I am sitting at my kitchen table, it is 5:27 am, and I am finishing up my last assignment for LS 483, YA Literature. What a roller coaster ride it has been!

When I got the reading list from my professor I was floored-22 books??? In 12 weeks??? YIKES!! I have always prided myself on being a really fast reader. Really fast. Read a 200 page book in 24 hours fast. But there were some weeks (not many, but a few) where I just could not get through the book in a week( Book of Lost Things, Neverwhere) I think this because I am a book whore. I’ll pimp myself for a good story. I like the words to roll around in my head for hours. I savor words. I savor books. Especially books with lucious plotlines. I move slowly through these books enjoying every delectable word. Why rush the enjoyment? Oh, yeah-gotta finish it by Saturdays class. Bummer. Yeah. And there were others I just.couldn’t.read.another.word. Gossip Girls, anyone (sorry, Amber)? Will I finish the unfinished books? Not sure. Possibly after I take a long break from reading. My brain is burnt like toast.

I am very glad we used the Developmental Assets as a guideline for our readings. They put everything into a framework that is very clear and understandable. I didn’t agree with every word-some were stilted and were showing their age. Overall, if one is working with teens in any capacity the assets are an excellent starting point. They put YA literature into a developmental structure (for lack of a better word), where we can defend our collection choices.

Over the course of the semester I have/am developing the ability to separate myself from the books. Now, I can ask myself the question “Do I (as a middle age white woman) like this book because of where I am now? Or could I enjoy this book if I am a teenager?” I didn’t even realize that question even existed five months ago! Am I looking back on this book as a grownup or could I see myself reading this book as a teen?? A thought I will always keep in the back of my mind as I continue down this path.

The selection of books we’ve read over the course of the semester has stretched me in many, many different directions. I would have never picked up Gossip Girls (sorry Amber), or watched Gilmore Girls (sorry Becky).. I would have never picked up a manga like Garageband, or read Nineteen Minutes. I have a challenge for myself that I will start making my way through YALSA’s Quick Picks & Best Books over the summer (and to be continued through the Fall if school allows!). I’ve read wonderful books (Neverwhere), funny books (Naomi & Elys..), sad books (Nineteen Minutes), and I am so glad I did.

Looking forward…I really would like to work with kids/teens in some capacity. My local public library REALLY needs to get more teens involved. I am going to volunteer there this summer….perhaps I can suggest some stuff while I’m there?? Here’s hoping! Can’t wait to get going…..
……………after I give my brain a wee rest!

After reading this weeks book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” and the two articles I began thinking of all of the “tribes” I belong to:

*Moms*

*Sisters*

*Professional Women*

*Students*

*Aunts*

*Crones*

*Unitarian/Pagan?Quaker*

*Female Friend*

I am sure there are more, but for each of these “tribes” I have a different “persona”.  I speak differently, I move differently, I think differently.

What about teens?  They are:

*Sons/Daughters*

*Brothers/Sisters*

*Cousins/Aunts/uncles*

*Students*

*Athletes*

*Teachers (some)*

*Friends*

Not to mention all of the cultural/sexual/class/religious “tribes” they belong to.  Of course they will need help tranversing all of these divides!

I LOVED “…Parttime Indian” for this reason-James had so many divides in his life-Indian/White, Clean/Alchoholic, Smart/Not-smart, Pacifistic/Violence.  Rich/Poor. He negotiated these divides with great wisdom (almost too much-a little too didactic), and I felt soo uplifted at the end.  He is a survivior.  He would give hope and inspiration to any teen that is questioning their identity.

Dear James,

*I* am listening to you. I understand you as much as an middle-age woman can understand an 18 year old guy. I too, was sent to a psychotherapist (though at a younger age 9? 10?) for “failure to communicate”. Whatever that means….. Yeah, I didn’t talk to my parents, or my kid sister, or my teachers often for weeks at a time. The adults around me were convinced I had something awful wrong with me. I didn’t. I just didn’t have anything to say to them. I had an interior dialog that was non-stop. I was my own best company. I still have a serious problem with “small talk”. “Small talk” is nothing short of hellacious. OK sorta strong. I can make the chit chat but it doesn’t come easily, at all. I am really glad you have your grandmother to talk to. She seemed really nice. I wish I could have met her. Good luck with Brown. Sometimes all you need to do is get away (is that why you were looking at houses in the mid-west?). Well, good bye, and good luck and if you would like to talk I am here.

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Would teens like James?? Hmmm.. He does seem really sophisticated and self aware for an 18 year old. But some older teens are like that. I know I was a real pain in the keester for my parents about doing things “properly”-talking, eating, dressing. I was little Miss Etiquitte for quite some time. I am sure my parents thought they couldn’t do anything right with me around. What a pain! I would love to talk with them now and get their take on living with a 15 year old Emily Post. Perhaps it is this teen that would enjoy James. Boys vs girls? Not sure…

is freeing and..yes…a tiny bit scary!

It is so liberating to read Good Girls (and all of the books we have read thus far, actually) with the honesty with which the sexual scenes are handled is so refreshing! I feel we, as one source of information for teens, need to be as honest as humanly possible about sexuality and sexual information. We know they are active, they know that we know, so why can’t we be honest about the whole deal?

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Because we (read Americans) are decended from Puritans (read Prudes), and that dark cloud hangs over us still. Every once in a while there is a ray of sunshine that breaks through the cloud, but it has been rare. Luckily the Puritan Prude Cloud is breaking up thanks to all of the authors who are willing to go out on a limb and write honestly of teens sexual experiences. The good, the bad, the beautiful. It.Needs.To.Be.Said. The more we speak the less charged these books will be.

