Did you register yet?

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Early Bird Registration for the’  Young Adult Literature Symposium opened this week.’  Early Bird Pricing* is available for those that register before September 10!

The symposium will focus on literature for young adults and is being held November 5 -7 in Albuquerque, NM.

Two YA Lit Symposium Stipend recipients were selected to receive up to $1,000 each to support attendance at the symposium.’  The winners are: Jessica Levy, student at University of California-Los Angeles’ Department of Information Studies, and Emily Dezurick-Badran, enquiry assistant at the Southend Central Library in Southend on Sea, Essex, United Kingdom. Congratulations!

If you would like to know more about the symposium, Albuquerque, or want to join in the conversation, visit the symposium website, wiki, or Ning.

*Early Bird Rates:

$195 YALSA and NMLA Members
$245 ALA Personal Member
$300 Nonmember
$50 Student

Hot Air Balloon Rides!

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Registration for the YA Literature Symposium begins soon!

While I was looking over the list of fantastic preconferences for the YA Literature Symposium – I saw that we can sign up for Hot Air Balloon Rides on Friday morning ($135). This is super – as Albuquerque is the Ballooning Capital of the World.

There is also an excursion to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center ($40) on Saturday night. Here visitors will learn about the history of the Pueblo people, tour the museum and snack on light refreshments.

Don’t forget to check out the YA Literature Symposium Webpage and Wiki for more information about the Symposium.

Diversity, Literature, & Teens — Programs Announced

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Have you started planning your trip to Albuquerque yet? The full list of programs for the YA Lit Symposium has been posted – and it looks like a great event!

Here’s a quick rundown of the programs that are planned:

  • Beyond Good Intentions and Chicken Soup: Young Adult Literature and Disability Diversity: How Far Have We Come?
  • Beyond Titillation: Sexuality and the Young Adult Novel
  • Celebramos Libros: Celebrating Mexican-American Literature!
  • Commercial Success and Diversity: Are Both Possible, or Are They a Contradiction in Terms?
  • Connecting Religious Teens with Literature
  • Doomed to Repeat It: Diversity in Historical Fiction
  • The Forms and Faces of Poetry for Teens
  • Heroes in International Literature
  • Images and Issues Beyond the Dominant: Including Diversity in Your Graphic Novel Collection
  • Looking for Diversity? Start with Your Own Teens
  • The New Gay Teen: Moving Beyond the “Issue” Novel
  • Talk the Walk: Learning New Booktalking Skills Designed to Reach a Variety of Diverse Teen Populations
  • readergirlz Special Ops: Reaching Underserved Teens

In addition to these programs, there will be four paper presentations.

  • Out of the Ghetto and into the Cape: The Changing Face of Graphic Literature
  • Pushing the Envelope: Exploring Sexuality in Teen Literature
  • Teens Today Don’t Read Books Anymore: A Study of Differences in Comprehension, Interest, and Engagement in Print Reading, E-book Reading, and Audiobook Listening
  • Cultural Inquiry, A Literature Based Model for Engaging Youth of Color

Keep watching the blog for additional information about the programs. Interviews with the presenters and sneak-peeks of the programs will be posted before the symposium!

For more information about the YA Literature Symposium – visit the YA Lit Symposium Webpage or the YA Lit Symposium Wiki.

Goodbye Snow, Hello Sunshine!

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Are you tired of the cold and miserable weather? Me too! Although I live in Tampa, this has been a very cold and wet winter. I really want to go somewhere warm and dry! I feel even worse because I’m looking at the fabulous weather that we’ll get to experience when we head to Albuquerque for the YA Literature Symposium in November. Albuquerque has some pretty great weather in the fall. November’s average high is 57⁰ and average low is 31⁰ – though in 2009 the temperatures were a little higher. And the best part – no snow and very little rain!

What else is great about Albuquerque? Check out the YA Literature Symposium Wiki for ideas about restaurants, excursions and more.

Beyond Good Intentions

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YALSA’s Young Adult Literature Symposium will be here before we know it! It’s scheduled for November 5-7, 2010 in Albuquerque, NM.

Beyond Good Intentions: Diversity, Literature & Teens is the theme of the symposium. The complete program is not available yet – but will be posted soon on the YALSA website. Updates about the symposium will be posted here on the YALSA blog. You can also join in the conversation on the Young’  Adult Literature Symposium Wiki.

I’ve never been to New Mexico, or any of the Southwest, so I’m very excited to go to Albuquerque! The symposium is going to be my main focus – but I do plan on exploring the area while I’m there. Eating at some of the local restaurants, shopping, and hot air ballooning are some possibilities.

Are you going?

Registration opens April 12th!

Update from the YA Lit Symposium Task Force

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We’re going to Albuquerque in November 2010! The YA Lit Symposium Task Force is very excited about the plans for the next Young Adult Literature Symposium: Beyond Good Intentions: Diversity, Literature, and Teens.

One of the best parts of being on the YA Lit Symposium Task Force is reviewing the symposium preconference, program, and paper proposals. This is where you come in – proposals are currently being accepted for the symposium. Does the current YA Lit meet the needs of your diverse teens? How do you use the literature with your teens? If it isn’t meeting the needs, what are some things that you are doing to meet their needs? What impact is current generation having on the literature world? The proposal deadline is October 1, 2009.

What do YOU want to learn about at the symposium?