STACKED

books

Exciting news

|

Written by: Kelly on October 22, 2012.

I mentioned in this weekend’s links of note post that I’ve been working on a couple of different projects.  One of them has been on a presentation for the YA Lit Symposium, and the other one is something that has sort of been in the back of my mind for a few months now.

I’ve done a lot of thinking about the things I’m passionate about. About the things that I’ve had the chance to write about here on STACKED and elsewhere. About how much I love writing about and thinking about certain topics and issues. I started to really consider how I can take what it is that interests me and take it out a little bit further.

(I feel like building up really good tension here so that this is really as exciting an announcement to whoever reads it as it is to me, but I fear I’m doing a terrible job. Humor me, please.)

Last week, I submitted a lengthy outline to VOYA for a book.

This weekend, while out of town, I had a contract in my inbox.

Today, I signed and returned that contract.

In other words: I’m writing a book.

A book about contemporary YA fiction.

It’s not just a book of book lists, though, and while there will certainly be a nice chunk of the book devoted to thematic and topical book lists (with book talks, links to well-done and worthwhile book trailers, with read alikes, and other readers’ advisory materials), it’s a lot more than that. My vision for the book — which should be obvious by now isn’t yet written — includes a large first part devoted to some of the things I’ve talked about before: why contemporary YA matters, how to be an effective critical reader and evaluator of books, and how to make connections among and between books. It’s also going to give a historical overview of the growth of the genre and the way it moved from “problem novels” to how it broaches different themes and topics in today’s world. It’s going to cover how to effectively provide passive readers’ advisory, as well as how to give a book talk (with attention to the evaluation of and use of book trailers).

The book will also include readers’ guides to different topics for book group and classroom use. These would be over niche topics within contemporary YA fiction that could make for interesting conversation — for example, the topic of military service would highlight 4 or 5 books that feature this theme and provide a means of examining them individually and as a group.

And of course, there will be a section devoted to how to be an advocate for contemporary YA fiction.

The book as I see it will be useful not just for librarians, but also educators, youth advocates, and, I hope, general readers looking to educate themselves on the genre and also looking for a resource to a lot of new reading material. It’s also going to be very up-to-date, meaning materials will be from 2009 to the present (thinking by the time it’s in print, nothing in the book will be more than 5-6 years old). There will, of course, be a lot of time devoted to talking about classics and staples in contemporary YA, so those won’t be overlooked.

I’ve been processing this all because, as much as I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, it all came together very, very quickly. Like I mentioned: this isn’t written yet. And it won’t be done for quite a while because I’ve given myself a nice lengthy deadline in hopes of devouring as much relevant material as possible.

As far as what this may mean for blogging, I am pretty sure it means nothing different will happen here except maybe for more reviews. I don’t plan on talking about this project a whole lot until there is a finished product in hand (or there are parts of a finished product, at least) and I can talk about it as a tangible thing, rather than an idea I’m still wrapping my head around.

I mean…

I’m writing a book about contemporary YA fiction.

Comments

  2. This sounds absolutely amazing! Congratulations on getting the contract for it. I've been reading your blog for a long time and I have no doubt it's going to be awesome to read it.

  3. Oh Kelly. OH KELLY!!!!!!!!! I could not be happier!!!!! YEA FOR YOU!!!!! (I'm really hugging you from here – just so you know 🙂

  19. Congratulations! How exciting! I am always in favor of more attention for contemporaries, so this is great news!

    Good luck and enjoy the process!

    – Liz

  34. Congrats! I'll eagerly await your book. And I think it will definitely be a helpful resource for educators – preservice language arts teacher here, and I look forward to having it as a reference!

  36. I'm sitting here with my mouth hanging open and – no joke – spent most of the post trying to picture where exactly I would put your book on my shelf. I LOVE your site, and I'll be picking up your book as soon as it comes out.

    CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Exciting News

|

Written by: Kelly on August 26, 2012.

Remember how I talked about how I was going to attend Kid Lit Con this year? And how I had submitted a proposal to present with someone who I would love to present with?

If you’re planning on going to Kid Lit Con, I hope you consider attending the presentation that I’ll be giving with Nova Ren Suma.

