"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

"An extraordinary and delightfully weird romp that’s one part China Mieville, one part Lemony Snicket, with trace amounts of Madeline L’Engle and Roald Dahl . . . Kennedy has filled 400+ pages with a series of strange turn-ups and adventures that grow progressively more outlandish and funny, such that when you think he’s surely run out of runway and must crash, he finds new, unsuspected weirdness to explore.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother, For The Win, and co-editor of Boing Boing

More Reviews

Email: kennedyjames@gmail.com

Saturday, February 1, 2020
The ROCHESTER, NY screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Eisenhart Auditorium of the Rochester Museum & Science Center (657 East Ave). Hosted by me and the legendary author Bruce Coville (My Teacher Is An Alien, Space Station Ice 3, and more). Made possible by our sponsors at Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library, Rochester Community TV, Cheshire Audio Visual, and RIT MAGIC Spells Studios. Onsite book sales by Hipocampo Children's Books. 2 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, February 8, 2020
The OAKLAND, CA screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Rockridge branch of the Oakland Public Library (5366 College Ave). Hosted by me and author Marcus Ewert (Mummy Cat, Mr. Pack Rat Really Wants That). 12 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Sunday, February 9, 2020
The SAN FRANCISCO screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the San Francisco Public Library (100 Larkin Street) in the Koret Auditorium. Hosted by me and author Marcus Ewert (Mummy Cat, Mr. Pack Rat Really Wants That). 2 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, February 15, 2020
The SAN ANTONIO, TX screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Mays Family Center at the Witte Museum (3801 Broadway St., San Antonio, TX). Hosted by me and author Carolyn Flores (The Amazing Watercolor Fish, A Surprise for Teresita). Made possible by partners at Bexar County Digital Library Bibliotech and the Hidalgo Foundation through the generosity of H-E-B Texas Grocery. Onsite book sales by The Twig Book Shop. 2 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Thursday, February 21, 2020
Special deadline for Minnesota and Colorado entries for the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.

Saturday, February 22, 2020
The BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Central Library (10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY) in the Dweck Auditorium. Hosted by me and Newbery Honor winner Rita Williams-Garcia (One Crazy Summer). Onsite book sales by Stories Bookshop + Storytelling Lab. 1 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, February 29, 2020
The TACOMA, WA screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Rialto Theatre (310 S 9th St., Tacoma, WA) Hosted by me and Tacoma’s own Doug Mackey. Onsite book sales by King's Books.. 1-3 pm. Link to tickets available soon.

Sunday, March 1, 2020
The SEATTLE screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival at the Children's Film Festival Seattle 2020 at the Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave., between Pike and Pine). Hosted by me and author Sundee Frazier (the Cleo Edison Oliver series, The Other Half of My Heart, and more). Buy your tickets here. 5 pm.

Sunday, March 8, 2020
The CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street) in the Pritzker Auditorium. Hosted by me and author Keir Graff (The Phantom Tower). Onsite book sales by the Madison Street Bookstore. 1:45 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, March 14, 2020
The BOSTON screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Boston Public Library in Copley Square (700 Boylston St, Boston, MA). Hosted by me and M.T. Anderson (Feed, The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge). Onsite book sales by Trident Booksellers and Cafe. 2:30 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, March 28, 2020
The SALT LAKE CITY screening of the ninth 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 Phantom Tower). Made possible by partners at Utah Humanities and the Salt Lake City Public Library. Onsite book sales by Weller Book Works. 1 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, March 28, 2020
The OGDEN, UT screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Treehouse Museum (347 22nd Street, Ogden, UT). Hosted by me and author Keir Graff (The Phantom Tower). Made possible by partners at Utah Humanities and the Treehouse Museum. 6:30 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, April 4, 2020
The BOULDER, CO screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Boulder Public Library (1001 Arapahoe Avenue). Hosted by me and author Lija Fisher (The Cryptid Catcher). Onsite book sales by the Boulder Book Store. 3:00-4:30 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

Saturday, April 25, 2020
The MINNEAPOLIS screening of the ninth annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival! At the Minneapolis Central Library (300 Nicollet Mall) in Pohlad Hall. Hosted by me and Newbery Medal winner Kelly Barnhill (The Girl Who Drank the Moon). Onsite book sales by the Red Balloon Bookshop. 3 pm. Make your FREE reservation here.

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 14 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

It’s My 40th Birthday

March 9, 2013

It’s my birthday today, and so I’m staying off the Internet and hanging out with my family. But I received this great piece of Order of Odd-Fish happy-birthday art from Jacob of Portland and I want to share it with the world! I was lucky enough to meet Jacob when I was in Portland for the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival a few weeks ago. He was one of the remarkable animators behind this Frog and Toad Together. Thanks so much for the fantastic picture, Jacob!

Today I went to the Adler Planetarium with Heather, Lucy, and Ingrid. Heather took this picture of us on the rocket simulator. Lucy and I are ready for swashbuckling adventures in the stars! (Ingrid seems a bit more apprehensive . . . )

Can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday!

It’s My 40th Birthday

March 9, 2013

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