During the Bloggiesta, I was asked by Carina at Reading Through Life to do an interview as part of her Reading Roots series - and the interview goes live today! Check it out!
Last year I was a judge in the Nerds Heart YA book tournament (check out my posts from last year here and here). The tournament is back for another year and nominations are open! If you know of a book that hasn't received a lot of blog love and falls into one of the tournament's seven under-represented categories, please nominate it! I'm not judging this year - instead I've been selected as one of the consultants who will be helping to whittle down the longlist of nominations into a more manageable shortlist. I'm incredibly excited to be working on this end of the tournament - it feels like I'm getting some sort of validation for the hard topics I like to address on the blog (because seriously, a lot of those "under-represented categories" are right in my wheel house: LGBT? Disability? CLASS?! Hell yeah!).
In non-book related news, the podcast that I mentioned a few weeks ago is still going strong! In honor of Valentine's Day, this week my husband and I are talking about geek love - and true to my geeky self I bring up lots of YA examples. Twilight and Stolen get some harsh words, while I praise Graceling and Uglies for their more nuanced approaches to romance. I'm actually re-reading Graceling now - I've had an incredibly stressful month so far, and all of the current books I have checked out from the library are all dealing with high stress topics, so I needed something relatively light (or at least not based in reality) to get my mind off of things. I am SO EXCITED to start my vacation this weekend - escape from all the stresses (and cold!) of regular life. I'm planning on having reviews go up during the week, but I won't be around to check out comments - I'll be too busy sipping margaritas on tropical beaches!
Showing posts with label book links. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book links. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Book Links: Bitch, Please: Bitch removes titles from YA feminist list
Last week, Bitch Magazine posted a list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader. Considering I'd just put together my own list of feminist YA books the weekend before, I was definitely interested. I didn't have time to do a deep analysis of what made the list and what didn't, but I was happy to see that there was quite a bit of overlap between the two lists - including books that I consider slightly more obscurely-feminist, like Rampant and Sisters Red.
Bitch totally has the right to use whatever criteria they wish when making up their personal list - but their reasoning here for changing that list is discomforting. Let's break it down:
So imagine my surprise when I get on Twitter tonight and find that the list has been changed! First I was hearing about Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels being removed. Upon further investigation into the comments, I find that Elizabeth Scott's Living Dead Girl and (gasp) Sisters Red have also been removed.
A couple of us at the office read and re-read Sisters Red, Tender Morsels and Living Dead Girl this weekend.We've decided to remove these books from the list -- Sisters Red because of the victim-blaming scene that was discussed earlier in this post, Tender Morsels because of the way that the book validates (by failing to critique or discuss) characters who use rape as an act of vengeance, and Living Dead Girl because of its triggering nature. - Ashley McAllisterCue internet freak-out.
Bitch totally has the right to use whatever criteria they wish when making up their personal list - but their reasoning here for changing that list is discomforting. Let's break it down:
- Tender Morsels: character uses rape as vengeance and isn't critiqued/discussed. If you have to have your hand held through Tender Morsels to realize that rape is Bad, you're not mature enough to be reading this book. This is a difficult, gut wrenching book to read. I didn't love it, I felt it dragged, but I never really had a problem with the violence (aside from generally feeling uncomfortable, which I felt was the point), because it's pretty damn obvious that this was all BAD. As commenters at Bitch have pointed out, Tender Morsels is about realizing that you can't hide from the pain and dangers of the world - a very feminist message, as most feminist literature is based on the idea that women need to share their stories, even the hard and painful ones, in order to break the silence around "shameful" things, LIKE RAPE.
- Living Dead Girl: triggering. Really? We're dropping a book because it may be triggering? Triggering (something that can give a survivor of violence - the sort that often leads to PTSD - terrifying flashbacks) is totally real and a legitimate concern in the feminist community. But to remove a book just because it is triggering is the opposite of the goals of feminist literature discussed above. Living Dead Girl is another terrifying and discomforting book, and could certainly be a trigger for survivors of abuse. But what about the survivors who find solace in knowing that they aren't the only ones who have suffered and survived? And Living Dead Girl is far from the only potentially triggering title on the list - Scott Westerfeld points out in the comments that he has actually received letters from cutters who found Pretties to be triggering.
- Sisters Red: victim blaming. The Book Smugglers critiqued Sisters Red because of one passage where Scarlett and Silas are dismissive towards young women who are dressed perfectly to attract the attention of the killer werewolves. Yes, it is classic victim blaming. Scarlett, however, is also a troubled young woman with anger issues, and Silas...well, I never totally dug him anyway. Is it a problematic passage? Absolutely. But it clearly wasn't so problematic that it negated the feminist qualities for the people who recommended the title to Bitch and for those readers who chose to ultimately put it on the list. If you re-read the book knowing there's a problem, of course it's going to stick out with out-sized importance. I'm afraid that distracted the re-readers from the other excellent qualities of the book.
I think a lot of us became interested in feminism because we recognize the world isn't a fun loving and happy place - especially for women and other oppressed peoples. We search in vain for feminist literature that not only reflects the realities of the world, but reaffirms that we're right to fight back and offers examples of young women and men who do so - whether it's Frankie orchestrating epic pranks to illustrate institutional sexism or Katsa fighting prejudice against her abilities and her gender to show she can save the day as well as (or better than) any man. Removing a few titles because they illustrate some of the darkness of the world in a way that makes some people uncomfortable is pretty much the antithesis of feminism. Make a note about which titles are potentially triggering, but editing the list this way is insulting to everyone invovled.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Book Links: Roundup, 7/31
It's been a busy couple of weeks for fans of The Hunger Games
A collection of LGBT short stories as been the subject of censorship in New Jersey - Revolutionary Voices was removed from Burlington County Library System, citing "child pornography" and ignoring library policy (and professional standard) to subject the book to a formal review. Warning about the comments: while much is supportive, there are a couple of jerks in there claiming that being gay is a choice (my standard response, though I'm not wading into the comments, is who the hell cares if it is a choice? Religion is a choice and its a protected class, after all).
On a happier subject, Kristin Cashore has an awesome blog post about names and power in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. And another post about writing scenes with physical intimacy. This is why Kristin Cashore is easily one of my favorite author bloggers - there is always something interesting on her blog!
Via First the Egg, a writer for Ms is asking for community input on the best feminist YA books. The list is a mixed bag from my point of view - there's a difference between books that teenagers read and actual YA books for one thing. For example, I first read The Handmaid's Tale in high school but in no way would I argue it's YA. Also, how is the first Harry Potter book, let alone freaking Twilight, feminist again?
Another list: Persnickety Snark hast started posting the results of the Top 100 YA Books poll conducted back in April. I was quoted for The Knife of Never Letting Go!
