My latest Book to Watch Out For is Kendra by Coe Booth, blogged about here.
Many thanks to Scholastic for the copy. You rule!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Superfudge is still here! Or, outreach with literature.
I'm not the target audience of Babble, a parenting site, because I don't have children. Despite my lack of children I do have an interest in children's books (obviously), so I was intrigued and extremely dismayed to read this blog entry, Where, Oh Where is Superfudge? by Rachel Shukert who, as I see from her bio, is a writer. I guess she's a writer that doesn't read children's or young adult literature, or one that has any familiarity with the reading habits of young people, because those who are familiar with the ever-widening offerings in the children's and YA lit world can see right through this entry.
Shuket's overall argument is that children's and YA books these days are too, well, shiny, too focused on the exploits of rich kids. She can't find any books about poorer, urban, nonwhite, etc. children and seems to believe that they don't exist in children's literature anymore. She encourages readers of her entry to "rescue all those Carter-era stories of latchkey kids and public school and Native American girls abandoned on islands off the coast of California as well."
Believe me, my head is still spinning, and not just because Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of the most boring books I was ever forced to read as a child.
Fancy Nancy is acknowledged, but not Trixie and her beloved Knuffle Bunny in all their Brooklyn landscape glory. Shukert shows a fundamental lack of knowledge about the difference between children's and YA literature, stating in an opening paragraph: There was a time when the shelves of the Young Adult section at the bookstore (or even the library, as the more ancient among you may remember) were filled with stories of smart, urban, and overwhelmingly middle class children doing very normal and often humorous things. She then goes on to talk about Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing, which is not now, has never been, and never will be classified as YA. Beyond this, those shelves are still filled with stories of smart, middle-class children doing normal and humorous things. She just doesn't seem to be willing to look for them, choosing instead to focus on Gossip Girl and the other Poppy series. Shukert goes on at length about Serena van der Woodsen but never once mentions Jacqueline Woodson. She's quick to complain about the lack of normal kids in YA literature but I have a signed galley of Paper Towns that says she's never heard of John Green, or Laurie Halse Anderson, or Walter Dean Myers, or Joan Bauer, or Sarah Dessen, or any other author that does exactly what she complains about authors not doing, that is, writing great books about middle-class and/or urban teens who don't have superpowers.
Lest it seem that I am too hasty to blame Shuket for her complete lack of knowledge of MG and YA literature, please know that one thing I can't stop thinking is, "Why does she know so little?" Any children's and/or YA librarian would be happy to load her up with books by the authors I mentioned. Why did she not talk to any of them before writing off the last three decades' worth of children's and YA books? Why are librarians still so invisible to those who love to complain about how great children's and YA books were back in the good ol' days? In the good ol' days, where gay characters almost always died, and teens who had sex were punished for it by pregnancy or disease, or... Sorry. But seriously, children's and YA lit has come so far in 30 years and I can't help but wonder why there are more books now but less knowledge about them. It's become almost as important to reach adults, especially parents, with YA lit as it is to reach teens. Hmm. Another underserved population, perhaps?
Shuket's overall argument is that children's and YA books these days are too, well, shiny, too focused on the exploits of rich kids. She can't find any books about poorer, urban, nonwhite, etc. children and seems to believe that they don't exist in children's literature anymore. She encourages readers of her entry to "rescue all those Carter-era stories of latchkey kids and public school and Native American girls abandoned on islands off the coast of California as well."
Believe me, my head is still spinning, and not just because Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of the most boring books I was ever forced to read as a child.
Fancy Nancy is acknowledged, but not Trixie and her beloved Knuffle Bunny in all their Brooklyn landscape glory. Shukert shows a fundamental lack of knowledge about the difference between children's and YA literature, stating in an opening paragraph: There was a time when the shelves of the Young Adult section at the bookstore (or even the library, as the more ancient among you may remember) were filled with stories of smart, urban, and overwhelmingly middle class children doing very normal and often humorous things. She then goes on to talk about Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing, which is not now, has never been, and never will be classified as YA. Beyond this, those shelves are still filled with stories of smart, middle-class children doing normal and humorous things. She just doesn't seem to be willing to look for them, choosing instead to focus on Gossip Girl and the other Poppy series. Shukert goes on at length about Serena van der Woodsen but never once mentions Jacqueline Woodson. She's quick to complain about the lack of normal kids in YA literature but I have a signed galley of Paper Towns that says she's never heard of John Green, or Laurie Halse Anderson, or Walter Dean Myers, or Joan Bauer, or Sarah Dessen, or any other author that does exactly what she complains about authors not doing, that is, writing great books about middle-class and/or urban teens who don't have superpowers.
