Shiver and The Night Wanderer

So, I read Shiver.  I really liked it once I got into it.  The characters are fully developed and it acknowledges the reality of some teens parents.  I also really liked when the same events were told from the perspectives of Sam and Grace.
The Night Wanderer was interesting as well.  I figured out pretty quickly what the main character was.  I found it really interesting to hear the history of the Ojibwa from the point of view of Pierre L'Errant.  The girl is very realistically portrayed and I have to say I remember arguments similar to that which I had to my parents.

YA International Awards

This is the complete list of awards that we looked at.  There's even more than these!  Another good source is the Children and Young Adult Literature Handbook by John Gillespie.  Other sources also includes White Ravens, IBBY and Crossing Boundaries with Children's Books edited by Doris Gebel.

Awards

• Some awards are given out to international authors from outside the country rather than the authors who are from the country. An example of this is the BILBY award, which is an Australian award that has been awarded to Roald Dahl, a British author because the awards are chosen by children.
• Some awards have had multiple name changes, but the qualifications for the prize either do not change at all or change very little.
• European Awards
• Hans Christian Anderson award – this book is administered by the IBBY Secretariat and is extremely prestigious having been nicknamed “the little Nobel Prize”. A gold medal and diploma are awarded every two years to an author and an artist based on the entire body of their work and the fact that they are considered to have made a lasting contribution to children's and young adult literature (Gillespie, 2005).
• Astrid Lindgren Prize – Established in 1967, this annual award is given to honour achievements in writing for children
• Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award – Established in 2002, the Astrid Lindgren Award may be awarded to writers, illustrators, narrators and/or promoters of reading whose work reflects the spirit of Astrid Lindgren (Swedish Arts Council).
• This award is awarded to authors of any nationality. This year, the winner is Shaun Tan, an Australian.
• UK Award
• Carnegie Medal
• The sponsor for this medal is The [British] Library Association. The medal is awarded annually for “an outstanding book for children and young people”. Www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk
• Booktrust Teenage Prize
• This award was begun in 2003 and recognizes contemporary teenage fiction. A shortlist of about ten titles is selected in the spring and the winner is announced in November. (Gillespie, 2005) www.booktrusted.co.uk/booktrust/teenage

• Australian Awards
• Cross Pen Prize for Young Adult Fiction, formerly the Sheaffer Prize for Adult Young Fiction, formerly Alan Marshall Prize for Children's Literature
• This award is awarded to an Australian author and is based on literary merit, so illustrations are not taken into consideration.
• Multicultural Children's Literature Award – established in 1991, the award is presented to encourage authors to deal with issues of cultural diversity in their books for young readers and to present themes of social justice and supportive community relations in a positive. This award is divided into three categories: picture, junior and senior.
• New Zealand Awards
• Te Kura Pounamu Award – Established in 1995 by the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, this award is given annually to the author of book for young people written in the Maori language. The author must be a citizen or resident of New Zealand.
• Russell Clark Award – Named after the prominent New Zealand illustrated, this annual award, first presented in 1978, is given to a New Zealand illustrator for the most distinguished illustrations for a book for children or young adult.
• South Africa
• Percy Fitzgerald Award – Sponsored by the English Academy of Southern Africa, this biennial award is given to the author of a children's book in English. The author must be living in South Africa or the book must be from a South African perspective.
  Many literary prizes are awarded in South Africa for books written in languages other than English (Gillespie, 2005)
  
  

The Knife of Never Letting Go

This is a really interesting book.  It takes place on a colonized world that is called the New World.  It is a coming of age story that takes place in a town called Prentisstown.  There are no women, killed by what is known as the Noise.  The Noise is a germ that is spread by the Spackles, the native aliens of the planet.  When Todd finds a hole in the Noise, he freaks out.  His parents help him run away and he runs into a girl, the only one he's ever seen in real life.  The story looks mostly at how nothing is ever what it seems.  The emotions in this book range, but the suspense is extremely well played out.
This is the first book in a series called Chaos Walking.

