Per a CNN story today, Rush Limbaugh has been chosen "author of the year" in the Children's Choice Book Awards. His book Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims: Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans somehow managed to beat out Veronica Roth and Allegiant, the third book in the trilogy that started with her mega-hit Divergent, which even my 9-year-old has read.
Puzzling, isn't it?
Until one reads that "Kids voted for their favorites online with the help of their parents and teachers..." rather than in the classroom, and that the "author of the year" was actually based on bestseller lists, rather than kids' votes. So all those Rush books bought as "gifts" by the Walton and Koch employees helped propel Rush past Roth, whose books are in most households inhabited by girls between the ages of 12 and 20, and whose movie is still in every multiplex in the country.
The other finalists for Author of the Year make more sense, seeing as they are actually the authors of books children might choose to read:
Rachel Renee Russell, Dork Diaries 6: Tales From A Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker
Rick Riordan, The House of Hades
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck
In fact, we've read all of these in our household. But "America's Kids Chose Rush!" sure makes a good headline, doesn't it?