Supporting Teen Literature

I just happened to start this amazingly awesome (read: vain) book blog in the middle of National Library Week! During the week, different events and days are celebrated to put the glory that is the library in the limelight. Yesterday was Bookmobile day, not to thrilling from my personal opinion; nothing beats getting lost in the stacks for hours. Today is different; today is a day to Support Teen Literature (YA!)! I am a big fan of YA fiction and was considerably disappointed by the small "Teen Corner" my home branch of the library had to offer. Knowing just how many fantastic authors are and how many books are releasing on a weekly basis, it is a little underwhelming; so the YA section of the library is something that needs to be bolstered, loved,, and nurtured just a little.

This event is celebrated and promoted every National Library Week by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). They also host the teen choice awards of YA fiction. Last year's top choices had a couple titles that I knew, read, or recognized at the very least.

2010 Top Ten

1. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games Series) by Suzanne Collins -- Goodreads


2. City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare -- Goodreads


3. Heist Society (Heist Society Series) by Ally Carter -- Goodreads


4. Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series) by Maggie Stiefvater -- Goodreads


5. Hush, Hush (Hush Hush Series) by Becca Fitzpatrick -- Goodreads


6. Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles Series) by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl -- Goodreads


7. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen -- Goodreads


8. If I Stay (If I Stay Series) by Gayle Forman -- Goodreads


9. Fire (Seven Kingdoms Trilogy) by Kristin Cashore -- Goodreads


10. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson -- Goodreads

2011 Nominees Are...

1. Drought by Pam Bachorz
2. I am J by Cris Beam
3. You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin
4. Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black & Justine Larbalestier
5. The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
6. The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
7. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
8. Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins
9. Matched by Ally Condie
10. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
11. Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
12. Lies by Michael Grant
13. Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
14. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
15. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
16. I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
17. Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore
18. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
19. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
20. The False Princess by Ellis O'Neal
21. Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson
22. Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
23. Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith
24. Behemoth by Scott Westerfield
25. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Voting for the top ten will begin August 22, 2011! I haven't read a lot of these so if you have feel free to let me know what you thought!

The Beginning of Something New

In August 2005, I left home for college in Central Kentucky some two and half hours away. I was single, fresh out of high school, and still determined at that point. As always, college is never what you expect and I wasn't living the party life, I wasn't walking downtown, I wasn't even making that many friends. I was the quiet type who was overwhelmed by the overburdening coarse work and living on the fourth floor, a building away from the elevator. I struggled with 8AM classes and extra curricular activities that extended way into dinner time.

At a certain point our freshman year, my roommate (a friend I had had since Kindergarten) was tasked with the assignment that sent her to the public library entirely in walking distance from where we were. We were still solid at that point so I opted to go with her and I at that point, some 5 or 6 years ago, I registered for my Lexington Public Library Card.

It wasn't that impressive back then. I didn't even check out a single book, hook up with the WiFi or rent a movie, I just had a fancy card (which at the time was rather ugly). It fell by the wayside; I had my own university library and the only thing I had time to read was the crappy stuff that I didn't have a choice about (ie. homework).

But after recently leaving World of Warcraft, I found myself looking at my bookshelf wishing that it was fuller (it is small so it is full but I want a BIG one!), wishing there was more of an option than age-old favorites like Harry Potter or Twilight.

So I decided to join GoodReads and I took up part of the Reading Challenge. I found book reviews from some community friends like Jaedia and links to other book blogs and I found myself thinking about reading. I'm pretty slow, and pretty peculiar about what I read (I prefer Young Adult or Romance) but I want to read and so here I am...5 or so years later getting a brand new library card!

The system is a little different, they give us the option for a key-fob (those are my mini obsession) and they're much more attractive than Times New Roman on a green background too! They have an online process completed by full registration with an ID and everyone is incredibly helpful, the moment you begin to look lost they're there!

So here I am, sitting and blogging in the Beaumont Center Public Library and squeeing like a 5 year old girl about to own her very own bicycle. I don't know where this journey will take me but I'm walking the path. The interest that I have in this isn't shared by most of my circle, only hints on the wind of interest it seems, but that is okay because I am doing it for me.