Lest it seem that I am too hasty to blame Shuket for her complete lack of knowledge of MG and YA literature, please know that one thing I can't stop thinking is, "Why does she know so little?" Any children's and/or YA librarian would be happy to load her up with books by the authors I mentioned. Why did she not talk to any of them before writing off the last three decades' worth of children's and YA books? Why are librarians still so invisible to those who love to complain about how great children's and YA books were back in the good ol' days? In the good ol' days, where gay characters almost always died, and teens who had sex were punished for it by pregnancy or disease, or... Sorry. But seriously, children's and YA lit has come so far in 30 years and I can't help but wonder why there are more books now but less knowledge about them. It's become almost as important to reach adults, especially parents, with YA lit as it is to reach teens. Hmm. Another underserved population, perhaps?
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Speak Out, Siobhan Vivian, super amazing
It's Talk It Up! and Speak Out! season, so I'm making the rounds of some of our libraries to see how their groups are going. The staff of the Rutherford Public Library was kind enough to invite me to Speak Out! last night, where they were reading A Little Friendly Advice and had author Siobhan Vivian as their guest.
Heads up, librarians: Author events are never a bad thing. Never. There were 14 teens and 4 librarians crammed into a room, all having a fabulous time talking about Siobhan's book and hearing about her writing career. I got one teen to check out Boy Toy and talked with others about their lives and YA lit as they waited for Siobhan to sign their books and take pictures. All the participants were enthusiastic, smart, and generally a credit to teens everywhere. The Rutherford Public Library is lucky to have such a great group.
If this is not the cutest, most wonderful picture in the entire world, I don't know what is:
Picture a whole evening like that! It rocked so hard.
Heads up, librarians: Author events are never a bad thing. Never. There were 14 teens and 4 librarians crammed into a room, all having a fabulous time talking about Siobhan's book and hearing about her writing career. I got one teen to check out Boy Toy and talked with others about their lives and YA lit as they waited for Siobhan to sign their books and take pictures. All the participants were enthusiastic, smart, and generally a credit to teens everywhere. The Rutherford Public Library is lucky to have such a great group.
If this is not the cutest, most wonderful picture in the entire world, I don't know what is:
Picture a whole evening like that! It rocked so hard.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Summer reading is killing teens
Darn. I was going to blog about this exact topic, and ShelfTalker beat me to it. It's a brilliant blog entry, really, so I will just add a few comments of my own. ShelfTalker says:
The best summer reading lists, I believe, should include a solid mix of books published for young adult readers and books published for adults, with an emphasis on ENJOYING reading. I think lists should include books that will appeal to reluctant readers AND books that will catch the eye of those kids who genuinely seek a challenge (or who just want to impress college admissions counselors). A list NEEDS to include newer books and (really, truly) the lists need to include a brief summary and/or review.
This is one hundred percent true, and if I may, I'd like to add a few summer reading list requests of my own. A great summer reading list, imho, should also have:
1. Books about people of all different colors, social backgrounds, and nationalities, preferably ones published after 2000. Not that I don't love Things Fall Apart, but can we get Chanda's Secrets on there, too?
2. A book 150 pages or shorter, and a book 500 pages or longer.
3. An equal balance of male and female main characters, and those characters should be treated as equals. One of the most egregious insults I ever saw on a summer reading list was a list that had books covering health topics. In these books, all of the boys were heroes who were "coping with" a family member's mental illness, and all the girls were mentally ill. I don't even know if the person putting the list together noticed this. Noting that the NIH says that men are more likely to suffer from mental illness than women, I suggested that the school add Under the Wolf, Under the Dog and A Beautiful Mind to start. I don't think they ever did, though.
