Idiot.

When a resident of Jersey City learned that books were being weeded from the Jersey City Free Public Library, he took his oh-so-deep concerns to the town council.

Who wants to guess as to whether this man has ever worked in a library or gone to library school?

World, please take note: The librarians of Jersey City can do their jobs. If they didn't weed SOMETHING, there'd be no place for anything new in the library. Weeding has been an integral part (and dare I say my second favorite part of my job, after reader's advisory) of library operations since the dawn of time. Every library in every part of the library weeds, and not, despite what Anonymous Patron wrote at LISNews.org, because we don't like the content of the books. Believe me, if I could weed based on my dislike of books my last YA collection would not have had the overcrowding problem that it did.

Things fall apart. The binding glue cannot hold. Keep your pack-rat self off our shelves.

Tags: libraries, rants
126: annoyed

Yesterday I:

Sat in the Lincoln Tunnel and panicked about being late for a book event.

Heard about a lot of cool upcoming books.

Had lunch with Jerry Spinelli, who is very wonderful.

Came back to the library and proceeded to a co-worker's wake.

Wrote 685 words of my reversathon fic.

Listened to a lot of Avril Lavigne.

Was reassured by lizzb that I am not, in fact, insane.

I think I now understand the meaning of the word "whirlwind."

---

I went to the grocery store the other day and found a 20-ounce bottle of Vanilla Coke!! My happiness knows no bounds. Now all I have to do is find it in Diet and my life is perfect.

---

Those of you who watch America's Next Top Model know who James St. James is. Who knew he was a writer as well as a style maven? His YA novel, Freak Show came out last week and I snagged a copy from a nearby library.

Let me tell you, people. This book is FABULOUS. DIVINE. GO OUT AND READ IT RIGHT NOW.

Plot: Redneck Florida is anything but ready for sixteen-year-old drag queen Billy Bloom. Influenced by his mother, Billy has grown up on a diva diet of sequins, of Westwood and wigs. Back in Connecticut, Billy was pretty free to be who he was, but when his unstable mother sends him to live with his old-money town-founder dad in Florida, his flamboyant outfits and Lizaesque dialogue make him the target of spitballs and beatings. When his classmates put him in a coma, the only people who stay by his side are Flip, the star football player and Blah Blah Blah, a gossip fiend who loves Billy's openness. Despite his classmates' cruelty Billy is determined to make it through school, and with Blah Blah Blah's help he concocts the ultimate be-yourself plan: He's going to run for Homecoming Queen.

Why you should read it, darling: The dialogue, both inner and outer, makes this book. It's over-the-top and spangled, just like Billy, but the book is just the right length to keep it from putting the reader off. The ending is just imperfect enough, and the...I'll call it a relationship to avoid spoiling you, gentle readers...between Flip and Billy is really well done, so teenage. Also, I don't know of any other YA books that fall in the "queer" description if you're categorizing LGBTI/GLBTQ books. Billy describes his sexuality as "largely theoretical," and rather than focus on the "OMG, what sexuality am I" aspect that a lot of other YA books do (which doesn't make them wrong or less important, just different from this one) it focuses on theories of identity, popularity, and friendship. Or at least, that's what's there under the satin and ruffles.

I also read Beauty Shop for Rent...fully equipped, inquire within by Laura Bowers, which I meant to post on earlier. I think what I'm finding in 2007 is that there aren't as many literary YA behemoths as there were in 2005 and 2006, but the "lighter" fare is amazing, so much better than it's been in years past. BSFR centers on fourteen-year-old Abbey, who is determined to escape a legacy of teenage pregnancy and become a millionaire by the time she's 35. She's wise about investing, works at her great-grandmother's (Granny Po) beauty shop, and saves, but all her careful financial planning can't seem to bring her the thing she wants most: her mother. When thirty-one-year-old Gena rents Granny Po's beauty shop and gives it the makeover of a lifetime, everyone in Abbey's circle of friends and family is transformed in ways that were impossible before paraffin treatments. The intergenerational relationships are sheer delight, and Abbey's angst over her mother is realistic but doesn't make you want to throw yourself out the window, either. Again, a great book for discussion, especially mother/grandmother/aunt/significant elder female-daughter/granddaughter/niece/young woman you're mentoring book groups.

--

Today, I heard a tale from a YA librarian in the Midwest who is facing a parent who wants to ban a graphic novel from her library. This parent believes that no person, child, teen, or adult, should read this particular graphic novel and it should not be in the library in any section. (I don't want to go into what the GN is, but I will say that I know many teens who love it and it's certainly appropriate for a teen area; I bought it for my last library.) The librarian, superheroine that she is, did everything all librarians are supposed to do when faced with a challenge to materials: She collected reviews, articles about the importance of GNs in libraries, and lists of recommended GNs that include the challenged novel. She informed her director about the challenge, and her director stands behind her, which is good because...

