Tiny Treasury

Celebrate Teen Read Week along with YALSA. This year’s theme is “LOL@ your Library,” encouraging teens to laugh out loud. Here are some quotes from some favorite teen authors from the Teen Read Week wiki about what makes them LOL.

What makes me laugh most is Congress. Dogs can also be very funny, but I have to give the edge to Congress. –Dave Barry author of Peter and the Starcatchers

A woman strutting out of the bathroom with toilet paper stuck to her heel gets me every time. –Lisi Harrison author of The Clique

Freudian Slips: One night I was reading to my four-year-old daughter a rather boring picture book about Paul Revere. When I came upon the word ‘timber’ I accidentally said ‘tampon’ instead. I became immediately hysterical, laughing so hard tears were running down my cheeks. Of course my daughter thought I was insane and insisted that I continue reading, even though I had the giggles. Soon she had the giggles too and our giggles morphed into uncontrollable howls of laughter. It reminded me of my seventh grade biology class when I raised my hand to answer a question and I said ‘orgasm’ instead of organism. I turned purple and had to hide under my desk because my teacher was a man with a mustache and I could not look at him without bursting into hysterical laughter. By the end of class we were all under our desks. — Cecily von Ziegesar author of Gossip Girl

Reading (and writing about) characters’ excruciating embarrassing social gaffes always make me laugh! Which is awful, since goodness knows I’ve committed enough of them! — Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries

The Readergirlz are also celebrating Teen Read with chats this week.

October 14th: Tanya Lee Stone
October 15th: John Green
October 16th: Sara Zarr
October 17th: Deb Caletti
October 18th: Rachel Cohn
October 19th: Kirsten Miller
October 20th: Mitali Perkins

Last night I tuned in to my first of the Readergirlz 31 Flavorites forum discussions in real time. To be honest, it was an accident. I wanted to check out what Nikki Grimes and Chris Crutcher had to say, but saw Ann Brashares, author of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” series, at the top and started there instead. I was about 14 pages and 10 minutes into the discussion when I realized I was at the end only it wasn’t over. I refreshed the page and there was more!

Before I get to the meat of the discussion I have to get a few things out of the way. First of all, Myspace makes my eyes bleed. I’m about 15 years too old for the bizarre fonts, hearts, and flashing backgrounds. Secondly, the structure of the forum was hard for me to adjust to. People ask questions all at the same time and it goes incredibly quickly. I’ve never been in any real online chat groups, so I’m unaccustomed to the format. It’s unlike most forums I’ve been involved with, where people take the time to read previous questions before barreling in with their own.

Aside from my Myspace issues, I was quite impressed with the chat. Ann Brashares did a much better job of keeping up with the questions than I did and did an admirable job of giving the Readergirlz thoughtful answers. The girlz were giggly and excited and through their squeeing they managed to ask equally thoughtful questions, though many came from the Divas and the teachers logged in to the chats.

When asked about how she handles writing from four perspectives her Pants series, Ann responded

I try to approach each of my characters individually. Though you read the book with the characters’ parts spliced together, that’s not how I write them. I focus on one girl at a time and write her story from beginning to end. That way I’m able to lose myself in her as best I can. To spend days and weeks as Carmen, say, and not have to be anyone else. At the end I write the scenes where the girls appear together.

Her advice for the writers in the group

My advice is not original, I’m aftaid–read a lot. You probably do that already. Write a lot. Write so much that writing feels natural the way thinking and speaking do.

Also, leave yourself alone. Give yourself time to imagine things. I am a big proponent of having absolutely nothing to do.

Her thoughts on community service

I went to a quaker school and started community service projects in first grade, so that’s always on my mind. I am just starting the Sisterhood Foundation. I’m putting a bunch of the money from the books into it and using the money to benefit girls and education and literacy. It’s a new project, and I’m excited about it. Also, I’m a mentor to a high school girl. We’ve been together for three years so far, and I love being part of her life.

And one of her low moments as a writer

I have had many low moments! One came recently, when I did a signing at a Costco in New Jersey. (I think it was New Jersey.) I was all set up with my books and not one person came. Not one. Finally a woman ambled along. I got all ready to sign a book for me and she asked where the office furniture was. The saleswoman in the book area felt so sorry for me she hugged me.

The internet’s first literary awards are back.

