Here's what I've been surfing this week...It's Black History Month!! That means 28 Days Later is back at The Brown Bookshelf! Check out this month-long celebration of black authors and illustrators.
Know what else is back? The Battle of the Kids' Books. Here are this year's contenders. (Can I be completely honest? I don't have visceral love for any of these titles, actually...)
Even though I am no longer in Illinois, I still pay attention when the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award nominees are announced (thanks to Becky of Libri Delectio!). Know why? Because they always have a fabulous list. (Someday I will get my act together and see if I can talk my way onto the Young Hoosier Book Award Committee...)
Dude, there was this big kerfuffle about Bitch Media's 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader. Apparently, after some comments by readers, the list editors revisited a few of their choices and removed them from the list. In acts of solidarity with the authors removed from the list, YA authors including Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson, and Diana Peterfreund asked to be removed from the list.
My two cents? If librarians had made this list, there would be no removals or substitutions because librarians would have thought critically about the books before publishing the list. Librarians would have solid reasons for each and every book on that list and would fight for every title, even if some of their choices proved unpopular. THIS IS WHY WE NEED LIBRARIANS.
In happier news, I hear from The Hub that YALSA's starting a Readers' Choice List. Anybody can nominate titles in a number of genres and YALSA members will vote for winners in November.
Are you doing the One World, Many Stories summer reading theme this year? Marge of Tiny Tips for Library Fun shares Surefire Storytelling Tips for One World, Many Stories.
For more library programming resources, I must insist that you check out Storytime Katie. Katie posts awesome storytime plans and she has the cutest felts ever. Seriously. Katie, I need you to come down here and make about a million felt stories for me, okay? :)
Rereading. Do you do it? Should you be doing it (especially if you're a reviewer)? Steph Su's asking these questions over at her blog. Go weigh in.
Have a great weekend!