Before I share what we’ll be presenting, let me give a little back story. When the call for proposals went out, I spent a long time thinking about what I’d learned a lot about over the last year in terms of blogging. I thought about last year’s conference and about the things I walked away with that ended up being the most valuable to me. The longer I pondered what would be worth presenting on, the more it became obvious that the topic of collaboration in the blogging world was one worth pursuing. I feel like in the time between last year’s Kid Lit Con and this year, I’ve learned a lot about what does and doesn’t work when it comes to working with other bloggers and those who work with bloggers (i.e., authors or publicists or editors who don’t necessarily blog for themselves but may have a presence elsewhere on the social web). 

Then it hit me: some of the most successful and exciting projects I’ve worked on over this last year involved series posts that required extensive collaboration. I loved putting together the So You Want to Read YA? series, as well as the Unconventional Blog Tour, and in the midst of working on it, I figured out many best practices for coordinating such a project. I then thought a bit about other bloggers who are active in putting together series — especially series posts I love reading and sharing — and it seemed beyond foolish not to approach Nova about presenting.

We’re calling the presentation “Getting Series-ous: How Blog Series Can Engage, Inspire, and Grow Your Audience,” and here’s the presentation description:

This program will discuss what goes into developing a successful blog series and hopes to inspire others to explore series posts as a means of widening their own blog content. The experiences of an author and a blogger will provide insight from two different sides of the kidlit blogosphere while also showcasing how authors and bloggers can work with and benefit one another through a blog series. 

Did you know KidLit Con is FREE this year? If you can go, you should. I know I’ve mentioned it time and time again, but it is my favorite conference because it’s run entirely by and for kidlit bloggers. It’s intimate, meaning you really get to have great conversation with other people who love kid lit as much as you do. All of the details are on Betsy’s blog, including how to register. If you’re curious what last year’s event was like, I blogged about it here (and I know most of the photos are gone — technology!).

Comments

  5. I'm going to be there, yes!
    Are you going to the Brooklyn Book Festival and the NY Art Book Fair in Queens? They are all by the end of next month.

Exciting News

|

Written by: Kelly on February 5, 2012.
 

It’s always weird to think about myself as knowledgeable about anything in particular. I write things down to think through them, to consider them, to speculate about them. That’s what got me interested in blogging about books in the first place.

But yesterday I got some news that made me feel like maybe — just maybe — I am actually pretty knowledgeable about something in particular.

I’ll be presenting at this year’s YALSA YA Lit Symposium in St Louis, Missouri on the topic of contemporary YA fiction and why it’s going to continue to be the future of young adult lit. It’s the second time I’ve been selected to talk about this topic on a national conference stage. As thrilling as it was the first time, the time frame for the presentation was only 15 minutes. It’s challenging to cram everything important, everything you’re passionate about, in such a small window of time.

At the Symposium, I’m not only getting an hour of time, but I’m getting to split that time with colleagues I admire. Sharing my passion for contemporary ya lit along with Angie, Katie, and Abby is something I never really envisioned, something I never thought could or would happen. Sharing my passion with other fervent fans of young adult literature at a conference ALL ABOUT young adult literature — it’s mind-blowing, really. But here it is.

Looking through the roster of other presenters fills me with an unmatched sort of excitement. That I get the chance to be talking at the same conference as people I’ve admired in the field for so long is thrilling. More, though, is the knowledge I’ll get to take away from listening to what they have to say on topics ranging from transmedia to dystopia to genre bending. I can only hope people walk away from my contemporary session with a morsel of what I suspect I’ll walk away with from their sessions.

So all of this is to say — if you’re able to go to St Louis for this event, come! This is a conference all about young adult literature. It’s a professional event meant to education and enlighten about nothing BUT ya lit.

November feels very far away, but I suspect spending these next months diving wholly into contemporary ya lit will make the wait a little bit easier.

Comments

    • Ditto, Adele! It's a pretty knock out group of people all coming together, isn't it? Like my DREAM conference of people and topics.

Exciting News!

|

Written by: Kelly on October 2, 2009.

I am very excited to announce that I will be serving as a judge for this year’s Cybil awards for YA Fiction.
If you haven’t put in your vote on books that should be considered, please do. Anything published this year in any of the categories is fair game.

As for me? My job officially begins in January, but expect many more ya-focused reviews in the next few months. There’s been so much gold out there this year it’ll be hard to choose favorites! And go to the Cybils website and check out the other fantastic bloggers voting in this and other categories.

Comments

  2. Cybils!!!!!!! I'm super excited. I was on the YA nominating panel last year and it was a lot of fun. Lots of great YA being pubbed and I'll be interested to see what the YA panels pick this year!