The Incomparable William Sleator

Kristin informed me this morning that YA author,William Sleator, died. Sadness! William Sleator wrote some of the first YA science fiction novels I have ever read--and I remember them, in detail, to this day. House of Stairs, Into the Dream, Interstellar Pig, Singularity. . . these were just a few of his novels I devoured. I was speaking to one of my co-workers about WS tonight and she was foggy on the details of Interstellar Pig. I immediately piped up, reconting the twist ending and the chilling details of the alien abilities created in those pages. And I would tell them to you now except I'd hate to ruin IP for anyone who hasn't yet discovered it. Basic plot premise: Teenage Barney is spending a boring summer at a beach house with his parents. Things get more interesting when the exotic, college-age neighbors next door show up and introduce Barney to the elaborte and addictive game they play called, none other than, Interstellar Pig. Each player chooses an alien race card and plays viciously against the other players with the objective of winning a piece in the game called The Piggy---at any price. Soon Barney begins to realize the college kids have a fixation with his beach house; they're trying to get in, and Barney's unease grows the longer he plays their strange game and the more aggressive the older kids become in their endeavors to get into his house. Intertstellar Pig is just a game. . . or is it?

Truth be told, I haven't been as taken with William Sleator's more recent books. The Boy Who Couldn't Die was okay but not my favorite although it is full of the trademark chilling William Sleator touches. That's one of the things I like so much about his books--the stakes are high. Very high. And the reader is never quite assured that things will end well. In fact, they don't always end well. I recommend starting your William Sleator reading feast with Interstellar Pig, then following it with the sequel, Parasite Pig. For your third course, try House of Stairs in which a group of teenagers finds themselves imprisoned in a strange building with no doors, no windows, and only a series of rooms and stairs and flashing lights. Any food though? Maybe. Maybe not. Then finish your feast with Singularity, in which twin boys find a space in their backyard where time moves differently than in the rest of the world.

These books are science fiction though not overly technical. William Sleator had a knack for explaining difficult concepts easily and telling gripping stories in about 200 pages. These books are easy to read, will give you the creeps, give you a thrill, and keep you turning the pages. I'm sad there won't be any more Sleator novels. Well, readers do get one more. Sleator's last book, The Phantom Limb, is due out in October. Reading a plot synopsis from amazon, one understands why Publisher's Weekly once described Sleator as "gleefully icky." Icky but with brilliant ideas, dear readers. Icky but brilliant. RIP, William Sleator.

Teen Books in the News

This past week, we've three different interesting things on the Internet about teen books or authors. I thought I'd share the info just in case you hadn't heard.

Earlier this week, John Green announced the title of his new book, The Fault in Our Stars. Then he announced that he would sign every pre-ordered copy. By 9 p.m. that night it was #1 on Amazon's bestselling list. (It currently is still #1). With no cover art, no description beyond "the story of two young cancer survivors" AND it doesn't come out until MAY, 2012. That's very awesome. John Green has some pretty amazing fans. You can read a story about this from the Wall Street Journal.

Next yesterday, I found out that Drew Barrymore has selected Heist Society by Ally Carter as her next directing project. I love when teen novels get made into movies. Not necessarily because the movies are so good (Blood and Chocolate was soooooo bad), but because it introduces new readers to the books and perhaps to other books in the collection. But I'm particularly excited about this movie deal. Ally Carter has great strong girl characters which stay true to the situations they are put in. I talked about I'd tell you I love you, but then I'd have to kill you earlier this week. It's only fitting that I finish the week with her newest series.

And finally, for those Stephenie Meyer fans out there. No this isn't breaking news about a new Twilight story. I think I'm all Twlighted/Twilit out. No, her stand alone adult novel, The Host, is also being made into movie and has a release date! It also has a star, but I haven't heard who is directing it.

That's all the news I have to share today.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Today's highlighted book for the Banned Books Week is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

Karen wrote about this National Book Award winning book in 2007. The novel was pulled from a classroom this year after a parent deemed it offensive for mentioning masturbation. Currently it is still out of the classroom.

The novel focuses on Junior who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation for an all white school where the only other Indian is the school's mascot. Both humorous and poignant this title was both a bestseller and an award winning novel.

Our library has the capability to have patrons write reviews of books and here's what some of the reviews have stated:

"This book had me both simultaneously laughing and crying."
"Highly recommended for anyone who has a soul."
" I can't stop talking about this book to my friends and how much it made me think, reflect and ponder. "

And really that last statement is what we all want books to do to us, right? When we love a book, we want to discuss it, think about it, and give it to others!

Re-reads

There is a certain comfort to re-reading a book. Sometimes I'll sit down with a book and savor it all over again. Other times I'll go back and re-read the "good parts". This past week I was working with the teen fiction collection and came across Robert Cormier's books. When I was a teen, I tried to read Cormier's books, but couldn't get into them. At that point in my reading, I was only reading horror, so it's no wonder that they didn't appeal to me then. So I was reintroduced to Cormier in college and fell madly in love with his style. His realistic fiction pulls no punches. You think you see where he's heading and then he makes a sharp left leaving the reader blindsided.

