Fall 2012 ABC Questions & Answers

[Liz M]

Christine wrote: "I don't see the Tale of Two Cities issue, but I have seen others that are way off. Not necessarily Dickens, but other books of his era."

Well, when you do see a book with an incorrect publication date, post in the RwS Librarian help thread & one of us will correct the data.

It helps if you can link to the exact edition that is showing the problem.

[Rebekah]

Do we still get a separate completion bonus?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

The rules give 3 completion bonus options - 2 Graduates, and 1 Doctorate.

[Karen Michele]

I'm still a little confused about our options for publication years if we want to try to repeat the ABC challenge. If we have gone for the chronological option the first time:

1.do we have to do that same option the second time?

2.do we have to use the same 25 year period, but choose 10 different years?

3.if we don't have to use the same 25 year period, may we use the same 25 years, or does it have to be a completely different 25 year period?

Example - my 1st ABC range is 1987 to 2012 and it's chronological:

Can I read for the graduate option in a repeat and read a lot of 2012 authors from a new section of the alphabet or must I use years between 1987 and 2012 that I didn't use in round 1?

Clear as mud? Thanks for your help!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

LOL - I don't know why you have so many questions (if you could only see the mods discussion).

You can use either option for the 2nd run-through.

You can use the same 25 year period, or a different one.

If repeating, you *cannot* repeat any publication dates - must be 20 different pub dates, so your last question would be a "no" because no dates can used twice if going for two finishes.

Does this help, or have I overlooked something?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

As to some of the above, I have identified 20 books for this, all different pub dates. But I'll be doing the Graduate A option, so none of them are chronological. I actually have 2 different 25-year periods. At first, they overlapped a bit, and then I discovered a duplicate pub date, and then ....

[Karen Michele]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "LOL - I don't know why you have so many questions (if you could only see the mods discussion).

You can use either option for the 2nd run-through.

You can use the same 25 year period, or a differe..."

Thanks, Elizabeth!

That did it, I'm at least 99% sure I've got it, lol!

[Liz M]

Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "Forest of the Pygmies. I checked lexile and the score is 1050 but it is for a Spanish edition. Is it acceptable and no I am not reading it in Spanish but English."

The edition on the Lexile website is an English language edition, it just happens to have a description in Spanish. So, the Lexile score of 1050 is correct.

[Liz M]

Don (The Book Guy) wrote: "Is Parable of the Sower acceptable? I checked BPL and found it as Sci/Fi but wanted to double check."

It is not a graphic novel, cookbook, illustrated guide, or a YA book. So, yes, it is acceptable.

[Rebekah]

Fot authors Alexander McCall Smith and Charles de Lint, what would their last name initial be.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

McCall Smith, Alexander

and

De Lint, Charles

is how they are listed at BPL.

[Christin]

Does anyone have any recommendations for an "X" spot author (preferably fiction)? It's the only letter I don't already have a spot lined up for ^_^

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

For my book club, we are reading "Red Mandarin Dress" and the author's name is Qui Xiaolong

[Christin]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "For my book club, we are reading "Red Mandarin Dress" and the author's name is Qui Xiaolong"

ooh, that looks interesting!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "For my book club, we are reading "Red Mandarin Dress" and the author's name is Qui Xiaolong"

However, please see that this author is alphabetized under Qui and is not an X author.

[Deedee]

Christin wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations for an "X" spot author (preferably fiction)? It's the only letter I don't already have a spot lined up for ^_^"

I found only two:

The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai: A Novel by Ruiyan Xu
(author)Xinran

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "For my book club, we are reading "Red Mandarin Dress" and the author's name is Qui Xiaolong"

However, please see that this author is alphabetized under Qui and is n..."

I thought Qui was the first name

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "For my book club, we are reading "Red Mandarin Dress" and the author's name is Qui Xiaolong"

However, please see that this author is alph..."