April at Good Books & Good Wine has written a defense of average boys. You're not going to find an Edward Cullen for yourself - and really, that's probably a good thing!
YA author extraordinaire Laurie Halse Anderson is once again hosting Write Fifteen Minutes a Day in the month of August. She's done this for a couple of years now, and this time around there will be prizes available! How do you participate? Just write fifteen minutes every day next month! There's no sign up, no penalties if you don't succeed, and no official timekeeper. The goal is to get in the habit of writing every day. Anyone else participating?
Still want more to read? The July Carnival of Children's Literature is up with dozens of more kids and YA-related links! There's even a link back here buried in the middle of all that greatness.
What have you been reading lately? Share your links in the comments! And feel free to promote your own stuff :-D
- The movie script is being polished by veteran action movie writer Billy Ray, who is also adapting 24 for the big screen.
- In NYC but not crazy enough to come to the midnight release? Suzanne Collins will be reading at the Scholastic store on 8/26. If you want your book signed at this one, you have to buy it from the Scholastic store (I hope you can buy it on 8/24 and bring it back on8/26!)
- Hot Topic is producing a number of Hunger Games T-Shirts. I currently love the GIRL ON FIRE one and will buy it if I don't get around to making my TEAM KATNISS T-shirt. If you odn't see one you love yet, there are supposed to be more on the way!
- Scholastic has also released the official trailer
A collection of LGBT short stories as been the subject of censorship in New Jersey - Revolutionary Voices was removed from Burlington County Library System, citing "child pornography" and ignoring library policy (and professional standard) to subject the book to a formal review. Warning about the comments: while much is supportive, there are a couple of jerks in there claiming that being gay is a choice (my standard response, though I'm not wading into the comments, is who the hell cares if it is a choice? Religion is a choice and its a protected class, after all).
On a happier subject, Kristin Cashore has an awesome blog post about names and power in The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. And another post about writing scenes with physical intimacy. This is why Kristin Cashore is easily one of my favorite author bloggers - there is always something interesting on her blog!
Via First the Egg, a writer for Ms is asking for community input on the best feminist YA books. The list is a mixed bag from my point of view - there's a difference between books that teenagers read and actual YA books for one thing. For example, I first read The Handmaid's Tale in high school but in no way would I argue it's YA. Also, how is the first Harry Potter book, let alone freaking Twilight, feminist again?
Another list: Persnickety Snark hast started posting the results of the Top 100 YA Books poll conducted back in April. I was quoted for The Knife of Never Letting Go!
April at Good Books & Good Wine has written a defense of average boys. You're not going to find an Edward Cullen for yourself - and really, that's probably a good thing!
YA author extraordinaire Laurie Halse Anderson is once again hosting Write Fifteen Minutes a Day in the month of August. She's done this for a couple of years now, and this time around there will be prizes available! How do you participate? Just write fifteen minutes every day next month! There's no sign up, no penalties if you don't succeed, and no official timekeeper. The goal is to get in the habit of writing every day. Anyone else participating?
Still want more to read? The July Carnival of Children's Literature is up with dozens of more kids and YA-related links! There's even a link back here buried in the middle of all that greatness.
What have you been reading lately? Share your links in the comments! And feel free to promote your own stuff :-D
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Book Links: Roundup, 7/17
Since starting this blog I've become more and more interested in reading non-fiction, so I'm excited to see what happens with the She Writes Passion Project, a contest to help an unpublished woman get her nonfiction project published.
In the July/August issue of the Horn Book, Ellen Wittlinger writes about the Lambda Literary Foundation's decision to favor LGBT identified authors in their awards, rather than focusing on LGBT content in the books themselves. Arthur A. Levine of Scholastic chimes in from an editor's perspective.
The Nation takes on the book-selling behemoth in The Trouble with Amazon, examining their predatory pricing practices (remember when Amazon pulled all the buy buttons from Macmillan titles?)
For my fellow Animorph-geeks, Katherine and Michael (the team that pseudonymously made up K.A. Applegate) are calling for video submissions from fans about what Animorphs meant to us. The videos will then be shown to the Scholastic sales team at the beginning of August (what I wouldn't give to get a job at Scholastic between now and then!).
And for my monthly self-promotion and nepotism...
I mentioned this last month before the show has started, but my sister-in-law is still going strong on The Big Break. Or that's what I've been told - I don't have cable and the show doesn't seem to be available anywhere online!
My husband is still going strong on his foray into blogging, posting excerpts of his latest writing projects. It's all paranormal/fantasy stuff right now - he'd love to get some feedback!
And if you love me so much that my daily reviews just aren't enough for you, I've started another blog (because this is what the internet really needs over on tumblr. It's for anything and everything, at least anything and everything that isn't related to YA books!
In the July/August issue of the Horn Book, Ellen Wittlinger writes about the Lambda Literary Foundation's decision to favor LGBT identified authors in their awards, rather than focusing on LGBT content in the books themselves. Arthur A. Levine of Scholastic chimes in from an editor's perspective.
The Nation takes on the book-selling behemoth in The Trouble with Amazon, examining their predatory pricing practices (remember when Amazon pulled all the buy buttons from Macmillan titles?)
For my fellow Animorph-geeks, Katherine and Michael (the team that pseudonymously made up K.A. Applegate) are calling for video submissions from fans about what Animorphs meant to us. The videos will then be shown to the Scholastic sales team at the beginning of August (what I wouldn't give to get a job at Scholastic between now and then!).
And for my monthly self-promotion and nepotism...
I mentioned this last month before the show has started, but my sister-in-law is still going strong on The Big Break. Or that's what I've been told - I don't have cable and the show doesn't seem to be available anywhere online!
My husband is still going strong on his foray into blogging, posting excerpts of his latest writing projects. It's all paranormal/fantasy stuff right now - he'd love to get some feedback!
And if you love me so much that my daily reviews just aren't enough for you, I've started another blog (because this is what the internet really needs over on tumblr. It's for anything and everything, at least anything and everything that isn't related to YA books!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Book Links: Roundup, 7/3
Third day of the month, third post. Not a bad average, if I say so myself.
So have you heard about Annexed and its titillating Anne Frank/Peter van Pels sex scene? Spoiler alert: that doesn't happen. I was already looking forward to reading this before the "controversy" hit, and made sure to grab an ARC at ALA, so I'll be reading this soon and will post my own thoughts prior to a full review closer to the publication date.
India is jumping on the YA bandwagon. I hope some of these get imported to the US!
The fight against whitewashed covers isn't finished: the paperback of Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix has been changed so the cover model is racially ambiguous at best. Ari has proposed a new tactic to combat whitewashing: contact the major bookstore chains to encourage them to carry more books with prominent people of color on the covers (part of the reasoning behind Silver Phoenix's change is Borders totally passed on the book and Barnes & Noble only carried it in select stores. Missing out on chain distribution severely limits a books chances at success).
