The Wonderous Web 2.0

What is Web 2.0?
Tim O'Reily organized a conference in 2004 to discuss the options and concerns available with Web 2.0. He is widely known as the creator of the term "Web 2.0". Through Web 2.0, the users, as well as the author, can create content to be viewed by Internet users. This is unique from "Web 1.0" because no knowledge of complex HTML coding or FTP site management is neccessary. Anyone can create and participate in Web 2.0. The web, and not an external software program, is the platform. Personalized Web 2.0 accounts can be accessed from any computer at any time. Real-time communication is enabled and encouraged. Participants can immediately change the look or content of any website. This content is updated immediately upon completion. Most Web 2.0 tools are free and easy to use. There is no need to purchase any software or medium through whcih to access Web 2.0.
Blogs
What is it?

• A blog is a shortened version of weblog and represents a website that is easily created and updated.
• Blogs are written about just about any subject.
• Their entries appear in reverse chronological order (newest entries on top).
• Blogs contain reflections, ideas, conversations, links to great resources and even multimedia.
• Blogging is a two-way street. Readers can participate in the experience by commenting on blog entries, thus creating online conversations. You are encouraged to leave comments, start conversations, and interact with others.

Where can I create my own?

• Blogger: http://www.blogger.com/
• WordPress http://www.wordpress.com/
• Blogstream http://www.blogstream.com/
  

Wikis
What is it?

• A wiki is a web page that enables users to create, browse, search or modify content. It contains a body of knowledge and serve as a platform upon which a group of people can share and build ideas together.
• Ward Cunningham was the first developer of wiki software. He was inspired by Vannevar Bush's concept of a "memex" which allowed users to "comment on and change one another's text."
• Wiki's are most often used to create collaborative and community websites. In business, wiki's are used for intranet and knowledge management.
• Anyone with a web browser can create a wiki on any topic they choose.
• Wiki's favor plain-text editing which makes editing easier and more legible.
• WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editing is becoming increasingly available to users.
• Content displayed during editing appears very similar to the end result.
• A WYSIWYG interface resembles common text editing programs such as Microsoft Word.

Where can I create my own?

• Wikipedia- An online, collaborative encyclopedia http://www.wikipedia.com/
• Wet Paint- A popular social wiki site http://www.wetpaint.com/
• Wikia- Hosts wikis for online communities http://www.wikia.com/
  

Podcasts
What is it?

• Audio and video digital media files distributed over the internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers.
• The word podcast is a combination of the terms iPod and Broadcast.
• It is distinguished from other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated.
  

Where can I create my own?

• Pod-catching requires application software that captures the podcast onto user's equipment.
• Listening to a podcast requires a media player, such as Window Media Player.
• These may be downloaded for free.
• Podcasts may be downloaded to a computer and then transferred to a MP3 player.
• Podcasts may be captured automatically with an aggregator or feed reader.
  

Social Bookmarking
What is it?

• Your bookmarks are stored onine, so they are accessible and editable on any computer.
• You can make your bookmarks public and share them with others.
• You can also easily create a network of other people who have similar interests as you.
  

Where can I create my own?

• Del.icio.us http://www.delicious.com/
• Mister Wong http://www.mister-wong.com/
• Furl http://www.furl.net/
• Blogmarks http://www.blogmarks.net/
• Diigo http://www.diigo.com/
• StumbleUpon http://www.stumbleupon.com/
  

Tags
What is it?

• Tags let users mark or "tag" information such as photos or videos in order to find the information later.
• A collection of tags is known as a folksonomy.
• Information is organized and maintained by users
• There are two different tag distinctions: "broad", meaning that many different users can tag a single resource and "narrow", meaning that the resource is only tagged by a few users.
• Many websites now feature tag clouds, a display of the sites most popular tagged information. The most popular information is represented as the largest word in the cloud. Tag clouds can also serve as a form of navigation through the website.

Where can I create my own?

• Social Media Sites:
• Flickr http://www.flickr.com/
• You Tube http://www.youtube.com/
• Social Bookmarking Sites:
• Del.icio.us http://www.delicious.com/
• Cite U Like http://www.citeulike.com/
• Listmakers and Social Cataloging
• 43 Things http://www.43things.com/
• Library Thing http://www.librarything.com/

Widgets
What is it?

• A portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requireing additional compilation.
• Often take the form of on-screen tools that draw on Internet data-bases to show the information on the user's 'widget' so a web-browser does not need to be used.
• Widgets allow you to take the HTML code someone else has created and insert it into your own webpage/browser, so that you have a "virtual portal" between a changing database and your website. The information on your webpage will change automatically, without you needed to authorize each change.

Where can I create my own?

• Widgipedia http://www.widgipedia.com/
  

RSS Feeds and Feedreaders
What is it?

• RSS stands for "Really Simply Syndication"
• Feeds are technically similar web pages, like those that are displayed in a web browser, but written in XML. This format allows software to "read" the content and make it more flexible.
• Aggregators let you "subscribe" to these feeds in different ways. Once you subscribe to a feed an aggregator will combine all your "feeds" and allow you to view everything you have subscribed to at once. It updates automatically and deletes material once you've read it.

Where can I create my own?

• Google Reader www.google.com/reader
• My yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com/
  

In all cases, the following set of steps will work to subscribe to a feed once you have an aggregator like Google Reader:

1. Find the link on the page that says "Syndication", "Syndicate this site", "XML", "RSS", etc.
2. Right-click (or press-hold in Macintosh) over that link. Your browser will show a menu of options, and one of them will be "Copy Link Location" or "Copy Shortcut". Select that option.
3. Now go to your aggregator and find the option to Add or Subscribe to a new feed. Select it and when you are requested to type in the URL (link) of the feed, right-click (or press-hold in Macintosh) again on the field and select "Paste". This will make the URL be pasted on to the field. If right-click doesn't work, you can try with keyboard options: Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert on Windows, or Command+V on the Mac. Because you, as a user (that is nevertheless aware or interested in the technology behind this), are likely to encounter this in subtle forms. For example, you might go to one news site and see that they say they provide "RSS 0.91 Feeds". Or you might see the XML orange icon shown above. Or you might see they say just "RSS", or "RDF". You will quite possibly see mention of all of these names and acronyms when you're looking at aggregator software. RSS is the most common format by a mile. All aggregators support the most used formats, and many of them support all the formats in existence. In general, you don't really have to even know which of these formats is actually being used.

