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Our review of the 2014 American Library Association Youth Media Awards.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Our review of the 2014 American Library Association Youth Media Awards.
Adrienne here,
Every January the American Library Association honors the previous year’s books and media created for children and teens. There are nineteen awards given at this event with other selected lists released in the days after.
The ceremony will be held during ALA Midwinter, 8 a.m. ET, January 27, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. There will be a award archive of awards.
The award that has become a favorite of Emily and mine is the William C. Morris Award. This award honors authors whose first publication was written for young adults. Having served on this committee it is exhilarating to discover new and emerging talents. Each year the five finalist titles get better, more interesting and diverse in subject matter.
This year’s finalists are the following:
Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
Sex & Violence by Carrie Mesrobian
Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos
Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross
In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
You can view a video of the Morris Finalists here, http://youtu.be/CgcHkQ_Ls1w.
The winner will be announced during the Youth Media Awards. Immediately following the winner and finalists of both the Morris Award and the Nonfiction Award will speak at a reception. Tickets are $19 and well worth it.
Find out more about the award on the YALSA Morris Award website, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/morris-award. You can sign up to volunteer to participate here, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/getinvolved/getinvolved#sign%20up.
“Love and Other Perishable Items” by Laura Buzo
Life after college can stretch before a person like a long, seemingly endless road. Marriage, family, retirement can seem so far away that it can render many soon-to-be college graduates inert. This is what paralyzes Chris as he ponders life, feminism and film while working at the local grocery store he has dubbed “The Land of Dreams.” Chris finds a companionable soul in Amelia.
Ahh, but, here’s the rub, Chris is 21, Amelia is 15. Amelia falls for Chris and is happy to keep her feelings to herself, but we the readers get both points of view. Amelia’s is delivered in a voice filled with honest and straightforwardness while Chris’ is from his journal entries that range from rage to depression to finding the perfect woman to deep insight into his life and what he wants to do with it.
Amelia meets Chris as her trainer on her first day at work. She sees a connection between the two of them by way of their mutual love of literature. He sees her as a youngster, a nickname that she comes to dislike. Chris is slowly, painfully and sometimes regressively getting over his ex-girlfriend who uses his feelings and failure to move on to her advantage.
Buzo adequately captures the voice and feelings of a 15 year old girl who is practical, realistic and smart and lives a structured life. Buzo also captures that time of life when the future can be overwhelming and uncertain. Readers will be able to relate to both characters and the feelings that they express throughout the book. The book’s mood is quiet and thoughtful. Each character struggles with their feelings for each other with the reader really rooting for the both of them. But…hello?? She’s 15. You’ll have to read Love and Other Perishable Items to find out if they get together or not.
What I liked about this book was the relationship between Chris and Amelia. I really wanted to root for them as a couple despite the difference in age. They seemed to fit each other and “get” each other. I liked that Chris acts on his varying and quickly changing moods and emotions becoming a physical whirlwind while Amelia is calm, practical and steady as she goes. There were good and bad decisions made by both characters throughout the book and I found that reassuring. This book captures the turmoil at 15 and 21 which are rife with decisions made with too little information or too little experience. Recommended for High School and up.
A written review by Adrienne
“Freak Observer” by Blythe Woolston
Loa, 16, is lost, drifting through school, work and home, and alone. Asta, her little sister was the sun the family revolved around and when she died from a genetic defect the family disintegrated each isolated in their grief. Loa flows with the tide and is pushed into a strange relationship with her partner from debate club and pulled into a promising friendship at a new school.
Woolston’s debut book is viewed through Loa’s prism of grief and loneliness allowing readers to truly view loss. “Freak Observer” is the winner of the 2011 William C. Morris Award. Recommended for High School and up.
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“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green
2012 ALA Youth Media Awards: YALSA and ALSC.
Contact email: cyapodcast@gmail.com
Upcoming:
“The Midnight Zoo” by Sonya Hartnett and “Going Underground” by Susan Vaught – re-recording
“Irises” by Francisco X. Stork
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Emily
Children’s
Noisy Nora and Morris’ Disappearing Bag by Rosemary Wells
The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord
The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone
Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell
The Stinky Chese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
YA
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Wreck this Journal by Keri Smith
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Various GNs: Yotsuba&!, Y the Last Man, Walking Dead
Adrienne
10 Little Penguins: A pop-up by Jean-Luc Fromental, illustrated by Joelle Jolivet
Stoo Hample’s Book of Bad Manners
Curse workers series by Holly Black
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Dystopian and apocalyptic: the differences –
Dystopian is a perfect world gone wrong; apocalyptic is a world rebuilt after being destroyed by tools of mass destruction whether chemical, biological, alien or warfare.
