A Little Late

But I'm just now reading SLJ's may issue. If any of you've missed it, I've found useful:

Jordan Sonnenblick's article about NCLB (I met him at Ballard library a week-ish ago. He's lovely).

Anastasia Goodstein's article about attracting teens through marketing tactics.

Highlights include:

• Ypulse,
• Muxtape,
• Mixwit,
• Crunchyroll (a site a couple of MY teens are always telling me about),
• Teenhut and
• some philosophy (clearly the most important part, ESPECIALLY if you aren't quite sure how to approach teens - or a good reminder).

Katrine Watkins' article about The Google Game taught me a few new ways to search and reminded me of ones I forgot.

Heard of MMPG? Christopher Harris' article is about PMOG - and how it might just be a harbinger of Web 3.0... I'm a little scared.

An Expansive New Linguistic Renaissance

New study reassures adults that teen communications are not dumbed down, but actually more sophisticated than once thought.

Instant messaging 'a linguistic renaissance' for teens
15 May 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Mark Peters

In a paper to be published in the spring 2008 issue of American Speech, the researchers argue that far from ruining teenagers' ability to communicate, IM lets teenagers show off what they can do with language.

So, there! LOLFOMA at disbelievers, yo.

Teen Retreat

Check out the cool program my friend Sara did with her teens in Multnomah County:

Q. What’s Better Than a Teen Council?

I would love to do something like this with our Teen Advisory Groups someday. Maybe next year?

tweens explore identity on web

A mom gets her tween to give her a tour of some social networking sites aimed at teens. Nothing groundbreaking here, but nice for perspective and to hear about what tweens are into right now. I was most amused that her daughter likes to pretend she is a French single mom with twins.

FASHION & STYLE | May 8, 2008
Cyberfamilias: Today, I Think I'll Be Hippohead
By MICHELLE SLATALLA
For the under-18 crowd, there are new ways to reinvent yourself online.

An assortment of articles

First up is an article from the Washington Post, reprinted in the Seattle Times. Now I like these newspapers. But this article is awful, IMHO. The problem I think I have with it is that I don't really trust the study. I look at the list, especially for the older grades (Besides just lumping 9-12th grades. Please. Like 9th graders are reading what 12th graders are. Whatever.), and I see well, gee, I wonder if some of those books are required reading at 80% of schools out there? I want to know what the top books for pleasure reading are. It's not that I don't think that there'd be duplications, I'm just not terribly surprised that Of Mice and Men shows up when everyone I know had to read it in high school. Did the survey at all cover whether the students enjoyed these titles? Furthermore, I question whether the survey was even balanced when you get what I consider a biased quote from guy who's company did the survey:

'"I find it reassuring ... that students are still reading the classics I read as a child," said Roy Truby, a senior vice president for Wisconsin-based Renaissance Learning. But Truby said he would have preferred to see more meaty and varied fare, such as "historical novels and biographical works so integral to understanding our past and contemporary books that help us understand our world."'

Furthermore, there wasn't any real kind of reporting on the survey itself. What were some of the questions? Did that guy write any of them? Was there another goal? And why does every. single. article concerning youth and reading have to compare whatever to Harry Potter?

I'm probably just cranky 'cause I had such a great weekend and didn't want to come back to work today.

In happier articles...

Containing this quote which I'm going to plaster somewhere: “Teen books are like adult books, without all the bull****” H. Jack Martin, assistant coordinator of young adult services at New York Public Library. That's awesome, right? I think so. And it epitomizes why I dig teen lit. The article is all about what makes YA lit not adult lit. Sherman Alexie was on the panel and there are some great quotes from him, as usual.

We've all read and loved Madeline L'Engle, right? New book, published posthumously (obviously) but written in the 1940's. It's said to be the most autobiographical of her work. Don't know about you, but that intrigues me. Although I hope that cover isn't the one they are using...

Further cannibalizing from PW: Twilight Zone is gonna be a series of graphic novels!

Living Library of PEOPLE

Last week the London Times ran an article about a man's experience being a "Book" in a library program called Living Library. Maybe this isn't the exactly right forum for sharing, but I can't help but find the whole thing entirely fascinating, and because of that, I have to share. Excerpt:

"The idea, which comes from Scandinavia, is simple: instead of books, readers can come to the library and borrow a person for a 30-minute chat. The human “books” on offer vary from event to event but always include a healthy cross-section of stereotypes. Last weekend, the small but richly diverse list included Police Officer, Vegan, Male Nanny and Lifelong Activist as well as Person with Mental Health Difficulties and Young Person Excluded from School. I was there as Gay Man.

In the catalogue we had been tagged with the kind of negative attributes that readers might expect to encounter. Male Nanny was down as “twee” and “child molester”. Police Officer was filed under “corrupt”. Mine included “very well dressed” and “has some sexually transmitted disease”, though thankfully there was no mention of Barbra Streisand."

It rather seems like an awesome idea. And maybe fits into the whole Seeds of Compassion thing. I'm noting it for future overly ambitious uses.

Email anne.kilroy [at] living-library.org for more info, if you are interested.

Electronic Mosquitos

Ok, I heard about this device about a year ago. And I know it's wrong. I know it violates teen rights. It's something I object to. But, I just, I just can't help it - it really makes me laugh. Some dark, evil bit inside of me finds the whole concept hilarious.

"The town of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, banned the device last year after a movie theater owner installed one. 'There was an outcry, and people didn't like the idea of torturing kids' ears like that," said Ronald Dlugosz, a town official. "People here don't tolerate that kind of stuff."'

It's an interesting article.

I'm also very curious as to whether I can still hear it.

I just need to counter the last article.

"A new study released Thursday from the Pew Internet & American Life Project and the National Commission on Writing showed that the majority of U.S. teens, or 60 percent of those surveyed, do not view electronic texts as writing."

But what was more interesting to me in the article, was this bit:

"All teens write at least some for school, but 93 percent of kids surveyed said that they write for themselves outside of school."

This gives me hope that the author-run writer's workshop I have planned for July will be successful.

Eisenhower?

THIS makes me want to hold a trivia contest (quiz bowl?) in the library with the teens.

Perhaps I shall. Just to prove otherwise.

RSS Feeds demystified (well, somewhat...)

I went to bloglines today and there were actually rss feeds there that I had subscribed to from other websites...wow! it worked!

stylists and librarians unite!

I read this in an article about more tween girls styling their hair.

"I tell stylists to get more involved in school and community events to reach out to these younger girls," he said. "They may not want to think in those terms, but these girls are our future business."

The approach sounded kinda familiar.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/358211_tweenhair09.html

P.S.
In a recent forum on Weary Parent, a child-raising blog, one person admitted in a post that she had tried to give her 11-year old daughter the blond-on-brown look of Jamie Lynn Spears of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101."
"But that was a disaster," she wrote. "I had to pull her out of school for a day so I could fix it."

Tweens arrested for Death Note "joke".

Alabama Tweens Arrested in 'Death Note' Row
Anime-Inspired Notebook Deemed 'Terrorist Threat'

The Gadsen (Alabama) Times is reporting that two 12-year-old students at the West End Elementary School were arrested after school authorities discovered a Death Note-inspired notebook containing the names of faculty members, school personnel and students. The notebook was turned over to the Etowah County Sheriff's Department, where authorities classified its contents as "terrorist threats," even though the students told their principal that it was a joke.

According to the article, this is the third incident reported where students got in trouble and the first where they were arrested. It will be interesting to see how this book is handled. I think it is a great work, that really examines issues in a thoughtful and entertaining way. If teens are emulating this impossible concept, I see that as a cry for help...they must be awfully miserable to even joke about this, no?

Washington does good..new scholarship program for low-income teens!

WA Offers Low-Income Kids College Scholarships
Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 4/2/2008 2:00:00 PM

Low-income kids from Washington no longer have to worry about who’s paying for college—as long as they keep up their high school grades and stay out of trouble with the law...

Had any of you heard about this? How cool is that?

The State's information page can be found here.

Emo battles in Mexico

Have any of you heard about the awful stuff going on in Mexico? Emo kids are being targeted and beat up in massive groups. A blog post that sums it up well: Violence against emos sweeps across Mexico.

When I hear about things like this, it makes me wonder about the big problems we have in the world, and ponder what is driving these youth to lash out at easy victims.

Sad sad sad.

Gaming @ NYPL

New York Public Library has gotten on board with video gaming in a big way! Not only are they offering gaming programs at many of their branches, they are also circulating 2,500 copies of 92 different games! Wow!

Taking Play Seriously at the Public Library With Young Video Gamers

“I thought a library was just for books, just for studying, just for a lot of things I don’t normally do,” he said. “But when I found out the library was starting to have games it was great, because it’s really good to hear that the library is paying more attention to the youth and what we’re into.”

He paused. “And it’s also good because I can just say to my parents, ‘I’m going to the library.’”

The power of graphic novels

No Laughs, No Thrills, and Villains All Too Real
By Michael Kimmelman for the New York Times

Interesting article talking about how graphic novels are helping a new generation of Germans and French understand the Holocaust.

Sultan teens need entertainment

While some may view gaming at the library as dumbing kids down, I have to say I have seen a small town such as Sultan with very little to do for teens in desperate need of free, readily accessible, positive entertainment that keeps kids engaged with each other in a welcoming public place--as an alternative to producing the unfortunate ones who become street corner meth users. Gaming and other engaging events to lure non-readers is not a luxury in a town like this.

Gaming in libraries - the dumbing down of a nation?

So, here I sit at SVC awaiting a late trainer. A perfect time to update the Lynnwood MySpace blog! Ok. Done with that. Hmm. Ok, time to catch up on the listservs I've largely been ignoring. YALSA-L...what?!

Dave Gibson, in the American Chronicle:

"Unfortunately, it appears that this country's librarians have decided to do their part in the dumbing-down of America. What has happened to this country?...All of the librarians I have known were in love with the written word and truly enjoyed opening the door to their world to young people. Perhaps, today's crop of young librarians would be better served answering their calling as arcade attendants and movie theatre managers."

So, comrades, do you feel like you are dumbing down young people?

heh. Happy people are dissing the hater all over the internet. Check it out.

-Jackie

article: Classroom Misbehavior

Classroom Misbehavior
Some authors treat the subject of affairs between boys and their teachers as romance; others see it for what it is--the stealing of innocence
March 9, 2008 - Sonja Bolle for the LA Times

Anyone looking for easy explanations for what some have called "an epidemic" of this sort of sexual abuse will find them in these books: The absence of parents in teens' lives, the increased possibility of secrecy in e-mail as well as cellphone communication. But the choices each novelist makes in telling the story make the reading experiences vary widely.

an article on gaming jobs to point curious teens towards...

Tough Competition for Video-Gaming Jobs
Monday, March 3, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle

In reality, love of games is a prerequisite for most jobs in the industry, which is concentrated in the Bay Area and a few other tech-heavy regions. But as with so many things in life, it turns out that love is not enough...

A realistic look at what it takes to make it in the gaming industry, and how little you might make as you try and work your way up.