We’re chugging along through August here and, well, who am I kidding? I’m really just counting down the days and minutes left until I can – finally! – read Mockingjay. Check back here on Tuesday, because I’ll be offering up my own personal predictions for what will happen, which is about all I can do, since my pre-ordered copy doesn’t arrive until Wednesday. In the meantime, I promise you that this week’s book news is (mostly) Suzanne Collins-free::
- The YA world is up in arms this week over the news that YA author Ellen Hopkins was disinvited from the Humble Independent School District’s Teen Lit Festival. Apparently one librarian had a problem with her books, thinking they were too “gritty” and asked the superintendent to rescind the invitation. Apparently, the superintendent didn’t even read Hopkins’ books before making this decision. It is truly a sad world when the will and desires of a few ignorant people overrule the will and desires of the rest. If parents don’t want their kids to read Hopkins’ books, then don’t attend the festival. But don’t deny a whole lot of other people the chance to hear and meet a favorite author. Uncool, Humble ISD, very uncool.
- However, in a totally awesome move, a handful of other YA authors who were also supposed to attend the festival have withdrawn in support of Ellen and in protest again censorship in any form. Pete Hautman, Melissa de la Cruz, Tera Lynn Childs, Matt de la Pena are all superstars in my opinion. I love authors who stick together and I gotta say, I’m more inclined than ever to support these five specific authors because they are standing up for the right to read whatever you want to read. It does suck for the teen fans of these authors, but it also sends a powerful message to the festival organizers that a few people shouldn’t be making decisions for the majority (this country is not an oligarchy, after all.)
- And it seems awesome authors are the standard this week, because I just love the idea behind the “Smart Chicks Kick It” author tour. A group of female, mostly YA, authors came together to organize their own book tour so they can meet readers together. You don’t hear enough about how authors support each other, so I love that these women are making this known publicly. I think it’s false to say that authors compete against each other; yes, they all want to sell books, but pitting them against one another, a la The Hunger Games, doesn’t help the authors and it certainly doesn’t help the readers. These smart chicks are proving that it really is all about “together we rise or fall.” I’m just bummed that the Smart Chicks tour isn’t coming anywhere near me.
- Where do obsolete English words go? To the Save the Words website, of course. Oxford Dictionaries are trying to encourage people to “adopt” English language words that are bordering on extinction, with the hope that increased use will bring these words back from the brink. I mean, really, you’d be tempting theomeny by not using these words and saving one would be an isangelous act.
- Mikael, meet your Lisbeth. The producers of the upcoming American adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo have announced that relatively unknown actress Rooney Mara will star as Lisbeth Salander in the film (and, presumably, its sequels). Mara will play opposite 007 superstar Daniel Craig, who has already been cast as intrepid journalist Mikael Blomkvist.
- A new book debate is apparently raging on Twitter over whether or not to put ads into books. Here’s my two cents: no, no, no, absolutely not, no, never, no, no. (I think you get the idea). Mostly, this idea just makes me sad. We’ve already commercialized so much of our lives. It’s both somewhat inevitable and deplorable that the idea has made its way into the publishing world. I’d hate to see my favorite books from childhood filled with advertisements designed to sway kids away from reading. Just, no.
- Lastly, some random fun stuff: (1) The Huffington Post has a gallery of great movies starring librarians who save the day. Now there’s an untapped superhero idea: Super Librarian! (2) How cool is this Kansas City library’s parking lot? Very cool, that’s how. (3) Thanks to the wonderfully awesome ladies at Forever YA – my new favorite book blog – we have both the most swoonworthy YA couples of all time (I LOVE that they included Anne and Gilbert) and the Hunger Games drinking game: drink whenever Haymitch does and take a shot whenever a tribute dies. If you make it to the end of the book sober, you’re doing something wrong.
As always, happy reading!
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