Up for Auction: A full YEAR of advertising on YABC!

Please see http://community.livejournal.com/kickstart_tu for all the details!

There's an auction going on to support Tu Publishing and help raise the necessary funds. I've posted two auctions: one is for a 10 page critique and the other is for a full year of advertising on www.yabookscentral.com. Bidding starts at just $20!

Support a new multicultural press & then advertise for a year!

Review: Purple Heart

In Purple Heart, Patricia McCormick follows Private Matt Duffy through his ordeal of TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury after being 'on the business end of an RPG-rocket propelled grenade' in Iraq. He has no memory of the incident. TBI can cause loss of memory, mood swings, difficulty in assimilating new information.

Matt goes through a variety of emotions and thought processes as he tries to remember what happened, gain back his strength and get back to his squad.

Patricia McCormick has written an absorbing book about a real issue-the impact of war on soldiers. She has continued the tradition of her previous books Cut and Sold; that is a well written, absorbing look at a current issue. Definitely read Purple Heart and McCormick's other books.

YABC Needs a New Logo...(contest!!)

Okay, I really do think it is time for a brand spankin' new logo for Young Adult (& Kids!) Books Central. So it's time for a contest, people.

WHAT: you design a new logo for the site and submit it to me at kim@yabookscentral.com in either .gif, .jpg, or .tif format or what the heck, .psd is fine too.

HOW: Any way you want. Any colors. Any look. Anything! You can create it on the computer or you can draw it and scan it in.

WHO: Open to anyone in the U.S. or Canada (or anyone who has someone they know in the US that can accept the prize for them).

WHEN: Submissions are due by December 31, 2009.

WHY: The prize? A big old box of books. Yep, an entire BOX of books. (What's in the box, you ask? Um, honestly, I've already sealed it up and I don't remember. But the box weighs 12.5 pounds and is packed full of YA and MG books. Approximate value I would guess to be around $150 dollars.) Plus credit to you on the website for designing the logo, plus if I have bookmarks or anything made with it, you'll get some of those too.

Now for the fine print...if less than 5 submissions are received, I'll cancel the contest (but I know you guys can do better than that). If enough submissions are received, I'll likely add some additional prizes for 2nd and 3rd places. The grand prize winner will be chosen from all eligible submissions. Most likely, depending upon number of entries, the YABC staff will choose their top picks and then put it to the vote.

If you have questions, post 'em here! Good luck! I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Humberto loves to read. Problem is Humberto is often alone. The other animals don't get him and don't understand why he doesn't want to play with them. Then one day a storm comes and destroys the animal's homes and most of Humberto's books. HUMBERTO THE BOOKWORM HAMSTER discovers that maybe having friends is important too. Read more of my review of this adorable picture book at YA Books Central.

Winter Blog Blast Tour (WBBT)

For the past two years, Colleen from Chasing Ray has organized series upon series of author interviews. These blog tours, hosted and posted at various blogs, have been dubbed the Summer Blog Blast Tour (SBBT for short) and Winter Blog Blast Tour (aka WBBT). Each event is one week long and involves a multitude of authors, bloggers, and readers.

I conducted five interviews for WBBT, one of which will posted at my book blog, Bildungsroman, each weekday morning this week. I kicked things off this morning with author Courtney Sheinmel, the author of My So-Called Family and Positively.

Visit Chasing Ray for the master list for this year's WBBT. I also posted the full schedule at Bildungsroman.

Review: Pop

Gordon Korman writes funny books. However, in Pop he has used humor and emotion in a winning combination. Marcus Jordon just moved to upstate New York. His goal is to be quarterback of his new high school team. However, at tryouts he learns two things: The DNA Raiders were undefeated last year and Troy Popovich is the star quarterback, so there’s little room for the likes of Marcus.