Resources

• Bertland, Linda. "Web 2.0 in School Libraries." Resources for School Librarians. 26 Nov. 2008. <http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/resf/web2.html>.
• Blowers, Helene. Learning 2.O. 2006. PLCMC. 12 Apr. 2007. http://plcmclearning.blogspot.com
• Casey, Michael, and Laura Savastinuk. Library Change. (2007 Apr) http://librarychange.com/
• Davidson-Turley, Whitney. (2005, Nov) Blogs and Rss: Powerful Information Management Tools. Library Hi Tech News, Number 10 p. 28-29.
• Etches-Johnson, Amanda. BlogWithout A Library. (2005 Apr) http://blogwithoutalibrary.net
• Farkas, Meredith. Five Weeks to a Social Library. (2006 Apr) http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/
• Google Reader https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin
• Holvoet, Katherine. (2006) "What Is RSS and How Can Libraries Use It to Improve Patron Service?" Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 23, Issue: 8, 2006. pp. 32-33.
• Horwath, Jenn. (2007) "Social Tools: More Than Just A Good Time?" The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, Vol. 23, Issue 8, p. 32-33.
• Journal of Information Science, Volume 34, issue 4 (August 2008), p. 591-604ISSN: 0165-5515, DOI: 10.1177/0165551508092259
• Laing, Dr. Christoper. (2007 Dec) "Using Podcasts in Higher Education." He@lth Information on the Internet, Volume 60, issue 1 p. 7-9
• Lenhart, Amanda, Oliver Lewis, and Lee Rainie. (2007, Apr) "Teenage Life Online: The rise of the instant-message generation and the Internet’s impact on friendships and family relationships." Pew Internet. 21 June 2001. Pew/Internet http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Report.pdf
• O'Reilly, Tim. "What is Web 2.0?." O'Reilly Media. 30 Sept 2005. 26 Nov 2008 <http://www.oreilly.de/artikel/web20.html>.
• Porter, Joshua. "Folksonomies: A User Driven Approach to Organizing Content." UIE.COM. 26 Apr 2005. 26 Nov 2008 <http://www.uie.com/articles/folksonomies>.
• Stephens, Michael. (2006) "Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software." Library Technology Reports. 42:4.
• Tapscott, Don. (2006) Wikinomics:How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. New York: Portfolio.
• Terdiman, Daniel. "Folksonomies Tap People Power." Wired. 01 Feb 2005. 26 Nov 2008 <http://www.wired.com/print/science>.
• Warr, Wendy A. "Social software: fun and games, or business tools?" Journal of Information Science, Vol. 34: 4, August 2008. pp. 591-604.
• Web 2.0 Wiki. http://web2tutorial.wikispaces.com/
  

Searching Smarter

I don’t know about you, but I conduct at least one Google search a day. It seems like there is always something I want to learn more about or need to find information about. I’ve learned that there are a few techniques that you can do in any simple search to improve your search results and cut down on the time you spend looking through information that is irrelevant to your search quest. Try these tricks the next time you search for anything online.

If you want to skip reading any further, you can watch a helpful little video that one of my peers at school put together for an assignment. She does a wonderful job of explaining and depicting everything I’m about to talk about. You can check out the video here: http://www.personal.kent.edu/~kreiber/karen.wmv .

Use quotes. By putting your search terms in quotation marks you are letting the search engine know that you want to find only results in which each of your terms appears in that exact order. This can be particularly helpful when looking for terms such as “French Restoration,” “human rights,” or “affirmative action.” Each of these terms, if placed on their own would result in a large number of useless results, but when placed in quotation marks greatly limits the options to those most relevant.

Use “Boolean Operators.” Boolean Operators are the following three words: and, or, not. When used properly, these can go a long ways towards improving your search capabilities. And can be used to limit a search, or can expand a search, and “not” can serve to limit a search. By placing these operators between your search terms (for example: endangered AND birds) you can help improve your search. Also, if you notice, many more formal, advanced search engines, such as the ones you might find at a library catalog already provide you with Boolean Operators to select from.

Use “site:” By attaching the word “site:” at the end of any search query and then including a domain extension, such as .com, .org, .gov, or .edu, you can limit your search and increase the reliability of the results. For example, if I was researching the French Revolution, but only wanted information from a school website I would type the following into my search bar: “French Revolution” site: .edu. This would give me results that only came from sites designated as “educational” and would limit my search to results which only had French and Revolution right next to each other.

Use a minus sign. Did you know that after any search query you can include a minus sign plus another term? This means that you want to exclude that secondary term from your search. I did this just the other day when I was looking for an image of the Australian bush country. I conducted my search in Google Images and originally searched the terms: Australian bush. I found that most of the results included George Bush, not at all what I wanted. So, I changed my search to read: Australian Bush –George. This narrowed my search, but then I found that most of the images were of the recent fires that crossed the Australian outback. I redefined my search to read: Australian Bush –George –fire. This gave me good results and I was able to quickly find the image I wanted.

Don’t ask questions. I know that “Ask Jeeves” has carved out a corner of the market by promoting this idea, but really, it is one of the worst ways to search on the internet. While the computer may be smart, you are smarter. Think about the question you are asking, extract the most important information and create a useful search question. Eliminate all insignificant words from your question (like, it, to, the) and focus on the nouns. Transitioning from “What impact does the government have on global warming?” to “Global Warming” government impact site: .gov will limit your search results from about 5 million to 500,000, not to mention increase the validity of your results. Despite the drastic difference it makes, you’d be surprised how many students just blindly type in their search question, rather than think about the actual query they are creating.

Hopefully, as you put these simple search techniques to use you can not only improve your own internet research capabilities, but pass on some good hints to your children.

What is Information Literacy?

It doesn’t take much observation of teenagers to recognize that they feel comfortable with technology. They can text, update their MySpace page, and download songs to their I-Pod in a flash.

What is a bit more surprising, researchers are finding, is that these same students struggle when faced with using a search engine to find a reliable website, or determining the validity of a web site, or navigating through search results. In fact, studies show that, “today’s undergraduates are generally far less prepared to do research than were students of earlier generations, despite their familiarity with powerful new information-gathering tools” (Breivik).

Technology has become an integral part of our daily lives and a necessity in the business and economic work force. Today’s work environment requires employees to be able to manage large amounts of information in order to maintain a “strategic advantage in today’s global market” (Breivik). With such rapid changes in technology, teachers and educators are beginning to realize that, while students may be familiar with technology, they are not proficient at learning how to use it. In other words, today’s youth are not information literate.

In January of 1989, the ALA Presidential Committee on Information Literacy offered this definition of the term: “to be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information” (Leininger). Essentially, information literate people have learned how to learn. (If you're interested in what exactly students are expected to be able to do, you can check out the standards here.) They also concluded that information literacy is a learned skill—a skill which are becoming “more and more important in our jobs as well as our daily lives” (Leininger).

Recognizing the importance of information literacy isn’t enough. A major problem is arising. Technology develops, but our academic curriculum isn’t aligning itself to meet these changing needs. In other words, today’s students aren’t receiving the direct instruction they need to become information literate and consequently, successful in a technology-rich world.

While teachers may assign research projects and librarians may teach students how to navigate the library catalog and locate a book on the shelf, no educator takes direct responsibility for teaching students how to evaluate, locate and judge the material they find online. This isn’t to say they don’t try, but with the ever-present pressures of standardized testing and curriculum alignment, there often isn’t time to present students with the instruction that they need.

Businesses and higher education have begun to recognize the importance of ascertaining a candidate’s information literacy before making decisions and hiring judgments. As a result, the Prinction-based educational Testing Service, who also creates the SAT and ACT exams, has begun creating tests designed to “grade students’ knowledge of the cyber world” (Heyboer). Their initial test results show were “shocking [because] students did not perform well.” They view the preliminary results of these tests as “a warning flag…and a cry for action” (Heyboer).

While we might not be preparing to enter the collegiate world or pursue and international banking career, having sound informational literacy skills can benefit us in our personal lives. Not only can we better improve our own ability to interact with and utilize technology, but we can make sure our children are gaining the skills they need to succeed. Being able to speak the language and reinforce what your children are learning in school can have a powerful effect.

Have you been looking for a new home? Comparing the safety ratings of car before making a new purchase? Contemplating the advantages of one car seat over another? Looking for reliable information on a political candidate and their policies? Helping a youngster learn about whale sharks for homework? Learning about a newly diagnosed medical condition? Whatever your informational need, strong informational literacy skills can help.

The purpose of this little blog mini-series is to help you become familiar with some of these skills, so that you can apply them to you and your family’s lives. In the upcoming posts we’ll learn how to improve our internet search quests, evaluate the information we find, protect ourselves from internet hazards, and find some valuable resources of information. Make sure to come back to learn more!

Leininger, Michele. Information Literacy and Public Libraries Retrieved May 3, 2007 from http://www.webjunction.org

Breivik, Patricia Senn. (2005) 21st Century Learning and Information Literacy Change 37(2) 20-28.

Heyboer, Kelly. (2007) Tech-savvy kids? New test shows shortcomings in cyber literacy. http://www.ets.org/ictliteracy/demo.html

Need a Good Book?

By Lonica Rowley

I just came across a fantastic website that can help you identify the next great book on your reading list. The website is called Novelist and is offered through EBSCOHost (a very reliable distributor, if any of you are familiar with it). While this site it most often used by librarians who are searching for books on a particular request, its available to the general public, as long as you have a library card.

What does this oh-so-useful site offer you? A whole lot. You can get any of the following:

• lists of award winners, grouped by age categories and topics.


• Author read-a-likes. You can use this feature to search for similar books to those published by an author you particularly like.


• Author biographies.


• Recommended readings, grouped by age categories and topics.


• BookTalks, basically like written trailers for a book.


• Reviews on all sorts of books.

If you remember my earlier recommendations to use Amazon.com to help you identify a book you might like to read, this might start to sound familiar. Essentially, Novelist is an upscale, professional version of Amazon. Their focus is just more literary-minded and people serving, rather than geared towards a comercial, we-want-your-money attitude.

You can access the site through the local library website. Go to http://www.ualibrary.org/ or http://www.columbuslibrary.org/ and select the "research/database" link. Scroll through the listings until you come to Novelist. Select this and the site should ask for your library card number. Upon entry, you'll be admitted to the site and all of it's wonderful resources.

I strongly recommend that you take some time to explore their site and see what they might have to offer you.

17 Ways to Improve Your Child’s Writing: Tips #1-7

By Terri Hessler

It might surprise you to find out that one of the last large writing studies conducted determined that students spend very little time in school on paragraph-length or longer writing (Applebee, 1981). It is common for longer writing pieces to be assigned to be written out of class because of the time constraints of the classroom. Without providing students time to write in the presence of an instructor or peers from whom they can gain feedback, direction, and/or support, students miss out on the social aspect of writing and opportunities to improve their writing. It is clear to me that I’m going to have to supplement the writing experiences of my child throughout her academic career so that she is prepared for the rigors of college writing. Here is a list of ways to improve a child’s writing as she progresses through elementary and middle school. I think that summer is an especially good time for supplemental writing activities because it promotes the maintenance of an academic routine.

Most of these tips are grounded in a finding from a large scale study conducted on written expression outcomes during the 70’s and 80’s. Hillocks (1986) found that longer writing received higher scores/grades/marks than shorter writing. Unfortunately, many students with written expression deficits write very little. While it is counterproductive and naïve to think that writing more words will produce a better writing piece, it is the first step in getting students to write higher quality pieces. These tips can be easily implemented at home and center primarily on the idea that writing more helps children (and adults) write better. If you are interested in improving your own writing, several of these can be adapted for your use (e.g., #1, #3, #6, #7, #8, #12, #13, #15). Next month’s column will contain the remainder of the tips.

1. Schedule daily writing time
Get your child used to the idea that a writing assignment doesn’t necessarily have to be completed in one sitting and that, in fact, it may seem less insurmountable to “attack” a writing task a little bit at a time for several days instead of all at once.

2. Use fully developed prompts
Providing explicit instructions will both increase the amount a student writes and the quality of the written product. A typical writing prompt might read something like this: Write a 3-5 page paper on the use of submarines in the Civil War. This type of prompt gives the student little direction and encompasses a topic so large as to be daunting. How much more focused and organized the resulting paper would be if the student is instructed instead to write a 3-5 page paper on the use of submarines in the Civil War. Be sure to include information on a) how submarines were constructed at that time in history, b) which side utilized them to a greater degree and did either have any help from other countries, and c) how the outcome of the war might have been different without them.

Even for younger children, providing direction/advice in the prompt can be helpful. Tell about a time you were embarrassed could be replaced with Tell about a time you were embarrassed. Who was around? Where were you? What happened?

3. Teach your child to self-graph
Self-graphing the number of words written can be motivating for some students (Brigham, Graubard, & Stans, 1972). A child could also count and graph number of correctly spelled words and number of new or different words. Public posting of graphs could encourage him or her to beat previous scores for a “personal best.” Friends and relatives (e.g., grandma, primary teacher, older brother) can be recruited to notice and praise “personal bests.”

4. Teach strategies with mnemonics
Many writing process strategies involve easy-to-remember mnemonics that can be posted on a wall or ‘fridge, or printed on laminated cards for portability. Some examples are:
TREE
develop Topic sentence
include Reasons to support premise
Examine the soundness of each supporting reason
create an Ending for the paper (Graham & Harris, 1989)

PLAN
Pay attention to the prompt
List main ideas
Add supporting details
Number your ideas (De La Plaz, 1999)

For simple editing, teach children to use COPS for checking
Capitalization
Organization (paragraphing)
Punctuation
Spelling

5. Let child choose own topics
Allowing students to write about what they know may result in more text and in students caring more about the final product.

6. Use a topic jar
For some kids, deciding what to write is a big part of the problem. For them, use a large mouth Mason jar to hold writing topics written by both kids and adults. There are various commercial products available that provide lists of writing topics (e.g., The English Teachers Book of Lists). Allow child to both add to and pick from the jar.

7. Support and encourage brainstorming
The more time spent actively brainstorming, the better the finished product likely will be. Brainstorming can be adult-directed and merely conversational, or it can be more structured by using various graphic organizers, like webbing/bubbling, T-charts, or Venn diagrams.

"Recovering Charles" by Jason F. Wright

By Jaylene Scott

I recently finished reading "Recovering Charles" by Jason F. Wright, the author of "The Wednesday Letters" and "Christmas Jars." I have to say that I really enjoyed it. It is a story of a young man named Luke who distanced himself from his drunken father after tragedy struck his earlier life. He goes on to live life, not really thinking about his father, until he gets a phone call shortly after Hurricane Katrina. His father had moved to New Orleans and was among the people missing shortly after the disaster. Luke has to decide whether it's time to go searching after his father and unearth some pain and sorrow he'd had hidden for so many years, or to ignore pleas for help from his father's friends.

