Readalert Roundup 9/3/07
I hope you realise we are living in a golden age of YA literature. This fantastic article from Seattle talks about how good YA books are at the moment, and how teenagers are buying books in quantities never seen before. There is no doom-and-gloom, kids-today-television-computers-ipods-socially-disaffected nonsense. It’s saying that young people read, and they read amazing, high-quality, challenging literature. Hurrah!
More Hurrah! Jonathan Hunt also sings the praises and complexities of YA in The Horn Book.
The most banned book in the US in 2006 was And Tango Makes Three, a picture book about a penguin with two dads. Also in the top ten were the Gossip Girl series, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things and that old chestnut, The Chocolate War.
Jenna Bush is writing a YA novel about a 17-year-old single mother in Panama who is living with HIV.
Readergirlz is awesome. Go there.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is shortlisted for a British Book Award. We’re looking forward to picking author John Boyne’s brain when he’s here for Reading Matters in May. Some other people are shortlisted as well, but they’re not coming to Reading Matters. Terry Pratchett is there. He was here last month. We are so cool.
Philip Pullman has granted the film rights of The Butterfly Effect to a Dutch production company for free.
