For our annual “Off the Cuff” awards, we canvassed retailers around the country. The winners of our poll (and selected bookseller comments) appear below.
Favorite Picture Book of the Year
Toy Boat by Randall de Sève, illustrated by Loren Long (“a beautiful and timeless new classic”)
Favorite Middle Grade Novel
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (“it made me laugh, made me cry, and begs to be read aloud”)
Favorite YA Novel
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Most Unusual Picture Book of the Year
The Arrival by Shaun Tan (“it’s very sophisticated, but almost entirely visual”)
Best Book Title
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Honorable mention: I’d Really Like to Eat a Child; Do Unto Otters
Most Memorable Character in a Lead Role
Kek in Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate (“he has such an unusual voice, and its cadence stays with you”)
Best Sequel
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (“no contest!”)
Honorable mentions: Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems; Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O’Connor, illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser; The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan (“hooray for Percy Jackson! he’s the new Harry!”)
Favorite Book Jacket
How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird by Jacques Prévert, illus. by Mordicai Gerstein
Funniest Book (tie)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (“good slice of middle-school life”); The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Most Promising New Author (tie)
Linda Urban; Jeff Kinney
Most Promising New Illustrator
Kevin Sherry, illustrator of I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean! (“so bold, so simple, and so funny”)
Favorite Series
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Honorable mentions: The Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyer; Harry Potter
Best Nonfiction Treatment of a Subject
The Wall by Peter Sís
Most Innovative/Unique Book (tie)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick ('different, imaginative and stunning”); Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder
Favorite Book to Handsell
A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Honorable mentions: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (“it’s so great to convince both teenagers and their parents to read it!”)
Best Novel for Young Readers That Adults Would Love If They Knew About It (tie)
The Wednesday Wars (“every child of the ’60s would love this book”); Spud by John van de Ruit
Hottest Selling Book to Go Out of Stock
Gallop!
Honorable mentions: Diary of a Wimpy Kid; The Arrival, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Book We Could Have Sold More of with a Better Jacket
The Wednesday Wars; Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (“I couldn’t get customers past it, no matter how much I enthused”)
Oddest Request by a Customer
“A customer brought the Fancy Nancy standee to the desk and said she was offended by the explicit nature of the drawing.”
Most Unusual Complaint
“These books are printed in China. Can’t you get them printed in the U.S.?”
Funniest Thing a Kid Said in Your Store
“A child said to a staff member, 'Do you live here?’ ”
“Our storytime reader greeted the children with 'Does anyone want to come and listen to some stories?’ and a four-year-old boy replied, 'Yes. I watch too much TV.’ ”
