The English-to-12-Year-Old-AOLer Translator is a lot of fun. It takes normal written English and turns it into the short-cut language of tween AOL chatters. Who knows, it may help some of you discover what those kids are writing in their school papers!

Should ‘raunchy’ be the 4th ‘R’? is another article attacking teen literature for being too graphic sexually. This article focuses on graphic books in school libraries. This writer calls for the school to require parental permission for kids to read contested books where a review panel cannot agree on the appropriateness of the book. Sigh.
I would emphasize that all parents have the right to question books in their childrens’ schools. All parents have the right to decide for THEIR CHILDREN, but they do not have the right to decide for all children in their community.
I would guess that the number of public school libraries with these graphic novels is very small. When I look for Doing It by Burgess in our 30 member PUBLIC library database, I find that only two of the libraries were brave enough to purchase it. If public libraries were shying away from the title, school libraries would be even more skittish.

ALA | YALSA offers teen “books that don’t make you blush”
The Young Adult Library Services Association’s Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Committee is creating a list of recommended reading for teens and parents looking for popular reading materials free of swearing and sexuality. The booklist is not released yet, but the link above offers connection to previously created booklists.

Writer weaves a Web of young fans for her novel – The Boston Globe is an article about how Libby Koponen used the Internet to get her book, Blow Out the Moon, directly into the hands of children and eventually published.