| GETTING TO KNOW: Julie Just, Children’s Books Editor for the New York Times Book Review |
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Q: GETTING TO KNOW: Julie Just, Children’s Books Editor for the New York Times Book Review Julie Just has held some of the most coveted jobs in journalism. She’s been an editor for the New York Times Op-Ed page and New York Times Magazine. She’s written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Newsday. Most recently, she’s moved from being Deputy Editor of the New York Times Book Review to being its Children’s Books Editor, replacing Eden Ross Lipson who retired late last year. At a time when many newspapers are cutting back or cutting out coverage for children’s books, Just’s perspective on her newly adopted industry are refreshing and encouraging. I had never thought about that job until heard that Eden was retiring. I had admired what she’d done in creating a serious, broad-minded section, and I realized I wanted to build on that. I had always had the guilty pleasure of rereading books from my childhood and I thought that this job would enable me to combine my journalism background with my delight in reading these books. Julie Just is the mother of two small children. She says, these books are part of my life. So many had an influence on me as a child, and I’m introducing them to my own children, Just adds. Sometimes they’re not quite ready, like when I tried to read them The Phantom Tollbooth, which was a favorite of mine and a wonderful book that is a kind of an extended joke about language. It’s about a boy who is bored with life and gets a gift of a tollbooth, which is the gateway to a fantasy world. To get through the journey, he has to pass a kind of a vocabulary test given by fantastical characters. I remember the feeling it gave me of another world existing, just around the corner. That story is a metaphor for what you’re looking for in a book, says Just. In terms of the industry, I think it’s a terrific time to be a young adult author, says Just. I’ve been very struck by the sophistication of YA books, and have been reading a lot to catch up lately. I’ve been reading the Printz Honor books, the National Book Award winners and others, and I’ve been bowled over by them. I’m finding that there are very good teen books in a lot of genres that are easily as good as adult novels. Authors of young adult books will be glad to know that Just’s plans include expanding what the Book Review is doing with teen books. I expect to be doing a lot of that online. I’m planning to provide opportunities for critiquing, responding to reviews, posting their own reviews, and giving them chances to weigh in, she says, since word-of-mouth is really crucial for teen books, which means young readers need to be involved. Because we only have limited space in the Book Review, we of course need to use it to let parents know about outstanding new picture books and chapter books. I also want to remind them that there are fantastic older books that their children would enjoy, and I think we can do more in that area. I do also hope that older kids and teens sometimes see the Book Review, and I’d like to make the children’s section more visually dynamic, so that it’s clear that it’s not just about young children’s books, she says. There are also plans for other features online. This will include author and illustrator profiles, art features and pieces on news about children’s book publishing. On a personal front, Julie, whose children are ages 3 and 8, is married to Tom Reiss, author of the highly acclaimed book, The Orientalist. Together, she and her husband are writing a guidebook to classic films for children, which will be published by Ballentine in 2007. We wanted to do this because kids and parents are often not watching great movies these days, says Just. They watch Disney and they watch other kids movies, which are fun, but there are a lot of wonderful films that families can enjoy together, and a lot of people don’t know about them, she says. My husband comes from a family of film nuts, and we found that our children would stay and sit with us quite happily, when we watched a lot of older movies. And there are terrific films in many categories, like adventure films, musicals and even documentaries if you know which to try. I think this is particularly important at a time when there’s often a disconnect in families, and many don’t have shared hobbies or activities.5:6/06 10:11/06 |