Sarah Jamila Stevenson's Blog: Blog - Sarah Jamila Stevenson, page 83

Banned Books Week: A Roundup

While you're thinking about what books you'd like to nominate for this year's Cybils, check out this roundup of Banned Books Week posts and info from around the Kidlitosphere--it's not an exhaustive list by any means, but it's got some interesting tidbits that I either ran across on my own or that were passed along to me throughout the week. Enjoy, and here's to expanding our own reading horizons and teaching our children to actively read and think for themselves!
 First, I have to thank the good folks at First Second for the fabulous animated GIF over there, featuring characters from one of their upcoming graphic novels, Americus--"about Neil Barton, a teenager growing up in Oklahoma, and his fight to keep his favorite fantasy series, The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde, in his public library." I'm already looking forward to it--check out the webcomic version here.
Via NPR comes an interactive Google map of every location in the country where books have been banned. Via Leila at Bookshelves of Doom comes the news that--during Banned Books Week, no less--The Hunger Games was challenged.Children's author Lucy Coats, at her blog Scribble City Central, discusses the challenge to Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and relates her own feelings with heartfelt and wrenching honesty. In a follow-up post, she discusses the amazing reaction to her initial post, and shares a striking poem about book banning by Ellen Hopkins.Cybils YA panelist Ami Jones, of Three Turtles and Their Pet Librarian, discusses their library's Banned Books Gala (something I dearly wish our library could have had!), the challenge to Hunger Games, and more.Guys Lit Wire contributors post recommendations of some of their favorite banned books.Author Cheryl Rainfield discusses banned books in the wake of various recent challenges to YA books and authors, and relates a wealth of links on the topic.Angela Peña Dahle of A Pen in Neverland--a brand-new-to-me blog--fun!--discusses her feelings about book banning and invites your comments on her Workshop Wednesday feature (how neat is that??). The redoubtable Ms. Camille of BookMoot is quoted in a TIME magazine article about the Ellen Hopkins-disinvited-from-Humble-Teen-Lit-Fest incident. Alex at The Children's War (another blog that's new to me) discusses the classic Summer of My German Soldier in admirable depth, and I learned that this is one of three WWII-themed books for children that have been banned (both recently and repeatedly).Ellen Hopkins' excellent anti-censorship manifesto for the Huffington Post includes her poem referenced above, her story about the Humble Teen List Fest, and more.Sheryl McFarlane, on her Book Blog, talks about some of the more laughter-inducing reasons for book banning, as well as linking to an excellent Banned Books quiz and banner.All I can say is, our kidlitosphere is amazing when it comes to these things. Thank you to all the folks on the listserve who shared their posts and introduced me to some new blogs and bloggers in the process!

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Surrealism Sunday?

Welcome to Book Blurbs of September, Part One, or, more accurately, Book Blurbs of August Revisited, because I am SO BEHIND on my book reviews that I have been reading additional books as an escape route from having to tackle the enormous list of books I need to review. Yes, I realize there is something counterproductive about that. Anyway, today I present my impressions of one surreal children's/MG title and one extremely surreal YA title.

I obtained both of these books from the Stanislaus C...

Sit Down and Write Already! But Read This First.

It's still warm in California, but all signs point to fall. Aside from my being allergic to things, it's one of my favorite seasons. I'm hoping to channel some of the general sense of well-being that autumn brings me into my writing--whether the motivation goes into my current work-in-progress, or whether it's new projects like that short story percolating in the back of my head, this fun Halloween Short Story Contest at Literary Asylum, or even a new novel for NaNoWriMo. (Yes, I've got somet...

Wicked Cool Overlooked Books: Charlotte Sometimes

 NB: This was supposed to post yesterday, but Blogger evidently hates me now and won't let me schedule posts. So, boo.

So, it could just be that this wicked cool book was only overlooked by me. And I don't know how I missed it, but I know I would have loved this one when I was growing up...if only I'd known it existed.

In fact, I didn't even know until recently (in the past couple of years, maybe) that the classic Cure song "Charlotte Sometimes" was inspired by a children's fantasy/time travel...

Who, Why, Whither YA?

Another thought-provoking post from Hannah Moskowitz (via Nathan Bransford's Twitter feed), this one on whether/how the internet blogging/writing community is changing the nature of YA: "Are we getting too self-referential to be relevant?" she asks, among other things.

To put it plainly, I'm starting to wonder if YA is turning into something written by/for the internet community under the guise of writing for everyday teenagers, and that who likes you on the internet is more important to your ...

The Cybils Wants YOU!

It's that time of year again! The official call for blogger volunteers has been posted to the Cybils blog, so head on over if you want to take part. You can also download nifty 2010 logos for use on your own blog, like the one at right. And stay tuned for a flurry of activity on the blog and off, especially if you're part of one of the judging panels. I myself eagerly await another exciting contest, and feel privileged to be the Cybils blog editor and get an inside look at the goings-on. Yay!...

Book Blurbs of August, Part II: Good Guy Books

I read a couple of good "guy books" this month (yeah, you thought I was talking about "good guy" books, didn't you?). I found both of these sort of randomly at my library, but I have to say that the ultimate reason I picked up Josh Berk's The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin is that he said something so hilariously funny in a tweet that I had to know what a whole book was like coming from such an amusing source.

A book about a deaf teenage guy, FUNNY? Has my sense of humor, you ask, devolved int...

Book Blurbs of August, Part I: Fire and Lips Touch

For Part I of Book Blurbs, two books that in some way involve the idea of dangerous yet appealing compulsions. (And two books I know we've posted about before, but they're so good I had to do it again.) Both books came from the Stanislaus County Library.

I think that Kristin Cashore's two novels, Graceling and Fire, are two of my favorite fantasy novels that I've read in recent memory. Fire, as a companion novel set in a different region of the same world, was just as gripping, emotionally int...

In My Day, We Actually Read the Books

I'm just cruising by to bring you a link to another artist using recycled/reclaimed books as a sculpting medium (you probably already know how much I love This Into That). Via Kirstin Butler's twitterfeed comes the Jardin de la Connaissance, "a unique outdoor library that features living books sown with several varieties of mushrooms" at the 11th International Garden Festival in Métis, Quebec.

Honestly--I'm not sure how I feel about it, especially the open books being used as "cushioned carpet...

A Few Thoughts on Reading YA

I was reading a post on Beth Kephart's blog about the recent NY Times article explaining the appeal of young adult literature for adult readers. Written by Pamela Paul, it's a very good piece, and thought-provoking. I had started typing out a response to Beth's post and realized I was starting to blather on and should probably make it a full post of my own. So I did. In answer to Beth's question: Why are so many adults reading books that are (at the very least) marketed to teens?

The quotes s...