The countdown stands at 60 days until the release of Mockingjay, the conclusion of The Hunger Games trilogy. Earlier this week Scholastic announced the initial print run is being upped to 1.2 million, and Suzanne Collins will go on a 12 city tour from August through November. No specific dates and places have been announced yet (that I've seen, at least).
Did you miss out on ALA? Luckily for you, several bloggers have posted their wrap up reports. There's mine, of course, from earlier this week. Other bloggers that I've seen are Jenn from Books at Midnight and Tara from the Bodacious Pen. Want a post from the POV of a librarian? Well, I've got those, too: Travis from 100 Scope Notes has posted his recap in both words and video.
A short week for links - I blame the excitement from ALA last weekend as it tired out a chunk of the blogosphere, combined with this holiday weekend.
What have you been reading this week?
So have you heard about Annexed and its titillating Anne Frank/Peter van Pels sex scene? Spoiler alert: that doesn't happen. I was already looking forward to reading this before the "controversy" hit, and made sure to grab an ARC at ALA, so I'll be reading this soon and will post my own thoughts prior to a full review closer to the publication date.
India is jumping on the YA bandwagon. I hope some of these get imported to the US!
The fight against whitewashed covers isn't finished: the paperback of Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix has been changed so the cover model is racially ambiguous at best. Ari has proposed a new tactic to combat whitewashing: contact the major bookstore chains to encourage them to carry more books with prominent people of color on the covers (part of the reasoning behind Silver Phoenix's change is Borders totally passed on the book and Barnes & Noble only carried it in select stores. Missing out on chain distribution severely limits a books chances at success).
The countdown stands at 60 days until the release of Mockingjay, the conclusion of The Hunger Games trilogy. Earlier this week Scholastic announced the initial print run is being upped to 1.2 million, and Suzanne Collins will go on a 12 city tour from August through November. No specific dates and places have been announced yet (that I've seen, at least).
Did you miss out on ALA? Luckily for you, several bloggers have posted their wrap up reports. There's mine, of course, from earlier this week. Other bloggers that I've seen are Jenn from Books at Midnight and Tara from the Bodacious Pen. Want a post from the POV of a librarian? Well, I've got those, too: Travis from 100 Scope Notes has posted his recap in both words and video.
A short week for links - I blame the excitement from ALA last weekend as it tired out a chunk of the blogosphere, combined with this holiday weekend.
What have you been reading this week?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Book Links: Roundup, 6/19
Another week, another link roundup! I'm kind of beginning to enjoy these...
Here's an interesting discussion that involves two of my favorite topics: gender and book blogging. Book Blogging and the Gender Gap, Redux at the Reading Ape asks if "so few men blog about books [because] male-oriented book discussion already HAS a venue."
Malinda Lo (author of Ash) has a great series of posts on avoiding LGBT stereotypes in YA fiction. An absolute must read for anyone writing YA lit, and not a bad resource for those of us who read it to help identify problems when they appear.
Here's a blog post that resonated with me, about when and how to critique a book when the problems come from production design rather than the writing. I received a book to review the day before I found this post at Read Roger, and I had to double check that it was in fact a finished book and not an ARC because it's one of the flimsiest books I've ever held. Should I note this in the review? I haven't decided yet (let me know if you'd like to hear about it!)
My favorite TV show of the moment (okay, pretty much the only TV show I watch), Glee is going to get its own book series. The first novel will be a prequel to the show and will be out in August. Half the fun of Glee is the musical numbers (and in fact, the show has a lot of problems outside of its musical numbers), so I'm not sure how well it will translate to books, but I'm certainly curious.
I don't know why I haven't seen more excitement about this - maybe because its an older series that was originally published in Australia? But I, for one, loved the Tomorrow When the War Began series in middle school, and now we've got a trailer for the movie!
It's been years since I've read any of the books, let alone the first one, so I can't really comment as to how accurate this looks. I can say that I don't remember there being so many guns or grown ups in the first book, so I wonder if maybe they're pulling some things from the later books? Wikipedia is pretty sparse on details, so I don't know if they're planning on making this a series of films, or even if it's going to get a US release (only release date listed is September 2nd for Australia).
And now for a little bit of self-promotion and nepotism...
If you missed it yesterday, I've started a new feature here on Bookish Blather called Sci-Fi Fridays, which will be a day to review a science fiction book or discuss other aspects of SF in YA lit. I hope by next week to have a shiny image that goes with it and turn it into something of a meme. Feel free to leave your SF reviews for the week in the comments!
Here's the nepotism, since this has nothing to do with books or reading, but does have to do with family: for those of you who are reality TV and/or golf fans, I encourage you to check out the Big Break on the Golf Channel, premiering Monday June 21st. My sister-in-law is one of the contestants!
And now to conclude on topic, my husband has jumped into the blogosphere and has started his own blog! He's posting excerpts of his writing at his blog Dysfunctionally Creative. Right now the opening scenes for his urban fantasy novel are posted, but I know he's also got a couple of scripts in the works that might be making an appearance soon.
Feel free to leave any links to something interesting you read or wrote this week! I'm taking next Saturday off from my roundups, as I'll be in DC checking out the exhibits at ALA and playing tourist.
Here's an interesting discussion that involves two of my favorite topics: gender and book blogging. Book Blogging and the Gender Gap, Redux at the Reading Ape asks if "so few men blog about books [because] male-oriented book discussion already HAS a venue."
Malinda Lo (author of Ash) has a great series of posts on avoiding LGBT stereotypes in YA fiction. An absolute must read for anyone writing YA lit, and not a bad resource for those of us who read it to help identify problems when they appear.
Here's a blog post that resonated with me, about when and how to critique a book when the problems come from production design rather than the writing. I received a book to review the day before I found this post at Read Roger, and I had to double check that it was in fact a finished book and not an ARC because it's one of the flimsiest books I've ever held. Should I note this in the review? I haven't decided yet (let me know if you'd like to hear about it!)
My favorite TV show of the moment (okay, pretty much the only TV show I watch), Glee is going to get its own book series. The first novel will be a prequel to the show and will be out in August. Half the fun of Glee is the musical numbers (and in fact, the show has a lot of problems outside of its musical numbers), so I'm not sure how well it will translate to books, but I'm certainly curious.
I don't know why I haven't seen more excitement about this - maybe because its an older series that was originally published in Australia? But I, for one, loved the Tomorrow When the War Began series in middle school, and now we've got a trailer for the movie!
It's been years since I've read any of the books, let alone the first one, so I can't really comment as to how accurate this looks. I can say that I don't remember there being so many guns or grown ups in the first book, so I wonder if maybe they're pulling some things from the later books? Wikipedia is pretty sparse on details, so I don't know if they're planning on making this a series of films, or even if it's going to get a US release (only release date listed is September 2nd for Australia).
