TIME.com: Tales from The Hood -- Oct. 03, 2005 -- Page 1
"This is not a place I visit," says Flake. "This is a place where I live." Her novels, which explore the lives of African-American teenagers, are known for their honest depiction of gritty urban life and racism, as well as the universal themes of teen insecurity and angst. "I don't write about easy stuff," admits Flake, 49. "I take a no-holds-barred approach."
Stine gets good grades for gross-out
Interview with R L Stine who talks about his forthcoming new series:
The books feature Bernie Bridges and other students at an elite boarding school with disgustingly high standards for gross behavior.In the first book, "The Big Blueberry Barf-Off," Bernie convinces the cafeteria lady that a Milky Way bar is a vegetable, talks the coach into making an official sport out of giving wedgies and tries to convince spoiled rich kid Sherman Oaks to give him his watch, which not only tells time but also plays DVDs and pops corn.
MPR: Author Kate DiCamillo's new heroine is a pig named Mercy
Greta Cunningham interviews Kate DiCamillo on Minnesota Public Radio about her new book Mercy Watson To The Rescue, a book for all toast-lovers
(follow the audiolink at top of right-hand panel)
Highly Recommended audio interview
Arne Nixon Center receives 'cats' donation
The Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University, Fresno has accepted a donation of what is arguably the world’s largest collection of books on cats – some 6,000 volumes published from 1727 to 2001. By comparison, the next-largest collection is 3,500 volumes at Yale University...
Arthur Slade has just uploaded his 4th podcast on the theme of writing YA fiction. He launched the series (which has so far covered issues such as re-writing) with Episode 1 on August 13th.
Each podcast lasts for between 3 and 6 minutes. The latest is on 'reading your work aloud to catch mistakes'.
Highly recommended
Challenges to library books on the rise - BOOKS - MSNBC.com
The American Library Association has declared the number of library books 'challenged' last year. The figure jumped to 547, compared to 458 in 2003, with the library association estimating four to five unreported cases for each one documented.
According to the ALA, a challenge is “a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”Robert Cormier’s classic The Chocolate War topped the 2004 list of challenged books, cited for sexual content, violence and language. It was followed by Walter Myers’ Fallen Angels, a young adult novel set in Harlem and Vietnam and criticized for racism, language and violence.
