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Bradley Steffensauthor, poet, playwright
June 03 Receiving the Theodor S. Geisel AwardIt is beginning to sink in. On May 17, 2008, my 2007 book, J.K. Rowling, won the San Diego Book Award for Best Young Adult Nonfiction. This was a surprise, because—as I mentioned in my previous post—the competition was stiff. Two of the other finalists in the category, Judith Pinkerton Josephson and Tina Kafka, had each won the award in previous years when I had been a finalist, leaving me as a runner up. The third finalist, Cynthia Jenson-Elliott had written a brilliant book about zombies. Imagine my shock, then, a few minutes later when Steve Kowit, the San Diego poet who had received the 2006 Theodor S. Geisel Award for the best published book by a San Diego County author that year, called my name once again. This time it was to receive the 2007 Theodor S. Geisel Award. Seated in the back of the auditorium, I looked from one person to another in disbelief. They were smiling broadly but also encouraging me to stand up and go receive the award. When I made it to the stage, Steve Kowit greeted me enthusiastically and handed me a large, Plexiglas trophy engraved with my name and that of one of my heroes, Mr. Geisel himself. Martha Barnette, the host of public radio's "A Way with Words" and the emcee for the evening, handed the microphone to me, beaming. I looked at the audience. A few members were on their feet, applauding. I think I heard a cheer or two. I shook my head in disbelief and struggled for something to say. I thanked the San Diego Book Awards Association and the judges—at least I hope I did. I continued: “My rational side knows the judges were responding as much to the subject matter of the book as to my writing of it. J.K. Rowling has led an extraordinary life, and I have no doubt that what makes this book stand out is her struggles, her words, and her artistic vision. In that sense, I share the award with her. There is another side, however, to receiving this award—an emotional side. When I see this trophy inscribed with the name of Theodor Geisel, I am deeply moved. His were the first books I came to love. My mother used to read them to me. She didn’t care for other children’s books, but when she read Dr. Seuss, she came alive. She read his poetry with an enthusiasm I had never seen her display before. It was at her knee that I fell in love with language. Mom has been gone since 1993, but one thing we have learned from the Harry Potter series is that our parents remain with us, even after they have left this world. So, in that spirit, I would like to dedicate this to award to my mother. This is for you, Mom.” Finalist in the San Diego Book AwardsI am pleased to announce that my People In the News: J.K. Rowling has been named as a finalist in the young adult nonfiction category of the San Diego Book Awards. 
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I am the president of the San Diego Book Awards Association, Inc. The organization's bylaws allow its officers and board members to enter the awards, provided they do not participate in the judging. In addition to honoring local authors, the organization sponsors Read-4-Fun, a program that promotes literacy among fifth-grade students countywide through a joint effort with elementary school librarians. Only books by San Diego County authors are eligible for the awards, yet the competition is always stiff. After all, San Diego County is the third largest county in the United States by population. With 2,941,454 residents, it is more populous than twenty states.
My friend and fellow board member M. Robert Grunwald entered his manuscript, A Cat Named Turtle, in the unpublished young adult novel category this year. I had the pleasure of reading the first thirty pages of his work and found it artistically ambitious and wonderfully entertaining. Telling a story from the point of view of a cat is a daring thing to try, yet he pulled it off convincingly and gracefully. Turtle's take on the world of humans made me laugh out loud several times. I am surprised the manuscript is not a finalist. Many fine works must and do go unrecognized. A few years ago, a book by a well-known San Diego author was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection yet was not chosen to be a finalist in the San Diego Book Awards. It is all up to the judges. Each entry is read by a panel of three judges who, prompted by thoughtfully prepared questionnaires, score the books using a point system. Every attempt is made to be fair and objective, but ultimately the results reflect the personal tastes and interests of the judges. It cannot be otherwise, of course. The track record of the judges is pretty good, though. The winners of the Theodor S. Geisel Award for the "best in show" among all the category winners reads like a who's who of San Diego authors, including Susan Vreeland (three times), Daniel Reveles, Kathi Diamant, Steve Kowit, Jennifer Brennan, Lee Silber, and Mark Clements. Other renowned San Diego authors such as Richard Lederer, Ken Kuhlken, Jennifer Coburn, and Chet Cunningham also have won San Diego Book Awards. Martha Barnette, co-host of public radio's "A Way with Words," will host this year's awards ceremony. I can't wait to see who is honored this year. Appearance at the California Readers LuncheonHumbled. That, more than anything, is how I felt at the “We Love California Authors and Illustrators” Luncheon sponsored by California Readers on February 23, 2008. I was one of more than thirty authors who joined hundreds of librarians and students in the celebration of the 2008 California Collection, the centennial birthday of Leo Politi, and the various awards presented to schools participating in the California Readers’ programs. As the keynote speaker, I was provided with a table in a prominent location to sell and sign books before the festivities got underway. Business was so brisk that I found it hard to keep up. “I have to get better at this,” I remarked to Mary, the volunteer who was handling the cashbox. “I am way too slow.” She smiled. “You’re doing fine,” she said. I have signed books before, but never while people waited in line. I felt like a popular author, if only for an hour. Before lunch was served, the attending authors stood in line and were introduced one by one. The collection of talent was impressive: Newberry Medal winners, Golden Kite Award winners, California Book Award winners, authors whose books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list, even a couple whose books have been made into movies. “Are you sure you want me as your keynote speaker?” I asked the audience when I finally took the stage. “It seems as if there has been some mistake.”  Bonnie O’Brian, the board member in charge of Authors and Awards, brought me to the stage with a one-of-a-kind introduction. She remembered that in my California Readers interview a couple years earlier I had revealed that I was “a Seussoholic” as a child. I also recounted how my third grade teacher chastised me for checking out Dr. Seuss books from the library. “You need to select more challenging books,” my teacher said. I was devastated. I didn’t realize that there was anything wrong with rereading my beloved books. O’Brian recounted this story in her introduction then offered do what she could to heal the old heartbreak. “Today,” she began, “unlike Humpty Dumpty, Bradley, we will put your broken heart back together again.”O’Brian assuaged the hurt by paying tribute to five of my books with light-hearted, line-for-line parodies of works by Dr. Seuss: Giants, based on One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish; Free Speech and Censorship, drawing on The Foot; J.K. Rowling, borrowing from I Can Read with My Eyes Shut; and—my favorite—Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist< First al-Haytham: Ibn to>, with apologies to The Eye Book: Eyes Eyes Light Light My eyes Your eyes Ibn-al-Haytham’s eyes Steffens’s eyes Wink eye Blink eye Think eye Think eye
Ibn-al-Haytham’s eyes My eyes see Your eyes see
Ibn’s eyes see Steffen’s eyes see Ibn sat in his cell and observed the light.
