Teens are encouraged to read the books before they vote. The nominated titles include: Every Day by David Levithan (Knopf), Son by Lois Lowry (Houghton Harcourt), The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic), and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Hyperion). Download this PDF for the full list.

Stop the Summer Slide

“Children not reading at grade level by the beginning of fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school,” said Barbara Lurie, co-founder and executive director of Kids Read Now, speaking at the recent Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) meeting in Chicago.

She attributes this in large part to the “summer reading slide.” Kids Read Now’s summer reading program focuses on children in first through third grades and is supported by the One Call Now Foundation. Children in participating schools receive books to keep. Their progress is tracked by phone calls made to families through One Call Now. At its inception in 2011, the program worked with seven schools in Ohio to help improve reading levels. In 2012, 40 schools in Georgia, New York, and Ohio participated: 2,000 children received more than 11,000 books.

According to Kids Read Now, they are expanding the program to include data collection that will allow them to measure results and make improvements as necessary.

Digital Content

Channel One News, a digital video content provider, has revamped ChannelOne.com to make it “easier to access, share, and interact with Channel One News’s bite-sized, educational videos and supplemental resources from any device, since mobile and tablet devices are increasingly being used in the classroom.” Channel One News is expanding its digital distribution so the daily news program, video segments on thousands of topics, blog posts from reporters, and supplemental resources aligned with Common Core State Standards can be accessed inside and outside the classroom. Also, ChannelOne.com has launched “Impact,” a resource that connects students who are interested in service-based initiatives with organizations.

“Channel One News has been in classrooms across the country for more than 20 years, and we’ve always believed that the news is a powerful tool to spark important conversations and real world learning,” noted Channel One News Chief Executive Officer, CJ Kettler. “But we also recognize that teachers’ classroom routines are changing due to the increased use of technology and mobile devices in schools. With the new ChannelOne.com, teachers and students can use the news and real world events to enable authentic learning both in and outside of the classroom. We’re excited about the opportunities that exist to continue to serve the educational community by further leveraging our non-fiction content through strategic partnerships.”

Library Giveaway

To celebrate 25 years of children’s book publishing, Chronicle Books is offering The Chronicle Kids YA Summer Library Giveaway. If you are least 13 years old, just click on the link, fill in your name and email address, and submit it to Chronicle Books by July 3, 2013. The winner, selected by a random drawing, will receive signed copies of The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams, The Orphan of Awkward Falls by Keith Graves, Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl, copies of Nobody’s Secret by Michaela MacColl, How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain, Spinning Out by David Stahler Jr., The Templeton Twins Have an Idea by Ellis Weiner, and advanced readers copies of Weiner’s The Templeton Twins Make a Scene and Collean Gleason’s The Clockwork Scarab.

A Fake Blake

A school librarian at Hitchin Boys’ School in the UK has discovered that “Two Sunflowers Move into the Yellow Room,” a poem attributed to 19th-century English poet William Blake, was actually written by American author Nancy Willard and published in an anthology, A Visit to William Blake’s Inn (Harcourt, 1981). The article about Thomas Pitchford’s discovery was published recently in a BBC News story. Many schools have been teaching the poem as an example of Blake’s work. Pitchford’s blog, the Library Spider, has examples of how the poem was attributed to Blake and has been used in classrooms.

The American Library Association (ALA) annual conference is upon us, and I’m vexed with both Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) and Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). As I tool around the country helping folks engage with nonfiction and the Common Core, I keep seeing evidence of deeply-seated and unexamined prejudice against nonfiction in those two divisions.

I followed with real interest the discussion of the Caldecott Award at 75 on the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) listserv. The first posts were about identity: the overwhelming number of winners that were both male and Caucasian. I asked about nonfiction in terms of genre and format. How many nonfiction winners have there been? And, how frequently has photography (often used in nonfiction books) been honored?

Though there were moving and passionate posts about Tanya Hoban and Nic Bishop, (I’d add Susan Kuklin and Charles Smith, to begin), no committee has seen fit to honor them. Indeed the only exceptions I’ve heard mentioned emphasize my point: Jacqueline Briggs Martin’s medal winner Snowflake Bently (Houghton Mifflin, 1998), illustrated by  Mary Azarian, is about a photographer, without his photographs, while Patrick McDonnell’s honor book Me…Jane (Little, Brown, 2011) has, drumroll, a single photo. Why, one might ask.

The answer rests in a rule that gets to the heart of the issue I am raising: Caldecott criteria require original artwork that has not been previously published. That means that a picture book that incorporates archival photography or images from a research institute can’t win. At a stroke, the medal eliminates from consideration any book that uses, say, NASA images. The award can go to a deceased artist, but I was told by an expert that the medal was initially designed to support living artists, thus the focus on new work.

The problem is that Caldecott criteria state that the award is presented in honor of “the most distinguished American picture book for children,” and defines distinguished as: “Marked by eminence and distinction; noted for significant achievement. Marked by excellence in quality. Marked by conspicuous excellence or eminence. Individually distinct.”

If the Caldecott is an award to encourage living artists, then (contra what I argued in The Horn Book years ago) we should have awards designed to encourage every brand of living artist. Affirmative action is affirmative action–let’s identify deserving sets of artists and make sure they get their due. But, if the Caldecott honors the most distinguished picture book, it cannot exclude a title that requires the primary use of archival images. When I read through the list of medalists, I see marvelous books and a line-up of wonderful artists deserving of their honors. But the members of that all-star team, no matter how luminary, are solely masters of ink and brush, paint, and pixel.

The Caldecott does not honor the most distinguished picture book; it honors the most distinguished rendered picture book. That is a crucial distinction because it signifies that great artistry can’t be found in the selection, layout, design, and display of images that have survived from the past. Indeed, one person who posted on the CCBC listserv intimated that she, and she assumed most others, believe photography is not an art form in the same manner as drawing, painting, or collage.

Another person pointed to the Robert F. Sibert medal as meeting the need for a nonfiction award. But that is not fair given that the Caldecott criteria state that the award selects and honors distinction. The Caldecott is the ne plus ultra, the cynosure, of awards–it cannot both assert its primacy, and–implicitly–disqualify whole categories of books. Moreover, Caldecott is an ALSC award–a division that stretches up to 8th grade, as once again the award rules stress. Surely those older readers of picture books–and we all know they are legion–often prefer photographs over drawings they see as childish. And yet this ALSC award inherently excludes those older books from consideration.

That brings me to YALSA. I’ve been furious ever since that ALA division decided to remove nonfiction from its Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) list. BBYA is now best fiction. While YALSA has made efforts to improve its nonfiction prize, it has never recognized a key flaw in its plan: the BBYA meetings were a public forum where future librarians, authors, and editors, and could listen and learn, and its nomination list was often used by teens as a reading/discussion list. There is no longer an up-to-date list of young adult nonfiction titles for reading groups to consider, or a public venue where stakeholders can discuss teen nonfiction. It’s ironic that this has happened just when librarians, authors, and editors are asking for guidance in how to select and craft quality nonfiction.

So there we have it. Sure, individual books are honored, as Steve Sheinkin’s Bomb (Macmillan, 2012) was this year. But nonfiction remains marginal–so marginal that neither ALSC nor YALSA seems to notice their abiding bias. The question is, why?

Illustration by John Corbitt.

This month, librarians across the country are building their lists of can’t-miss panels, lunches, unconferences (participant-driven meetings), and exhibits as they gear up for the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference in Chicago from June 27 to July 2.

Other librarians are questioning how much ALA annual really serves their professional development needs. In a time of contracting budgets, layoffs, and demands for tech expertise in the library, is ALA still the must-attend event for all? Or is the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference in San Antonio from June 23 to 26 a better choice?

For the ALA faithful, the panoply of offerings—not to mention the essential social component—makes ALA annual a necessity. “There’s definitely a lot of friends who connect at ALA,” says Gretchen Caserotti, director of the Meridian (ID) Library District, chair of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Children and Technology Committee, and a PLA (Public Library Association) and LITA (Library and Information Technology Association) member.

What else are ALA attendees looking forward to? For Caserotti, it’s the Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet along with tech programs like “Apps, Apps, and More Apps,” “Top Technology Trends & LITA Awards Presentation,” and the LITA President’s Program speech by Cory Doctorow.

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) executive director Beth Yoke expects to be holed up in meetings for much of the conference, but she’s eager to see the 25 featured winners of the Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults awards, with programs ranging from one involving iPads and incarcerated youth to another called “Teen Fashion Apprentice.” What’s on Wendy Stephens’s ALA list? Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple, who’s delivering a keynote. The unconferences. And, “it’s a huge thrill to go to the Printz reception and the awards banquet,” says Stephens, a librarian at Cullman (AL) High School, ALA councilor-at-large, and the YALSA blog member manager.

Starr LaTronica, ALSC vice president and president-elect and youth services/outreach manager at the Four County Library System in Vestal, NY, will try not to miss “Think with Your Eyes!” a panel focusing on visual literacy. “In this heavily visual world, so much relies on being able to interpret visual cues,” says LaTronica, who praises the “serendipity” of the ALA conference experience, where the vast and varied offerings can lead to unexpected inspirations.

ISTE appeal

Serendipity, schmoozing, and star power aside, how critical is ALA to librarians’ needs? Not very, some librarians say. “Although I’ve gotten some great ideas at ALA, they’re still struggling to step up their game technology-wise,” says Gwyneth Jones, otherwise known as the “Daring Librarian” and a teacher librarian and technology specialist at the Murray Hill Middle School in Laurel, MD.

