Sandy's Picks 2011 - Teen Reads

With 2011 quickly drawing to a close, it's time once again for this librarian to share her favorite reads of the year!

According to my Goodreads.com account, I have read a grand total of 130 books this year. I also currently have two more in progress and reserve the right to finish them before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. Almost all of these books were written for children or teens, and most were written in 2011 (though several were published in late 2010, and a few were even older). But which of these books were my favorites?

In today's post we're going to take a look at books for the ever-elusive Teen.

Looking at the list of teen reads on my Goodreads account from this year, I really didn't read as much as I'd hoped. There are a number of titles that I've heard nothing but good things about that are still on my "to-read" list. However, I think I can safely say that this year the quality more than made up for the quantity.

Chime by Franny Billingsly
This book is simply brilliant. The eclectic writing style alone makes me love it to pieces. Briony knows that she is responsible for her family's misfortunes, but when Eldric comes to Swampsea she begins to see that maybe things aren't always what they seem. Some other readers that I know had trouble with Briony's self-loathing tendencies, but the beautiful storytelling made it easy for me to get through it. This is my top pick for the Printz Award when winners are announced next month.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Ah, satire. In this book Bray manages to pick apart everything related to pop culture with her funny, poignant writing. We also get a good look at what is expected of girls today through the lens of a beauty pageant gone wrong. Bray is a smart writer and this book is lots of fun to read while also making readers think. Action, romance, and humor abound.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
I'm a big science fiction fan, and in my opinion this book was the best of the bunch this year in the budding genre. Amy is cryogenically frozen and sent on a space ship to colonize a new planet. But when she is woken up 50 years early, she and Elder, who in in training to become the leader of the ship's crew, uncover the lies that surround the ship's society.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
I didn't quite realize just how much I loved Stiefvater's Shiver trilogy until I read the concluding chapter. In this installment the story really was about something more than young love, and I really appreciated this new direction. And as with the previous volumes, the writing is lovely and atmospheric.

What were your favorite teen reads of 2011? Discuss in the comments.

Sandy's Picks 2011 - Chapter Books

With 2011 quickly drawing to a close, it's time once again for this librarian to share her favorite reads of the year!

According to my Goodreads.com account, I have read a grand total of 130 books this year. I also currently have two more in progress and reserve the right to finish them before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. Almost all of these books were written for children or teens, and most were written in 2011 (though several were published in late 2010, and a few were even older). But which of these books were my favorites?

In today's post we're going to take a look at my favorite kind of books to read: Chapter Books.

Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
This piece of historical fiction tells the story of three slaves owned by Thomas Jefferson - two of whom are his sons by Sally Hemings, and another young boy who works at Monticello. Bradley asks some challenging questions about morality and identity over the course of this story and these discussions will certainly get reader's thinking. The ending is especially powerful.

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald
I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, but in the end it really was a funny, clever story about a kid's desperate attempts to avoid reading.

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Told in verse, this book documents a young girl's immigration from war-torn Vietnam to the United States. It was interesting to see how in many ways, Hà's life in the States was just as difficult as it was in Vietnam.

Marty McGuire by Kate Messner, illustrated by Brian Flocca
In this easy chapter book, the title character is a precocious tomboy who is cast as the princess in her class' performance of The Frog Princess. Antics ensue. All in all, it's great fun.

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
A heartfelt story of a boy growing up in the 1960s who learns to find beauty in the world despite his troubling home life. The narrative style in the book is noteworthy as it is told in a conversational, yet incredibly polished style. This book is my top pick to win the Newbery Medal next month.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Told in the same brilliant combination of words and stunning pencil drawings as his Caldecott Medal-winning book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Selznick really outdid himself in this book. This time Selznick explores Deaf culture as he follows two characters - a young deaf girl in the early 20th century, and a partially deaf boy who has recently lost his mother in the 1970s - who are each searching for something.

Warp Speed by Lisa Yee
Bullying is a popular topic to write about these days, but I was especially pleased to see the way it was handled in this book. There are no picture-perfect solutions in this story, but there are lots of funny moments too complete with first crushes, Marley's loving family, and plenty of geekery for the nerd in us all.

What were your favorite chapter books of 2011? Discuss in the comments.

Edit 1/23/12: Maybe I didn't call the big winner, but congratulations to Thanhha Lai for winning a 2012 Newbery Honor for Inside Out and Back Again. Lai also was awarded the National Book Award for Young People's Literature for this lovely book.

Sandy's Favorites 2011 - Picture Books

With 2011 quickly drawing to a close, it's time once again for this librarian to share her favorite reads of the year!

According to my Goodreads.com account, I have read a grand total of 130 books this year. I also currently have two more in progress and reserve the right to finish them before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. Almost all of these books were written for children or teens, and most were written in 2011 (though several were published in late 2010, and a few were even older). But which of these books were my favorites?

In today's post we're going to take a look at books generally written for our youngest readers: Picture Books!

Though I did a better job of tracking the picture books I had read than in years past, only a fraction of the picture books that I read (generally the ones I loved) made it onto my Goodreads account. C'est la vie. But still, I'm confident enough to share what I think were the best of the best this year.

The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett, illustrated by Poly Bernatene
Such a clever story, and one that I'd give to my princess-loving preschoolers without any hesitation at all. Emmett does such a good job of incorporating little details from well-known fairy tales into the story, and the illustrations are just a lot of fun to look at.

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
Raschka's style is always fun to look at, and this wordless picture book about a dog and her favorite toy tugs at your heartstrings just enough. This is my hopeful pick for a Caldecott Medal next month.

Blackout by John Rocco
The stylized artwork found in this book really cool. Rocco does a pretty good job of playing with light in his illustrations and the book's message about making time for your family is sweet.

Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
I have a complicated relationship with haiku. Sometimes it's amazing, and other times I just think it's silly. Fortunately, the poetry in this particular book is just perfect. It seems to be the perfect way to give voice to a cat - brief, just a little snobby, but also regal and lovely.

Horray for Amanda and her Alligator by Mo Willems
I don't know how Mo Willems manages to be so brilliant, but he really did an amazing job with his latest picture book. One part picture book and one part easy reader, this book will be accessable to a lot of different kinds of readers. And we just haven't been able to keep it on the shelf here at the library!

