Banned Books Week

This week is Banned Book Awareness Week - I added the awareness part since otherwise it sounds like it's promoting the banning of books. I think there are enough people challenging the content of books already.

At the Anderson's YA Lit Conference last Saturday, at the opening of the event we gathered together to read this manifesto aloud, written by author Ellen Hopkins. (It's supposed to be posted on youtube's banned book blog channel but I can't find it!)

Manifesto

 To you zealots and bigots and false

patriots who live in fear of discourse.

You screamers and banners and burners

who would force books

off shelves in your brand name

of greater good.

You say you’re afraid for children,

innocents ripe for corruption

by perversion of sorcery on the page.

But sticks and stones to break

bones, and ignorance is no armor.

You do not speak for me,

and will not deny my kids magic

in favor of miracles.

You say you’re afraid for America,

the red, white and blue corroded

by terrorists, socialists, the sexually

confused. But we are a vast quilt

of patchwork cultures and multi-gendered

identities. You cannot speak for those

whose ancestors braved

different seas.

You say you’re afraid for God,

the living word eroded by Muhammed

and Darwin and Magdalene.

But the omnipotent sculptor of heaven

and earth designed intelligence.

Surely you dare not speak

for the father, who opens

his arms to all.

A word to the unwise.

Torch every book.

Char every page.

Burn every word to ash.

Ideas are incombustible.

And therein lies your real fear.

-Ellen Hopkins

Wow.

For a little lighter fare, I was very amused by Forever Young Adult about their tounge-in-cheek choices for which YA books that should be challenged.

Reading Challenges: Make a dent in your To-Read pile!

If you're a book nerd like me, Goodreads can be really fun because there's more to do there than just list and rate what you've read. I'm part of the YA Book Club group that hosts a monthly pick (you read at your own pace and discuss in threads on their forum) and they also put together quarterly reading challenges. I shied away previously because the challenges included 10 books for 3 months. Who can read that fast?

It turns out, I can! I've been reading a LOT. Plus, many YA books can be a little shorter and easier to get through than say, any Jeffrey Eugenides novel (much love for him, though!)

Here's the fall quarterly challenge I'm coming in a bit late to, but I've read a few books that fit the categories. The rest are books I already own that I'm able to fit into the parameters. Reading challenges can help motivate those of us with a teetering stack of books waiting to be read!

Fall Quarter YA Reading Challenge

Duration: September 1, 2011 - November 30, 2011. We are a YA Book Club, so all books should be young adult. You have 3 months to read 10 YA books that satisfy following requirements:
1) In honor of Banned Books Week held during the week of September 24 - October 1, 2011, read a book which was banned or challenged.
Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott (also the October book club pick! I just met this author and she confirmed the book has absolutely been challenged by schools and libraries - it's a pretty intense first person account of abduction).

2) Read a book that is a new release published in September, October or November of this year.
I'll read one of my ARCs, either Legend - Marie Lu (11/2011) or Darkfall - Janice Hardy (10/2011)

3) Read a book set in fall or takes place during a school year or in school.
Either Looking for Alaska - John Green or Moonglass - Jessi Kirby (read earlier in September)

4) Read a book which has a name in its title.
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

5) Read a book that earned a starred review from Kirkus Reviews or any other professional publication.
Either Legend - Marie Lu or The Last Days - Scott Westerfeld

6) Read a book which touches upon the subject of teen sexuality, whatever aspect of it you are comfortable with (or not) - pregnancy, virginity, homosexuality, etc.
Love Drugged - James Klise

7) Read a book which is a mystery, thriller, horror or has a crime at its center.
Already Read: Red Glove - Holly Black

8) Read a book which has an artistic teen as its main character - painter, musician, writer, dancer, singer, etc.
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone - Stephanie Kuenhert (or And Then Things Fall Apart - Arlaina Tibensky, read earlier in Sept)

9) Read a book that you are interested in only because of its cover - pretty, disturbing or just plain catchy.
Already Read: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs

10) Read a book written by a duo (or a group) of authors, It can also be an author/illustrator collaboration. Or, of you can't find one, a book with multiple POVs.
Not sure on this one yet!

Have you ever partipated in a reading challenge for school, a book club or online? It's really fun! I had never heard of the Kirkus starred reviews and already found another book to add to my list! Next year, though...

Anderson's Books Young Adult Literature Conference 9/24/2011

I feel like a legit book blogger because I now have ARCs!
(ARC = Advanced Reader Copy)

Check out  my loot from Saturday's YA Lit conference:

The bottom three are ARCs for Janice Hardy's Darkfall, Jennifer Hubbard's Try Not to Breathe, and Marie Lu's Legend, which I hear is awesome.

The rest of the books I bought myself. The middle book is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, which comes out Tuesday 9/27/11. Then Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott, which Goodread's YA Book Club is reading in October. I also bought Life, After by Sarah Darer Littman who writes topical YA contemporary but is actually no so serious in person! Lastly, I found Let it Be by Colin Meloy which is a memoir about how 1980s band The Replacements influenced him.

At the conference, anyone I came into conversation with asked, "So, are you representing middle school or high school?" This lit conference is mainly attended by librarians and educators. My answer was, "Neither, I'm a writer." One woman asked, "Which books are yours?" I should have pointed to something on the sale table, but instead I told her I'm unpublished and a fan of YA.

Sharon Draper was the last keynote speaker. She shared hilarious letters from her young fans. It felt great to be around so many people geeked about books and writing.

What books are on your To-Read list?

Book Review: Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Title: Moonglass
Author: Jessi Kirby
Genre: YA Contemporary
Published: 2011

Moonglass is an example of an excellent stand-alone contemporary young adult novel. On the surface, it seems like another budding romance story about a teenager trying to find herself. What makes Moonglass special is the subtle and unexpected turns the story takes.

Anna's mother passed away when she was 7, and she and her dad have a comfortable but not very intimate relationship. I immediately envisoned her father as a lifeguard version of Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights. The two move further south on the California coast when her father accepts a position managing a beach and a bunch of lifeguards. Their cottage sits directly on the beach, which sounds fabulous. Anna befriends the lifeguards, who her father pre-warned to stay away from his daughter. There's a little rebellious side to Anna, and it's nice to see this balanced with her rather responsible life. Anna learns this beach was where her father and mother first met, and more of the story of what happened to her mother unfolds as she questions the life her mother led there.

The story progresses over the last few days of summer into Anna's first sememster at her new high school. She makes an unlikely friend who could have been a one-note L.A. socialite, but turns out to demonstrate great friendship and dedication to Anna as she sorts through another stage of grief at losing her mother.

I loved how this story felt immediately engaging. I could easily envision the beach, the cottages and all the characters. It felt like a familiar story, but not at all cliche. Anna's reflection on losing her mother is moving without feeling overly heavy for the rest of the story. This is the author's debut novel - what an amazing job!