He practices alone in the local park. One day he throws a long pass and there is actually someone trying to catch it. His name is Charlie and he really knows how to play football. Marcus and Charlie begin practicing together, Charlie teaching him to tackle and be tackled. Charlie loves to hear the “pop” of a good tackle. Marcus and Charlie keep practicing and Marcus keeps improving. But he begins to wonder how an adult has the time to appear at the park in mid-afternoon on weekdays. Doesn’t he have to work?

I don’t want to tell you more about the story. It is best to let it unfold at its own pace. What I will tell you is that Pop is a great book. The characters are genuine and the plot is real and while it's got sports action, it is also a poignant story.

Gordon Korman combines his standard humor with some deep down emotion to come up with a winning book.

Legacy

Eighteen-year-old Lucas is a high school drop out working at a dead-end job. But he's fine with that. Then one day, out of the blue, a stranger shows up revealing he's Lucas' deadbeat father. He also admits he's the superhero Raptor and needs Lucas to take over his job. Lucas wants nothing to do with this stranger. But things happen that take that option out of his hands. Legacy is a story of a superhero who's not the usual stereotypical good guy. Read more of my review at YA Books Central to see how far some heroes go in the name of helping.

New Moon Girls Magazine needs your help!

Got this in my email today and I wanted to pass it along: 

Empowering girls with healthy, positive media is my lifelong passion, and one I know you share.   New Moon Girls online community and magazine gives girls ages 8 and up a safe, exciting, supportive space to express themselves and hear from other girls around the world. Girls who could be the next Courtney Martin (a finalist this week in Washington Post's America's Next Great Pundit contest) whose first article was published in New Moon when she was a girl, 14 years ago. 

Sadly, this will all end on 12-31-09 without your help.

New Moon's had a tough year like many other businesses. Even with a lot of effort, we haven't succeeded in bringing in additional investors this fall, and it's time to add a new strategy to keep New Moon alive. We have until Dec 31 to reach monthly break-even so that New Moon can grow in the future.  

Have we tightened our own belts?  You betcha! Right now our monthly expenses are 65% less than they were a year ago.  But we still have a gap of $7500 a month to break-even.  The good news is that with your help we can close this gap.  The gap amounts to only 250 orders a month @ $29.95.

With your help to sponsor memberships for non-profits and to give New Moon as gifts, we can continue to ensure a media that lifts girls' aspirations, increases their power, and gives them an outlet for their unique perspectives and voices.  I'm sending this email to everyone I know and asking you to do the same.

Together, we can fill this gap and save New Moon for girls.

Please act today so the media universe for girls won't be totally dominated by Stardoll.com, Seventeen magazine, and worse.

You can help by:

• Sponsoring memberships for libraries, schools and programs serving low-income girls. It's quick and easy to sponsor one, ten or 100 girls - every dollar matters!
• Buying memberships for all girls 8-14 that you know. Our holiday special saves you 50% after the first order.
• Telling everyone what you value about New Moon.  Link to us, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter and share with your FB friends and Tweeps.

Together, we can do it.  Please call me with any questions or concerns you have at 218-206-2219. And, in addition to the above ways to help, if you would like to learn more about becoming an investor in New Moon, let me know.

Thank you,

Nancy

Nancy Gruver, Founder

New Moon Girl Media
Author, How To Say It To Girls
218-206-2219
www.newmoon.com
www.daughters.com
facebook: New Moon Page
twittering: nancy_newmoon
blogging: Nancy's Blog

Goth Girl Rising

Kyra Sellers is back after a six month stay at a mental health unit. She's ready to go back to life as she knew it. Problem is it seems like all her friends have moved on, including Fanboy. To say she's not too happy is an understatement. Goth Girl Rising is the sequel to The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. Kyra's back in full force. Read more of my review at YA Books Central.

Never After by Dan Elconin

J.M. Barrie’s original Peter Pan was really quite dark and not at all like the Disney-fied version we all think of. Dan Elconin’s Never After raises that bar and throws in some zombies for good measure. The Island is Neverland like you’ve never seen it before.

Ricky Darlin is an angry teen. Angry at his parents, bored with his life, and just generally dissatisfied. When a mysterious but friendly-seeming fellow named Peter drops in on him in the middle of the night and offers to take him away to The Island (a tropical paradise he’d been dreaming about), he jumps at the chance.

