Remember how John Green was starting his tour at my school? They changed the venue to the public middle school nearby, which was a good call, because it was way bigger than our auditorium. But I still got to volunteer, and my students and colleagues still got to attend, with … Continue reading
This post by fantasy author Jim C. Hines is excellent. (Also brave.) Click through for more like this.
My beloved grandmother died of cancer on Nov. 16. We buried her yesterday. (Arlington National Cemetery — they keep their own schedule.) She was a mother of five, a Navy wife, a world traveler, an antiques dealer, an expert stock trader (paper only, thankyouverymuch), and an overall damn smart lady. … Continue reading
For the Nerds Heart YA contest last summer, I was paired with Allegra of My Library Card Wore Out, a young review blogger. As she says on her blog, “Teen books normally get reviewed by adults. Isn’t it time that a teen reviewed some for children?” Indeed. We thought it … Continue reading
This is the Librarian episode of Your Life Work, a series of vocational films for young people. This one was filmed in 1946: Aside from some mildly embarrassing sexism, I’m amazed at how little hilarity I could find in this. The media are different, but the job hasn’t changed much … Continue reading
This article from The Atlantic has been making the rounds lately: What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland’s School Success. Basically, Finland’s children are “accidentally” scoring at the top of the world’s standardized test charts, despite (because of) a system that focuses on “equality more than excellence.” For me, the crux … Continue reading
Happy New Year! Of course, my favorite part of today is checking out the Cybils finalists. Please go peruse. My YA fantasy & science fiction list is more of a surprise this year than usual. For one thing, Daughter of Smoke and Bone isn’t a finalist! Really thought I had … Continue reading
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. I do New Year’s wishes. When I was a kid — 10? 11? — I had a book of magic instructions for kids. It was cute: making yourself fairy wings and doing spells. One of the “spells” suggested that you write three wishes on … Continue reading
Ok, let’s get through this as quickly and painlessly as possible. There’s a series of books called The Clique. If you know Gossip Girls, it’s basically the same deal, only for middle schoolers: shockingly privileged, entitled girls who only care about fashion and popularity bitch at each other and name-drop … Continue reading
A friend and I just saw Young Adult, a movie in which Charlize Theron plays Mavis, the alcoholic ghostwriter of a popular YA series called Waverly Prep (Gossip Girls, more or less, with less brand name-dropping). Her life is miserable and empty, so she decides to return to her hometown … Continue reading
