Site / Server Update

Hey Everyone --

Well, for now the hosting company has moved the site back to the old server. And I've turned submissions back on. So the site is up and running again...just not moved. :-) Which is way better than being down!

Server Move Update

*Sigh* Well, I'd thought all of my server woes were over. Things were finally moved today and everything seemed to be working (after a few on-the-fly fixes) but a new problem has cropped up and DB submissions are still down. I'll post again soon as I learn more. In the meantime, you can still browse the site and enter the contests. All of that is working!

Prize Bucket Donation: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

We've had another super generous donation for the Prize Bucket from Henry Holt: 20 copies of The Adoration of Jenna Fox!!

(It'll appear in the Prize Bucket as soon as I can make updates to the database again...sorry about the delay! If you have a prize claim pending and you'd like this book, you can go ahead and email me now...you don't have to wait for it to show up in the Prize Bucket officially!)

Who is Jenna Fox?

With biomedical ethics, cloning and stem-cell research in the news and playing a significant role in the shifting political landscape, the new novel The Adoration of Jenna Fox comes along to make us question what it means to be human.

What makes Jenna a real girl?

The Adoration of Jenna Fox is set in the dystopian near future, after global warming has led to polar bear extinction and a second woman has been elected president. Teen-aged Jenna is slowly emerging from a coma with no memories of her past and no understanding of the present. Still in terrible physical shape from a horrific accident, Jenna is home-bound, with her parents feeding her a steady diet of home movies, life lessons, world info, physical therapy. As Jenna slowly begins to remember, she also begins to question what lead her to the fateful accident. Will Jenna’s family be able to answer her questions with the truth? Will Jenna find out who she was---and will she return to being that person or start a new life for herself?

Did her parents go too far to save the Jenna they loved?

Author Mary Pearson found herself asking very similar questions after both of her teen-aged daughters were diagnosed with cancer.

While family emergencies send most of us into a deep depression or panic, Mary used her time at the hospital to ask questions, to wonder, to brainstorm, deepening her belief that one can never know what one might do in an impossible situation.

Film rights for The Adoration of Jenna Fox have been secured by Fox, with Children/Teen media pros Julia Pistor (Spiderwick Chronicles) as producer and Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events) as director.

To find out more, check out www.whoisjennafox.com !

Shipment Notice: 6/18/08 and other news

These books actually shipped out on 6/18...sorry for the late notice!


Katherine Fang: After Tupac and D Foster
Eliza Osborn: Drowned Maiden
Laura Woitalla: Drowned Maiden
Dominique Cheung: Foreign Exposure
Lauren Becker: Mondays are Red
Jennifer Creal: Sisters of Isis: The Summoning
Holly Kinsey: Sweet Valley High: Secrets
Amee Enders: The Boys Next Door
Linh Tran-Phuong: The Lightkeeper's Daughter

I also apologize that the server move is taking so LONG. My hosting company is having some unforseen difficulties with the move. Hopefully it will be complete soon!

In good news...I'll be at ALA this coming weekend. If you're going, I hope you'll look me up! I'll be doing signings at the Random House and Mirrorstone booths and I'll be doing a reading on stage. You can find out more at www.kimberlypauley.com I'll also be doing an event with Josh Hutcherson (the actor!) at the Aliso Viejo Public Library on 6/30.

ALA Great Web Sites for Kids

Hey! YABC has been selected as one of the ALA's Great Web Sites for Kids! Cool, huh?

Update on the YA Books Goddess...

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to post a quick update. I'm going to be a bit unreachable because my doctor has put me on bed rest for the time being (low amniotic fluid levels). Nothing to worry about as yet, but it does mean I won't be checking email and things like that as frequently. I will try and get back to you as quickly as possible, but please be patient if you email me about something and don't hear back for a while. Thanks!

If you check the About This Site page you'll also find email addresses for all the YABC reviewers and I'm sure they'd be happy to answer any general questions (please don't inundate them or anything, though!).

In more exciting news, I did get my official author site together (finally!) and it is up at www.kimberlypauley.com so drop by and visit and leave me a comment or ask a question! I'd love to hear what you think about it!