Click here to read the rest of the review...

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YARN - A New YA Lit Mag seeks submissions!

YARN, a new online literary magazine for Young Adult readers, is seeking fiction, poetry, and essays for its debut issue. Writing should be of special interest to 14-18 year old readers, but can be written by writers of any age or background. Submissions by teens are especially encouraged. YARN’s mission is to publish the highest quality creative writing for everyone who enjoys young adult lit. Published quarterly, YARN will feature short fiction and creative essays, poetry, and an author interview. Our interactive sections will allow for comments on stories, as well as reviews of recent YA books. We distinguish ourselves from other teen lit mags by seeking to discover new teen writers, and publish them alongside established writers of the YA genre. Issue 1 will go live in Winter 2010, but a little taste of our site is currently available at www.yareview.net (where you can also find our submission guidelines).

Review: Odd and the Frost Giants

In Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, Odd a young, skinny Norse boy is up against the chilling evil of the Frost Giants who have taken over Asgard, home of the Norse Gods. He is an unlikely savior, if ever there was one. Yet, several of the Gods have been tricked by a Frost Giants and are helpless to undo what has been done. Since he is too weak to fight them, he must outwit them instead.

Gaiman's latest novel has its roots in Norse mythology. He has written a cute, readable tale. However, it does not live up to the high standards set in Coraline or The Graveyard Book. The illustrations certainly enhance the book, as do the informative chapter titles. While I recommend reading Odd and the Frost Giants (it is a fast, enjoyable read), I would highly recommend reading some of Gaiman's other children's books.

Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Autism is in the news a lot these days. And why wouldn’t it be? The statistics are alarming; more and more kids are diagnosed every day with everything from Asperger’s to Rett Syndrome and everything in between. Happily, great strides have been made in facilitating communication with those who have autism (on ALL sides of the spectrum).

Nora Raleigh Baskin’s book, Anything But Typical is told from the viewpoint of an autistic boy. Jason is a sixth grader and a talented kid. But he also has a lot of trouble dealing with the day-to-day world in ways that a non-autistic person has problems comprehending.

Read the rest of this review...

Another Kickstart a Classroom Library winner

This one is an 8th grade teacher: Jody Litkenhus.

In her words: 
I started teaching a few years ago.  I went to school in my 30s with three kids and a husband and all that comes with that.  I have taught 8th grade this whole time and have students who I supply with books from Godwill and thrift stores.  I rarely am able to purchase new books as there are so many students who need books in their hands and this is the only way I can get enough to go around.

This library jumpstart would be such a cool thing for our classroom.   Our school library is very limited, and I haave really tried to instill the love of reading in my students.  A new selection would be so exciting for them, and a benefit for all the students in the years to come. 

---------------

Some Winners of Kickstart a Classroom Library

Jacquelyn McCanse, as nominated by Kalina Badzioch.

Ms. McCanse is a first grade teacher and, according to Ms. Badzioch: "She has a heart of gold, and truly deserves a jump start on building her class library."

I don't have a huge amount of books for that age group, but what I have will be going to Ms. McCanse.

-----------

More winners: two teachers at Prairie Crossing Charter School (K - 8), as nominated by Terry Wrzesinski, a HS teacher. They are: Mrs. Mallin, 8th grade and Mrs. Jeffrey, 3/4th grade.

More winners to come...I'm still dividing up the books.

Ghost Huntress: The Guidance

Kendall is still trying to settle in her new home. Radisson, Georgia is a lot different than her hometown of Chicago. One thing that seems to be different is her ability to see ghosts. And there's a lot of them here in Georgia. Ghost Huntress: The Guidance continues the tale of Kendall and her team of ghost hunters as they search out more ghosts in this Southern town. But what's different is resident mean girl Courtney, former girlfriend of Kendall's now boyfriend Jason, is up to no good. Read more of my review at YA Books Central and find out what happens when Courtney decides to dabble in a world that she's not prepared for.