Fluency

I really did read the chapter.  However, I was really tired, so I don't know if I retained that much.  From what I understand, fluency relates to literacy across all kinds of media.  Fluency is when or how people are able to "read" the media.  It also looked at how people choose media to listen or read.
This got me to thinking that if, as librarians, we include other kinds of media that this will allow us to find something that appeals to everyone.  For example, someone may look at Twilight and think that it is way too large a book to read.  However, it would be interesting to see how the same person would choose the same book in an ebook format.  They also might find the movie or audio book much more accessible.  Another format that would make it more accessible is the Graphic Novel version of the book.  There are several books that have been reformatted into graphic novels, so many more books may be more accessible than you think in this format.

Book Review #2 - Dealing with Dragons

Book Review #2 - Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Cover

Scholastic Cover

This book is the first in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles series. Although the language is easy to read for younger readers, the themes are more teen-oriented. Princess Cimorene hates being a princess and despises the lessons that she must take, such as etiquette. Consequently, she engages in some very unprincess-like lessons, such as fencing, cooking, Latin and magic. When her parents take her to a neighbouring kingdom and try to get her married to the prince, Cimorene, with some advice from a talking frog, decides to run away. She ends up working as a princess for the dragon Kazul and adventures ensue. With assistance from her fellow princess-in-captivity, Alianora, Kazul the dragon, Morwen the witch and the stone prince (who has a long story), she manages to defeat the villains. The book takes fairy tale conventions and turns them upside down, so it is best that the reader has been exposed to several fairy tale conventions in order to get the most from this book. From the very beginning to the very end, this book is about being true to oneself. This book is a fun read and is widely-appealing. There are two different covers available, one from the original publishing by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and the other from Scholastic. This book is available in audio format as well. Recommended for everyone.

All images taken from chapters.ca.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This is an excellent book.  It is about a boy who lives on the Spokane reservation in the USA.  After an incident where he throws a book and breaks a teacher's nose, he is encouraged to get off the reservation and go to school elsewhere by the aforementioned teacher.  Since the closest school is in the nearby town and is populated by Caucasian people solely, it is a big adjustment for him.  At the exact same time, he is regarded as a traitor by the other Aboriginal people who live on the reservation.
I initially decided to read it because I thought it was about a person who was of mixed heritage and I thought that I would relate to that.  When I realized what the book was actually about, I decided to read it anyway because it sounded really interesting.  I did relate to the main character in the book, just not in the same way that I thought I would.  I also liked the cartoons that were drawn by the main character scattered throughout the book.

Graphic Novels

I have to say that I really believe in graphic novels for teenagers.  There is so much variety that no matter what people are into, there exists a graphic novel for them, you just might have to hunt around to find it.  There's so much available.
I know that in my family, my cousin didn't like reading.  When we would go on vacations together, we would all bring our Archie comic books and then swap when we had read them.  This got my cousin into reading and he is now a reader.
In one of our classes, we were discussing what constitutes reading.  One of our classmates said that he did not believe that graphic novels did not count as reading.  What do some of you think?

Boys Reading Habits

There has been a lot of research done on what boys like or don't like to read.  I think it is interesting that boys like to read non-fiction, but also enjoy books that are escapist and humour.  It is also interesting that some boys consider reading as a female activity and will do what they have to in order to avoid reading.  I think that this is an important point because as boys enter middle and high school, they tend to care about how others perceive them and so will go to great lengths to avoid something that is not good for their self-image.  What needs to be done is to make reading appealing to everyone.  To be honest, I don't know how to accomplish this.
My experience with teen sections has been somewhat limited.  After the branch I was working at was renovated, we got a whole new teen section.  There was enough room for all the materials, including graphic novels, magazines, BCDs and books.  One of the best things was that we got a new non-fiction section.  However, since it was new, it was difficult to see the direction it was heading in.  The other thing that was good was that we also got enough room to make a display spot for the teen books.  This allowed for the books to show their covers.
On an interesting note, we got into a really heated discussion in our collection development class on the idea of what constitutes "reading".  I argued that science fiction and graphic novels count and that I don't care what people are reading so long as they are reading.  The other person argued that he doesn't believe that graphic novels should count as reading and that science fiction and fantasy are part of the urinal of literature (he really ticked off some of us to put it mildly).  The discussion then got onto the whole topic of freedom to read and intellectual freedom.  So, I have to ask, how do you feel about graphic novels, science fiction and fantasy and other denigrated genres (romance as an example).  One of my other profs mentioned that YA literature is considered a denigrated genre, not by her personally, but by others.  How do you think that YA literature got this reputation?