Sort By Reviewer

I've added some (small) new functionality on the website today. It doesn't completely meet the need, but it will help, at least. Basically, you can now sort by reviewer when viewing reviews. This functionality will now work on:

• YA Book Reviews (by official YABC reviewers)
• Kids Book Reviews (by official YABC reviewers) [ack, spoke too soon, some kind of issue on this sort, but just on the kiddie reviews]
• Reader Reviews

Just select "Reviewer" from the "Sort" dropdown in the green bar. You'll then need to hit "Next" and/or "Previous" to get where you want.

I'm hoping to get functionality added whereby you'll be able to search by reviewer via the Book Directory/Search, since I know a lot of readers would like to be able to easily see which books they have reviewed for purposes of the book review ongoing giveaway. I just don't have the time to do it myself (it's a bit more complicated in the code than adding the sort function), not to mention I haven't done any complicated programming in quite a few years and my brain is rusty. If there are any ColdFusion programmers out there that can help, drop me a note at kim@yabookscentral.com ! I can't afford to pay much, but I can pay some. It would be a modification to existing code, and not an entirely new function, which makes it a little better.

At any rate, I do hope that this small advance will help.

New Interviews & Excerpts

I'm posting a number of new (well, new to the site...some of it has been in my "pending" queue to post for quite some time...I'm trying to get caught up on everything before the baby gets here) items to the site today:

• An interview with Judy Gregerson, author of the Bad Girls Club.
• Excerpt from I Don't Want to Be Crazy by Samantha Schutz
• PDF excerpt from Tanya Lee Stone's A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl and also a Reading Group Guide
• Author photo for Christine Fletcher
• Author photo and interview for Valerie Frankel
• An interview with Michael Blumer
• Author photo for Rachna Vohra

Prize Bucket Donation: The 13th Reality

We've had a generous Prize Bucket donation from Shadow Mountain publishing (they publish Fablehaven and Leven Thumps among other books). They've donated 10 copies of a new fantasy by James Dashner called The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters.

Here's more about the book:

What if every time you made a choice that had a significant consequence, a new, alternate reality was created-the life that would have been had you made the other choice? What if those new realities were in danger? What if it fell to you to save all the realities?

Atticus Higginbottom, a.k.a Tick, is an average thirteen-year-old boy until the day a strange letter arrives in his mailbox. Postmarked from Alaska and cryptically signed with the initials “M.G.,” the letter informs Tick that dangerous-perhaps even deadly-events have been set in motion that could result in the destruction of reality itself. M.G. promises to send Tick twelve riddles that will reveal on a certain day, at a certain time, at a certain place, something extraordinary will happen. Will Tick have the courage to follow the twelve clues M.G. sends to him? Will he be able to solve the riddles in time? Will Tick discover the life he was meant to live?

The first volume of an outstanding new children’s fantasy series, The Journal of Curious Letters is filled with adventure, humor, riddles, and, oh yes-danger…As M.G. warns Tick, Very frightening things are coming your way. Will you join Tick and his friends on an amazing journey through the Realities? What will your choice be?

( authors and publishers: you can donate to the Prize Bucket at any time, just drop me an email at kim@yabookscentral.com )

My book is up on Amazon!!

Hey, everybody! I had to share, since I was so excited. I was just browsing around on Amazon and thought I'd type in my book title just for the heck of it (not expecting anything since it isn't coming out for months and months) and look ----!!!! It's up on Amazon already! I'm all freaked out! So, of course, I had to go ahead and add my book to YABC now too. :-) Yikes! I suppose I should actually do the bio and all of that as well...it's very strange to be on the "other side" of things.

Anyway, just had to share! Hope you don't mind!

E-mail Down

Just an FYI - my hosting company's email servers are down so all @yabookscentral.com email addresses are currently unable to receive any email. So don't despair if you email someone and don't get a response; we might not have rec'd your email yet! Thanks!

Final new reviewer bio posted & other news

Little Willow's bio has now been posted (see About This Site for everyone's bios):

Little Willow - littlewillow@yabookscentral.com (YA, MG, emphasis on comedies, drama, "clean reads," and realistic fiction)

When not working on her own stories, Little Willow is happy to read or perform those written by others. She is a bookseller, freelance book reviewer, and journalist who aspires to be a successful actress, screenwriter, and novelist. Visit her book blog, Bildungsroman, at http://slayground.livejournal.com/ and corresponding archive at http://www.slayground.net/bildungsroman/


In other YABC related news, I'm sorry to say I didn't make it back to the Post Office this week, so the only books that went out were the reviewer books. I will definitely make a prize shipment next week. I thought I'd be able to get two in, but being almost 8 months pregnant is definitely curtailing my activity! Sorry about that!