The parent will have no part of any of the librarian's reasoning. The graphic novel corrupts society, said the parent, and the librarian could never understand and is not truly qualified for her job because she...

...wait for it...

is not a parent.

How APPALLING is that???

I told some of my coworkers, all of whom have children, about the parent's reason for not listening to the librarian, and they all thought it was horrible. I can sympathize very much with the librarian, because I've caught this crap from some people at outlying libraries, too; that because I don't have children there are some things I could just never understand. The thing is, when you're working with children in a public library you don't have to have them, you only have to listen to them (and respond appropriately) and use your knowledge to serve them as best you can. I know of people who believe that people who don't have children should not be allowed to work with them, which is ridiculous and heartbreaking. I'm better at my job than many librarians who have teens at home. The thing is, they have THEIR children, and their children serve as a comparison point for all other teens. This is normal; Dog knows I certainly compare other cats to Beezus and Henry. But normal everyday comparisons are one thing and telling someone she's basically incompetent because she works with young people but doesn't have any at home is quite another. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence."

I'll be following this librarian's story. She'll be meeting with the director and the parent soon.

I'd go into my related rant on how awful it is that Mr. Cedar, an Eagle Scout, does not feel comfortable volunteering with a local Boy Scout troop at another time.

--

I can't spoil anyone about Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End because I haven't seen it. Maybe next Tuesday. Nothing worse than a movie theater on weekends. Even Orlando Bloom wet is not enough to brave the wilds of stupid people who think their movie commentary is oh so funny. Hey, genius, if you were half as witty as you think you are, you'd be writing for television and movies instead of sitting in a theater eating popcorn. Now please be quiet, you're ruining my pirates.

--

So much to write, but so much to read before that.

Tags: books, books i'd pay retail for, fangirling, libraries, rants
126: giddy
780: your bridges were burned and now it's your turn to cry me a river

Today, a twelve-year-old (she looked older) girl came into my teen section and picked up a copy of Meg Cabot's All-American Girl. Since it's on a required reading list for the local junior high, I asked her if she needed help finding other required books. No, she's okay, she goes to a different school with a suggested reading list. Note that there is no parent around. This is important.

Girl asks me if we have Girl, 15, Charming but Insane by Sue Limb, and I take a look at the shelves and it's not there. It's pretty popular, so I tell her that it's probably checked out. Does she want another book like it?

Okay.

Enter the mother.

I'm still working with the girl at this point, so I start conducting a reader's advisory interview. One of the first questions I always ask is, "What are some books you've read that you like?" This question helps me to learn two things: 1) the reader's general taste 2) what books NOT to give them, since they've read them already.

Girl says, "I liked Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants."

Okay.

I start pulling books. I say to the girl, "What I'm going to do is get a whole bunch of books for you to look through, and you can choose from them. Picking out books is like trying on jeans: Sometimes you have to try on ten before you find one that fits."

Based on her reading tastes, I pull One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, Vegan, Virgin, Valentine, Dunk, Sweetblood, Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Year of Secret Assignments, Planet Janet, Thwonk, Confessions of a Not It Girl, A Mango-Shaped Space, and...a few others I don't remember. But you get the point. Interesting female characters, strong female friendships, etc.

I start booktalking. I'm one hell of a booktalker, if I do say so myself. I compare some titles to Sisterhood..., and the whole time I'm trying not to slap the mother, who keeps repeating now, "She's only twelve, she's only twelve." Leave me alone, lady, I can do my job.

So the mother and daughter are looking through the books and the mother starts talking.

"Are all these books for twelve-year-olds?" she asks, indicating my entire YA section.

"No," I reply. "This section encompasses sixth through twelfth grade."

"Oh! So are these high school books you gave her? Because we don't want books for high schoolers. She's only twelve. We need books with good values."

At this point I'm thisclose to asking her if she's read Sisterhood, but I don't really need to. I know the answer's no, because Bridget has sex in the book and she'd freak. So I tell both mother and daughter that all the books were very different, but they were all from good writers and had interesting characters. Some had older characters and some had younger characters. In none of the books did the characters have sex on every page. I don't know of any YA novels like that. (Note, zeisgeist, that I artfully didn't mention Doing It, which is checked out anyway, as was Contents.)

"But do they have good values?"

Thoroughly confused and a little ticked off, I say, "Everyone has different values. I can't make that decision for anyone regarding exactly what they should read. I can suggest books, but every reader has to make his or her own decision."

"Right, but you know what I mean? We don't want books for high schoolers. Which of these books are for high schoolers? We need books with good values." (And Sisterhood is...)

Sigh. I point out that Vegan Virgin Valentine has the oldest protagonist, followed by Sweetblood, but I said, "You can't judge all the books by the age of their protagonist. For example, there are no bad words in Dunk, but the main character is a high-schooler with typical high school worries. When I think of a high school book, it's not always about the content, but the language. The language in Dunk makes it especially appropriate for...maybe 8th, 9th, 10th grade. But it's really a terrific book and remember, you can always return it if you don't like it."