Particularly among tech-savvy school librarians like Jones, ISTE is now more of a draw. It’s not just that ISTE’s ed-tech focus provides more bang for their conference buck. School librarians—while often active in AASL activities within ALA—don’t always feel they’re taken seriously at ALA annual and prefer the vibe among ISTE’s mix of educators.

“I sometimes have problems with the way school librarians are treated at ALA,” says Jones. “When I went to ALA early on, I felt like people were thinking, ‘oh, you’re a school librarian, how cute!’”

By contrast, “when I went to ISTE, I felt embraced by everyone,” she says. “They didn’t care what kind of librarian I was.” Jones, now the PK–12 schools representative for ISTE and an ISTE board member, says it’s “a great way to represent my people.”

At ISTE, Jones found “inspiration to start my school library blog.” And, she points out, “there’s not just one blogger’s cafe but four” at ISTE, as well as an entire category of sessions on BYOD.

“I always make the choice to go to ISTE,” says Tiffany Whitehead, a teacher librarian at Central Middle School in Baton Rouge, LA, who blogs as the “Mighty Little Librarian.” “As a school librarian, I’m an educator first. The chance to network with other educators, classroom teachers, administrators, tech coordinators, and others is the most important thing I can do for myself.”

At ISTE, Whitehead will be hosting a tech playground where teachers and school librarians will informally present and share tips on tools and resources. Whitehead’s principal first suggested she attend ISTE, she says. “I would love to go to ALA for the atmosphere and the emphasis on books, but I feel that for my teachers and my students, ISTE is the best choice for me. I really am the technology person on campus.”

Whitehead is also president-elect of SIGMS, an ISTE special interest group (SIG) for media specialists. The many special interest groups within ISTE “play a large and meaningful role in what’s being put forward” during the conferences, according to ISTE CEO Brian Lewis. This year’s conference, for instance, offers more than a dozen sessions about educational video conferencing. The opening keynote speaker is gamification expert Jane McGonigal. “We’re trying to connect folks with what they say they want,” says Lewis.

Stephens, who is attending both conferences and presenting at ALA, points out that “there is a more eclectic crowd of people at ISTE” than at ALA. For instance, as a friend of hers said: “There are men there.”

Gender statistics aside, Stephens—whose school district has never paid for her to attend a library conference but did sponsor an ISTE trip—says, “more people at ISTE work in the educational enterprise. Maybe you feel a little more kinship with those people than a state librarian from another part of the country or an academic library director.”

However, she adds, ISTE inspirations can sometimes be frustrating. “You may go and see this wonderful app and find that it’s blocked” back at your school.

On the other hand, in Stephens’s view, ALA is sometimes out of touch with the daily challenges of school librarians. While useful to people “in rarified situations, there’s not much trickle-down to people who are in a more typical situation.” That would be librarians “trying to tread water and keep programs running on a basic level,” and those working on “nuts and bolts advocacy to keep your job.” However, Stephens believes, “You can bring back more tangibles from ALA—advanced reader’s copies; posters; pictures of you with the Caldecott and Newbery winners. That can be very good for morale.”

AASL and ISTE

AASL president Susan Ballard acknowledges that some school librarians “don’t feel the love” at ALA and points out that ALA has taken steps to remedy this. “ALA is getting better and better at recognizing that we don’t exist in silos and we’re all interconnected,” she says.

How? Ballard refers to an ALA special presidential task force devoted to the current state of school libraries, as well as a focus on the Common Core curriculum. “I know when I go to AASL it’s not just your father’s Oldsmobile,” she says. “It’s as edgy as anything out there.”

AASL still holds appeal for Jones. “If I had to choose one, it would be AASL over ALA,” she says. And Whitehead will be presenting at AASL’s national conference in November.

In Ballard’s view, if librarians think that ISTE is more valuable to librarians than ALA, “we have a perception problem. People hear the word ‘librarian’ and they have a dated concept.” She adds, “I had a colleague in another state who said to his school librarian, ‘I have to think of another name for you, because when I say “school librarian,” I’m not getting any [financial] support.’ He understood what she did, but he couldn’t call her a librarian.”

However, YALSA’s Yoke points to ALA’s focus on “dynamic collaborations between school and public libraries,” the Common Core, and sessions on maintaining teen collections and new media, as huge selling points.

“A lot of the time we get this anecdotal information from school library members that the Association is more public focused,” Yoke says. However, she notes, a survey among 13,000 current, former, and potential ALA members showed evidence to the contrary. “There’s a perception that school librarians have different wishes and needs, but the survey did not bear that out,” says Yoke.

According to Lewis, “The library media specialist’s role is changing in terms of its interconnectivity across the school system.” He adds, “folks in school districts are looking for help, no matter where they are in the process of technology. They’re looking for clarity and support in how to effectively do what it is they’re expected to do.”

Among upcoming ISTE sessions, Lewis singles out “The Empowered Executive Team,” led by Steve Clemons of the San Diego Office of Education. The gist here is that better understanding and communication about what institutions are spending their tech-slated money on will ensure buy-in, communication, and shared decision making.

Caserotti, a technophile who’s gotten involved with ALA committees, says that ALA’s “support structure has been really empowering to me.” Broadly speaking, though, she worries that librarians are not keeping up with technology, despite high-visibility techies like Jones and Whitehead. Technology in the library is “like a car,” she says. “Some people will lift up the hood and take the initiative to learn how the car works.” But most people “take the car to the shop.” At ALA, she wonders, “how many people are stuffing their bags with posters,” and how many are saying, “yeah, I’m comfortable with tablets in the library?”

“Part of the beauty in ISTE is the connectivity to others,” says Lewis, who became CEO of ISTE last summer. “ALA’s conference is great and ISTE is great,” he adds. “Everybody who puts on an event like this works so hard to make sure that through whatever measures, we’re delivering terrific content.”

Photo by Michael J. Okoniewski /Getty Images for SLJ.

When Tamora Pierce found out that she had won the 2013 Margaret A. Edwards Award, she was initially speechless. Murmuring too softly for Jamie Watson and the rest of the award committee to hear, Pierce wondered, “Has anybody

mentioned I have a bit of a problem with potty mouth?” Fortunately, nobody on the committee heard this remark, and the secret has been safe until now. While choosing a person “with a bit of a potty mouth” might make for an entertaining Edwards speech, Pierce’s selection as the 2013 Edwards winner honors several decades of writing feminist fantasy featuring kick-butt female protagonists who appeal widely to both male and female readers.

Pierce’s writing, however, has never won the Printz or Newbery awards. In fact, her “Song of the Lioness” series, honored by the Edwards committee, was initially conceived of as an adult novel. Fortunately, she says, that much different (and horrible) version does not exist today. She credits her transformation to beloved teen author to the time she spent telling stories as a house-mother in a group home for teen girls. Since her first book, Alanna the Lioness, came out in 1983, Pierce has been quietly writing exceptional and thoughtful fantasy that serves as a beacon for young readers who want to see themselves as heroes. This year, the Margaret A. Edwards Award, sponsored by SLJ and administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, honors her lasting and significant contribution to readers of all ages and both genders with a tribute that many claim is 10 years overdue.

In Pierce’s shoes, I might be tempted, in the face of all the attention showered upon Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games) or Veronica Roth (Divergent) and other wildly popular authors of fiction featuring strong female characters to scream, “BUT I HAVE BEEN WRITING ABOUT WEAPON-WIELDING FEMALE HEROES FOR YEARS!” Pierce, however, welcomes the company.

“Actually I’m just glad it ain’t so lonesome out there anymore,” she says. “I like to read it, too, you know. Some of them are like guys in drag, but not Suzanne Collins and Kristin Cashore. When Graceling and Hunger Games came out in the same year, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. It made me so very happy.”

As for the current meme lamenting the lack of action-packed boy books? Even over the phone I can see Pierce’s eyes roll as she instantly names authors and titles, only stopping because her website lists many such titles for those who mistakenly insist that somehow boys are not served by recently published books, to say nothing of the fact that her fans include many boys, including this one.

Pierce lives with her “Spouse-Creature” in Syracuse, New York. This interview was conducted on International Women’s Day—I’d love to say that it was intentional, but it was just serendipity. On that cold, winter day we enjoyed a warm discussion of her writing and the issues and themes she regularly addresses in her fiction. She even offered men the absolute best advice for how to nurture the innate hero in their daughters.

A person with a misspelled name is obviously destined to become the winner of the Margaret Edwards Award for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature, right?

What you said about me not having won any previous big awards, like a Newbery or a Printz? That sort of piles up. So when you do win a big one, you’re sitting there going, “I could have sworn he just said I got the Edwards Award.” It’s sort of not sinking through. It’s just too unbelievable.

My mother wanted to name me “Tamara,” but the nurse who filled out my birth certificate had never heard of such a fancy name (we are talking Pennsylvania coal country in the 1950s), so she misspelled it, and I legitimately became Tamora (pronounced like “camera”). I actually like it better than Tamara, which means “graceful” and “a palm tree,” and is the name of a Russian saint. I am none of these things.

I had started my fantasy-writing career in college. I had written a lot as a teenager, but my adult career didn’t really begin until college. I broke through the short-story-to-novel barrier in June of 1976. Five months later I had a dream. I woke up, and by the time I got to the typewriter and sat down and started to write, I actually only had a fragment left. I don’t retain dreams very well. And I only had an image left from that dream, and I never included it in the finished book.

But somehow that dream or that fragment unlocked something in my head, that same story that I’d been attempting to tell all along of a girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to become a knight. I wrote the first scene in which the father tells his twins that he’s arranged their lives for the next eight years or so, and I wrote the next scene and the scene after that and the scene after that. I sometimes call it my string-of-pearls novel because for the first and only time, I just kept writing the next scene until five months and 732 manuscript pages later I had a finished novel. I got the title from my boyfriend. He said, “How about The Song of the Lioness?” And I said, “Sounds good to me.”

