In the book, we see a very different Chicago than the one that exists. What went into devising a world and a city where magic is commonplace?

I mostly started with history. I decided that our history and this fictional world’s history departed from each other at a particular point. Instead of the space race, where we were in lock step with Russia trying to get to the moon, in the fictional world we decided to move our efforts underwater to explore the depths of the ocean, and that’s where magic comes from. Everything in the world of the book basically spirals out from that point. It affects our computer use, our social media use—which is to say that there is no social media—and magic, obviously. And then other aspects: architecture, design, retail stores, weird punny jokes, fashion, everything.

I love how you approach the differences in fashion, design, and architecture in this alternate Chicago. Can you discuss what your research process was to figuring out how those industries would be affected by magic?

In Chicago, you can read the history of the city by looking at the buildings. What style they were built will pretty much tell you when they were built. I decided that in this world, modernism does not exist, not in the same way that it took hold here.  They went the other way, more ornate, more old fashioned to our eyes, and then of course that’s reflected in fashion too. All the people are looking to the past to find these examples of what it is to be someone who practices magic, so they end up dressing like wizards. (laughs) I tried to have a sense of humor with it while also considering what this would actually be like.

How did you create this alternate Chicago and how that would operate?

It was an endless sea of research. In order to develop an alternate universe, you have to know how ours works a little bit better. I’m no history expert; I’m interested in it in the casual average person kind of way, but you do what the book demands. It wasn’t just more historical research about political events, it was also the history of modern computing, all of the buildings in Chicago, when were concrete sidewalks introduced to the world, what was the status of cars at this point, all this stuff.

Really the reason that I did all that research was because of the interstitials, what I call the documents in between the chapters: news articles, a government document, a poem, and interviews. Doing the research for each specific document helped me create a more cohesive alternate universe, because so much detail is required for each one. It took one day to write each interstitial and they’re not very long. That took up the bulk of the time for the book, even though they’re comparatively shorter [than the narrative].

Those interstitial pieces are so fun to read and flesh out Sloane’s world so beautifully. When did you decide that you were going to include them in the book?

It was later than you’d think. I had started the narrative sections and I decided that in order to really understand Sloane and the way that the world perceived her, I wanted to introduce her through the eyes of someone else. That’s where the interstitials started. Originally I only wanted one, just that newspaper article from the misogynistic reporter that starts off the book, because then you meet her the way that the world sees her, which is this tough chick, or at least pretending to be a tough person, who doesn’t care about anyone or anything and is this hardened figure. Then immediately afterward with the first chapter of the book, you see how vulnerable and how difficult her life is as a result of the trauma she’s been through. That juxtaposition was really important to me in terms of how we get to know Sloane and to have sympathy for her right off the bat. She’s being talked about in this horrible way, but in a way that we find believable—if you’ve ever read celebrity profiles of beautiful women that’s how they’re discussed sometimes—and that’s really troubling.

I want to talk about Sloane, because we’re seeing a “chosen one” character at a different point in their life than we’re used to. Can you talk about what went into creating her?

Basically there are two chosen one narratives in the book. There’s the one that came before, which is not something that we’re exposed to firsthand, but Sloane’s dealing with its repercussions. In that narrative, she’s not the chosen one really, she’s the love interest. When I was growing up, with the exception of Buffy, all the chosen one stories I read were about young men, so that would have been her role in those stories. The actual book is her chosen one story, sort of; I turn it on its head a little bit. I’ve always loved the anti-hero figure, where it’s a reluctant, “All right fine I’ll save the world,” that begrudging kind of heroism. Usually women don’t get to play that kind of role, and I thought it would be fun and interesting to see how she would be and also how she would be received. We have a harder time watching women be that way, actually unlikeable, so that was important for me to explore.

You get the sense of how traumatic it would be to save the world and then return to civilian life.

The worst part for me to write was when she was looking for spandex, because she knows she has to suck her gut in or otherwise there will be pregnancy rumors. What a terrible existence.

We see several chosen ones in the book, each of whom approaches their post-chosen one life in a distinct way. What was it like exploring the different ways being a chosen one could affect a person’s life?

My own brush with being well known—I wouldn’t say it was anything more than that—gave me a range of emotional experiences, and I kind of took one per character and gave it to them. Sloane is resentful and hates the way her life has been taken over by this thing, and I think  that’s a really relatable reaction. Then there’s Esther, who has decided to make the very best of it, which is also an understandable reaction. Who among us would not go start a lifestyle brand? (laughs) I wouldn’t, but I admire her tenacity there. Matt feels this distinct responsibility: “I’ve been given this role and I need to do good things with it.” Just taking little grains of the truth in my own experience, blowing them up, and exaggerating them was the way that I approached it. You have to be able to relate to characters. That doesn’t mean you have to have had the identical experience to them, but there has to be some emotional truth there.

You’ve talked about Buffy already, but what were the chosen one stories that were significant to you as a reader?

I think the earliest one was probably Animorphs, that’s the first I can remember. Then of course you have The Giver and Harry Potter. Harry Potter was the first time I ever encountered the phrase “the chosen one.” When I was a little older there was Dune and “The Matrix”—it’s not a book obviously, but that was a very significant media in my childhood. Those were the main ones. And Buffy, of course.

Can you talk about how magic and science butt up against each other in your worlds?

I usually write Sci-Fi, so this was a bit of a departure for me. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to connect to the magic in the book as a writer unless there was some kind of hand-wavey fake-science explanation. I thought there was a nice marriage of romance and science in sound frequencies, so that was going to be my mechanism of magic use. [In the book], particular magical workings fall under ranges of sound frequencies, or at specific frequencies, and you can hum or whistle these things into being. You can do it even if you can’t hear; you can still measure those frequencies. That was the start of the magic system building, but there has to be something else. There has to be a way for some people to be better at it than others, otherwise you can’t have a Dark Lord figure. He has to be more powerful than other people, otherwise who cares what he’s doing? That’s where the exploration of desire and intent as it relates to magic came into being. That’s important for Sloane because she’s pretty depressed, so she doesn’t really understand her own desires or connect to them in any meaningful way. Her struggle with magic becomes also her internal struggle, which is a nice mirroring effect.

Finally, what role have libraries played in your life?