And now for a little bit of self-promotion and nepotism...
If you missed it yesterday, I've started a new feature here on Bookish Blather called Sci-Fi Fridays, which will be a day to review a science fiction book or discuss other aspects of SF in YA lit. I hope by next week to have a shiny image that goes with it and turn it into something of a meme. Feel free to leave your SF reviews for the week in the comments!
Here's the nepotism, since this has nothing to do with books or reading, but does have to do with family: for those of you who are reality TV and/or golf fans, I encourage you to check out the Big Break on the Golf Channel, premiering Monday June 21st. My sister-in-law is one of the contestants!
And now to conclude on topic, my husband has jumped into the blogosphere and has started his own blog! He's posting excerpts of his writing at his blog Dysfunctionally Creative. Right now the opening scenes for his urban fantasy novel are posted, but I know he's also got a couple of scripts in the works that might be making an appearance soon.
Feel free to leave any links to something interesting you read or wrote this week! I'm taking next Saturday off from my roundups, as I'll be in DC checking out the exhibits at ALA and playing tourist.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Book Links: Roundup, 6/12
The goal is to make this a bi-weekly link post, but I've run across so many great links this week, if I waited until next Saturday I would either lose them all or there would be a gigantic post!
Giveaways
There's some cool giveaways happening around the blogosphere this week. Here's the ones I've entered:
SAPPHIQUE ARC, the sequel to Incarceron
$60 to CSN Stores from Books at Midnight
Bodacious Pen finished the first draft of her book and is having a giveaway to celebrate!
New Blogging Events
One of the great things about the Bloggiesta is the constant creativity that's going through everyone. As such, there's a couple of new events that have popped up this weekend!
Cross Bloggination sounds really interesting and I'm definitely signing up!
Want Books? is a new meme to highlight titles on your wishlist that you aren't able to get yet. This is different from the popular Waiting on Wednesday meme because this is for books that are already published, but either haven't shown up in your country yet, or your library is like mine and it can take MONTHS for a new book to show up on the shelves.
Articles
Shelf Talker from Publisher's Weekly has a great article that should be a must-read for all of us concerned and interested in the representation of characters of color in books. Includes plans of action for publishing industry folks, but it involves commentary we should all be interested in.
My favorite book series ever, Animorphs, is getting re-released in 2011! (Fun fact: Michael Grant, author of the Gone series, was co-writer on Animorphs with his wife Katherine Applegate)
The New Yorker has a long article about dystopia in YA lit, hitting pretty much every major player in the last couple of years - Uglies, Hunger Games, Incarceron just to name a few - and older classics like The Giver. Must read for dystopia fans!
Whew. Lots going on this week. Now back to bloggiesta-ing for me!
Giveaways
There's some cool giveaways happening around the blogosphere this week. Here's the ones I've entered:
SAPPHIQUE ARC, the sequel to Incarceron
$60 to CSN Stores from Books at Midnight
Bodacious Pen finished the first draft of her book and is having a giveaway to celebrate!
New Blogging Events
One of the great things about the Bloggiesta is the constant creativity that's going through everyone. As such, there's a couple of new events that have popped up this weekend!
Cross Bloggination sounds really interesting and I'm definitely signing up!
Want Books? is a new meme to highlight titles on your wishlist that you aren't able to get yet. This is different from the popular Waiting on Wednesday meme because this is for books that are already published, but either haven't shown up in your country yet, or your library is like mine and it can take MONTHS for a new book to show up on the shelves.
Articles
Shelf Talker from Publisher's Weekly has a great article that should be a must-read for all of us concerned and interested in the representation of characters of color in books. Includes plans of action for publishing industry folks, but it involves commentary we should all be interested in.
My favorite book series ever, Animorphs, is getting re-released in 2011! (Fun fact: Michael Grant, author of the Gone series, was co-writer on Animorphs with his wife Katherine Applegate)
The New Yorker has a long article about dystopia in YA lit, hitting pretty much every major player in the last couple of years - Uglies, Hunger Games, Incarceron just to name a few - and older classics like The Giver. Must read for dystopia fans!
Whew. Lots going on this week. Now back to bloggiesta-ing for me!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Book Links: Roundup, 6/5
Hey, it was my goal to make this a bi-weekly thing - so far I'm succeeding!
Coloring Between the Lines had an interesting post about the White Mind and how it relates to kids books. What she's describing seems to fall awfully close to what's traditionally called white privilege - I'm not sure why she went with a different term, but it's definitely a must read post.
I know I was pushing Lyn Miller-Lachman heavily on the blog last week, so I hope you can stand to hear her name one more time! She reviewed a book that is high on my NEED to read list now: Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos. All about class and race - and as the three protagonists are the daughters of domestic workers, it seems especially timely in light of the New York state senate passing the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights earlier this week.
Over at Bookends, Lynn and Cindy are asking if books need to be put on a diet. Are all of these 500+ page novels really necessary? Lots of commenters are pointing out that the longer books are absolutely daunting for reluctant readers. What do you think?
Web magazine Slate is posting a serialized YA vampire novel this summer called My Darklyng. That spelling makes me cringe so hard, but I'm interested in how this will go. Haven't actually had a chance to read the first chapter yet, but it's on my to-do list.
MTV has the latest news on the Hunger Games movie! Link includes a minor spoiler for Mockingjay, so the basic facts on the movie are: 1st draft of script (written by Suzanne Collins herself!) has been turned in. A director announcement should follow this summer, and production should begin January 2011 for a late 2011 release! That sounds a little rushed at first, but I think that despite being a science fiction action/adventure story, the Hunger Games movie could be fairly light on special effects, which are what often drag out the production process.
Karen Healey (who I met on Thursday!) wrote a piece for Strange Horizons on families in YA lit.
Shannon Hale, who wrote Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack along with lots of other books that I haven't read, has an interesting blog post up, too, regarding morals and literature, pulling in the opinions of other prominent YA authors. Some really interesting view points!
Are you a blogger looking for more memes to do? Parajunkee's View has a list of popular memes. I haven't heard of half of them, so I have some investigating to do!
Also of interest to my fellow bloggers: there's going to be another bloggiesta next week! Highly recommend all bloggers take a look - even if you can't commit to a marathon blogging session, there's lots of good ideas passed around over the course of the weekend for general blog upkeep. If you can't do it all at once, you'll at least get some ideas of what to work on for the next six months until next January's bloggiesta!
That should be enough links to keep you busy this weekend!
Coloring Between the Lines had an interesting post about the White Mind and how it relates to kids books. What she's describing seems to fall awfully close to what's traditionally called white privilege - I'm not sure why she went with a different term, but it's definitely a must read post.
I know I was pushing Lyn Miller-Lachman heavily on the blog last week, so I hope you can stand to hear her name one more time! She reviewed a book that is high on my NEED to read list now: Tell Us We're Home by Marina Budhos. All about class and race - and as the three protagonists are the daughters of domestic workers, it seems especially timely in light of the New York state senate passing the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights earlier this week.
Over at Bookends, Lynn and Cindy are asking if books need to be put on a diet. Are all of these 500+ page novels really necessary? Lots of commenters are pointing out that the longer books are absolutely daunting for reluctant readers. What do you think?
Web magazine Slate is posting a serialized YA vampire novel this summer called My Darklyng. That spelling makes me cringe so hard, but I'm interested in how this will go. Haven't actually had a chance to read the first chapter yet, but it's on my to-do list.
MTV has the latest news on the Hunger Games movie! Link includes a minor spoiler for Mockingjay, so the basic facts on the movie are: 1st draft of script (written by Suzanne Collins herself!) has been turned in. A director announcement should follow this summer, and production should begin January 2011 for a late 2011 release! That sounds a little rushed at first, but I think that despite being a science fiction action/adventure story, the Hunger Games movie could be fairly light on special effects, which are what often drag out the production process.
Karen Healey (who I met on Thursday!) wrote a piece for Strange Horizons on families in YA lit.
Shannon Hale, who wrote Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack along with lots of other books that I haven't read, has an interesting blog post up, too, regarding morals and literature, pulling in the opinions of other prominent YA authors. Some really interesting view points!
Are you a blogger looking for more memes to do? Parajunkee's View has a list of popular memes. I haven't heard of half of them, so I have some investigating to do!
Also of interest to my fellow bloggers: there's going to be another bloggiesta next week! Highly recommend all bloggers take a look - even if you can't commit to a marathon blogging session, there's lots of good ideas passed around over the course of the weekend for general blog upkeep. If you can't do it all at once, you'll at least get some ideas of what to work on for the next six months until next January's bloggiesta!
That should be enough links to keep you busy this weekend!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Book Links: Roundup, 5/22
I hope to start making this a weekly or bi-weekly feature, highlighting some of the other great book blogger writing that is going on around the internet! This inaugural post is just going to be a catch-all for some of the links that have been accumulating in my Google Reader, but soon it will be more regular.
Last weekend, a great review of Fire was posted at Confessions of a Bibliovore. I absolutely loved Fire and have been shocked at some of the accusations that it's "too adult" with the reasoning being that Fire mentions her period (and that is related to how monsters respond to her). I really like the observation here that Fire isn't necessarily a YA book in the 12-18 sense the marketing category is usually defined as, but rather a book for young adults at the upper end of the teen spectrum and into their early 20s.
I love the What a Girl Wants series that is posted at Chasing Ray. May 11th was the most recent post, asking the panel "what novel (or novels) do you wish you had read the summer before your senior year in high school?" I definitely consider myself fortunate that Colleen's pick, Empress of the World came out while I was in high school (summer before junior year for me).
I've been following Weekly Geeks for months now but never seem to find the time to actually answer a question. This week's is a character comparion - a book character you're like, one you're the total opposite of, or one you wish you were like.
Liz at Tea Cozy is just cruel posting a teaser six months before the rest of the world gets to read this book: Mockingbirds. Totally love that a book is coming out dealing with issues of sex and consent; the vigilante justice aspect makes me a little nervous, however. This is the same reason I've avoided The Naughty List so far. I can't rationally explain it, but something about the concept weirds me out. However I probably will be picking up Mockingbirds in November.
At Reading in Color, Ari reviewed Love is the Higher Law, which I reviewed back in November. When I reviewed it I wondered how it would resonate with current teenagers who were only kids when 9/11 happened. Ari's review answers that question :-)
In case you missed it when this was going around the internet earlier this week, be sure to check out the Ghostbusters busting some ghosts in the New York Public Library's reading room:
Finally, the Nerds Heart YA tournament is getting started - and I'm one of the first round judges! This tournament highlights books that didn't get much blog love over the last year, with a special emphasis on books highlighting disability and mental illness, characters of color, religion and LGBT stories. Look for a post here on June 15th!
Last weekend, a great review of Fire was posted at Confessions of a Bibliovore. I absolutely loved Fire and have been shocked at some of the accusations that it's "too adult" with the reasoning being that Fire mentions her period (and that is related to how monsters respond to her). I really like the observation here that Fire isn't necessarily a YA book in the 12-18 sense the marketing category is usually defined as, but rather a book for young adults at the upper end of the teen spectrum and into their early 20s.
I love the What a Girl Wants series that is posted at Chasing Ray. May 11th was the most recent post, asking the panel "what novel (or novels) do you wish you had read the summer before your senior year in high school?" I definitely consider myself fortunate that Colleen's pick, Empress of the World came out while I was in high school (summer before junior year for me).
I've been following Weekly Geeks for months now but never seem to find the time to actually answer a question. This week's is a character comparion - a book character you're like, one you're the total opposite of, or one you wish you were like.
Liz at Tea Cozy is just cruel posting a teaser six months before the rest of the world gets to read this book: Mockingbirds. Totally love that a book is coming out dealing with issues of sex and consent; the vigilante justice aspect makes me a little nervous, however. This is the same reason I've avoided The Naughty List so far. I can't rationally explain it, but something about the concept weirds me out. However I probably will be picking up Mockingbirds in November.
At Reading in Color, Ari reviewed Love is the Higher Law, which I reviewed back in November. When I reviewed it I wondered how it would resonate with current teenagers who were only kids when 9/11 happened. Ari's review answers that question :-)
In case you missed it when this was going around the internet earlier this week, be sure to check out the Ghostbusters busting some ghosts in the New York Public Library's reading room:
Finally, the Nerds Heart YA tournament is getting started - and I'm one of the first round judges! This tournament highlights books that didn't get much blog love over the last year, with a special emphasis on books highlighting disability and mental illness, characters of color, religion and LGBT stories. Look for a post here on June 15th!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Book links: Read-a-thon wrap up, top YA books, and my 200th post!
Technically this is post #200...but it's really kind of not, because some of those posts are scheduled and waiting to be released into the world later this week. But it does mean I've written 200 blog posts at this point, and that's something, isn't it?
