YA lit

Speaking Out: A Rainbow of Reasons We Need Diverse Books

June 24, 2014 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

June 26, 2015 Update Photo essayist/youth archivist Rachelle Lee Smith of visual literacy book Speaking Out will be in town signing copies at Reach and Teach San Mateo tonight 7-9pm. Apropos on this day of historic family diversity with the 5-4 Supreme Court decision ruling that gay couples have the right to marry, as her photos in the book point to the many youth voices not … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pro-Social & Positive Picks Tagged With: #WeNeedDiverseBooks, anti-bullying, Craig Wiesner, diversity, Erase-Hate, gay pride, gay rights, Gender, human rights, identity, It Gets Better, kidlit, LGBTQ, Operation Marriage, Pride parade, queer youth, Rachelle Lee Smith, Rainbow flag, reach and teach, Speaking Out Queer Youth in Focus, Start Empathy, stereotypes, str8 against h8, Straight Against Hate, Trevor Project, YA lit, youth identity

Family Diversity In Books: A Child’s View of DOMA

June 29, 2013 by Amy Jussel 2 Comments

Update: June 26, 2015It's official. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 5 to 4 in favor of marriage equality (see Justice Kennedy's closing paragraph summation which poignantly concludes, "it is so ordered.") Here's hoping this "kidlit" gets revisited with fresh eyes and an empathetic lens to see how profoundly meaningful this is for children whose families have been denied this … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: AAP LGBT families, All Children Matter, Bert and Ernie New Yorker, children's books, DOMA, Family diversity, freedom to marry, gay characters on TV, gay parents, Glaad, human rights, kidlit, LBGT, LGBTQ, marriage equality, media mindfulness, Openly YA tour, Operation Marriage, picture books, repeal of DOMA, respect for marriage act, School Library Journal, YA lit

Author Rosalind Wiseman Brings Youth Editors Into YA KidLit Process

February 8, 2010 by Amy Jussel 7 Comments

Feb. 8, 2010 I bought a copy of the new YA novel by renowned author Rosalind Wiseman of Queen Bees & Wannabes bestseller fame, called “Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials” ...As soon as it hit my home front, my daughter and her ‘BFF’ clamored to snag it from me, lured in by the cover visual alone. Mean Girls writer and co-star Tina Fey had a snarky testimonial on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Advertising, Branding & Consumerism, Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Product Placement, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth Tagged With: 2010, Amy-Jussel, April 26, author, BGOHM, books, boys, Boys Girls and Other Hazardous Materials, Creating cultures of dignity, Curse of the Good Girl, Daughters, Dove Go Fresh, drama, Emily Bartek, emotional health, Family Circle, fiction, friendships, girls, GWT, kidlit, Kids, Kids health, literary, literature, mean girls, media influence, Menlo-Atherton High School, mother/daughter, mothers, novels, Peer pressure, Penguin Book Publishing, preteen alliance, preteens, Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads, Queen bees, Queen Bees and Wannabes, Rachel Simmons, readergirlz, reading, relational aggression, relationships, Rosalind Wiseman, SLJ, Tina Fey, tween summit, Twilight, YA lit, young adult, youth

Teen Book Publishers Premiere Louder Than Words TV

August 10, 2009 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

August 10, 2009 It doesn’t get more real than this. Louder Than Words teen series developer Deborah Reber hosts a live chat online all this week with the fresh voices and real issues of the teen authors themselves starting tonight on Louder Than Words TV. 8-9pm EST (5-6pm PST) Kyte.TV is an online and mobile video platform in beta right now, hosting live and 'on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Emerging trends & STEM, Growing up too soon, Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Mobile Media, Apps & Gaming, Nutrition & Wellness, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: addiction, age compression, ALA, at risk teens, authenticity, banned book week, books, compulsive behavior, cutting, Debbie Reber, Deborah Reber, depression, digital media, disorders, drama, Everything Sucks, fiction, FML, future of the book, go to the source, HCI Books, impulse control, In Her Shoes, KGOY, kid lit, Kyte, Kyte.tv, library, live TV, Louder Than Words, Marni, nonfiction, online, Pop-Culture, print, publishing, readergirlz, reading, reality, Smart Girls Know, social-media, Steve O'Keefe, teen authors, Teen memoirs, Teen Read Week, teen voices, teen writers, teens, trichotillomania, Truth, TV, uncensored, Video chat, Videocast, West Nile virus, YA lit, YALSA

A Challenge: Love Yourself. Share Your Story. Find Beauty.

February 14, 2009 by Amy Jussel 6 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day dear readers! Like my 'Luvicon?' (You can make one too!) Little did I know when I wrote about ‘thinspiration’ that there was an actual term for sidewinders and commentary that dings so deeply in the developmental recesses of kids’ minds. "Bodysnarking." Dare to share the body image stories that stuck in your childhood mental relay and lend a hand with a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Marketing Shaping Youth, Media Literacy, Nutrition & Wellness, Positive Picks, Pro-Social & Positive Picks, Sexualization & Body Image, Shaping Youth, Stereotypes & Diversity Tagged With: Ask Dr. Robyn Silverman, cleft repair, Dr. Robyn, Find Beauty Challenge, Girl Overboard, global medical surgeries, Justina Chen Headley, luvicon, maya angelou, North of Beautiful, open letter to phenomenal girls, readergirlz, Teen Book Review, teens, thinspiration, Valentines Day, what is beautiful, YA lit, YALSA