Then you split that one book into the four books?

I was sending it around to adult publishers, and my life was sort of going up and down. I was out of college, living with my dad and stepmother in Idaho. I had gotten the only job that I ever was educated for. I became a housemother in a group home for teenaged girls. The girls wanted to read my book, and I wanted them to read it because I didn’t want them to think I was shining them on when I said I was a writer. When the director found out it was an adult novel with sex and violence and drug and alcohol use in it—and since those were the things that had gotten the girls into the home in the first place—he didn’t want them reading about them in a book by an authority figure, which is what I was passing for at the time.

So every afternoon, when I was on shift, the girls would come home from school or before bedtime and literally drag me to the dining room table and give me the binder I had the manuscript in, and they would say, “Pierce, tell us more about Alanna.” And I would sit there with the binder in my lap and I would retell the story to them, suitably edited. Well, apparently not as suitably as the director of the home would have liked, but if he wanted it more suitably edited he should have been there.

I moved to New York after I left the home and went to work for a literary agency. The agent took a look at my manuscript and said I should turn it into four books for teenagers. I knew it would work because I already had the girls’ reaction. So I had to rewrite it. We tried it on three publishers, and Jean Karl at the third said, “No,” because of the number of pages, so Claire Smith, my agent, talked her into meeting with me, and we talked about the changes she felt the manuscript needed. I rewrote it again, and Atheneum took me on as a writer.

“Protector of the Small ” is a very different series!

Yes. Well, I’d sort of done Alanna a disservice by making her a mage, a wizard, and a knight, and I’d been thinking that I really wanted to try the idea of a girl knight. And these books just caught fire.

Alanna is such a hothead and Kel is so grounded—I always feel like I am reading about real people.

I try to do that. I try very hard to make it so that people can feel they can turn a corner and find my characters there and hang out with them. I base a lot of characters on either people I know or actors or characters they play, but the important thing is they have to feel as real as humanly possible.

Your early books are all around 200 pages and then we get to Trickster’s Choice and the page count doubles and almost triples with “Beka Cooper.”

Ever since they took us off that cursed 200-manuscript-page limit, I just spread out a little, and I don’t have to do four books anymore.

When you think back to “Song of the Lioness” or “Protector of the Small,” now that you have a little more word freedom, what changes would you make?

Well, Song of the Lioness in particular, I look back on it now and I think, “Oh, I wish I hadn’t jammed so much plot into every book. I wish I’d spread out a bit.” But I couldn’t do that to my fans. They’ve fallen in love with those books as they are, each and every word, so I would not touch them. I would not dare to touch them. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Mark Reads. He will record himself reading and reacting. He’d just finished the Alanna books, and it was through his reactions and his audience’s reactions that I discovered that, even though I could see all I would improve, I actually had some good stuff in there.

Do you have a writing routine, an average day?

I have multiple book contracts. So these days by the time I sit down to actually work on a book, I’ve been generally thinking about it at a minimum for four to six years. I’ve been turning the material over in my head. I’ve chosen whoever I’m going to base the characters on. I always try to start—it may not end up that way in the final version, but I try to start—with us meeting the main character, and he’s doing or she’s doing something that tells us something about them. In my first chapters I introduce the main characters, the secondary characters, the main plot, the overarching themes for the book. And if you know me at all, you know my endings are fairly simple. There’s a forest fire, an epidemic, a war, the ground opens up, the palace collapses inside, and the rats reign supreme over all. Then I get to writing, and I’m toggling along, and I hit chapter four or five, and all of a sudden I hit that vast wasteland that I have not outlined for because I don’t outline really. And I realize I have no idea what’s going to happen then. I’ve got to line up my ducks to fetch up the earthquakes, forest fires, ground opens up, palace, rats.

That’s when I scream for my husband.

You and your husband created Sheroes, an online hang out for young women. How did this evolve?

I had fallen into conversation online with a very new to YA writer named Meg Cabot. We were talking about how hard it was for us to find female heroes when we were growing up, real women in the real world. We basically wanted to cover anything that would get girls and young women to talk about female heroes and real-life ones and Meg’s books and my books and anything else that came along. I left in about 2006, because my life sort of exploded, too, but I think it’s still running.

Sex, GBLTQ issues, racism, class warfare, social justice. Have you had any backlash about any of these elements in your work?

Not really. Once or twice in person, usually on the sexual aspects. Twice—once in a county in Oregon and once apparently in North Carolina—Alanna got challenged for sexual material. That’s it.

Is it because it is fantasy writing?

I have no clue. I think it was in SLJ, in an article on YA romance writers getting challenged, someone said, “I don’t get it. Tammy Pierce writes every bit as much sexuality as I do, and nobody ever says anything about her.” I laughed, but it’s true. All that stuff about Harry Potter and witchcraft, and I have been writing plain old paganism ever since 1983 and nobody has said diddly-squat.

What new words may readers expect from Tamora Pierce this year and in 2014?

Well, right now it’s Battle Magic, which is the “Circle Universe.” I’m crunching every day finishing the second draft. Briar, Rose-thorn, and Evvy are caught up in a tiny country fighting off a very much larger and bigger China-like country. I’m almost done with the second draft. My poor editor is working away, and I’m just sending her chapters. It’s very dark, but there’s a lot of really crazy stuff. I don’t know what happened to me, but somewhere along the line when I was writing it, parts of the landscape started to come to life. That’s unusual for me. I usually like to keep the organic stuff organic and the inorganic stuff dead. But it had its own opinions.

Tell us about problems young women face today.

There are just so many traps out there for girls and women. There is the domesticity trap, there is the sexuality trap, there is the intellect trap. If you say too much, you could get called this; if you do too much, you could get called that; girls don’t do this; it’s rude if you do that; if you talk about this, you’re weird; if you talk about that, you’re a slut. I talked too loud and was hushed up. I was interested in boy things and was told to be quiet. I wrote to the FBI to see about becoming an agent and was told that the only option for me was secretarial work. And then I got to college and went to work with a feminist, and got told that because I had a sense of humor it was wrong, and because I was straight I was wrong….

You just can’t be right!

Yeah. It just seemed like judgmentalism is something that women and girls smash into all the time. Writing ways to deal with that and writing ways to say, “Well, here’s who I am”—that seems to be the thing that people take away from what I do. And it doesn’t matter what sex they are, they seem to take away that you do what you want to do with your life, you become who you want to be. It’s going to be a lot of work, it’s going to be really hard, but you can do it if you want it badly enough. But you have to want it badly because the world sets up so many barriers for young people in general. I mean, even for boys.

What advice would you give me and other men to nurture that inner hero of the young women we know?

Be determined and dare to be stupid!

Ed Spicer (edspicer@me.com) teaches first grade at North Ward Elementary School in Allegan, MI. He was a member of the 2013 Margaret Edwards Award committee, as well as the 2005 Printz Award committee. He reviews teen literature for the Michigan Reading Association.

American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
The new President-Elect of AASL is Terri Kirk, Librarian, Reidland High School, Paducah, KY.  Also new to the board are Division Councilor Valerie Edwards, Member-at-Large Jody K. Howard, and Director-Elect Region 6 Carlyn J. Gray.

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)
The new Vice President and President-Elect of ALSC is Ellen M. Riordan, Chief of Planning, Programs and Partnerships, Enoch Pratt Free Library. Also newly appointed are Fiscal Officer Diane Bailey Foote, New-to-ALSC Board of Director Gretchen Caserotti, and Board of Director Megan Schliesman.

Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)
The new President-Elect of YALSA is Chris Shoemaker, Young Adult Programming Specialist, New York Public Library. Also elected are new board members Maureen Hartman and Krista McKenzie.

American College of Education

The course will be taught by Dr. Catherine Dutton, Chair Digital Learning and Teaching, and Dr. Rebekah McPherson, Digital Learning and Teaching Faculty. Dutton previously taught high school in Texas and was the manager of instructional technology at Texas Women’s University. McPherson has a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with a minor in educational computing.

To learn more and sign up for the course, visit the Canvas online learning platform.

YALSA’s 2013 Teens’ Top Ten

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has announced the 2013 Teens’ Top Ten nominations. The books, all published in 2012, were selected by members of teen book clubs in 16 schools and public libraries across the country. The 28 nominations were posted on April 18, Support Teen Literature Day, during National Library Week. Readers ages 12 to 18 will be able to vote on their favorites between August 15 and September 15, 2013 at YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten site. The winners will be announced during Teen Read Week, October 13–19. Contenders include Crewel (Farrar) by Gennifer Albin, Of Poseidon (Feiwel & Friends) by Anna Banks, Underworld (Scholastic/Point) by Meg Cabot, and Bitterblue (Dial) by Kristin Cashore. Check out the YALSA website for the full list.

American Booksellers Association Announces Awards

The 2013 Indies Choice and E. B. White Read-Aloud Award winners in adult, young adult, middle readers, and picture book categories have been announced by the American Booksellers Association. The awards will be presented at a luncheon during BookExpo America.

The Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the Year award went to The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton) by John Green. Young Adult Honor Awards were given to Cinder (Feiwel & Friends) by Marissa Meyer, Colin Fischer (Penguin/Razorbill) by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz, Every Day (Knopf) by David Levithan, Grave Mercy (Houghton Harcourt) by Robin LaFevers, and Seraphina (Random) by Rachel Hartman.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio won the E. B. White Read-Aloud Award for Middle Readers. Honor Awards in that category went to The False Prince (Scholastic) by Jennifer A. Nielsen, The Last Dragonslayer (Houghton Harcourt) by Jasper Fforde, The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins) by Katherine Applegate, Same Sun Here (Candlewick) by Silas House and Neela Vaswani, and Three Times Lucky (Dial) by Sheila Turnage.

