ALA has a nice list of their Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Electronic Discussion Lists. These include some lists that I had never heard of, like CHILDTECH.

TimesDispatch.com | Library mission is honored
Caitlyn Day, at age 18, has just been honored by the Virginia Foundation for Women, for making Virginia history. Caitlyn grew up in rural Virginia in Craig County where there wasn’t a library. At age 15, Caitlyn decided that she could bring a library to her county. And she did!

Librarians@Random is a website to turn to for booktalk ideas. Yes, it is coming straight from a publisher, but because of that, the brief booktalks are of very current titles and new releases. Other booktalk sites tend to focus more on classic titles or backlist favorites. The site also offers booklists, theme ideas, and news items.

The cover art for both versions of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were released earlier this week. Above is the cover for the American edition and below are two articles, one covering the American version and the other the chidren’s edition for the rest of the world. The American market has a different publisher for the book and therefore different art. The other countries of the world will also have an adult version of the book with different cover art.

Kansas City Star — Children don’t need adult help to tell fiction from fact is a heart-felt defense of The Giver by Lois Lowry and all children’s literature that leads readers to question and learn. If you are as dismayed as I am by the recent rash of book bannings in schools, then you too need to read this.

The nominees for Teens’ Top Ten have been announced by ALA. This award is very cool because teens pick the winners. The books are even nominated by teens. Teens should start reading the nominations now, so that when June comes around they will be able to vote for their favorite.
Here are the nominees:
Aidinoff, Elise The Garden
Dessen, Sarah The Truth About Forever
Federici, Debbie L.O.S.T.
Le Guin, Ursula Gifts
Limb, Sue Girl, 15, Charming but Insane
Mackler, Carolyn Vegan Virgin Valentine
Marchetta, Melina Saving Francesca
Picoult, Jodi My Sister’s Keeper
Randall, David Clovermead
Shreve, Anita Light on Snow
Sonnenblick, Jordan Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
Wolf, Allan New Found Land
Zephaniah, Benjamin Gangsta Rap

cool-reads
From the UK comes this site filled with book reviews by 10-15 year olds. Lots of great ideas for books tp read as well as a glimpse into books published in the UK that don’t travel to our side of the pond.

kids.us is a new domain type that is available now. This site offers a list of sites that have registered with the domain type. So far only Smithsonian Kids is registered, but there are definitely more to come and this is a great way for people who work with kids to discover new sites.

Smithsonian Kids
A new site from the Smithsonian Institute that is specifically for kids with sections on the moon mission, strange but true stories and America’s Presidents.