Book Trailer

I have completed my book trailer and it is available to view at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRYVNOpnmX0

Censorship Challenge: Weetzie Bat by Francesca Block

When I was reading this particular book, I felt that I couldn't understand why this book tends to get censored.  Once I got into the book, I realized that the themes are so in the background and not obviously part of the plot.  Once they encounter something unpleasant, they either solve it or move on.  The controversial themes include adultery, AIDS (and STDs), pregnancy and GLBT issues.
I thought it was particularly endearing that Weetzie Bat doesn't care about the sexual orientation of her friend, Dirk, although it seems that they are dating.

Forever by Judy Blume

I read this book with a fairly open mind.  I really liked that it was really short, but showed how people can change in such a short period of time.  This book is all about first love and first experiences with sex.
I liked the realism of the scene where Katherine, the main character, loses her virginity.  I also like the advice and suggestions that she gets from the doctor when she wants to start the pill.  I thought there were somewhat unrealistic parts that had to do with sex.  I really liked the forward that came with the edition of the book that I read because it discussed what other advice the doctor would likely give her in the modern day to keep her safe from various STDs or VD (venereal disease) as it called in the book.
In terms of emotions, it was very realistic and it showed how people can change and grow.  It was not just the realism of the scene where she loses her virginity, but also the realism of life and the reactions to certain circumstances.  Her emotions are portrayed very realistically since it is written in the first person and so she tells the reader exactly how she is feeling and what she is thinking.
When I was in teacher's college, I was taught that as a part of Phys. Ed I would likely have to give THE TALK to (hopefully) only the girls in my class at some point.  However, I think that this book would serve as an excellent introduction to the topic and then move into a more specific direction.

Response to Rutherford's Article

One of the items that we discussed in my collection development class is how a number of these superconglomerate companies own publishing houses so that once a book is released, it can immediately be turned into a movie.  Books that are not owned by publishing houses can later be re-published with a new cover featuring people from the movie.
Of the readers that are described by Elberse, I would have to say that I am a little bit of both.  I am a fairly heavy reader, but I also tend to stick to particular genres.
Social media does have the potential to engage teen readers.  If Terry Pratchett had a blog when I was younger, I would have probably participated in that.  This does not apply to just books, either.  A number of web comics have competitions around this time of year for the best date for Valentine's day.  The winner is usually rewarded with being drawn into the comic as well as having their idea featured for the strip.  Although some of the web comics are considered more adult, I feel that some of the web comics that are written for teens could easily do something similar.
The idea of how the Internet has changed the idea of authors' images is very true.  Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite authors and there are several sites devoted to him and to his books.  A number of them include a biography and bibliography.
Rutherford's article concentrates heavily on Stephanie Meyer and the phenomenon of the Twilight series.  Although it is true for her, it is also possible to apply the concepts in this article to any other popular YA author.

