"Hilarious . . . Readers with a finely tuned sense of the absurd are going to adore the Technicolor ride."
—Booklist

"Fantasy done to a clever, grotesque, nonsensical turn." —Chicago Sun-Times

"A work of mischievous imagination and outrageous invention." —Time Out Chicago

"One of the more singular young adult fantasies—or fantasies, period—I've run across . . . Funny, bizarre, action-packed, and even thoughtful, and stocked with a gallery of larger-than-life characters." —Green Man Review

More Reviews

Email: kennedyjames@gmail.com

Sunday, November 5, 2017
Speaking about the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at the 2017 YALSA Symposium (Hyatt Regency Louisville, 311 South 4th Street, Louisville, KY) in the session Ready, Set, Action!: Fostering Literacy, Creativity, and Empowerment through Teen Filmmaking and Theater Programming. With Alice Son, Evan Mather, and Jarrett Dapier. More information here. 8:30-10 am.

Saturday, November 18, 2017
Speaking about the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at the National Council of Teachers of English conference in St. Louis at the America's Center Convention Complex, Room 266, in the session Geeking Out, Tuning In: Using Fandom to Encourage Engagement, Creativity, and Community (Session #3490190). 10:30 am - 11:45 am.

Friday, January 12, 2018
Deadline for submissions to the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.

Saturday, February 3, 2018
The SAN ANTONIO, TX screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. At the Mays Family Center at the Witte Museum. More details TBA.

Saturday, February 10, 2018
The MINNEAPOLIS screening of the sixth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Minneapolis Central Library (300 Nicollet Mall) in Pohlad Hall. On-site book sales by Addendum Books. 3-5 pm. More details TBA.

Saturday, February 24, 2018
The SALT LAKE CITY screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Salt Lake City Public Library (210 East 400 South). Hosted by me and author Keir Graff (The Matchstick Castle). 2-4 pm.

Saturday, March 3, 2018
The NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (5th Ave at 42nd St., New York, NY) in the Celeste Bartos Forum. KidsLIVE programs are sponsored by the Andreas C. Dracopoulos Family Endowment for Young Audiences. More details TBA.

Sunday, March 4, 2018
The BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Central Library (10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY) in the Dweck Auditorium. 2-4 pm.

Sunday, March 11, 2018
The CHICAGO screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Harold Washington branch of the Chicago Public Library. Co-hosted by me and Chicago author Keir Graff (The Matchstick Castle). 1:30-3:30 pm. More details TBA.

Saturday March 17, 2018
The OAKLAND, CA screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Rockridge Branch of the Oakland Public Library (5366 College Ave, Oakland, CA). Co-hosted by me and San Francisco author Marcus Ewert (Mummy Cat, 10,000 Dresses). On-site book sales by Books Inc.. 3:30 pm. More details TBA.

Sunday, March 18, 2018
The SAN FRANCISCO screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the San Francisco Public Library main branch (100 Larkin Street) in the Koret Auditorium. Co-hosted by me and San Francisco author Marcus Ewert (Mummy Cat, 10,000 Dresses). On-site book sales by Books Inc.. 4-6 pm. More details TBA.

Thursday, March 22, 2018
"Best of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival" presentation at the Irondequoit Public Library (1290 Titus Ave Rochester, New York). 7-8 pm.

Sunday, March 25, 2018
The ROCHESTER, NY screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! More details TBA.

Saturday, April 14, 2018
The TACOMA, WA screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! Co-hosted by me and Tacoma's own Douglas Mackey. More details TBA.

Sunday, April 29, 2018
The BOSTON AREA screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Brookline Public Library (361 Washington Street, Brookline, MA). More details TBA.

See all Events

I am interviewed by Betsy Bird for the School Library Journal’s Fuse #8 blog. Check it out if you want to read about my opinions on Zork, my life in the convent, and why The Jeffersons is superior to Catcher in the Rye. Many in the comments section deem this the “Best. Interview. Ever.” Dare you disagree?
I am interviewed by the lovely Senfaye on A Maze Of Books. Read it if you’re curious as to why I chose to end the interview by saying “I hate you”—and why when Senfaye asked “What’s your favorite food?” I replied “Your skull.” It’s scandalous!
I am interviewed by Amy Alessio for the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Read about my experiences as a junior high school science teacher—in particular, of how the entire faculty was mysteriously menaced by a obscene note-writing student known only as “The Foggy Wiener.” I also talk about my participation in Japan’s violent “Naked Man” Festival, and how I discovered the President of the ALA is a whimsical hobo.
Order of Odd-Fish Week on Murphblog. Check out Paul Michael Murphy's monster five-part interview with me! Part One, the road to publication; Part Two, on writing; Part Three, I reveal the thing I will always find funny; Part Four, the "lightning round"; Part Five, a Create-Your-Own-Odd-Fish-Specialty contest (entries are in the comments section); and I judge the winner of the contest.
I am interviewed by Melissa at the Book Nut blog. I talk about the difficulties of getting The Order of Odd-Fish published, my high school friend who was the inspiration for Jo, the idea of an “urban Narnia,” and the origin of the All-Devouring Mother character. Melissa also posted a glowing review here.

Read All Recent Press

The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. I founded a film festival in which kid filmmakers create weird short movies that tell the entire stories of Newbery-winning books in about 90 seconds. Now in its 6th year, it screens annually in 12 cities: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and many others! The movies the kids create are weird, funny, and impressive. Learn more about the film festival here.

The Classroom Guide to The Order of Odd-Fish. I've put together a 44-page Teacher's Guide / curriculum for Odd-Fish! It's a treasure trove of creative project ideas, discussion questions, chapter worksheets, and further resources. It also features fan art by enthusiastic teen readers of Odd-Fish. (This art was featured in a fan art gallery show in Chicago in April 2010.) You can download the teacher's guide for free here.

It's a mixtape for The Order of Odd-Fish. Listen to a stream of the songs I chose for an imaginary "movie soundtrack" for Odd-Fish, and read why I chose them. Lots of different stuff: French ye-ye, Kinshasa street bands, pseudo-classical, puzzling blippity-bloopity music, and more.

I used to be in a band called Brilliant Pebbles. The drummer Philip and I quit the band in September 2009, but Monika and Sam are continuing on. We had been variously described as "melodramatic video game music," "moon-man opera," and "gypsy sex metal." It's over now, but I loved being in this band. You can download our EP from Amazon here.

There's an audiobook of The Order of Odd-Fish. It's masterfully read by the Audie award-winning Jessica Almasy, whom I was lucky enough to interview here.

My feud with Neil Gaiman. It all started when I revealed Gaiman's dark secret: that he is 2 mm tall and all his books are written by bees. The feud escalated when I tackled his doppelganger at the American Library Association and won the Newbery from him, fair and square. It was resolved when I confronted the real Neil Gaiman in person before an audience of hundreds, revealed his true origin of his lustrous black hair, and serenaded him with Katy Perry's "Firework."

Email: kennedyjames [at] gmail [dot] com
Twitter: @iamjameskennedy

The Order of Odd-Fish on GoodReads

The Order of Odd-Fish on MySpace

Let’s open the metafictional mailbag

September 23, 2008

This past weekend Heather and I went to Michigan for the wonderful Order of Odd-Fish release party that was thrown by my mother and sister. I’ll have much more to say about that in a future post — but first, I’d like to share a letter I got about a week ago, with no return address but “The Order of Odd-Fish”:

I don’t know what to say. I’m humbled. I’m honored. I’m wondering how they got my address.

Let’s open the metafictional mailbag

September 23, 2008

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