Catching Fire Winners! Finally!

At long last, here are the Catching Fire Giveaway winners:

Sandra Bannerman

Hillary Krajewski

Tina Johnson

Cheyenne Schroeder

Beth Revis

Emily Remer

Yan Lin

Dwan Proctor

Sara Grochowski

Julie Holden

Congratulations!

Twitter Challenge!

Okay, it started out harmlessly enough. But now I'm committed. Or committable...you decide. I wanna see how many followers we can get over on Twitter our first day on the scene. For every 100 followers there will be a winner (plus an extra winner for hitting 150 just because I said so). We're already close to 200. How many can we hit???

http://twitter.com/yabookscentral

YOU have been TRIPLE DOG DARED.

BTW, if we actual hit 1,000 followers, one of those 11 prizes will be the MOTHER of all prizes. I'm just sayin'.

It could happen. The Internet is a wild and wooly place.

Winners of Beautiful Creatures

The winners of Beautiful Creatures are:

Alanna Kurt
Megan Bishop
Sylvia Uy
Cara Beatrice
Brittany McElveen
Doreen Riopel
Meghan Riegel
Melissa Burmester
Sophia Zhong
Jessica Blair
Teddi Moorman
Amber Lane
Raelena Pavey
Angelikka Lin
Emilee Richardson

Please note that the publisher will be mailing out this prize directly. I'm just waiting on one address (Sophia) and will be sending the list of winners on shortly! Congrats!

And thank you to the @yabookscentral Twitter followers for helping to pick the winners by tweeting me random numbers!

Winners of Diary of a Wimpy Kid

The very lucky winners of the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book are...in no particular order...

Danetta Young
Elizabeth Wang
Adayla Schroeder
Billy Schuldt
Darryl Tahara
Patti Bright
Jane Maritz
Karen Yingling
Janice Vuong
Liz Tapia

Please note that the publisher will be sending out this prize directly! Congrats!

Winners of the Cirque du Freak giveaway...

The winners of the Cirque du Freak giveaway are...in no particular order...

Meg Treacy
Aylia Naqi
Sarah Laframboise
Asja Proano
Judie McCann


I'm currently waiting on 3 addresses and will send all winners on as soon as I get them. Thanks & Congrats!

YABC Survey!

Please answer this survey. All respondents will be entered into a "Thank You" giveaway.

The survey is hosted on Google Docs.

Only 5 more followers...

Hey! The blog only needs 5 more followers for there to be a new giveaway! You know what to do about that...

In other news, I've created a new Twitter account just for YA (& Kids) Books Central. It's at https://twitter.com/yabookscentral

Please follow! There will, of course, also be giveaways there. Probably every 100 followers? We'll see. :-)

(I'm also testing a twitterfeed thing so that blog posts will automatically post to the Twitter feed)

Beth Kephart: Then and Now

Beth Kephart, our first author-in-residence at readergirlz, has been posting monthly blogs in which she discusses the art (and the joys, and the frustrations) of writing, along with writing prompts and related contests. Here is Beth's third prompt:

"In this readergirlz challenge, the premise is simple: Find a photograph of yourself as a young child on the verge of some new knowledge or turning point. Write a paragraph about that photograph/that moment in present tense, as if you are experiencing that moment for the first time. Then write about that photograph/that moment in past tense, with the gift of retrospection. Ask yourself what you gain from working in the present tense, and what is gained by reflection; include your thoughts on this with your submission."

Send your entry to kephartblog AT comcast DOT net by November 25th, 2009. The author of the winning paragraph will receive a signed copy of Nothing but Ghosts, a novel about a young girl who, in learning to live past her mother's unexpected passing, involves herself in decoding the mystery that envelops the recluse down the road. The past and the present collide in Ghosts.

Nov. Giveaway: So Punk Rock & Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother

Enter to win one of 5 copies of So Punk Rock and Other Ways to Disappoint Your Mother by Micol and David Ostow!