While it's not really so strange these days for a woman of my age to be a fan of YA books, I do still sometimes have to explain it to people when they ask what I've read that is good lately, and I really can only tell them about YA books. As a middle school teacher, reading the same books as my students is important, just to know what is going on in their world. Plus, when I went back to school and got my Master's Degree in Library Science, I had to start getting more involved in this age group. I also had awesome librarians that pointed me to some great series, and got me stuck back in the YA world. I would have to say that Twilight and Harry Potter really got me back into this age level. Along with my involvement with the Missouri Association of School Librarians and their book awards. I must admit that really there are so many good books in YA. There are new, fresh story ideas. And often they are so much better than what is available as adult books.
Another thing, since this is November, is why I am thankful for YA. First, I love what books like the Twilight series have done for books. Say what you will about the series if you don't like it, the number of people coming in and reading went up thanks to them. Even the girls and older women who wouldn't normally be big readers seemed to flock to the bookstore, inhaling the series, and then asking us for similar types of reads. I think Twilight led more people to the Sookie Stackhouse series, and probably even helped get it a show on HBO. I'm also thankful for all the awesome people I've met because of this foray into the YA world. Such neat authors that are so willing to talk to their fans, awesome fellow bloggers that I've met online and also at times in person. And I think my knowledge of this type of book has really helped me with certain students. Some of my favorite moments as a teacher have been seeing kids who fought every step of the way to get reading at school, seeing them fall in love with a book, The Lightning Thief, Twilight, The Maze Runner, etc.
Now, if you too love YA, you need to look at the image in this post, and click the link to go visit an awesome author, Beth Revis, author of the Across the Universe series. She is offering all the books you see in the image. Books I would love to win to read, and share with my students at school. So while I want to publicize her giveaway, I'm also hoping to win myself! So go now, what are you waiting for?
