book news

Most YA books don’t get a full-page ad in the New York Times—unless they’ve been banned.  This morning I read a PW article that reports Penguin has done this for Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel, Speak, which has been called “soft pornography” by a professor in Missouri…the ad urges consumers to “read the book. Decide for yourself,” which is both a sales pitch and a plea for freedom of speech.  Edi and Carleen Brice have already talked about the profit factor attached to banned books.  I wonder if publishers ever took an ad out for Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, Black Boy by Richard Wright, Push by Sapphire, or Beloved by Toni Morrison.  Anyone know?  You can find a list of banned books here.

Looking ahead…it’s time for both The Cybils and The Brown Bookshelf’s 28 Days Later.  So dig deep, find some titles by authors of color (more titles have been added to our list of MG/YA novels by black authors), and nominate them so that they, too, receive some recognition.  You’ve got two weeks for the Cybils, and one month before 28 Days Later closes its nomination process…