Here it is, the long-awaited YA Reading Challenge #1! Thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts and ideas.

Ground Rules:

1. The Challenge begins at 12:00 A.M. local time on May 1, 2009 and ends at 11:59 P.M. local time on July 31, 2009.
2. Amazon gift certificates will be awarded to the first three winners: $50.00 ( in US dollars ) for first place, $30.00 for second place, and $15.00 for third place.
3. On August 1, the winners will be determined by:
a. First: Counting up the number of points accumulated
b. Second: Counting up the number of pages read. The first listing of the book on Goodreads will be used to designate the number of pages read for any one book.
c. In the event that two people finish the Challenge with the same number of pages read, then the date all of the tasks are completed will be the tie-breaker.
d. Winners will provide their email address, and Amazon.com gift certificates will be emailed to them.
4. All books must be classified as Young Adult or Juvenile Fiction. If your local library classifies the book you chose as such, then the book may be included.
5. All books must be at least 100 pages long to count for any of the tasks.
6. Re-reads count, unless they are specifically excluded in the task.
7. Audiobooks and electronic books, such as Kindle, etc. all count for this Challenge.

PLEASE NOTE: This thread is for a discussion of the tasks ONLY, we are adding a separate thread to post everyone's points as tasks are completed.


30 POINT TASKS: We asked Allison to contribute a 30-point task idea, as at the time the Challenge was written, she was the most active non-Mod member here at Wild Things. Thanks for your help, Allison!
1. Read two books you’ve never read before from the Wild Things Awards list. Books chosen must be from at least two different countries. Please tell us whether or not you believe the book deserved the award it received. (So if you pick a Newbery Award winner, for example, you must choose a non-US award for your other choice.)
2. Read a Wild Things group read and contribute to the discussion.
3. Read a book that re-tells a fairy tale, or is based on an actual event.


25 POINT TASKS:
1. Choose a Young Adult book from each of any three different genres featured here at Wild Things. Post a discussion topic (or contribute to a discussion) about the one you enjoyed the most.
2. Visit your local library’s Young Adult section, close your eyes, and point to two books at random. Read those books. If you have already read that one, choose a neighboring book you haven’t read.
3. Read a book that takes place in a different country or culture than your own.
4. Read any two books from a Young Adult series.


20 POINT TASKS:
1. Read a book that was also made into a film and watch the film. (It does not matter whether you read the book first or watch the film first as long as you do both.) Then tell us which you preferred and why.
2. Read a book that you would like a young person in your life (or any young person in general) to read, and tell us why.
3. Read a book that is set in your geographical area, or in a geographical area that you would like to or have lived in and/or visited.
4. Read a book published in the year you were born OR in the year any of your children or siblings were born
5. Read a book with any of these words in the title: “wild”, “thing” or “things”, “grown” or “up”. The title may have any one or more of these words to qualify.


10 POINT TASKS:
1. Read a new book by a new YA author (meaning it was the first book published by that author, and it was published in 2008 or 2009).
2. Read a book someone at Goodreads has been “pushing” you to read. OR Read a book from any Wild Thing member’s shelf that was rated 4 or 5 stars.
3. Read any book discussed in one of the discussion threads here at Wild Things, and contribute to the discussion.
4. Read a book from any Wild Things Book Awards list, and tell us whether or not you think it deserved the award it received. Here is a link to that thread:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1377...


5 POINT TASKS:
1. Choose any book from our “Top YA Novels” thread not posted by you and read it.
2. Read any Classical YA/Juvenile book.
3. Re-read a book that you enjoyed when you were younger OR read a book that a young person in your life recommended to you.
4. Read a book in which the mother/child or father/child relationship is key to the story.

Oooh... I can't wait! This looks so good you guys!!

Oh, thanks Becky! Does this mean you'll join in?

Great Challenge Laura! Hehe, it's good - small enough to fit in with everything else but large enough to bring us variety and keep people interested.

Thanks, Fiona! It's fun to be a Challenge Queen (but alot of work, remind me to send a gift to Cynthia sometime soon!)

Looks great! I've got to go see which books I can work in to the challenge, which I think is half the fun...

Glad everyone is excited.

Cool set up Laura! You did such a great job! Oh and I can't believe you are giving out prizes!! :D

Thanks Jackie! Well, we're hoping to get lots of participation....and it'll be so fun if everyone joins in.

I'm sorry... I won't be joining.






NOT! Are you KIDDING?? OF COURSE I'll be joining! I love YA, I love challenges, and I love broadening my reading horizons.

Will I be joining... It's like you don't even know me at all! ;P

^/^/^/^/^/^/^/^/^/

(we need Emilee to come over and do the book jig with us!)

:)

I have never participated in a challenge, so...You complete as many tasks as you can to be awarded the points, but you don't have to complete, for instance, all 3 30 point tasks to receive 30 points, only one of those, right?

Whoever has aquired the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd highest amount of points at challenge end gets the prize?

