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Acknowledging that “we all make mistakes, sometimes big ones, sometimes small ones, sometimes hilarious ones,” K.L. Going wants readers to confess their biggest “screwups” in an online contest. Those interested in entering (it’s open to readers 12–up) can wrote a paragraph (or more) describing a mortifying or hilarious mistake and email it to the author. Going will reward her favorite entry with a $100 gift certificate to a bookstore of the winner’s choice as well as autographed copies of all of her books; three runners-up will receive autographed copies of King of the Screwups. Enter by visiting Going’s King of the ScrewUps websiteRead More →

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I just finished my second read of John Barnes’ hilarious, gritty novel, tales of the MADMAN underground (it was too good to read only once!).  Barnes does a brilliant job of capturing the voices, struggles, insecurities and angst of his teen characters.  He creates a time  and place in life that adults can remember wading through and that teens find themselves in every day. One method by which Barnes authenticates his characters’ reality is through language, and here I mean profanity.  tales of the MADMAN underground is rife with swear words. At some points, Karl “weaves a tapestry of profanity” that brought tears to my eyes (from laughter). Read More →

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The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act went into effect Feb 10, 2009, and the good news for booksellers, librarians, etc., is that the Consumer Product Safety Commission said it would “not impose penalties against anyone for making, importing, distributing or selling” a list of specified products, including “an ordinary children’s book printed after 1985.” Read more at the Publisher’s Weekly site.Read More →

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Between 2005 and 2007, author James Patterson gave away more than $600,000 to promote literacy through his annual PageTurner Awards. But when he noticed that his own elementary school-age son had become a reluctant reader, he decided that there had to be another way to get children excited about reading. October marked the soft launch of his newest PageTurner project, ReadKiddoRead.com, which replaces the awards.  Read more at http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6631120.html?nid=2788 Posted by CoriRead More →

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Read Patrick Carman’s interview in PW Children’s online magazine about Skeleton Creek http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6629554.html?nid=2788  Check out the Skeleton Creek websites:  http://www.scholastic.com/skeletoncreek/ and http://www.skeletoncreekisreal.com/ for some more scary fun! Posted by CoriRead More →

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In the most current issue of School Library Journal, YA author Shannon Hale writes a great essay on how she lost and regained a love of reading.  Her journey from avid reader to disenchanted skeptic and back to a book-lover provides some thought-provoking ideas for all of us involved with kids & young adults and books; it may even mirror some of our own experiences exactly.  I was particularly struck by her discovery of YA: “Apparently there was this new genre out there, Young Adult literature, that I had never explored. Curious about where my book seemed to fit in, I went to the YARead More →

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July’s School Library Journal cover story Street Fight: Welcome to the World of Urban Lit, is a thought-provoking article about the genre of books that aim to accurately represent the sometimes harsh, violent world of today’s inner city life. Amy Pattee’s insightful investigation of the history and continued cultural relevance of this genre provides good background for those who are unfamiliar with it and yet are confronted with teen readers’ requests for these types of books.  Pattee also provides a good bibliography of urban lit titles written specifically for the teen audience, although her point that some “young connoisseurs of urban lit may find these more restrained stories babyish or inauthentic”Read More →

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A few weeks ago the Sunday New York TimesBookReview ended with an essay by Margo Rabb, entitled I’m Y.A., and I’m O.K.   It’s an interesting examination, from an author’s point of view, about the very porous border between books published for the adult and the young adult market.  Here at PBC we see great books all the time that exist on both sides of that border, and I think this points to the sophistication of teens today and the realization that they deal with issues in their everyday lives that make for powerfully told stories. Posted by CoriRead More →

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Over tea this morning I came across an interesting article in the Sunday NY Times Week in Review section entitled “A Good Mystery: Why We Read” by Motoko Rich. The article examines the current state of reading today and in interesting interviews with authors such as National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie explores how and why some people become life-long readers.  I was particularly struck by 2 things in the story: the fact that reading is, ultimately, a personal, private activity (it certainly is for me, although I love a good discussion about books) and that often it is one remarkable book that comes to aRead More →