Wright uses a series of flashbacks to help the reader understand the trials that Luke and his family faced. Luke has to sort through his feelings, but decides that the right thing to do is to go to New Orleans to look for his father. The book continues by telling of Luke's journey to and through New Orleans in search of the man that he used to know.

Glenn Beck said about this book:"Recovering Charles is a riveting story of hope, healing, and, above all, faith. I was profoundly touched by seeing my own struggles reflected in its pages and inspired by its message that life can always have a second verse."

This book was a quick and pleasant read, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good story that helps you reflect on the truly important things in life.

Characteristics of Young Adult Literature

By Lonica Rowley

Young adult and adult fiction often overlap boundaries. Part of the difficulty, historically, with getting publishers and literary critics to acknowledge this literary genre lay in actually defining the genre. In fact, even today, well after young adult fiction has been recognized by many critics, there are many works of fiction which continue to vacillate between the two categories. However, there are certain characteristics that continue to appear and define the young adult genre; the following are some of the most significant.

1. Stories are told from the viewpoint of young people. Most young adult fiction is told from a first person perspective and is written from the eyes of a young adult. There may be multiple perspectives or plot lines in a single work, but they will all most likely be told from the perspective of a teenager. Essentially, teenagers like to read about other teenagers. Even if the story doesn’t necessarily center on a young adult, it will often be told from a youngster’s perspective. For example, you could easily argue that To Kill A Mockingbird is really an adult story that revolves around Atticus and Tom Robinson’s court trial, but since the story is told from the perspective a Scout, a young girl, young adults relate more easily to the tale.
2. Young adult stories often get rid of all adult figures. This often allows the young adult to shine in center stage and receive credit for all the work they accomplish throughout the story. Adults are often missing or only play a minor role. An incredible number of stories eliminate any and all adult figures, take Lord of the Flies for example. Certainly, the boys in the story would not have started hunting one another had an adult figure been around to guide and lead them. If, by chance, an adult does figure into the story, they are rarely a parent of one of the characters. More often, any adults in a tale will be more of a mentor figure that the teen has sought out and approaches on their own terms.
3. Young adult literature is fast-paced. Many teens struggle to read for enjoyment at all, let alone willingly plow through a lengthy novel on their own initiative—of course, the Harry Potter series was a ground-breaking work on this front. Most young adult fiction is quick to read and quick to develop. In order to accomplish this task, the young adult genre is often marked by a limited number of characters and narrative events. Furthermore, the language flows naturally and changes and develops with the current times—popularity in speech and trends is often important in young adult fiction.
4. Young adult literature includes a variety of genres and subjects. While I often refer to it simply as “fiction,” the genre is really more than that. Young adults take interest in non-fiction, poetry, drama, science fiction, historical fiction, and even graphic novels, to name just a few. In fact, all types of literature are now being written to appeal to a young adult population. Teens’ tastes vary just as much as adults; they like to read about a variety of subjects and issues in a number of different literary forms. On the same front, young adult authors can feel comfortable writing about other cultures or customs. Not all stories need to be told from a well-understood, American middle-class perspective. Certainly, teens’ interest is piqued by learning about a different experience. In part, that’s one of the greatest values of literature—learning about places and people unlike you. Teens recognize that and can thoroughly immerse themselves in expanding their horizons. Indeed, educational research shows that the teen years are a great time, developmentally, for teens to learn about life outside of themselves.
5. Young adult books are optimistic and characters make worthy accomplishments. Adults often get turned off by a teenaged protagonist that acts like they know more than adults, but in fact this is a major appeal to teens. The ability to succeed on their own terms and in their own way really appeals to young adults. In fact, change and growth is perhaps the most common theme appearing in young adult literature. All works of literature in this genre explore the theme to some extent. In most cases, the protagonist loses innocence as part of the passage from childhood to adulthood. This gaining of maturity would, potentially, affect them for the rest of their lives. The inherent need to learn, grow, and overcome appeals to teens of all ages.
6. Young adult novels deal with real emotions. At a time in life when hormones often rule, teens take particular interest in emotions and want to see them accurately represented in the fiction they read. Often books deal with similar emotional struggles: acquiring more mature social skills, achieving emotional independence from parents and other adults, developing a personal ideology and ethical standard, achieving a masculine or feminine sex role, etc. By following the development of these feelings in a fictional character, teens are often able to work out their own angst and emotional struggles.

While this is only a brief view of young adult fiction, these defining characteristics often help to establish and corral the genre. Certainly, once you are aware, it becomes easy to see the reoccurrence of these characteristics when reading young adult literature.

Much of this information is taken from the book Literature for Today’s Young Adults by Kenneth Donelson and Alleen pace Nilsen. Certainly, if you are interested in learning more about this thriving literary genre, this is one of the most highly-reputed texts in the field. I would strongly recommend this entertaining and informative text to anyone curious about the field.

The Alchemist

By Lisa Hymas

I just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I really enjoyed it. The book was first published in 1988 in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history.
 
After the first few pages, I knew I would enjoy the simple writing style. This book in not about religion, but about spirituality and the main character's, Santiago, journey to fulfull his peronal legend.
 
I think it would be a good first book for someone wanting to read something soul searching, intriguing, and yet very easy to read and makes you smile at the end. The content was clean and took me only a few days to finish (and I'm not a fast reader).
 
from Amazon.com:
 
"The Alchemist presents a simple fable, based on simple truths and places it in a highly unique situation. Brazilian storyteller Paulo Coehlo introduces Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who one night dreams of a distant treasure in the Egyptian pyramids. And so he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams."

Let us know what you think...

In trying to improve this blog, it's helpful to get an idea of how you feel about it. Please let us know what you think by answering the following polls. Don't worry, all your responses will be anonoymous.

You can go here to participate in a short (and easy) survey.

Continue Sending in those Book Reviews...

One thing I've always had lots of requests for when speaking with others about this blog, is to include lots of book reviews. While I read a lot, I know that I'm not the only one out there reading. I would love to have your book review contributions!

As a result, I'm going to extend last month's challenge to write a book review for our literacy blog.

The winning prize will still be the book, Long After Dark, as described here.

I would love to see an in-pouring of books reviewed for our perusal. I think there may be a couple things holding people back.

Many people have expressed the sentiment that, "I hope this book will be good enough to review." One thing I hope you understand is that you can feel welcome to review a book that is mediocure or even not good at all. Certainly, we all want to read good books, but it can be just as helpful to know which books to avoid. In other words, if there is a book you've set aside because you decided it didn't fit your expectations (whatever those may be), let us know, so that we don't also waste our time and effort on pusuing the same novel. Whatever your opinion of the reading material, feel free to share it with us so we can be forewarned about what to expect.

Second, you know need to feel like a stupendous writer to write a review. Reviews can be simple and easy. A basic review can include nothing more than:

1. Your opinion of the novel.


2. Two or three sentences describing the plot (without ruining it).


3. Who you would recommend the book too.

You don't need to know all about the author or the literary discussions experts might be having on the novel, all you need to do is express your opinion.