Shipment Notice: 1/23/08

This is primarily a reviewer shipment. So, besides the books I mentioned in an earlier post going out to reviewers, I'm also sending out these:

Becky

• Don't Forget to Dream
• The Fairy Chronicles: Dragonfly and the Web of Dreams

Leann

• Class Favorite
• Forget About It
• Go Figure
• Out of Focus
• Stray
• How to Hook a Hottie
• The Comeback Season
• Rhiannon
• The Rules for Hearts
• 30 Days to Getting Over the Dork You Used to Call Your Boyfriend
• Does Snogging Count as Exercise

New Reviewers

I heard back from the last new reviewer (which makes 3, if anyone is counting). Please welcome Leann Heywood. Here, for your convenience, is her bio (you can always check the About This Site page for the most up-to-date listing):

Leann Heywood - leann@yabookscentral.com (YA, MG, ER, emphasis on romance and small press/self-published)

Leann discovered while taking a children's literature class in college that she was especially passionate about middle grade and young adult novels. She had always been an avid reader, but once she began immersing herself in books for young people, it was as if a door to a new and better world had opened. After college, Leann worked as a bookseller and then spent several years as an editor for HarperCollins Children's Books. In 2005, she decided to start her own editorial business and became a full-time freelance editor. When she isn't reading or editing, she enjoys talking about books with her husband and friends (or her cat, if she's the only one who will listen!), baking, lounging on the beach, watching ice hockey, and listening to music. She doesn't go anywhere without a book--usually a young adult title. You can learn more about Leann at www.wherewordslive.com. She would love to hear from you!

Ed's bio has also been posted and Little Willow's is coming soon. Here's Ed:

Ed Goldberg - ed@yabookscentral.com (YA, MG, ER, emphasis on mysteries, realistic fiction, sports, and Science Fiction/Fantasy)

Ed has been an avid reader as far back as he can remember. When he was just a kid, not wanting to return his favorite library book, he hid it in his toy chest. Now that he's a librarian, he'd never think of doing such a thing. Ed received his MLS in 2004 and is a Teen Services Librarian in New York. He and his girlfriend are always reading and talking about books. Between them, they have five kids in high school and college, four cars, two dogs and one cat. Ed also loves the beach, cooking, old bookstores and old cars. His favorite genre is Mystery, but he'll read just about anything.

YABC Newsletter...

The newsletter went out this evening...please, someone tell me (a comment here would be fine) that you actually got the HTML version okay rather than the (slightly stinky looking) plain text version. I subscribe under my own address as a double-check and I only got the (ugly) plain text version...

And to all subscribers -- be sure you read it! There's a signed book giveaway in there as well as the chance for extra entries in this month's giveaways!

YABC News...

Well, I never anticipated the amount of (great) responses I would have to my post about needing a new reviewer or two for YABC. It really made me think about how best to organize (and re-organize) some things around here. After talking with the current reviewers, I'm happy to announce a few things (well, mostly happy, one is a slightly sad note but with a bright side):

• Please join me in saying goodbye to Beth, who will no longer be reviewing for YABC due to the coming of her second child (which I can completely appreciate right now!!). And congrats to her as well. We wish her a good night's sleep and the time to take a shower and hopefully, hopefully, a little time to read in there as well.
• Liz, one of YABC's picture book (PB) reviewers, is going to "infrequent" status due to other committments.
• Julie is going to be shifting her concentration from primarily PB to a broader range of YA and MG (middle grade) books.
• Becky is going to be shifting her concentration from Christian books to cover both Christian books and kids books (up to age 10).
• And please welcome (so far) two new reviewers: Ed Goldberg (a librarian) and Little Willow (a bookseller and book reviewer). More to come on them soon -- look for their bios on the About This Site page this week.

