Faythe Arredondo

2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #18

Not signed up for YALSA’s 2015 Hub Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. Anything you’ve read since February 9 counts, so sign up now!

2015_reading_challenge_logo The finish line is in sight! ONE more week! How is the reading going for you all? Close? Finished a long time ago? What has been your favorite read/listen? Was there that one title that everyone LOVED and you were scratching your head? It’s happened to me in the past. Tell me everything in the comments!

Just like last year, I did not participate in the reading challenge because of committee work (reading and evaluating some of the titles you’ll read for next year’s challenge!). Plue work has been keeping me so busy that I barely feel human after work I’m so tired. Plus the heat has zapped my brain cells. Ah summer!

Have you checked out the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group? Or are you a Twitter person and keeping up with the #hubchallenge hashtag? Check both out before time runs out!

If you are still reading, you have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to complete at least 25 books from the official list. If you participated in the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge this year, you can count any books that you read for that challenge towards this challenge as well. You can share your progress by commenting below, and please include links to your online reviews, if you have them. Don’t forget to post the Participant’s Badge on your blog, website, or email signature, and, as always, if you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments or via email.

If you have already completed the challenge by reading or listening to 25 titles from the list of eligible books, be sure to fill out the form below so we can send you your Challenge Finisher badge, get in touch to coordinate your reader’s response and, perhaps best of all, to notify you if you win our exciting grand prize drawing! Be sure to use an email you check frequently and do not fill out this form until you have completed the challenge by reading 25 titles. Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #18

2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #14

Not signed up for YALSA’s 2015 Hub Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. Anything you’ve read since February 9 counts, so sign up now!

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It’s a good thing I am not participating in the challenge because I am having a hard time focusing, just like Geri and Julie. It’s not the weather for me, as I live in California and it’s sunny almost all the time. I think summer reading program planning, prepping for my first author visit, and writing letters of recommendation has worn me out. I’m only interested in playing games on my iPad. I’m hoping my vacation next week will get me back in the reading groove.

How are you readers doing? Are you worn out like me? Killing it as usual? Taking a break to enjoy the weather? Running around with last minute summer reading prep?

Let us know where you’re at in the comments, and keep the conversation going on social media by using the hashtag#hubchallenge to post updates on Twitter or by joining the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group. You have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish at least 25 books from the official list, and if you participated in the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge this year, you can count the books that you read for that challenge for this challenge as well. Also, don’t forget to post the Participant’s Badge on your blog, website, or email signature, and, as always, if you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments or via email.

2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #10

Not signed up for YALSA’s 2015 Hub Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. Anything you’ve read since February 9 counts, so sign up now!

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Hey Readers!

How is the challenge going? I am not participating (again) this year because I am on an awards committee and currently reading for that. I did just finish listening to Gabi, a Girl in Pieces to refresh my memory since I read it last year for Quick Picks (it was in the top ten!) since my library teens are reading it for their book club. How I love that book! The audio is great and you should give it a listen if you have a chance.

How many of you have finished? How many books are now your favorite? Any books surprise you? I love this challenge because it forces us to read outside of our comfort zones. I hope to get back into the challenge again!

Check in with how you’re doing, and find out what other Challenge readers are enjoying by commenting on the weekly check-in posts or participating on social media. You can use the hashtag #hubchallenge to post updates on Twitter or check out the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group.

As you all know, you have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish at least 25 challenge books (here’s the full list of eligible titles). If you haven’t already, don’t forget to post the Participant’s Badge on your blog, website, or email signature, and, as always, if you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments or via email.

Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #10

2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-in #2

Not signed up for YALSA’s 2014 Hub Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. Anything you’ve read since February 9 counts, so sign up now!

2015_reading_challenge_logo Hello readers! How is the challenge going? I’m not participating this year because 1. I have read a lot of the titles already since I was on the 2015 Quick Picks Committee and 2. I am on another committee and need to read those books. I can tell you that I have already read 23 titles on this list. Maybe on my next check-in I’ll let you know which ones were favorites and which one had me cackling in laughter.