Thirdly, sending in your review is easy. You can either submit it to lonica2.blogforliteracy@blogger.com (as part of the body of the e-mail, rather than an attachment) or e-mail it to me directly at Lonica.rowley@gmail.com. I can always attach an image of your book, if you'd like.

Hopefully, we can help each other out by recommending good (or not-so-good) books we've read. Don't be shy! Send in your book reviews!

At the Writer’s Block

by Anita Fairbanks

There it is again, the white emptiness, my own cliff of Dover, the dead impasse that blocks all progress. Scattered words, flung carelessly, bounce off the screen without sticking. I scroll to the bottom of the page, my chisel poised: nothing. “You can’t edit until you’ve written something,” I chide myself in a maternal tone.

Didn’t I leave my writing phobias behind me when I graduated? I remember, with some remorse, those long days and all-too terminable nights at my computer that I spent scratching my scalp for words, for sentences, for any idea really that felt remotely original. Sunrise would find me through the dim glass of the computer lab, finally clucking away, muttering out loud, and gobbling peanut M&M’S, one per paragraph. I don’t miss it; why then, with the deadlines put to rest, do I find myself stifling urges to self-inflict my time with writing assignments?

Yes, there were the rare, clarifying moments on the library balcony, where I “found” my topic, and more importantly, where I experienced a genuine encounter with truth. I was never the source of this truth, but seemed to fall upon it through patches of sunlight, like sensing a deer in the woods, one whose eyes have been tracking you all along. It was during these moments, with my pen aside and my sight fixed on a horizon somewhere inside me, that I could silently gaze at the idea I hadn’t written yet. I reveled in these experiences, academic as the books which bound them, but spiritual because of the means by which they occurred, “the same light that quickeneth your understanding,” the light of Christ (D&C 8:11). My agnostic companions, and even my theistic ones, spoke excitedly of similar experiences, not knowing, however, what I had been practicing since Primary, that “by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5, emphasis added).

Perhaps I miss the encounters with truth that I gained during the writing process, perhaps the pride of accomplishment, but it doesn’t change the fact that writing is harder now. It’s harder to find an uninterrupted moment, as is evident by the yelling baby in my lap currently dismantling the stapler, and pounding typos faster than I can delete them; it’s harder when you don’t have a professor expecting something by morning. Why continue writing? In Ether chapter 12, Moroni hints that it may be more essential to my character than I first thought when I exchanged schooling for motherhood. “When we write,” he states (and I’m applying this to the general human experience), “we behold our weaknesses, and stumble because of the placing of our words” (vs. 25). He nailed it—my writing phobia, in a nutshell. I hate seeing my flaws on paper. Somehow, the faults I see lie not only in a poorly written expression, but with my weak understanding, my inability to communicate, to think, to create.

In verse 27, we learn that these fears, brought on by the writing process, are purposeful. In fact, the Lord gives us our weaknesses, that we “may be humble.” We are shown our weaknesses when we “come unto [Him],” and writing is one way to exercise that. Then, through humility and faith, the Lord “makes weak things become strong.” I could call this blessing “editing,” but that would flatten its meaning. While it’s true that I have prayed over essays and thereby improved them, sometimes I improve myself along the way. For example, after struggling with an assignment in French class on Flaubert’s “Un Cœur Simple,” I found myself choosing the topic of confession and obsessing over a resulting essay five times the required length. I can only conclude that perhaps there were a few things in my life that I needed to repent of. Over and over, I find that my writing reflects the issues that are of greatest personal concern to me. The topics have weight; they seem alive and jump from book to book, following me until I resolve them, or at least record them, on paper.

Moroni’s instructions are clear and his implications haunting. We have weaknesses. They can be made into strengths through faith in Christ, the ultimate Word. But we need to be humble about them, and sometimes, a blank page can help. I’ve decided to get started on that children’s book I’m trying to write, not because it will be any good, not because I want others to read it, but because I want to challenge my weaknesses. I’ll find them in my own writing and in the characters I create. My chisel is poised.

Rhymes & Reasons

By Vilo Westwood

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man . . .

Rhymes are often one of the first things we share with our babies. They're fun, easy to remember, and children respond enthusiastically. For all these reasons rhymes are vitally important to children's further success with language. If children develop the ability to rhyme, it helps them read (looks like dime, it must be TIME!) and even spell. Most importantly, rhymes are fun. Word play creates warm, fuzzy feelings about language that makes children and adults want more and more.

Since they are easy to remember rhymes help children as they begin to talk.

Also, the classic nursery rhymes are building blocks for a lot of further literature experience. Kindergarten and first grade classes refer to these rhymes in many activities. Agatha Christie used nursery rhymes as starting points for many of her mysteries.

Feel you don't know many rhymes? Most libraries have anthologies of nursery rhymes (some with CDs) and some collections of action rhymes (ones that have motions and gestures). There are at least two collections of Spanish rhymes (also in English).

How Do We Judge Literature?

By Candace Rowley

“We are often admonished to beware the evils of pornography. How do we judge literature to be good or bad when we occasionally find questionable inferences and explication in literature that is thought to be great—such as found in Shakespeare, Fielding, Flaubert, and others?”

Brother Richard Cracroft answers this question in the article you can download here. Some of my favorite comments…

We are mindful of the Savior’s admonition in the Sermon on the Mount that “the light of the body is the eye,” that it is the eye that can fill our souls with light—or with darkness. When we turn our eye to literature, then, it is with a knowledge that use or misuse of literature can, as with anything that really matters, fill our souls with light or with darkness. It is up to us; we have our free agency.

The key to the problem of how one judges literature lies, then, in our own spirituality and not in a simplistic rejection of all literature. We must learn, as Francis Bacon advises us, that “some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” We must select carefully among the vast menu.

Reaching a solution through the Spirit, it seems to me, leads us to realize that because life and time are short, we will be able to read only a few thousand books in our lifetimes. When we pick any book, we are ruling out hundreds and thousands of other books. How important it is, then, to choose time-proven great books that will foster the Holy Spirit and enable us to rise to greater levels of truth and beauty and insight and understanding, and hence, spirituality. Many great men and women have found that a steady, systematic approach to literature has enabled them to fill their beings, in a lifetime of good reading, with the great thoughts of men and women of all the ages, for through reading great books we are put in touch with the great minds of all time, and we become their spiritual and intellectual heirs.

We know as well that much of the literature of the world springs from the promptings of the Spirit of the Lord and that our libraries are full of works written by men and women not of our faith, but “who have contemplated deeply,” President Young once said, “on various subjects, and the revelations of Jesus have opened their minds, whether they knew it or acknowledged it or not” (Journal of Discourses, 12:116). In our own reading programs we need to look into the inspired writing of such men and women, remembering, as Elder Adam S. Bennion often reminded us, that “good reading is a great guarantee of spiritual enrichment” (The Candle of the Lord, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1958, p. 266).

