What I am doing right now is a lot of reading and a lot of essay drafting. The reading mostly means reviews which means more writing, but it's all good. Quick reviews: Cory Doctorow's latest is heavy on plot and technology name dropping but very light on characterization. I nailed what would happen to two characters shortly after they were introduced and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'm not sure that he is fitting into the YA world as effectively as he could; I read For the Win as being much more concerned with dazzle then depth and a step back from Little Brothers (and way back from Something Comes to Town....).

Jane Yolen's first foray into graphic novels, Foiled, is an unbalanced affair - I thought the opening half about a young girl who loves fencing and excels at it was a great sports novel while being well balanced with coming-of-age, family, etc. Then there is a sudden hard twist into fantasy that doesn't quite work. Am I fine with our fencer brushing up against faerie? Sure. But the whole "girl born with destiny" trope has to be handled with kid gloves because when it is wrong it really is....well, wrong. This one is rough and asks us to believe not only that a boy could turn a superstar athlete into a lovesick goose with ease but also the apparatuses for the big destiny reveal read as simple plot devices. There is a sequel in the works, we'll see if things smooth out a bit.

In other news, please support the Ruby Booker series by purchasing one or more of the very reasonably priced titles. If you don't need them personally, then buy and donate (as I am). We talk a lot about diversity around the kidlitosphere; it's time to put our money where our mouths are. Read all about the effort to keep the series going in Doret's recent interview with series author Derrick Barnes at Color Online.

And while I'm talking about Doret, do check out the fun series of interviews she is conducting with authors of baseball fiction. Nine authors all asked the same questions about the game while highlighting their own fabulous books. Good stuff and pitch perfect for Spring. (Here's Part II - with a link to the earlier round. Authors include Linda Sue Park, Carl Dueker, James Preller, Jennifer E Smith, and more.)

Finally, Greg is doing his 30 Poets/30 Days event again this April which is always very cool and exceedingly literary in the best possible way. If you are a teacher then you should be all over this one - a great way to make National Poetry Month come alive. (As opposed to studying dead poets. Again.)