Rise Up Reading

Rise Up to your Challenges
Rise Up to your Imagination
Rise Up to your Dreams
Rise Up Reading!

Isn't this a great call to action? Props to Little Willow for sending out the word.

There's a lot going on in children's books -- including a heads up on the the sequel to Gideon, the Cutpurse, and NPR's lovely, lovely, LOVELY sci-fi/fantasy recommendations -- one of which is the intriguingly titled, Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians, and the Megan Whalen Turner book, The Thief, which is the sequel to The King of Attolia. (EDIT: Yes, it was wistful thinking on my part that switched those two around!) They even include first chapters to whet your appetite! Maybe someone will nominate these novels for the Cybils Awards. (If you haven't nominated your book selection yet... WHY NOT!?)

I'd like to see a list of what people WISH they had a vote leftover to nominate. Admittedly, I'm still wavering in the poetry section...

Marvel Comics is putting up some of their older strips online. You can't download them, but you can read the older X-men and Spiderman comics. This is in the hopes that those who are only familiar with the characters from the movies will know that the stories go on.

I recall being horrified last week to post about library books being filled with direct marketing ads. Via Bookshelves O' Doom, we now know that you can also get ads from the TV while you're SHOPPING for BOOKS. Because God knows you can't last a second without some external input on what you should want or need. Good grief.

And more about ads: I've been following an interesting conversation at at Ypulse about the commercialization of YA novels. Brand placement is pretty common, and to some people, harmless. I am - in theory, at least - totally against that -- not only does it date books, it makes the writer a shill for all manner of products and I can't stress enough that I think most young adults have enough in their faces with their own peers sort of hinting at what they need to be cool, much less do they need it from adults who are bringing them stories. Anastasia asks, "Is literature more sacred than TV, music, movie or internet content?" What do you YA and children's lit people think? Drop in, and let the conversation continue.

The fabulously informative blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast can now celebrate THIRTY DAYS OF SNOW! I am finding it very hard to believe that the time has flown, and there are just six days until the first auction begins on November 19th. ONE WEEK!!! Have you sent out that email yet? The one that's to your mother, your writing group, the people who forward you jokes? Have you let them know? It didn't click with me until recently that yes -- THOSE are the people we're meant to be telling about this. Not just the people who make the rounds on the web: duh, unless we've been seriously living under concrete, we all know what's going on. But people who don't visit our websites in the actual world need a heads up!!

And those of you who have blogged this and shared this and highlighted this and watched it unfold: we made a difference. We did. Just wait and see. The Jimmy Fund at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will collect more money this year for cancer research than EVER before. From our mouths to God's ear... Anyway, you havetohavetohaveto go over to the 7-Imps today and look at the little piece on Yuyi Morales' snowflake - people, it has a music box. I don't know why, music boxes make me a little weepy... not only is this snowflake an amazing character from the depths of Yuyi's amazing imagination, it lights up and plays a song called See Me Shine. *sniff* You know you have to love that, right?

Don't miss the gorgeous cut-paper art of Cecily Lang at K. Messner's blog, though my admitted favorite for today is Cynthia Decker's hosted at The Silver Lining. Peace on Earth, indeed! A beautiful new snowflake and the rest of today's schedule is at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.