4. Books that have the word "fuck" in them. No, I'm serious, and this is where my lack of ever being a school librarian shows. I think there's a lot to be learned from the structure of Fight Club, the way Palahniuk plays with the narrator's identity and the graying lines between order and chaos. But it's got a lot of grit and swearing, so one is unlikely to see it on a summer reading list. But come on. What reluctant reader sixteen-year-old boy, if he had to read something during the summer, wouldn't want to read Fight Club? Strong language is a way of life, and it can be a way of great writing.
5. Science fiction and fantasy...wait for it...written by women. If I'm lucky, I'll sometimes see The Mists of Avalon on a summer reading list, and that's it for speculative fiction written by women. Everything else seems to be Asimov, Clarke, Card, etc. Those books aren't bad, but a list that doesn't include fantasy and SF written by women doesn't send a great message. Please, if you're reading this and one of your jobs is to assign summer reading titles, consider books by Octavia Butler, Mercedes Lackey, Robin McKinley, J.K. Rowling, Nancy Farmer, Holly Black and Annette Curtis Klause, to name a few.
6. Books with gay characters. You know where this is a problem? Middle school reading lists. Fact is, it's 2008 and kids are becoming sexually aware earlier and earlier, even knowing they're gay or lesbian in middle school. Please, middle schools of the world, would you consider adding Alex Sanchez's So Hard to Say to your reading lists?
7. Non-linear structures and non-narrative language. Books written in IMs. Books written in diaries, letters, and emails. Books that alternate narrators. This is a multitasking generation. Shake things up a little!
8. Popular fiction. Oh yes, I went there. Maybe I'm not cut out to put summer reading lists together, but I believe all reading is good reading. As I've told some reluctant readers, finding the right book is like finding the right pair of jeans. Sometimes you have to try on 5 or 6 before you find one that's the perfect fit for you. And we all know teens are heavily influenced by their friends, so why not add the books their friends are reading, whether it's Scott Westerfeld or Janet Evanovich?
I'm a little worried by the ShelfTalker commenter who thought Lurlene McDaniel's Prey was "a surprisingly good, realistic, and non-exploitive(!!) look at a predatory female teacher," because I found Prey to be the exact opposite of all of those things (and not just because Boy Toy was my favorite book of '07), but other than that the comments on that entry are fantastic.
I didn't blog yesterday because I was tired from being in line for my new iPhone since 5 a.m., so I think the next entry will have to be How Do I Love My iPhone 3G, Let Me Count the Ways.
The best summer reading lists, I believe, should include a solid mix of books published for young adult readers and books published for adults, with an emphasis on ENJOYING reading. I think lists should include books that will appeal to reluctant readers AND books that will catch the eye of those kids who genuinely seek a challenge (or who just want to impress college admissions counselors). A list NEEDS to include newer books and (really, truly) the lists need to include a brief summary and/or review.
This is one hundred percent true, and if I may, I'd like to add a few summer reading list requests of my own. A great summer reading list, imho, should also have:
1. Books about people of all different colors, social backgrounds, and nationalities, preferably ones published after 2000. Not that I don't love Things Fall Apart, but can we get Chanda's Secrets on there, too?
2. A book 150 pages or shorter, and a book 500 pages or longer.
3. An equal balance of male and female main characters, and those characters should be treated as equals. One of the most egregious insults I ever saw on a summer reading list was a list that had books covering health topics. In these books, all of the boys were heroes who were "coping with" a family member's mental illness, and all the girls were mentally ill. I don't even know if the person putting the list together noticed this. Noting that the NIH says that men are more likely to suffer from mental illness than women, I suggested that the school add Under the Wolf, Under the Dog and A Beautiful Mind to start. I don't think they ever did, though.
4. Books that have the word "fuck" in them. No, I'm serious, and this is where my lack of ever being a school librarian shows. I think there's a lot to be learned from the structure of Fight Club, the way Palahniuk plays with the narrator's identity and the graying lines between order and chaos. But it's got a lot of grit and swearing, so one is unlikely to see it on a summer reading list. But come on. What reluctant reader sixteen-year-old boy, if he had to read something during the summer, wouldn't want to read Fight Club? Strong language is a way of life, and it can be a way of great writing.
5. Science fiction and fantasy...wait for it...written by women. If I'm lucky, I'll sometimes see The Mists of Avalon on a summer reading list, and that's it for speculative fiction written by women. Everything else seems to be Asimov, Clarke, Card, etc. Those books aren't bad, but a list that doesn't include fantasy and SF written by women doesn't send a great message. Please, if you're reading this and one of your jobs is to assign summer reading titles, consider books by Octavia Butler, Mercedes Lackey, Robin McKinley, J.K. Rowling, Nancy Farmer, Holly Black and Annette Curtis Klause, to name a few.
6. Books with gay characters. You know where this is a problem? Middle school reading lists. Fact is, it's 2008 and kids are becoming sexually aware earlier and earlier, even knowing they're gay or lesbian in middle school. Please, middle schools of the world, would you consider adding Alex Sanchez's So Hard to Say to your reading lists?
7. Non-linear structures and non-narrative language. Books written in IMs. Books written in diaries, letters, and emails. Books that alternate narrators. This is a multitasking generation. Shake things up a little!
8. Popular fiction. Oh yes, I went there. Maybe I'm not cut out to put summer reading lists together, but I believe all reading is good reading. As I've told some reluctant readers, finding the right book is like finding the right pair of jeans. Sometimes you have to try on 5 or 6 before you find one that's the perfect fit for you. And we all know teens are heavily influenced by their friends, so why not add the books their friends are reading, whether it's Scott Westerfeld or Janet Evanovich?
I'm a little worried by the ShelfTalker commenter who thought Lurlene McDaniel's Prey was "a surprisingly good, realistic, and non-exploitive(!!) look at a predatory female teacher," because I found Prey to be the exact opposite of all of those things (and not just because Boy Toy was my favorite book of '07), but other than that the comments on that entry are fantastic.
I didn't blog yesterday because I was tired from being in line for my new iPhone since 5 a.m., so I think the next entry will have to be How Do I Love My iPhone 3G, Let Me Count the Ways.
Green, Johnson and Myracle on 34th Street
My latest Book to Watch Out For is Let it Snow: Three holiday romances by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, and you can read about it at the YALSA blog.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
This book is Identical to much of what I've read before
Editing to add: Somehow I missed noting what book this review is for! It's for Identical by Ellen Hopkins.
(Hey, I'm blonde. These things happen.)
The plot: Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins who, like Elizabeth and Jessica, are as different on the inside as they are on the outside. Their contempt for one another is as strong as their love. Raeanne tells the reader that her sister's personality is more like her mother's, hard and cold, shutting people out emotionally, and it may be these traits that draw their father to Kaeleigh. Raeanne is jealous of the attention Kaeleigh gets from their father, even though she knows full well that her father sexually abuses Kaeleigh. Even though she's the braver of the two twins, she's not brave enough to take a stand against their father. She forgets her sorrows with pot and promiscuity and the occasional Oxycontin stolen from her father's medicine cabinet. Their mother, a politician, is away for most of the time campaigning. Of course, no situation so volatile can last forever. Kaeleigh and Raeanne hit rock bottom, a moment that reveals many family secrets that, while painful, ultimately do them some good.
My thoughts: For me, there's way too much in this book. It's got bulimia, cutting, pot smoking, drinking, sexual abuse, prescription drug abuse, estranged family members, inappropriate relations with teachers, questionably consensual sexual violence (I don't call it BDSM, because the whole point of BDSM is that it is supposed to occur between consenting adults who have safety parameters in place), and one very sneaky, very evil plot twist. I was absolutely exhausted 250 pages into this 565-page book. I also felt like I'd read better from Ellen Hopkins. To me, this book didn't stand out from her other works. I've said before on YALSA-BK that Hopkins, writing wise, reminds me of Britney Spears. Britney Spears is a terrible singer who sings pretty good songs. Hopkins is the mirror image of that, a good writer who writes books I don't really enjoy. There is no one singular plotline to follow here; it's more a series of connected events. Like all of Hopkins's previous works, it's in verse, making it visually appealing.
But don't write it off just yet: Even though this book is not among my favorites of the year, I will say this: Ellen Hopkins knows her audience. She really has a handle on so many teen feelings and she knows what teens want to and have to read about. After hearing her speak at a dinner at ALA, I know she is also a compassionate person with a need to tell these stories, to let teens in rough situations that they are not alone and someone out there does care about them. I know that in junior high, this is exactly the kind of book I'd have gone for. If I were a teen today, all emotions being equal, I'd probably be emailing Hopkins to tell her how much I love her books. Is Identical going to win the Printz? Probably not. But it is an important book, one that a lot of teen readers will really like and one that many libraries should purchase. Perhaps it will even give one or more teens in difficult situations, family or otherwise, the strength to reach out and get help.
(Hey, I'm blonde. These things happen.)
The plot: Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical twins who, like Elizabeth and Jessica, are as different on the inside as they are on the outside. Their contempt for one another is as strong as their love. Raeanne tells the reader that her sister's personality is more like her mother's, hard and cold, shutting people out emotionally, and it may be these traits that draw their father to Kaeleigh. Raeanne is jealous of the attention Kaeleigh gets from their father, even though she knows full well that her father sexually abuses Kaeleigh. Even though she's the braver of the two twins, she's not brave enough to take a stand against their father. She forgets her sorrows with pot and promiscuity and the occasional Oxycontin stolen from her father's medicine cabinet. Their mother, a politician, is away for most of the time campaigning. Of course, no situation so volatile can last forever. Kaeleigh and Raeanne hit rock bottom, a moment that reveals many family secrets that, while painful, ultimately do them some good.
My thoughts: For me, there's way too much in this book. It's got bulimia, cutting, pot smoking, drinking, sexual abuse, prescription drug abuse, estranged family members, inappropriate relations with teachers, questionably consensual sexual violence (I don't call it BDSM, because the whole point of BDSM is that it is supposed to occur between consenting adults who have safety parameters in place), and one very sneaky, very evil plot twist. I was absolutely exhausted 250 pages into this 565-page book. I also felt like I'd read better from Ellen Hopkins. To me, this book didn't stand out from her other works. I've said before on YALSA-BK that Hopkins, writing wise, reminds me of Britney Spears. Britney Spears is a terrible singer who sings pretty good songs. Hopkins is the mirror image of that, a good writer who writes books I don't really enjoy. There is no one singular plotline to follow here; it's more a series of connected events. Like all of Hopkins's previous works, it's in verse, making it visually appealing.
But don't write it off just yet: Even though this book is not among my favorites of the year, I will say this: Ellen Hopkins knows her audience. She really has a handle on so many teen feelings and she knows what teens want to and have to read about. After hearing her speak at a dinner at ALA, I know she is also a compassionate person with a need to tell these stories, to let teens in rough situations that they are not alone and someone out there does care about them. I know that in junior high, this is exactly the kind of book I'd have gone for. If I were a teen today, all emotions being equal, I'd probably be emailing Hopkins to tell her how much I love her books. Is Identical going to win the Printz? Probably not. But it is an important book, one that a lot of teen readers will really like and one that many libraries should purchase. Perhaps it will even give one or more teens in difficult situations, family or otherwise, the strength to reach out and get help.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Your third space is no good if your second space doesn't support it
I've been thinking a lot, probably more than I ought to, about this entry in the YALSA blog: President's program: The teen third space. It's been bothering me a lot, probably more than it ought to, mostly this line: The best point, for me, that Bernier made was actually a very simple one. Libraries should move away from privileging the collection to privileging the social experience that libraries can support. Collections should be used to support social interaction.
Reading this makes me think I'm due for a career change, because I disagree with this on the most fundamental level.
Here's the thing: I'm all about getting the idea of third spaces out to my colleagues. I have been talking about the third space to my boss for a long time. I believe that having a welcoming teen space, no matter how small, is key in serving teens in a library successfully. (Seriously, the best teen space I've seen to date was at the Emerson Public Library...they have one half of one aisle, about 12 shelves, stuffed with up-to-date teen books and decorated by teens to the nines. It rocks.) I wholeheartedly encourage social interactions in the library, as anyone who's heard me speak about marketing Talk It Up! and Speak Out! knows. Why not, as long as everyone's behaving in a socially acceptable manner? Why not have gaming nights? Why not have non-book-related programming? Libraries are spaces for learning and exploring, and everyone has different learning styles and interests. I believe that having a space you care about shows teens that you care about serving them to the best of your ability.
But I also believe that without a well-weeded, up-to-date book collection, full of popular and quality materials, both fiction and nonfiction, everything else you do as a teen librarian is worthless.
Ask an average teen what comes to mind when asked to picture a library, and my money is on him or her describing a room full of books. Willow Rosenberg said it best: "The library... Where the books live?" Fact is, books are still important. Reading is still important. And perhaps this is a myopic view, but without teachers and librarians, where are teens going to get book advice? When was the last time you saw a reader's adviser in Barnes and Noble? Everyone who reads this blog knows that YA is the hot new thing. Even Cory Doctorow knows this. I feel lucky, even blessed, to be a YA librarian in a time when so much wonderful YA is being produced. It seems to me, however, that more and more it is becoming seriously not cool to become a YA librarian because you love YA lit and love matching teens and books. Granted, I've never been cool a day in my life so this doesn't bother me in and of itself, but what does bother me is the idea that in order to be a good teen librarian, you not only have to be knowledgeable about books and technology and have a good rapport with teens, you have to be a social worker, a gaming aficionado, a decorator, a confidante, a life coach, a social networking guru (Second Life? I don't even have time for a first life!), and many other things that I am simply not good at. I am great with helping people research and find books they'll love, but I am not a great social worker or life coach by any stretch of the imagination. If teens have troubles they want to tell me about, I am happy to listen but ultimately I am not equipped to guide them through their problems. I am, however, equipped to give them the resources they need, should they want. I think if you don't privilege your collection, no one else will, either. I think if you don't stand up for providing quality materials to teens in favor of privileging social interaction, you've got no right to complain when your materials budget is cut. Your collection, in my opinion, should lay ground for everything else you do. It should reflect your teens' reading interests, be they fiction or nonfiction.
I know this is a lot of tinhattery based on one YALSA blog entry, but that one entry has set off this chain of thoughts. I think I have fallen too far behind the times to keep up with what is expected of teen librarians nowadays. I am not a confidante. I am not a counselor. I am a librarian, and a good one, and one that today, feels really out of place in her profession.
Tomorrow will probably be a better day.
Reading this makes me think I'm due for a career change, because I disagree with this on the most fundamental level.
Here's the thing: I'm all about getting the idea of third spaces out to my colleagues. I have been talking about the third space to my boss for a long time. I believe that having a welcoming teen space, no matter how small, is key in serving teens in a library successfully. (Seriously, the best teen space I've seen to date was at the Emerson Public Library...they have one half of one aisle, about 12 shelves, stuffed with up-to-date teen books and decorated by teens to the nines. It rocks.) I wholeheartedly encourage social interactions in the library, as anyone who's heard me speak about marketing Talk It Up! and Speak Out! knows. Why not, as long as everyone's behaving in a socially acceptable manner? Why not have gaming nights? Why not have non-book-related programming? Libraries are spaces for learning and exploring, and everyone has different learning styles and interests. I believe that having a space you care about shows teens that you care about serving them to the best of your ability.
But I also believe that without a well-weeded, up-to-date book collection, full of popular and quality materials, both fiction and nonfiction, everything else you do as a teen librarian is worthless.
Ask an average teen what comes to mind when asked to picture a library, and my money is on him or her describing a room full of books. Willow Rosenberg said it best: "The library... Where the books live?" Fact is, books are still important. Reading is still important. And perhaps this is a myopic view, but without teachers and librarians, where are teens going to get book advice? When was the last time you saw a reader's adviser in Barnes and Noble? Everyone who reads this blog knows that YA is the hot new thing. Even Cory Doctorow knows this. I feel lucky, even blessed, to be a YA librarian in a time when so much wonderful YA is being produced. It seems to me, however, that more and more it is becoming seriously not cool to become a YA librarian because you love YA lit and love matching teens and books. Granted, I've never been cool a day in my life so this doesn't bother me in and of itself, but what does bother me is the idea that in order to be a good teen librarian, you not only have to be knowledgeable about books and technology and have a good rapport with teens, you have to be a social worker, a gaming aficionado, a decorator, a confidante, a life coach, a social networking guru (Second Life? I don't even have time for a first life!), and many other things that I am simply not good at. I am great with helping people research and find books they'll love, but I am not a great social worker or life coach by any stretch of the imagination. If teens have troubles they want to tell me about, I am happy to listen but ultimately I am not equipped to guide them through their problems. I am, however, equipped to give them the resources they need, should they want. I think if you don't privilege your collection, no one else will, either. I think if you don't stand up for providing quality materials to teens in favor of privileging social interaction, you've got no right to complain when your materials budget is cut. Your collection, in my opinion, should lay ground for everything else you do. It should reflect your teens' reading interests, be they fiction or nonfiction.
I know this is a lot of tinhattery based on one YALSA blog entry, but that one entry has set off this chain of thoughts. I think I have fallen too far behind the times to keep up with what is expected of teen librarians nowadays. I am not a confidante. I am not a counselor. I am a librarian, and a good one, and one that today, feels really out of place in her profession.
Tomorrow will probably be a better day.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Review-type of Hero-Type
I'm very excited to finally be blogging about YA books for the YALSA blog. The YALSA rules say that I cannot reproduce my entries for them in this blog, so I will provide you with a link to today's entry: Books to watch out for: Hero-Type by Barry Lyga.
"Books to watch out for" will be a regular feature on the YALSA blog. I have a post-it on my desk reminding me to write in at least once a week (on Tuesdays, because nothing ever happens on Tuesdays except Dean Winchester getting a desk dropped on him). Now, what to feature next...
"Books to watch out for" will be a regular feature on the YALSA blog. I have a post-it on my desk reminding me to write in at least once a week (on Tuesdays, because nothing ever happens on Tuesdays except Dean Winchester getting a desk dropped on him). Now, what to feature next...
Thursday, July 3, 2008
As a longtime Harry Potter fan, I'm used to seeing books and essay collections analyzing my favorite teen books. While Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books are far from being my favorites, I was intrigued to see an essay collection about it, published by Teen Libris. A New Dawn is part of a collection of books analyzing popular teen series, including one the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books called Demigods and Monsters (which I am absolutely dying to read, as I love and adore the Percy Jackson books) and the Inheritance
What's in A New Dawn: Thirteen essays by YA authors of varying popularity tackle themes of romance, vampires and werewolves in literary tradition, morality, the neverending question of whether Edward Cullen is the greatest boyfriend in literature or an out-and-out sociopath (my vote is firmly with sociopath!), and self-sacrifice. I think the essays are aimed at teen readers, but the formality and academic voice of each essay varies greatly. The essays all have inviting titles like "My Boyfriend Sparkles," showing that even though these are analytical essays, they're meant to be conversational as well. The strongest essay in the book is Ellen Steiber's "Tall, Dark, and... Thirsty?" which discusses the history of vampire legends and how they cross into romance, even citing other YA vampire books when talking about the vampire as loner. It also brings to the forefront the thing I have always found the most unsettling about the Twilight series, that being Bella's complete lack of a sense of self. Robin Brande's essay, "Edward, Heathcliff, and Our Other Secret Boyfriends," is written with her signature sense of breezy fun and although I didn't agree with a single word in it, I enjoyed reading it. Cassandra Clare and Rachel Caine use alternate formats, letters and scripts, respectively, to convey their ideas. Janette Rallison gets extra points for briefly discussing Carlisle Cullen, who I think is probably the most interesting character in the books (and not just because his name, like mine, is Carlisle).
Who will read this book?: YA lit nerds. No, seriously. I am one of them, and I fully embrace it. Twilight fandomers will probably be drawn to this as well, but you'll note I said fandomers, which not all readers are. I just can't see the average teen Twilight fan wanting to read past the first two, maybe three essays, but it's entirely possible that I'm underestimating the average Twilight fan, especially considering that when I finished New Moon I said, "I am neither Team Edward nor Team Jacob; I am team 'Edward and Jacob should run off with each other and leave that simpering nobody Bella alone for the rest of her life.'" I do see where the book's popularity comes from, and I think that using more colloquial and less academic language, plus the draw of the names of the YA authors, will make A New Dawn appealing to the die-hard fans who want to show that their obsession with Meyer's books goes further than just "this is a really good book." The only drawback to this book is that it's written on an open canon and doesn't do much for covering what might happen in the books. Speculation was always the best part of being in the Harry Potter fandom, and reading academic works on Potter speculation always taught me much about plotting. I'd almost like to see this collection revisited once the canon is closed, just to see how much of it holds up (though I believe much of it will, because it focuses more on literary tradition than book events).
