TERI'S CORNER - Fall, 2006

Welcome to the latest installment which brings news of interest to readers of AUTHORS4TEENS.COM. Visit this link every month or so to catch up on the latest news in the world of YA literature. We will have information about which of the A4T authors have won awards, what new imprints and series you can expect to see coming from the publishers of YA literature. In addition, booktalks for books by the A4T featured authors will be included.

WHAT’S NEWS?

The "Academy Awards" of the children's book field were presented at the American Library Association Conference in New Orleans in June. Lynne Rae Perkins took home the 2006 Newbery for her novel CRISS CROSS, a story with multiple narrators that follow several adolescents over the course of one lifechanging summer. Newbery Honor Medals went to Jacqueline Woodson for SHOW WAY, WHITTINGTON by Alan Armstrong, HITLER YOUTH by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, and THE PRINCESS ACADEMY by Shannon Hale. Additionally, many YA books took home coveted awards. The Printz Medal for distinguished contribution to literature for young adults was presented to John Green for his debut novel, LOOKING FOR ALASKA. Honor Medals were awarded to BLACK JUICE by Margo Lanagan, I AM THE MESSENGER by Markus Zusak, A WREATH FOR EMMETT TILL by Marilyn Nelson, and JOHN LENNON: ALL I WANT IS THE TRUTH by Elizabeth Partridge.THE TEQUILA WORM by Viola Canales was awarded the Pura Belpre Award for distinction in literature for Hispanics. For complete details, see the ALA web site at: www.ala.org.

The following books were named as the Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults by the BBYA Committee of YALSA:

• Akbar, Said Hyder and Burton, Susan. Come Back to Afghanistan: A California Teenager's Story. Bloomsbury, 2005. $24.95. (1-58234-520-1).
• Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow. Scholastic, 2005. illus. $19.95. (0-439-35379-3).
• Buckhanon, Kalisha. Upstate. St. Martin's, 2005. $19.95. (0-312-33268-8).
• Green, John. Looking for Alaska. Dutton, 2005. $15.99. (0-525-47506-0).
• Lynch, Chris. Inexcusable. Simon & Schuster/Atheneum, 2005. $16.95. (0-689-84789-0).
• Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight: A Novel. Little, Brown/Megan Tingley, 2005. $17.99. (0-316-16017-2).
• Vaughan, Brian K. Runaways: Volume 1 HC. Illus. by Adrian Alphona. Marvel, 2005. $34.99. (0-7851-1876-4).
• Westerfeld, Scott. Peeps. Penguin/Razorbill, 2005. $16.99. (1-59514-031-X).
• Wooding, Chris. Poison. Scholastic/Orchard, 2005. $16.99. (0-439-75570-0).
• Zusak, Markus. I Am the Messenger. Knopf, 2005. $16.95. (0-375-83099-5).

Making the Top Ten list for Reluctant Readers were the following Quick Picks Books:

• 50 Cent. From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside, Queens. MTV/Pocket Books, 2005. 0-7434-8644-7.
• Arakawa, Hiromu. Fullmetal Alchemist series, Volume 1. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-920-8. Volume 2. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-923-2. Volume 3. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-925-9. Volume 4. Viz, 2005. 1-59116-929-1.
• Benton, Jim. It's Happy Bunny: Life. Get One. Scholastic, 2005. 0-439-69346-2.
• De la Pena, Matt. Ball Don't Lie. Delacorte, 2005. 0-385-73232-5.
• Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. Little Brown, 2005. 0-316-16017-2.
• Oh, Minya. Bling Bling: Hip Hop's Crown Jewels. Wenner Books, 2005. 1-932958-02-9
• Perel, David. Bat Boy Lives! The Weekly World News Guide to politics, culture, celebrities, alien abductions, and the mutant freaks that shape our world. Sterling, 2005. 1-4027-2823-9.
• Shan, Darren. Lord Loss. Little, Brown, 2005. 0-316-11499-5.
• Volponi, Paul. Black and White. Penguin Viking, 2005. 0-670-06006-2.
• Whyman, Matt. Boy Kills Man. Harper Tempest, 2005. 0-06-074664-5

A complete listing of the BBYA and QP books may be found at www.ala.org/yalsa/

CONFERENCES

Scheduled for November 4, 2006, at the Sam Houston State University Literature Festival are Gary Paulsen and Marc Brown. For more information about the conference, visit on-line at www.shsu.edu/~libraryscience.

Diane Tuccillo, chair of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN) announced her slate of speakers for the 2006 conference to be held November 20-21, 2006, in Nashville. The following A4T authors will present sessions during the two day workshop:

• Ellen Wittlinger
• Tamora Pierce
• Gail Giles
• William Sleator
• Donald R. Gallo
• Jane Yolen
• Robert Lipsyte
• Paul Janeczko
• Chris Crutcher

For a complete listing of the authors who will present, visit www.alan-ya.org

MAKING A LIST AND CHECKING IT TWICE

Students in grades 7-12 across the United States have the chance to read and vote on their favorite books each year. This program, sponsored by the International Reading Association, helps us hear the preferences of teen readers. NOTHING TO LOSE by Alex Flinn, CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE by Todd Strasser, WORLD'S AFIRE by Paul Janeczko, and THE BOY WHO COULDN'T DIE by William Sleator are some of the final 30 books to make this list. All four authors are A4T subjects. For a complete listing of YA Choices, see: http://www.reading.org/downloads/choices/yac_bookmarks_2006.pdf

Other lists are available at: www.reading.org

GENRE GOSSIP: Content Area Reading

As a former public school teacher, I often heard my colleagues in other content areas lament the lack of good books for history, science, math and the like. Today's wealth of YA literature has provided more and more links to content area classrooms. Here are just a few books, published in the last three years, that could tie to other curriculum classrooms.

