Children's Book Award Winners Break The Mold

The monologues were a hit with the fifth-graders, and after some urging from parents and colleagues, Schlitz sent "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies" to 11 publishers in the summer of 2000. One wrote back to inform her, she recalls, that "we have shredded your manuscript."

Mary Lee Donovan, Schlitz's editor at Candlewick, credits her then-assistant, Danielle Sadler, with an enthusiastic first read. Donovan agreed with her: Schlitz's work was striking and unusual. But it was so unusual that the question became: "What do we do with it?"

Donovan suggested that the stories Schlitz's characters tell -- originally written to be fully independent of one another -- might be woven together by placing them all in the same medieval village and creating small links between them. Schlitz realized that the weaving would be easier if she added a few more monologues rather than tear up her finished ones.

There were problems finding the right illustrator (one, who loved the book, died before she could finish). And throughout there was the nagging question: What exactly is this anyway? Years went by. Schlitz had time to write and publish two other books with Candlewick: a biography of the roguish, self-taught archeologist who discovered Troy ("The Hero Schliemann") and a novel called "A Drowned Maiden's Hair."

Schlitz made a point yesterday of thanking the Park School, which encourages faculty writing in numerous ways.

Among yesterday's other award recipients were:

Newbery Honor Books: "The Wednesday Wars," by Gary D. Schmidt; "Feathers," by Jacqueline Woodson; and "Elijah of Buxton," by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Caldecott Honor Books: "Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story From the Underground Railroad," illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine; "First the Egg," illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger; "The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain," illustrated and written by Peter S¿s; and "Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity," illustrated and written by Mo Willems.

Printz Honor Books: "Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet," by Elizabeth Knox; "One Whole and Perfect Day," by Judith Clarke; "Repossessed," by A.M. Jenkins; and "Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath," by Stephanie Hemphill.

The Pura Belpr¿ Award, honoring Latino illustrators and authors: "Los Gatos Black on Halloween," illustrated by Yuyi Morales; and "The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano," written by Margarita Engle.

King Author Honor Books: "November Blues," by Sharon M. Draper; and "Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali," written by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier.

King Illustrator Honor Books: "The Secret Olivia Told Me," by N. Joy, illustrated by Nancy Devard; and "Jazz on a Saturday Night," by Leo and Diane Dillon.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: "Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It," by Sundee T. Frazier.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults went to Orson Scott Card, for his novels "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow."