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We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending October 19, 2014–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #1 in Hardcover Fiction) Gray Mountain by John Grisham: “Her new job takes Samantha into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, rules are ignored, regulations are flouted, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack from Big Coal. Violence is always just around the corner, and within weeks Samantha finds herself engulfed in litigation that turns deadly.” (October 2014)

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The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has collected birthday wishes for the legendary author, Judy Blume.

The Giver author Lois Lowry, former National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka and Internet Girls series writer Lauren Myracle all contributed messages.

Scieszka and Myracle shared photos of themselves posing with Blume. Read all the messages on the NCAC blog.

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Sisters can be the best of friends. Or the worst of enemies.

Or, they can change so much you don’t know who they are.

That’s what happens to 15-year-old Carly in Lauren Myracle’s young-adult novel Peace, Love and Baby Ducks (Dutton, 2009). She comes home from summer camp to find that her younger sister, Anna, has turned into a beautiful, shallow teenager who’s more interested in fashion, friends and boys than Carly ever was.

Carly doesn’t know what to make of Anna — or her extremely well-off family and its focus on money and appearances. Carly’s summer camp made her re-evaluate her priorities, and she’s not sure her family’s lifestyle lines up with them any more.

What will she do?

Let’s see what today’s guest reviewer has to say.

——————

You should read this book because: It doesn’t end the way you think it will.

——————

Thanks, Je’Kyah!

Lauren Myracle is a New York Times best-selling author. She’s also one of our country’s most frequently “challenged” writers, meaning, her books have appeared at the top of the American Library Association’s list of titles most often requested for removal — or banning — from our public libraries’ shelves. If you’d like to learn more about Lauren Myracle, you can:

• Read this interview with her from the New York Times.
• Watch this video.
• Follow her on Twitter.

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You thought that title was a tease?  Because when do I ever tease?  And why would I?  And do I even have the shape and general vocabulary of teasing in me?

I do not.

Proof:  In a friendly battle currently being conducted on behalf of Tara Altebrando's distinctly unpathetic new novel, The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life (nothing Tara writes is pathetic; she's too clever and language invested and talented for that; read my review here of Dreamland Social Club), I have gone up against true literary greats—Gayle Forman, E. Lockhart, Sarah Miynowski, Arlaina Tibensky, and Lauren Myracle—and been found to be the reigning queen (at least in this hour) of pathetic-ism.

Wait.  Is this a good thing?  A boast-worthy thing?  Should I be trumpeting this all over e-creation?

Oh, never mind.  I am the temporary champ of something.  I can count the times that's happened to me on one hand of five fingers with variously filed fingernails.  I am running with this.

The contest (grueling, requiring months of training and a Michael Phelps diet) all came down to a tricky little Tara questionnaire.  I answered as honestly as I knew how, between gulps of Phelps-style pasta.  I answered, tone and fit.  But of course, I answered imperfectly and do feel the need here to say, about that high school friend, that we found each other years later, and became quite close again, and really, that guy wouldn't have been right for me anyway; my friend was doing me a favor.  I also feel the need to confess, as those of you who follow me on Facebook now know, that I may not have ever purchased Twilight tickets, but I am now ballroom dancing to Twilight music.

(You have no idea what I'm talking about.  That's the point of links like these.  You have to go and find out for yourself.)

Tara's questionnaire, which can be found here, includes the following tidbits. I choose this brief passage to underscore my obsession with winning—anything.  Please check out the entire contest, and Tara herself, who is lovely beyond words (and who has some very exciting co-authoring news, concerning another great, Sara Zarr).

TA:  See now I may give you some Special Points for this, just because it’s so awful and sad! What an evil cow! Do you know what an isocahedron is without Googling? If not, give us your best guess.

BK: I do, I do! I actually have this funky mathematical term in my YA novel YOU ARE MY ONLY, and not just once. This would be thanks to the fact that my brother is a math genius and I wanted to honor him. Can I have triple points for this one, please? I need something here to put me on a fair playing field. I hate losing.

TA: Again with the points!

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The American Library Association (ALA) has released its annual list of the most frequently challenged library books of the year. We’ve linked to free samples of all the books on the list–follow the links below to read these controversial books yourself.

During the past year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 326 reports of “attempts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves.” The list was part of the ALA’s 2012 State of America’s Libraries Report.

Here’s more eBook news from the report: “The rapid growth of ebooks has stimulated increasing demand for them in libraries, but libraries only have limited access to ebooks because of restrictions placed on their use by publishers. Macmillan Publishing, Simon and Schuster and Hachette Book Group refused to sell ebooks to libraries. HarperCollins imposed an arbitrary 26 loans per ebook license, and Penguin refused to let libraries lend its new titles altogether. When Random House raised ebook prices, the ALA urged it to reconsider.”

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Lauren Myracle, author of SHINE, ttfn, and many more popular YA books, talks beautifully and honestly in this article about her books being banned and challenged, the horrible criticisms she’s received, the blizzard of fan mail she gets (a hundred emails a day!!), the awful mix-up with Shine and Chime with the National Book Awards…and SCARS is mentioned! The interviewer says at one point:

“Wall Street Journal writer Meghan Cox Gurdon said last year that teen literature has become too dark and depraved—too much rape, incest, violence. One of the books she cited, Scars, is about a girl who cuts herself. What’s your take?”

and Lauren Myracle says:

“I think she looked at a very small sampling of books. I think she herself was sensationalizing. For a girl who is cutting herself, to be able to read something like that and think, “I’m not alone,” what bigger gift can you give someone?”

Thank you so much, Lauren! (beaming)

I love how honest Lauren is in her interview, and how down-to-earth. Check it out.

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The American Library Association (ALA) has released its annual list of the most frequently challenged library books of the year. We’ve linked to free samples of all the books on the list–follow the links below to read these controversial books yourself.

During the past year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 326 reports of “attempts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves.” The list was part of the ALA’s 2012 State of America’s Libraries Report.

Here’s more eBook news from the report: “The rapid growth of ebooks has stimulated increasing demand for them in libraries, but libraries only have limited access to ebooks because of restrictions placed on their use by publishers. Macmillan Publishing, Simon and Schuster and Hachette Book Group refused to sell ebooks to libraries. HarperCollins imposed an arbitrary 26 loans per ebook license, and Penguin refused to let libraries lend its new titles altogether. When Random House raised ebook prices, the ALA urged it to reconsider.”

continued…

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The American Library Association (ALA) has released its annual list of the most frequently challenged library books of the year. We’ve linked to free samples of all the books on the list–follow the links below to read these controversial books yourself.

During the past year, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 326 reports of “attempts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves.” The list was part of the ALA’s 2012 State of America’s Libraries Report.

Here’s more eBook news from the report: “The rapid growth of ebooks has stimulated increasing demand for them in libraries, but libraries only have limited access to ebooks because of restrictions placed on their use by publishers. Macmillan Publishing, Simon and Schuster and Hachette Book Group refused to sell ebooks to libraries. HarperCollins imposed an arbitrary 26 loans per ebook license, and Penguin refused to let libraries lend its new titles altogether. When Random House raised ebook prices, the ALA urged it to reconsider.”

continued…

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This November, YA librarians and authors will descend upon St. Louis for the 2012 Young Adult Literature Symposium. If you haven’t been to this before, I highly recommend it. I went in 2010 and met a lot of fabulous people and rubbed elbows with a few authors (perpetuating my girl-crush on Lauren Myracle) and came away with a lot of great information. This year the theme is Hit Me with the Next Big Thing.

I started thinking about what exactly that means. How can we predict the future of what’s going to be hot and what’s going to flop? It’s not always easy to find what will be successful for your library, even when you’ve seen it be successful everywhere around you. I admit, I was having trouble with this concept until I listened to a webinar from Infopeople called Improvisation at Work! Communicating and Innovating in Your Library. Part of it covered the idea of “Yes, and.” When I did an improv program for the teens at my library this past summer, one of the things that we covered is keeping the scene going versus shutting it down. I didn’t know it was called this at the time, but I was teaching them “Yes, and.”

One of the applications of “Yes, and” is brainstorming without judgment. We’ve all probably been in those meetings where we’re asked to brainstorm ideas on how to do something or come up with something new and innovative. If you’re saying, “Been there, done that,” you’ve also probably encountered the person who always wants to point out the negative aspects of a suggestion. Whether their naysaying is legitimate or not is not the problem. The problem is that the naysayers can stop us in our tracks and keep us from being truly innovative.  (Try making a rule in one of these brainstorming sessions that you can only make positive statements and see your results. You may come up with something truly amazing that you never would have thought of before).

So what will be the trends of the future? What genre is going to be the next vampire-craze? Our teens are changing, so how will that be reflected? What is the Next Big Thing? Start a dialogue of “Yes, and,” see where it takes you, and then share it in the comments or bring it with you to St. Louis!

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So…after two months of worrying about me being on a panel speaking about challenged books in front of 500 people, and then two weeks of anxiety, and then a day of absolute fear right up to (and during) the panel…I “did good”! I knew I had a lot to say–Scars has been challenged at least once formally that I know of, and informally in Meghan cox Gurden’s op-ed. My abusers tried to silence me most of my life; I don’t want to be silenced any more. But actually speaking about it all in front of 500 people live felt pretty scary. I think I spoke well, though–honestly, emotionally, passionately, and intelligently. I still can’t believe I spoke well! It took a while for me to know it–but I started taking it in afterward from the many responses and from people telling me that in so many ways.

I know public speaking is hard for many people, at least at first. It is for me, too. But for me there’s also the added layers of all the abuse training–my abusers repeatedly telling me they’d kill me if I talked (and since they’d murdered other children in front of me I knew they could), and abuse that happened on raised stages (like child porn), and all the years I learned to be silent, quiet, and not speak out, except through my writing and my art. But yesterday I learned that I CAN speak publicly, even to a large group, and it can be okay and even a good experience.

Some of the time before my panel I felt alone and scared and insecure as the hours stretched on, so I took a breather, and sat in the hallway against the wall. But doing that I felt like I was socially awkward and sticking out, the way I had as a teen. And then who should come by but A.S. King (Everybody Sees the Ants, Please Ignore Vera Dietz)! She sat herself down beside me so easily, and we sat, backs against the wall, talking. Amy was reassuring and understanding, and so down-to-earth. I loved hearing about her own experiences, and just…spending time. Hearing Amy talk about ALAN so enthusiastically made me want to join.

I also got to meet C.J. Bott in person–she recognized me as I passed by, and we talked briefly, and then she sat down for a bit with A.S. King and me. C. J. Bott did a lovely review of Scars, and we’d talked back and forth via email a bit, so it was cool to meet her in person. She’ll be vice president of ALAN next year!

I also talked a bit with Professor Melanie Hundley, who was an incredibly friendly, bright spot in the day, introducing me to other authors and to teachers, pointing out my handouts to others, and just being lovely.

It helped to have such friendly, caring people around!

The whole experience was also made better by my wonderful book publicist Julie Schoerke, picking me up at the airport, taking me to dinner, and then coming the next day to be with me for my panel. I was getting more and more scared the closer it got to my panel, and thankfully Julie arrived about an hour before. She sat on the floor with me i

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When the National Book Awards nominees were notified last week, there was a major mistake. This video explains the error–and the spin that has accompanied it.

If you can’t see this video, click here.
To see the entire list of correct nominees, click here.

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Vanity Fair landed an interview with young adult author Lauren Myracle about a major mix-up at the National Book Awards.

Yesterday she withdrew from consideration for the 2011 National Book Awards after an error put Myracle’s Shine on the finalist list instead of Franny Billingsley‘s Chime. On Twitter, writers and readers have rallied behind Myracle at the #isupportshine hashtag. In the interview, she described the dreaded phone call from executive director Harold Augenbraum.

She explained: “He was diplomatic, but he more or less said that the position was being changed and that people wanted Shine off the list. And how did I feel about that? I felt gutted. I felt embarrassed, and ashamed that I had the gall to believe that this book was worthy. So over the weekend came the question of, Do I withdraw, or do I let them strip it from me? I first thought: They made the mistake; they can clean it up. Then I realized that I had a chance to either be classy or be seen as someone gripping with white knuckles to something they didn’t want me to have. And I was going to be taken off the list regardless.”

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Young adult author Lauren Myracle has withdrawn from consideration for the 2011 National Book Awards.

The author (pictured, with young fans) was named during the National Book Award announcement last week. According to the AP, a communication problem put Myracle’s Shine on the finalist list instead of Franny Billingsley‘s Chime.

Here’s more from the AP: “Her decision, announced Monday by Amulet Books, follows a miscommunication last week between judges and the award’s sponsors … Myracle said in a statement that she was asked by the foundation to withdraw to “preserve the integrity” of the awards process.”

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Amusing. I wrote an article for SLJ about the Bologna Book Fair and why librarians should attend in droves.  I was unprepared for some of the formatting choices on the piece, though.  The title Betsy Goes to Bologna caught me off guard, though it’s certainly true.  But it was the art created for the piece showing a pregnant and hugely stylish librarian jet setting about the town that really caught my fancy.  First off, I’ll have to find out from artist Ali Douglass where I can go about getting some of the shoes my avatar is sporting in these pics.  Second, anyone who saw me in Bologna will be amused by the difference in relative ankle circumference.  Mine were, needless to say, more akin to sturdy oaks than the svelte saplings portrayed here.

• You have to wonder how bad a book can be when its celebrity author can’t make a sale.  In this case, Sarah Ferguson can’t sell a picture book about a little heroic pear tree on 9/11 to U.S. publishers.  To which we say, thanks guys.  I think I owe you one.  And if you’d like to abstain from printing any other celebrity picture books, please!  Don’t feel you have to ask permission.

• The other day I was kvetching my usual kvetch about how it is that anytime a children’s middle grade novel appears in the news, it’s instantly dubbed “YA”.  Seems that I’m not the first person to notice this oddity, though.  Monica Edinger pointed out to me that over at the fabulous Misrule blog, Judith Ridge wrote the piece Whither the Children’s Books?.  In it she discusses, amongst other things, the fact that she once saw a reviewer refer to a book as “young-young adult”.  It’s enough to make your teeth itch.

• I think it was Travis Jonker who pointed out the strange thing about this article.  Not that thousands of people were able to locate adequate Where’s Waldo outfits.  It’s the fact that there was already a world record for Most Waldos.  Of course, over in Britain he’s known as Wally (if anyone can give me an adequate reason for the American name change I’d love to hear it).  My favorite line from the piece?  “The Street Performance World Championships managed has organised similar events and last year broke the world record for the most people on space hoppers.”  Space hoppers?  Still, it looked mighty impressive:

Thanks to Travis Jonker for the link.

• ALA is over and done with once again.  So what did we learn?  New author Jonathan Auxier has some answers to that question in his Five Things I Learned at ALA.  My favorite without a doubt: 4) Don’t Tell Lauren Myracle Anything.

• All g
  10 Comments on Fusenews: Terms we can live without = Young-young Adult, last added: 7/8/2011
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  Zoe said, on 7/5/2011 11:14:00 PM
  

  Your round ups are always full of juicy loveliness! Had been looking for a pic of all the Wallys/Waldos, so thank you for that in particular

  Jonathan Auxier said, on 7/6/2011 6:01:00 AM
  

  “Mine were, needless to say, more akin to sturdy oaks than the svelte saplings portrayed here.” It’s lines like that that make me excited to read your upcoming books!

  It’s funny that you call out “young adult” as a term; I was just thinking the other day that when I was growing up, “young adult” meant people in their twenties, and the only time it was used on teenagers was when trying to flatter them by saying they seemed older … maybe wonder if sometimes the genre as a whole does the same?

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 7/6/2011 6:18:00 AM
  

  Maybe so. Certainly the term “Teen” (recognizable to patrons of all kinds) is more straightforward. Less ambiguous. Though I couldn’t blame the kid that rejects the term “Tween”. How great a term can it be if it has the word “Twee” right smack dab in the middle there?

  Brenda Ferber said, on 7/6/2011 8:30:00 AM
  

  Wow. The Hunger Games movie seems to be doing everything right so far. Impressive.

  James Kennedy said, on 7/6/2011 10:22:00 AM
  

  Re the term “tweens” — this apparently universally reviled, unattractive term seems to have been invented by none other than the magisterial J.R.R. Tolkien! I am re-reading “The Fellowship of the Ring” and I came upon this, smack on the first page of the first chapter:

  “At that time Frodo was still in his *tweens*, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.”

  No joke. Look it up yourself. Strange!

  And I want to live in the world of that picture of you in Bologna, Betsy!

  Eric Carpenter said, on 7/6/2011 4:13:00 PM
  

  Great news on the music side of hunger games. I was talking with a camera crew member this past weekend and he was kind enough to show me a couple videos of the filming he captured with his phone including a video of the filming of the initial cornucopia scene with all the tributes running to the big pile of supplies. He also told me they blew the cornucopia up last week. Very cool.

  marchek said, on 7/6/2011 6:53:00 PM
  

  Did I ever tell you about the time James and I were walking in fron the the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a Saturday when we saw a young man dressed as Waldo walking through the crowd, complete with red balloon? We joked about how that guy might just like to dress up like that and see how many tourist photos he can manage to slip into.

  rams said, on 7/7/2011 2:28:00 PM
  

  Aha. Asked our English friends, and a space hopper is ” one of those bouncy balls with handles that you bounce on. ”

  Don’t mention it.

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 7/7/2011 7:00:00 PM
  

  Thank you!! And . . . wha??

  Sondy said, on 7/8/2011 1:41:00 PM
  

  When I heard about the Baby Lit books, I started a thread on Twitter #babylit, because surely lines in a board book are less than 140 characters!

  I just HATE it when parents try to “introduce” kids to the classics before they are at an appropriate age to enjoy the classics — as if there’s something magic about the story that knowing it means a person is more educated. Classics for toddlers is taking it to the extreme utter edge of ridiculousness! (I don’t even like abridged classics, but this is crazy!)

  It’s fun to make up lines for it, though:

  Mr. Darcy was mean to Lizzie. But Mr. Darcy has a nice house.

  Tybalt and Mercutio fight on the playground. Romeo tries to stop the fight. Oops! Mercutio is dead. Now Romeo kills Tybalt. Romeo is in trouble.

  Romeo is sad. He thinks Juliet is dead, but she is only pretending. Uh-oh! Romeo, don’t drink that poison! Oops! Too late!

  Can you say “inappropriate,” boys and girls?

  And the WSJ thought YA was getting too dark!

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My daughter learns lots of interesting things at school.  While she is loath to respond to direct questioning, occasionally I'll get a glimmer of a glimpse into her daily adventures.   Last year, her best friend taught her the word 'vagina.'  Of course I have no problem with her learning the anatomically correct terms for body parts, but we had never found a need at home to get more specific than 'bottom.'  After all, while the penis has two functions, the vagina has only one, and we were really not ready to have 'the talk' at age four.      

Shortly thereafter, Kate came home and told me that one of her little friends had said the 'Sh word.'  I explained to her that this was not a word that we use in polite conversation.  I graphically described the literal meaning to drive my point home.  Only later did I realize that the offending phrase was "shut up."  While I issued an immediate (if awkward) retraction, my daughter probably still retains a notion that "shut up" has vaguely scatalogical connotations.  And, like the sixth graders my husband teaches, she apparently believes it to be one of the most offensive phrases a person can utter. 

On a very basic level, ordering someone to refrain from talking, from sharing, from doing, from BEING, to is a grievous offense.  On the other hand, there are rules of decorum and tenets of tact.  In the weeks following the great Koran-burning scandal, Banned Books Week seems particularly well-timed.  

If I may exercise my First Amendment rights to pontificate for a moment on the First Amendment... I am a news junkie, and the airwaves have been dominated in recent weeks by the Dr. Laura controversy, the "Ground Zero mosque" debate, and yes, the Florida pastor bent on destroying holy books for the world to see.  With freedom of speech comes, it should go without saying, the tremendous responsibility to use our words wisely.

As a parent, I am learning swiftly that when you release your children into the world, you relinquish all control over their influences.  When I asked my daughter what she learned in kindergarten the first week, she said that Hannah P. and Hannah M. and Kailyn all knew a particular Lady Gaga song.  I suggested that perhaps it was not appropriate for kindergarteners to be talking about Lady Gaga, and Kate apprised me the next day that she had brought up the subject on the playground, but, "It's okay, Mommy, because we whispered." 

As parents, as teachers, as writers, as grown-ups, we are the gatekeepers to the ever-widening world in which our children live.  And as I navigate the etiquette of play dates and disciplining others' children (aagh!), I discover that rules and norms are not as readily apparent as one might hope. 

Last year at this time, the fact that our President planned to speak to our nation's schoolchildren was the subject of national brouhaha (despite longstanding precedent).  As my teacher-husband pointed out, his sixth graders were on that same day listening to a presentation from a magazine salesperson for a school fundraiser.  Parents had not been required to give permission for their students to hear from this non-teacher about subject matter barely pertinent to the curriculum.  He made the point that if individual parents with their wide array of beliefs and mores had direct input into what is taught in the schools, mayhem would ensue. 

I support our public schools, I send my child to public school and, for better or worse, I trust the professional gatekeepers, the teachers and the librarians whose job is to ensure that materials presented are age-appropriate and accurately reflect the world around us.

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Monster
Walter Dean Meyers
YA

In the interests of full disclosure, this book has been on my mental to-read pile for at least two years. A writer friend of mine, Linda Joy Singleton, heartily recommended it, but I have to admit, I cringed at the title. I knew it would not be a green meadows, blue skies and sweet little bunnies read (I prefer these, I'll admit). This was serious stuff. So....I put it off.

Then it was assigned for the upcoming residency at Vermont College starting next Monday. So, I bit the bullet and got the book from the library.

Basic plot: African American boy from NYC is charged as an accomplice in a felony murder and this is his trial.

The story is gritty and well told; however its storytelling form is the real nugget in this piece. The story is written in script format interspersed with bits of prose and handwritten journal entries, as well as images. As such, it was an interesting mix of Hollywood meets young adult fiction. The images add to that feeling by offering snapshots one could imagine posted up next to beats/scenes scattered along a chaotic storyboard on some lonely script writer's wall.

It is perhaps the latest version of storytelling for our generation. A book of letters does not work super well in today's society. A book of emails or instant texting, absolutely. Just check out the TTYL series by Lauren Myracle. Script format, however, seems like an underused method for the world of kids' novels. I do not know of any other ya or mg books told in this style (and now hope for a few suggestions from all of you much more plugged in readers out there!) It offers the writer novel methods of honing focus on one character and pulling back out, much like a camera. It is worth playing around with as a writing format. Also, because of the vast amount of white space script format inherently brings with it, such books might lend themselves more readily to reluctant readers.

The one question is, what stories lend themselves to script format? Murder trial, absolutely. Drama queen? One-day-in-the-life types of stories? Are there more?

At the very latest, next week in Vermont, I hope to find out!

For more great reviews, hop over to The Book Review's fearless leader's blog and check out what the summer has to offer (maybe even a few green meadows!).

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Like so many at this year’s ALA Annual, I took advantage of being in DC to play a part in Library Advocacy Day. Although ALA’s own press office was there recording and taking photos, I thought I’d mention some of the highlights related to Teens and Teen Services and share some of the photos I took this morning.

I arrived at Upper Senate Park about 10:30 A.M., 30 minutes before start time, and found a good number of people already there. I found advocates representing every state in the U.S., and I even talked to a few from other countries who were just there to lend their support to the cause. A number of groups brought teens and younger children with them, which I’m sure made a strong impression as well. While I certainly didn’t conduct a scientific poll of any kind, it seemed like there was overwhelming representation from school libraries out of the few dozen people I talked to.

Of course, YALSA had a formal presence there.  Past President Paula Brehm-Heeger arrived in force, leading the charge with others in Team Yalsa.

The event started a few minutes early with YA author Lauren Myracle (see photo below)—who was introduced by ALA President Camila Alire as this year’s most banned author—-warming up the crowd with a reading from her new book Luv Ya Bunches. Although it was silly and fun hearing about a revolt in high school against Cheese Nips, there was a nice enough connection to the rally you can tell Myracle put some thought into what she chose to read. Myracle spoke again later in the program, sharing some personal anecdotes of how libraries helped her writing career as well as reading email from her fans highlighting how important libraries are to them.

Both Senator Jack Reed (RI) (see photo below) and Congressman Vern Ehlers (MI-03) delivered short speeches on the importance of libraries, a topic they were obviously passionate about. Although they spoke in general terms, both highlighted the importance of school libraries and the role they play in secondary education.  Both also stressed the importance of actively reaching out to local and federal politicians to make sure they are aware of the vital role libraries play in the lives of their constituents every day.

After some inspirational cheerleading from President Alire, the crowd broke into smaller groups and struck out for their meetings with their congressional representatives.  If you’re like me and your representative chose not to meet with you—-or you just weren’t able to make L

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How can books I loved as a child remain popular, when society changes so quickly? Nobody had cell phones or internet when I was in elementary school. So how can books written at that time still appeal to today’s kids? I believe the books that stand the test of time have unique characters readers can relate to, cheer for, and fall in love with, combined with situations that kids still have…like annoying siblings, school issues, fights with friends, and trying to see where you fit in our world.

I blogged about this on the Mixed-Up Files...of Middle-Grade Authors site today. I'd love to know why you think some middle-grade books remain popular for over thirty years, and which current books you believe will become timeless.  Hop on over and see which book I believe will become timeless, and find out what amazing authors like Lauren Myracle, Wendy Mass, Bruce Hale, Laurie Friedman, and Lisa Yee think about timeless middle-grade books.

Don't forget to check out our second summer giveaway, where one lucky reader will win these three fabulous middle-grade books:

The Reinvention of Edison Thomas by Jacqueline Houtman (ARC)
Mallory Goes Green by Laurie Friedman (hardcover)
A Dog's Way Home by Bobbie Pyron (ARC)

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*Middle-grade novel, contemporary fiction
*Eleven-year-old girl as main character
Rating: I fell in love with Eleven by Lauren Myracle when I listened to the audio book. All 11-year-old girls (or anyone who was ever 11) will be able to relate!

Short, short summary:

Winnie is 11. The book starts with her birthday party and how things don’t go quite as she planned when her friends come over and don’t want to put on the play that she wrote. Her fifth-grade year ends, and the summer comes, which is nothing but boring for Winnie because her teenage sister has a job and her friends are all on vacation. When she finally gets to spend the weekend at her best friend Amanda’s beach house, she discovers that Amanda is more interested in her tan and boys than in pretending and playing like she and Winnie used to do. Then the sixth grade school year starts, and the new girl, Gail, takes over Amanda’s friendship. Everything seems to be changing, but Winnie doesn’t want anything to change.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Winnie goes through a wide range of emotions in this book. Children around this age can really relate to Winnie with her emotions such as embarrassment, disappointment, and excitement. Read a scene from Eleven, and then ask students how Winnie is feeling (or Dinah or Amanda) and ask them to write about a time when they felt the same way. They can write these in their reading response journals.

2. Things change–sometimes for the better and sometimes not. Some people can handle change. Some people can’t. Throughout the book, talk about how things are changing for Winnie. Ask children to discuss how Winnie is handling the changes. How does she solve the problem of being in a different class than Amanda and growing apart from her, for example? Children can discuss a change in their life (or write about it) and how they handled it.

3. For a fun journal assignment, ask students to plan their 11th or 12th birthday parties since this book covers both.

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Eleven Lauren Myracle

"Everyone says change is what makes life an adventure. That when you change, you grow, and if you don't change, you'll shrivel up and rot like an old potato.


Well, baloney. The people who get rah-rah over change are always parents and librarians, not kids. Because when kids change, it's really pretty ugly." (p98)

I'm surprised I finally got a chance to read this. This series (Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen) is crazy popular at work. I'll also have to weed the copy I read because it's been read so many times that it's falling apart. And that's why I did read it, because I wanted to see what has my upper-elementary grade girls so excited.

This is a chronicle of Winnie's 11th year. It's a time of change-- her best friend is growing up without her and finding new friends. The new girl at school is bossy to the point of being a bully. Boys, boys, boys... Winnie often knows the right thing to do, especially when it comes to reaching out to her less-popular classmates, but that doesn't mean she actually wants to do it!

Myracle's portrayal of this awkward time is heart-breakingly honest, while still being really funny. I love the Chinese jump rope sub-plot (oh, Chinese jump rope) Winnie and her friends play slightly differently than we did (different levels, different jumping pattern) and I kinda want to go find myself a Chinese jump rope so I can play this version, too.

And that's one of the things that makes this book so great-- the little details. Not just the Chinese jump-rope, but the giant Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker and the girls-choice skate at the roller rink party, the horrible curling iron burn across your forehead...

And when it's the little details that make something so wonderful, I get a little irked when the little details are wrong, because it

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I'm working on revisions for Hollyweird and I'm trying to work out a sticky plot point, but I haven't come up with the perfect thing yet. I know eventually I'll be zapped with an "Aha!" moment, but I hope it hurries up. LOL. I don't like feeling stuck. In the meantime I'm doing research and looking for inspiration everywhere. I want to nail this ending!

This weekend I'm going to the Colorado Teen Lit Conference and I'm really looking forward to it. I get to visit with some authors I only get to see at these events (Lauren Myracle, Todd Mitchell, Amy Kathleen Ryan) and I'm looking forward to meeting new authors Amy Efaw and Becca Fitzgerald (who I've only spoken to on email). 

I'm also really excited to FINALLY meet Ellen Hopkins. We had stories together in the anthology Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and I have an essay in the anthology about her work, Flirtin' with the Monster. Ellen and I have talked on email, and both Lynda and Nic have met her, but I've yet to have that pleasure. 

Even more fun will be having two of my creative writing club teens attend with me. :) I know the Kels(e)ys are going to have a blast! 

This conference is always a favorite of mine. And this year the weather is supposed to be much nicer than last year so attendance should be higher.  

Can't wait!

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If you've never seen one of my Mini-review features, here's the synopsis: Reviews are of books that have already been reviewed about a million times by other bloggers and/or titles that I just don't have a whole lot to say about. Good or bad. Enjoy!
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

I listened to this one on my drive back from NY. I know, I know, I'm the last person in the world to pick up this wonderful fantasy, but I've now accomplished that and am sooo excited for the Cybils season to be over so I can happily devour the rest of the books in the serious. Completely engrossing and beautifully written. A piece of magic in book form!
Ooh and if you're going to listen to it, make sure you pick up the full-cast audio, it's fantastic!



The Goose Girl
400 pages
Young Adult
Bloomsbury
9781582349909
April 2005
Audiobook borrowed from my local library

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

This book just recently won the National Book Award, of which totally deserving. I loved the ethical dilemma at the focus of the plot and the strong voices that came out of all of the characters. Some will annoy you, others you'll feel sorry for, but all of them are strong and beautifully written. It's a page turner and one to open up discussions with teens.

Jumped
176 pages
Young Adult
Amistad
9780060760915
February 2009
Borrowed from my local library

Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Now this is a novel about overlooking differences. A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I was pretty impressed with  I cannot imagine having my hands replaced with hooks, especially during high school, but the author truly helps the reader to live this experience. I loved the alternating characters for this particular story, as it helped to really expand on how both Lucias and Aurora were dealing with the romance forming between them. A good read for those that enjoy fairy tale retellings or just enjoy a good romance.

I read this one for the Cybils.

Crazy Beautiful
208 pages
Young Adult<

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