If you are a social media person (like me!), be sure to share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #hubchallenge. You can also join the conversation over at the 2015 Goodreads Hub Reading Challenge group.

The titles you read during the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge totally count, so make sure you count them! I didn’t read any during that time, but I had already read four before the announcements for my committee.

You have until 11:59 PM EST on June 21st to finish all 25 books which is plenty of time, right? Keep track of your progress by commenting on the weekly check-in posts to let us know how you’re doing and what you’re reading and/or listening to; if you’ve reviewed those titles somewhere online, please include links to your reviews! Don’t forget to grab the Participant’s Badge for your blog, website, or email signature, and, as always, if you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments or via email.

If you are a particularly fast reader and have already completed the challenge by reading or listening to 25 titles from the list of eligible books, be sure to fill out the form below so we can send you your Challenge Finisher badge, get in touch to coordinate your reader’s response and, perhaps best of all, to notify you if you win our exciting grand prize drawing! Be sure to use an email you check frequently and do not fill out this form until you have completed the challenge by reading 25 titles. Continue reading 2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-in #2

2015 Morris Award: An Interview with Finalist Isabel Quintero

Each year, YALSA’s Morris Award honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. The award winner will be announced at the ALA Midwinter Meeting Youth Media (YMA) Awards on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015. Join us for a live webcast of the YMA Awards press conference or follow I Love Libraries on Twitter or Facebook to be among the first to know the 2015 winners. The official hashtag for the 2015 Youth Media Awards is #ALAyma.

Isabel Quintero is a 2015 Morris Award finalist for Gabi, A Girl in Pieces:

Gabi Hernandez chronicles her last year in high school in her diary: college applications, Cindy’s pregnancy, Sebastian’s coming out, the cute boys, her father’s meth habit, and the food she craves. And best of all, the poetry that helps forge her identity.

I am so happy you and your book are one of the Morris finalists! Gabi, a Girl in Pieces is one of the most realistic books I’ve read. It reflects what I saw as a teen and of teens I know, now. Was it your goal to give voice to Mexican-American teens?

I think it was my goal to present a different narrative of what it can mean to be Mexican-American. Living on the hyphen is a complex cultural existence at times, and we’re often pulled in many directions where allegiance is always demanded. It is a fractured state of being, though I don’t think it’s necessarily bad; at least the having multiple ways of looking at life-the Mexican and American/the male and female. Where that goes awry is when we want to make one way of approaching life, The One Way. That’s where things begin to disintegrate, loyalties are questioned, and patriarchies are born. Back to the narrative though, so many times in media and pop culture we get one narrative of what it means to be Latino/a, specifically in my case, Mexican or Mexican-American. And of course we need the subcategory, the hyphen; we can’t possibly be “real” Americans, and thus we need a story to go along with what makes us part of this country, but at the same time what makes us outsiders. The story of belonging, and not-belonging, that we’ve gotten is that we are housekeepers, landscapers, and migrant fieldworkers-all very necessary jobs to keep society moving, but yet always subservient roles in which we have very little opportunity for autonomy. That’s the story we’ve been given. We see this on big screens, small screens, and in books. And it’s romanticized too. Sure being a landowner, inheriting a farm that your great grandfather owned, has a bit of romance. But being a worker on that land from sun up to sun down, exposed to injury, violence, and rape-not so much. So with Gabi, I wanted to present a different story; one that is just as real, and just as American as that of a migrant farmworker. Because really, I believe those narratives and Gabi are stories of America, unhyphenated; and I wanted to give voice to those characters. Continue reading 2015 Morris Award: An Interview with Finalist Isabel Quintero

YALSA’s 2015 Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge Check-In #7

yalsa morris nonfiction seals Not signed up for YALSA’s 2015 Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge? Read the official rules and sign up on the original post. If you’re finished, fill out the form at the bottom of this post to let us know!

