SPIES BOOKS AND CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Nathan Hale

The month of September produces a number of spy stories relating to the American War of Independence,

Nathan Hale was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British. He is probably best remembered for his purported last words before being hanged on the 22^nd September 1776: "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country."

Arnold

André

Four years later on the 21^st September 1780, General Benedict Arnold gave the British plans to West Point. Two days later, on the 23^rd September 1880, British Major John André was arrested by American soldiers as a spy. This exposed the plot to surrender West Point to the British. 

As a result, on the 24^th September 1880 Arnold fled to the British Army Lines.

Publishers weekly, in picking the best new books published for the week of the 24^th September 2012, includes, inter alia, Sophia’s War: A Tale of the Revolution.  According to Publishers Weekly. the book, written by Avi (pen name for Edward Irving Wortis): “channels the mood, language, and danger of the Revolutionary War in this seamless blend of history and fiction, set in British-occupied New York City. Twelve-year-old Sophia Calderwood idolizes her older brother, William, a fervent Patriot soldier who has gone missing after the Battle of Brooklyn. In the first half of the book, Sophia’s desperate search for William leads her to several deplorable prisons where rebels are being held. The second half takes place when Sophia, now 15, becomes a spy who uncovers the truth about Benedict Arnold. The book is chockfull of fascinating historical details, including the conditions for those stranded in New York and the failed meetings between Arnold and John André, his (real-life) British contact. Avi doesn’t sugarcoat the brutal realities of war as Sophia races to find help intercepting John André, who was also a boarder in her home years earlier and her first crush, in this rich, nail-biting thriller. A glossary of period terms and an author’s note are included.”

Perfect timing for the release of the book. Whether this date figures large in the history lessons taught in British schools, is open to question. I doubt if it is made much of in schools in the United States either, but the release of the book during the week of the 232^nd anniversary of the treachery of Benedict Arnold was no doubt planned as part of its publicity.  

I know very little about children’s books, but Edward Wortis, writing under the name of Avi, is a well-known American author of young adult and children’s literature. He is a winner of the Newbery Medal and a two-time recipient of the Newbery Honor. This is a literary award given by the Association of Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Named for John Newbry, an 18th century English publisher of juvenile books, the Newbery Medal was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and depicts on an author giving his work (a book) to a boy and a girl to read.

Melcher was editor of Publishers weekly in 1918 and stayed with the magazines publishing company RR Bowker until his death in 1963.

The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. When the winner is announced each January, bookstores sell out, libraries order copies and teachers add the book to their lesson plans. Many bookstores and libraries have Newbery sections; popular television shows interview the winners; textbooks includes lists of Newbery winners, and many master's and doctoral theses are written about them.

Beside the one annual Medallist, the committee identifies a variable number of worthy runners-up as Newbery Honor Books. Though the Newbery Honor was initiated in 1971, specially cited runners-up for the Newbery Medal from previous years were retroactively named Newbery Honor books. As few as zero and as many as eight have been named, but from 1938 the number is one to five annual Honors.

There is so much to know about publishing.