He saw it in the morning and he saw it at night. Ibn’s experiments were simple, physical, and concrete.
Designed to let anyone repeat and repeat. The scientific method he did create.
It has been used ever since without debate. Ibn developed the first device for projecting an image on a wall.
Then he used his eyes as he was enthralled. He sat and he stared and he did observe That vision occurs when light enters the eye and stimulates the optic nerve. His Book of Optics about vision and light. Much enthusiasm did invite. I see him And he sees me. Our eyes see blue.
Our eyes see red. They see a bird. They see a bed. They see the sun.
They see the moon. They see a fork, a knife, a spoon. They look down holes. They look up poles. Our eyes see rings. Our eyes see strings. They see so many, many things! So many things! Like rain and pie… And dogs and airplanes in the sky! And so we say,
Hooray for eyes! Hooray for Ibn al-Haytham’s eyes Hooray for Bradley Steffens’ eyes Hooray, hooray, hooray… For eyes! The amount to time O’Brian spent composing these burlesques must have been substantial. I was impressed. And humbled. Keynote Speaker at the California Readers LuncheonI am deeply honored to have been invited to be the keynote speaker at the annual “We Love California Authors and Artists” luncheon sponsored by California Readers, a group of educators, librarians, authors, artists, parents, book sellers, and business representatives whose main goal is to connect California authors and artists with students and teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The luncheon honors the authors and illustrators whose books have been chosen to be part of the California Collection, a set of 100 books that will be donated to selected school libraries. There are three collections: one for elementary schools, one for middle schools, and one for high schools. As I noted in my previous post, five of my books have been chosen for the California Collection this year: Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, J.K. Rowling, Cyclops (coauthored with Don Nardo), Cartoonists (coauthored with Robyn M. Weaver), and The Trial of Charles Manson (coauthored with Craig Staples). The last three titles were selected for the second time, bringing my overall total of selections to eight. Each year the organization presents the Leo Politi Golden Author Award to the author with the most books placed in the California Collections over time. This year’s recipient is Caroline Arnold, who has had with nine titles placed in thirty-six collections during the last 11 years.
The luncheon will also celebrate the centennial birthday of Leo Politi, Fresno-born illustrator and author of more than twenty books who died in 1996. Politi lived on Olvera Street, in the historic center of Los Angeles, where he sold his drawings to tourists and art collectors. Many of his books feature scenes of the Latino community and were published in both English and Spanish. I have always loved Politi’s books and am honored that I will be part of the celebration of his life and work.
November 05 Five Books Named to the 2008 California CollectionI am thrilled and honored to report that five of my books have been selected by California Readers to be part of the 2008 California Collection. My two new books—Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist and J.K. Rowling—have been named to the collection for the first time. Three books I coauthored—Cyclops (with Don Nardo), Cartoonists (with Robyn M. Weaver), and The Trial of Charles Manson (with Craig Staples)—have been chosen for the second time.
California Readers, a nonprofit organization that works with the Los Angeles Unified School District to promote literacy, chooses books by California authors to be donated to elementary school, middle school, and high school libraries. According to the organization’s published criteria, the books:
There are three California Collections, one for elementary schools, one for middle schools, and one for high schools. J.K. Rowling, Cyclops, and Cartoonists were selected for the 2008 middle school collection. Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, the first full biography of the eleventh-century Muslim scholar known in the West as Alhazen, and The Trial of Charles Manson were chosen for the 2008 high school collection.
On behalf of my coauthors and myself, I want to thank California Readers for recognizing these books. I also want to commend the organization for the fine job it does promoting literacy in the nation’s second-largest school district.
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Last year's winner in the biography category, 
The other two finalists in the young adult category this year are Zombies by Cynthia Jenson-Elliott and Cloning by Tina Kafka, winner of the 2004 San Diego Book Award for young adult nonfiction. Zombies, published by Kidhaven Press, is in the same Monsters series as my Giants. I have not had the pleasure of reading Cloning, but I did have a chance to read Zombies. I was deeply impressed. I know how hard it is to write such a tightly formatted book, and Jenson-Elliott did a fantastic job. She took the kinds of risks I seldom do when writing nonfiction, using metaphors and similes. For example, she wrote that the flesh of the zombies resembles "moldy cheese or rotten meat"— images sure to horrify and delight young readers. She did a great job explaining the science behind reputed recipes for turning people into zombies, and she thoughtfully explored why zombies hold a fascination for so many people.