Hello Readers!

How many of you have finished? What was your favorite on each list? I’ve read some of the books before the lists were announced for my selection committee. Any of the reads have you puzzled? Let me know in the comments!

If you haven’t signed up for the challenge you have about a week left! This will also help with the annual Hub Reading Challenge that will start in February after the Youth Media Awards. If you have finished be sure to brag about it in the comments and fill our the form. I’ve read some of theses books and they are great! Don’t miss out!

-Faythe Arredondo, currently in the middle of too many books to list

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YALSA’s 2015 Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge Check-In #2

Hello Readers!

How is your reading challenge going? Any early favorites? I am not participating in the challenge, but have read some of the titles in my selection committee. Interesting to see some overlap on both the YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction and the William C. Morris YA Debut Award.

If you haven’t signed up for the challenge there is still plenty of time! This will also help with the annual Hub Reading Challenge that will start in February after the Youth Media Awards. If you have finished be sure to brag about it in the comments and fill our the form. I’ve read some of theses books and they are great! Don’t miss out!

-Faythe Arredondo, currently in the middle of too many books to list

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YA Lit Symposium: Book Covers and Reality

YALSA_LitSymposium2014 Continuing The Hub’s coverage of YALSA’s 2014 YA Lit Symposium, I’m here to give you a peek at two of the most thought-provoking sessions I attended.

Talking Book Covers with Young Adults: Whitewashing, Sexism and More

I don’t even know how to begin to summarize this session.

Allie Jane Bruce presented on her work with sixth graders and books. The reaction from the kids is what stole the presentation; I couldn’t write them all down fast enough. I’m not going to try and quote them all, but if you check out Allie’s posts here, you can see all their thoughts about the book covers they were shown. I highly recommend you look through the posts: really amazing things.

One takeaway from this session was that even young teens can see how problematic book covers are and the patterns they were able to see.

Following Allie’s presentation, Malindo Lo and Jacqueline Woodson continued the conversation about book covers. They pointed out that different backgrounds can add to the discussion. They also emphasized Rudine Sims Bishop’s thoughts that literature needs more mirrors than windows. Continue reading YA Lit Symposium: Book Covers and Reality

Is This the Real Life?: Graphic Novels

September brings a lot of things: cooler temperatures, pumpkin everything, the start of a new school year, Library Card Sign-up Month, and Banned Books Week, to name just a few. This year, Banned Books Week is focusing on comics and I thought I would share some contemporary, realistic graphic novels. What other recommendations do you have?

Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Katie’s life was going pretty well– until it wasn’t. She soon discovers a way to do things overâ€¦ and soon Katie can’t stop redoing anything that goes wrong.

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Rose and her family spend their summers at Awago Beach. This summer is different. Her parents won’t stop fighting and she and her friend get tangled up in some local drama. Continue reading Is This the Real Life?: Graphic Novels

ALA Annual 2014: Sci Fi on the Fly

alaac14_logo My science fiction knowledge extends to Star Wars, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the new Star Trek movies. That’s about it– so I was excited to attend the session at ALA Annual that was all about science fiction for people like me: who know very little about the genre.

The program was presented by Dr. Karin Perry, Assistant Professor of Library Science at Sam Houston State University in Texas. She expertly went through a variety of books (some I had actually read!) and broke them down in the subcategories: Apocalyptic/Post-Apocolypic, Steampunk/Biopunk/Cyberpunk, Robots/Androids/Cyborgs/Artificial Intelligence, Space/Aliens/Extra-Terrestrials, Time Travel/Parallel Universe, and Virtual Reality/Gaming.

She covered so many books that it would be impossible to list here, but Karin put her slideshow online which I know I will be referring to for reader’s advisory.

Be sure to check it out if you struggle with science fiction like I do!

Sci Fi on the Fly from Karin Perry

-Faythe Arredondo