Teens’ Top Ten Voting Begins Monday! The Teens’ Top Ten opens for voting on Monday! Teens can vote for their favorite books from the past year at the Teens’ Top Ten website through Sept. 18. We’re giving teens four weeks to vote this year, to make sure that every teen’s vote counts. Winners will be announced in a webcast featuring World Wrestling Entertainment Superstars and Divas (plus a few special guests!) during Teen Read Week, Oct. 18-24.

Canada: The New Frontier for the WrestleMania Reading Challenge For the first time, YALSA and World Wrestling Entertainment will open registration for the WrestleMania Reading Challenge to Canadian residents, excluding Quebec. Registration at this time is open only to residents of Canada (excluding Quebec). Canadian librarians can sign up using an online form through Aug. 31.

Go Back to School with YALSA Relive your school days and sign up for YALSA’s top-notch professional development! We’re offering three classes for the fall session (including two brand-new courses). Join us for AIMing at Tweens: Advising, Involving, Motivating (taught by Teri Lesesne); Graphic Novels and Teen Readers: The Basics and Beyond (taught by Francisca Goldsmith) and Reaching Teens with Gaming (taught by Beth Gallaway). Read descriptions and register at YALSA’s Online Courses page. Registration ends Oct. 2.

After the jump, find out about how to propose a session or win a travel stipend for the YA Lit Symposium in 2010, encourage your patrons to nominate you for the 2009 I Love My Librarian Award, sign up for Teen Read Week, and more.

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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…)

“Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared.
Once upon a time, my name was not Alice.
Once upon a time, I didn’t know how lucky I was. ”

Living Dead Girl is a book you will love to hate.

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 Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith, a novel set in the same parallel world as her previous book Tantalize, is not the typical vampire romance. Instead it is a breath of fresh air as it explores a new fantastical pairing.

The story is told by Miranda, a high-schooler turned vampire (“Eternal”) princess, and Zachary, her adoring guardian angel. After Miranda joins the legions of the undead, she is adopted by the King of the Mantle of Dracul, otherwise known as the reigning Dracula. Because Zachary reveals himself as an angel while attempting to protect Miranda the night she is taken, he is stripped of his wings. (more…)

Fifteen years ago, the Mayor of the Education City  was presented with an unwelcome surprise by his superiors: twin six-month-old boys whom he must raise as his own. As the Mayor reluctantly accepted the two babies, Umasi and Zen, he had no way of knowing that when they grew up, they would change the city forever…

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Geek Charming by Robin Palmer
What would it be like to be popular?
Josh needs to know. He’s making a documentary about popularity for college. And since he was the savior of her drowning purse, Dylan, queen of the A-crowd, is in on it. But when the camera turns on, Dylan’s perfect world starts breaking apart, and her diva mask is shattered. Will Josh’s camera capture the real Dylan or the fake?
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Paper Towns by John Green is a fantastic book and a wild ride. Green takes the audience through the adventures Quentin ‘Q’ Jacobsen has with Margo Roth Spiegelman. Q is a very bright senior who is planning on attending Duke the following fall. He is fairly shy and mainly just talks to his band friends. However, he has always loved Margo from afar. One night Margo slips into Q’s room and she takes him on the craziest night of his life. The next day Margo disappears. Q is shocked but he finds clues that Margo left for him. He religiously follows the clues in search of Margo.
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Happy Support Teen Literature Day! Did you rock the drop as part of Operation TBD? Be sure to check in at the readergirlz blog today for the post-op party at 6 p.m. today! Thanks to readergirlz and Guys Lit Wire for helping YALSA distribute 8,000 teen books to pediatric hospitals and a HUGE thank you to the 18 publishers that supported Operation TBD this year by donating books.

Teen Read Week Kicks Off Today Teen Read Week 2009 registration is officially open! Register online at www.ala.org/teenread — the first 100 registrants will receive a free graphic translation of Fahrenheit 451 from TRW Promotional Partner Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Check out the updated Teen Read Week website for tips on planning your event and publicizing Teen Read Week in your community. Teen Read Week is Oct. 18-24, 2009, with a theme of Read Beyond Reality @ your library, encouraging teens to read something out of this world for the fun of it.

After the jump, the Teens’ Top Ten (see Teri’s post too!), this week’s Road Trip information, info on tributes to Judith Krug, and the Great Ideas Contest.

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The list of books nominated for the 2009 Teens Top Ten List are now available (http://www.ala.org/teenstopten).   Teens (from select teen groups) nominate the books. Then, teens across the country have the chance to read the books and vote for their favorites. This year’s list of nominees include the Newbery winning THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman, one of the Morris shortlist books, GRACELING by Kristin Cashore,  and National Book Award Finalist THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU BANKS by E. Lockhart.  Of course, there are the requisite vampires, dystopians, and  teen road trip books as well.

Get the list out to your teens now.  Encourage them to read.  Voting will take place in October.  What better way to celebrate TEEN LITERATURE DAY than to locate the ones you have not read and give them a test drive?

Before I post about TTT, I just wanted to remind anyone who has not done so to register for midwinter and to secure housing. I plan to come early and stay over a day or so and get to see some of Denver since most of what I get to see are the insides of the meeting halls.

Now to the TTT:

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson (more…)