NYPL Unveils 79th Books for the Teen Age
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Rocco Staino -- School Library Journal, 3/24/2008 2:00:00 PM
Walter Dean Myers, Todd Strasser, and more than 30 other young adult authors were on hand at the New York Public Library on March 22 to meet with the people who chose their works as part of this year’s Books for the Teen Age, a list of the hottest titles recommended by teens and YA librarians in the NYPL system.
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| Walter Dean Myers (r.) chats with an attendee. |
At 96, Harry Bernstein was the oldest author named this year. Bernstein wrote his first book, The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers (Ballantine, 2007), a memoir of growing up Jewish in pre-World War II England. His daughter, Adraenne Bowe, represented her father at the event.
Arlene Weber Morales, a school librarian at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, has attended this annual event for the last few years and not only finds it stimulating but a great help with enriching her collection. Media Specialist Sally Bower Cohen from Tottenville High School in Staten Island was there to get ideas for her school’s Friday afternoon book club.
High school art students also helped select the cover art for Books for the Teen Age. That art, created by Ashley Lagzail, an 11th-grade student at Staten Island’s Michael Petrides High School, depicts the ever-popular iPhone with icons spelling out the title.
Robert Lypsyte, whose book Yellow Flag (HarperTeen, 2007) was named in the sports category, addressed the gathering, saying that the genre of his writing was not “Chick Lit” but rather “Dick Lit,” aimed at reaching the reluctant boy reader. Lypsyte called boys an underserved minority in young adult literature and alleged that publishers don’t really care if boys read because 85 percent of the titles published are devoted to attracting teenage girls.
Books for the Teen Age, which contains more than 450 titles in 25 different categories, can be purchased for $10 plus shipping from the Office of Collections and Services, The New York Public Library, 455 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016 (212-340-0912). More information can be found online.
