A lot of folks have commented on the diversity found in the wish lists up at GLW for Ojo Encino Day School and Alchesay High. There have also been comments about how nice it is to see lists that are developed with recipient input. Mostly though folks say how big and interesting the lists are and since they dominated my life for a period of several weeks (not every minute but you get the idea), I thought I'd explain just how they got built.

The first thing I did when I found out we were working with two Native American schools was scour the internet for Native American titles. As I posted the other day, this isn't easy but it was incredibly informative. I also added some basic nonfiction titles (most of the Scientist in the Field series for example) that always seem to work with boys in particular. By the time I spoke to the schools (reading specialist at one, librarian at the other) I was ready with a lot of questions about what the kids wanted. That's how I found about Jimmy Baca and a slew of Navajo bilingual titles and that Alchesay wanted EVERYTHING by Sherman Alexie. In more general subjects, both schools wanted fantasy titles, Ojo wanted the Twilight books (more than one copy, please) while Alchesay wanted similar vamp titles (PC Cast, etc.). Ojo wanted books on eagles and horses and military history (but all illustrated books for low ability readers) while Alchesay wanted everything by Ellen Hopkins and Neil Gaiman and more vamp books. Both schools wanted as many graphic novels for a wide age range as they could get. At Ojo the boys are also way into basketball and those books (hello Mike Lupica) were much desired.

So then I reached out to some friends. Jesse Karp weighed in with a ton of gn recommendations from GLW including the publisher Stone Arch which does adaptations of classic books & myths for the 10 & up crowd - perfect for Ojo. The entire GLW crew also weighed in with lots of b-ball books and fantasy titles(Cassie Clare! Ysabeau Wilce!). Other friends gave me NF crafty books, vamp books, and basically books they loved and wanted to pass along. I loaded them all. I also thought up some GBLTQ titles for both age groups - such as Totally Joe, Geography Club (still not bought!!) and Empress of the World. And while I had a bunch of Native American titles I wanted to make sure that I continued with diversity in the coming-of-age, humor, drama titles. (Because you all know how I feel about diversity.) So books with African American, Hispanic/Latino and Asian American kids are all on the lists.

And then I added Ray Bradbury and Connie Willis because PLEASE. I had to.

Then after all that I thought about the other books - the ones for the kids who might not know what they like and maybe just aren't big fiction readers. So I got in books on drawing (which Ojo did want), and included one on drawing cars. I added a book on designing planes, Building Big, building treehouses & other construction projects and several books on collage and creativity. Plus Stephen King's On Writing for the high school and Ellen Potter's Spilling Ink for the middle schoolers.

So Alice and Wonderland (and it took a village to discuss which editions should go up) and Jane Eyre and Hamlet (No Fear Shakespeare!) are there because Alchesay High requested them. Jasper Fforde and John Green and Maureen Johnson are recs from friends. Shaun Tan, Barack Obama and Beginning Chess are my additions. Black Hawk Down, Jarhead and several illustrated titles on WWI and WWII are from me, but fitting the general req for war books. Everybody loves E. Lockhart and Cecil Castellucci but why not add the Cars of Overhaulin as well? When I was told both schools loved fantasy I put in the Firebird anthologies from Sharyn November and several Ellen Datlow/Terri Windling anthos as well.

Plus Lord of the Rings for Alchesay and Philip Pullman. Because really - I had to.

Books on all kinds of animals, on saving them from war zones and the streets and places where they're threatened in the wild. Both schools wanted animal books. Steampunk, horror, romance and DISCWORLD! Hello Terry Pratchett! Kon Tiki is there because Kris Reisz had such a great post at GLW last year on how it changed his life; Dan Eldon is there because he changed mine (and also the life of the fellow who purchased it and then commented about why).

Everyone who has ever read Ellen Emerson White's President's Daughter (which includes almost all my friends) series has fallen in love with it. All four have been shipped already to Ojo but only the first bought so far for Alchesay. I'm sure they will get there though - they are too good not to.

Meggido's Shadow worked on multiple levels - the story of a teenager who fought in the Calvary during WWI. (Horses and military history and it's a GREAT read. Huzzah!) There are field guides because they are always useful and also the teen versions of the Ominvore's Dilemma and Fast Food Nation (Chew on This for Ojo) and Inconvenient Truth. Several Groundwork Guides on oil and climate and the media, Lynda Barry, Warren Ellis and Howard Zinn. Simon Basher's fantastic books on the periodic table and Scott Westerfield and Kelly Link and Starship Troopers.

Because the classics are important.

In the end these books reflect not only specific titles that Ojo Encino and Alchesay High wanted but also lots of great books in the general areas they expressed interest in. But even beyond that they further reflect what folks coming to the lists want to find. What I mean by that is there has to be a wide range of prices available for people to consider (which is why I like Powells as the Used option helps a lot) and they want to find books they recognize and/or love. Everyone who goes to these lists expects to see Native American titles that might be unfamiliar to them but they also want to gift to someone books that mean a lot to them or by authors they enjoy. This is where you have to be careful in your blending of the two sides of the lists - the gift givers and recipients. This is why it takes a while to get the lists right but also what can make them much more successful then you expect.

In some ways creating wish lists is as much an art as anything else. The more positive reaction people have to their design, the more likely they are to purchase books for the kids. So using some "wish list psychology" can make a huge difference. For a book lover like me though, it's also just major fun.

[Post pics - all these titles are still on the lists and still available to gift!]