books

Jack Gantos kept his hopes for winning a Newbery Medal -- given annually by the American Library Association to the best-written children's book -- in "lockdown mode" over the past few months.

WASHINGTON - William Howard Taft was a supersized man who many contend left a puny legacy, but the nation's 27th president changes the shape of things to come in the world imagined by Jason Heller in "Taft 2012: A Novel."

While comic-book-industry news is usually all about characters, creators and circulation, sometimes the real world intrudes -- for good or ill. This week we have an example of each.

Heroes Against Hunger

On Jan. 23, DC Entertainment unleashed its superheroes on a real-world crisis: hunger in the Horn of Africa.

DALLAS - A wordless story of a dog and her beloved ball and a hilarious historical tale of a boy's unforgettable summer have captured the most prestigious awards in the world of children's literature.

"LOST KINGDOM: HAWAII'S LAST QUEEN, THE SUGAR KINGS AND AMERICA'S FIRST IMPERIAL ADVENTURE"

By Julia Flynn Siler.

Atlantic Monthly Press ($30).

In the beginning of the movie "The Descendants," George Clooney, who plays real-estate attorney Matt King, seeks to dispel the myth that Hawaii is a paradise for the people who live there.

If you thought Hollywood strip-mined comic books for movie ideas in 2011, you ain't seen nuttin' yet.

Librarians and other children's-literature lovers across the country are making friendly bets about which books will be chosen for the 2012 Newbery and Caldecott medals.

Lauren Berger completed more than a dozen internships before she graduated from college. The 27-year-old billed herself as the "intern queen." Now she has a book in print -- "All Work, No Pay," a trade paperback published by Random House.

The Golden Age of radio is a nearly forgotten era, which makes it all the cooler that writer/artist Ernie Colon has brought it back in graphic-novel form.

As a student chaplain at a children's hospital years ago, John Green spent his days at the intersection of life and death, working with terminally ill children and their families.

"To see young people die and their families torn apart, it was just devastating," Green said in a recent telephone interview from his Indianapolis home.