Archive for December, 2005

December 19, 2005

Brent Hartinger's Book Unbanned–Sort of

Read Brent’s account here.

December 16, 2005

Tainted with a Seal of Approval

YA books are being challenged all over the place these days. In Texas, they’re making parents sign permission slips before they can read Cathy Atkins’ When Jeff Comes Home. In Maryland, a school superintendent, who has merely “skimmed” Carolyn Mackler’s The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things has pulled all copies from his school district’s libraries. Brett Hartinger’s Geography Club, a novel about a gay teen, has been removed from school library shelves on the laughably badly coded explanation that since the characters meet through an Internet chat room, the novel promotes “risky behavior.” Another writer friend has been invited to speak at a school, only to be told the 9th and 10th graders won’t be permitted to attend her talk, lest they be “exposed” to the very mild sexual content in her books.

My books have been described as “clean” in some quarters. Which, oddly, makes me feel dirty.

December 7, 2005

Gift Ideas for The Reading Teens in Your Life

What, you ask, other than Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude should I buy for the teen readers in my life for Christmas or Chanukah? A few YA and adult titles with a strong YA appeal follow.

Although I’ve linked to Amazon, which I find useful for browsing and reading reviews, I encourage you to support your local independent bookstores. You can find a store near you through Booksense.