I sent you all some event spam, by the way. Just to warn you all.

Yeah, points accumulated is the first tie breaker (in case more than one person finishes and gets all possible points), pages read is the 2nd, and date finished is the third!

To finish the Challenge, all 20 tasks must be completed, Kandice. The maximum total points you can earn is 350. (90 points for the 3 30-pt. tasks, 100 pts. for the 4 25 pt. tasks, etc.)

Come join us Kandice! It'll be fun....!

I'm in... let me see what I can come up with for my list. It starts so soon! I better get busy.

How are you going to read 20 books in one month?!!!!

Three months! May thru July.

OMG! You know I can't pass up a challenge!!

Leaving tomorrow for a long drive to TX - plan to get lots of reading done...yee haw!

Sorry....*hangs head in shame*

I told you I never did this before:)

I started Eldest (2nd book in the inheritance series) just a couple days ago and have only read the first chapter. Can I include this or would I have to start over? I guess re-reading the first chapter wouldn't be too bad :D

Kandice wrote: "Sorry....*hangs head in shame*

I told you I never did this before:)"

It's ok Kandice, I'll hold your hand! :D

Linda wrote: "I started Eldest (2nd book in the inheritance series) just a couple days ago and have only read the first chapter. Can I include this or would I have to start over? I guess re-reading the first c..."


As long as you have half or more of the book to read as of midnight on May 1, you are fine. No worries.

Becky wrote: "Kandice wrote: "Sorry....*hangs head in shame*

I told you I never did this before:)"

It's ok Kandice, I'll hold your hand! :D"

Kandice, you'll be a wild, mad, tornado reader! You'll do great! It'll be fun.

Thanks Laura! I can't wait to get started. I'm working on my list as we type...

Ohhhh, this looks awesome!

Oh, I'm so glad everyone's excited. This is gonna be great!

OK, I have a dumb question...where is the Wild Things Award List?

This is impressive. You put a lot of thought and work into this!

I can't believe I haven't finished The Long Walk yet. I swear I am finishing it tonight and I am then compiling my YARCL (YA Reading Challenge List). And then I will be happy, so happy!

Nice work, oh Laura! I'm excited (and I think my Spring Challenge reading has just gone down the drain)!

Kelly Jo wrote: "OK, I have a dumb question...where is the Wild Things Award List? "

It's in the folder above this one under 'awards'

I think you did a great job Laura :)

OMG there's crazy awesome prizes! I am so in! This is crazy awesome! This will consume the rest of my night.. for sure.

Kelly Jo wrote: "OK, I have a dumb question...where is the Wild Things Award List? "

Hi Kelly Jo!

Here is the Awards List: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1377...

Thanks, everyone! This is very exciting!

I'm a challenge newbie but I think I am going to give it a shot!

Wow, this looks so neat!! Can we count books for this that we're reading for another challenge too? (I think I'll join Cynthia's challenge this summer too.) Also, my library tends to say almost everything is YA fiction or fantasy with a little sticker on the side of the book, and I'm wondering if there are any other qualifications to make sure they're really YA? Like, what if my library says it is but another doesn't? (I noticed this in particular about Sharon Shinn's books - most libraries say she's adult but mine says YA).

Thank you for your help!! :-)

We're pretty flexible on this Lizzi, we're just not looking to include out-and-out adult books. As long as a library is calling it YA, we'll include it.

And of course you can use books you're reading for another Challenge! As long as they are YA/Juvenile, they'll work for this one too.

Thank you! And one more question before I start picking out the books :-) - is Juvenile also considered Children's fiction? (Books like A Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables come to mind?) I was wanting to read the Theatre Shoes, Dancing Shoes series (by Noel Stretfield), but are those too young for this challenge?

I understand the challenge to be open to anything except books written "with adults in mind". Is that correct Laura?

You got it, Becky, flexibility is key. We're really looking for reasons to include books rather than exclude them. As long as they're over 100 pages, that is...

I will appreciate the hand holding, girls. (Becky, I always seem to need you:)

Hey Lizzi, those books look good! I loved Burnett's books, and these seem to be written in a similar style.

Kandice - have no fear! We are all here for you my dear!

Kandice wrote: "I will appreciate the hand holding, girls. (Becky, I always seem to need you:)"

That's cool... I love being needed. :)

Looking forward to starting this challenge. I'm not a competitive person at all, but will do it more as a personal effort. I also have never done a challenge like this so of there is another hand to hold somewhere out there, sure would appreciate the support.

Oooh, a new challenge to get absorbed in!! Fun fun!! This looks great!

I have two hands! *raises the free one*

Becky is our Official Hand Holder Extraordinaire...she's quite talented, and she hardly ever bites.

For the random book picking ... my library has it sectioned off with regular fiction, mystery, sci-fi and fantasy. Is it okay if I chose just one of those sections or does it not matter if I run towards fantasy which I love?