to do with the distance of the adult narrator. This is a personal preference, but I think I would have “gotten” Frankie better if I could have been more directly inside her head, without the narrator’s filter. I appreciated her most when she sounded like a teenager instead of an adult narrator: “Frankie thought: Poor Senior. He has no life. Just a memory of a life. It’s pitiful.” What most disconcerted me about Frankie was that her criminal antics to “push through the door” of the all-boys network were inspired by the big man on campus love interest, Matthew, whom she didn’t seem to like all that much. I mean, she liked being his girlfriend and the status that afforded her (what teenage girl wouldn’t relate?), and she didn’t mind making out with a hot guy (go, Frankie!), but in the end, to me, Matthew and Alpha and their crew didn’t strike me as worthy of this formidable girl’s efforts. They disappointed me as Frankie delighted me, which I’m guessing was part of the point, but proved challenging for my sympathy points as a reader, at least in comparison to We Are the Ship. While I would generally be biased toward a young main character over an adult one no matter the age of the narrator, the adult narrator of We Are the Ship has a folksy and kind tone I connected with instantly. (Admittedly, I was a geek sucker as a teen for the personal, historical narratives in Studs Terkel books, and so was probably prejudiced to respond more directly to this type of narrator.) “Players today just don’t know how bad it could be. We look back and wonder, “How did we do all of that?” It’s simple. We loved the game so much, we just looked past everything else. We were ballplayers. There was nothing we would have rather spent our time doing.” Truthfully, the two books could have been a dead heat to me except for the pictures. Like Frankie, We Are the Ship is an elegant book about empowerment, but it broadens the tableau by confronting bigger issues of discrimination, prejudice, and economic poverty, while never losing its conviction and beauty. Nelson’s paintings – so gorgeous, dignified, and impassioned – express such a profound love and joy for the players and for the game that a reader finishes this book humbled, and awed. More importantly, the economy of the storytelling, coupled with the lush paintings, could inspire great launching points for readers of all ages to independently discover more about players like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson and so many others, while also integrating so many facets of (primarily) twentieth century American history into their research. (With all apologies to E. Lockhart, Frankie inspired the anti-intellectual in both adult and teenage Rachel to roll her eyes at the Wodehouse and Focault references.) Simply put, We Are the Ship is an exquisite marriage of art to words (terrific story, well told), but also down-home enjoyable, visually stunning but accessible, and never succumbing to coffee table book pretentiousness. People ask all the time if we’re bitter because we weren’t given the chance to play baseball in the major leagues all of those years… If there had been no such thing as a Negro League, there would have been no Jackie Robinson or Willie Mays or Hank Aaron. These guys stand on our shoulders. We cleared the way for them and changed the course of history. And knowing that satisfies the soul. How can you be bitter about something like that? I leave this selection not so much bitter, but a bit embarrassed. Any awards process is inherently unfair simply because it can’t help but be subjective rather than objective (despite any official mandate otherwise), and I am loathe to choose one excellent book over another and declare it “better.” That distinction, obviously, is a matter of personal opinion. But if the peanut gallery in the Battle of the Books is the ship, then I was the captain for this particular match-up, and We Are the Ship is my choice. But I admit now to cringing at myself, for having any ego to pass judgment at all. On the positive side, I feel brighter and better (and slightly smarter) for having read these two excellent books, and I will delight in recommending both these books to young readers – you know, the ones who truly count.
 We may have ousted Betsy from Team Nonfiction, but we’ve recruited a new teammate. Welcome aboard, Rachel! This decision may seem like a big upset to some people, but these two books are actually pretty evenly matched. It was a coin flip for me, really. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is the kind of award book that makes everybody happy: good with critics, even better with teens. I never had a problem with the narrative voice that has bothered many people (including Rachel), but I do agree that the voice in We Are the Ship, not to mention those fabulous illustrations, sets the bar very high, indeed. And enough already with the hand-wringing, Rachel. You come across as a seasoned judge, especially your trenchant observation that both books are really about outsiders. Posted by Battle Commander on April 15, 2009 | Comments (13)
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship Downey commented: The only book in the Tournament of Books gets ousted in the first round...again! Aw man! Does that mean Shadow Country & We Are the Ship should duke it out...?
