HeLa and NPR

So I've been trying to work up the energy to write a review of the adult nonfiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and can't seem to find the time. These last dog days of summer programming are getting to me. Busy. And then more busy. With a heaping side of busy.

Needless to say it was freakin' fantastic. I am not a huge nonfiction reader, but I remember hearing an NPR story on this book and thinking it sounded fascinating. And it really was. All about biology and science and family history. The author seamlessly wove all of that into one interconnected narrative that was funny and interesting and sad all at the same time. I can't recommend it enough.


And then again from NPR, a neato blog post called, "Why the Next Big Pop Culture Wave After Cupcakes Might be Libraries."

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Book Source = ARC snagged off of staff shelf by Joanna who then sent it to me. Thanks J!

The One Where the Gods Stop Laughing

So Margo Rabb interviews Sherman Alexie and much is explained!

MR: Your next young adult novel, Radioactive Love Song, was originally scheduled to be published this spring, but it’s been delayed. What’s happening with it?

SA: We’ve tabled it because I’m working on the sequel to True Diary immediately. We decided to hold off on that because nobody wants something else—everybody wants the story of Arnold’s sophomore year!

To read the full interview (and you really, really should).

I feel better now. I really like being in the know. Many Thanks to Joanna for passing this along and soothing my broken heart :)

Another Twilight Article

Can be found on the Guardian blog.

Edward Cullen, the vampire hero of Twilight, has promising moments of sexy nastiness at first – "he turned slowly to glare at me – his face was absurdly handsome – with piercing, hate-filled eyes" – but then lets the side down with his über-conservative dress-sense: "He was removing a light beige leather jacket now; underneath he wore an ivory turtleneck sweater." NB, Ms Meyer – vampires should NEVER wear beige.

HA!

Booktrust Winner Announced

And it is Patrick Ness for The Knife of Never Letting Go. (insert wild cheering from me)

Here was the Shortlist:
Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson
The Knife That Killed Me by Anthony McGowan
Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz
The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner
Apache by Tanya Landman
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Read all about it at The Guardian.

Celebrity Children's Books

Or otherwise known as when famous people realize that All Books Written for Children are Trash and They Must Rectify. Loudly.

My Favorite? It has to be "The Boy Who Never Got Picked on Ever" by Charlton Heston. That made me giggle.

The Onion is funny.

(Thanks to 100 Scope Notes for the link)

Booktrust Teenage Prize Shortlist

Creature of the Knight by Kate Thompson
The Knife that Killed Me by Anthony McGowan
The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner
Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz
Apache by Tanya Landman
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

I LOVED The Knife of Never Letting Go. I tried to read Apache, but lost interest. The rest I've been wanting to pick up...although not Snakehead (if I'm going to be perfectly honest).

From:
The Guardian Article: Sharp words: Knives Out in Teenage Prize Shortlist.

Publishers Weekly Article - When YA Might Not be OK

I was reading Read Roger this afternoon and his post discussed an article in Publisher's Weekly entitled "When YA Might Not be OK." In this article the librarian said that she often gets confident readers of 10 or 11 who are wanting to read up. They want things like Twilight, or Pretties, or Gossip Girl. And she doesn't feel comfortable giving them to them, so she attempts to stear them to more suitable material. Roger said it, "gives [him] the willies." And it sort of did me too.

When a kid asks for a title specifically I do my best to locate that title. I don't feel its up to me to judge whether or not they should be reading it. I might think they aren't old enough, but I certainly wouldn't say anything. If luck has it and it isn't available (and usually even if it is) I suggest titles that I think would suit them better. As in, "and while you're at it why don't you try these titles too? I think you'll like them."

My best example is a voracious 11 year old reader that was one of my most regular patrons a few years back. She ran up to me one day and told me she had just read Candy by Kevin Brooks and had absolutely LOVED it. Never would I have thought to recommend that title to her, but after that (and with her father's permission) I started recommending all sorts of titles. After all, why not? I certainly read up at her age.

Essentially, what my reference interviews boil down to is I ask what books they have enjoyed in the past and try to recommend titles based on that. After all, the whole point is to encourage kids to read, not to stifle their interest. Nothing says, "don't bother ever coming to ask me for help again because I am not really interesting in helping you," than saying no you can't read that book because I don't think you're not old enough for it. I'm not saying don't use your judgement, but an 11 year old wanting to read Twilight? Sure bring it on.

Twilight Gets Fugged

and boy is it funny!

Oh no they didn't!

Those darn libraries are just smut factories! They let teens, yes teens, our sweet innocent young lambs check out R rated movies. Movies like (gasp) 300 and (choke) From Dusk Till Dawn. That one has vampires in it!!! For shame for shame!!!

You guessed it, another expose about the library is here.

I especially like how they interviewed a child psychiatrist that said, "The library isn't setting limits." Because everyone knows it is the library's job to raise the youth of today...oh wait...gosh...nope...that's actually the parents' job. Boy, that's gotta be a shocker. It seems like most people think the whole parenting thing is over once they push the little sucker out.

Article can be found here.

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Roger Sutton Reviews "The Spell Book of Listen Taylor" by Jaclyn Moriarty

And in the process says much of what I thought when I read it, albeit much more eloquently. I loved this book, but I really didn't the teen appeal.

"This is grown-up stuff. It’s not that teenage readers should be forbidden it, just that they’re unlikely to be interested. They will almost certainly be sympathetic to Listen’s problems, which do not involve romance but rather the situation of entering a new school and finding that your old friends want to leave you behind: “It’s just that we all agreed on this, O.K.? It’s no offense at all.” Oh, sure."

Read the New York Times Review. (link found via Read Roger)

Oh Onion, How I love you so...

From The Onion:

R.L. Stine Reveals Slappy From Night Of The Living Dummy Was Gay

"Slappy's constant attempts to break out of the closet that Amy stores him in at night clearly represent his struggle with homosexuality..."

To read the entire article:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/r_l_stine_reveals_slappy