ALA | Professsional Development Center
YALSA has released its new competencies for people serving young adults. The ten core values now reflected in the competencies are:
Developmental needs
Youth development
Youth advocacy
Youth participation
Collaboration
Information literacy
Adolescent literacy
Learning and achievement
Equity of access and intellectual freedom
Bravo! I especially appreciate the core values, since they are a great way to communicate with library boards the changing role of libraries with regard to teens.

Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman (0-8072-0971-6)
Son of the Mob is the story of Vince Luca, mob prince, who is just trying to live life separate from his father’s business. But every time he thinks he has completely become free of the business, he gets dragged back in. What made this book really work was the witty writing and one-liners continually used by Vince. The rhythm and pacing of the novel were wonderful, truly capturing the wild ride of the book.
I listened to the Random House Audio version of this one in my car and really loved it! This is one of those audio books where the reader really enhances the book. The perfect mobster accent by Max Casella made the whole book sing. Marvelous.
Recommend this one to older elementary kids and teens. Kids of both sexes will be caught up in the genuine tone of Vince and his family and friends. Even better, at the heart of this book is a love story told from the point of view of a teen boy. A great read, especially for those Soprano fans out there.

Teen Read Week
The 2004 Teen Read Week theme focuses on horror books with “It’s Alive @ Your Library.” The week will run October 17-23. ALA’s site has information for people doing Teen Read Week for the first time, as well as links to horror sites.