Apocalyptic books:
Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Shade’s Children by Garth Nix
Life as We Know It series by Susan Beth Pfeffer
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Enclave by Ann Anguirre
Ashfall by Mike Mullin
Dystopian books:
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Dark Parties by Sara Grant
Feed by M.T. Anderson – get audio version
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Candor by Pam Bachorz
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Matched by Ally Condi – series
Delirium by Lauren Oliver – series
Incarceron & Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld –series
Unwind by Neal Shusterman – series
http://www.bartsbookshelf.co.uk/2009/09/30/update-best-dystopian-ya-novels-redux/ – 50+ titles, the list is from 2009 but still applicable.
YA Consultants
YALSA resources: All webinars on this page are free to YALSA members two months after their original recording. http://www.ala.org/yalsa/yalsamemonly/webinars/webinars
Watch your email for YALSA webinar’s directed to state youth services consultants. The webinar’s highlight the teen services resources YALSA has available on their website. Some you may already know, but I’m sure there’s a few you may not.
International Federation of Library Associations Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section
Michelle Alison Taylor’s Master’s thesis The Monster Chronicles: The role of children’s stories featuring monsters in managing childhood fears and promoting empowerment.
School Libraries: What’s Now, What’s Next, What’s Yet to Come edited by Kristin Fontichiaro
Children’s Programming Monthly: Programs & Ideas for Preschool through Grade 3.
Jenny
Adult
Name of the Wind and Wisemans Fear by Rothfuss
Lamentation, Canticle, Antiphon by Ken Scholes
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens
Young Adult
Star Crossed by Elizabeth Bunce
Incarceron, Sapphique by Catherine Fisher
Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
Okay for now by Gary Schmidt
Children’s
The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Boat of her Own Making
A Tale Dark of Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin
Picture Book
Shout ,Shout it Out- Denise Fleming
Press Here by Herve Tullet
I want my Hat Back- Jon Classen
Ruby Violet and Lime by Jane Brockett
Stars by Marla Frazee
Lego Ideas Book and/ or the Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
Karl
Audiobooks:
Leviathan Trilogy
The True Meaning of Smekday
Revolution
The Jeeves and Wooster novels by P.G. Wodehouse
Creativity:
What It Is and Picture This
Masters: Collage
The Map As Art
Modern Masters series
Pinterest
Improve Yourself:
The Power of Now
Man’s Search for Meaning
“Let something go”
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City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Roll call question
What are your favorite places to read?
Topic
“2012 Newbery Reading List”, by Hunt, Jonathan. January 27, 2011, School Library Journal Heavy Medal: Mock Newbery blog.
Recommendations
Jenny
Virginia Euwer Wolfe – Neustadt Award winner
Monday is One Day by Arthur Levine
Which Way by Marthe Jocelyn
Go outside
Emily
DC Comics reboot of their entire universe
Karl
Anti-recommendation: Don’t watch Bill and Ted Adventures cartoon
Adrienne
Teen Read Month partnering with Kevin Stark of Toy and Action Figure Museum, a Color Nook for top readers of a school and public library provided by Sonic, Corp, posters and a drawing of all participants for a set of books.
Upcoming
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
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Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Delirium movie deal by Deadline New York
Topic
“Are All Lists Created Equal? Diversity in Award-Winning and Bestselling Young Adult Fiction” by Casey H. Rawson. The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adult. YALSA. Spring, 2011.
Rawson’s Masters papers full version (PDF)
Recommendations
Jenny
Talk of the Nation, July 6, 2011 “YA Author Apologizes to ‘Wall Street Journal’ Critic”, NPR.
Super 8 the movie
Karl
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, audio version read by Alan Cumming
Artwiculate – Twitter # tag game
Emily
“aarrgghh” “aargh” “grrrooowwl”
Adrienne
So You Think You Can Dance update
Red Blood Road by Moira Young
Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon the movie
Upcoming
How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy by Crystal Allen
Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and It’s Legacy by Albert Martin
6 Children’s Books
If rocks could sing Leslie McGuirk
Further
“Is Young Adult Fiction Too Dark?” with Marty Moss-Crane. RadioTimes. WHYY. July 6, 2011.
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edited by Jon Scieszka, Guys Read – author website, boys literacy program website
Roll Call Question: What book have you read the most times in your life?
Cathie Sue: But Not the Hippotomas, Go Dog Go, Caddie Woodlawn, Gone with the Wind
Emily: Good Night Moon, Monster at the End of the Book, The Giant Jam Sandwich, The Hobbit, Weetzie Bat
Karl: Phantom Tollbooth, The Dark is Rising series
Adrienne: My Book About Me, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Christine
Topic: ALA Youth Media Awards 2011; ALSC, YALSA
Recommendations:
Emily
Nova Science Now hosted by Neil Degrasse Tyson
Cathie Sue
TV Shut off for a week
Karl
Lost by Jacqueline Davies
Silk by Caitlain Kiernan
Adrienne
Modern Family
Scott Pilgrim vs The World
Bradley Cooper
Last Words:
Maureen Johnson at Metropolitan Library System Libraries, April 5 – 7, 2011 (Facebook)
Gene Luen Yang at Tulsa City County Library System Libraries
Upcoming Books:
6 picture books selected by Cathie Sue and Jenny
As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins
Grim Legacy by Polly Shulman