"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
Sunday, April 29, 2018
The BOSTON screening of the seventh annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Boston Public Library (700 Boylston St, Boston, MA). Hosted by me and National Book Award winning author M.T. Anderson (Feed, Octavian Nothing, Landscape With Invisible Hand). 2-4 pm. Make your free reservation here. Saturday, November 17, 2018
Speaking about the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at the NCTE Conference in Houston, TX! The presentation is named "Young Filmmakers Speak: How collaborative, student-centered filmmaking programs raise student voice" and it will be presented by me and Eti Berland. At the George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX, in room 361 D, from 8:00-9:15 am. Friday, January 11, 2019
General deadline for the EIGHTH ANNUAL 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. Saturday, February 9, 2019
The SAN ANTONIO screening of the eighth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival. Details TBA.
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.
“The Brothers Delacorte?” you howl. “What are you giving me now, Kennedy? This is sheer japery.”
Be still, butterfly. The story is this.
The Order of Odd-Fish is published by Random House’s Delacorte Press. Last year I discovered that two other Chicago YA authors, Daniel Kraus and Adam Selzer, are also on Delacorte. This coincidence was too good to pass up.
We decided to band together.
If you go to the Brothers Delacorte website you can read our manifesto, which has to do with encouraging boys’ literacy. But here I’d like to boast of my fellow brothers’ formidable talents.
Daniel Kraus is not only an author of the tense, harrowing The Monster Variations (for which our appearance at the Book Cellar is a release party), but also a filmmaker. Each film in his celebrated WORK documentary series chronicles the everyday life of someone in a particular job. So far he’s done a documentary for a Sherriff, a Musician, a Preacher, and a Professor. This is a project of—dare I invoke this sacred Chicago name?—Studs Turkel-ian proportions.
But there’s more to Daniel Kraus than a sober documentarian. In high school, he was a giddily inventive amateur filmmaker in the Ed Wood mold. At his blog Francis Ford Iowa you can see the films he made in high school, all of them gloriously bad, unintentionally hilarious, and occasionally genius. As Daniel himself describes it: “When I was growing up in Iowa, I made movies with my friends. Many of them were remakes of movies I liked, like MISERY or THE GODFATHER. Others were originals. All of them were awful . . . Now I’m blogging my old movies chronologically for your enjoyment. Let’s feel the pain together.”
Here’s a hilarious trailer that compiles the highlights, to give you a taste:
In any case, if you’re in Chicago, please come out to the Book Cellar in Lincoln Square at 7 pm for the very first Brothers Delacorte event. I’m proud to be sharing the stage with them.