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship Laura commented: This was a good choice and I agree with Rachel's logic. However, this BLEW my bracket...AGAIN! Between Rachel and Jon, it looks like I'll be paying up!
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship Erin commented: I suppose I'm biased here, seeing as I've never read "We Are The Ship", but I can't help feeling that "Frankie" was given the short straw in Rachel's review. To me, Frankie was so much more than just a spunky teenage character--she WAS me at that age. Every girl in America feels the pressures Frankie endures, but not every girl makes the discovery Frankie makes: in the end, you have to respect yourself above all others. This book was a powerful one for me, and I think a very important one that should be required reading for every girl in every middle school classroom. Frankie starts out spunky and unsure, but ends up spunky and completely confident in herself. It's a modern-day story with the kind of modern heroine that young girls deserve.
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship Wendy commented: While I agree with pretty much everything Ms. Cohn has to say about both books, and We Are the Ship is what I wanted to win this match (not what I expected to win)... possibly she shouldn't have agreed to be a judge for the contest?
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship margaret commented: Nooooooooooooooooo! I loved this book so much that I had even convinced myself it could beat Octavian Nothing! I never even contemplated that Frankie wouldn't make it past the first bracket. WEEP!!! As with Erin above, I haven't read (all) of We Are the Ship, but I feel for Frankie like a ton of bricks. Everything Rachel mentions disliking, I just loved-- the Wodehouse, the Foucault, the weird narrator, the fact that the boys disappointed in the end (as they so often will). Everything, I loved just everything. The narrator in particular I felt was so important because it was the only way we could simultaneously experience Frankie's life as it was happening and place the actions of the story within systems of privilege that Frankie is just learning to understand.
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship margaret commented: "enclave of privilege" of en elite boarding school. Like most ingrained prejudices in today's society, discrimination is no longer the purview of legislators but an intricate system of subtle and nearly inescapable expectations that buffet you from all sides. Without books like Frankie to help us sit down and examine situations with a critical eye, this kind of insidious discrimination isn't going to change. I wish it had fared better hear, because I just love this book with my whole heart. At least, however, Rachel's made it clear that she thought very, very hard about this, and We Are the Ship does seem like a deserving book.
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship margaret commented: Blerg. In comment one, I wrote "feel" when I meant "fell." In comment two, I wrote "hear" when I meant "here." I hang my head low in shame.
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship annonymous commented: Wow. This is way cool. We Are the Ship was one of my top picks for Newbery since the book isn't just beautiful to look at, the narrative voice is superb, delivering great insights and the flavor of history for an important topic. I say "
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship anon commented: I love the way the judges here, like those in the TOB, are able to acknowledge their personal relationships and then go on to do their judging with such care and respect to all concerned.
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship Julia commented: NO. I refuse to believe this. Frankie should have gone on to win it all! The insightful writing used to explain Frankie's life resonated so deeply with me that after I read it for the first time I stared over at the beginning. I read it twice in one day, that's how much I loved it. The book displayed so beautifully the need for a independent teenage girl to balance her fierce independence with her need for companionship and love. The book documented that experience for me when I had never been able to do so myself. I can't spend enough time praising the way Frankie so satisfactorily summed up the realities of life to me, and gave it just the right ending- Frankie is fine. She'll always be fine. But that doesn't mean she's happy, or satisfied with life, or that she's no longer being discriminated against. The world is full of girls who don't live and die with their boyfriends, and it's time they got a little literary representation.
April 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship JoeyN commented: Frankie Landeau-Banks had a lot of interesting questions and ideas about gender, power and growing up—but frankly, it's dreadfully written. It's frequently condescending in its total lack of subtlety. Examples abound, but I think this oft-quoted passage showcases the "telling, not showing" strategy that Lockhart turns to far too often:
June 15, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship history for children commented: Rachel, I enjoyed reading your thought process. I love We Are the Ship because of the insight it provides into America's past.
July 6, 2009
In response to: Round 1 Match 5: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks vs We Are the Ship Simo commented: Just finished Frankie..., and I enjoyed it very much. I haven't read We are the Ship, but it's on my list...of over 100!
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