What were your favorite picture books this year? Discuss in the comments.

Edit 1/23/12: I was right - congratulations to Chris Raschka for winning the 2012 Caldecott Medal for A Ball for Daisy! Further congratulations to John Rocco for winning a 2012 Caldecott Honor Medal for Blackout.

Okay for Now

Doug knows that as soon as something good happens to him, something bad will happen to take it away. Just before school begins in 1968, Doug and his family move to the small town of Marysville so his father can start work at the town's paper mill. Doug hates everything about their new living situation and tensions rise between him, his troublemaking brother, and his mean and abusive father. When school starts no one really expects anything but problems from Doug given his family background. But even though all of these problems, a few good things happen too. He gets a job as a delivery boy at the local deli and becomes unlikely friends with the owner's daughter. At the public library he discovers a book of lovely bird drawings created by John James Audubon and learns to draw from the head librarian. But when he discovers that the city council has been selling the beautiful pictures to generate money for the town, Doug is furious. How can even his birds be taken away from their home? Soon it becomes his mission to return all of the pictures back to their rightful place.

Gary Schmidt (author of Newbery honor books Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and The Wednesday Wars) has once again crafted a thoughtful, insightful novel for young readers. There's a lot going on in Okay for Now as numerous plot threads intertwine to give a complete picture of Doug's 8th grade year. The story is highly complex, and as a reader you really get pulled inside Doug's head as he deals with a lot of different - and many of them extremely difficult - issues. I don't know how Schmidt did it, but he somehow managed to write a book that is heartbreaking and incredibly moving without being depressing.

The narration style in this book is particularly noteworthy. Told in the first person, Doug only shares information with readers when his character is good and ready to do so. There are plenty of times when it is clear that Doug is hiding something uncomfortable, especially when he refers to his home life, so immediately readers are lead to question just how reliable of a narrator Doug can be. Clever readers, however, can learn just as much from what Doug refuses to say as they can from what he actually tells us. The narrative style is incredibly conversational - you can really imagine this kid relating his story - but it's also impressibly polished. The writing is clearly well-edited and every word has been deliberately selected to tell this powerful, personal story.

Overall Grade: A

Warm Winter Reads

Once there was a librarian who refused to go overboard with the Christmas decorations. But when her supervisor hinted that maybe she should do something festive with the bulletin boards, the librarian decided that she should probably come up with a new idea - and fast!

Thus the Warm Winter Reads display was born:


With less than two weeks remaining until Christmas it seemed kind of silly to do something holiday themed. So I went with a broader winter theme instead, which I could in theory leave up through February if desired. Much in the spirit of the mystery bulletin board I did this fall, I pulled nearly every book (both picture books and chapter books) I could think of that had a story tied up in the winter season and/or that had a cover featuring snow. I made color copies of the covers and mounted them on colored paper. Blue paper snowflakes were cut out and added some visual interest. The tagline at the top reads, "Curl up with a warm winter read." No printed reading list this time since, honestly, I just didn't have time to put one together.

Santa Night Crafts

Our annual Santa Night event at the library took place earlier this week and was a great success. The general format was the same as last year's event, but we had two new craft projects for the kids to try:

Clothspin Rudolph


Glue two clothespins (the solid kind, not the kind with springs) together using wood or Tacky glue. Glue on two small googly eyes and a red puff ball to make Rudolph's face. Voila! This project makes a great ornament as Rudolph's legs fit nicely over the branches of your Christmas tree.

Pipe Cleaner Candy Canes


We cut our pipe cleaners in half to make smaller 3-inch projects, but you can also make larger candy canes with whole pipe cleaners. Twist a red and white pipe cleaner together. When twisting your pipe cleaners together, try your best to twist them evenly so that your candy cane looks neat. Curve the twisted pipe cleaners into a candy cane shape. Tie a length of skinny, fancy ribbon around the stem to make it festive. We also threded our ribbons with a small bell for extra pizzaz. Hang on your Christmas tree, or get creative with other holiday decorating ideas.

Just like last year, we also had lots of coloring sheets available for an easy art project. One little girl even gave one of her finished pictures to Santa to take home to his workshop!

Lexile

I do not like Lexile reading levels. As a librarian they do nothing but frustrate me. Why? Because I feel that a focus on a tested reading level inhibits, rather than helps, the reading process for kids.

The Lexile is a magical number that is supposed to help match kids with books that are at exactly the right reading level for them. If, for example, your child has a Lexile rating of 800L you can take comfort that any book with a Lexile rating of 800 will be "just right" for him/her. However, Lexile ratings need to be taken with a very sizable grain of salt.

The most important thing to consider is that Lexile ratings for books do not take into account the content of a book, its style, or its format. Instead, Lexile considers other factors when determining how difficult a book is to read: Sentence length and word frequency. While I think we can all agree that these two factors are important things to consider when searching for the perfect book, they're not the only things that matter.

Let's look at a couple of examples of deceptive Lexile ratings:

Consider these two books: Changes for Addy (an American Girl book - I usually give these to kids in grades 2-5) and The Lightning Thief (a Percy Jackson book - I usually give this series to kids in grades 5-10). Which would you guess is the more challenging book? If you were to guess The Lightning Thief, you'd be wrong. While this book has a Lexile rating of 740L, Changes for Addy has a Lexile of 760L. Not a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, but it's significant when you consider the age of the child that each of these books targets.

Interestingly enough: May of the other books in the Percy Jackson series have significantly lower Lexile ratings than The Lightning Thief. So am I supposed to tell a 12-year-old coming to the library that his Lexile matches up with The Lightning Thief and that it's such a great book and he'd really like it...but uh oh! His teacher won't want him to read the sequels because they're way below his Lexile level and are therefore "too easy."

What about the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series? Heavy with cartoon illustrations, this has been the go-to series for reluctant readers everywhere since it was first published in 2007. You'd think that these books would be fairly easy to read, given how quickly most kids tear through them. But a look at the Lexile ratings for the series shows that these books are - in theory - quite challenging with Lexile ratings ranging from 950L-1060L!