The E. B. White Award for Picture Books was given to Extra Yarn (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray) written by Max Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. Picture Book Honors went to Creepy Carrots (S & S) by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown; Bear Has a  Story to Tell (Roaring Brook) by Philip Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead; Oh, No! (Random/Schwartz & Wade) by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann; Too Tall Houses (Viking) by Gianna Marino; and Z Is for Moose (HarperCollins/Greenwillow) by Kelly Bingham, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky.

For the complete lists of winners in all categories, visit Bookselling This Week’s website.

The Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of the American Library Association (ALA), released their 2013 audio picks at the ALA Midwinter meeting in Seattle, WA, in January.

The items on ALSC’s Notable Children’s Recordings list are intended for listeners 14 years of age and younger. YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks list features recordings covering a wide range of interests for young adults.

ALSC Notable Recordings

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian. By Eoin Colfer. Read by Nathaniel Parker. 6 CDs. 7:30 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-99121-8. $37. Gr 5-9

Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring. By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. Read by Sarah Jessica Parker. CD. 46 min. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-7731-7. $29.97. Gr 2-6

Can You Canoe? A Mississippi River Adventure Album. Performed by the Okee Dokee Brothers. CD. 38 min. with DVD. RedEye Dist. 2012. $14.99. K-Gr 5

The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens Tale. By Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wight. Read by Katherine Kellgren. 4 CDs. 4:14 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01028-0. $30. Gr 4-7

A Dog’s Way Home. By Bobbie Pyron. Read by Emily Eiden and Chuck Carrington. 6 CDs. 6:57 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01388-5. $39. Gr 4-7

Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct. By Mo Willems. Read by Mo and Cher Willems. CD. 7 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-37498-9: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-44813-0: $29.95. PreS-Gr 2

The False Prince: The Ascendance Trilogy, Book 1. By Jennifer Nielsen. Read by Charlie McWade. 7 CDs. 8:14 hrs. Scholastic Audiobooks. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-39166-5. $34.99. Gr 5-8

The Fire Chronicle. By John Stephens. Read by Jim Dale. 10 CDs. 12:22 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-87982-0. $37. Gr 4-8

Ghost Knight. By Cornelia Funke. Read by Elliot Hill. 4 CDs. 4:53 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-58336-9. $30. Gr 4-6

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. By Sherri Duskey Rinker. Read by Dion Graham. CD. 8 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-50222-1. $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-50223-8: $29.95. PreS-K

The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe’s Very First Case. By Alexander McCall Smith. Read by Adjoa Andoh. CD. 55 min. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01142-3. $15. Gr 2-4

Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion. By Mo Willems. Read by Mo and Cher Willems. CD. 10 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-44758-4: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-44810-9: $29.95. PreS-Gr 2

The Library Dragon. By Agra Deedy. Read by author. CD. 21 min. Peachtree. 2012. ISBN 978-1-5614-5640-6. $6.95. K-Gr 3

Little Seed: Songs for Children by Woody Guthrie. Performed by Elizabeth Mitchell. CD. 29 min. with booklet. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. 2012. $11.98. PreS-Gr 3

Merry Christmas, Splat. By Rob Scotton. Read by John Keating. CD. 6 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-52330-1. $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-52329-5: $29.95. PreS-Gr 2

The Mighty Miss Malone. By Christopher Paul Curtis. Read by Bahni Turpin. 7 CDs. 7:55 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-96824-1. $44. Gr 4-7

The Mighty Sky. Performed by Beth Nielsen Chapman. CD. 31 min. with lyrics. NewSound Kids. 2012. $14.98. K-Gr 4

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and Treachery. By Steve Sheinkin. Read by Mark Bramhall. 6 CDs. 7 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01498-1. $45. Gr 7 Up

One Year in Coal Harbor, By Polly Horvath. Read by Kathleen McInerney. 5 CDs. 5:30 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01414-1. $30. Gr 4-7

Ozomatli Presents OzoKidz. Performed by Ozomatli. CD. 37 min. Hornblow Group/Megaforce Records. 2012. $11.98. PreS-Gr 3

The Red Hen. By Rebecca and Ed Emberley. Read by Walter Mayes. CD. 7 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-44760-7: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-44812-3: $29.95. PreS-Gr 2

Same Sun Here. By Silas House and Neela Vaswani. Read by authors. 5 CDs. 5:49 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-2231-7. $49.97. Gr 5-8

A Sick Day for Amos McGee. By Philip Stead. Read by David de Vries. CD. 8 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-44756-0: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-545-44809-3: $29.95. PreS-Gr 2

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World. By Sy Montgomery. Read by Meredith Mitchell. 3 CDs. 2:48 hrs. AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 978-1-935430-82-7. $39.95. Gr 5-8

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster. By Deborah Hopkinson. Read by full cast. 4 CDs. 4:55 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01505-6. $30. Gr 6 Up

Wonder. By R. J. Palacio. Read by Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, and Diana Steele. 7 CDs. 8:12 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-4420-3. $64.97. Gr 4-7

Words in the Dust. By Trent Reedy. Read by Ariana Delawari. 7 CDs. 8:27 hrs. Scholastic Audiobooks. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-47282-1. $29.99. Gr 5-8

Notable Children’s Recordings Committee: Lynda  Salem-Poling, Brewitt Neighborhood Library, Long Beach (CA) Public Library; Winnie  Awarski, Cuyahoga County (OH) Public Library; Eliza T. Dresang, University of Washington Information School, Seattle; Donna M. Funcke, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA; Sharon  Haupt, San Luis Coastal Unified School District, San Luis Obispo, CA; Sharon L. Ledford, Harrison Elementary School, Lexington, KY; Linda L.  Martin, Sugar Hill Elementary School, Gainesville, GA; Sharon  McKellar, Oakland (CA) Public Library; Danielle A. Shapiro, Brooklyn (NY) Public Library, Highlawn Branch.

YALSA Amazing Audiobooks

(Starred items represent the ‘top ten’ picks in the category)

Nonfiction

Warriors Don’t Cry. By Melba Pattillo Beals. Read by Lisa Renee Pitts. 10 CDs. 13 hrs. Tantor Audio. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4526-0494-7. $39.99. Gr 8 Up

Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem. By Rosalyn Schaner. Read by Jessica Almasy. 2 cassettes or 2 CDs. 2:15 hrs. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4640-4313-0, CD: ISBN 978-1-4640-4314-7. $25.75. Gr 5-7

Fiction

Almost Perfect. By Brian Katcher. Read by Kirby Heyborne. 9 CDs. 10:40 hrs. Listening Library. 2011. ISBN 978-0-307-94229-6. $44. Gr 8 Up

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian. By Eoin Colfer. Read by Nathaniel Parker. 6 CDs. 7:30 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-99121-8. $37. Gr 5-8

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick. By Joe Schreiber. Read by Steven Boyer. 4 cassettes or 4 CDs. 5 hrs. Recorded Books. 2011. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4498-6129-2, CD: ISBN 978-1-4498-6133-9. $51.75. Gr 8 Up

The Catastrophic History of You and Me. By Jess Rothenberg. Read by Suzy Jackson. 8 cassettes or 8 CDs. 8:45 hrs. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4640-3352-0, CD: ISBN 978-1-4640-3351-3. $87.75. Gr 9 Up

Code Name Verity. By Elizabeth Wein. Read by Morven Christie, and Lucy Gaskell. 9 CDs. 10 hrs. Prod. by Bolinda Audio. Dist. by Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-7428-5764-0. $93.95. Gr 9 Up

Crusher. By Niall Leonard.Read by Daniel Weyman. 6 CDs. 6:42 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-3853-6841-4. $45. Gr 7 Up

Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip. By Jordan Sonnenblick. Read by Luke Daniels. 5 CDs. 5:08 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61106-147-5. $49.97. Gr 6-9

Dancing Carl. By Gary Paulsen. Read by Nick Podehl. 2 CDs. 2:21 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-4070-1. $39.97. Gr 5-7

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever. By Jeff Kinney. Read by Ramon De Ocampo. 2 cassettes or 2 CDs. 2:15 hrs. Recorded Books. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4640-2145-9. $25.75. Gr 3-6

The Diviners. By Libba Bray. Read by January LaVoy. 15 CDs. 18 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. cassette: 978-1-4640-2146-6, CD: ISBN 978-0-449-80875-7. $60. Gr 10 Up

Enchanted. By Alethea Kontis. Read by Katherine Kellgren. 7 CDs. 7:49 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0292-1. $69.97. Gr 7-9

The Fault in Our Stars. By John Green. Read by Kate Rudd. 6 CDs. 7:19 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-6987-9. $59.97. Gr 9 Up

The Fire Chronicle. By John Stephens. Read by Jim Dale. 10 CDs. 12:22 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-87982-0. $37. Gr 4-7

The Freak Observer. By Blythe Woolston. Read by Jessica Almasy. 5 CDs. 5:36 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4558-1639-2. $54.97. Gr 8 Up

Graffiti Moon. By Cath Crowley. Read by Ben MacLaine, Hamish R. Johnson, and Chelsea Bruland. 5 CDs. 6:05 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-96819-7. $34. Gr 8 Up