This weekend was the 24 hour read-a-thon. My husband summed up my participation this way: "You making a goal to read a lot of books in a day is like someone making a goal to breathe a lot in one day. You're going to do it anyway!" And he's right - this wasn't like the bloggiesta where I really needed a community of support to help keep me working. During the bloggiesta we were all online at the same time, almost constantly, and we were constantly giving each other new ideas and helping out people who were stuck, because I don't usually spend hours at a time working on the nuts and bolts of my blog. This time around, while it was nice seeing the encouraging tweets and comments left by the cheerleaders I didn't feel it was something I needed. For one thing, I had to go out of my way to see the encouragement, since I wasn't already on the computer. Also, during the hours I was reading, it wasn't a great struggle at all. Waking up early so I could start reading right at 8:00 am was a bit of a struggle (I had to repeat my Starbucks order because the first time it was horribly mangled as I was so sleepy!) but after that I was on a roll. The only difference between yesterday and other Saturdays is that normally I take more breaks when I'm reading to surf the internet. So I'm not too sure I'll be participating in the next one. I like the idea, but the execution just doesn't work for me.
Something else I discovered this weekend: there's another top 100 YA books list being started. First there was the Fuse #8 list of the Top 100 Middle Grade fiction titles of all time, and then next I saw April at Good Books and Good Wine did a list for the top 100 YA books. I've been following that one as its been posted and I've been thinking it must have had a significantly smaller group of voters than Fuse #8's list, or at least a significantly different type of voter, because the list is weighted so heavily towards recent and very popular titles. I mean, I love The Hunger Games more than is probably healthy, but the best YA book of all time? I really don't think we can declare it that yet. I know YA is a younger genre than middle grade (well, technically, since I doubt books were marketed as "middle grade" until they'd come up with the "young adult" category, but there have been separate books for kids longer than there have been separate books for teenagers because even the idea of "teenagers" is a relatively recent one) but having so many books from just the last 5 years feels a little off.
Now I see that Persnickety Snark is doing her own top 100 YA list, with the methodology poached directly from the Fuse #8 middle grade list (with permission, obviously). She's directly solicited teachers and librarians and publishing folks before opening it wide for the general blogosphere to join in. Voting started March 19th and continues through April 30th. I just sent in my list of votes and just might share them once the list starts going up!
This weekend was the 24 hour read-a-thon. My husband summed up my participation this way: "You making a goal to read a lot of books in a day is like someone making a goal to breathe a lot in one day. You're going to do it anyway!" And he's right - this wasn't like the bloggiesta where I really needed a community of support to help keep me working. During the bloggiesta we were all online at the same time, almost constantly, and we were constantly giving each other new ideas and helping out people who were stuck, because I don't usually spend hours at a time working on the nuts and bolts of my blog. This time around, while it was nice seeing the encouraging tweets and comments left by the cheerleaders I didn't feel it was something I needed. For one thing, I had to go out of my way to see the encouragement, since I wasn't already on the computer. Also, during the hours I was reading, it wasn't a great struggle at all. Waking up early so I could start reading right at 8:00 am was a bit of a struggle (I had to repeat my Starbucks order because the first time it was horribly mangled as I was so sleepy!) but after that I was on a roll. The only difference between yesterday and other Saturdays is that normally I take more breaks when I'm reading to surf the internet. So I'm not too sure I'll be participating in the next one. I like the idea, but the execution just doesn't work for me.
Something else I discovered this weekend: there's another top 100 YA books list being started. First there was the Fuse #8 list of the Top 100 Middle Grade fiction titles of all time, and then next I saw April at Good Books and Good Wine did a list for the top 100 YA books. I've been following that one as its been posted and I've been thinking it must have had a significantly smaller group of voters than Fuse #8's list, or at least a significantly different type of voter, because the list is weighted so heavily towards recent and very popular titles. I mean, I love The Hunger Games more than is probably healthy, but the best YA book of all time? I really don't think we can declare it that yet. I know YA is a younger genre than middle grade (well, technically, since I doubt books were marketed as "middle grade" until they'd come up with the "young adult" category, but there have been separate books for kids longer than there have been separate books for teenagers because even the idea of "teenagers" is a relatively recent one) but having so many books from just the last 5 years feels a little off.
Now I see that Persnickety Snark is doing her own top 100 YA list, with the methodology poached directly from the Fuse #8 middle grade list (with permission, obviously). She's directly solicited teachers and librarians and publishing folks before opening it wide for the general blogosphere to join in. Voting started March 19th and continues through April 30th. I just sent in my list of votes and just might share them once the list starts going up!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Book Links - Awards & Privilege
It's the middle of a tedious workday, which means that while I don't have the time to dedicate a whole post for these links, I can give you a heads up about them!
2010 Lambda Literary Awards Finalists have been announced! The actual awards are on May 27th, but in the meantime check out the YA nominees.
Via Aarti of Booklust on Twitter: The Diagram Prize, which recognizes the year's oddest book title, is incredibly condescending towards traditionally feminine artforms this year. Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes is apparently "completely bonkers," even though if you actually look at what the book is about it is in fact a 100% accurate description of the book (it's written by mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina and uses crochet to illustrate a mathematical concept that is otherwise extremely hard to visualize).
The First Blog Carnival on Privilege went up today and includes a submission from me! I know a lot of my followers found me after a post on whitewashing or sexism or other social justice issue, so even though I think mine is the only book-related post, you should find something interesting there!
2010 Lambda Literary Awards Finalists have been announced! The actual awards are on May 27th, but in the meantime check out the YA nominees.
Via Aarti of Booklust on Twitter: The Diagram Prize, which recognizes the year's oddest book title, is incredibly condescending towards traditionally feminine artforms this year. Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes is apparently "completely bonkers," even though if you actually look at what the book is about it is in fact a 100% accurate description of the book (it's written by mathematician Dr. Daina Taimina and uses crochet to illustrate a mathematical concept that is otherwise extremely hard to visualize).
The First Blog Carnival on Privilege went up today and includes a submission from me! I know a lot of my followers found me after a post on whitewashing or sexism or other social justice issue, so even though I think mine is the only book-related post, you should find something interesting there!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Book Links: NEW Magic Under Glass cover!
Remember the Magic Under Glass racefail? And Bloomsbury's correction, promising to re-jacket the book? Well the new cover has been announced!
Thanks to Reading Extensively!
And thanks also to Bloomsbury for taking this situation seriously, even if it was belatedly.
Thanks to Reading Extensively!
And thanks also to Bloomsbury for taking this situation seriously, even if it was belatedly.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Book Links: Holy crap, there are a lot more dystopian books than I thought!
Came across a link in my blog reader this morning: Half a Century of English-Language YA Dystopias. They're organized by decade from the '60s to today. I love the explosion of books that happened in the first decade of the 21st century. She even has a bibliography of nonfiction works that address YA dystopias!
I consider myself to have read a lot of dystopian novels, but I have barely scratched the surface of that list. Which is simultaneously disappointing (really? Despite all of my efforts I've really only read a fraction?) and inspiring (a challenge to read more!)
If there wasn't so much awesome stuff coming out constantly, I would want to take a month and do nothing but catch up on this list. Maybe if I still had spring break or a summer vacation I would do that.
To complete this week of impromptu dystopian discussion, I'm going to have a review of Incarceron up later today!
I consider myself to have read a lot of dystopian novels, but I have barely scratched the surface of that list. Which is simultaneously disappointing (really? Despite all of my efforts I've really only read a fraction?) and inspiring (a challenge to read more!)
If there wasn't so much awesome stuff coming out constantly, I would want to take a month and do nothing but catch up on this list. Maybe if I still had spring break or a summer vacation I would do that.
To complete this week of impromptu dystopian discussion, I'm going to have a review of Incarceron up later today!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Book Links: Apocalypse Now
Dystopian fiction is an undeniably hot topic in YA literature, and lots of people seem preoccupied with figuring out why. Publisher's Weekly has a new article, Apocalypse Now that does the best job I've seen so far, talking to teens, publishing insiders, and retailers to find out why they think dystopian fiction is so popular.
The article also includes several upcoming titles that I hadn't heard of before, and now I absolutely can't wait for. Aside from last week's announcement of Mockingjay to complete the Hunger Games series (or as I now like to call them, "the books that creep out my mom"), I'm looking forward to This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer (conclusion to the trilogy that began with Life as We Knew It and publishes in April), The Unidentified by Rae Mariz (teens go to school in a shopping mall where corporate sponsors watch them on video) and Nomansland by Lesley Hauge (comes out in June, teenage girls are defending their island from men, who are the enemies) are some of the ones that jumped out at me from the article. Looking for a comprehensive list of recent and upcoming dystopian YA? Publisher's Weekly also helpfully includes a list of titles with short annotations. My TBR spreadsheet just gained a whole bunch of titles. I did just knock off one dystopian title though; I finished Catherine Fisher's Incarceron last night - some excellent dystopian sf/fantasy there!
The article also includes several upcoming titles that I hadn't heard of before, and now I absolutely can't wait for. Aside from last week's announcement of Mockingjay to complete the Hunger Games series (or as I now like to call them, "the books that creep out my mom"), I'm looking forward to This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer (conclusion to the trilogy that began with Life as We Knew It and publishes in April), The Unidentified by Rae Mariz (teens go to school in a shopping mall where corporate sponsors watch them on video) and Nomansland by Lesley Hauge (comes out in June, teenage girls are defending their island from men, who are the enemies) are some of the ones that jumped out at me from the article. Looking for a comprehensive list of recent and upcoming dystopian YA? Publisher's Weekly also helpfully includes a list of titles with short annotations. My TBR spreadsheet just gained a whole bunch of titles. I did just knock off one dystopian title though; I finished Catherine Fisher's Incarceron last night - some excellent dystopian sf/fantasy there!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Book thoughts: As if we didn't have enough privileges to deal with...
Saw a link this morning through @PWKidsBookshelf to a Salon article: Why is Braille Dying?.
Apparently only 10% of blind kids today learn Braille. Apparently even the governor of New York doesn't read Braille. Instead, blind people are relying upon audio books, text-to-speech translators, or good old fashioned personal assistants to convey the printed word to the visually impaired. The Salon bloggers (the byline is for Stephen Towey and Helen Cota), however, seem to think this is a great travesty, because their minds wander while listening to audio books and there are studies that show we process audio information differently than printed information. There is no mention however that this difference in processing is inferior, or if these studies have been conducted using people who don't have the option of reading visually.
Ultimately, the entire blog post comes off as the biggest piece of ableist blogging I've seen in a long time.
What do I mean by ableist? This article totaly privileges the neurotypical and physically typical reading experience. Now, if it were a pair of blind bloggers bemoaning the lack of Braille literacy that would be one thing, as the NYT article that inspired the Salon bloggers includes, but judging from the Salon bloggers' home blog, they wear glasses but aren't legally blind. This is akin to people with normal hearing insisting cochlear implants are necessary for deaf children, or a white person explaining to everyone upset by Bloomsbury that the publishers didn't actually do something racist, or a man mansplaining feminism to us poor little women.
I'm sure the authors meant well - after all, all of us who care about books and reading are invested in improving literacy and wanting as many people as possible to share our passion for the written word. But to claim that our way of reading is superior to other forms of information attainment is able-ist and patronizing.
Apparently only 10% of blind kids today learn Braille. Apparently even the governor of New York doesn't read Braille. Instead, blind people are relying upon audio books, text-to-speech translators, or good old fashioned personal assistants to convey the printed word to the visually impaired. The Salon bloggers (the byline is for Stephen Towey and Helen Cota), however, seem to think this is a great travesty, because their minds wander while listening to audio books and there are studies that show we process audio information differently than printed information. There is no mention however that this difference in processing is inferior, or if these studies have been conducted using people who don't have the option of reading visually.
Ultimately, the entire blog post comes off as the biggest piece of ableist blogging I've seen in a long time.
What do I mean by ableist? This article totaly privileges the neurotypical and physically typical reading experience. Now, if it were a pair of blind bloggers bemoaning the lack of Braille literacy that would be one thing, as the NYT article that inspired the Salon bloggers includes, but judging from the Salon bloggers' home blog, they wear glasses but aren't legally blind. This is akin to people with normal hearing insisting cochlear implants are necessary for deaf children, or a white person explaining to everyone upset by Bloomsbury that the publishers didn't actually do something racist, or a man mansplaining feminism to us poor little women.
I'm sure the authors meant well - after all, all of us who care about books and reading are invested in improving literacy and wanting as many people as possible to share our passion for the written word. But to claim that our way of reading is superior to other forms of information attainment is able-ist and patronizing.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Book Links: Huffington Post get whitewashing all wrong
Leonce Gaiter is a novelist and essayist who has written an article for the Huffington Post: Controversies in Black Literature Prove Book Sales Aren't Color-Blind
As I wrote to a friend on Twitter, the article is rather full of fail. 1. The Liar controversy was about 7 months ago, so not really "recent" (especially not in blog years). 2. Justine didn't complain "loudly and publicly," she was incredibly restrained and professional about the whole thing (in public at least. For all I know poor Scott Westerfeld was treated to months and months of curse-filled tirades about Bloomsbury) 3. His cover didn't relate at all to his book, yet he's placing the blame for poor sales on the presence of a black model on the cover (and threatens to "do violence" before he allows a solo black model to appear on another cover of his). As my good friend Rachel says, this makes him sound like he's saying "my publishers are morons, which is why they're out of business." 4. While I think all of us would be happiest if we saw more people of color on the covers of books, I think the minimum we're asking for is to stop the practice of white washing - the UK Cover of Magic Under Glass features people in silhouette - so you can't tell the race of either of them, and everyone seems to agree it's a great cover!
So...read the article and go join me in the comments (here or there).
