Two teachers at Depew High School outside of Buffalo, New York would like to teach my novel "Looking for Alaska" to 11th graders. (ELEVENTH GRADERS!!!!) A letter was sent home to every parent explaining that the book contained controversial content. Parents could either give written permission for their kids to read "Alaska" or not reply, in which case the kids would read a different book.

This seems to me an extremely well-reasoned and thorough way of approaching the complexities of 'edgy' (I hate that word) books in English classes. Even so, a few members of the community of Depew have objected to the book's presence in the curriculum on the grounds that "Looking for Alaska" is "pornographic" and "disgusting." They feel that parents should not be allowed to choose for themselves whether the book is appropriate in a high school English classroom.

There are many supporters of the book among teachers, administrators, librarians, and the school board in Depew. To help them, I'm asking people to email letters of support for the book at sparksflyup--at--gmail.com.

Also, if you live in Depew, the book will be discussed at the Depew Board of Education meeting on February 5th at the Depew High School Auditorium at 7 PM.

Sometimes I wonder why there are so many amazing young adult novelists working in Australia. (I mean, to name but a few: Markus Zusak, Sonya Hartnett, Melina Marchetta, Justine Larbalestier, Margo Lanagan, and 2008 Printz honoree Judith Clarke.)

Right now I am thinking that maybe Australia has so many amazing YA novelists because Australia has so many amazing teenagers. Ladies and gentlemen, meet 16-year-old Corey Delaney:



(Thanks, Lindsay! And thanks, Radar!)

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, he is for real.

2. No, I am not going to say whether I think Corey Delaney is amazingly good or amazingly bad. I am just going to say that I think he is amazing. I think he distills what is important and hilarious and tragic about contemporary adolescence. Corey Delaney is the reason Scott Westerfeld had to write Extras.

3. Yes, I agree that the newscaster is kind of a square. I mean, doesn't she get it? HIS GLASSES ARE FAMOUS. WHY WOULD HE TAKE OFF THE FAMOUS GLASSES?

This blog entry comes to you in four parts:

Part 1: The Ning. Brotherhood 2.0 may be over, but Hank and I are still making videos with some regularity. You can watch those and join the community of nerdfighters at the Ning. I'll still post some of our videos here, like:

Part 2: Airports. Hank and I must have filmed at least a dozen videos in airports over the last year. This one is my favorite, and it also seems to be the favorite of The People, since it is currently the Top Rated video on youtube and the most discussed comedy video of the day.



Part 3: The Printz Awards. I've been a huge children's literature award nerd for many years, so of course I got up bright and early this morning to find out the winners. (In case you are not a huge children's literature award nerd, the winner was The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean. Honors went to Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox, One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke, Repossessed by A. M. Jenkins, and Your Own, Sylvia by Stephanie Hemphill.) Congratulations all around.

When it comes to awards, I don't think we should make broad statements about trends. There will be some discussion about how all five awards went to women this year, and about how two went to novels with fantastical elements, and so on. But the Printz really only reflects one trend: Good books getting published for teenagers. And the fact that there was no overlap between the National Book Awards and the Printz Awards shows again that there are a lot of books being published for teenagers that deserve to be taken seriously.

Speaking of which, Part 4: I don't think I've read dystopian fiction as good as Scott Westerfeld's Extras since I was hanging out with Orwell in ninth grade.

This is not a political blog, but if you take a moment to watch these two speeches, I think it's very difficult to argue that Obama is less electable than his opponent.





One thing worth nothing in the aftermath of this: It's interesting to listen to the way Clinton and Obama talk about moderate Republicans. Clinton teases them (as having "seen the light"); Obama welcomes them without chastising them.