Another one bites the dust….the Kite Runner now on Top Ten Most Challenged Books List

According to the ALA, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner has now joined the list of top ten most challenged books in 2008. Or, as the Guardian UK has put it, “Kite Runner joins gay penguins on top 10 books Americans want banned“, referring to Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s And Tango Makes Three, a story [...]

On my bookshelf….

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Vol. 1, The Pox Party: written by YA author M.T. Anderson (who previously wrote the YA vampire novel, Thirsty), Octavian Nothing is a story of historical fiction set around the time of the American Revolution and it is about science, intelligence, experimentation and racial prejudice — a book that [...]

We’ve got the (Shojo) Beat: Adventures in YA Periodicals

At my old library in Calgary Shojo Beat was one of the most heavily circulated YA periodicals. It circulated until, literally, the covers fell off and the spines split. And even then library staff attempted to mend it using heavy-duty tape to try and circulate it once or twice more to meet the demand. Shojo [...]