And some shipments of review books will be going out this week:

Alyssa

• Bone: Ghost Circles
• The Ebony Eye
• Queen of the Sea
• Warrior's Bones
• The Stolen Sun
• Amulet: The Stonekeeper

Ed

• Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians
• Truancy
• The Celebutantes in the Club
• Tunnels
• Pro Wrestling Kids' Style
• Cezanne is Missing
• Mind Over Basketball
• Fake Boyfriend
• Cover-Up
• Swindle
• What To Do When Your Temper Flares

Little Willow

• For Now
• The Pirates of Turtle Rock
• The Unspoken
• Unleashed
• Falcon's Prey
• Wyvernhail
• Cam's Quest
• Almost Home
• The Fall of the Templar
• First Aid
• Annabelle's Monsters
• The Wreath

Julie:

• The Hope Chest
• The Ashleys
• The Possibility of Fireflies
• Henry of York
• Candy in Action
• Raleigh's Page

More news soon!

New YABC Reviewer Needed

Hi Everyone,

If you didn't know, I'm pregnant and due to have a baby in March. Since it is our first baby, I have no idea exactly how much time I'll be able to spend maintaining the website (but I'm sure it will be less!). As such, I'd really like to add at least one additional reviewer to the site. While YABC already has a number of great reviewers, they're all volunteers and as such don't post a consistent amount of reviews every month (real life, writing, etc. get in the way) and some of the reviewers are very infrequent (which is okay, I appreciate every moment they give).

What I'm looking for now is someone who is 18 or up and will be able to commit to posting at least 2 reviews a month (I'll be providing the books or having the publishers send them to you). Primary coverage would be young adult novels, but it would be nice if you'd also be willing to review middle grade or children's books and would be open to both fiction and non-fiction. You would also have the opportunity to interview authors (if you wanted to). I'd actually love to find a guy since all the current reviewers are female, but I'm (of course) open to women candidates too.

If you would also be willing to do some minimal administration stuff, that would also be great (some of the other reviewers periodically do this now; it involves mainly reviewing / approving reader submissions to the site via an admin web interface). I'll hopefully still be able to keep up with this, but I just have no idea how my time will be (and every now and then I'll get a surge of new submissions all at once which buries me).

What you'll get -- your own yabookscentral.com email address, your byline on anything you submit to the site, and a bio on the About This Site page as well as many free books as you can review. I'm afraid I can't pay you (the site literally broke even last year by about $20), but I can promise you as many books as you want to read.

If you're interested, please email me at kim@yabookscentral.com with the following info:

• Your name
• Your qualifications (if any)
• Your age
• Why would you like to be a YABC reviewer?
• How many books do you anticipate reviewing in a month?
• Would you be willing to do some minimal administration tasks?
• Where are you located? (state/country)
• Have you reviewed for other sites?
• What are your primary interests in YA or kids books? (i.e. genres, etc.)

Update Thursday, Jan 17th: I've received some really good applications so far! Wow! Far more than the last time I posted a plea for an additional reviewer. I'm going through all the applications now and will get back to everyone as soon as I can. I think I'm going to have to add more than one, that's for sure! (but that's not a bad thing -- the more reviews, the better, right?)

The moment you've been waiting for...

Wow, this has been a really unusually close competition for the 2008 Official YABC Teen Reviewer. Lots of people voted, including representatives from publishers and a fair amount of authors (reviewers, you should be proud!). The race was really down to the wire, with the winner pulling in front by a handful of votes at the end. I'd been worried I'd have to be a tie-breaker, but in the end the winner was clear. Honestly, I didn't want to have to choose either! All the candidates were so impressive.

So...with no further ado...the 2008 Official Teen Demi-Goddess is...

Chelsea Swiggett!

Congrats, Chelsea and another big thank you to all the other applicants who did such a wonderful job. Every year the race gets more exciting. Chelsea, keep an eye on your inbox, I'll be sending you more info shortly!

This is the LAST day to vote!

This is the very last day to vote for the next official YABC Teen Reviewer. And your vote can really, really make a difference this year! Three of the reviewers are in a dead heat and I have no idea who will win! So get your vote in! I'll be taking votes until midnight tonight using the timestamp on your email.

Get your vote in!

Be sure to get your vote in for the next official YABC Teen Reviewer by the end of the day on January 5th! The vote is pretty close this year, so every vote counts! Vote today and tell your friends!

Update 1/3/08: Wow, the vote is really, really, really close now between 3 of the 5 finalists! Be sure to get your vote in!