If you read widely and thoughtfully, and retain the companionship of the Holy Spirit as you progress from level to level in your development, you will find yourself seeking the good in everything you read, and you will not be disappointed. You will be responding, wholeheartedly, to the Lord’s injunction to “seek … out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118), and he will reward you abundantly.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

By Lonica Rowley

Before recently, I've only read Orson Scott Card's religious fiction, Sarah. I enjoyed this novel and thought it was well-researched and uplifiting. Well, I should mention that I also read Ender's Game at the behest of my mother back as a teenager (that's a story for another day). I will say though, that I hated Ender's Game the first time around. As part of my young adult literature class I was compelled to read it again. I've been dreading it for weeks now. Pleasantly, I was rather surprised when I began reading it again and was immediately drawn in an intrigued by the story. I don't remember any of the plot from when I was younger, so I'd like to think that this was my initial attempt at the novel. I remained interested and motivated by the story right up until the end.

Essentially, the novel opens with a six-year-old boy, Ender, who has had his "monitor" removed. The reader, while entirely unsure of what a "monitor" is exactly, fully understands the significance and danger in which this places Ender. Luckily, Ender doesn't have survive without his monitor for long. He is summoned to Battle School where he is going to learn how to commande future armies in the world's ward against the Buggers. Over the course of the next five years Ender begins to slowly realize what exactly is instore for him.

I know, I know, it all sounds a little implausible, but Card does a wonderful job narrating his story and creating a great deal of sympathy for the Ender. While the novel is science fiction, the issues invovled really make the reader start to think. How should people best handle power? Is it right to put so much pressure on one so young, even if that is the only option? Is it better to be agressive or should we wait patiently for what will come?

While I might not have recognized it as a teen, I can truly see now why Ender's Game won both the Hugo and Nebula award, making Card the only recipient to recieve both of science fiction's most prestigious awards consecutively. If you are a fan of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, The Giver, or The Host, Ender's Game could be right up your alley. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

What should I read now?

By Lonica Rowley

One of the most common questions I get asked when it comes to literacy is often, "What should I read now?" Finding a good book can often be difficult. I usually look to a few places when looking for something new to read. If you find yourself with this problem, maybe these tips can help you:

1. Look for new releases and books on display. I often browse the "New" or "Bestseller" sections of the library or local bookstores. I actually think that bookstores (like Barnes and Noble or Borders) are great places to find books. I'll spend hours (just ask Scott!) looking through the books they have on display and writing down the titles so I can look them up at the library later. While some libraries do a better job than others, they usually tend to "catalog" books, rather than display them. By looking through book stores I often identify the same books showing up in many different places. Start looking at the airport, grocery store, or book stores and you'll start to recognize the same titles showing up over and over again. In many cases, I can assume that if a book is worth displaying in many different locations, it must be worth reading. Don't get me wrong, this technique (like all techniques) has lead me astray many times, but it has also helped me find a number of great reads. An additional advantage? Most of the displayed books also happen to be the books that people are currently reading and you can then participate in scintillating literary conversations!


2. Weed through book awards. Look to see who has won the Newberry, the Printz, or the Nobel prize (to name a few). Obviously, if these books were good enough to win a major award, they are also probably good enough to merit an attempt at reading. While I haven't been able to find one website that conviently lists all the winners, try this one to get a start.


3. Search for your favorite books on Amazon.com. If there is one thing Amazon has learned how to do, it's market. Amazon can be a great place to look for new reads. Rather than outright searching for something new, search for a book that you really like, or something to you would like to read more of. Click on the book you've selected and scroll to the bottom of the page. Notice the "customers who bought this also bought..." section? These people often like the same books you do, check out the selection presented to you by Amazon and see if anything strikes your interest. More than likely, something will intrigue you.


4. Request the help of professionals. Believe it or not, the librarians sitting at the "Information" desk in the library are more than willing to walk the aisles of the library helping you track down a book that is "Sort of like the novel I read back in college that I can't remember, but really liked..." They can offer all sorts of suggestions and will even provide a mini-booktalk. Telling you about the book and what you might expect from reading it.


5. Consult compiled book lists. I have yet to enter a library that doesn't provide a whole slew of bookmarks listing a number of books on a number of different topics. These books are selected by people who have read and appreciated their literary merits. If you are a fan of Jane Austen, there will be a list for you. If you love to read murder romance fiction, I'm sure there's a list for you as well. This website is one of the best I've found online for offering comprehensive book lists. Check out what they have to offer. You can search for book lists by author, genre, topic, setting, or audience. They offer a TON of selection. Perhaps the list of "Tearjerkers" is right for you. Or maybe you'd appreciate the list of "Cool Reads for Hot Summer Days." Whatever you're cup of tea, there's sure to be a book list avaiable for you.

However you go about finding good books to read, I hope that you do find the book that is just right for you. Don't give up! Just because you just finished reading "The Best Book Ever" doesn't mean that there isn't another one out there you'll wind up liking as much. Hopefully, these tips will help you find that next good book.

Vocabulary development

By Terri Hessler

Two researchers in the early ‘80s (i.e., Morris and Crump, 1982) discovered that students with learning disabilities were more likely to use fewer different words in their written expression than students without disabilities. They surmised that a lack of spelling ability could account for this, i.e., students with disabilities were more likely to use words they knew how to spell than “new” words, resulting in a repetition of easier-to-spell words. For example, a student might write the following:

I wulked to the store I din’t care. I wulked rite passed a big dog. I din’t see the big dog. I all most fell. He was a nice dog.

Other research (e.g., the body of work by Hart & Risley) indicates that the number of words a student is exposed to before the start of school correlates with 3rd grade academic achievement (i.e., higher number of words means higher academic achievement). So, to go back to the Morris and Crump study, perhaps students who are using fewer different words do not have a rich vocabulary from which to draw. Of course, Morris and Crump do not indicate if the students who used fewer different words had a richer oral vocabulary than their written expression indicated. Interestingly, it is quite common for students who are identified with disabilities and who have deficits in written expression to tell stories and give verbal descriptions using at- or above-grade level vocabulary that does not seem to appear in their writing pieces. Such a student might tell the story in the example given above like this:

“I strolled to the store casually, not caring about anything. I walked right past a mammoth of a dog (a Harlequin Great Dane, I think) without seeing him because I was absorbed in my thoughts. I almost tripped over him, but he didn’t even growl. That dog had a calm disposition.”

Notice that not only is the vocabulary more varied and advanced, but the description is longer and more involved. Shorter writing pieces are a classic characteristic of students with disabilities, especially those who have deficits in written expression.

So the short and simple message for this month is to help your child develop a better vocabulary and help him or her to learn to spell the words he or she uses.

One way I do the former (i.e., develop better vocabulary) with Carmi is to talk, sing, and read to her as much as possible. The landmark longitudinal study by Hart & Risley isolated as many variables as possible to determine that the number of words a child hears by the time he/she is 3 correlates with 3rd grade academic achievement. By doing so, the results showed that there is a 30 million word gap in the number of words a child of low SES (socioeconomic status) is exposed to compared to a child of high SES. Education researchers have long known that districts with high numbers of poor kids have lower achievement outcomes than students in more affluent districts (e.g., Columbus Public Schools compared to Upper Arlington City Schools). My translation of this is not that people need to be in high SES before having kids or even that they need to move to UA or Bexley or Dublin or New Albany before their kids start school. The take-home for me is that I need to make sure my child hears as many words as possible by the time she turns 3.

