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Lynn: So – I’m reading another sequel in another fantasy series and here it is AGAIN – a plot device that makes me absolutely crazy!  Here is the dauntless hero/heroine, savior of the world in multiple previous adventures, and once again suspicion is being heaped – nay – deluged upon him/her.  Do his friends and [...]

Cindy: So many of our middle school students walk in the library and ask this question: “Do you have any good books?” My flip comment to them is always, “No, we only buy bad books for the library…” and then I wait for them to laugh, but many of them just look disappointed and start to walk [...]

Lynn and Cindy: This month Booklist was featuring mysteries so we think it’s time to investigate a real-life mystery that has been puzzling and frustrating us! Where did all these bloated 500+ page books for teens come from? YA novels used to be trim, slim and just big enough to fit nicely in a purse [...]

Lynn and Cindy: So here we are again. Less than a week from the start of an ALA conference and we’re posting an unhappy rant about a YALSA Board proposal for BBYA. A draconian proposal in June received such an outcry of dissent that the Board tabled the proposal and agreed to try again. This [...]

Lynn: Ok – it is long past time for a rant. I’m sad and irritable this week but I’ve been grumbling for months about this issue and it is time to RANT! A listserv that I have long subscribed to is being ravaged by a dreadful disease. No I don’t mean H1N1, I mean Librarianship [...]

Lynn: The truth is I should have paid attention to the YALSA agenda. It is my responsibility as a member I know. Who would have guessed that the YALSA Executive committee would decide to propose the elimination of the Best Books for Young Adults Committee without posing the question to the membership in the variety [...]