Fairy tale retellings often feel like a dime a dozen.  Whether they’re modernized or grounded in the past, gender flipped or boundaries blurred, the heart of the fairy tale must remain.  Otherwise, the retelling feels cold and disconnected, lacking all the magic of the original story.  But sometimes, a retelling gives the fairy tale a new complexity and shading.

Beauty
Robin McKinley
Published 1978
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In dream library world, planning would probably be Step 1 in building a graphic novel collection.  But in real library world, I didn’t make a plan for how to define, collect, catalog, process, and shelve graphic novels.  I just started buying them.

As I’ve blithely added materials to my graphic-novel-and-nonfiction collection, I’ve run into all kinds of interesting questions: If I shelve my graphic novels by author, am I devaluing the role of artists?  If I have a graphic adaptation of a novel, like Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, do I shelve it under the name of the adaptor, or the original author?  Can I make a meaningful distinction between superhero comic books and other graphic novels?  If I do make that distinction, where do I put series about heroes without superpowers?  And don’t even get me started on nonfiction. (more…)

Once upon a time, being homosexual in a YA novel meant you were the sidekick, if you were lucky.  If you were the main character, you could be abused, raped, beaten, or even killed.  Homosexual characters didn’t get happy endings–until Annie on My Mind.

Annie on My Mind
Nancy Garden
Published 1982
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Intellectual freedom is hard sometimes.

As a student of the amazing Ann Curry, I learned a thing or two about dealing with censorship, and in my four years at a public library in a mid sized Canadian city, I have had my fair share of parents complaining about books that are too sexy, too druggy, too violent, too magical, too realistic, too Christian, not Christian enough – the list goes on. And for all of those parents I have brought out my typical line of “I’m sorry that this book offended you, but…”, they have gone their merry way, possibly a little mad and likely to come back and steal the book later just to spite me, but I don’t have a problem with that. Well I do have a problem with it, but it’s out of my sphere of influence, so I can’t do much about it. Also, I will just order the book again. (more…)

One of several YA classics written by the late Robert Cormier, I Am the Cheese is a tense psychological study.  A young teenager named Adam starts on a bike ride from Massachusetts to Vermont.  At the same time, Adam is being questioned by an unknown man about his personal history.  What is the connection between these two stories?  The reader is left to figure that out over the course of the novel as a creeping sense of unease develops.

I Am the Cheese
Robert Cormier
Published 1977

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Imagine this: all your life, you’ve been underestimated. You’ve been patted, petted, cooed over and kept in an imaginary cage. Always back by curfew, only had one boyfriend. You’re never allowed to do anything “cool”, and you go to one of the most prestigious academies in Massachusetts. Oh, yeah- and your family calls you “Bunny Rabbit”.

That’s the life of Frankie Landau-Banks. And she’s had her fill of it.
This year, all that is going to change. (more…)

A question came up on a library listserv I lurk at, asking about library policies and procedures on cataloging and circulating ARCs, and whether there were prohibitions. It’s a question I see asked every now and then, on listservs, blogs, or casual conversation.

I wonder — is there any other area  that is so clear cut, yet so often ignored? Information about an ARC is on the ARC itself.

An “ARC”, often called a “Galley”, is an “advance review copy”. Briefly, it’s a bound paperback advance version of a book, printed by publishers to distribute to booksellers, librarians, and reviewers, to create buzz, reviews, and sales. It is not the final version of the book. (more…)

Teens can voice their choice for their favorite books by voting in YALSA’s annual Teens’ Top Ten poll! Voting is open now through Sept. 18. YALSA extended the voting period this year to four weeks, with more time for teens to fit voting into their busy schedules, particularly at the start of the school year. We’ll announce the winners in a webcast during Teen Read Week, Oct. 18-24.

How can you encourage teens to vote? There are plenty of ways. Read on to find out more…

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A moving story of tolerance in the Deep South during World War II, Summer of My German Soldier isn’t about civil rights or post-slavery relations.  There is some of that, but the bigger issue is tolerance between Jew and German, as a young Jewish girl finds the person who makes her feel good about herself–and that person is a young German POW.

Summer of My German Soldier
Bette Green
Published 1973

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It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child. In this book, it takes an unusual village to raise an orphaned child: a graveyard full of spirits from all walks of life and different time periods. Each ghost brings new adventures to young Bod’s life. Meanwhile, the murderers of Bod’s family are determined to kill Bod in order to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy. (more…)