As a librarian, it is very painful for me to watch some children and parents struggle with Lexile. Though the Lexile website includes lots of information on how to use Lexile ratings and specifically encourages users to take other factors into consideration, the fact is that all of this is forgotten by the time infomation on this system is passed down from the Lexile company to the teachers to the students to their parents. In the end what most kids/parents hear when their teachers talk about Lexile is that, "I have to read books in this Lexile range or they're not good books for me." And that's just not true! It's hard to watch kids struggle to fine the perfect book under a system that doesn't take their interests or maturity level into consideration.

So parents, if your child comes home from school with a Lexile rating, please don't take it too seriously. Your child did not become a good reader by reading really hard books. He will not become a better reader by reading books with a magical Lexile number. The fact is that kids become good readers by reading a lot, no matter what kind of reading it is. Kids read a lot when they learn that reading can be fun, and it's very hard to develop a love of reading when your teachers put all of these restrictions on the books that you select. There is so much more to finding the perfect book than a number that evaluates word usage. So please, let the Lexile go and help your child find books that he will enjoy so that reading becomes a pleasure rather than a chore.

Do Not Touch

Not too long ago I was doing my rounds at closing time to make sure everything in the children's area was where it should be. When I came to our Duplo table I was greeted with an interesting sight:



The tower itself was pretty impressive in terms of its height, but it was the sign that really made me smile. I decided to half-comply with the request: I left the tower standing, but removed the sign.

Cookie Storytime

This week our preschool storytime was all about every kid's favorite snack: Cookies! This was an action-packed storytime filled with activities to make this theme extra special.

We read:

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff
A classic book! The story covers a circle of cause and effect, beginning and ending with a cookie.

Mr. Cookie Baker by Monica Wellington
A baker goes into his shop, makes and decorates cookies, and then sells them to happy children. I used this book as a way of talking about the cookie baking process.

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Two children have twelve cookies to share between the two of them. But then the doorbell rings and two more friends arrive and the cookies must be shared. Then it rings again and again, and soon there are barely enough cookies to go around.

During storytime we went on a cookie hunt. To prepare for this activity, I printed, cut out, and laminated a few dozen pictures of gingerbread men. After storytime began an aid hid them in the children's area, hiding enough so that each child could find 2-5 (depending on group size). They could be found sticking out of picture books or sitting on tables so they were fairly easy to find. When it was time I briefly told the story of the gingerbread man up to the part where he runs away. I then sent the kids into the library to see if they could find all of the runaway gingerbread men. The kids then returned to the storytime area with their cookies, stuck them on my felt board, and we all sat down and counted the cookies.

We also did another action rhyme all about baking cookies:

Gingerbread

Stir a bowl of gingerbread,
Smooth and spicy brown.
(stir)
Roll it with a rolling pin,
Up and up and down.
(roll out dough)
With a cookie cutter,
Make some little men,
(cut out cookies)
Put them in the oven,
Until half past ten.
(put in oven)

To cap off this special storytime, each child was given a cookie to decorate with frosting and sprinkles (with a grown-up's help, of course). The kids were welcome to eat their treat in the storytime room, or they could get a plastic bag to take their cookie home in.


This is an activity that I can get away with only because I have fairly small storytimes - I imagine that this activity would get a bit more complicated and expensive with large groups.

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading

Of all of the awful, not-fun things in the world, Charlie Joe Jackson hates reading more than anything. He thinks it's a miserable activity and can think of plenty of other things that he'd rather be doing than sitting down with a book. He has managed to get through his entire school career without ever reading a whole book thanks to a deal he has with his friend Timmy, who reads the book and then tells Charlie all about it in exchange for snacks in the lunchroom. But when the deal is uncovered by parents and teachers, Charlie finds himself in trouble. If he can't bribe Timmy to do his reading for him, then how will he get through the school year? Because Charlie has gone this long without reading a book - he's certainly not going to start now.

I wasn't exactly expecting to like Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading very much. After all, I'm a librarian. I love reading, and it's kind of my job to help other kids learn to love reading too. The premise of this book seems to go completely against this ideal. However, I have to admit that author Tommy Greenwald has a little gem on his hands in the form of this book. It was a lot of fun watching Charlie go through such extreme lengths to avoid reading. When it comes down to it Charlie is a smart, likable character. Pair him up with a fun supporting cast of characters and some solid, funny writing and you really do have the makings of a great story.

This is a book that I would highly recommend to all kinds of readers, but especially to reluctant readers. The book's subject matter has surprisingly little to do with this recommendation. Short chapters, supporting illustrations, and a fairly fast pace make this book great for any kid who, like Charlie, just doesn't care for books. Fans of books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, and Big Nate will also be pleased.

Overall Grade: A-

If you need further enticing, check out the official book trailer:



Fans will also be pleased to know that a sequel, Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit will be available in 2012.

Hunger Games Trailer

For your viewing pleasure:



I'm more and more excited about this movie as we get closer to its release!

Lots of Toys

Said by a three-year-old girl after storytime (edited to remove the adorable "umms"):

"I have lots of toys at home. When you're done at the library, you can come over and play at my house."

Aww, that's very nice of you to invite me!

Monkey Storytime

This week we're having lots of fun with monkey storytime. This is one of my favorites, heavily inspired by my former supervisor's version of the theme.

To start off this storytime we met a monkey puppet and talked about what monkeys like to do. We also learned a big word that really describes silly monkeys: Mischievous. Our first two books and many of our activities really showed us monkeys who like to be silly and get into trouble:

Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree by Eileen Christelow
Five little monkeys go on a picnic with their mama and decide to spend some time teasing Mr. Crocodile. SNAP!

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
A peddler who sells caps walks with his wares stacked on top of his head. But when he falls asleep, some silly little monkeys take his caps away!

Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein
Everyone in the jungle loves Little Gorilla. But then Little Gorilla grows up! Will everyone still love him?

Together we also learned the fingerplay "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed":

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Four little monkeys...
Three little monkeys...
Two little monkeys...
One little monkey...

We played another game as well where all of the kids pretended to be monkeys that copied my actions - running, jumping, skipping, etc. This got us good and warmed up for a fun activity corresponding with the book Caps for Sale where we really put those copying skills to work!

