Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards chair Thom Barthelmess talks to Nina and Jonathan over at Heavy Metal. Thom and his fellow judges (Lauren Adams and Megan Lambert) will be in town Friday for the Awards and Horn Book at Simmons Colloquium. I think it's a lot more work being a BGHB judge than it was when I started working here. In the old days, the judges would make their decisions and communicate them to the Horn Book and Boston Globe editors, who would pretty much take it from there. I remember working out with Steph Loer (children's book editor for the Globe, a position that no longer exists) which of us would present each award at the ceremony, and having to pull together laudatory remarks without the benefit of the judges' discussions. The hell with that, I thought, and after a few years made the judges themselves responsible for the encomiums. And, this year, they have the additional responsibility at the Colloquium of explaining how the BGHB choices relate to the theme ("Look Out!"), which is kind of sadistic on my part given that the judges had nothing to do with choosing the theme. So think smart, look sharp, and speak clearly, you guys--and Look Out!