I Hunt Killers. By Barry Lyga. Read by Charlie Thurston. 8 CDs. 9:30 hrs. AudioGo. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61113-187-1. $74.99. Gr 9 Up

Inheritance. By Christopher Paolini. Read by Gerard Doyle. 24 CDs. 31 hrs. Listening Library. 2011. ISBN 970393-7250-0. $60. Gr 7 Up

The Isle of Blood: The Monstrumologist, Book 3. By Rick Yancey. Read by Steven Boyer. 12 cassettes or 12 CDs. 14:30 hrs. Recorded Books. 2011. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4407-3653-7, CD: ISBN 978-1-4407-3657-5. $108.75. Gr 9 Up

A Monster Calls. By Patrick Ness. Read by Jason Isaacs. 5 CDs. 4 hrs. with bonus CD. Brilliance Audio. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4558-2249-2. $54.97. Gr 7 Up

Monstrous Beauty. By Elizabeth Fama. Read by Katherine Kellgren. 7 CDs. 8 hrs. Macmillan Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4272-2217-6. $29.99. Gr 9 Up

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. By Leslea Newman. Read by Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, Tom Parks, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, and Christina Traister. 2 CDs. 1:20 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0636-3. $54.97. Gr 8 Up

Personal Effects. By E. M. Kokie. Read by Nick Podehl. 8 CDs. 9:08 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4692-0637-0. $54.97. Gr 9 Up

See You at Harry’s. By Jo Knowles. Read by Kate Rudd. 5 CDs. 5:49 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-4558-8958-7. $49.97. Gr 5-7

Son. By Lois Lowry. Read by Bernadette Dunne. 7 CDs. 8:11 hrs. Listening Library. 2012. ISBN 978-0-449-01448-6. $47. Gr 6 Up

Three Times Lucky. By Sheila Turnage. Read by Michal Friedman. 7 CDs. 8 hrs. Penguin Audio. 2012. ISBN 978-1-61176-136-8. $29.95. Gr 5-7

The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic. By Allan Wolf. Read by Michael Page, Phil Gigante, Christopher Lane, Laural Merlington, and Angela Dawe. 9 CDs. 10:16 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4558-2937-8. $59.97. Gr 9 Up

Wonder. By R.J. Palacio. Read by Diana Steele, Nick Podehl, and Kate Rudd. 7 CDs. 8:12 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 2011. ISBN 978-1-4558-4420-3. $64.97. Gr 4-7

Words in the Dust. By Trent Reedy. Read by Ariana Delawari. 7 CDs. 8:28 hrs. Scholastic Audiobooks. 2011. ISBN 978-0-5454-7282-1. $29.99. Gr 5-8

Amazing Audiobooks Committee: Gretchen Kolderup (chair), New York Public Library; Catherine Andronik, Brien McMahon High School, Norwalk, CT; Mary Burkey, Olentangy Liberty Middle School, Powell, OH; Randee Bybee, Upland (CA) Public Library; Jennifer Campbell, Notre Dame de Sion High School, North Kansas City, MO; Lynn Carpenter, Birmingham (AL) Public Library; Donna Cook, Central High School, Pollok, TX; Pamela Spencer Holley, Eastern Shore Public Library, Accomac, VA; Karilyn Steward, Calabasas (CA) Library; Colleen Seisser (admin. asst.), Mount Prospect (IL) Public Library.

For the first part of the project—a two-day summit before the American Library Association’s midwinter meeting in Seattle—YALSA hosted in person about 60 people, including library staff, academics, researchers, administrators, educators, and representatives from the technology and non-profit realms, Braun tells School Library Journal. “So that was the first piece of it, [which] brought together a whole host of different people to start talking about the future of libraries and teens,” she says.

Adding the town halls, Braun says, allows YALSA to expand the conversation beyond that narrow first group that had been selected for the summit, noting, “The town halls will open it up to many more people who can have their voices heard, and help YALSA understand what libraries need to be doing and thinking about for the future of teen services.”

The open sessions are direct follow-ups to topics that arose during the summit, Braun explains.

In next week’s first session, YALSA will focus the discussion on partnerships, and “how important it is for library staff to be working with all these other stakeholders in the community and determining the best ways to successfully serve teens and work together,” Braun says. “We want to hear more from people about that.” In preparation, YALSA is encouraging participants to view and prepare answers to its discussion questions posted on the YALSA blog, and read some current articles on the topic, especially Collective Impact and How to Strike Effective Alliances and Partnerships.

The second town hall, scheduled for April 16, will focus on “who teens are,” Braun says. “At the summit, we had a panel of teens talk about how they spent their time, how they used technology, what their lives are like, those kinds of things.”  So this follow-up discussion will explore ideas such as formal and informal learning, what teens’ needs are in these areas, and how they use digital materials.

And the third town hall, scheduled for May 21, will focus on the overarching theme of the project: the future of teen library services, Braun says.

YALSA would “love” to have more administrators participate in the discussion, Braun says, noting that “a really important part of this is stakeholder involvement.” But YALSA is also hoping for a wide spectrum of types of library staff to join in, whether they are brand new to the discussion or even some veterans of the original summit. “We’re hoping to get a mix, so people who had that experience will be able to make [the conversation] a little richer,” she says. “But then also to get these people who haven’t had their voices heard. So having the two together, I think, is going to be really powerful.”

In the meantime, YALSA will continue to blog on the project both before and after its town halls and on into the summer, Braun says. “We’ll do more of that kind of thing, helping to process the information a little bit and getting the conversation going throughout,” she says, adding that Twitter comments and questions and Facebook feedback are encouraged both before and after as well.

YALSA hopes to have a draft of the project’s white paper available for comment by August, adds Braun. “We’ll be constantly giving people a chance to have a voice and give feedback.”

Close the digital divide: The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and Best Buy have become partners in attempting to close the digital divide for teens. Every time Best Buy Mobile opens a new location in the United States, YALSA will designate a public or school library in the vicinity to receive $2,000 from Best Buy to purchase digital library resources for teens. According to YALSA, that library will take part in a community celebration to promote the partnership. To help the designated libraries get training on how to best use the money they receive, YALSA is creating an online community for the recipients to share information and best practices.

“This partnership is so important to YALSA because it helps us make strides towards fulfilling our mission of expanding and strengthening library services for and with teens,” said Jack Martin, YALSA president. Best Buy Mobile specialty stores are usually located in shopping centers and malls and offer smartphones, tablets, accessories, services, and plans.

Video game challenge: The National STEM Video Game Challenge, presented by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and E-Line Media, is the perfect way to tap into your middle and high school students’ passion for playing video games. Now in its third year, the Challenge promotes science, technology, engineering, and math education. U.S. students in grades five to twelve, either individually or in teams of up to four students, can submit an original game concept and design through April 24, 2012. The games can be created using any game-making platform such as Gamestar Mechanic, Mirosoft’s Kodu, GameMaker, Scratch, or a written game design concept document. Be sure to check out all the rules and entry information.

Winners will receive an AMD-powered laptop computer loaded with game design and education software. Additionally, the school or non-profit organization designated by the winner will receive a donation of $2,000.

This year, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is joining returning sponsors: the AMD Foundation, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, the Entertainment Software Association, the Hive Digital Media Learning Fund in the New York Community Trust, BrainPOP, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting PBS KIIDS Ready to Learn Initiative, Learning Game Network, and Edmondo. As a new sponsor, IMLS is supporting the development of tools and online museum- and library-specific content to help these institutions help students create games. There will be 14 workshops held throughout the country, so make sure to check out the Game Design Workshop page.

Freebies

Interactive ebooks: Listen up, libraries with tight budgets. Capstone, a publisher of children’s books and digital products and services, is offering library customers free interactive ebooks for their library. All you have to do is order any of Capstone’s library products, including hardcover books from any of its imprints, PebbleGO, or Capstone Interactive Library interactive eBooks, and you can receive these free ebooks for your library. Customers who purchase $1,000 of any Capstone library product, can select 20 free interactive eBooks; those purchasing $2,000 of library products can select 50 free interactive eBooks. Use the promotion code “13CILANY” and place your order by May 1, 2013. “With over 2,000 interactive ebooks available, there’s plenty of choice,” said Matt Keller Capstone Chief Marketing Officer.

Publishing News

Acquisition: Dreamscape Media has acquired the iconographic book to video firm, Nutmeg Media. Its new owners will be responsible for the sales, marketing. and distribution of the entire Nutmeg Media catalog of 107 award-winning, book-based children’s video titles. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring such a highly regarded line of video titles into our growing portfolio, and we’re hoping to introduce even more libraries to these wonderful programs,” said Brad Rose, Vice President of Dreamscape. “As we move forward and produce new video titles, we intend to continue the Nutmeg tradition of high-quality, award winning, iconographic video programming based on new children’s books.”

The award was first created two years ago and honors nonfiction titles published for young people ages 12-18.

The 2013 finalists are:

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster (Scholastic) by Deborah Hopkinson, an intricate examination of that fateful night that incorporates stories from Titanic survivors as well as detailed facts.

Bomb: The Race to Build — and Steal — the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (Roaring Brook) by Steve Sheinkin, an enthralling, suspenseful account of how the work of scientists, spies, and saboteurs resulted in the atomic bomb.

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 (Farrar) by Phillip Hoose, which explores a species of bird that migrates hundreds of thousands of miles over the course of its life.

Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal (Feiwel & Friends) by Karen Blumenthal, a nuanced portrait of the late entrepreneur and innovator that delves into both his life and his myriad accomplishments.

We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March (Peachtree) by Cynthia Levinson, a meticulously researched photo-essay that chronicles the narratives of four young people involved in the Birmingham Children’s March.