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But I will admit I am still a little timid about talking about books with highly overt sexual themes. All the “what if’s” come up. What if this book is too much. What if this book is not enough. What if I am challenged? What if a teen asks for a book that is totally wrong for them? Do I say anything? Do I stay or should I go??!!?? All I can do is trust my gut and my heart and do my best.

PS Should get some interesting spam from this posting!! LOL!!

I am soo glad we are touching on this topic!  Having  almost 17 year old and 13 year old sons the military is not far from our minds.  Especially when my 17 year old was thinking about joining.. ACK!  Luckily he has only mentioned it once, very much in passing (I think), and hasn’t raised the subject again.  I did catch him looking at this weeks article that I’d left on the kitchen table (by mistake/on purpose-our way of communicating). I am thinking about sitting down with him and having a mujer y mano talk with him – this is not something I am letting go of!

The article by Brian Boies is an excellent resource for librarians.  It compiles various resources – books, magazines, articles, websites. Mr. Boies is honest about the quality of the resource-he mentions any biases, and any shortcomings.

There are other resources that might speak to teens (most of these are from the AFSC website http://westernmassafsc.org/

http://quakerhouse.org/documents/enlist.html Explains the enlistment form in plain english.

http://westernmassafsc.org/CR/TimeOfWar.pdf A short PDF written to school counselors, but that has important information for teens.

And MOST important:

http://westernmassafsc.org/CR/NOCHILD.HTM The letter that the school principle & guidance counselor needs for your child’s name to be taken off the enlistment lists.

Can you tell this is an issue close to my heart??

Peace.

I’ve been reading the YPulse blog on teen rock bands and checking MySpace to check them out.

They are all sooo young! The oldest (looking) member of Tokio Hotel can’t be much older then his mid-teens, and the others look 14-15ish. Wow! Whatis it like to have 84,000 fans at the age of 15? Another great teen band is Light of Doom. I think the oldest is 17 or so.

I think kids really like to see themselves in these bands. How many of us secretly (or not so secretly) play air guitar in front of our bedroom mirrors? Or do a Dropkick Murphys imitation in the shower??  Ok, ok this last one can be kept private.

Oh, but I do feel (old?) when the bands I’m enjoying are my kids age…..

OK, since I usually don’t read YA Lit as a matter of choice (though this is changing radically) I am setting up a challenge for myself (and anyone else that wants to join in!).

I am going to try to read one book from the YALSA Best Books list and one book from the Quick Picks list a week, starting with the 2008 lists. Of course, school work will prevail (won’t get much read until the middle of May) but I will attempt to get through as many as I can this summer. And library availability will determine the order that books are read.

I will update this blog with books I’m reading/books read.

Books I am reading:

Thin- Greenfied (watching the DVD)

Glass-Hopkins

We’ll see how this goes!

These websites/blogs were just posted to the publib-l email list.  They look wonderful for collection development/ readers advisory if you are looking for tame/non-violent/non-sexual books:

http://www.whichbook.net/

A readers advisory linked to the British Library system

http://cleanreads.blogspot.com/

A US blog that reviews books without profanity or graphic sex.

http://www.flamingnet.com/

A blog that is written by teens for teens that reviews clean books.

I thought these might help with our collection development assignment!

Ok, Ok, thanks to our discussion on Saturday (thanks everyone!) I am starting to see the light. For myself The Gossip Girls WAS just REALLY boring (sorry, Cecily!). Not much story, and yup all the brand-name dropping got really old after a while. I was never into brands of any kind (can you say hand-me-downs until I was 13? ),and I never will understand the pleasure of shopping (boring!), HOWEVER…………

I now, do understand the attraction that Gossip Girls has on teen girls. We all do aspire to be something that we are not, and the Blair/Serena/Nate triangle is bound to cause agony. And Jessica’s foray into pharmaceuticals to speed her development is something that has crossed the mind of quite a few young teens (hopefully not acted on). However superficial Blair and Co. seems they all are going through the same angst and heartbreak that all (or most) teens go through at some point. Unlike us mere mortals, when the going gets too painful the GG’s can spend their way into blissful oblivion. But..they are also learning the life lesson that you can have the Prada bag, the Jimmy Cho shoes, and all the gold your neck can wear and you will still feel the pain and the confusion of growing up-something that some adults are still struggling with!

I found the following in a blog on the YPulse website:

” “Be yourself” is a piece advice that has come out of the mouths of parents, teachers, and pop icons for a long time. For high school girls, this is not good enough. According to the New York Times, teen girls can be themselves as long as they’re perfect. The Times follows girls who attend a prestigious high school in the very affluent Newton, Massachusetts. These girls are under pressure to push themselves past their limits in order to get into elite colleges and universities. Like the Newton teens, many girls feel the pressure to do it all: AP classes, honors, perfect test scores, sports, being thin and pretty, performing arts, jobs, clubs, and maintaining a healthy social life. They are pressured to do all this as though it’s easy.”

I thought this very aplicible (sp) to the Gossip Girls. It isn’t easy keeping it all together when everyone is demanding so much of you.

Caught this article in the latest ALA newsletter:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/03/23/ST2008032301758.html

Everyone probably already saw it but I thought it is very interesting.  The students in our middle school (7-8 th) have reading levels that range from 3rd grade to college level.  How do you find a book for a 14 year old that has the reading level of a 10 year old and the sensibilities of a 14-15 year old?  These kids aren’t necessarily reluctant readers – they just can’t read for whatever reason.    Likewise kids that are physically advanced but just not ready for literature made for their age.   The former doesn’t want to be dumbed down (for lack of a better term) and the latter shouldn’t be pushed faster than they are ready.

Yes, it is an artform and not a science!