For me, libraries were always a shelter. My parents got divorced when I was really young. I remember going into the library as a kid in my elementary school, and it being a safe place for me to go when I was having a lot of emotional trouble. Even when I got older in high school, it was that too. Obviously it provides a lot of essential services, like the access to books and information and the internet, but the way I related to libraries was always more of an emotional way: this is a safe place to be when things are really hard. You’re always welcome at the library.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The post Veronica Roth on Reluctant Heroes and Doing What the Book Demands first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Nora’s steeped in pop culture, always referencing books and movies, plus running a successful fan art business on her tumblr. What were the important pieces of pop culture for you when you were growing up?

Definitely Harry Potter was a biggie for me. I know it’s cliche, but it’s cliche for a reason. It really shaped a generation. My sister read it to me, I went to all the midnight book parties–I would get the books at midnight and stay up all day reading them. I loved a lot of pop punkbands. I was a big My Chemical Romance fan when I was a teenager. I think that’s where I got out all my middle school angst.

The book seems to veer off from other Americans abroad stories because it really captures the mundane parts of travel, like the bus station on the edge of town, and going to a tourist attraction only to find out that it’s closed. How did those pieces of the book make their way into the story?

Literally from my real life. Last year I graduated from college and I took a trip through Europe. I didn’t really know what I wanted to career-wise and so I was lucky enough to be able to spend a little time abroad, country hopping through Europe. That experience was still really fresh in my mind when I was writing the book and I wanted it to read as accurately as possible.

And did you travel with your mother, like Nora does?

No, I was not with my mom! (laughs) I was alone for seven days and then I was with a friend from high school.

Nora’s pretty merciless in her depiction of Belgium. Have you gotten any feedback from Belgium yet?

No, the nation of Belgium has not addressed my ire, nor have I been banned from the country to my knowledge. Although maybe I’ll refrain from visiting because I’ll show up at the border and they’ll haul me away. (laughs) What happened was I went to Belgium and some of those frustrations that Nora has happened to me and then I exaggerated a bit because A., teenagers hate things, and then hopefully for a bit of comedic effect.

A big part of the book is Nora figuring out who she is and what her identity is apart from her family or her friends or the guys she’s interested in. Can you talk about how that theme made its way into the book?

I’ve had to wrestle with that myself and I didn’t get there as quickly as Nora did. I’m twenty-four and still figuring that out myself.  Figuring out who you are is a lifelong journey. Usually when someone has a skill, like being an artist, you pigeonhole yourself and you define yourself as that.  Nora’s advantage is that she has her mother acting as the other voice saying, “That can’t be all you are.” Even though the mother’s presented as the villain for a bit of the book–the foil to Nora’s ambitions–I hope that the reader recognizes that coming to terms with your own identity means being a full person in every respect, which means building your relationship with your mom, expanding your skill set, and not just defining yourself by being an artist or as a successful artist, and especially not by the boys you date.

One thing I really liked about the book was how it was honest about how some problems are too complex to be wrapped up in a tidy narrative. How did you balance resolving characters’ story lines vs the reality of them having big problems that might take a while to solve?

I think I had help with that because the story’s narrated by Nora. So she’s not privy to her mother’s thoughts or inner struggles or that she’s going through more serious issues. Nora, as most teenagers are, is very wrapped up in herself and focused on herself, and not paying attention to the challenges and difficulties her mother is going through. And so even though the issues aren’t exactly resolved I hope the reader gets to experience the same realization that Nora has, when she recognizes that her mom who–you normally think of your mom as furniture, she’s not a person, she’s just your mom, she’s a character in your life–and she recognizes that she’s her own person.

One of the beautiful aspects of the novel is how you capture Nora’s relationship with art and make her creative process come alive. Did you have any relationship with the fine arts when you were growing up?

I love art. I’m not very talented but I was good enough that I could play around a bit and I really enjoyed it in school and I loved learning about art. I think my inner art history nerd came out in the writing of this book. But definitely I understand the creative process. I’m a writer. I struggle with projects and building things. And so I tried to transmute that into Nora’s experience.

With @guyinyourmfa and @dytopianya, you achieved a lot of success and pretty much mastered the twitter form. Was there anything you learned about writing from twitter that you applied to the book?

Honestly twitter makes writing a book way harder. I would say anyone who can be off twitter be off twitter.

Why is that?

It’s a distraction. It makes your brain think in 140 character bits. It makes you hungry for instant gratification because if you tweet something funny, you get the reaction immediately. Whereas writing a book is a slow internal process, which is basically the opposite of twitter.

Both those accounts have such distinctive voices, I was wondering if that was something you you were able to apply that creating your characters?

Absolutely. Being able to write in first person with a different person’s voice is a skill set that I’ve definitely been practiced in on twitter. I think the distinction is both my parody accounts are a bit one-note because they’re for 140 character tidbits. You need the voice to be more well rounded than that.

What are you working on next?

I’m working on another book, it’s a memoir called Choose Your Own Disaster. It’s basically a magnifying lens from twenty-two to twenty-three and it’s a Choose Your Own adventure where you can make different decisions than I did and follow along on imaginary paths.

And finally, what role has the public library played in your life?

I grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, and I loved our public library. I studied for my ACTs on the tables in the library, I tutored a lot when I was in high school there. When I was going on my European trip I checked out a stack of travel books. It was a massive help to me. I have amazing memories of my local library.

The post Dana Schwartz On The Dangers of Twitter And Pigeonholing Yourself first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

How did Frazzled evolve from your original doodles to the finished book?

The idea for Frazzled came out of my illustrated daily planners, so I knew I wanted to use the interaction between words and art to pull readers into Abbie’s world. Once I had a solid sense of who Abbie was and what exactly she was up against in middle school, figuring out how to combine these visual and narrative elements into an actual book was another challenge entirely!

Turning Frazzled from doodles into a finished book involved a lot of trial and error. It wasn’t until I began writing and drawing simultaneously that the whole process began to flow naturally. Sometimes I’d write a scene and figure out what I wanted to draw later, other times I had an image in my head and would write around that. Frazzled is heavily illustrated, but it’s much less structured than a comic or graphic novel. The layout and structure varies from page to page, so my creative process was constantly adapting and evolving as I was telling the story.

Abbie’s quest in the book is all about figuring out what her “thing” is. How did you land on that as the arc of the story?

Abbie is starting middle school, and for me, middle school was when everything shifted. I felt like was suddenly expected to figure out who I was on top of everything else—and the worst part was that it seemed like everyone else had it figured out but me!

I think a lot of young kids feel this same pressure to have a purpose and find a “thing.” Frazzled came out of that very real, very palpable angst and uncertainty. Even though Abbie is confronted with many different obstacles in middle school, the underlying arc of the story is about her trying to figure out who she is, where she belongs, and realizing that sometimes it’s okay not to know.