“The committee is very proud of the five finalists,” Angela Frederick, chair of YALSA’s Nonfiction Award committee told SLJ. “I think each author succeeded in telling a true story in a fascinating way, and that is what will attract teen readers. There were many wonderful nonfiction books published for teens this year, and the committee struggled to narrow it down to the five that were ultimately chosen.”

YALSA will host a reception honoring both the finalist authors and the winner, as well as YALSA’s Morris Award winner and finalists, at a reception from 10:30 am to noon on January 28 in room 606 of the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

Members of the 2013 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults award committee are: Chair Angela Frederick, Nashville (TN) Public Library; Ruth Allen, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR; Roxy Ekstrom, Schaumburg (IL) Township Library; Angie Manfredi, Los Alamos (NM) County Library System; Judy Nelson, Pierce County Library System, Tacoma, WA; Maren Ostergard, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA; Laura Pearle, VennConsultants, Carmel, NY; Adela Peskorz, Metropolitan State University Library, Saint Paul, MN; Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington (VA) Public Library; Sara Morse, Nashville (TN) Public Library; and Gillian Engberg, Booklist, Chicago.

Sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the award recognizes a book written for young adults by a debut author.

The 2013 finalists are:

Wonder Show (Houghton Harcourt) by Hannah Barnaby, a dark tale of historical fiction about a teenager who joins a traveling sideshow as she searches for her father.

Love and Other Perishable Items (Knopf) by Laura Buzo, an unflinchingly honest story following a fifteen-year-old and her intense, but one-sided, crush on an older co-worker.

After the Snow (Feiwel & Friends) by S.D. Crockett, in which a teen boy searches for his family in a bleak, dystopian world of freezing temperatures, crowded cities, and a fascist government.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray) by emily m. danforth, a complex and poignant coming-of-age story of an adolescent girl, wrestling with the death of her parents and her own sexuality, who is sent to a conversion camp for gay teenagers.

Seraphina (Random) by Rachel Hartman, a fantasy about a girl who inhabits a world where dragons and humans uneasily coexist—and who is hiding a potentially devastating secret.

The finalists “may be first-time published authors, but they are writing with great polish and sophistication, and their books have themes or topics that are really relevant to teens’ lives,” Joy Kim, chair of YALSA’s Morris Award committee, told SLJ. Representing a wide range of topics and genres, the finalist list “reflects that teens have diverse reading interests,” she said.

The finalists and the winner will be honored at a reception hosted by YALSA, as well as YALSA’s Nonfiction Award finalists and winner, from 10:30 a.m. to noon on January 28 in room 606 of the Washington State Convention center in Seattle.

The award is named for William C. Morris, an influential pioneer in the world of publishing who advocated marketing books for children and young adults.

Members of the 2013 William C. Morris Award Committee are: Chair Joy Kim, Pierce County Library System, Tacoma, WA; Lee Catalano, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR; Diane Colson, Palm Harbor (FLA) Library; Michael Fleming, Pacific Cascade Middle School Library, Issaquah, WA; Sarah Holtkamp, Chicago Public Library; Shelly McNerney, Blue Valley West High School, Overland Park, KAN; Anne Rouyer, New York Public Library; Judy Sasges, Sno-Isle Libraries, Marysville, WA; Vicky Smith, Kirkus Reviews, South Portland, ME; Sandy Sumner, administrative assistant, Morehead (KY) State University Camden–Carroll Library; and Ilene Cooper, Booklist consultant, Chicago.

Here’s what Sarah had to say about page four of my book: “There are two paragraphs here, which begin with the sentence, ‘There are two ways to tell the story of America.’ Again I was pulled to an abrupt halt. Really? (I thought) There are two ways to tell the story of America? Two? Not three or six or twenty.’”

Obviously, I don’t agree, and I look forward to a lively discussion with the Flowers team at some future gathering. But I’m restating my point here not to wrangle over my book’s language, but rather to reflect on the recent presidential election and some of the post-election analysis and complaints.

As the New York Times reported, some Republican voters in, for example, Wyoming are discouraged by the election’s outcome. Those businesspeople see what they term “dependency” on the government as “unsustainable” and directly counter to what they’re certain is our nation’s can-do, self-reliant, and individualist core. Of course, it was precisely this split between the 47 percent of takers and, implicitly, the 53 percent of doers that Governor Romney spoke of in that captured video—a split echoed by Bill O’Reilly and many others after the election.

From the Colonial days, when Pennsylvania’s rich lands were called the “best poor-man’s country,” through Emerson’s canonical essay on self-reliance, through the generations of graduation speakers who have used his words as their guide and inspiration, America has stood as a land where an individual has a chance to make good. Our emphasis on the individual as an individual was in stark contrast to the rest of the world, where a nation or empire generally embraced an established religion. In those societies, one was defined as belonging to the prevailing faith or viewed as an outsider. There was also a set class system in which your expectations were defined by your birth—and a strong sense of national heritage in which to be English, or Chinese, or Zulu was defined by not being something else. Of course, this made it difficult to figure out what rights to grant minorities, such as Jews, Quakers, Uighurs (Muslim Chinese), Koreans in Japan, etc.

No wonder the Wyoming voters are angry and feel as if the America they know, love, and believe in is slipping away and joining the muck of the world that their ancestors left behind. But there’s one key flaw in that narrative of American history. When Congress first set rules for how an immigrant could be become a naturalized citizen, it faced a major dilemma. Should just anyone be allowed to come here and join the American experiment, including Jews who could not vote or hold office in England and Catholics who might be beholden to the Pope? In 1790, Congress decided that religion would not be a barrier. Indeed, any free white person was eligible for citizenship. (The rule was amended to include Africans after the Civil War—and thus specifically excluded Asians and later Hispanics; the law was not fully replaced until 1952.)

For some Americans, being an individual has always been trumped by being part of a group: African Americans, Native Americans, LGBT Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist Americans, and even female Americans have always been aware of their group identity—once considered a demerit, now often a source of pride. Here’s the second narrative of American history: no matter who you were as an individual, the shadow of your group defined how others perceived you, and it greatly influenced your prospects. If you identify with any of these groups, American history has only fractionally been a story of individual effort. Rather, it has always been a matter of collective profile.

In the recent election, members of precisely these same groups tended to side with President Obama, and all of the post-election demographic analysis has been about their rising power. One narrative of America’s history that emphasizes collective experience is edging past another that emphasizes that individuals are free to seek their own destinies. But there are, as I said at the beginning, two narratives of our past. Both are, in their own way, true. Indeed, it’s the weave, the intersection, of belief in the individual and the assumption that that individual is white and male, that’s our national story. Both of these stories, taken together, subvert and enhance one another and make up the real pageant of our past.

What a perfect Common Core topic: present your students with a cluster of resources, some that focus on America as the land of the individual and others that focus on our nation as the land of group prejudice and collective experience. Soon, I hope, your libraries will be alive with sound of the resulting questions, comments, and debates. I can hardly wait.

Scott Westerfeld, Photo by Samantha Jones

What are the next big trends for teenage readers? Fandom, contemporary fiction, Australian lit, and transmedia, according to experts leading panels on these subjects at the third biennial YALSA Young Adult Literature Symposium in St. Louis, MO, held November 2-4.

Fandom

Fandom was the focus of “YA Literature and Fan-Created Work,” a panel organized by Robin Brenner, teen librarian at the Brookline (MA) Public Library, and host of the graphic novel website No Flying, No Tights. Brenner was joined by panelists Aja Romano, fandom journalist at the web newspaper The Daily Dot, and Leslee Friedman of the Organization of Transformative Works, a group devoted to archiving fandom.

What is fandom? The community of fans that grows up around a shared interest such as a book, a TV show or a film, according to the panel. Teens who write fan fiction about a favorite book, create fan art based on a favorite movie, or dress like a favorite TV character are all participating in fandom.

Fandom also figured in “Make it Pop: How to Use Pop Culture in Your Library,” presented by Sarah Wethern, youth librarian at the Douglas County Library in Alexandria, MN, and Scott Rader, assistant youth services librarian at the Hays (KS) Public Library. The duo presented an entertaining survey of current teen pop culture interests, from the phenomenon of Bronies (teenage and adult male fans of the TV show My Little Pony) to Bad Lip Reading videos (spoof video clips of films and TV shows with humorous dubbing).

Scott Westerfeld (author of the “Leviathan” series, Simon Pulse) also celebrated fandom in the context of book illustration during his closing keynote. Reviewing the history of book imagery, Westerfeld honed in on the original Sherlock Holmes illustrations, which forever attached the “deerstalker” hat to the Holmes character, though the hat is never mentioned in the story. Westerfeld supplemented his talk by presenting examples of fan art, created by in response to favorite books.

Contemporary fiction

In their program “Get Real,” public librarians Angie Manfredi, Kelly Jensen, Kathryn Salo, and Andrea Sowers spoke about contemporary fiction, defined as any book set in the present. They discussed books published in the past three years.

In Manfredi’s view, contemporary fiction resonates because “seeing the reality of your life reflected back to you in books is incredibly empowering.” Salo shared the emotional impact that such contemporary titles as Boyfriends with Girlfriends (S&S, 2011) by Alex Sanchez (featuring diverse teens exploring their sexuality) and Tell Us We’re Home (Atheneum, 2011) by Marina Budhos (similar in mood to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Delacorte, 2001), but featuring the daughters of maids and housekeepers) had on teens in her library.

How new does something have to be to be “contemporary?” Certainly not older than five years, according to Manfredi, who created a stir in the room and on Twitter when she told the audience not to refer to the TV character Veronica Mars while booktalking to teens. Why not? Because the Veronica Mars series (2004-2007) is already outdated.