Would I buy it for my library? Yes, if I had a nest of die-hard Twilight fans, or perhaps local teachers who wanted more reasons to incorporate modern YA lit into their curricula. It's one of those books I'd give a 2P in VOYA, "for the reader with a special interest in the subject," which to be fair holds true for a lot of nonfiction.
So, in short? This essay collection doesn't suck.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
A book you'll Hunger for
When you're a librarian, inundated with books, it can be hard to choose what to read. My office is full of books I have to read, books I want to read, books I've heard about, books no one has talked about...you get the picture. Sometimes it takes an extra little push to get me to read a book, but when I do, I'm glad I was pushed. Such is the case with The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, to be released in October of 2008.
I haven't read Collins's Underland Chronicles because, well, I am too far grounded in reality and generally don't read speculative fiction unless it's for a selection committee. I'd heard buzz about The Hunger Games (and how could I not?) but still didn't feel really inspired to pick up the galley off the cart in the corner of my office. At ALA, I had the great honor and pleasure of attending the Scholastic Literary Brunch on Sunday, at which Collins read from The Hunger Games.
The minute she finished talking, I picked up her book and did not put it down unless forced. In fact, I had a selection committee meeting after the brunch and made myself take the book back to my hotel room so I wouldn't read it while I was supposed to be doing committee work. It's that good. It's worth ALL the hype and then some.
The plot: In the ruins of a place that used to be called North America, the country of Panem has emerged. Panem consists of a Capitol and twelve districts, each with a different economical focus. At one time, there was a thirteenth district, but it was destroyed by the Panem government when its people tried to rebel. Seventy-four years ago, the Capitol began the Hunger Games, in which one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen from each district, called tributes, are sent to the Capitol each year to compete in a fight to the death. The winner's district receives food, which is in scarce supply in many of the districts, and money and great honor.
The protagonist, sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, took over the role of family provider when her father died in a mine explosion. She and her mother and younger sister, the delicate and sensitive Prim, live on the Seam, a poor area of District 12. When the book opens, it is reaping day, the day the tributes from each district are chosen. In some districts, being chosen on reaping day is an honor, but not in District 12, which has only had two Hunger Games winners in 74 years. When Prim is chosen, Katniss volunteers to go in her place.
Katniss is sure her participation in the Hunger Games is a death sentence. After all, there are tributes from other, richer districts that have been trained all their lives for these games. She's one of the smallest competitors, the least educated, the poorest, the hungriest. But she's also got a few things the other competitors don't.
Why you'll love it: Not a single word is wasted in this book. Although Collins could easily have gone on at length about the state of Panem, the outdoor arena, and Katniss's home, she doesn't. She gives us just enough to work with. The readers know the setting is dystopian, even dire, without being drowned in details of the horror. Katniss has a bitter edge to her and is always sympathetic if not always likable. There's a well-paced romance storyline as well, and everyone I know who's read this book is excited to know where it's going in book 2. (The Hunger Games is the opening of a trilogy.) Even better? The ending leads us to believe that book 2 could go anywhere. It could pick up where book 1 left off, or take place 10 years in the future, or be told from a different character's perspective. Katniss's world is so wide, but Collins uses first-person narration very, very well so we only get to see what matters in Katniss's immediate moments. The possibilities are near endless. By using just the right descriptors, Collins puts you right into the Games, complete with evil politicking and near-death experiences for Katniss. It is frightening on so many levels
I know there was buzz over at A Fuse #8 Production about this being a Newbery contender. Personally, while I am wholly with Betsy on the quality of the writing, I think it reads more Printz. Either way, it's definitely a contender for a major award. So far, this is one of my top 10 of the year. Maybe even my top 5. It's a perfect next read for those who loved Life as We Knew It and I will be positively twitching until book 2 comes out.
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