Abbie’s very perceptive and has an active imagination. How did you strike the balance of having her be so funny and quick-witted while still being a realistic sixth grader?

Writing Frazzled was a very personal project to me. I wanted to capture the middle school experience as authentically as I could—not as an adult reflecting on the past, but from an insider perspective. Because of this, many aspects of Abbie’s story are rooted in my own experiences at that age. Even though Abbie is a fictional character, so much of her personality and feelings are influenced by who I was when I was younger and the memories I have from middle school.

Frazzled documents Abbie’s first brush with failure in a way that will probably resonate with a lot of readers. Can you talk about how you came up with the different ways she copes with that experience?

Middle school was a formative time for me, and I drew a lot of inspiration from my own experiences to construct Abbie’s world. Like most people, my most embarrassing and disastrous memories are the ones that have stuck with me all these years and constitute some of the most defining moments for me as a person. I didn’t realize it until much later, but the community of support I formed as a way of deal with my problems and the strength I developed from these experiences ultimately made me who I am.

Even though Abbie feels out of place and overwhelmed with all the changes in her life, she also has a lot of people who are looking out for her. Her family and friends may not always understand her, but they are a strong presence in the story and end up helping her through her fears and failures.

You taught English at a South Korean Middle School after college. How did that experience influence your appreciation of children’s literature?

My experiences teaching middle school in Korea helped reaffirm my belief in the power of stories to unify and connect people. Despite our cultural and generational differences, my students reminded me so much of myself when I was younger. Their feelings and fears were so familiar to me. It made me realize how, at that age, everyone is essentially just trying to figure out their place in the world.

The great thing about children’s literature is its ability to be so distinct and specific while still tapping into ideas that are ultimately universal. Everyone has felt the uncertainty of entering a new school or new season of life and not feeling quite ready for it. Even though Abbie reacts to and deals with her circumstances in a very specific way, the big life questions she’s grappling with in this story are ones that anyone can relate to.

You just completed your first book tour. What was that experience like?

As an author, you always hope your story will resonate with people, but the response I’ve gotten so far has been beyond anything I could’ve imagined. It still feels so surreal to think of people reading this thing that I made! To hear that they feel connected to Abbie and her story is very humbling and special to me.

During my book tour, I was able to meet so many different students. At each school presentation, I took doodle suggestions from the audience and did a live-drawing demonstration. It was so inspiring seeing how fun and creative the students could be! In a way, I got to collaborate with my readers and create something specifically for them. Connecting with those kids has been, by far, the best part about being an author.

What were the books that were meaningful to you growing up?

There are a few books that are an important part of my childhood. Growing up, I was especially drawn to stories with interesting female main characters. Books like Harriet the Spy and Ella Enchanted have a special place in my heart. Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging got me through my middle school years and taught me the value of being able to laugh—even in the most mortifying moments of your life. In each of these books, I was always struck by the girl at the center, and I looked to those girls to help shape who I was and who I wanted to become. In the end, they’ve also played a part in the creation of Abbie Wu, who I can only hope will be the kind of character that means something to this next generation of readers too.

The post Booki Vivat On Doodling, Finding Your Purpose, And Laughing At Life’s Mortifying Moments first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public Libraries Online: Throughout the book, Pen seeks to define herself on her own terms, and consistently runs up against problems with how other people perceive her. What were the challenges of tackling such a profound issue while still staying true to the book’s very funny tone?

M-E Girard: I find that the act of witnessing someone else’s hardships and pain through hearing their story will sometimes give the outsider this sense of devastation that’s exaggerated. Someone might read Pen’s story and think, This poor thing—this is awful—how can life be this way for a teenager? It’s so unfair! Like, yeah, it’s pretty unfair and awful what Pen has to deal with—and the point of the story is to make the reader aware of it—but to her, it’s just life. She knows it sucks, and she’s tired of it, but she’s been doing her thing despite it all. She’s resilient, and she’s adapted, so there was no question that throughout all the handling of unique difficulties, she was just going to be some regular kid with her own qualities, flaws, and interests. So I never had any conscious thought about balancing the heavy issues and the funny, lighthearted moments because I just felt like I was writing Pen’s life, the way she experiences it, and Pen is naïve, and funny, and a bit insensitive, and playful—so that stuff was just going to be there in the words.

PLO: Pen and her girlfriend Blake are gamers and both use video games as a means of self-expression. How did you decide to make gaming such a significant component of the novel?

MG: My girlfriend and I are pretty big gamers, so I was definitely going to pull on my knowledge and experience of gaming for something! But besides that, gaming fit so well for this story and for Pen’s characterization—she’s just a little geek-culture dude in general. Gaming—well, a lot of geek culture stuff, really—is something we’ve traditionally seen as belonging to boys, so that was a great way to strengthen the gender norms theme of the story—and also a great way to put more gamer girls out there in the world! Gaming figures in almost all the relationships Pen has: the idea of the different gaming styles between Pen and Blake (how they mirror their ways of handling life in general), the way her brother has her back in co-op mode, the competitive nature of gaming with Colby—there’s so much. It’s like, once I opened the door to gaming, it was everywhere.

PLO: Pen struggles with the concepts of respect and loyalty throughout the novel, especially with her male friends and her Portuguese family. How did these concepts come into play during the creation of the story?

MG: These things came out through revision. At first, I was just concerned with telling this story about how difficult these boxes and rules are to deal with when you don’t quite fit and others are expecting you to bend and conform. Then, as I revised, more specific things—things that were really particular to this character—came out. It’s kind of the same way I handled gaming. Once I sat back and examined what I had, I was able to pick out the important seeds that had been planted into the story without my full awareness. Then I could really water the crap out of them and watch them spread across the whole narrative. So respect and loyalty became much more important during revision, when they suddenly guided the way scenes played out. Revision is so where it’s at, in terms of writing!

PLO: On your blog, you write about the many rounds of revisions that Girl Mans Up underwent before its publication. What was helpful to you about such an extensive revision process?

MG: Speaking of revision! The first couple drafts were me getting to know the characters, trying to say certain things but not executing it very well. I’m a new writer, and I did a lot of learning with Girl Mans Up. Like I talked about in the previous question, revision allowed me to find the little things I had inserted in there, bring them out, and thread them through the narrative. I’m hoping I’ve done enough learning so that the next book won’t require quite so many rounds—ha!

PLO: Besides writing novels, you also work as a pediatric nurse. Has your medical career had any influence on your writing career or writing style?

MG: When I turned 27, I had this moment when I was like, Wait—am I going to do nothing but be a nurse for the rest of my life? I’m grateful to have the nursing career I have, but I’ve always had a creative side, and I’d never really done anything with it. The nature of my job—one-on-one night-shift community care—meant that I had some time at work to read or write (depending on how stable my clients were), so that was one of the reasons I decided to try getting serious about writing. The company I work for is also very supportive of my writing endeavors, and they’ve been incredibly accommodating with my schedule which allowed me to attend writing events, retreats, and, more recently, plan a variety of book tour events. So in that way, my medical career has completely influenced my writing career by making it possible!

PLO: You’ve twice participated in the Lambda Literary’s Writer’s Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices. What have those experiences been like for you?

MG: I don’t think Girl Mans Up would be what it is—and where it is—today without the Lambda retreat. I applied seeking exactly what the retreat was established for: to fill a void in the development of LGBTQ writers. Until Lambda 2013, I’d had trouble getting specific feedback and critique of my work because I didn’t know any queer writers who could critique what I was doing. I had a narrow view of the world, and of queerness—I mean, I had no awareness of privilege and oppression! I also met Malinda Lo at the 2013 retreat (she was my workshop facilitator) and having her input was such an amazing opportunity. The retreat delivered on what it offered: having my manuscript workshopped, attending presentations, meeting other queer writers. But it paid off long after the week was over. It sent me home with awareness, and words and concepts to research. I did so much learning the six months after returning from the retreat, and I ended up revising Girl Mans Up into the version that hooked my editor. There was so much to gain from attending the retreat, and I am so glad I took a chance and applied.

The post M-E Girard On Gaming, Rewriting, And Creating Her Multifaceted Main Character first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public Libraries Online: You’ve referred to this book as “the absolute true story of my heart.” What did you mean by that?

Kate DiCamillo: This book has certain autobiographical elements.  It is set in Central Florida in the mid-seventies, and I grew up in Central Florida in the mid-seventies.  My father left the family when I was a kid and Raymie’s father has left the family.  So there are those truths.  The story itself is fictional.  But it tells the emotional truth: of loss and friendship and faith and hope.  And that is the true story of my heart.

PLO: You’ve written characters in the similar age range as the girls in Raymie Nightingale, but this is the first time you’ve written explicitly about the friendships among pre-teen girls. What was it like to explore the dynamics of these relationships?

KD: I have been so fortunate (as a kid and as an adult) to have deep, abiding friendships that have sustained me.  It was wonderful to capture that on the page, to pay tribute to those friendships.

PLO: While Raymie Nightingale is heartwarming and very funny, it deals frankly with topics like abandonment, domestic violence, death, and foster care. What was the challenge of balancing the story’s darker topics with its light tone?

KD: I didn’t think too much about that balance . . . maybe because that balance is part of how I see the world.  Like Raymie, I see the darkness, but I’m also deeply, passionately hopeful.  And I think things are funny.

PLO: This novel  evokes what it was like to grow up in the 1970s–the girls enjoy a largely unmonitored existence, they take baton-twirling classes, and they get transported around town in a wood-paneled station wagon that would probably fail modern emissions tests. What attracted you to set a story in this time period?

KD: I think that I went back to the time when I was a kid without making a conscious decision.  Raymie is so much like I was as a kid, that I just instinctually went back to *when* I was a kid.

PLO: As part of your role as National Summer Reading Champion for the Collaborative Summer Library Program, you put together a list of “Kate DiCamillo’s Recommended Reads for Summer 2016.” For you, what kind of book provides the ideal summer reading experience?

KD: Oh, I love books that you can get lost in, books that foster hope, and books that help me to see the world better.

PLO: What are your memories of summer reading programs?

KD: I went to the summer reading program at Cooper Memorial Public Library in Clermont, Florida every summer.  I couldn’t believe that I was going to get prizes for doing exactly what I wanted to be doing which was reading.

PLO: Librarians play key roles in your books, both with Miss Franny Block in Because of Winn Dixie and Edward Option in Raymie Nigthingale. What has your relationship with libraries and librarians been like through your life?

KD: Librarians throughout my life have consistently seen me for who I am: a passionate reader.  I feel seen in libraries.  And I feel safe.  It is a wondrous thing.

The post “The True Story of My Heart”– Kate DiCamillo Talks friendship, summer reading, and “Raymie Nightingale” first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public Libraries Online: Madeline’s a voracious reader, and the books that she loves, particularly The Little Prince, play an important role in the story.  What were the books that were meaningful to you growing up?

Nicola Yoon: The Little Prince was one my favorites growing up. The story is deceptively simple, but so filled with layers of meaning. As Maddy says in Everything, Everything, the meaning changes each time I read it. Other favorites of mine include The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger, and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

PLO: Apart from Maddy’s physical health, the characters deal with some other serious issues, like domestic violence and mental illness. How did you strike the balance of presenting those issues authentically while still telling a story about teenagers falling in love?

NY: This was definitely challenging, but the thing is both good and bad things are always happening in your life. And sometimes love finds us at inconvenient times. I also really believe that love is the only thing that can pull us through the challenging times.

PLO: The reader gets to see excerpts from Maddy’s journals, Maddy’s spoiler-filled book reviews, email exchanges, and IM conversations. How did you decide to incorporate these snippets into the book to tell Maddy’s story?

NY: Because Maddy has been confined to her house for eighteen years, it made sense to me that she would have an unusual way of relating to the world. Books are her best friends. Through them she can see all the worlds that she physically isn’t able to visit. Her book reviews are a natural offshoot of her love of books. The emails and IMs came about because Maddy is most comfortable communicating online. She’s had very limited face to face contact, so mediated contact is what she knows best.

PLO: We also see Maddy’s sketches periodically in the book, and the drawings were illustrated by your husband, David Yoon. How did you work with him to create Maddy’s artistic side?

NY: I wrote Everything, Everything from 4-6 a.m. over the course of two and a half years. I swear that many strange things occur to you at 4 a.m. In the book, Maddy is obsessed with the Hawaiian state fish—the humuhumunukunukuapua’a.  One morning at 4 a.m., I decided that she would draw this fish. I’m a terrible artist but my husband is a fantastic one. I went to my bedroom and woke my husband up (at 4 a.m.) and asked him to draw the fish for me. He is a truly wonderful person because he didn’t complain at all. He just got up, gave me a kiss, made himself some coffee, and drew my the beautiful version of the fish that’s in the book today. After that whenever I had an idea for an illustration, I would draw my very terrible version and then he would turn it into something beautiful.

