In case you missed it, the Youth Media Awards of the American Library Association were announced on Monday! Take a look at the full list right here. I always find I have some reading to do after the announcement is made. How is your collection doing? Need to make any purchases? Do you find that there is increased demand for these titles once they are announced? Do you do anything to promote them?

Speaking of reading: last week I was happy to be the one taking my daughter to play practice–it gave me time to hang around in the library and read John Green’s new book, The Fault in Our Stars. I finished it over the weekend, and then my 15 year old devoured it from the middle of a soggy pile of tissues.
Sixteen year old Hazel has terminal thyroid cancer that has metastasized to her lungs. At a Support Group meeting her mother insists she attend, she meets Augustus Waters, a smart, attractive and snarky boy. Her friendship with him is exciting, romantic, and filled with concern–she feels like a grenade about to explode when she dies, injuring all loving by-standers. While cancer and pain are ever-present in an authentic way in this story, it is not your typical cancer story. For one thing, it made me laugh out loud as often as it gave me a lump in my throat. Hazel’s voice is so likable, she and Augustus are both smart and interesting, and the way they grapple with life and death issues is so real. They make merciless fun of Cancer Books and how people want kids who are dying of cancer to be so strong and beautiful. They grapple with heroism and what it means to them. They are strong and beautiful, but only on their own terms. They have private jokes that readers are privvy to.
Even if you don’t like Cancer Books, chances are you’ll like this book. It is the opposite of sentimental or self-indulgent. It’s real and funny and heart-breaking.
If you aren’t familiar with John Green’s highly developed web presence, it is something you will want to check out and share with teens, if they haven’t yet discovered it. He’s got a million followers on Twitter, a blog, and perhaps most well-known, a regular vlog (7 million viewers and counting!) with his brother, Hank Green. Together, they’ve developed a loyal and large following of Nerdfighters–people who are proud to be nerds (their goal is to increase awesome and decrease world suck, which they do by raising awareness and money for good causes).
Check it out!