Having spent his teen years immersed in comic books, Barry Lyga worked for a decade as marketing manager at Diamond Comic Distributors before publishing his first novel, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (Houghton Mifflin) in 2006.
SLJ’s SummerTeen Speaker: Johan Harstad
By on July 20, 2012 Leave a Comment
Harstad, who lives in Oslo, is a guest speaker atSLJ’s August 9 online event, SummerTeen: A Celebration of Young Adult Books. If you’ve signed up for SummerTeen, make sure to gather your teens to hear Harstad speak on the “The Science in Science Fiction” panel from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Registration is still open.
SLJ’s SummerTeen Speaker: A.S. King
By on July 16, 2012 Leave a Comment
It took A.S. King (the A.S. stands for Amy Sarig) 15 years and more than seven novels to finally get published. Now, the YA writer can’t seem to get enough praise for her work—Everybody Sees the Ants, about what it means to want to take one’s life, but rising above it so that living becomes the better option, has received six starred reviews, was a 2012 American Library Association Top 10 Book for Young Adults, and an Andre Norton Award nominee. King also wrote the Edgar Award nominated, 2011 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, and ALA Best Books for Young Adults and Cybils Award finalist, The Dust of 100 Dogs.
Ready, Set, Go London! A Guide to the Olympics
By on July 11, 2012 Leave a Comment
What will you be doing on July 27, the opening night of the London 2012 Summer Olympics? If you’re anything like me, you’ll be glued to Twitter, Facebook, and TV coverage of the events!
A Guide to SummerTeen
By on July 11, 2012 Leave a Comment
I’m often jealous when I read reports from our contributors about the amazing book events they attend that feature a dazzling array of young adult authors. In fact, part of my motivation in putting together the author-palooza called SummerTeen was to give my fellow teen-lit junkies a chance to indulge themselves in an all-authors, all-the-time experience without having to leave the comfort of their own homes or libraries. I just counted—between our keynote speaker and six panels, SummerTeen will feature 21 authors, speaking about their work, the various genres they write in, and why young adult literature is so important to them. And there might be a few more surprises to come…
SLJ’s SummerTeen Speaker: Earl Sewell
By on July 10, 2012 Leave a Comment
Earl Sewell is just one of the many blockbuster authors scheduled to speak at SLJ’s August 9 online event, SummerTeen: A Celebration of Young Adult Books. We caught up with Sewell, whose novels and “Keysha and Friends” series have made him a huge hit with librarians and teens, to talk about his work and writing for a YA audience.
SLJ’s SummerTeen Speaker: Gareth Hinds
By on July 9, 2012 Leave a Comment
SLJ’s online event, SummerTeen: A Celebration of Young Adult Books, is just one month away, and we’ve asked some of your favorite participating authors a few questions in advance of the August 9 show. First up is Gareth Hinds, whose graphic novels include Beowulf, a retelling of the oldest extant poem in English, and an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
ALA Council Unanimously Adopts Resolution Supporting School Libraries| ALA Annual 2012
By on June 26, 2012 Leave a Comment
Drafted by the Special Presidential Task Force on School Libraries, the resolution was “formed out of necessity” in response to the ongoing budget cuts and school librarian layoffs, says Sara Kelly Johns (right), the American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) Division Councilor and a media specialist at New York’s Lake Placid Middle/High School, who last Friday proposed the resolution at an ALA membership meeting, where it also passed unanimously.
Raschka and Gantos Deliver Moving Caldecott, Newbery Speeches| ALA Annual 2012
By on June 25, 2012 Leave a Comment
Chris Raschka (right), winner of the 2012 Caldecott Medal for A Ball for Daisy (Random), delivered a thoughtful acceptance speech Sunday night, while Jack Gantos, this year’s Newbery Medal winner for Dead End in Norvelt (Farrar), had the room howling with laughter as he recounted his own experiences—and the sordid pasts of former Newbery winners.
SLJ Goes to the 2012 Newbery-Caldecott Banquet | ALA Annual 2012
By on June 25, 2012 Leave a Comment
SLJ’s Photo Slideshow | ALA Annual 2012
By on June 25, 2012 Leave a Comment
From the Trenches: Rockin’ Women of YA
By on June 20, 2012 Leave a Comment
This summer, SLJ is presenting SummerTeen, a daylong, online celebration of young adult books, and “Rockin’ Women of YA” is one of the many programs you’ll get to choose from. You can sign in from the comfort of your very own home or office and listen to great authors such as Maggie Stiefvater, A. S. King, Julie Kagawa, and more. The best part is that you can go back and watch the archived event later on or show it to your students or teen advisory group. Check out the following list of titles from a few of our scheduled presenters—there are too many authors to include in just one list!
Collier, Frazee, Green Kick Off First SLJ/AAP Children’s Librarians’ Dinner
By on June 10, 2012 Leave a Comment
Bryan Collier, Marla Frazee, John Green, John Stephens, and Catherynne M. Valente spoke about their latest works, their love of libraries, and the importance of literacy in their lives during the first Children’s Librarians’ Dinner on June 4 at a New York City midtown hotel.
Video: ‘Middle School Snake Charmers’ Hold Forth at SLJ Day of Dialog
By on June 7, 2012 Leave a Comment
The prospect of working with adolescents may inspire fear in some, “but for a small, dedicated group of us, middle school is where it’s at,” said librarian Jennifer Hubert Swan, who gleaned some insight on engaging young readers from panelists Sharon Creech, Eoin Colfer, Rebecca Stead, Joan Bauer, and James Dashner at SLJ’s event held June 4 at the Javits Center in New York.
2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winners Unveiled
By on June 7, 2012 Leave a Comment
The tale of a little girl who loves to knit, a story about a Harlem book seller, and a book about the life and work of artist Chuck Close are winners of the 2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards.
BEA 2012: Live, Semi-Live, and Post-Mortem Blogging (Wednesday)
By on June 6, 2012
BEA 2012: Live, Semi-Live, and Post-Mortem Blogging (Tuesday)
By on June 5, 2012
SLJ’s 2012 Day of Dialog: Dynamic Nonfiction for Kids and Teens
By on June 4, 2012 Leave a Comment
What’s the secret to creating riveting nonfiction for young readers? It begins with passion, says kids’ book author Candace Fleming, one of the participants in SLJ’s annual Day of Dialog, on June 4, at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. “If I’m going to spend five years working on a book, it has to be something I’m interested in.”
SLJ 2012 Day of Dialog: Keeping Middle Schoolers Engaged
By on June 4, 2012 Leave a Comment
Middle school students are a “hormonally charged” bunch who are “full of complex contradictions” and just “want a voice,” say authors who participated in SLJ’s 2012 Day of Dialog on June 4 at New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center.