PLO: You have been an active part of the “We Need Diverse Books” campaign. What can librarians do to support this campaign?

NY: Librarians are such heroes and can do so much! You can help by recommending diverse books and cultivating lifelong readers. On the WNDB website there’s a Resources link with lots of useful links. One of my favorites is the Summer Reading Series. Here you’ll find suggested pairings of popular books with less-well-known, diverse titles. For example, Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is paired with SuperMutant Magic Academy. You can even print these pairings to use as shelf talkers in your library!

PLO: Do you see yourself always writing for a YA audience?

NY: I love writing for a YA audience. It really is such a privilege. I love that young adults are thinking about big meaning of life type questions. I think we all should be. Having said that, I won’t rule out writing for adult audiences. It just depends on where an idea takes me.

PLO: Would you ever write another book about Maddy or any of the other characters?

NY: There’s a character in Everything, Everything named Zachariah. He’s only in the book for a couple of pages, but I love him! He describes himself as the African-American Freddy Mercury and I’d love to write a story about him someday.

The post Many Strange Things Occur to You at 4 a.m. — A Conversation With Nicola Yoon first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

El Deafo Book Cover

Public Libraries: You’ve written and illustrated a number of picture books. But what made you want to write for older kids with your Newberry Honor book El Deafo?

Cece Bell: I really felt like a graphic novel was the perfect format for this particular story—a picture book would not have been able to show all I needed to tell. And the story I wanted to tell involved a lot of the same issues that middle grade kids are experiencing now, so it just made more sense to write this book with middle grade readers in mind.

PL: What was the best and hardest part of writing/illustrating this book?

CB: In general, the hardest part was just the sheer amount of work involved in making the book. So much drawing! So much figuring out! More specifically, the chapter about sign language was extremely difficult to write. I am not proud of the attitude I had about sign language when I was a kid, but I wanted to be honest about it in the book. I worked very hard in this chapter to balance my own negative feelings with the more positive facts about sign language that the sign language teacher shares with me during this chapter.

PL: Were you a library user when you were young? Do you use the library now?

CB: I definitely used the library when I was young. I was lucky because I could walk to our local library—it was just four blocks from home. I confess that I did a lot more looking at pictures than I did actual reading. I soaked up the picture books and disappeared into the enormous collection of Winsor McCay’s Sunday comic strip, Little Nemo in Wonderland, which was so big you weren’t allowed to check it out.

I use the library today as a quiet place to get some writing and illustrating done. I still love to soak up the pictures in the picture book section, too.

PL: What do you enjoy most about library and school visits?

CB: I really enjoy answering the kids’ questions, and then getting to spend a little bit of one-on-one time with them.

PL: If you weren’t a children’s book writer and illustrator, what would you like to be?

CB: There’s nothing else I’d rather be! But I occasionally wish that I was a jazz pianist. How cool would that be?

The post I Was Lucky Because I Could Walk to Our Local Library: A Conversation with Cece Bell first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

1. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Perkins has written a trilogy of related romantic tales, and it all kicked off with Anna’s story. Anna’s family decides she should spend her senior year attending school in Paris, and she is less than thrilled until she meets St. Clair. Unfortunately, St. Claire already has a girlfriend. This is a sweet and funny story with great characters.
2. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. This romance about two misfits is a 2014 Printz honor book. It tells the story of first love between Eleanor and Park through one school year.
3. Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford. This is American Pie for teens. Carter is a boy just entering high school and this book is all about his hilarious (and often disastrous) adventures in the search for love and sex.
4. Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher. This is the story of how Leon found his dream girl, except she wasn’t exactly how he pictured her. Melody Hennon was horribly burned as a child, but she fulfills everything Leon wants in a girlfriend. This book focuses on Leon dealing with his emotional connection to Melody, and his purely physical attraction to the gorgeous Amy Green. It’s a great book with realistic romance and humor.
5. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman. This Sci-Fi Romance is about two literal star-crossed lovers. Stuck alone with each other on an abandoned planet, Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Marsden must work together to survive and to find out the secret behind the whispers they hear when no one else is there.

Cover Photo Credit: fly (CC BY 2.0)

The post Get Ready for Valentine’s Day: Romance for Teens first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

1. Current trends in early literacy practices and education. My school district recently began to follow the Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading. When children and their families come in looking for a “level M” book, it’s a huge cause of frustration for my circulation staff. A trained children’s librarian should be aware of developments such as this and be able to offer recommendations. Similarly, a familiarity with the Common Core can aid not just in customer service, but also in collection development.
2. The importance of the reference interview. Reference interviews aren’t just for reference anymore! They can also be helpful in performing reader’s advisory. A librarian who is able to assess exactly what a patron is looking for is a huge asset to his or her department.
3. Understanding the needs of all levels of readers. Some children read far above their grade level and are not ready for the mature content that can come with higher-level books. Others struggle, and in the words of Marie Joyce, Children’s Librarian at the Free Public Library of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, “it’s important to get them books they can read but that are not ‘babyish.’” A successful children’s librarian should be able to help find resources for all reading levels.
4. An awareness of pop culture. Just as it’s important to be cognizant of current educational trends, it can greatly help a children’s librarian to be aware of what’s going on in popular culture. Some of the highest-circing items in my library’s juvenile collection are LEGO books and Star Wars tie-ins. Similarly, we recently held an American Girl tea party that was an overwhelming success. Staying up to date on these things can help a professional relate better to young patrons, not to mention make the library a “cooler” place to hang out.
5. Management and networking skills. “Children librarians seem to be doing more and more on less available time. We are not an island…we need staff help, whether it is preparing crafts and props to marketing programs to patrons. Good management skills help rally the internal staff and outsiders who support the library with time and money,” points out Robin Rockman, Youth Services Librarian at Oradell (NJ) Free Public Library. Furthermore, many children’s librarians are also tasked with making sure their department runs smoothly. Having a good professional rapport with support staff makes this duty far easier.
6. How to talk to children. It seems obvious, but providing good service to children is far different than working with adults, or even teens. Establishing a non-intimidating but still authoritative stance with young patrons is key in a public library.
7. Technological know-how. That’s not to say every children’s librarian should be fluent in three different programming languages, but being able to leverage different resources can be a huge aid in both program development and customer service. It is also important to understand how screen time can affect our youngest patrons. It’s no longer out of place to have a parent or caregiver come into the library looking for app suggestions for their preschooler.
8. How to be a creative problem-solver. Children are unpredictable! You never know when a scheduled performer might not show up, or a kid has an accident during story time. Flexibility and being able to think quickly on his or her feet will pay off greatly during those moments of uncertainty.
9. Time management. Many children’s librarians are responsible for scheduling programming. Yet providing enough events for the public without burning themselves or their staff out can be a tricky act of balance. Similarly, most people in this position wear many different hats, from programming to collection development to community outreach and more. Being able to manage anything without being overwhelmed is vital.
10. How to promote library services. I come from a digital marketing background, and what I learned while working in that industry has helped me almost every day in my library career. Now more than ever, it’s necessary to stay relevant in the eyes of the public and elected officials. We can’t do that if no one knows about what we offer. From social media marketing to creating catchy in-house displays and merchandising, a keen sense for promoting library awareness will ensure the longevity of our field.

