Blog Archives
Pretty Little Liars Read-alikes
Has the Pretty Little Liars TV show inspired you to read the books on which it is based?
Is the hold queue at your library a mile long?
No worries—One of my favourite YA bloggers, GreenBeanTeenQueen, has prepared a list of Pretty Little Liars read-alikes to tide you over while you wait.
Thanks for sharing, GreenBeanTeenQueen!
Sync YA Lit into Your Headphones
Oh how I love Twitter for pointing me to awesome happenings in YA and Library Lands.
Have you heard about Sync? Sync combines two of my favourite things: YA lit and audiobooks.
Sync is an online community that seeks to build the audience for audiobooks among “readers” 13 and up. All summer long, Sync will be giving away two free downloads a week (a popular YA title paired with a classic) which appear on Summer Reading lists. Listeners are invited to join a conversation about these titles with the authors, narrators, publishers, librarians, and other listeners.
Sync has created a special site for educators and librarians with a variety of tools for promoting the program and the use of audio books. Here you’ll also find the complete schedule of weekly giveaways, which includes YA titles by James Patterson, L.A. Meyer, and Suzanne Collins. Oh, and there’s some Canadian content, too! Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston will be up for grabs August 19 to 25th.
Educators and librarians are encouraged to create profiles for their institutions and reading initiatives.
Go check it out!
Bank Street College’s Best Books of the Year List
Each year the Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College reviews over 6,000 children’s and young adult books and creates an annual list of the year’s best. The committee is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary, and to celebrate, has made the list available free online for the first time.
I’ve shared links to the YA lists below:
Some Canadian YA mentions include:
- Leftovers by Heather Waldorf
- Pop by Gordon Korman
- Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
- Greener Grass by Caroline Pignat
-
My Name is Phillis Wheatley: A Story of Slavery and Freedom by Afua Cooper
- Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
For the complete list of titles, visit the Bank Street College of Education website.
Booklist webinar on Trends in Teen Literature: The Independent View.
I just finished watching this Booklist webinar on Trends in Teen Literature: The Independent View.
This is the first Booklist webinar I’ve watched. To be honest, I was somewhat disappointed with the first half in which 3 independent publishers (Sourcebooks, Orca, and Annick Press) discussed their new and upcoming YA titles. There was a lot of clichéd catalogue copy and review blurbs being read aloud by some of the presenters—Boring! If you’re just going to read catalogue copy aloud, at least inject some enthusiasm into your voice.
Kudos to Rick Willis and Susan Shipton from Annick Press. Their presentation was by the far the most engaging. They gave an excellent overview of their publishing program with emphasis on their approach to publishing for teens. I enjoyed their presentation of the titles they discussed, and was left with a good understanding of the kinds of titles Annick Press publishes for teens.
In the second half, Michael Cart spoke on Trends in YA Literature. He gave an excellent overview of the history of YA publishing, YA imprints, YA literature awards, crossover books, sub-genres, and developing trends. I’d recommend Cart’s introduction to anyone who hasn’t a clue about YA lit and needs a quick introduction.
The webinar ends which some interesting discussion about the future of YA publishing and the changes that are occurring in the way people read.
The Red Pyramid Window display at Mabel’s Fables
Today, the Quire and Quire blog shared some great photos of a window display for Rick Riordan’s new YA novel The Red Pyramid at Mabel’s Fables, one of my favourite bookstores in Toronto. I used to live right around the corner from Mabel’s. I really miss walking by the storefront everyday.
I’m a big fan of creative bookstore window displays and often wish I’d see more of the same kind of thing in libraries. I’m not entirely sure how that would work since window display space is typically a co-op arrangement with the publisher. (In other words, the books displayed in the window are there because the publisher has paid for them to be there.) The same thing goes for the books you see face-out or in large pyramid style displays in bookstores. I’m not sure if library wholesalers ever offer a similar kind of arrangement. Can anyone enlighten me?
In any case, I think bookstore window displays are great inspiration for library displays. If you’re tasked with creating one, try contacting the publisher to see if they’re able to send you some marketing materials for the book (posters, bookmarks, cover blow ups) etc. Many will be happy to do so.
Read Pretty Little Liars online
HarperTeen has made the first installment of the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard available to read online.
Read it in full here.
The Pretty Little Liars television series premieres Tuesday, June 8. Will you be watching?
YA roundup
I’m working on a bunch of book reviews to be posted in the next week or so. In the meantime, here’s a few YA-related links from around the blogosphere which caught my eye this week:
- YA author Jackson Pearce gives Ke$ha a run for her money in her latest YouTube video.
- I really like this post by Frenetic Reader on things she’d like to see more of in YA.
- OMG, there’s a graphic novel of Pride & Prejudice. Check out YABOOKNERD’s review here.
- Photos of the launch party for Marthe Joyceln’s new YA title, Folly. I’ve been hearing great things about this book. Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
- GreenBeanTeenQueen now has pink hair! I wonder if I could pull that off?
- Author William Nicholson is banned from speaking at a school about his new YA title, Rich and Mad, due to “inappropriate themes” of teenage love and sexuality.
More reviews soon. I promise! I’ll also be blogging about the CLASY professional development event for teen librarians taking place at the University of Western Ontario next week.
Win Lunch with YA authors Lesley Livingston, Kim Harrison and Aprilynne Pike
The Dewey Divas are running a contest to celebrate HarperCollins Canada’s Supernatural Tour taking place later this month.
Prize #1– Lunch with Lesley Livingston, Kim Harrison and Aprilynne Pike Tuesday May 25th at 12:00 pm, plus a set of all six books. (This prize is only available those in the Greater Toronto Area)
Prize #2– A set of all six books, signed by the authors
Contest closes May 21. You must be a teacher or librarian located in Canada to enter.
Visit the Dewey Divas blog for more contest and tour details.
Great Teen Events at the Turning Pages Literary Festival
There’s a new childrens and teen literary festival happening in Kitchener, Ontario this month. The inaugural Turning Pages Literary Festival takes place Saturday, May 15th at The Musem (10 King St. W. Kitchener).
There will be lots of great programing for kids and teens. The teen lineup includes appearances by Natale Ghent, William Bell, R.J. Anderson, Lesley Livingston, and Kelley Armstrong.
Customers who buy Kelley Armstrong’s The Reckoning or Tales of the Otherworld at Wordsworth Books will receive a free ticket to the festival’s teen events. Purchases of any other teen books will get you 25% off a single admission.
Visit Wordsworth Books for more information.
Buy any teen book
Canadian Library Association Awards Announced
… and the winner of the 2010 Young Adult Canadian Book Award is:
Lesley Livingston for Wondrous Strange!
I know my good friend and fellow YA blogger Library Steph will be pleased. Check out her review of Wondrous Strange here.
The Gryphon Project by Carrie Mac, and The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade were named honour books.
Go Canadian YA!
The Other Erin 