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Have you seen this item in the New York Times?
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PUBLISHER RECALLS FOURTH-GRADER'S NOVEL AMID PLAGIARISM CHARGES
NEW YORK - Amid an escalating crisis over charges of literary theft, the publisher of a bestselling novel authored by
a fourth-grader has announced it is recalling all copies of the book from store shelves and asking retailers to halt sales.
Simon and Schuster, publisher of the blockbuster novel "How Tissa Grabbed Katie's Lunch, Grabbed Her Hair and Grabbed
a Life," yesterday reversed its previous defense of the book and said that it will withdraw and destroy all copies immediately.
The publisher offered no reason for its abrupt change of position.
The "Tissa" novel, written by nine-year-old Connecticut grade-school student Mandy Tillerman, had an initial
press run of 120,000 copies and reached Number 27 on the online extended New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List.
Several Hollywood studios were said to have been interested in making it into a film, but this appears to have been scuttled
by the plagiarism uproar.
The novel, Ms. Tillerman's first, was released earlier this year to nationwide fanfare, and she was hailed as a major
new voice in the so-called "literary vernacular," a lucrative new genre of novels by non-writers, until the plagiarism
scandal hit. According to the Associated Press, charges of plagiarism were first leveled in the PTA newsletter at Ms. Tillerman's
school by the parent of a classmate, an avid reader of "vernacular" novelist CeeCee Starling, from whose work Ms.
Tillerman allegedly lifted dozens of passages.
Nine-year-old Ms. Tillerman has acknowledged being "like, an amazing fan" of novelist Ms. Starling, a 10-year-old
fifth-grader who has authored three bestselling books to date. But Ms. Tillerman insisted last week in a published apology
that any borrowing of language was "not on purpose, okay? No way."
Ms. Starling's hit novels include "You, Too, Booger-Face," "Bite My Thong," and her latest, "How
Liza Lost Her Lunch," from which Ms. Tillerman is alleged to have plagiarized. All three novels have ranked Number 30
or higher on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller List.
Stanley Gilding, vice president of Simon and Schuster, said in a statement yesterday, "We admit no deliberate plagiarism.
But we regret this incident and its effect on Ms. Tillerman's and Ms. Starling's work, and we wish to put it behind us so
that both writers can continue to productively pursue their craft." He said that a revised version of the "Tissa"
novel, with all questionable text removed, will be released later this year.
Ms. Starling's publisher, Ballantine, replied in its own statement yesterday, "We have reached a satisfactory agreement
whereby the integrity and reputation of our author will be protected."
The alleged plagiarism victim, young Ms. Starling, when asked by reporters if she was angry at Ms. Tillerman, said, "I'm
sure she didn't, like, mean it. I'm not going to go claw her face off or anything. It's not worth it."
Since the story broke, talk shows and blog sites have engaged in ceaseless and sometimes obsessively detailed scrutiny
of the often striking similarities between Ms. Tillerman's and Ms. Starling's language in their novels.
Here are a few examples comparing excerpts from Ms. Tillerman's "How Tissa Grabbed Katie's Lunch, Grabbed Her Hair
and Grabbed a Life" with Ms. Starling's "How Liza Lost Her Lunch":
"Stoomie is, like, such drool. He just stares at you across the lunchroom and you want to, like, wash off the spit.
Some girls think he's cute but that's because they've never had to stand behind him in lunch line and smell the dookie in
his dirty pants."
- Mandy Tillerman, "Tissa," page 24
"Stookie is, like, a string of drool with eyes. He looks at you across the lunchroom and you want to wipe off the
spit. Some girls think he's cute but that's because they've never had to stand next to him and smell the dookie in his dirty
jeans."
- CeeCee Starling, "Liza," page 32
"Tissa ran off the bus and tried not to cry. What a jerk that Katie was. What a stupid, barf-breath, booger-eating
jerk. Tissa hated her. She hated that little bitch so much. Just wait, she said to herself. Just wait until lunch tomorrow."
- Mandy Tillerman, "Tissa," page 67
"Liza ran off the school bus and tried to not cry. What a jerk that Stacie was. What a stupid-assed, barf-breath,
booger-eating jerk. Liza hated her. She hated that little bitch's guts so much. Just you wait, she said to herself. Just you
wait until lunch tomorrow."
- CeeCee Starling, "Liza," page 58
"Oh, God, it hurt so bad. So bad. She stuck her face deep, deep into her tear-soaked pillow and hoped that she would
drown."
- Mandy Tillerman, "Tissa," page 95
"Oh, God. It hurt so bad. So bad. She stuffed her face deep into her tear-soaked pillow and prayed that she would
drown."
- CeeCee Starling, "Liza," page 101
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If you haven't seen this article in the Times, it's because it hasn't appeared there.
Yet.
You can, however, read in the April 28, 2006 Times about the controversy over a 19-year-old Harvard sophomore's bestselling
novel (entitled "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life") being recalled after she allegedly plagiarized
more than 40 passages from another bestselling novel (entitled "Sloppy Firsts").
Enjoy!
(Posted 4-28-06)
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