As I wrote to a friend on Twitter, the article is rather full of fail. 1. The Liar controversy was about 7 months ago, so not really "recent" (especially not in blog years). 2. Justine didn't complain "loudly and publicly," she was incredibly restrained and professional about the whole thing (in public at least. For all I know poor Scott Westerfeld was treated to months and months of curse-filled tirades about Bloomsbury) 3. His cover didn't relate at all to his book, yet he's placing the blame for poor sales on the presence of a black model on the cover (and threatens to "do violence" before he allows a solo black model to appear on another cover of his). As my good friend Rachel says, this makes him sound like he's saying "my publishers are morons, which is why they're out of business." 4. While I think all of us would be happiest if we saw more people of color on the covers of books, I think the minimum we're asking for is to stop the practice of white washing - the UK Cover of Magic Under Glass features people in silhouette - so you can't tell the race of either of them, and everyone seems to agree it's a great cover!
So...read the article and go join me in the comments (here or there).
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Book Links: Recapping the Holidays with Publisher's Weekly
In the broader economy, word came out that December's retail sales fell way more than expected, but Publisher's Weekly is saying sales were up by as much as 10% over last year for stores selling children's and YA titles. Article also includes some of the best selling titles for holiday giving, including some of my favorites such as The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, Leviathan and Fire.
Also I need to thank Miss Attitude at Reading in Color for giving Bookish Blather an award! I'll post more on the award tomorrow - I have to do some work to pass it on myself, which I can't exactly do in the middle of the work day - but I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the award and say hello to anyone who may have followed the link over here.
Also I need to thank Miss Attitude at Reading in Color for giving Bookish Blather an award! I'll post more on the award tomorrow - I have to do some work to pass it on myself, which I can't exactly do in the middle of the work day - but I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the award and say hello to anyone who may have followed the link over here.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Book Links: How Sad is Too Sad in Children's Books?
It's the middle of my work day, so I don't have time for lots of blogging, but I wanted to pass along a link to a friend's blog post, exploring how sad should children's books go? My thoughts are in the comments on the post :-)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Book Thoughts: What about Team Bella?
(Title shamelessly stolen from Broadsheet)
I'm sure someday we'll stop talking about Twilight - but today's not that day!
Kate Harding's latest article at Broadsheet really struck a chord with me, because it perfectly articulates the reason why the Team Jacob/Team Edward argument (that has spilled over to what feels like every other book that features two men for the woman to choose from) drives me up a wall.
When this Team Edward/Team Jacob stuff was limited to Twilight, I didn't much care, because that does really seem to be Bella's great moral dilemma: which guy to choose. She doesn't seem to have any agency outside of the two guys.
But then I started noticing other books being discussed in a similar vein. I had to stop following the Hunger Games Trilogy group on Goodreads because the threads ultimately devolved into shouting TEAM GALE and TEAM PEETA endlessly, with no other content. When it first started happening, I was annoyed, but couldn't quite describe why it bothered me so much. Because Katniss is placed in positions where she has to choose between the boys - or at least, try to figure out how she feels about each one.
Harding's article helped me fill it out: it annoyed me because it ignores Katniss' own agency, and the fact that she has a hell of a lot more going on in her life than romance. Bella's life in Twilight boils down to romance, and that's fine - her books clearly fall into the romance genre. Hunger Games, however, is much more of an action-adventure story, with a dash of political intrigue and just a hint of romance for Katniss. Debates over why Katniss might choose one guy over the other could be interesting and fun as one part of discussion of the novel, but boiling everything down to "Team Gale" and "Team Peeta" misses the point of the novels. I, for one, am firmly on Team Katniss (after Catching Fire, I just want her to stay alive through the end of book 3!)!
Coincidentally, when I was hunting down that link for the Goodreads forum, I found a topic on there that reminded me of another blog post I read today: a discussion comparing Twilight to Hunger Games seems like it would hit several squares on Justine Larbalestier's Paranomral/Fantasy YA Review Bingo. Remember that horrendous Entertainment Weekly review of Catching Fire? Yeah, I think the comments there firmly proved that about the only similarities between the two series is that a teenage girl is the protagonist!
I'm sure someday we'll stop talking about Twilight - but today's not that day!
Kate Harding's latest article at Broadsheet really struck a chord with me, because it perfectly articulates the reason why the Team Jacob/Team Edward argument (that has spilled over to what feels like every other book that features two men for the woman to choose from) drives me up a wall.
The marketing campaign for the movie pits "Team Edward" (the vampire) against "Team Jacob" (the werewolf), but as Carmen D. Siering wrote in Ms., "few young readers ask, 'Why not Team Bella?'" That's because the whole point of Bella's existence is earning the suffocating love of supernatural hotties; even if you think her obsessive devotion to Edward might waver in the face of were-love, you know you're never going to see her throw them both over to stand on her own two feet.
When this Team Edward/Team Jacob stuff was limited to Twilight, I didn't much care, because that does really seem to be Bella's great moral dilemma: which guy to choose. She doesn't seem to have any agency outside of the two guys.
But then I started noticing other books being discussed in a similar vein. I had to stop following the Hunger Games Trilogy group on Goodreads because the threads ultimately devolved into shouting TEAM GALE and TEAM PEETA endlessly, with no other content. When it first started happening, I was annoyed, but couldn't quite describe why it bothered me so much. Because Katniss is placed in positions where she has to choose between the boys - or at least, try to figure out how she feels about each one.
Harding's article helped me fill it out: it annoyed me because it ignores Katniss' own agency, and the fact that she has a hell of a lot more going on in her life than romance. Bella's life in Twilight boils down to romance, and that's fine - her books clearly fall into the romance genre. Hunger Games, however, is much more of an action-adventure story, with a dash of political intrigue and just a hint of romance for Katniss. Debates over why Katniss might choose one guy over the other could be interesting and fun as one part of discussion of the novel, but boiling everything down to "Team Gale" and "Team Peeta" misses the point of the novels. I, for one, am firmly on Team Katniss (after Catching Fire, I just want her to stay alive through the end of book 3!)!
Coincidentally, when I was hunting down that link for the Goodreads forum, I found a topic on there that reminded me of another blog post I read today: a discussion comparing Twilight to Hunger Games seems like it would hit several squares on Justine Larbalestier's Paranomral/Fantasy YA Review Bingo. Remember that horrendous Entertainment Weekly review of Catching Fire? Yeah, I think the comments there firmly proved that about the only similarities between the two series is that a teenage girl is the protagonist!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Quick Book Link: Want a free e-book?
To build up excitement for the October release of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan, Simon & Schuster is offering a free download of the first book of one of Westerfeld's other incredibly successful series: Uglies. It's a .pdf copy, so you can read it even if you don't have one of those fancy e-readers yet. Just give them your e-mail address and zip code and you've got a free electronic copy of Uglies!
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