The Chocolate War is one of the first books to try to read. It was written in 1974, but it doesn't feel dated. Maybe it's because he doesn't throw in pop culture into his books, maybe it's because the topic is still to this day relevant. Jerry Renault dared to defy his universe when he declines to sell chocolates at his school fundraiser. Even in the face of school pressure, peer pressure, and physical assaults Jerry says no. I tell people that this is the book that made me want to be a teen librarian. It's the book that opened my eyes that books don't have to be black and white. They can be gray--mixed with hope and destruction. Just be warned, it can be a devastating read.

After the First Death is another novel that was published in the 70s but feels like it could be today. I re-read this one right after 9/11 and was amazed by how well Cormier wrote this tense thriller. A school bus has been hijacked by terrorists. Narrated by the bus driver (a teen girl), one of the terrorist (a young man), the army general negotiating the release, and his son, this novel is gripping. The title is based on the premise that it's easier to kill once you have your first kill done. The bus driver who was supposed to be a middle aged man is supposed to be the young terrorist's first kill.

and finally, I am the Cheese, is the most mind-bending of them all. Adam is on a physical journey to find his father and a mental journey to find his past. Told in two forms: present tense, first person during Adam's journey; and past tense, third person in interviews the story unfolds in ways you will never see coming. One of the touching things about Cormier is that he cared about his readers. He never wanted to disappoint them. In this novel, a phone number is very important. Cormier didn't want his readers to call a number and not get a response, so he put his own number in the book. DISCLAIMER: Mr. Cormier passed away in 2000, so the number no longer would have him at it.

Out of all the authors I've read and loved, Mr. Cormier is the one author I really wish I could have met. His books bring something new to me in every reading.

What books do you re-read over and over?

Project Book Babe Event

Okay so I just found out about this cool author event being held in Tempe on April 4th. And how did I find out about it? A teen librarian in Massachusetts had a link on her blog about it. I'm assuming the event is aimed at the fans of the dozen or so authors instead of the librarians out there. Here's the link to their website: http://projectbookbabe.com/

This 3 hour event (2-5 p.m.) costs from $25-$100 and proceeds help Faith Hochhalter (AKA Book Babe) fight breast cancer. So not only do you get a seat to hear these great authors speak, a chance to win raffles and bid on auctions, and at least one signed book, you get to support a great cause.

I'd totally be going to this if I wasn't most likely having a newborn to deal with then! So, check out the website and see if any of these authors are your cup of tea (by the way, there are some big names here--including Stephenie Meyer and Shannon Hale).

American Library Association Annual Conference

So I'm currently at the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Anaheim. I'm always exhausted when I get back from a conference, but this time it's been a little different. I think I've grown used to going on 4-6 hours of sleep instead of my usual 8-10; being gone from 8 am until midnight or later each day; and tyring to remember all the meetings I'm supposed to attend. When I first began participating in the Young Adult Library Association (YALSA), I was able to attend author signings, professional development programs, and meetings about the best books written for teens. This year I have only been able to attend my assigned committees (intellectual freedom --three of them; and popular paperbacks for young adults). But I have been able to meet loads of authors at dinners and receptions!

I adore meeting authors and hear them speak. Their passion about writing and their books make me want to go out and read them even more! Plus, I get their books signed for people...

So I thought I'd mention some of the authors I met this time around.

Probably my favorite was Neal Shusterman. When I first heard of his new book Unwind, I immediately was reminded of the argument my mother would say whenever we were fighting. "It's not too late to abort you!" This book is set after the second Civil War. Before the age of reason--thirteen, life is precious and untouchable. But those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others. Unwind follows three teens who aer trying not to be unwound. With my mom's threat in my mind, I find this book fascinatingly creepy. Mr. Shusterman was very kind and listened to people gush to him about his writing and signed my book with a personalization!

At the same dinner, I spoke about Ellen Hopkins' books' popularity with our teens in Phoenix. I am always amazed that teens will read not only these massive tomes of books, but also about such gritty and edgy topics in VERSE! But they do and they love her honesty in the books. Her newest book, Identical, delves into the topic of sexual abuse. The library hasn't ordered this yet, but look for this fall.

At another reception, I met Melissa de la Cruz. You know, the lady who writes the massively popular Blue Bloods series! She was nothing like i imagined her to be. A teen asked me to look for an advanced copy of book three in the series. I am sorry to say that they only had a preview of an excerpt of it. I did get it so that the teen would be able to have at least that!

The last author I'm going to mention in this post is the winner of the Margaret Edwards Award. This award is for the life time achievement of writing for young adults (you know, teens!). This year's winner is Orson Scott Card. I was really interested in what he would talk about since he doesn't really like to discuss his books as well as the fact that there was some controversy over having him as the winner. His book Ender's Game is one of the best coming of age science fiction story I've ever had the opportunity to read. But besides that, he is an extremely gracious man. I spoke with him when I had a book signed by him. I had him sign it for my nephew who is a teen. He and his father read the series together and over Thanksgiving, he told his grandfather that he thought he would enjoy them. So my father-in-law asks me for the whole series so he can discuss them with my nephew. Here is three generations reading the same book and each finding valuable things within it to discuss with one another. How amazing is that! I'd love to hear about more experiences like that. I love how books can reach different aged readers!

So, there were some of the authors I met at the conference. I also received many advanced copies of books that I think people are going to love! But since I'm going to be on vacation soon, Karen will most likely beat me to reading those!