HVLA Winter Meeting

Good Morning Everyone! This is a reminder that this Thursday, February 26th, 2015 is our HVLA Winter Meeting at:

Williamsburg Northside School

299 North 7th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211

This meeting will be from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. 

We will be running roundtable discussions on LGBT Youth in the Library by division.

We are also collecting a list of gender and sexuality titles for each division prior to the meeting.

You can share titles using this Google Form.

There will be a social hour immediately following our meeting at Biblio Brooklyn at 149 North 6th Street.

"The Danger of a Single Story" Young Adult Style

This is perhaps already familiar to some but I recently found a blog called A Year of Reading the World. I cannot recall how I stumbled upon this but I found it very interesting. In turn, I also watched a TED talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called The Danger of a Single Story from TEDglobal 2009.

I love reading books from various places because I believe this helps us become more well rounded, empathetic individuals who aren’t caught up by stereotypes or media representations. This also got me thinking about YA books. I read a lot of YA both because I enjoy it and because it is a necessary part of being a middle & upper school librarian. I make sure to include books from various and diverse perspectives trying to hit all major identifiers but at the same time how many books do I purchase that are actually from other countries by authors from these countries?

Yes, I have books depicting Asian American characters and books with African American characters. I also have books originally published from the UK, Canada, and Australia. How many books do I have originally published from Kenya or from Laos? How many of these books are written by Kenyan or Laotian authors? How many contemporary books for young adult populations are published from these places? Clearly the United States publishes quite a bit, especially with the recent surge in films based on Young Adult novels but does the rest of the world follow suit? Perhaps they do but because I mostly read reviews from North American magazines and blogs have I developed a Eurocentric or North-Amerocentric (is this a thing?) view of young adult literature? Obviously, teens can read international fiction marketed to adult populations but is that the same thing?

I will note though that since 2006 USBBY has provided an Annual Outstanding International Book list which has great international reads for all ages. It is definitely a good starting point and we are mindful of including these texts in our collection.

Well what are your thoughts? Do you think it is important to include young adult perspectives from around the world? Is it sufficient to include literature about being Asian American, Latin American, etc? Is it sufficient to provide adult titles with YA appeal? Would our students be interested in YA books published and written elsewhere? Would our faculty members?

Upcoming Literary Events in NYC

Catch the 5th Wave! An Evening with Rick Yancey at Books of Wonder

Tuesday, February 10th, 6pm-8pm

Unconventional Teen Romance at Books of Wonder

Thursday, February 12th, 6pm-8pm

Authors include:

Heather Demetrios - I’ll Meet you There

Jasmine Warga - My Heart and Other Black Holes

Corey Ann Haydu - Life by Committee

Christina Moracho - Althea & Oliver

Sarah McCarry - Dirty Wings

Launch Event for the History Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes at Books of Wonder

Tuesday, February 17th, 6pm-8pm

Launch Party for Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman and Zach Ohora at Books of Wonder

Saturday, February 21st, 1pm-3pm

February Book Bonanaza 2 at Books of Wonder

Sunday, February 22nd, 1pm-3pm

Stephen Savage

Charise Mericle Harper

Julia Sarcone-Roach

Robyn Ng

Betsy Lewin

Down the Rabbit Hole and Beyond: Four Children’s Classics Revisited with Leonard S. Marcus at the 92nd Street Y

Wednesdays from February 11th - March 25th, 6:30pm-8:30pm ($400 registration)

Includes: Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan & The Secret Garden

A Celebration of Walter Dean Myers at Symphony Space

Sunday, March 8th, 5pm- 7pm

RSVP is required and can be found Here

YA Lit at the 92nd Street Y

New Twists on Old Fairytales

Tuesday, March 31, 7:30pm ($22)

Danielle Paige - Dorothy Must Die

Soman Chainani - The School for Good and Evil Series

Sara Benincasa - Agorafabulous!

Christopher Healy - The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw

How Shakespeare Works: A Free Night Course at Cooper Union: Great Hall

6:00pm Every Monday until May 11th

More information can be found here

Youth Media Awards!

It’s that time of year again! It’s time for the Youth Media Awards! This is one of the best days of the year! I was having a particularly unpleasant morning so it was nice to have this to look forward to.  I’m sure many of you who could watch watched or tried to stay updated. I watched until 9:30 when I had a class, alas. I am very excited about all the winners though I have to admit there were some surprises. This One Summer is a beautiful book but also a surprising Caldecott Honor. I found it interesting that there were only two Newbery honor books. Was personally hoping "The Night Gardener" would win an honor. It was Packer's 4th &5th Grade Mock Newbery favorite. I did however love that “I’ll Give You The Sun” won the Printz. It was one of my favorites. Anyway, for those who want an update in one place here they are! Feel free to leave any comments on your thoughts or add the awards I left out. I don’t have everything up but if you want it all you can find it here as well.

Alex Awards

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia

Bingo’s Run by James A. Levine

Confessions by Kanae Minato Translated by Stephen Snyder

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

Lock In by John Scalzi

The Martian by Andy Weir

The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice by Zak Ebrahim with Jeff Giles

Those Who Wish Me Dead by Michael Koryta

Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle

Schneider Family Book Awards

Best Young Childrens’s Book: A Boy and A Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz; Illustrated by Catia Chien

Best Middle Grades Book: Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Best Teen Book: Girls Like Us by Gail Giles

Stonewall Book Award

Honors:

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out Written & Illustrated by Susan Kuklin

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress by Christine Baldacchio, Illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant

Winner:

This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman, PhD Illustrated by Kristyna Litten

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement

Deborah D. Taylor

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award

Honors:

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson, Illustrated by Hadley Hooper

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

Winner:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award

Honors:

Christian Robinson: Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell,

Frank Morrison for: Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown

Winner:

Christopher Myers: Firebird by Misty Copeland

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

William C. Morris Award

Finalists:

The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E.K. Johnston

The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Winner:

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero

Randolph Caldecott Medal

Honors:

Nana in the City illustrated by Lauren Castillo, written by Lauren Castillo

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art illustrated by Mary GrandPré, written by Barb Rosenstock

Sam & Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett

Viva Frida by Yuyi Morales

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant

This One Summer illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki

Winner:

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

John Newbery Medal

Honors:

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Winner:

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Michael L. Printz Award

Honors:

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

Winner:

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson