There's an article on BoingBoing celebrating Women Reading Comics in Public Day.
Let's celebrate! (Perhaps by reading comics? In public?)
The Everett (WA) Public Library has an article filled with summer teen book reviews.
The Guardian (UK) newspaper has a really cool teen book page. It includes a discussion with Amnesty International on which books make teens feel differently about the world, an article on "What is Steampunk?", and much more.
Check it out!
This one's really well done.
Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupola
Here is an interesting article arguing that mermaids are the next trendy theme in YA. What do you think?
Contrariwise is a really cool website that documents literary tattoos, including at least one call number tattoo.
Fox News has an interesting article on 'literary food moments' in YA fiction. Yum.
Attention comic book and graphic novel fans! The Small Press Expo (SPX), an independent comics expo held annually in the DC area, is coming up September 15 and 16 in Bethesda. This year's special guests are: Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, and Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. You can find more info, including ticket info, here.
Let me know in the comments whether you think these sorts of library-related (but not directly TPML related) DC metro area community events announcements are useful or not, so I know whether I should keep posting them.
DISCLAIMER: TPML is in no way affiliated with SPX, so if they do crazy stuff, it's not our fault. (I personally suggest writing them a strongly worded letter in such a case, but if you prefer to scream into your pillow, that's up to you.)
This week's book trailer is for The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. In case you can't tell, I love him. So much. And I read this book this week, and then cried for about an hour. (That isn't a spoiler, as you know there won't be a happy ending: the book is about two teenage cancer patients who fall in love, so...) Super good!!!!
Last summer, an article in the Wall Street Journal argued that YA fiction had become too dark (figuratively) for teens. One YA author decided to assess the literal color distribution on YA covers as a tongue-in-cheek response, but discovered real issues with color and YA covers.
[If reading news articles isn't your thing, don't worry. There will be more fun stuff soon. And in the meantime, here is a pug who can sing along to the old 'Batman' theme. Hurray for the internet!]
There have been some interesting articles published recently on the reasons that female authors seem to dominate the genre of YA fiction: one by Meghan Lewit in The Atlantic, and one by Laura Miller in Salon. If you're interested, read them and tell us what you think in the comments.
If you like Francesca Lia Block's books, you'll love her blog, Love in the Time of Global Warming. She even has Polyvore sets posted for some of her characters!
Libba Bray also has a really cool author blog. Some of her posts get a bit political, so just be prepared if that isn't your thing. Of course, she also has a "Forget Your Troubles, C'Mon Get Happy" playlist...so take from that what you will.
Sara Zarr has a blog that's much more writing-process focused than the previous authors. She also has a podcast, This Creative Life.
And, as I've posted before, John Green has an incredible online presence. In addition to his author blog, he and his brother Hank have a vlog, Vlog Brothers.
NPR has put out a list of the best 100 YA Novels. The books were chosen based on a user poll. See how many you've read!
Here's a book trailer for Ship Breaker, by Paulo Bacigalupi. Another dystopian future (I promise I'll do another kind of book next week), this one is set in the US Gulf Coast.
The first entry in the Teen Book Buzz Book Trailer of the Week is a trailer for Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld (author of the popular Uglies series). Short version: Steampunk and genetic engineering in an alternate history of WWI. Check it out!
Hilarious Lady Gaga/Harry Potter parody video. Hufflepuff Pride! (Full disclosure: This library intern is a Ravenclaw, but both her siblings are Hufflepuffs. Rock on, badgers!)