It’s been a while since I posted here. I’ve lost a bit of my writing mojo, but it seems to be coming back.
Today, I am the guest blogger over at The Hub, where I have written about “What to Read on November 11th”. You can check it out by clicking on the link below.
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2019/11/11/what-to-read-on-november-11th/
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. The winner is announced annually at the ALA Youth Media Awards with a shortlist of up to five titles named in early December.
For the first time ever, I have already read all of the Morris Award finalists before they were announced. Here they are:
They are all fantastic books, but my heart is leaning towards Darius the Great Is Not Okay. But I’d also love to see Blood, Water, Paint, a novel in verse, win. It is hard to know what the discussion about these five, very different books will be like, or say who will win. I will be at the Youth Media Awards in Seattle when the winner is announced on Monday, January 28th. I will also attend the awards presentation afterwards to celebrate all five finalists and whichever book wins. You can read more about each book on YALSA”S Morris Award page.
Stay tuned the Nonfiction finalists should be announced soon.
Last summer, I wrote a piece after watching Won’t You Be My Neighbor, I submitted it to The Hub and today they are running it. You can check it out here:
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2018/11/15/what-would-fred-read/
I am today’s guest blogger on The HUB, the blog for YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association). I can’t repost what I wrote here, but you can click on the link below to check out what I said.
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2018/08/30/what-would-ruth-read/
Let me give you this clue, though
Let the Challenge Begin!
It’s time to kickoff the 2016 Hub reading challenge! This challenge is intended to encourage librarians, library workers, and YA lit enthusiasts to dive into the award winner and honor books and YALSA selected lists with the hope of providing excellent readers’ advisory and even discovering a new favorite title or exploring a genre outside of your comfort zone.
Eligible books are the YA titles that were named winners or honor titles the following award and selected lists:
This year, based on feedback, they’ve expanded the eligible list of titles to include all YA literature recognized by any ALA division, including:
I am very excited to see the addition on the Amelia Bloomer list.
How to Participate
Guidelines
After 10 months of reading, we are ready to announce the 5 finalists for the 2016 William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first awarded in 2009. This award honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.
Drumroll, please!
Because You’ll Never Meet Me written by Leah Thomas, published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Ollie is allergic to electricity and lives in isolation with his mother. Moritz was born with no eyes, has a pacemaker, and is bullied at school. They become pen pals and unlikely friends as they learn more about one another.
Conviction written by Kelly Loy Gilbert, published by Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group
Braden is firm in his convictions; he trusts his father, believes deeply in God, and is dedicated to a future playing baseball. His faith, truth, and justice are tested when his father is accused of murder.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda written by Becky Albertalli, published by Balzer & Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
On the brink of coming out, Simon’s plans are derailed by a scheming classmate who learns about Simon’s email exchanges with a mysterious boy that Simon may just be falling in love with.
The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly written by Stephanie Oakes, published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers
After spending most of her life in the Kevinian Cult, Minnow loses her family, her freedom, and her hands. Now Minnow is behind bars, recounting her life in the cult and facing what really happened the night the camp burned down, leaving the Prophet dead.
The Weight of Feathers written by Anna-Marie McLemore, published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press
Lace and Cluck are from rival performing families. The troupes only cross paths once a year, but tensions mount and fights break out. When tragedy strikes during a performance, fate thrusts them together and the star-crossed pair are forced to deal with their families’ feuding past.
It’s YALSA Symposium weekend…two days to talk about Young adults, books and libraries. I don’t often give up a Saturday, but this was definitely worth it.
I sat in on 4 excellent sessions, heard a number of authors speak and picked up some new books.
I am excited to go back to school on Monday and tell the kids about meeting Jack Gantos, who talked about his internal and external writing process and even referenced his neighborhood map that we used as an idea generator.
Gantos had a lot to say about books and writing. he talked about the books that “move into you like a squatter”. He also talked a lot about balance: the balance he tries to find between the internal and external story. He explained how a lot f his work is about the unevenness and self loathing that kids go through during their adolescence, when their balance is off.
