Readergirlz Wants to Get Girls Reading

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Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 2/28/2007

Four young adult authors who call themselves "Book Divas" are set to launch a new online book community called readergirlz to get girls hooked on reading and to share that love with others.

Founders Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, Lorie Ann Grover, and Justina Chen Headley say readergirlz is about celebrating books that "feature strong female characters, connecting girls with stories that will change the way they see themselves, and inspiring girls to have the guts to make history of their own."

How does it work? Members go to the readergirlz Web site and are directed to a MySpace readergirlz site, where they can chat about anything and everything to do with books and empowering girls. The only things prohibited are vulgar language, personal attacks, and commercial promotions.

Although MySpace is banned in many school libraries and some public libraries, the founders felt it was an ideal way to reach their audience, especially since a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that 70 percent of girls between the ages of 15 and 17 use the social networking site. Those members who don't have access to MySpace can still participate by visiting readergirlz.livejournal.com or by e-mailing the authors. "Our intention is to give teen girls lots of ways to get involved with readergirlz!" says Calhoun.

The divas will select a book-of-the-month and provide links, author interviews, and even book-party ideas. The site's launch, planned for March 1—to coincide with Women's History Month—will feature Chen Headly's Nothing but the Truth (and a Few White Lies) (Little, Brown, 2006), a book that includes an ugly racist incident, which, of course, is expected to generate a lot of discussion about intolerance and prejudice.