A couple of readers recently commented (thanks!) on my review of the new memoir, I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced. Since this book has sparked conversation and contemplation, I thought I’d share this recent op-ed piece in The New York Times  by Pulitzer-Prize winner Nicholas D. Kristof whose book, Half the Sky, is a Random House, Inc. bestseller.

Feel free to comment and let me know what you think! I’d love to discuss.

-Marie

This past weekend Erica, our RHAcademic co-worker Lani, and I flew to Atlanta for the National Council for Social Studies conference. Aside from the great perks of traveling (my personal fave is not having to make my own bed!) one wonderful thing about conferences is that it gives me a chance to discover or rediscover books that somehow missed my radar. This was the case with I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced.

I picked up a galley copy of this slim book as I was drawn to the  image of a beautiful little girl on the cover. Then I noticed the title. 10 years old and divorced?! I was immediately intrigued. Nujood, a Yemeni girl, had no record of the exact date or year of her birth but it was around age ten that she was married, without her consent, to a man three times her senior. She endured life as a wife, forbidden to play or do other childlike things, until one day she decided to get out. She slipped away to a courthouse where she asked to see a judge and demanded a divorce. Her request was granted and Nujood became the first child bride in Yemen to divorce her husband, setting precendence for so many others. 

She writes, “I am a simple village girl whose family had to move to the capital, and I have always obeyed the orders of the men in my family. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today, I have decided to say no.” Nujood’s story is written in her voice and its childlike simplicity is exactly what makes it so powerful. Actions are alluded to, feelings are described, and the reader experiences it all with Nujood, from her family struggles to tasting “bizza” and “bebsi” for the first time.

While reading, I often found myself imagining what it would have been like to read this book as a young adult. It is a perfect addition to your Young Adult collection, great for parent/teen reading groups and school assignments. I have no doubt readers of all ages will be inspired and humbled by Nujood’s experience.  

I am Nujood will be published in March 2010. Be sure to add it to your lists!  

 -Marie

There’s been a lot of talk, both online and off, about Teen Read Week lately. Right on its heels, and in light of a conversation Dave and I had the other day, I give you Exhibits A, B, and C. These are obviously three different covers by three different publishers for the infamous classic, Wuthering Heights.

Our friends at HarperCollins have springboarded off the successful look of a recent smash-hit series for their new edition of “Bella and Edward’s Favorite Book.” Look familiar? Then there are our Penguin pals who have opted for something more gothic and Tim Burton-esque. Finally, Random House Inc.’s Vintage imprint has come up with a “Classic” approach that still has a hint of the abstract.

Each publisher has made it perfectly clear that while newly discovered books and anticipated blockbusters are all well and good, classics and the importance of reading them are also high in the priority list. Gone are the cloth and dust covered tomes of yesteryear; instead these gussied up editions are likely aimed at a new generation of teen readers, all vying for equal shelf space and due consideration. While I’m not quite sure which I’d go for I wonder how would these pretty new paperbacks fare on your shelves? Given teens, trends, and the classically inclined, what do you look for in hopes of racking up the date stamps upon checkout?

-Marie

We’re thrilled to be an official sponsor of Teen Read Week 2009. In honor of that, we’re giving away 10 sets of 5 “Beyond Reality” reads to round out your stacks.

Enter to win a set of  five “Beyond Reality” reads!

Download Shelf Help for fantastic Teen Read Week selections!  Shelf Help is our latest effort to give you the tools you need  to create a thorough collection for your patrons.  Each month we will be featuring a new category.  Feel free to request a theme! We’re YOUR resource!

 Egmont USA organized a bus tour of Manhattan with author Walter Dean Myers, in support of his new novel Riot (Sept.), set in 1863 during the New York City draft riots. Beginning at the New-York Historical Society, the tour visited numerous sites of historical interest, including the Irish Hunger Memorial, Castle Clinton, the South Street Seaport, the site of the former Five Points slum and the African Burial Ground, with Myers and historian/author Barnet Schecter (The Devil’s Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America) serving as guides. Here, Myers speaks in front of the statue of Horace Greeley at City Hall Park.

-Erica

Forget “literary fiction,” “historical fiction,” or “paranormal historical romance,” I’ve got a new genre when it comes to books I love — fiction narrated by children. I count Huck, Jo March, Scout, and When We Were Romans‘ Lawrence among my favorite literary characters. Flavia Sabina Delores De Luce (ok, so she admits she added Dolores “on the spot”) is the 11-yr old bike riding, chemistry-loving, sleuth of a girl behind Alan Bradley’s award winning debut novel The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and I add her to my list of pint-sized protagonists. It is the summer of 1950 in the English countryside and murder has struck Buchshaw, the mansion where Flavia lives with her two horrid sisters and her father. Our plucky girl is both delighted and horrified, and she’s on the case.

I’ve had a smirk permanently attached to my face as I’ve read her antics and I find her thoughts and perspectives nothing less than charming. Here’s my favorite (and a treat for you librarians!):

As I stood outside in Cow Lane, it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Obviously, she’s now stolen your heart as well.  Be sure this one is in your collection.

-Marie

 Happy Friday, everyone!  I’m not sure if it’s time, yet, for our Pet of the Month selection, but I was in need of some feline humor and thought you might be, too.

-Erica

I’ll freely admit I haven’t jumped on the latest book bandwagon. You know the series I’m talking about… Dark covers, a dark and brooding beautiful guy with fangs and the muy bella girl he loves and can’t live without. It just isn’t my swoony cup of tea, much to the chagrin of many of my fellow female department members. Yet, I recently stepped back into their good graces with my last Young Adult read. It’s a foray into the Children’s group but it deserves a mention on our end as well since it is great for adults, too.

Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth introduces readers to Mary, a heroine who is as firmly planted in her reality as she is in her dreams. She longs to escape the confines of her village, one that for as long as she remembers has been fenced in, cut off from the rest of the world…if there still is one. On the other side lies the Forest of Hands and Teeth, the Unconsecrated, a zombie-like people who are as undead as vampires but who somehow haunted me more with their hollowed-out faces and continuous crashing against the fences looking for prey. Despite Mary’s obligations to her family, her people and her own survival she longs for something bigger. She knows she must marry to keep the bloodlines going but she dreams of escaping to the beach, a faraway entity she has only heard of in her mother’s stories. Think The Village meets The Handmaid’s Tale with just a smidge of Twilight (the undead factor) and you get a sense of this book. Since The Handmaid’s Tale is one of my favorites, I was anxious to see how I’d like this one. Luckily, it didn’t disappoint. I found Mary to be a well developed heroine struggling with the adult in a very young adult mindframe. The book wonderfully sets the reader up for the sequel which has a great name, The Dead-Tossed Waves (scheduled to be published in April 2010). This could just be the next great series. I happily jump aboard.  

This book will be available on 3/10. Check out the trailer below. It’s great!  For other great YA books for adults also check out Jen’s previous post.  

-Marie

Finally!  National coverage recognizing the essential contributions school librarians provide to our education system.  Perhaps there is hope that they will no longer be the first sacrifices made during budget cuts.

Also see what SLJ’s Joyce Valenza PhD had to say in her blog about the article and video…

-Erica

The ALEX Awards, for those who don’t already know, are given each year by YALSA to the best adult books for young adults. Of the 10 this year, we’re happy to say that 3 of them are from the Random House, Inc. family! This is a great honor, and there was much squealing at the dinner table in Denver when we found out. See the full list here! More award announcements from Denver to come soon!