Book Review #1 - Ella Enchanted

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Ella Enchanted is a Newberry award-winning book by Gail Carson Levine. It evokes the archetype of Cinderella as a fantasy story. When Ella is born, she is “blessed” with the gift of obedience by a fairy. Whenever she disobeys or hesitates in following an order, it costs her dearly in physical pain. After her father re-marries, she is essentially banished with her two step-sisters to a boarding school that she hates. Although she manages to escape and meet with her father, she cannot avoid the fate of being exploited by her step family since her step-sister figured out that she obeys without question. Instead of dying like in the original, her father instead abandons her to live with her new family because he has lost all of his money in various schemes and needs to get it back. Ella meets her love interest early in the book and knows it is the prince. Unlike in the original story, Ella falls in love with him slowly through the letters that they write to one another. Eventually, they do live happily ever after. Although some of the characters seem two-dimensional, it is written in the first person from Ella's point of view and the reader experiences events with Ella. Although the story echoes the original Cinderella tale, it is the mastery description and wonderfully written characters that make it new again. This book is also available in paperback and with a library binding. Published 1997 by Middle Grade, 240 p. Hardcover, $16.25.

Catcher in the Rye

This was the first time I read Catcher in the Rye.  There were several different themes for it.  In terms of the main character, he does strike you as whiny.  However, his affection for his younger sister is sweet.  The part where he bought the (vinyl) record and it broke and he felt really bad about it was really tender.  It is his affection for his siblings that redeems him a little bit to me.  He is also a storyteller, which is interesting.  He does not want to hurt the feelings of a mother of a classmate of his because, in his opinion, the guy is a total jerk.  So he lies to protect her feelings about how he really regards his classmate.
When I was reading this, I felt that the language was almost like a stream of consciousness.  For those of you who may not know, a stream of consciousness is when you write what you are thinking without regard for punctuation or self-censorship.  The swearing put me off a bit, but it is really quite tame in comparison to the language you would hear in any high school nowadays.
I really liked the setting because I was in New York recently and took the rail from Penn Station in NYC to another station on the line.  Newark station connects, now anyway, to the airlink at Liberty Airport.  I felt that it was really neat because I could imagine the places that he was travelling.  It meant more to me than to someone who did not go on the train.

The Winner is...

No, I'm not talking about the Oscars.  Rather, I am talking about the Margaret A. Edwards award.  This year one of my favourite authors won!  Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Sir Terry Pratchett!
Follow the link below in order to find out a little more about him and the books for which he was nominated:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/margaretaedwards/margaretedwards.cfm#current

Interestingly enough, they included books that I've read, but never found in the Teen section of the library.  Although, now that I think about it, I started reading Terry Pratchett in my late teens, so they could be considered crossover books for young adults.

Library Visit

So late with this one!  I meant to do it last week, but then I got distracted by my cousin's baby Friday night.

I did go to the library and have a look at the Teen Annex.  My observations were that the collection was small, the shelves were low and they were also crowded because both paperbacks and hardcovers are together.  There was a small collection of non-fiction, followed by Books on CD and these were then followed by DVDs.  There was a separate display space from the adults for new books.  The new books were both fiction and non-fiction. The books were separated from the children's area by a row of tables.  Also, there were two bibliographies on top of the shelves which were specifically for teens.  I can't remember exactly what the titles were.
On my initial visit it was not very active.  There was only one teen at the table.  Since my initial visit was in the morning on Tuesday, I thought it would be a good idea to go back later in the day and see what it was like when school was out.  When I went again Thursday afternoon, there were more students at the tables working on homework.  However, it did not appear that there were many teens who were reading for enjoyment.

New YA TV Shows

I went to TV Guide to look up the schedule for the evening and found an interesting article on a new TV show called Skins.  Originally a British TV series, they have decided to do an American version.  I have to admit it was the title of the article that caught my eye.  The title is called "The Sins of 'Skins'".  Here's the link to check it out:  http://tvguide.ca/Interviews/Features/Articles/110117_skins_DW

I am also somewhat of a geek and I was watching Space when a commercial for a relatively new TV show called "Being Human" came up.  When I was in New York city, I saw a number of posters for this show in the subway system.  Again, it is a British series and while it is only starting in North America, they are on their third season in the UK (according to the BBC website).  However, the one thing that caught my eye for this trailer was the Twilight reference.  Like True Blood, it is marketing to adults, but it will probably draw in the YA crowd as well.  Although I was able to find the commercial yesterday, I am having a difficult time tracking it down right now.  I will post it when I am able to find it again.