Key: ELA = English/Language Arts; MS = Middle School; HS = High School; INT = Intermediate School

• Choldenko. Gennifer. AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS. Set in 1935 on Alcatraz Island, this is the story of a young boy dealing with is autistic sister and his new apartment, on the prison grounds. (MS) History
• Clements, Andrew. THINGS NOT SEEN. Bobby wakes up invisible one morning. Complications arise when his parents are injured in a car accident. How can his absence be explained? (MS) Science
• Curtis, Christopher Paul. BUCKING THE SARGE. Luther Farrell has a former drill sergeant mother and a whole heap of trouble when he dares to challenge her. (MS) Science and Social Studies
• DiCamillo, Kate. THE TALE OF DESPERAUX. A mouse falls in love with a princess and ventures into the dungeon to rescue her when she is kidnapped by a rat. (INT/MS) ELA
• DuPrau, Jeanne. THE PEOPLE OF SPARKS. Sequel to CITY OF EMBER shows how the two groups of people must learn to get along and share. (MS) Science
• Going, K. L. LIBERATION OF GABRIEL KING. Gabe and his best friend Frita spend the summer confronting their fears. Little do they know that their biggest act of courage is still in front of them. (INT/MS) History
• Greenberg, Jan and Sandra Jordan. ANDY WARHOL: PRINCE OF POP. Bio with loads of art and photos. Enjoy the 15 minutes. (MS/HS) History and Art
• Hartman, Holly. GIRLWONDER: EVERY GIRL'S GUIDE TO THE FANTASTIC FEATS, COOL QUALITIES, AND REMARKABLE ABILITIES OF WOMEN AND GIRLS. What more could I add? (MS/HS) Social Studies
• Janeczko, Paul. TOP SECRET: A HANDBOOK OF CODES, CIPHERS, AND SECRET WRITING. Want to communicate in secret? Make invisible ink? Solve cryptological puzzles? This book can help. (INT/MS) Science and Social Studies
• Jung, Reinhardt. BAMBERT'S BOOK OF MISSING STORIES. Bambert sets his stories aloft to see if they can travel to far away places and find their own settings. (HS) ELA
• Leitich Smith, Greg. TOFU AND T. REX. Two teens, one vegan, one carnivore, find themselves unusual allies. (MS) Science
• Lester, Julius. DAY OF TEARS. This novel in monologue and dialog recounts an historical event in which more than 400 slaves were auctioned over the course of two days. (MS/HS) History
• Lowry, Lois. MESSENGER. The final book in the GIVER story brings the story full circle. See what happens to Jonas and Kira. (MS/HS) Science
• McKissack, Patricia. TO ESTABLISH JUSTICE: CITIZENSHIP AND THE CONSTITUTION. An examination of rights for various groups including people of color, homosexuals, the disabled, and others. (MS/HS) Social Studies
• Peck, Richard. THE RIVER BETWEEN US. Peck's venture into history is lyrical and haunting and covers a topic rarely found in the literature of the Civil War. (MS/HS) History
• Prose, Francine. AFTER. After a shooting in a neighboring school, the new grief counselor at Central High enacts some disturbing new policies. (HS) Social Studies
• Riordan, Ric. THE LIGHTNING THIEF. Percy (short for Perseus) defeats a minotaur and other dangerous mythical beings on his way to fulfill his destiny among the immortals. (MS) Mythology
• Schmidt, Gary D. LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY. Winner of a Newbery and Printz Honor, this historical fiction story tells of an unusual and forbidden friendship. (MS) History
• Tashjian, Janet. VOTE FOR LARRY. This sequel to THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LARRY fulfills the promise of the first book nicely as Larry (aka Josh Swensen) runs for President of the United States. (HS) Social Studies
• Truss, Lynne. EATS SHOOTS AND LEAVES: THE ZERO TOLERANCE APPROACH TO PUNCTUATION. This warm and humorous adult bestseller tackles the tricky problems that arise when one does not punctuate properly. (HS/AD) ELA

FROM THE PUBLISHERS

Stone Arch Books has added graphic novels that present classic stories in the new format. Puffin Graphics has already launched with graphic presentations of classics as diverse as MACBETH, FRANKENSTEIN, and THE WIZARD OF OZ. First Second is the new graphic novel imprint from Roaring Brook Press. Look for more and more graphic imprints as this genre/format continues to gain wider appeal.

BOOK TALK SPOTLIGHT: Graphic Nonfiction

The publication of the 9/11 Report in graphic format has certainly set an interesting standard in the world of publishing. Few of us read the 9/11 Commission's report in full, I suspect. However, this slim graphic representation condenses hundreds of pages into under 100 pages. Nor is this use of graphic format for nonfiction evident only in the 9/11 report. Several publishers are entering this new market. Gareth Stevens, Rosen, and W W Norton all are offering graphic nonfiction for intermediate and middle level readers.

ABOUT TERI

For those who may not know Teri Lesesne, you need to know she is a long time lover of YA literature having spent 15 years teaching middle school English and reading. For the past 10 years or so, Teri has had the great good luck to teach classes in YA literature at the Sam Houston State University in the Department of Library Science, www.shsu.edu/~lis_www, working with preservice and inservice teachers and librarians. In addition, Teri spends a great deal of time in schools talking to teens about books they might like to read and to teachers and librarians about which books just might motivate that reluctant reader. In her spare time, Teri rides a motorcycle along the back roads of Texas, writes reviews of YA books, and reads voraciously. You can email her (tsl@lcc.net) to let her know what you'd like to know more about in the months to come.