At this point, I break away to help the girl's brother. He wants illustrated classics. I help him at my desk, and just as we're finishing the daughter comes by with Dunk and Confessions of a Not It Girl. I tell her she's made excellent choices and to come back and let me know what she thinks of the books.

Later, I got to thinking about the "values" thing. Here is what I value: As many opinions and views as I can afford. But what would this mother have said to me if her daughter had picked out One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, where the main character's father comes out to his daughter? It's a beautifully written, heartfelt book, and the daughter still loves her father despite his keeping such an important secret from her for so many years. But would the mother have bitched to my director about giving her daughter a book with a gay character? What about Sweetblood, in which a guy tries to seduce Lucy through a chat room and giving her creepy gifts? Lucy is a smart, takes-no-shit character who doesn't allow herself to be taken advantage of, but is this a "good value" or is it cancelled out by Draco? I like to think that I'm pretty impartial...well, humanly impartial, anyway...in my job, that I try to have a diverse collection available and not make moral judgments. I'm very much a believer in "you can only please some of the people some of the time," and I really do try to match the book to what the reader wants/needs. Sometimes, though, I feel like there's not much choice but to let my prejudices shine. At least I try to be prejudiced in favor of good writing, I guess.

It must be the end of July, because I'm feeling the weariness of dealing with the constant stream parents who never read YA lit but whine to me nonstop about all the "heavy," "depressing" books on the summer reading lists. Right. Which one of us has read 85% of what's on that list and helped pick out a good percentage of the books? Yes, Skellig is on the list (and thank your deity of choice for the seventh-grader who was sitting at a table reading it when a mother was complaining to her daughter about how it was too dark and serious and oh you wouldn't like it, who said, "It's really good! I'm really liking it."). But so is Swords for Hire. So is Heir Apparent.

Other YA lit news: Just finished Margaret Peterson Haddix's Turnabout. Margaret Peterson Haddix is not a good writer. Next review: Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar, which was ah-mazing. Next book to read, dammit: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld, since I now have my very own copy. Also, Rhymes with Witches got a 2Q in the new VOYA. Color me unsurprised. Started I am the Wallpaper, which I'm enjoying, but not to be confused with i am the Messenger, which should be held up as an example of how to voice characters.

Dish time.

Mary J. Blige - Family Affair

Tags: books, i work with crazy people, libraries
126: hot

Were we all so busy looking at Alabama that we forgot about Oklahoma? Once again, library laws brought to us courtesy of people who have probably never been in a library. Otherwise, they'd know that there's no such thing as a section of a library that's restricted to adults. Interestingly enough, there are sections restricted to children and teenagers at certain times of the day in some libraries. Have these people got nothing better to do with their time than think about the sex lives of others? Do not answer that.

I hope Judith Krug rips them a new one. She's Cedar Hero #6.

In other news, I couldn't stand up straight today. Getting new doctor tomorrow. Also, should be writing something for pornish_pixies. Heh.

Tags: censorship, libraries
126: sore

From the "What do you think I do all day?" files, this article regarding Jenna Jameson's book at the Houston Public Library.

[City Councilwoman Pam] Holm said Houston's libraries should "absolutely" have a system of rating books and determining if they are suitable for children, like movie rating systems.


"I don't think we should just order (any) books," Holm said. "It should go through a review process, and those books that are inappropriate for children should be in a place where children don't have access to them."

Dude, what we librarians wouldn't give for a budget that allowed us to order "just any books." And that "review process" that works oh so well for movies? We call them professional journals. We read them, even.

Speaking of professional journals, I've been thinking a lot about the recent fight over Rainbow Boys in a Wisconsin school district, but probably not for the reasons I should. Yes, intellectual freedom, representation of real-life issues, etc. However, I'm thinking about the case more from the perspective of a YA book reviewer.

When a book is challenged in a library or school, librarians use professional reviews in their defense of a book. Makes sense. But it's a little scary to think about that one day, I could review a book that will be challenged, and they will hold up my review as evidence that said book has a place in a school or public library. I know it's the whole "with power comes responsibility" thing, and I do my best to be fair in my reviews and put personal preferences/prejudices aside and review how well the characters are developed, how the plot works out, the language, writing style, etc. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I always worry that someone's going to write to the journal I review for and go on a long rant about how awful my review is, or that someone will regret buying a book that I reviewed favorably. Sometimes I feel like I haven't a clue as to what I'm doing because I didn't do that well in high school English and therefore never took an English class in college. I didn't learn how to "properly" read a book, whatever that means, and I always have this fear that one day I'm going to write a review and completely miss the point of a book. Of course, I still think that would put me in a better position than the people who want the book removed from the library because it says something they don't like.

Today: laundry, dishes, Pilates, straightening, editing Morality for Beautiful Slytherins

Tags: books, censorship, i work with crazy people, libraries, rants