First, we read the story. After we finished we acted the story out. I played the role of the peddler and everyone in the audience got to be a mischievous little monkey. I made lots of cone-shaped caps out of construction paper which sat on my head until it was time for the peddler to fall asleep. Then the little "monkeys" came and stole my caps! The monkeys then copied all of the peddler's actions as they shook their fists, stamped their feet, and finally threw their caps to the ground.


These are the caps we used: The peddler's checked cap (I drew black lines on white paper), brown caps, blue caps, and red caps. I didn't have any grey construction paper, so we left this color out of our retelling.

This activity was not only a ton of fun, but it also gave us a chance to practice the important narration pre-literacy skill.

Thank You

Last week a class of 2nd graders came the library for a tour. We spent some time talking about library cards and what kinds of things there are to do at the library. I then read the class a story and concluded the visit with a tour of the children's area.

Today the teacher came to the library and dropped off a lovely thank-you card that the class had made:


Isn't this card awesome? I love the illustration. Escpecially fascinating is the way that everything is labeled. The word "book" appears 33 times in this drawing! There are signs featured for the "fishin" and "non fishin" books. (For the record that's "fiction" and "non-fiction," not books about going fishing! Also, these signs don't actually exist at my library, but I'm glad they were paying attention to that part of the presentation.) Even the story I read them is labeled as a "zoo book" (it was Wild About Books by Judy Sierra).

Thank-yous like this really make me feel like I'm doing a good thing for these kids as a librarian. It also makes me feel like a rock star. Both feelings are pretty awesome.

Let's Do a Rhyme

Said by a 2-year-old girl, one of my regulars, during Baby and Toddler Storytime:

"Let's do a rhyme now!"

Apparently this girl has really been paying attention during storytime and has picked up on the phrases I often use to transition between activities. Mom told me afterwards that at home she pretends to be me and teaches her dolls all of the rhymes. Apparently "let's do a bouncing rhyme," and "let's sing a song" are fairly common phrases at home!

Imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery. I feel kind of like a rock star.

Be My Friend

Said to me by a six-year-old just the other day:

"Hello. Would you like to be my friend?"

Awwww... Of course I would! We shook hands and traded names, and *bam!* we were friends. I love how a simple question is all it takes for young children.

Best Reads of 2011 - As Voted by Teens

During Teen Read Week we had a passive program taking place in the Young Adult area. We set up a raffle for teens to enter during this week. Two winners would be selected and would win a book of their choice off of my prize cart. All they had to do was tell me what the best book that they read this year was and why it was so good.

I had a secret ulterior motive with this program - I just wanted to get an idea of what my teens were reading! It was also nice to offer at least one program that brought the focus of Teen Read Week back to reading.

My teens really impressed me with some very thoughtful responses to the "why did you like this book" question. Here are just a few of the books mentioned in this year's raffle entries:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
Flygirl by Sherrie L. Smith
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Pies and Prejudice by Heather Vogel Frederick

For the purposes of this raffle I did not require that the book be published in 2011, though I did ask that teens list a book that they read for the first time during this year.

Minute to Win It

Teen Read Week took place October 16-22, and to celebrate we had quite a bit going on at the library. One of my favorite programs from this week was the Minute to Win it event.

Have you ever seen this show? The idea is to challenge people to complete a series of seemingly simple tasks in less than 60 seconds. But it's a lot harder than it sounds! Even though it might seem easy to keep three balloons in the air at once or move a cookie from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands, these tasks all proved to be much more difficult than they first appeared.

Planning this program was surprisingly easy. I talked to a few librarian friends who had dome similar programs before to get ideas, which helped a lot. The official Minute to Win It website has a list of the challenges featured on the show, complete with rules, a list of what supplies would be needed, and video of the task. Then it was simply a matter of selecting eight games to try! There are lots of good choices, but in the end we selected:

A Bit Dicey
Bobblehead
Defying Gravity
Egg Tower
Face the Cookie
Hang Over
Spin Doctor
Stack Attack

Attendance was kind of low (we're still working on building a solid teen base group at my library) so I was able to run the entire program on my own. But with more than four teens I would definitely suggest having another staff person or volunteer help out so that the teens can split into groups, allowing more teens can play at once. I kept the time for each challenge with a stop watch while the teens tried each task - sometimes more than once. We tracked who was able to successfully able to complete each task, and awarded the two most successful teens small prizes.

There were actually several games that the teens were not able to complete at all, but they still had a lot of fun trying and laughing at each other's attempts. Since we had a fairly small, casual group we tried each challenge multiple times and found that some of the games - like Stack Attack, shown below - were a bit easier with a little team work.


All in all I think I spent about 8 dollars on this program, including snacks. We had quite a few of the supplies needed for each game already on hand at the library, and the Dollar Store provided what we didn't have.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Sam isn't anything terribly special. Just your average 19-year-old college dropout stuck in the fast food business. But one night Douglas Montgomery walks into Plumpy's and develops a keen interest in Sam. Douglas recognizes Sam for what he really is: a necromancer with the latent, untapped power to control the dead. The whole situation is a bit of a shock to Sam, but seen he begins seeing the supernatural all around his hometown of Seattle. But Douglas, an incredibly powerful and sinister necromancer himself, isn't content to just let Sam be. He insists that Sam join forces with him, threatening to harm his friends and family if he does not comply. Soon Sam finds himself in way over his head. How the heck is he going to get out of this one alive?

There's a lot to like about Lish McBride's debut novel, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. Perhaps most intriguing to me is the age of the main character. Off the top of my head I can't think of a lot of books about young adults between the ages of 18-24, and it was nice to see a book focused on this seldom-featured age group. To make things better, this book was really compelling. This is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously as the narration is laced with all kinds of snarky comments. The lightness of the book makes the pages turn quickly, but at the same time there are plenty of moments that are very intense. Who knew that humor and gore could work so well together? This book has a little something for everyone and will appeal to those looking for humor, scary stories, or the supernatural.

There is also a sequel in the works, expected to be out sometime in 2012. Personally, I can't wait.

