Oxford has Several Ties to the American Idol Equivalent of Literature

If the Nutmeg Book Awards are like the American Idol of children’s literature in our state, then Jennifer Lopez is my boss.

Let me explain. Every Feb. 14, in Connecticut, the Nutmeg Book Award is given to well-written, quality works of fiction with great appeal to children. There are two winners: an intermediate title for fourth through sixth graders and a teen title for seventh and eighth graders. These books are basically the Kelly Clarkson or David Cook of chapter books.

An idol, whether musical or literary, needs judges in order to be discovered. That’s where Jennifer Lopez comes in. The popular entertainer is on the judges’ panel of this season’s American Idol. In the world of Nutmeg, her counterpart would be the chair of the 2011 Teen Nutmeg Book Selection Committee, Dawn Higginson, who is also director of the Oxford Public Library and, therefore, my boss.

Since December 2008, Dawn has gone through a process similar to that undertaken by an Idol judge. For this experience, she was joined by the rest of the teen book selection committee, which has further ties to our town. Among the committee members were Oxford teenager Beth Ann Westgate, as well as Great Oak Middle School’s media specialist Robin Metaj. The intermediate book selection committee also featured an Oxford representative: Oxford Center School’s media specialist Jan Redfern. The committees are sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association and the Connecticut Association of School Librarians.

First, each selection committee sat through the equivalent of American Idol’s auditions. Dawn’s committee read 85 novels from an array of genres, just as the Idol judges listen to singers with a variety of musical styles.

This diversity was important.

“You need to make sure there are enough boy and/or girl books and that you have a mixed range of reading levels, [plus] adventure, mystery, historical, multicultural, realistic fiction and fantasy,” Higginson said. “We try to include a variety of genres for kids who have different interests. It needs to be a balanced list."

After several months, both the teen and intermediate Nutmeg committees narrowed each list down to 10 nominees, similar to Idol’s finalists. However, the teen book selection committee hit a snag with its pick for a fantasy title, The Last Dragon by Silvana de Mari. In order to qualify as a Nutmeg nominee, all books must be available in hardcover and paperback by Feb. 1 of the year they are announced. This was not to be the case for The Last Dragon. The paperback edition had gone out of print.

As chair of the teen book selection committee, Higginson decided to take action. She contacted the publisher.

“I had to figure out what their net gain would be if they decided to reprint it,” she said.

She determined how many copies Connecticut libraries were likely to buy once the book was nominated. She used this information to convince the publisher to reprint the paperback edition by the Feb. 1 deadline. “I actually changed the publishing of a book!” she said.

The Nutmeg nominees for both the teen and intermediate categories were publicly announced in February 2010. Then, students across the state had the opportunity to read the books. In Oxford, many children read at least one nominee because the books were featured on the summer reading lists of and . Several local children read all 10 nominees for their age group. In fact, Jan Redfern hosted a pizza party for the 20 Center School students who had read every intermediate nominee.

In January 2011, a total of 26,919 students across the state voted for their favorite titles at school or at the public library. Like American Idol, the books with the most votes from the public won.

This year’s Nutmeg Book Award winners were announced last week and are currently available at the library. The intermediate award was given to Jacqueline Davies’ The Lemonade War, a novel about a contest between siblings to see who could earn the most money in one week. The teen award was given to Neal Shusterman’s science fiction novel Unwind in which unwanted teens are “unwound” so that their body parts can be used for medical transplants.

Unwind’s concept of retroactively aborting teenagers could be controversial, but our “judge” approves of the public’s choice.

“I loved Unwind because I thought it was very good at provoking discussion with teens about society and how we treat each other and what we think about the value of teenagers,” Higginson said.

After the 2011 nominees were announced, Higginson became co-chair of the Nutmeg executive board. She and her co-chair currently oversee the current selection committees to be sure that the 2012 process runs smoothly. After April 2011, she will take some time off from Nutmeg committees, but she doesn’t plan to completely disappear from the world of literary competitions.

“I would love to serve as a selection member again,” she said.

Her enthusiasm may inspire young people who enjoy exercising their right to vote to realize that they needn’t be limited to TV talent contests. The 2012 Nutmeg nominees are on the library’s shelves, waiting to be read before voting starts next January.