What other topics do you think a children’s librarian needs to know about? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Ten Things a Children’s Librarian Needs to Know first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public Libraries: Your book, Out of My Mind, came out in 2010. Have you been surprised by the reaction to it?

Sharon Draper: Out of My Mind has been blessed from the first day it came out.  It seems to touch the hearts and minds of people.  I received letters from parents and students and grandparents and caregivers and lots of young people who, like Melody, face the world with many challenges.  I’ve also received many letters from students in other countries, as the book has been translated into I think ten different languages now.  Yes, the book is blessed.  It changes the way we as humans look at each other.

PL: You have visited many schools and public libraries, including my own (LCPL) to discuss Out of My Mind. What has been your experience doing this? Have young readers surprised or entertained you with questions during your visits?

SD: I love visiting schools and libraries!  I was that little girl who went to the library every single Saturday, who checked out ten books at a time because I just couldn’t get enough.  So I always feel at home in any library.

And since I was a teacher I always like returning to schools because I can interact with the students and teachers.   I show up at a school in jeans and sneakers.   I talk to them.  I make jokes.  I let them ask questions—zillions and zillions of questions.  And I listen to them.  I observe them—what they’re wearing, what shoes are cool, what hairstyles are in, what words and phrases and music they like.  Then I try to incorporate their essence into each story.  I make sure lots of real teenagers read sections of a new novel before I release it to them.  Their opinion is essential to the success of the book.

PL: You must be excited for your new book, Stella by Starlight, to come out in January 2015. Please tell us about it.  What inspired it?

SD: When I was a little girl, we used to spend summers on my grandmother’s farm in North Carolina, where each night I sat quietly on the front porch and listened to the elders tell outrageous stories.  They came to that porch weary from working all day, but left there energized.  I loved the rhythm of their voices, the power of their laughter.

My father and grandmother were different people on those evenings—indulgent to me rather than strict—with Grandma sneaking me cookies and Daddy letting me stay up way past my bedtime.  They were the early threads of a quilt I didn’t even know I was weaving.

I also found out, many years later, that my grandmother, when she was a little girl, had kept a secret journal of her hopes and dreams–a notebook she wrote outside, after dark, under the stars.  I was given that journal many years ago, and I promised to write her story.  I had no idea a story of my own would emerge from those summer evenings.

I blended my memories of those glorious tales with the passion of my grandmother’s hidden scribbles into the novel that became Stella by Starlight.  Focusing on strength of family, power of community, and interspersed with music, storytelling, social commentary, and history,  Stella by Starlight is my gift to young readers.

PL: How is Stella’s story different than Melody’s in Out of My Mind?

SD: Although they are both eleven-year-old girls, Stella is very different from Melody.  Stella lives in 1932 in a community filled with lots more love than money, and also quite a bit of danger.  She struggles in school with writing and reading, and how to express her thoughts on paper.  Her journey of discovery becomes the story—the discovery of evil, the strength of family, and the power of the written word.  Like my grandmother did so many years ago when she was a child, Stella writes in a journal as well.  Her story brims with courage, compassion, creativity, and resilience.

PL: Are there any lessons you hope readers will get from this newest novel?

SD: I would like for Stella by Starlight to become a starting point for lots of discussions.  I’d like for young readers to feel the rhythms of a close community, to understand how the past reflects the present, to think about social injustice through storytelling and song.  When they read Stella by Starlight, I want them to learn a larger truth about life and humanity, without ever knowing they have done so.

Thanks so much to Sharon Draper for taking the time to do this interview. Also, learn more about the author and her work at http://sharondraper.com/.

The post I Was That Little Girl Who Went to the Library Every Single Saturday: A Conversation with Sharon Draper first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Perhaps this is why Ruth Graham’s recent Slate article “Against YA” has caused an uproar across nearly every library communication channel I follow. Graham’s thesis is simple: adults should be embarrassed to read YA lit. Simply put, it’s not literary enough. Its endings tie up too neatly, and it’s too melodramatic. It takes away from our ability to appreciate “real” literature.

While I have to read a great deal of YA for my job as a youth services librarian, I also choose to read this genre because I enjoy it; however, I enjoy Hemingway, Austen, and Shakespeare too. I enjoyed Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,which I read as an adult, as fully as I enjoyed The Grapes of Wrath. They’re different, and there’s nothing wrong with liking both. Both resonated with me in a way that I can still feel years after reading their final pages.

My first reaction upon reading Graham’s article was that I find it tough to argue that reading Danielle Steel— an author obviously targeted towards adults—is better than reading any author with a Printz award tied to his or her name. Then I realized it’s not our job as librarians to quantify one author or genre as better than another. It’s all about what is better for the patron standing in front of us.

We can debate endlessly over why so many of today’s adults like reading YA lit. Is it a form of escapism? Is it a dumbing down of our culture? Is it the Hollywood effect? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. What matters is serving our patrons without judgment, without a sense of superiority if their literary tastes do not match our own. As librarians, we are here to provide access to information and entertainment. My very own library’s mission is to “educate, empower, enlighten, enrich, enhance, and entertain” our customer base. To make broad and sweeping generalizations that one type of book is better than another is not doing anyone any favors.

Presumably Graham is not a librarian, but her article is a strong reminder that such generalizations exist among the public. We mustn’t perpetuate them. It is our duty to match our patrons with the type of books they’re looking for, regardless of whether their choices are “mature” or not. I personally am not a fan of fantasy, but I will wholeheartedly recommend books and authors in that genre to patrons who enjoy it. It’s not my place to judge, just as it was not Graham’s place to condemn an entire segment of readers. Frustrating as her ideology may be, we have the power to change the public’s minds and show them how rewarding YA lit—or any genre—can be, one reader at a time.