Overall Grade: A

Check out the book trailer! I think it pretty well sums up the tone of this book.

Sheboygan Children's Book Festival - M.T. Anderson

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Sheboygan Children's Book Festival. This wonderful festival is in its second year, and I was quite happy with this year's programs. A number of authors and illustrators are invited to attend the event where they give a series of special presentations to anyone interested in hearing about these authors' books, lives, and influences. Younger children are also invited to interact with illustrators, creating world of art in studio workshops. Best of all, these wonderful authors all took the time to meet individually with those attending the festival to sign autographs.

There were a number of really wonderful moments that I was able to experience this weekend. But one of my favorite moments came from a presentation by M.T. Anderson, author of such books as Whales on Stilts, Feed, and The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing.

First of all, you have to understand that M.T. Anderson is really, really funny. Admittedly not all of Anderson's books are funny. But now I can see exactly where a book like Whales on Stilts gets its absurd humor. The presentation I attended was all about how Anderson once wanted to write books about exotic locations, having been influenced by such books as a child. In particular he referenced the old comic Conan the Barbarian as one of his influences.


Andersen then proceeded to describe how he had mentioned this at a previous presentation and someone in the audience had misheard him, instead hearing "Conan the Librarian." He thought that was a great image - the butt-kicking librarian. And you all know how I feel about that idea.


Love it!

Honestly, the rest of M.T. Anderson's presentation was just as awesome, with stories about his hilariously failed attempts as speaking French and eating foreign food. This failure at world travel inspired Anderson to instead write stories about exotic places in the United States. Places like Delaware. Don't think that this petite state is really exotic? Check out Anderson's Tourist's Guide to Delaware to get the real story about this exciting state. Even better, check out his book Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware (part of the Pals in Peril series).

Marty McGuire

Marty was told that the third grade would be amazing. It was promised that in third grade you would get to read longer books and be in the school play. What Marty didn't anticipate, though, was loosing her best friend Annie to the princess-loving Veronica Grace. Now Marty, who just doesn't like all of this girly dress-up play, doesn't have anyone to hunt for frogs or pretend to be Jane Goodall with. Things get even stranger when Marty is cast as the princess her her class' performance of The Frog Prince. Marty is sure that there has been a huge mistake. But as practice for the play gets underway, she learns a little something about improvisation and develops an idea to make the play a little more interesting.

There are an awful lot of books out there that focus on princesses. And while it's true that many of these books feature strong, smart princesses, it was kind of nice to see a different kind of character in Kate Messner's Marty McGuire: the precocious tomboy. Marty really just doesn't like being prissy and girly. She doesn't go on to discover her "inner princess" or anything like that as the story progresses. Instead, what Marty learns is that it's good to try new things even if they make her a bit uncomfortable at first. What's especially interesting about this book's take on the issue is that there's not really a strong pro- or anti-princess message. Even though she is reluctant, Marty gives the role of princess a try. There are other characters like Annie who manage to straddle the two sides, and in the end even prissy Veronica Grace is set up to be Marty's friend as they go off to play Jane Goodall while wearing tiaras.

To be honest, the plot of this book was a tad predictable to me. I've been around the easy chapter book block a few times and could pretty much see where this book was headed from the beginning. But for the average kid reading this book (or even the average adult), the predictability will not be a problem. The writing is solid and the characters extremely likable. Illustrations by Brian Floca add the perfect level of detail. This book is great fun.

Overall Grade: A

Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy

On this blog I make it a point to talk specifically about books and library issues to kids, teens, and the parents of said young people. But a friend of mine recently shared something so awesome that I have to blog about it here, even if it is slightly off-topic.

In August NPR released a list of the top 100 science fiction and fantasy titles, as voted on by the general public. How cool is that?

But it gets better. SF Signal, a blog about all things sci-fi related, decided to take NPR's list and turn it into something visual. The flowchart is also a little less daunting than a long, long list of books - it was easy and just plain fun to explore. It's also a decent way to try to decide what to read next if you're a fan of this genre.

The NPR list specifically includes only adult reading material, so you won't see Harry Potter, Narnia, or The Hunger Games anywhere on the list. But these are genres with such high appeal that I'm sure teens will be able to find something great to read off of this list.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Last week I did a storytime for my preschoolers all about ABCs and 123s. One of the books that we read was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert. I used this story as the inspiration for a new bulletin board.

Using construction paper, I constructed a large coconut tree. Letters were also cut out of colored paper. As a craft for storytime, each child was given one or two letters to decorate. A few kids drew shapes, some just scribbled, and one kid just wanted to write his name - each letter was decorated differently. Once storytime finished for the week and all of the letters were decorated, I hung the letters on the bulletin board to create a scene in the spirit of the story.

The bulletin board was completed with a quote from the book and the first names of each child who helped with the letters.

I liked how creating this bulletin board really got the kids involved. It was a good way to tie this book into something happening at the library, as well as a good way to link this lesson in letters with art. This project was a win-win all around!

Baseball Storytime

Here in Wisconsin we are all very excited about our Milwaukee Brewers. Last Friday the team managed to clinch a playoff berth as the NL Central Division champions for the first time since 1982. Huzzah! To celebrate I decided that my preschoolers should hear a few baseball tales in storytime this week.

Roasted Peanuts by Tim Egan
Sam and Jackson dream of becoming baseball legends together. Unfortunately, Jackson just isn't very good. When Sam makes the team and Jackson doesn't the two friends initially struggle with the situation...until Jackson gets a job selling peanuts at the stadium.

This was a longer story - the kids loved it, but make sure you have a group of good listeners when you read this one.

Curious George Plays Baseball by H.A. Rey
Everyone's favorite curious monkey is on his way to a baseball game to watch his friend Jimmy play. But George is curious and he wants to play too. What sort of mischief will George get into?

Dino-Baseball by Lisa Wheeler
Dinosaurs gather to play baseball. Enough said.

Hit the Ball Duck by Jez Alborough
Duck and his friends go to play baseball, but Duck hits the ball into a tree. How will they get their ball back so that they can keep playing?