Australian Literature

“Globalize Me! Young Adult Literature from Outside the U.S.” was presented by nonfiction writer Catherine M. Andronik (Stephen Colbert: A Biography, Greenwood, 2012; Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy, Enslow, 2006) and Adele Walsh, program coordinator for the centre for youth literature at the state library of Victoria, Australia.

Walsh highlighted several Australian authors in her talk, including Leanne Hall (This Is Shyness and Queen Of The Night; both Text Publishing, 2010 & 2012) and Fiona Wood (Six Impossible Things, Pan Macmillan Australia, 2010). Attendees left the panel primed to read books by Australian YA author Vikki Wakefield (All I Ever Wanted, Text Publishing, 2011) as well as Saltwater Vampires (Penguin Australia, 2010) by Aussie Kirsty Eagar. More details on Walsh’s presentation are available online.

Transmedia

Jackie Parker, teen librarian at the Lynnwood Library, WA, and Rachel McDonald, teen librarian at the Washington’s Burien Library, talked about new ways of telling stories in “When a Book is More than Paper: Transmedia Trends in Young Adult Literature.”

“Transmedia” means more than an adaptation or book tie-in, the panelists said. It refers to a single unified story, told on multiple media, that avoids redundancy.

They highlighted an array of examples, from older titles given a modern treatment like iPoe (an interactive and illustrated Edgar Allan Poe Collection app) to original stories written to be a transmedia experience, such as The Survivors (Chafie Creative Group LLC, 2011) by Amanda Havard. While Parker and McDonald were enthusiastic about transmedia titles, they were also pragmatic—pointing out issues of accessibility and discussing how enhanced titles can, or cannot, be lent by libraries.

Presenter Kelly Jensen, associate librarian at Beloit, WI, Public Library, spoke for many attendess when explaining why the YALSA conference appeals. “Big conferences like ALA Annual are great but because they cover so many aspects of librarianship,” she said. The YALSA symposium offers something different–specialized “niche sessions” that one wouldn’t find elsewhere.

Author interviews: “Writers Speak to Kids” is a free series of 17 videos from NBC Learn that features interviews with popular and award-winning children’s books creators. The authors, responding to questions posed by NBC News correspondent Jenna Bush Hager, talk about their writing process and experiences. The series launched on September 17, with interviews of Peter Brown, Doreen Cronin, Jeff Kinney, Daniel Kirk, and Mo Willems. Gordon Korman, Ridley Pearson, Laura Vaccaro Seeger, Philip Stead, Rebecca Stead, Clare Vanderpool, and Jacqueline Woodson are among the other authors that will be interviewed during the fall. The program is intended to inspire students and help them learn about creative writing techniques.

Mora Award Winner

Día celebration: The Lynden Public Library of the Whatcom County Library System in Washington has won the 2012 Estela and Raúl Mora Award for exemplary efforts promoting El día de los niños, El día de los libros (Children’s Day, Book Day). More than 250 people attended the festivities, and each child was given a book. The event featured craft activities led by bilingual teen volunteers, and had several storytimes that ended with a game of lotería (Mexican bingo) with books given as prizes. There was also a disc jockey, a piñata, and other games. The Lynden Public Library will receive $1,000 and a special plaque. “What resonated with the committee was the grassroots involvement of Lynden’s Día,” said Beatriz Pascual Wallace, Mora Award chair. “There was a strong sense of community connection with this event, of everyone coming together to plan, celebrate, and share.”

For the first time, three honor awards were given: the District of Columbia Public Library, King County (WA) Library System, and Sacramento (CA) Public Library each received $300. The award, presented annually in partnership with REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish speaking, was established in 2000 by author/poet Pat Mora and her siblings to honor their parents. The award will be presented during the American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter meeting in January 2013 in Seattle.

Common Core

Free writing rubrics: Turnitin, in partnership with the English Professional Learning Council, has made writing rubrics developed to align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) available free to educators. The rubrics for argumentative, narrative, and informative essay assignments for 9th and 10th graders and 11th and 12th graders help instructors explain to students what is expected of them, assess student work, and track their progress. You can also watch a free video on the Common Core writing rubrics.

Early Learning

Digital content: Capstone’s myOn reader has expanded its collection of early childhood reading content with the inclusion of hundreds of enhanced digital titles from eight additional publishers: Bellwether, August House, Little Folk, August House Story Cove, Orca, Rourke, Speakaboos, and Sylvan Dell.

Launched in 2011, myOn reader is a personalized literacy program that offers access to an integrated library of digital books with reading supports, customized to a student’s interest and reading abilities. Teachers can monitor, track, and measure student reading growth. To date, myOn reader offers more than 2,500 books. These titles include reading supports such as an embedded dictionary, highlighting, and audio. “Reading proficiency is the foundational aspect of learning, so building students’ literacy skills early is critical to putting them on the path to success throughout school and beyond,” said Todd Brekhus, president of Capstone Digital. “The expanded collection of early childhood content available on myON reader combines a student’s love of technology with their innate curiosity and interest in learning.”

A Booklist for Teens

Best books: Sixteen school and public libraries have been selected by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), as official book groups for their Teens’ Top Ten, a booklist created by and for teens. Groups of young adults from these libraries nominate titles published during the 2013-2014 calendar year to create the Teens’ Top Ten nominations. Then, it’s up to teens across the country to vote for their three favorites. When the ballots are tallied, the Top Ten list is created. And that’s not the only job for these teen book groups. They also evaluate books for more than 30 publishers. New groups are chosen every two years.

The libraries that have been selected are: BHS Book Club, Barrington (IL) High School; Book Hook, Cecil County Public Library, Elkton, MD; Bookhype, Perry Branch Library/Perry High School, Gilbert, AZ; Bookmarked, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LA; CCHS YA Galley Group, Concord-Carlisle (MA) Regional High School; Greene Teens Review Board, Springfield-Greene (MO) County Library; HCRHS Bookworms, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ; Interesting Reader Society, Poudre River Public Library District, Fort Collins, CO; McReaders, Oakridge Middle School, Clover, SC; Mount Carmel Academy Book Club, Mount Carmel Academy, New Orleans, LA; PPL Teen Book Club, Prescott (AZ) Public Library; Read, Read, and Read Some More, Milton (VT) Middle School and High School; The TABbler, La Vista (NE) Public Library; Teen Book Posse, TAB, and Q Club, Kitsap Regional Library, WA; Teens Know Best, Metropolitan State University and St. Paul (MN) Public Library; Young Adult Advisory Councils, Johnson County Library, Shawnee Mission, KS.

Granted

Literacy skills: Want to help teens in grades 10–12 learn news literacy skills like distinguishing between fact, and opinion and between propaganda and news? Public libraries and library consortia can apply for more than $50,000 in grant money from the News Know-how initiative. Funded by the Open Society Foundations and administered by the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF), students get training and support from librarians, journalists, and news ethicists.

Participating libraries select 12–15 diverse students from the 10–12 grades from their community. The students must attend about 25 hours of training during the summer 2013 and complete a team project that requires about 25 hours of outside work. All students who complete the project receive a stipend. Make sure to apply by December 8.

Book donations: Three Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grants are available for underfunded libraries, schools, and non-traditional organizations that provide educational services to children. Recipients of the grants will receive more than 100 titles submitted for consideration for the 2013 Coretta Scott King Book Awards as well as all the winning books. You have until January 31 to apply for the grant (make sure you click on Book Donation Grant after you log on). Winners will be notified in February.

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are presented each year by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of the American Library Association’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) “to encourage the artistic expression of the African-American experience via literature and the graphic arts.”

What did people discuss during all this socializing? One topic: How reading, by nature a solitary occupation, can also be a social one. Educational technology consultant Linda W. Braun’s Saturday morning session, “Social Reading: Inside the Ebook Book Discussions,” examined the ways that talking about books creates connection among readers. And while sharing one’s enthusiasm on social reading site Goodreads is terrific, those exchanges happen outside the book.

Enter social reading within Ereaders. Typically, reading an Ebook allows for highlights, note-taking, and sharing on Twitter and Facebook from within the book. Braun showed her audience iPad apps that take social reading a few steps further. First, she introduced two book apps—Wonders of the Universe by Brian Cox (a 3-D tour of the universe, which Braun sees as the future of nonfiction) and Cupcakes! (an app for creating virtual cupcakes; the future of cookbooks).

Braun then introduced two free reading apps—Inkling (allows for purchasing a chapter of a book at a time, the creation of reading groups, and private or public notes) and Kno (a textbook app that provides detailed sharing options perfect for study groups).

David Levithan speaks at the YALSA Lit Symposium in St. Louis. Photo by Emily Goodknight.

But the bulk of the discussion focused on the Subtext app. Subtext allows for the creation of groups, the easy purchase of one title for a group of readers, the side-loading of EPUB titles onto the app (including original student work, for example) and extensive sharing features. It is not only possible to highlight and add notes to the original text, the reader can also tag those notes, mark notes as spoilers, keep notes private, or turn off the notes feature altogether. Every attendee of the session left with a code granting access to a free copy of Steve Hamilton’s (Alex Award-winning) novel The Lock Artist (Minotaur Books, 2010) and the ability to join a reading group to begin November 10th.

This opens up myriad possibilities for both classroom and literature circles. Using Subtext, teachers and librarians can be right in the story with teen readers. Teachers are able to insert questions within the text and implement a setting that cloaks other student replies until the reader has posted themselves. An in-the-book discussion could level the playing field for students who are slow processors. They could read at their own pace at home, taking their time answering questions within the text, yet still feel part of the discussion.