The post In Defense of YA Lit first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Public Libraries: One of the really fun aspects of reading the book is its tone. Kippy Bushman is such an appealingly goofy protagonist yet she’s thrust into this world where horrific violence takes place. How did you arrive at this balance where the screwball comedy offsets the horror, and vice versa?

Kathleen Hale: I think that psychological intensity and gore create a lot more opportunities for comedy than one would expect. When an audience is scared or grossed out or uncomfortable, they want to laugh. They want release from that feeling.

PL: Kippy’s a very complex character. She’s bright and funny but, as the novel progresses, the reader uncovers much darker aspects of her personality. Did she arrive so fully formed when you began writing the novel or were there aspects of her personality that emerged through the revision process?

KH: She evolved, definitely. The more I wrote, the more I realized, “This girl has been through a lot,” so I had to take that into consideration. You can be brave, and have guts, but certain experiences nevertheless carve out pieces of you. Mostly, I wanted to explore grief in a realistic way. It’s not just sadness. It’s multi-layered. And often there is laughter involved.

PL: You’ve mentioned in other interviews how outlining helped you while writing this novel. Can you talk about how you went about outlining the book? Are there still aspects of the story that you discover along the way?

KH: When I outline, I basically just sketch out Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3, highlighting the set-ups and the pay-offs, and trying to keep each movement plot-driven.

That said, I discovered most of this story as I wrote it. In the initial outline, Kippy was a lesbian and her sidekick was a girl. I was psyched about that, but was instructed by people who will remain unnamed that it wouldn’t fly. All I’m trying to say is that my initial conception of this novel was much different than the finished product, and that a lot changed during the writing process.

PL: Your piece defending YA Literature for Nerve just attracted a lot of attention. What do you think accounts for the recent trends in not only adults reading books intended for a teen audience, but also being criticized for doing so?

KH: “Commercial” novels, “genre” fiction, “YA”…Like I said in my piece, these are market designators that shift over time. And I honestly don’t think that adults reading to be entertained is a new development—nor do I think that adults criticizing each other for different readerly inclinations (often in order to validate their own tastes) is new. I think these things seem new because the Internet gives everyone a highly visible platform, making covered ground seem radical simply due to widespread accessibility combined with the average person’s ability to weigh in on the conversation, or the conversation about the conversation, and so on.

PL: You have a prolific presence on social media. What has it been like to interact with your readers since the book was published?

KH: At first it was really scary. I’m sort of an introvert, so talking to people has always been exhausting. In some ways, the Internet has offered relief from that—I love g-chatting, for instance. It’s one of the ways that I stay close to people. But in terms of like, Twitter, or Instagram, it was weird to go from this place of working on a piece of writing in private for a really long time, to suddenly showing something to everyone as soon as I did it. Even if it was just 140 characters, or a caption for a photo, it made me feel self-conscious and exposed and dumb.

Like with anything, though, I acclimated. I’m less self-conscious now about responding to strangers when they talk to me on Twitter, for instance (I used to delete, and delete, and delete), and when readers get in touch, I am so psyched. It really makes my day. Even if they’re like, “I read your book. Some of it was boring but some of it wasn’t.” I’m like, “I love you! I can’t believe it when people read the stuff I write!” And in that sense it’s been great to be on social media, because it allows me to tell these readers, “Oh my god, thank you,” and to reach out to the writers I read, too.

PL: I know you’re writing a sequel to No One Else Can Have You. Can you give a preview of what readers can expect with the next book?

KH: Sure! It’s called Nothing Bad is Going to Happen. It involves the same characters as No One Else Can Have You, but there’s a lot more sex and murder.

PL: And since this is for Public Libraries magazine, what roles have libraries and librarians played in your life?

KH: Oh my God, yes. I love librarians. When I was fourteen, I went from public school to private school (I had some behavioral problems, and so my parents were like, “Send her to the nerds!”)—and, like I said, I’m kind of introverted and socially weird, so I had trouble adjusting. The people at that private school had all known each other since Kindergarten.

Anyway, during social parts of the day I’d go to the library, and the librarian, Mrs. Rosetto, would recommend books. After a while, she got to know my tastes and started having novels set aside for me next to the scanner thingy.

I don’t know how I would have gotten through that year without her. She never said anything about the fact that I was always alone or lonely-looking (and thank God, because I would have died from embarrassment) but she must have known, and she was so kind to me, and, most importantly, she turned me into a reader.

The post Certain Experiences Carve Out Pieces of You: A Conversation with Kathleen Hale first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Prom & Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg is not what I expected and won the Popular Paperbacks award. It seemed like it would be a recycled story about stuck up teens harassing a smart girl. While the storyline followed that pattern, it was crafted well and dealt with real issues in a relatable way! I would recommend it to girls who are excited about prom, but will not be elected the prom queen.

Listening to Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever was fun! It is a quick listen (only two CDs) that kept me wanting to know what would happen. I laughed out loud and snorted in disbelief. As with many books, I did have to suspend reality in some of the situations. This book won the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults award.

One audiobook that I am struggling to listen to is Libba Bray’s The Diviners. It won the Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults and the Best Fiction for Young Adults awards. The voice actor, January LaVoy, is amazing; she has clear voices for all of the male and female characters. Usually a great reader is all I need to stay engaged with a book, but not this time.  The story is quite interesting: “Seventeen-year-old Evie O’Neill is thrilled when she is exiled from small-town Ohio to New York City in 1926, even when a rash of occult-based murders thrusts Evie and her uncle, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, into the thick of the investigation.”[i] It could be that I’m just not in the mood for it right now.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award honors an author for his or her impact on teen literature. This year, Tamora Pierce won the award. I read one of her most popular series: The Song of the Lioness quartet. Pierce started this series in 1983 with a strong female character, Alanna. She is a small woman who has made her way in a man’s world through grit and determination.

Benjamin Alire Sáenz wrote Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and won two awards: Best Fiction for Young Adults and Printz Award. This book blew me away. It was funny, moving, surprising and powerful. The journey that Sáenz writes, places the reader in the shoes of the characters so that we can feel their doubts and joys. I think one of the challenges teen authors have is to write in a voice that is true to teens and, at the same time, is eloquent. Sáenz is able to do just that.

Of the 17 books I’ve read so far, I highly suggest: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, Boy21 by Matthew Quick, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

Thanks for following me on my journey of reading teen award winner

The post The Hub Reading Challenge Part 3 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

Let’s get started with the Schneider Family Book Award.  This award has been administered by ALA since 2004.  It recognizes a book that encompasses “an artistic expression of the disability experience” for teens and children (Stonewall, 2013). The Schneider Family Book Award was initiated by Katherine Schneider, who is blind, and her parents, who both worked with people with disabilities.  This award honors their dedication to serving those with disabilities. It also recognizes how people with disabilities are thriving in society.

The Stonewall Book Award was the first award issued to books written for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) teens.  The inaugural award was presented in 1971 and currently has three distinct categories issued to books that acknowledge the GLBT experience.  The awards are: the Barbara Gittings Literature Award (for fiction), the Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award, Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has many committees that recognize great teen books.  The committees are named for the award they issue and have quite an interesting past.  YALSA’s Amazing Audiobooks committee is charged with presenting a list of 25-30 audiobooks that have a range of appeal for teens 12 to 18.  This year there are 28 fiction titles and two non-fiction titles.  The Best Fiction list comes from the Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee, which started in the 1930s as the “Best Books for Young People” (Best Fiction, 2013).  They are charged with select the best books for teens and create a list for teachers and librarians to use when selecting books for a collection.

The Great Graphic Novels for Teens Committee reviews graphic novels for teens. In 2013 there were 93 titles submitted for review. Of those, 55 titles are on the honor list with the Top Ten listed here.  The Popular Paperbacks Committee has a slightly more difficult charge; they create lists to encourage teens to read for fun (Popular Paperbacks, 2013)!  Every year, Top Ten and theme based lists are created; this year’s lists are: Boarding Schools to Summer Camps: Leaving home to find; Gowns, Greasepaint and Guitars: Not the same old song and dance; I’m New Here Myself: A generation, caught between nations; and, More Books that Won’t Make You Blush: All of the excitement, none of the naughty.  The Quick Pick books are for any teen who “dislike[s] to read for whatever reason” (Quick Picks, 2013)

In my next post, I will discuss what my opinions about some of the books I have read for this challenge.  Stay tuned to find out more!

References

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults 2013. American Library Association.  Accessed March 5, 2013. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/amazing-audiobooks/2013.

Amazing Audiobooks Policies and Procedures. American Library Association.  Accessed March 5, 2013.  http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklists/amazingaudiobooks/policies.

Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee Policies and Procedures. American Library Association.  Accessed March 5, 2013.  http://www.ala.org/yalsa/bfya/policies.

Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. American Library Association.  Accessed March 5, 2013.  http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklists/popularpaperback/popularpaperbacksyoung.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. American Library Association.  Accessed March 5, 2013.  http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/quickpicks.

Stonewall Book Awards List. American Library Association.  Accessed March 5, 2013. http://www.ala.org/glbtrt/award/honored.

The post The Hub Reading Challenge – Part 2 first appeared on Public Libraries Online.

When the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) suggested a reading challenge for current award winners, I jumped at the chance.  On January 28, 2013, The Hub (YALSA’s blog), presented the challenge:  “Read/listen to 25 of the 83 titles on our list of eligible titles [pdf] to finish the challenge” (Kolderup, 2013).  The three basic rules are: read 25 award winning books between February 3 and June 22.  The format is important, so the books must be read or listened to in the format the award was given.  Anyone who doesn’t work for the American Library Association (ALA) qualifies to participate.  The awards include award and honor books from the:  Alex Award, Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, Margaret A. Edwards Award, Michael L. Printz Award, Odyssey Award, William C.  Morris Award, Schneider Family Book Award, and the Stonewall Book Award.  Additional books can also be selected from YALSA’s 2013 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks, Best Fiction, Great Graphic Novels, Popular Paperbacks, and Quick Picks.  This brings the total number of qualifying books to 83 (Kolderup, 2013).  That is quite a list to choose from!

I started putting titles on hold and am gobbling them up.  All this reading has got me wondering, what do these awards mean? So, this and my next post will cover a summary of each of the awards.

 The Alex Award grabs teens’ attention as it is given to books that were written for adults, and have great teen appeal.  This award was first offered in 1998 and in 2002 became ALA issued.  It is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust; she was a groundbreaking teen librarian who inspired many librarians.  Another award that honors Margaret A. Edwards is the School Library Journal funded Edwards Award.  This award acknowledges when books and authors “have provided young adults with a window through which they can view their world and which help them to grow and to understand themselves and their role in society” (YALSA Board of Directors, 1996).

The Award for Excellence in Nonfiction is presented by YALSA and recognizes the best nonfiction book written for teens in the given year.  The Michael L. Printz Award only looks at the “literary merit” of teen fiction (The Michael L. Printz Award Policies and Procedures, 2013).  The Odyssey Award honors the best producer of an audiobook for children or teens.  Because it is for children or teens, it is “jointly given and administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and … YALSA” (Odyssey Award, 2013).  Both the Printz Award and the Odyssey Award are supported by Booklist.  The Morris Award was founded in 2009 and gives tribute to a debut author who writes for teens (Morris Award, 2013).

Watch for my next post where I’ll write about the awards I didn’t cover today and my thoughts about some of the books.

Bibliography
__________________________________

Alex Awards.  Young Adult Library Association.  February 17, 2013, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/alex-awards#current.

Kolderup, Gretchen, “YALSA’s 2013 Hub Reading Challenge Begins!,” The Hub (blog), February 3, 2013, http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/02/03/yalsas-2013-hub-reading-challenge-begins/.

Michael L.  Printz Award Policies and Procedures, The.  Young Adult Library Association.  February 17, 2013, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/bookawards/printzaward/aboutprintz/criteria.

Morris Award.  Young Adult Library Association.  February 17, 2013.  http://www.ala.org/yalsa/morris-award.

Nonfiction Award.  Young Adult Library Association.  February 17, 2013, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/nonfiction-award#current.

Odyessy Award.  Young Adult Library Association.  February 17, 2013, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/odyssey-award#winners.

Printz Award.  Young Adult Library Association.  February 17, 2013, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/printz-award#current.

YALSA Board of Directors.  “Margaret A.  Edwards Award Policies and Procedures.” Young Adult Library Association.  1996.  February 17, 2013, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/bookawards/edwards/policies.

The post Award Reading Challenge first appeared on Public Libraries Online.