Book Event: Brave New Teenagers featuring...me!

You may remember last summer I attended a Book Event at the New York Public Library, titled Girl Power? Teenage Heroines in Young Adult Dystopian Fiction. I loved the event so much and had so much to think about it I covered it in three parts on my blog: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

The presentation was built out from presenter Katherine Broad's research as part of her PhD, as well as the book she was co-editing with two others, all about YA dystopian lit. Back in the fall, I got an e-mail out of the blue from Kate, asking me to participate in the book release party! I was stunned, and honored, and the big day is finally here!

If you're going to be in New York City tonight, I invite you to come listen to me for a few minutes, as well as some other very smart people, at the Brave New Teenagers event at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 5th Ave) to celebrate the release of Contemporary Fiction for Young Adults: Brave New Teenagers edited by Balaka Basu,Katherine R. Broad, and Carrie Hintz. I'll be speaking for about five minutes about why I spent so much time blogging about dystopian lit before I took my semi-leave-of-absence from the blog (especially in light of the new job, which, BTW, is awesome, and I'm even doing some YA marketing now, so double-awesome).

A New Adventure

I started Bookish Blather back in December of 2008 with a few motivations:

• Underemployed and almost alone in a new city, I was reading more than ever and wanted a personalized way to track my thoughts
• Create an online portfolio proving my interest in and knowledge of young adult literature while I was trying to find employment in the publishing industry

I am so excited to announce that this month I've finally achieved my goal of working in the publishing industry - the entire reason I moved from Michigan to New York City. I am the new Marketing and Publicity Manager of Diversion Books. It's an ebook publisher, publishing a variety of new and backlist fiction and non-fiction - and even a small upcoming collection of Young Adult lit! I'm honored to be joining this company, and excited to start on this new part of my career.

While it's been awhile since I've posted a book review here, this post officially serves as my notice that I'm retiring from the reviewing business for now. Between the increase in time and responsibilities from the new job, plus potential conflicts of interest in reviewing within the industry I'm working in, it's best if I step back. I'll still blog here occasionally, documenting Book Events and the like - look out for a special announcement in May where I'll actually be a speaker at such an event!

Let me also use this opportunity to promote some of the new social media spaces I'm now managing:

Diversion Books on Twitter

Diversion Books on Facebook

Diversion Books on Google+

Diversion Books on Pinterest

Plus, you can still find me personally on Twitter and Google+. Don't be afraid to drop me a line and say hello and ask what I'm reading! (And fellow bloggers take note - I'm in charge of sending out review copies and arranging blog tours. Please contact me if you'd like to be in my blogger database!)

Happy reading everyone!

LGBT Book Blogging

If you're in the US, or are friends with USians on social media, you're probably aware already that LGBT rights, specifically same-sex marriage, is a Big Thing right now. The Supreme Court is hearing challenges to two major pieces of discriminatory legislation: California's infamous Proposition 8 (reversing marriage equality) and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (which doesn't allow the government to recognize marriage or anything like marriage between same-sex coupes). So the news is all over this, reporting breathlessly on oral arguments (despite it being almost impossible to predict which way any given justice will vote based on their reactions during oral arguments. Also, we really need to stop feeding the troll Scalia), and social media avatars are turning red and pink using the logo of the Human Rights Campaign (in related news, see why some people may not want to use the HRC's logo).

With that current-events background out of the way, here's how this post applies to books! I noticed The Horn Book has been writing extensively on LGBT-related books this week, and wanted to share their posts with you.

A Second Look: Annie on My Mind - Annie on My Mind was historic - a book about lesbian kids, told by those kids, and (spoiler!) no one dies at the end! Roger Sutton, editor of The Horn Book, "grew up" with Annie, as it's one of the first books he ever reviewed. He looks back fondly on the book and its historic place in the LGBT and YA canon.

What Makes a Good YA Coming Out Novel? - Claire Gross explores some more LGBT YA book history, looking at the growth and evolution of the "coming out" novel. While the best of these "weave their coming-out stories into larger dramatic narratives," the emphasis is still usually on finding one's identity and place in the world - making it not so different from the standard "coming of age" novel in general.

Too Gay or Not Gay Enough? - Iconic YA author Ellen Wittlinger looks at the reactions to her books and to her as a writer from two perspectives: those who find her books "too gay," and thus don't want to publicize her "controversial" works; and those who find her "not gay enough" - namely the Lambda Literary Award that changed its award parameters not too far ago so the award is now specifically for LGBT authors writing books about the LGBT experience.

If you want to read my own recommendations for LGBT-related YA books, look no further than my list of recommendations right here!