There’s great potential for book club discussions as well. Book club members unable to attend their meetings could still participate in the discussion within the book. Other uses? Prepping for author visits, sharing creative writing projects, peer editing, sharing alternative endings–the list goes on. In sum, Subtext allows librarians to be part of the reading experience. It’s all about building relationships with teen patrons.

On Saturday afternoon, Rollie Welch, collections manager at the Cleveland Public Library, led the session “Classic Literature vs.21st Century Novels: Survival of the Fittest.” The purpose was to share ideas for persuading adults who work with teens to move beyond assigning or recommending classics that rarely appeal to teen readers.

Earlier this year, at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Welch led a pre-conference session in which the attendees chose the one book that every teen should be assigned to read in 2057. In other words, what contemporary YA books will survive as a classic? (At that session, it came down to a tie between Laurie Anderson’s Speak (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999) and Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief (Picador, 2005)).

The YA Lit Symposium session really got rolling when Welch shared 15 theme areas. For each area, he began with a classic novel typically assigned in school, then offered a contemporary novel and a nonfiction title on the same theme. Audience members had a wonderful time recommending alternatives and applauding their favorites. For example, for the theme of “Young Soldiers at War,” rather than assigning The Red Badge of Courage, why not try Craig Crist-Evans’s Amaryllis (Candlewick, 2003) or Evan Wright’s Generation Kill (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2004)? In the Mystery category, rather than The Hound of the Baskervilles, consider Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist (S&S, 2010), or Richard Jones’s Jack the Ripper: The Casebook (Andre Deutsch, 2009). Rather than Robert Lipsyte’s The Contender (Harper & Row, 1967), try Paul Volponi’s Black and White (Viking, 2005) or Brian Shields’s The WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment (DK, 2009).

Welch believes that at least three on his list of classics will still be read and enjoyed by today’s teens–The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Even so, he offered Printz Award winner, Ship Breaker (Little, Brown 2010) by Paolo Bacigalupi as an alternative to the latter in the category of “Hero’s Journey of Self Discovery.”

The YA Lit Symposium is held every other year. The 2014 conference will be held in Austin, TX, over the Halloween weekend.

Angela Carstensen is Head Librarian and an Upper School Librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. She also blogs at Adult Books 4 Teens. Angela served on the Alex Awards committee for four years, chairing the 2008 committee, and chaired the first YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult committee in 2009. Recently, she edited Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Titles and Programs for a New Generation (ALA Editions, 2011). Contact her via Twitter @AngeReads.

There was a clear pattern to the week: the crowds increased each day—and by Thursday, there was a waiting list for people who wanted to get into our packed sessions. (We’re scheduling a new event for them.) As the crowds grew larger, the attendees’ backgrounds got more diverse. When Sue and I began offering these workshops in August, almost all of the people who came were school librarians, and that held true earlier in the week. But by Thursday, more than half of the guests were public librarians, teachers, supervisors, and administrators. Geography played some part in this: the more rural the area, the smaller the crowd and the higher percentage of school librarians; as we moved into larger cities, more people attended and they worked in a wider variety of jobs. Yet, even if location was one reason for the change in attendance, there was a clear theme in the questions, discussions, and overall mood that matters to all of us: CC is no longer coming someday, it’s here.

As each day went by, the discussions became ever more practical and pragmatic. People were no longer questioning whether CC was a good idea or what it is or where to find basic information about it. Instead, they were talking about implementation: What can I do to make sure that Common Core is part of my next lesson or unit? It was this real-world practicality that made the event seem worthwhile to teachers and administrators. Perhaps the single most exciting aspect of the week was seeing these school teams arrive together and work together—the idea that Common Core will only succeed when everyone in the building works together (and the local public library is an informed, integrated, resource) was no longer an aspiration, it was an unfolding reality.

Of course, with the practical comes frustration. Here are some of the kinds of questions we heard:

“How can I do all of the wonderful work on evidence, argument, point of view, and juxtaposed sources that CC wants, when my shelves are filled with books that all use the same layout and same huge color images, and say little about their sources?” Our answer is to use multimodal resources—another CC mandate—juxtapose an article from a magazine or database with a book on your shelves. Look carefully with your students, are the books really identical? Do they all have page numbers, tables of contents, and references to experts that were consulted? Do the experts or the institutions they work at have websites where you can get new information? Do their sites recommend a book on the same subject written for older readers to compare and contrast?

Another important question we heard was, “How can I use longer nonfiction books by excellent authors in my class when the books are only in hardcover and cost too much?” One strategy to meet this challenge is to divide up your class into “literature circles” in which students thoughtfully discuss a work. Twenty-five kids can be divided into five groups of five: one might use that costly hardcover, which the library may have or be able to get through interlibrary loan; another group can use a paperback; a third can use an ebook that’s available to multiple users; a fourth can work from a magazine and a related database; and a fifth group might even find a relevant graphic novel. With this approach, the cost problem has been transformed into a differentiated learning opportunity. Of course, this means the teacher has to work closely with her librarian to select resources that fit together.

And then there was this dilemma: “Having a display on ghosts, are they real?, would be great, but I have too many parents in my community who would protest. I pick my battles and that is one I don’t want.” That isn’t a Common Core question—it’s an issue for how you run your library. But it’s true that in opening the door to evidence, argument, and point of view, Common Core will bring more controversial questions out in the open. The issue is no longer about giving one novel to one child, it’s about showing students the many ways in which library resources look at issues, including everything from global warming and fracking to animal testing and using instant replay at Major League Baseball games. Some parents are likely to object when they see a view they dislike on display. Where, I would respond, do you want your children to see these debates, on the Internet or in an environment where adults help them recognize different points of view and evaluate their arguments?

And finally, here’s another question that many in our audience grapple with: “I’m a public librarian and teachers come here, hand me a list of books that they say is Common Core–approved, and are mad when I can’t find them. Indeed, many are out of print.” That list is the infamous Appendix B to the Common Core English language Arts Standards. As the list clearly states, these books are exemplars, not selections (for more on this topic, see “The Problem with Common Core’s ‘Appendix B,’”). Push back by pointing out that nonfiction, in all areas, can’t be frozen in 2009. Instead, check out recent selections by the National Council for Teachers of English’s Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council Carter G. Woodson Book Awards, the National Science Teachers Association and the Children’s Book Council’s Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12, the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, the Association for Library Service to Children’s Notable Children’s Books, and the Young Adult Library Services Association’s Award for Nonfiction for Young Adults. See if any of their award-winning books can meet the same needs.

Each of the above questions reflects real problems that aren’t easy to solve. But that’s what is so wonderful about them: they arise because Common Core is real, it’s here, it’s happening, and we’re learning, together, how to make it work.

Star Wars: National Star Wars Reads Day is October 6. The event is an initiative of Lucasfilm and its publishing partners, Abrams, Chronicle Books, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DK, Scholastic, Titan Magazines, and Workman. Although the sign-up period to receive a free Star Wars event kit from the sponsors (1000 libraries signed up) has ended, there is another option available for libraries that want to participate in the event. ABDO Publishing is offering a free Star Wars event guide containing teacher’s guides, promotional posters, interviews with celebrities connected to the franchise, a list of nearly 300 Star Wars universe terms, a video of the event that was held in the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis, and an order form for the 68 ABDO/Spotlight Star Wars library editions. You can also follow Star Wars Reads Day on Facebook.

Game On

Free online game: Electronic Arts’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, previously a subscription only massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), will be available online for free starting this fall. The free version allows players “to play free to Level 50, with game play restrictions that limit game options and access to certain game content,” according to Jeff Hickman, the game’s executive producer. Those who continue to subscribe for $15 per month will have free unlimited access to all game features and game updates. The publisher will rely on players buying premium content and virtual items to make money.

Digitally Yours

Multimedia ebooks: eBoost is ABDO Digital’s new multimedia line of flip book ebooks that are combined with related media links. Among the multimedia features of ABDO’s flip books is the ability for readers to turn pages and make them larger. Each ebook in the new eBoost line also includes Web links; downloadable content; embedded videos; RSS and/or Twitter feeds; notes and custom links fields for teacher comments, posting messages, and student assignments; and more. The eBoost titles, featuring secure Web-based hosting by ABDO, are compatible with Macs, PCs, iPads, and Android-based tablets such as Kindle Fire or the Nook. The new line is being launched with 164 titles for elementary through middle grade students. Titles can be ordered individually or in bundles such as Animal Kingdom, Body Systems, The Civil War, Planet Earth, and more. eBoost is sold as a site license with simultaneous access for multiple users.

Granted

Public awareness campaign: The 2013 Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant is an annual $3000 award open to all libraries. To apply for the grant, libraries must come up with a public awareness campaign using the National Library Week Theme—“Communities matter @ your library—and involving at least one other community organization. An application form and guidelines are available on the Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant website. The application deadline is September 30. The winner will be announced after the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle in January 2013. The winner must provide documentation of their activities and submit a report to ALA’s Public Awareness Committee by May 20. The grant is sponsored by Scholastic Library Publishing and is administered by the Public awareness Committee of the American Library Association (ALA).

Read On

Literacy initiative: Author John Green, Michael L. Printz and Edgar Award winner, has been named the spokesperson for the 2012 Teen Read Week, a literacy initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The theme of this year’s Teen Read Week—celebrated October 14-20—is “It Came from the Library!” “Getting more teens to pick up a book and make it a regular habit” is what Teen Read Week is all about says Jack Martin, YALSA president. Among his duties, Green will host a national event to kick off the celebration and will judge a contest in which teens are charged with creating a video about their favorite book.