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Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The LincolnsApril 23, 2009
Judge Nancy Werlin' Statement What you’re really getting here in BOB (and this must by now be eminently clear) is a close-up look at the prejudices of the individual judges. Today it's my turn to be exposed. In preparation for my match-up, I also read The Underneath by Kathi Appelt and Nation by Terry Pratchett, as I didn't know which would go forward from brackets seven and eight. In my opinion, all four books were fantastic, but the round two match-up that I most feared to judge was The Underneath versus The Lincolns. The Underneath has for me the perfect craftsmanship of a Shaker cabinet, and it held me firmly in its enchantment and terror. I feel, flat out, that it’s a masterpiece. As for Nation (which would in my court have lost by a hair and with a sob to The Underneath): sometimes, in reading, you realize that a writer has achieved that pure creation: a story that is deeply personal on the emotional level without being at all so factually, and all you can do is bow your head in honor. Those match-ups would have been tough. This one isn’t, even though I must say it’s shamefully unfair to have to compare these two very different books. But it’s like Sherman marching to the sea; it’s like Katsa against Po. There’s no question of the outcome. The Lincolns wins over Graceling. My initial prejudices gave The Lincolns the short straw over Graceling; I tend to prefer fiction to nonfiction; more, I love fantasy and romance. But once I open a book, it’s simple. Am I immersed in the narrative? Or is the carping voice in my head pointing out flaws as I read? For me, in the first third of Graceling, that wretched internal voice was relentless. It had problems with the geography of the castle; it had logic problems with how Katsa’s grace manifested in the physical world (and indeed, it turned out that Katsa is mistaken about her grace, but that didn’t resolve my logic problem); it wondered why Katsa’s uncle would be anything but thrilled with her desire not to marry; and on and on. None of these were big problems. Small writer’s brushstrokes – the right sentence here and there – would have resolved most of them. But these nuances were not present, and thus Graceling was for me the work of a promising first novelist whose hand was still shaking a bit on the tiller of her craft. Until page 135. That’s where Katsa declares her independence: "This is my rebellion, and mine alone, and if you don’t agree, I swear to you on my Grace I will murder the king." The emotional force of that knocked the wind out of my internal carping voice. Suddenly, I believed in Katsa. From here on out, I was moved by her growing relationship with Po, breathless at the trek through the mountains, and gasping with surprise at that last fiendish plot twist at Po’s castle (which I should’ve spotted, but didn’t because I was so masterfully distracted by what was happening in the story emotionally). In short, I loved it. I look forward with pleasure to what Kristin Cashore will do next. But, boys and girls, The Lincolns. Oh, my lord, The Lincolns. Reading The Lincolns once or twice isn't enough. I want to study it. I want to flip through it randomly. I need to buy extra copies for friends. I read choice bits aloud to my husband, and soon enough he was reading over my shoulder, and then with awe we were poring over Lincoln's handwriting (his very handwriting!) on the Gettsyburg Address – and then, in the next breath, considering exactly why it was that you couldn’t consider this brilliant, but very pragmatic and ambitious man to be a saint. The material was presented clearly, beautifully, fully, and with respect for the reader’s intelligence and understanding. Reading the book was utterly absorbing, cover to cover. I had thought I had a pretty good handle on Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War, and the complexities of the issues, and of the complexities of the man and of the times. (I don't mean to brag, but I got a 5 on the AP American History test back in the day.) More fool me, huh? It also turns out I knew nothing about the real Mary Todd Lincoln, who I did vaguely think had been insane. (I am ashamed. Also, if I could get hold of Robert Lincoln right now, I'd slap him silly for his behavior to his mother.) The Lincolns takes you close to Mary and Abraham (don't you dare call him Abe, he hated that name). Their childhoods; their minds; their times; their marriage; their love. And more: their commitment to their country; their sacrifices for it and for us. This is the story of the right people at the right place at the right time – and of how horrible it was, for them, in so many ways, that this was so. Their suffering, and the suffering of the entire country, north and south, was laid bare before me. Candace Fleming has selected, arranged, and written the many pieces of the story flawlessly and seamlessly, matching them with pictures and the just-right snippets and illustrations from magazines and letters and speeches. Yet it doesn’t read like a patchwork; you are led through the story in chronological order with a sure and deft hand. The design of this book is also a wonder; plaudits must go to its editor and art director. The experience of reading The Lincolns changed my understanding not only of the events of the Lincolns' lives and times, but of the world I live in now. It’s not just a good book. It’s a great one. The Lincolns progresses to round three. I hope it wins it all.
