Posted: Jan 19, 08
10:53am
An inspiring article in today's Wall Street Journal about the winner of the 2008 Newbury Medal for most distinguished contribution to children's literature. The story of this 52-year-old librarian, who had her first book published after years of rejections, is truly inspiring:
"Lord Randolph Churchill once summarized the career of Benjamin Disraeli in one line: "Failure, failure, failure, partial success, renewed failure, ultimate and complete victory." The parallel is not exact and might sound a little cruel, but it nicely encapsulates the career, so far, of the fabulously talented children's book author Laura Amy Schlitz, who this past week won the 2008 Newbery Medal for most distinguished contribution to children's literature.
"Haven't heard of her? A year and a half ago, almost no one had -- apart from the parents and children of the Park School in Baltimore. It was while working there as a librarian that Ms. Schlitz, something of a frustrated thespian, wrote the series of monologues set in a 13th-century English village that would eventually become "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!" -- the remarkable and poignant book that has just won her the Newbery."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120069566660601477.html?mod=todays_us_weekend_journal