He also talked about the “literary spiritualism” of community reads programs. He was the first person yesterday to mention the significance of having people of multiple generations in a room talking about a book or an idea. It came up later in other sessions, too. It was a call to be involved with a community of readers, share books and put books in the right hands.
I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was that good exhaustion that you feel after doing something worthwhile.
I’m pretty good at keeping secrets. But this one is hard.
I am on the 2016 William C. Morris Debut Award Committee, which selects ” a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature”. I am honored and thrilled to be doing it. But I can’t share much of my joy.
I can’t tell you what I’ve read, though I can tell you I’ve read 6 books so far.
I can’t tell you what I thought of those books.
I can’t tell you which book I’m reading now.
I can’t tell you the titles of books publishers have sent me.
And I have to keep not telling you until December, when the committee announces the five finalists we’ve selected.
Until January 11, 2016 when the committee’s decision is announced along with the Newbery and Caldecott Awards.
I have to keep it all top secret.
It is hard.
It’s one of my favorite times of the year: YALSA’s Hub Reading Challenge time.
Challenge objective Read/listen to 25 of the titles on the list of eligible titles to finish the challenge. The list includes YA novels, audiobooks, graphic novels, and books for adults, so there’s plenty to choose from. Bonus objective: read/listen to all eligible titles to conquer the challenge!
Challenge rewards Beyond experiencing the best of the best that YA lit has to offer, everyone who finishes the challenge will be invited to submit a response to a book they read for the challenge. The response can be text, graphics, audio, video and will be published on The Hub. Furthermore, everyone who finishes the challenge will be entered into a random drawing for our grand prize: a YALSA tote bag full of 2014 and 2015 YA lit! (If the winner is a teacher or librarian or something similar, they’ll also include a few professional development titles.)
For more details, including the list of books, or to jump in and take part visit The Hub’s blog post about the challenge.
For my part, I am challenging myself to read all the Alex winners. I get to count the books I read for the Morris/Nonfiction challenge. Then I will cherry pick from what is left on the list.
Are you in?
When? The 2014 Hub Reading Challenge will begin at 12:01AM EST on Monday, February 3. Once the challenge starts, you’ll have about four months (until 11:59pm on Sunday, June 22) to read as many of the following as you possibly can:
If you participated in the Morris/Nonfiction Challenge, you can count that reading toward your progress in The Hub Reading Challenge. Otherwise, only books that you both begin and finish within the challenge period count, so if you’ve read any of these titles before, you’ll have to re-read them to count them.
What? To complete the challenge, read or listen to 25 of the selected titles before the deadline. Everyone who completes the challenge will be invited to submit a reader response (which can be text, audio, video, graphics, or some combination) to his or her favorite (or least favorite!) challenge title, which will be published on THE HUB.. Additionally, everyone who completes the challenge will be entered into a random drawing to win a grand prize: a YALSA tote bag full of 2013 and 2014 YA lit titles! (If you’re a librarian or teacher, they’ll also toss in a couple of professional development titles.)
Not challenging enough, you say? For the speed readers out there, The Hub offers this: on top of completing the challenge, you can go on to conquer it by reading all of the eligible titles.
As you read, you’ll also be earning badges that you can post on your blog or website or include in your email signature to show off how well-read you are, and if you conquer the challenge by reading all of the eligible titles, you’ll earn a super-elite badge.
How? Keep track of what you read every week and how many titles you’ve finished. Every Sunday, the HUB will create a check-in post; comment on the post with what you’ve read or listened to that week (and what you thought of it!). If you’ve completed the challenge, fill out the form embedded in the post . The challenge runs on the honor system, so be good!
Format matters, because listening can be a very different experience from reading in print, so be sure to experience challenge-eligible titles in the format in which they were honored. For example, Scowler won the Odyssey Award, which recognizes outstanding audiobooks, so even if you’ve already enjoyed the print version, you’ll need to listen to the audiobook to count it for this challenge. Better Nate than Ever won for print and for audio, so you can read and listen to it and it will count as 2 books.
Who? All readers of young adult literature — teachers, librarians, publishers, booksellers, bloggers, parents, teens, anyone! — are welcome to accept our reading challenge.
booksandbassets 