Because The Cybils is a blogger-run, blogger-inspired awards process, we operate with the expectation of openness and transparency. If you have any question about the process—any question at all—please feel free to e-mail Anne or Kelly at any time.

Nominations are open in the following categories:

Fantasy/Science Fiction
Fiction Picture Books
Graphic Novels
Middle Grade Fiction
Non-Fiction: Middle Grade and Young Adult
Non-Fiction Picture Books
Poetry
Young Adult Fiction

Here are the rules:

The book must have been published in 2007:

* Only one book per category;
* Click on a category and read the description;
* Click on “comments” and type in the author and title;
* Make sure your book isn’t already listed, please.

Nominations close Nov. 21, so take your time and come back often.Thanks for joining us!

From the ALA site

Stay informed. If you read or hear about a challenge at your school or public library, support your librarian and free and open access to library materials. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom estimates they learn of only 20 to 25 percent of book challenges. Let us know if there is a challenge in your community. Find out what the policy is for reviewing challenged materials at your school or public library. Join the Intellectual Freedom Action News (IFACTION) e-list.

Join the Freedom to Read Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to the legal and financial defense of intellectual freedom, especially in libraries. You can also support the cause by buying Banned Books Week posters, buttons and T-shirts online.

And check out the Thursday Thirteen at the Book Stacks where Elisa lists 13 banned books she has read.

banned book week, celebrate your freedom to read, censorship, fight censorship

I was curious about how many of the top 100 most challenged books I’ve read. Here’s the list in its entirety. The titles I’ve read are in bold. Feel free to play along if you have a blog and link back so I can check it out.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

more about banned books week here and here

The seven stories in Judy Blume’s “Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One” (which I finally finished) revolve around third grader Abigail, the Great One, and her little brother first grader Jake, the Pain. Written for ages 4-9, the target age group will definitely relate to the sibling bickering in this fun and easy to read chapter book. Abigail is afraid to ride a bike but too embarrassed to admit it to her friends. Jake is afraid to get his hair cut for fear the barber will cut off his ears. The situations are sweet and true to life and James Stevenson’s illustrations are delightful.

Judy Blume’s stories aren’t all so kid friendly according to parents. Blume’s books are some of the most challenged books in schools and libraries across the country. One of my father’s favorite stories is that when I was little I read books faster than he could buy them. By the age of five I was reading books well above my maturity level because I could. One night when I was five I was in bed reading “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and I called him into my room. “Dad,” I asked, “what’s a period?” My poor, flustered father had to try to explain menstruation to his slightly grossed out kindergartener.

When I was eight my aunt took me out shopping with her and we stopped to browse at a used bookstore. I recognized Judy Blume’s name on the cover and had her buy me a copy of “Forever” for a quarter. I got home and read the entire thing in one sitting, not quite mature enough to really understand what it was about, but old enough to know it was steamy stuff. It was only when I lent it to my best friend that I got in trouble. Her mother was outraged that I’d lent her a book with obscene language and sexual content. In retrospect, my “bad influence” may have been one of the reasons her parents moved out of the neighborhood.

While I don’t plan on purchasing young adult novels for my future early elementary grade children, I certainly hope that they’ll learn to appreciate Judy Blume’s stories about young love, friendship, and insecurities. Her books were groundbreaking at a time when books about love were either chaste or preachy, and the characters in young adult novels didn’t experience the down and dirty, uncomfortable moments that most actual young adults experience on a daily basis.

Five of Judy Blume’s books are on the ALA’s list of 100 Most Challenged Books of 1990 to 2000. She continues to fight censorship.

“[I]t’s not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship. As always, young readers will be the real losers.” — Judy Blume

Yeah, I know that not everyone lives close enough to stop on by… But if you are in the area over the weekend, make plans to attend the Philadelphia Book Festival! There’s a lot going on, including performances by the amazing Patti Smith and Jeffrey Gaines.

And guess who else will be appearing? None other than our own (yeah, I feel like I can call him that now) Brian Biggs. He’ll appear both days at HeadHouse Book’s booth between 11 AM and 7 PM; the tent will be on 20th and Wood Street, across the street from the Friends Book Corner. Joining him will be local author Cordelia Biddle, who wrote The Conjurer.

(Psst: The poster at the top was designed for the Philadelphia Book Festival by three-time Caldecott Award-winning illustrator David Wiesner.)

Philadelphia Book Festival, Brian Biggs, Cordelia Biddle