I knew of this study when we first brought Carmi home, but I didn’t get serious about it until she was about 6 months old. I just couldn’t get used to talking, singing, and reading to a being who didn’t reciprocate in some way. My bad. I lost a lot of time, I think. Fortunately, Russ is an incessant talker so I think he is more than making up for lost time. Take note: Television doesn’t count! There has to be interaction along with the exposure to the words.

For the latter (i.e., learn to spell the words she uses), I haven’t read the research on this. I’m not even sure there is research on this. So what I’m doing is helping Carmi become familiar with word families. One of our favorite programs to watch with her right now is Super Why? on PBS. In this show, one of the main characters is Wonder Red (in reference to Little Red Riding Hood, I think) who has Word Power, which is essentially an affinity for word families, such as ar words like far, car, jar or at words, like mat, cat, bat. So Carmi and I (and Russ does this, too, so there’s consistency) will occasionally sing the song on the show with new words. I know you won’t be able to imagine the tune, but if you go to www.pbskids.org/superwhy you might be able to find it there, but also watching it just once (9 a.m. on ch. 34/WOSU) will cause it to stick in your head (it’s one of those kinds of jingles). Just pick a word (one syllable works best), and think of another word that rhymes with it. I’ll use the word cap. A word that rhymes with cap is tap. The lyrics go like this: “Cap, tap, cap. Wonderific, you’re terrific, cap, tap, cap, wonderific, you’re terrific, cap!” After Carmi and I sing the song, I try to think of and say as many of the words in that word family as I can (e.g., flap, gap, lap, map, nap, rap, sap). I try to do this when I’m in the car with Carmi, because I tend to gravitate towards listening to talk radio, which probably isn’t much fun for her. It’s also a better alternative for me than tapes of kid songs, which I can only listen to one or two time through before my ears start to bleed.

I try to remember to connect all the phoneme practice with anything we read. I’m not very good at that, but I’m trying. And I’m certainly not systematic about it either. She’s only just now starting to say a lot of words spontaneously so it might get to be more fun as she joins in.

I also try to work on phoneme practice every chance I get. This will help her be ready to read, but I also believe it may help with spelling later. Phonemes are simply the smallest sound segments in our language, like the sounds the individual alphabet letters make. According to some research that I find compelling, it’s more important for a child to learn what sounds the letters make than to learn what the letter names are. The way I give Carmi extra phoneme practice now is in the bath tub with foam letters. I’ll hold up the letter C for example, and then I’ll say (very enthusiastically) something like “This is the letter C, Carmi! Your name starts with C! C makes the /k/ sound. Can you say /k/?” Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t. It’s a very low pressure activity, and I do my best to make it a short activity and fun.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

This book combines an interesting mixture of humor and pathos. I didn't realize that a story so sad could also be so funny! Arnold Spirit, at the suggestion of one of his teachers, leaves his reservation school for the larger and more "hopeful" high school off the reservation. As a traitor to his tribe and friends, Arnold, must learn how to pave a new direction in life for himself, while still staying true to his heritage.

I was particularly fond of Alexie's style and humor. While the book is slightly crude, with some bad language and sexual images, I found the story to smack of authenticity. Teens would relate well to the emotions Arnold faces. More than anything, Alexie possesses the knack for depicting real life in writing. As a National Book Award Winner, this book is one that everyone should read.

I also selected this book to review for another important reason. I've often had people ask me how I feel about audio books--are they a legitimate form of literature? I would easily argue--yes!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a perfect example of a high-quality audio book. Not only did it win the Odyssey Award, an award for for the best audio book of the year, but it also provides an enriching dimension to reading the paper copy of the book. Read by the author, the audio recording adds to the humor and dynamics of the story. In fact, the book (since it contains a large number of cartoons drawn by the main character) goes well when read along with the audio recording.

Young adults (or anyone for that reason) can learn a lot when listening to the pitch and rhythm of the written word when delivered by a skilled narrator. Listening to audio books are particularly valuable for students who struggle to read, stutter, suffer from dyslexia, or even avoid reading. Following along in a text while listening can help readers to train their inner "listening" ear; it can help them learn to recognize the way that punctuation should be read. I worked with many students who miss the humor or meaning of a story when reading silently to themselves, but pick up on it when listening to the story vocally.

Audio books also have the advantage of being portable and allowing the listener to multi-task. You can listen to a story while folding laundry, washing dishes, exercising, or even driving (assuming you can do it safely!). If finding time for reading is difficult, audio books can help circumvent this difficulty. I'm not sure about the Columbus Metropolitan Library, but I know that Upper Arlington is starting to offer more and more books in a Playaway format. This audio recording doesn't require a tape or CD player to listen. The book comes entirely downloaded on a 2"x3" device that you can plug a set of head phones into. They are easily portable and convenient.

If you need are still hesitant about audio recordings, this information, taken from YALSA site, might help convince you:

Circulation for children's audio books rose 10.7 percent and the budget for these materials rose 4.8 percent (Audio Publisher Association, December 2004)

The growth in circulation of audio books is outpacing overall library circulation. Book clubs are increasingly made up of hybrid listener-readers, and the market for children's audio books is booming! (“Loud, Proud, Unabridged: It Is Too Reading!; The New York Times, May 26, 2005)

It's important that we recognize the role of audio books in the development of literacy. Consider the following:

Research shows that one of the most important reasons for the increasing interest in audio books for young people is the correlation between listening to audio books and improvements in reading comprehension, fluency, language acquisition, vocabulary development and improved achievement. (“Not Just for Listening,” Book Links, May 2005)

Fewer Americans are reading books than a decade ago, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, but almost a third more are listening to them on tapes, CDs and iPods. (“Loud, Proud, Unabridged: It Is Too Reading!; The New York Times, May 26, 2005)

According to Wendy Kasten, an education professor at Kent State University, “Listening to tapes with books in front of students is very, very good for building vocabulary.” (“To Curl Up with a Good Book, Listen Up,” The Plain Dealer, May 23, 2005)

At any rate, if choosing between not reading at all or listening to a story, I would much rather have student listen to the story. While there are significant advantages to seeing English written correctly (students can see spelling, grammar and mechanics of words), participating in literacy, whatever the medium might be, is better than missing out entirely.

YALSA Yearly Book Awards

The end of January is a big time of year for young adult literature fans, as it marks the announcement of that year’s award winning novels. Many people are familiar with the popular children’s awards, The Caldecott and The Newberry, but fewer people realized that young adult books also receive awards. The Young Adult Library Services Association (or YALSA) hosts and organizes this annual event. After committees read, nominate, and vote on winners throughout the year, the association meets at the end of each January to announce the yearly winners.

The Printz

The Printz award is perhaps the most coveted and prized of all young adult fiction awards. The purpose of this award is to identify “a book that exemplifies literary excellent in young adult literature.” One book each year is granted this honored award, but four as also selected as the honorary books of the year.