Chinese names are often written with the family name first and the given name second.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Usually yes, I will find out more about the bookclub meeting

[Liz M]

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Usually yes, I will find out more about the bookclub meeting"

Jayme, please see message 15. Unfortunately, this author is shelved under the name Qui at the Brooklyn Public Library.

[Cory Day]

I had originally slated Kindred as my second book in this challenge, but was surprised to find that many of the BPL branches list it as YA or Assignment in many of its libraries, and it has a Lexile score of 580. After seeing Parable of the Sower approved, which has a similar situation, I was curious and searched past discussions to see if Kindred had ever been used, and found that people had claimed style points for it in previous challenges. So, is it YA or not?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "I had originally slated Kindred as my second book in this challenge, but was surprised to find that many of the BPL branches list it as YA or Assignment in many of its libraries, and it has a Lexil..."

I can see in our database that Butler's Kindred has not been used in recent challenges. The last time it was claimed was in the Winter 2011 challenge. I don't recall what the YA/Lexile rule was at that time, but we will adhere to the current rules. That book would not now be allowed in a sub-challenge, nor to have styles in the RwS.

As to her Parable of the Sower - we weren't "approving" the books in the Know Your ABCs thread, but that people were posting their intentions. Frankly, I don't usually look ahead in those, assuming people have researched for themselves. You are correct that Butler's Parable of the Sowers does not meet the Lexile requirement for ABC.

[Cory Day]

Thanks for the quick response - I had a feeling that would be the case, but figured I'd try! I had looked at the style guidelines from that previous challenge and it required a Lexile score of 700, but it's possible the BPL designation wasn't in play or something. And Parable of the Sower was actually used in the completed tasks thread (I don't want to get anyone in trouble!), but it's more frequently shelved as adult than Kindred seems to be.

So, a follow-up: I was going to replace Kindred with Patternmaster, which is not in BPL as a single book but as part of Seed to Harvest. It was published as an individual book in the seventies but was combined with the rest of the series when republished more recently. BPL shelves Seed to Harvest as an adult book, but does not have a separate entry for Patternmaster. Will it count? (I'm trying not to add much to my crazy-long list of to-read books if possible, and nothing else off of it will fit for B). Thanks!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "Thanks for the quick response - I had a feeling that would be the case, but figured I'd try! I had looked at the style guidelines from that previous challenge and it required a Lexile score of 700,..."

We will fix Parable of the Sower in the database. Thanks for keeping us on our toes!

We will continue to rely on BPL for the designations so that everyone has the same information. You may use Patternmaster as a separate book even though BPL has it as a single volume - and not YA!!!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "You are correct that Butler's Parable of the Sowers does not meet the Lexile requirement for ABC. "

However, Parable of the Sower is not listed YA at BPL.

Check the Canon and BPL first, if it is on the Canon(isn't in this instance) or not YA, the Lexile does not matter.

[Cory Day]

Thanks! Sorry about the confusion!

[Christin]

Deedee wrote: "Christin wrote: "Does anyone have any recommendations for an "X" spot author (preferably fiction)? It's the only letter I don't already have a spot lined up for ^_^"

I found only two:

The Lost a..."

Thanks for the great options Deedee and thanks again Jayme!

[Liz M]

These authors are shelved under "X" at the Brooklyn Library:

Xiaoda Xiao
Mu Xin
Janos Xantus
John Xavier
Fig Tree by Francoise Xenakis
Xenophon
Xi Chuan
Hong Xiao
Chen Xiaowang
Xie Bingying
Kim Xiong
Chengbei Xu
Meihong Xu
Ruiyan Xu
Xu Xiaobin
Xuan Phuong

[Christin]

Liz M wrote: "Xiaoda Xiao
Mu Xin"

Thanks Liz!

[Ismaa]

I know my question has been answered in some thread, but I can't locate it.

Can someone please tell me how does one find out the Lexile score of a book?

[Ismaa]

Ismaa wrote: "I know my question has been answered in some thread, but I can't locate it.

Can someone please tell me how does one find out the Lexile score of a book?"

Thanks a lot Christine :)