Before we read our first story I pulled out some baseball gear (bat, ball, glove, cap) and we talked about what happens at a baseball game. We also sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and did this action song:

This Is The Way You Hit The Ball

This is the way you hit the ball,
Hit the ball, hit the ball,
This is the way you hit the ball,
When you play baseball.

This is the way you throw the ball...
This is the way you catch the ball...
This is the way you run the bases...

Fire Department Visit

Today the fire department came to the library to talk to families about fire safety and some of the work that they do. This was a very informative presentation and the kids all had a good time seeing our fire fighters in all of their special gear and checking out the fire truck.

According to one of the fire fighters visiting the library today, just before he explained his equipment and what it does:

"You guys aren't going to be afraid of firemen, are you? Because firemen are cool."

I got a massive kick out of that. Maybe you had to be there.

From a librarian standpoint, this was an awesome program to host. Fire fighting is an impressively popular subject so there was a lot of interest from the public. The presentation was very interesting and educational as well as entertaining. And the fire department agreed to come to the library for the low, low price of FREE! You can't beat that.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from today's program:

Chime

Briony knows that she is the cause of all of her family's troubles, including her sister's developmental problems as her stepmother's death. Of course it's her fault - she's a witch. Briony knows that she can never reveal what she has done to her family because being a witch is punishable by death, and despite everything she has done Briony fears being hung. So instead, she bottles up her self-loathing and instead focuses her efforts on protecting her twin sister, Rose. But things change with handsome bad boy Edric arrives in Swampsea. Soon Briony's life becomes a little more complicated as she fights her attraction to him, knowing that she does not deserve the pleasures that come with love. When Eldric's father's attempts to drain the swamp result in anger from swamp-spirit Boggy Mum, Briony knows that she'll have to do something drastic to save her sister from Boggy Mum's deadly revenge, the swamp cough. And in the meantime perhaps, with Eldric's help, she can make peace with her ugly past.

Franny Billingsly's novel Chime is extraordinary. The language is a bit eccentric as it darts from one vivid image to the next, but it is this very strangeness that makes it lovely and pulls readers in. Even though her shockingly staggering guilt, Briony's narration also somehow manages to be darkly funny and I enjoyed some of her snide remarks. If all of this somehow isn't enough to grab the average teen reader, the supernatural themes, early 20th Century setting, and a swoon-worthy love interest certainly will seal the deal. No wonder Chime received glowing starred reviews from nearly every major book review publication - I can't think of another book like it.

Overall Grade: A

Mystery Bulletin Board

As a general rule, I do not like cutesy little slogans that tell you how wonderful reading is. I especially don't like seeing them at the public library. Because really, if you're inside the public library chances are that you already understand how much fun reading can be. Why belabor the point?

So when I started planning one of my new bulletin board displays for this fall, I knew that I wanted to highlight something a little more specific that the library had to offer. I decided to focus on a reading list that I had complied over the summer, highlighting various mysteries for school-age readers. My hope is that instead of preaching to the choir about the wonders of reading, perhaps a display like this will highlight an aspect of the library's collection that some kids have not yet explored.

This display was easy to make. The primary focus of the display is images of book covers backed by colorful paper. I also printed a few large mystery-themed images to fill in some space on this large bulletin board. One end of the display features a pocket holding the reading list itself. That way if the images have proven inspirational, kids and parents can help themselves to a copy of the mystery book list.

Sidekicks

Captain Amazing is the greatest superhero around. Unfortunately, he is also starting to feel the weight of his age and decides to hold auditions for a new sidekick. Who better to take on the role than his beloved pets, who long to spend more time with their master and help him save Metro City from evildoers. But Roscoe the dog and Fluffy the hamster's dreams may be cut short - Captain Amazing hasn't been too keen on a pet sidekick ever since an unfortunate incident with his cat Manny. Still, Fluffy is determined to make a difference and recruits Manny to train him and the Captain's new chameleon in the art of being sidekicks. But there is also a supervillain at large with a personal vendetta against Captain Amazing. Can these four pets set aside their differences and save the day?

When it comes down to it, Sidekicks is a fairly typical superhero story. But even if the story itself isn't completely surprising, it's still a ton of fun to read and will surely appeal to fans of the genre. The pacing is very tight, giving this graphic novel a bit of intensity that will keep readers turning the pages. What really makes this graphic novel stand up above the rest is author/illustrator Dan Santat's brilliant artwork. The pictures are incredibly bold and vibrant with just the right amount of extra detail. Color is used to perfect effect and really helps to set the tone of each scene.

But don't just take my world for it. Let this lovely book trailer entice you to grab a copy today:



Overall Grade: A-

Hidden

When she was eight years old, Darra's father stole a car. What he didn't know was that Wren, a girl Darra's age, was hiding in the back seat. Wren spent two days hiding in Darra's family's garage before she escaped, and Darra's father was taken to jail shortly afterward. Six years later, Wren and Darra meet again by chance at summer camp and neither girl is happy to be forced to confront their past. But slowly the girls begin to make peace with what happened as they share their stories and come to the realization that none of it was their fault.

From a narrative perspective, Hidden is a really fascinating book. The story is told not only from alternating perspectives, but also in verse using two different poetic forms. The style of poetry used really reflects on the background and mindset of these two very different characters. The first section of the book, told from Wren's perspective, is incredibly quick and intense as she describes her "kidnapping" and escape. The rest of the book is quieter and more psychological, but the complexity of Darra and Wren's emotions will keep readers engaged. Author Helen Frost does a great job of creating two characters that readers will connect with instantly, even when the two girls are at odds.

To Be a Good Reader

Not too long ago a dad came in to the library looking for ideas on how to help his teenage daughter with her reading. He wanted books with ideas for parents and teachers to help him with the instruction he was planning on giving her; books that would tell him what kinds of flashcards to make and with worksheets for her to complete. And while I was able to help him find what he was looking for, I felt compelled to remind this well-intentioned father of what I think is the most important part of becoming a good reader:

Reading. Plain and simple. In order to be a good reader, you have to actually read.

It might not be enough to just do the reading assigned in school. To be a strong reader, kids need to read on their own too, just for fun. They need to find books that they enjoy so they learn that reading isn't a chore.

The more you read, the easier reading becomes. Make sure that there are books in your house available for your kids to enjoy at all times. If you don't want to buy books (and even if you do!) make sure that your children have library cards so that they have free access too all of the books on the library's shelves. And then be sure that you actually take your kids to the library, and let the librarian help them find great books to read.

The father in question here actually seemed surprised when I told him all of this. I told him to bring his daughter to the library soon, and that I would be happy to help her find something to read. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we see the two of them again soon.



*I just want to throw in a small disclaimer here. Reading exercises and formal instruction can also be a great help to struggling readers, and it's a whole different ball game when a learning disability is involved. I just think that you can't at all discount the importance of books and reading for fun as a part of a child's development as a reader.

Warp Speed

As his 7th grade year begins, Marley knows where he stands in his school's social hierarchy. He's a geek who's obsessed with Star Trek and it feels as though he is invisible to everyone except for the school's bullies. Marley stoically prepares for a miserable year of being picked on - he's used to it by now. But as the year progresses Marley begins to attract more and more attention from bullies. Soon he's running for his life...until Marley's speed begins to attract some attention of its own.

My attempt at summarizing Lisa Yee's latest middle-grade novel really doesn't do the book justice. Warp Speed is a complex - but not complicated - story about one kid's middle school struggles. The characters, even the minor ones, are all very well developed. I really appreciate how characters from Yee's other books made their way into the story without ever stealing the spotlight from Marley. The bullying issue was handled very well, carefully balancing the poster-perfect "right thing to do" in this difficult situation with the reality of the bullies' harshness and their victims' helplessness. This book is honest and does not shy away from the realities of bullying, but somehow isn't completely depressing. Yee inserts plenty of happy moments too, including Marley's loving family, first crushes, and lots of nerdy Star Trek talk.

Overall Grade: A

Hidden Landmarks

When it comes to special summer activities at the library, I come from a long and proud tradition of the, "find-this-picture/object/stuffed-animal-at-your-library" game. The idea is simple: Take an object. Any object will do, but it's more fun if it goes along with the summer's theme. Hide it somewhere in the library - not tucked away somewhere where you can't see it, but someplace where you have to be paying attention to notice it. Invite kids to search for this object. Change the hiding place periodically to keep things interesting (I like once each week, but I once worked at a library that came up with a new hiding spot every day). It's a fun activity especially for kids age 8 and younger who come to the library often - the hunt is one exciting things at the library that's always changing. Best of all, it requires relatively little staff effort.

To go along with this year's theme (One World, Many Stories), I decided to hide pictures of famous world landmarks. Many of the landmarks were easily recognizable even to very young children, like the Eiffel Tower and the Great Wall of China. Others were a little more obscure. I came up with a fun fact about each landmark, posted along with the photo, for extra educational bang.



Each week the kids could check in at one of the large bulletin boards in the children's area to see which landmark was hidden this week. The bulletin board also featured a large map of the world (I printed my large 57"x76" map in sheets from this website, and it worked great). As each landmark was hidden, I would add a dot to the map indicating where in the world it came from.



I don't give the kids any sort of prize other than my sincere congratulations when they find the hidden picture. I did, however, once work at a library that gave away stickers to successful searchers.

Too Hard?

Just the other day I observed a young boy (about 6 or 7 years old) and his mother at the library. The boy came over to show his mom a book that he had selected about something military related. It was clearly a topic that he was excited about so he was eager to check the book out. But then his mother asked him to put the book back. Why? It was "too hard" of a read for her young son. She told her son that there were too many words on each page, certainly too many words that he didn't know, and not enough pictures to hold his interest.

Part of me thinks that this mom was doing her son a favor by encouraging him to select books that he could actually read himself and enjoy. It's definitely true that a book that is too challenging can be discouraging for readers. We really don't want kids to get so frustrated while reading that they stop enjoying books altogether.

But part of me wonders where telling kids, "no, that's too hard" stops being helpful and starts being harmful. We don't want to teach our children not to try something because it seems hard. Instead, we should be encouraging children to work hard to overcome the challenges set before them, especially when it involves a subject that they are passionate about.

So where should parents, teachers, and librarians draw the line? Are there appropriate times and places for both possible scenarios? Is there a way for them to meet somewhere in the middle? It's a tough call, and I unfortunately don't have any easy answers. If anyone out there has experience, education, or otherwise strong feelings on the subject I'd love to hear from you to discuss this topic.

Weird Kid

There is a teen who comes to my library on a fairly regular basis. He's a good kid but he's...how shall I say this gently...just a little weird. He's always alone at the library, and he desperately clings to library staff for social time. And I don't know how exactly to describe it, but there's something about his mannerisms that just isn't quite mainstream. Despite any of this, he's still a good kid - you can do far worse than a little awkwardness. And I think even more highly of him after today.

You see, I've been trying for almost a year now to get some teen programs started at the library. Unfortunately, I was having a heck of a time getting the teens to actually come to the events I'd planned. So when today's Games for Teens program rolled around, I wasn't even sure if I should even bother setting up for the event.

But then, my Weird Kid arrived. And he brought a friend! And after a little bit, two more teens arrived. A fifth arrived a bit after that. And guess who had invited all of these teens to the library? Weird Kid.

The moral of the story: Never, ever underestimate Weird Kid. He's probably a lot more awesome than you first realized.

Tales for Very Picky Eaters

At some point in their lives, most kids go through a picky eater phase. Maybe they'll only eat white foods, like chicken nuggets, noodles (no sauce), and mashed potatoes (no gravy). Maybe they seem to live on peanut butter sandwiches (no crust) and macaroni and cheese (only Kraft). Maybe they refuse to eat vegetables or try anything new. No matter how it manifests, everyone at some point gets a little weird about what they eat, and the boy found in Josh Schneider's book Tales for Very Picky Eaters is no exception. In each chapter of this easy reader, James' parents set a food before him that he refuses to eat. And each time, his dad uses a variety of clever tricks to convince James to give the food a chance. Tall tales, humor, and even logic are all employed to get James to try foods like broccoli and lumpy oatmeal. Fortunately for Dad these tactics seem to work and James consents to try - and sometimes even enjoy - the foods that he had previously insisted were repulsive.