This years winner, Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, is a story about Taylor Markham, a young woman haunted by her past, who reluctantly leads the students of the Jellicoe School in their secret territory wars against the Townies and the Cadets. Marchetta’s lyrical writing evokes the Australian landscape in a suspenseful tale of raw emotion, romance, humor and tragedy.

Melina Marchetta lives in Sydney, Australia, and is the award-winning author of two previous novels. A former high school teacher, she is recognized for the authenticity of her teen characters’ voices.

2009’s Honorary Printz Awards include:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves, by M.T. Anderson; The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart; Nation, by Terry Pratchett; and Tender Morsels, by Margo Lanagan.

The Margaret A. Edwards Award

The Edwards Awards is in honor of one outstanding author whose body of writing has made a significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. Furthermore, "it recognizes an author's work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world."

I was excited to find that this year, Laurie Halse Anderson, was selected to recieve this award. As the recipient of this year's awards she will be the key note speaker at this years annual YALSA conference this upcoming summer. Although Anderson has written a number of different books, this award particularly highlights her novels Catalyst, Fever 1793, and Speak. With the publication of Speak, itself a 1995 honory Printz book, Anderson marked herself as a strong author who not only produces high-quality literature, but also as someone who can appeal to young adult readers.

The Alex Awards

The Alex Award is given yearly to ten books written for adults, but which would have particular appeal for to young adults, ages 12-18. Many books, either fiction or non-fiction have recieved this honor.

William C. Morris Award

The Morris Award saw it's debut this year with the selection of A Curse as Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce. The award is given to an first-time publishing author writing to teens and "celebrates impressive new voices in young adult literature."

In addition to these particular awards, YALSA publishes a number of different booklists each year. These lists are a wonderful place to start when looking for good literature to read. Each year's lists include: (To see this years winners in each category, click on the link below.)

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults

Best Books for Young Adults

Fabulous Films for Young Adults

Great Graphic Novels for Teens

Oustanding Books for the College Bound

Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers

Teens' Top Ten

Whatever your personal interest, the books selected by YALSA each year can be a great place to start looking when you need something new to read. Understanding the awards and the purpose of each award can help you deliberate, decide and better appreciate the literature you find on the bookstore or library shelve.

Get out those Thank You cards!

By Lisa Hymas

We often like to recite the old adage, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!" In reality though, Elder Holland reminds us of, "a line from the Apocrypha . . . 'The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones," Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Tongue of Angels," Ensign, May 2007, 16–18).

The point? Our words can be powerful! One of the most powerful ways to use our vocabulary is by praising and complementing.

When there is a company I admire or a product I love, I want to let them know. Saying thank you is a great and simple way to accomplish the task.

I have written to Chick-fil-A thanking them for not opening their stores on Sunday - Go here to thank them yourself!

I have written to the Quaker Oats Company thanking them for their Simple Harvest granola bars and the healthy ingredients they contain. A few weeks later I even received a thank you box in the mail from Quaker! It contained a few boxes of granola bars, oatmeal, and ten dollars in coupons! Want to send them a note?

In response to a question about television viewing from a 1981 Ensign, Bruce L. Christensen states:

"Once we begin to exercise disciplined viewing, we are ready for the next step: expressing to the programmers our preferences. When you see a program that you especially enjoy or feel to be a worthwhile broadcast, write to the station, network, and sponsor and let them know. Do the same for objectionable programs."

"It has been my experience that people take time to write only when they are angry. Few people inform programmers the kinds of programs they want to watch or specify what they would like to see. Although you might feel a stronger motivation to write letters about undesirable programs, positive letters that thank sponsors, networks, and stations for quality programs may ultimately have more influence."

Have you seen a wholesome, uplifting movie or television show recently? Send the producers a letter of appreciation. Did you catch what products were advertised during the time slot? Send a letter to the advertisers telling you how you enjoyed seeing their commercial during such a good and family friendly program. Not only does it let people know the kind of person we are taking the time to say thank you, but it will help us to see more good around us.

Need some ideas for good movies, try this website: CAMIE Awards (Character and Morality in Entertainment)

Who else can you thank?

Write a Memoir

By Jenny Allen

This Valentines Day, starting a memoir is the perfect way to say, "I love you", to your spouse, friend or loved one. What exactly is a memoir, you ask? A memoir is a brief historical account or biography written from personal knowledge or special sources (New Oxford American Dictionary).

The possibilities for memoir topics are endless. With your spouse in mind you could write about your first impression, favorite date, first kiss, wedding day, first house, car, or pet. With a parent or sibling in mind you could write about your favorite childhood memory or family gathering. A friend would love to have a memoir filled with stories from your friendship spanning from the time you first met to the present.

To help get you started read the following article "5 Tips for Starting Your Memoir". This is sure to motivate not intimidate. Memoirs are a fun, easy, and a delightful way to journal those moments that you want to cherish for a lifetime.

5 Tips for Starting Your Memoir

1. Write memoir, not autobiography.

An autobiography is the story of an entire life, but a memoir is just one story from that life. You can only ever write one autobiography, but you can write countless memoirs. It's a much less intimidating project if you view it that way.

2. Diagram your life.

Some people have one burning story to tell. Others find it difficult to immediately pinpoint anything. Tristine Rainer, author of Your Life as Story, recommends diagramming your life to gain perspective. To do this, get in a retrospective mood, enlist the help of a friend or spouse (martinis also work), and plot your life's six most significant moments. When you do it thoughtfully and honestly, there will usually be one pivotal event that stands out as particularly intriguing and/or meaningful. If there isn't, don't worry. There are many different ways to diagram a life. Try dividing yours by critical choices, influential people, conflicts, beliefs, lessons, even mistakes. Experiment until you find the one story that wants to be told, the one experience that really fashioned you.

3. Don't begin at the beginning.

Don't tell your story chronologically. That's too predictable. Think of your favorite books. Most don't start at the beginning. Instead they rivet you with instant action and intrigue. A good beginning is a tease. It gives readers just enough action to hook them without divulging the outcome. Then it flashes back to the real chronological beginning and fills in the background.

4. Use all your senses.

The best writers create vivid new worlds for readers to inhabit. Yet most budding memoirists produce first drafts that are flat. To transport readers (and yourself), write vividly. This is done through detail, by using all your senses to fully re-create a moment in time. You can teach yourself to do this. The next time you're waiting in a restaurant, a doctor's office, or even in traffic, notice the various sights, sounds, smells, and textures. It's what writers do, both in reality and in their stories.

5. Build your writing muscle.

You have a writing muscle, and it needs exercise to perform well. Set a daily goal of writing 200, 500, or even 1,000 words. Set aside a regular time, like early morning, and be disciplined. Don't worry about making what you write perfect. Just focus on getting the story out. (There will be plenty of time for polishing later.) Above all, relax. Memoir is the easiest type of writing to do well. You've already done the research and are intimately familiar with every character. Now you just need to tell it.

Source: Kita, Joe. Reader's Digest: The Story of Your Life, 1/09.