Favorites

Robert Whipple once said,

"Playing favorites is one of the most damaging problems in any group of people."

Meh. What does Robert Whipple know? Isn't he the guy who squeezed the toilet paper? ;) *

At any rate.

It's the end of the year, and, as so many people are wont to do, book bloggers love end of the year Best Of lists. As a new author, it's a scary proposition. No one wants to be left out.

So, you cross your fingers and hope you were somebody's favorite.

And if it turns out you're more than one person's favorite, well. . .

So, with great gratitude, I present a few wonderful places THE PULL OF GRAVITY SHOWED UP as a favorite this year: 

First, there is my shiny new Nerdy Award from the Nerdy Book Club (!!!);

and my YALSA Readers' Choice Nomination,

and my 2011 CYBILs nomination.

Each of those nods is like a succulant, juicy pomegranate seed, just bursting with flavor and goodness (I love pomegranates, people, so just go with me here).

Then there are the year-end Best-Of lists, like that of:

Paul Hankins, high school teacher extraordinaire and founder of Raw Ink Online (are you a member?);

"Mr. Schu" -- an award-winning, nationally-known K-5 librarian who runs a blog called Watch. Connect. Read. He is one of the first librarians to read and love TPoG, and to work to connect the book with readers, like Paul Hankins, who could help spread the word, and, thus, my book's wings. Here's TPoG on his list of 100 most memorable (including picture books, he has read over 2,000 books this year!);

YA Librarian Tales (run by a fab youth librarian in Minnesota) (not only on her best list, but also on her "most recommended;"

KellyVision (run by an avid reader in Baltimore who may be one of TPoG's biggest fans). It shows up on her end of the year book survey HERE, her best-of-2011 list HERE, and in the Sammies Awards voted on by her readers, HERE; 

At the Dolphin, bookfaces from l - r, me, Christopher Grant, Lena Roy, Nova Ren Suma,
Michael Northrop, Arlaina Tibensky and Matt Blackstone, for
an amazing teen author event this past October.

The Dolphin Bookshop in Pt. Washington, NY. The fabulous women of the beautiful Dolphin Bookshop have included The Pull of Gravity in their Favorites of the year;

and last, but so not least,
Cari Soto of Cari's Book Blog has been such a tremendous supporter of the Class of 2K11, and I know she loves us all equally and would have just put ALL our books there if it wouldn't have undermined her credibility ;).

And, because it's my blog and I can, here are a few more scattered favorites:

There are few higher compliments than an author you love, loving you back. I just happened across this the other day, thus continuing the year-long mutual admiration love affair between Geoff Herbach (STUPID FAST) and me as he shares his favorite fictional character of the year. I feel the same way about Felton, so if you haven't read Stupid Fast yet, GO! Now! Do it!;

This favorite is from Betsy Cornwell, who has her own debut YA fantasy, Tides, coming out in 2013. She's funky, funny, smart, and sassy, and I'm thrilled to be her pick!;

and, this one: THIS LINK naming TPoG as a favorite book showed up in my Google alerts one day this summer, and whenever I see one of these -- namely, a teenaged boy loving the book -- it moves me the most, because I wrote this book hoping and praying I could connect with that very elusive creature known as the male adolescent who has so often lost interest in reading.  So, thanks, Francisco! You may never read this, but I won't forget you. :)

And there you have it. If you've read and enjoyed The Pull of Gravity, hooray! And thank you. It means everything to be read and to forge that connection through our books.

Happy New Year.

- gae


*according to Wikipedia, Robert Whipple is the author of several books on leadership. Whatevs. ;)