There were two books keeping me sane during my wild and woolly flight back from Anaheim: Hunger Games from Suzanne Collins, of Gregor the Overlander fame… and Barry Lyga’s Hero-Type, reviewed on the blog by Carlie Webber.  Hunger Games was the one book I was determined to get at Annual, and it certainly lived up to its promise.

Hunger Games inherits the crazy premises of both Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” and Stephen King’s Bachman novella The Running Man.  It’s an unholy marriage to be sure, but the result is compelling, addictive, and relatable for a generation raised on the Survivor television series. (more…)

Even though Teen Tech Week was in March, our library used that time to promote something new (for us, anyway) - a teen video contest. One of the challenges we face as a medium-sized library system is keeping our programming lean and focused, so we combined two ideas to make this program work:

1) our Central Library wanted to have a teen video contest this spring

2) we needed high school involvement to fulfill a Big Read grant in April/May

The combination of the programming was great, as it allowed us to use contacts we’d made with Kansas City Public Television and TimeWarner Cable. We were also able to reach out to school districts in a different way through broadcast media classes. In addition to giving the contest a tight focus, we were also able to encourage teens to experience The Maltese Falcon, our Big Read pick.

We’re nearly ready to announce the winner - and we’ve had a lot of fun with this initiative. Check out the demo video that the KCPT interns made for us below, and try a video contest yourself - you won’t regret it!

It’s time to hear from election candidates again - this time those running for the Margaret A. Edwards award committee in 2010.

Candidates are: Terry Beck, Roxy Ekstrom, Kathie Fitch, Cathy Lichtman, Mary Anne Nichols, and Maren Ostergard.

First, tell us a little about yourself.

How do you decide if a book is a “window to the world” for young adults?

What strategies would you use to help the group achieve consensus on a winner?

What new, ineligible author do you think might make a great MAE winner in the far future? (Remember that eligible books must have been printed 5+ years prior to the current award year.)

Thanks for sharing your answers with the membership!
Erin Downey Howerton, MAE committee member 2008

The 2010 Michael L. Printz Award Committee is charged to select from the previous year’s publications the best young adult book (”best” being defined solely in terms of literary merit). Now is your chance to meet the hard working folks who want to spend the next year reading, and rereading, and rereading, and taking extensive notes on hundreds of titles competing for this prestigious award.

Running on the spring ballot for the 2010 Printz Committee are:
Priscille Dando, Teri Lesesne, Jack Martin, Richie Partington, Sheila Schofer, Ann Theis, Cheryl Karp Ward, and Carlie Webber.

Candidates:
1. Please tell us a little about yourself.

2. Tell us how you define “literary quality.”

3. The books will be coming at you fast and furious – what’s your reading plan for the year?

4. How do you promote the Printz winners in your library?

Thanks, and have fun introducing yourselves to the membership!
Erin Downey Howerton
2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award Committee Member