This book is simply a lot of fun. Kids - picky eaters or not - will delight in the story's humor and strange scenarios. Parents will likely identify with James' father and appreciate his clever tactics. The colorful illustrations round out this beginner reader and bring to life James' father's tall tales. No matter who you are, there is something to appreciate in this story.

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Edit 1/23/12: Congratulations to Josh Schneider, who won the 2012 Theodore Seuss Geisel Award for Tales for Very Picky Eaters.

Science Fiction

Science fiction is one of my favorite genres. It's more than just space ships, robots, and aliens. The very best books in this genre really get its readers thinking as they ask some tough questions. What does it mean to be human? How does technology impact our lives, for better or for worse? What kind of society do we want to live in: One that is peaceful but restricting, or one that's a bit messier but with freedom?

Ever since the publication of the widely-popular Hunger Games, quite a bit in this genre has been published specifically for teens. And I think that this is absolutely wonderful for the genre. So often in teen lit we see characters who come of age as they question the world around them, and the science fiction genre by its very nature provides the perfect platform for such storylines. Here are just a few more titles - some brand new, some just a bit older - that will make you wonder what the future really holds:

Matched by Ally Condie
Cassia has never questioned the choices that The Society makes for her, and she is thrilled when her best friend Xander is selected as her Match, the person she will marry. But another face also appears on her match disk, and Cassia starts to wonder if she should really be satisfied with The Society's choices.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Thomas wakes up in an elevator with no memory of his past. He finds himself in an area known as The Glade with other boys who have been trying to survive and find a way out of the maze that surrounds them. Can Thomas find his way out of this experiment before it turns deadly?

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Matt seems to live a life of privilege as El Patron's young clone. But his real purpose for being created is actually quite sinister.

Unidentified by Rae Mariz
In this alternative future kids are constantly wired in and observed by corporate sponsors. Katy must decide which she values more: the perks that come with corporate sponsorship, or her privacy.

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
An asteroid hits the moon and knocks it closer to the Earth, causing a series of natural catastrophes. As the world is left in shambles, 16-year-old Miranda describes her family's struggle to survive.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Amy has been cryogenically frozen and sent aboard the spaceship Godspeed on a 300 year journey to another planet where the passengers will build a new colony. Elder is in training to be the future leader of the people who operate the ship on its generations-long voyage. But when Amy is woken up 50 years early, she and Elder uncover the lies that surround the ship's society.

And there's plenty more were that came from! Whether you're looking for a dystopia that looks at society's flaws, a space opera, or something dealing with technology, chances are that there's a teen novel out there somewhere for you thanks to the blossoming market for this age group.

Library Wars: Love and War

I'm absolutely convinced that if I were to write a children's book, I'd write about libraries. Every library in the US would purchase a copy because we librarians have just as much vanity about the awesomeness of our jobs as the next person - perhaps more because our jobs actually are that awesome.

So needless to say, a book titled, Library Wars was certain to grab my attention. The premise of this graphic novel has been seen before: In Japan's not-to-distant future books are being censored and "inappropriate" titles are confiscated by a federal government task force. Not cool, say the librarians. They in turn form their own task force to oppose the censors and keep their materials safe for public use. What makes this rendition of the concept interesting is that many of the librarians on this task force are trained in combat along with librarianship. Sweet! These aren't your grandma's librarians. Members of the Library Defense Force are capable of finding whatever it is you need, but also kick butt on behalf of freedom of information.

Enter our main character, Iku Kasahara. She has dreamed of being part of the Library Defense Force ever since her teens when a gallant Defense Force member rescued a book for her when the government attempted to confiscate it. She looks up to this mysterious man as her hero, her idol, her knight in shining armor and dreams of meeting him again. Iku is actually very good at the combat training and has passion in spades for the cause, but lacks focus and has fallen behind on her library studies. She repeatedly butts heads with her superior officer (who she is convinced is out to get her) and one of the other new Defense Force recruits. Antics ensue.

Keeping the characters straight was kind of tricky in the beginning because several of the characters have fairly similar designs. But once you get it all straight and figure out each character's subtle quirks you see that the art is clean and interesting to look at. As is the case with almost all manga imported from Japan, this graphic novel reads "backwards" from right to left which may be tricky to those unused to the style, but is easy enough to get the hang of with a little patience. And not that this first volume wasn't a lot of fun, but I have a feeling that as the series progresses and characters become better developed the story quality will improve as well. All in all, it's a fun story and I will happily track down the rest of the series.

Overall Grade: A-

Luv Ya Bunches

Katie-Rose, Violet, Camilla, and Yasaman don't seem to have much in common other than the fact that they all have flowers for names. The four girls all come from different social circles and no one would initially predict that they would become friends. But when their fifth grade year begins a series events bring the girls together as they deal with the snobby Modessa and her controlling ways. With the help of a chat room built just for them by computer-savvy Yasaman, these four girls learn to stand up for themselves and find true friendship in places they never expected.

I have to admit that the premise of this book is pretty cheesy. Four girls named after flowers? A girly cliche. Four girls who come from ethnically diverse backgrounds? Sounds like a bad joke waiting to happen. And they all come together against the queen bee of the class and become fast friends? It's been done. It's almost too perfect to work. But somehow author Lauren Myracle turns this cheesy idea into something that's actually a lot of fun without being overbearing. No lecture here about the importance of racial tolerance as the girls' diverse backgrounds act more as a backdrop than the center of the story. With the number of books out there that directly address racial and LGBT tolerance, it is refreshing to see these issues addressed in a more passive that's-just-the-way-it-is tone.

The narration in Luv Ya Bunches (first in a series about the flower girls) is peppered with IM chats and screenplays along with traditional narration from alternating perspectives, and the pages turn quickly. This book is just a bit of dramatic girly fun, plain and simple. And sometimes that's all you need.

Overall Grade: B+



But apparently not everyone was as happy as I was to see all of the diversity that this book offers. Here is an article from School Library Journal about how Scholastic decided not to include Luv Ya Bunches in its 2009/2010 book fair after Myracle refused to alter the storyline by removing Camilla's lesbian parents. Props to her for standing up to the censors.