 Yes! Another great decision! Boy, are these judges fabulous or what! Couldn’t agree with Nancy more. I loved Graceling and I look forward to its sequel. I’ll have no problems shoving all the hordes of teen girls out of the way as I lunge for the last remaining copy in the bookstore. But no book got screwed by award committees this past year as much as The Lincolns did. I know the blogosphere is still seething over the losses of The Graveyard Book and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, but I’m very pleased to see The Lincolns advance to meet The Hunger Games in this bracket, while The Kingdom on the Waves and Chains lock horns in the other one. Linda Sue and Chris have very different challenges in front of them. Place your bets!
Posted by Battle Commander on April 23, 2009 | Comments (7)
April 23, 2009
In response to: Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The Lincolns Erin commented: No! I never thought "Graceling" would get beat out by a nonfiction book. I had it winning the whole thing! While Nancy's comments on "The Lincolns" have inspired me to order it from my library, I cannot help but feel that this is another case of the judge choosing what most pleases her (or him) instead of what would most please young adults. Don't get me wrong, nonfiction can be fascinating for kids. But I simply cannot conceive of a young teenager who would be more enthralled in the Lincolns' life stories than in Katsa's journey towards humanity.
April 23, 2009
In response to: Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The Lincolns Annonymous commented: I totally agree that this is not a popular choice. But, the first 50-100 pages of Graceling would have definitely made me pause when judging, if I were to be a judge in this. The clumsy exposition (listing of the 7 kingdoms and the brief history of each really bored me, without making me really understand the world within the book better. Not that I did not finally love the story and the relationship between Katsa and Po!
April 24, 2009
In response to: Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The Lincolns Roger Sutton commented: Gauging "what would most please young adults" was never a part of the judges' charge. You could certainly make a case that it *should* have been, but it would have been a different kind of contest entirely.
April 27, 2009
In response to: Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The Lincolns hope commented: I think that I might like to see a contest where the judges picked the winner on the basis of what most teens would like. Then we could all stand around and ask ourselves what we thought of the winner. And for round two, we could submit the books to teens, and only teens, to vote. Then we could compare our idea of what teens would like with what they actually picked. The sample for votes would be significant. If we actually sampled the kids willing to participate in a vote held in a library, we might be surprised by their selection. If we sampled those kids marched into their school library once a month for a mandatory library period, we'd get a very different result.
April 27, 2009
In response to: Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The Lincolns Battle Commander commented: We originally had in mind teens shadowing the Battle, but simply did not have time to pull it off. Next year we hopefully will.
April 27, 2009
In response to: Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The Lincolns Annoyed commented: Okay, Erin's comments have been staring me in the face all week, bugging the hell out of me. I have tried to walk away, but I simply can't. I'm sure this is a faulty analogy, but it conveys my annoyance perfectly. Nobody would ever say something like this: Black women are really beautiful, but I can't ever imagine one winning a beauty contest over a beautiful white woman. We would never say this! So why do we say something like this: Nonfiction can be fascinating for kids. But I simply cannot conceive of a young teenager who would be more enthralled in the Lincolns' life stories than in Katsa's journey towards humanity. I know literary prejudices don't cause the same degree of damage as our human prejudices, but it's still ugly!
April 28, 2009
In response to: Round 2 Match 4 Graceling vs The Lincolns hope commented: Hey Annoyed, it could also have been said like this -- Non-fiction might interest the boy readers, but there aren't so many boys as girls who are avid readers in my library. Girls like fiction better, so let's pick the book more of the people in my library would prefer-- the fiction one. Always going for the fiction might be the reason you don't have as many male avid readers.
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