Differentiating Tween and YA Books

I've been away for a while and will be light on blogging this summer due to schoolwork and my internship at my local library.  I sent out a message on twitter asking if anyone might have ideas on how to differentiate "tween" and "YA" fiction.  Are there certain things that you look for? Is there anything that lets you know right away?  Also why do you think this distinction has become harder to manage, what's making it a gray area?

If anyone has any ideas to share, please leave comments below!  I figured I'd write up a quick post so that anyone on twitter could leave a comment if desired instead of trying to fit it into a 117 character box!

Thanks!

This Past Week in Twitter World Vol. 4

Hi Everyone!  Hope you're week is off to a great start :)  Here are some of the links I posted this last week on Twitter:

1.  100 "Best-Ever" YA Novels from NPR's announced, check to see if your favorites made it! http://fb.me/1Y2nLCcnz 

2. Peter Brown's going on tour for Creepy Carrots! He's a blast, so go if you can :) http://fb.me/1wf6QNSFp 

3. A Treasure Trove of Edward Gorey by Eve Bowen | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books: http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/aug/04/collecting-edward-gorey/ …

4. Stories are as important as genes, says a new book: http://lnkd.in/vGvS4i 

5. Interesting Article, Why Do Female Authors Dominate Young-Adult Fiction? -http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/08/why-do-female-authors-dominate-young-adult-fiction/260829/#.UCKSYtL3EWV.twitter …

6. From the Happiness Project, "What's your Favorite Line from a Children's Picture Book?" http://fb.me/1RPZ22ibU 

7. Check out book trailer for @john_boyne's latest book, The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket from @RHNZhttp://wp.me/p1e2TC-v8 

8. Great post from @the1stdaughter Why Do You Believe In Picture Books? http://wp.me/p21t9O-BJ 

9. Really interesting article on "winning back the teenage male in YA books".."Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right... http://fb.me/1p9aMQXOF 

10. Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 12-14! Here is this year's children's and YA author/illustrator line up... http://fb.me/2inukJCHN 

11. What Grown-Ups Can Learn From Kids' Books http://fb.me/ZK2maJ7n 

12. Chris Riddell: What I'm thinking about ... a new era for illustrationhttp://fb.me/1A9isiZrG 

13. Moira Swiatkowski's ‏Video: Self-Portrait 2012 (by atlanticmo) http://tmblr.co/ZFBXYwRDaubq 


My Follow Friday Tweet:

#FF some great illustrators @jemimahunt @kasiatwits @ClaudiaBoldt@KatharinaKoall

Quotes:

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." ~Pablo Picasso http://fb.me/1R4qpU0Tv 

Imagination is the source of every uniquely human achievement.http://amzn.to/fausOz 

from @brainpickings "Don't wait until you know who you are to get started." And other rules for the creative life http://fb.me/1CuEEIBPM 

"Be patient with all that is unresolved within your heart, and try to love the questions." http://fb.me/1Z0b1Lf2F 

Sidenote:
Also, maybe this is because I'm still newish to the blogging/twitter book world, (although I don't think I'll ever get over this) but was so excited to hear back from some awesome authors this week!  Talked about children's lit theory with Jonathan Auxier, about her next book with Maile Meloy and got to show my Madame Ionesco costume pics to Maryrose Wood and she loved them!!  It's still so cool to me to be able to connect with these authors who create such awesome stories that we're able to inhabit for a little while :)

And in case you didn't see this on my facebook page or you curious as to what costume pics I'm talking about here they are:

This Past Week in Twitter World Vol. 3

Here are some of the links I posted on Twitter this week :)

Hoping to get back posting more this week, the past few weeks have been very busy with planning for this school year, as I'll once again be teaching Art and Art History!  But there should be some posts coming your way soon :)

1. "To listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear." ‪http://j.mp/LYVWLB 

2. I think about this a ton: Hey, Writers on Twitter: Stop Being So Nice to One Another ‪http://slate.me/NXCj50 

3. How Much Is ‪#KidLitCon ? Would You Believe ... Free? (for the Saturday main event) ‪http://ow.ly/cIzjv 

4. quote from the fantastic YA novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green ‪http://pinterest.com/pin/259308891015445566/ …

5. ‪http://pinterest.com/pin/122019471124944752/ … Drawing portraits on old pieces of cardboard. Art Projects for Kids

6. "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." — Pablo Picasso So true, if... ‪http://fb.me/LvcaMCss 

Also congrats to the wonderful Jessica over at Her Life with Books on her new job!!

This Past Week in Twitter World Vol. 2

Here are most of the links I posted to Twitter this past week (7/24-7/29):

1. Haven't heard this cover from the @thecivilwars before! Between the Bars // The Civil Wars: http://youtu.be/8Jq3hjjcW6U  


2. Check this out! Reading Lists of your Favorite Fictional Characters:http://fb.me/1e0pcQYA0 

3. Children's Book Week poster from 1987 by Marc Simont!http://fb.me/RJYvHNvI 

4. Post from Brain Pickings: Artist Maira Kalman – one of my favorite hearts and minds – on identity, happiness, and existence http://j.mp/LNr9g6 

5. Vote for the Best YA books on NPR: Some of my favs @Markus_Zusak @RutaSepetys @realjohngreen Via@nprbooks: Best-Ever Teen Novels? Vote For Your Favoriteshttp://n.pr/OKuzAo 

6. Check out Joel Robinson's Photography at his page! His work is utterly AMAZING!!! http://fb.me/20OLLHEpi 

7. From "Letters to Note": Tolstoy wasn't Sendak, either http://bit.ly/O3Z2P4 

8. On Children's Lit and the Olympics from the Cambridge ChildLit Student Blog http://fb.me/16xLOjgIJ 

9. Awesome list, 100 Best Chapter Books! Which ones have you read? http:// fb.me/1PN40UgrB 

10. Some quotes I posted:

- “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ― William Butler Yeats Just love this quote!


-"Creativity is an act of defiance." Twyla Tharp


-“Writing is not an exercise in excision, it’s a journey into sound.” E. B. White


-"You cannot always wait for the perfect time, sometimes you must dare to jump." http://fb.me/1HcjyXWO4 

Enjoy!  and Have a wonderful week :)

This Past Week in Twitter World Vol. 1

So this past week I took the jump and joined the Twitter universe.  And though I'm still getting used to it, so far it's been pretty great to connect with more people and have more wonderful children's lit news!

So, inspired by Jen Robinson's Book Page, I hope to write up a weekly post every Monday (although right now it's technically Tuesday already...) on links I posted during the week on Twitter.

So here we go:

1) A wonderful review of Beth Kephart's "Small Damages" from Forever Young Adult: http://www.foreveryoungadult.com/2012/07/23/ive-waited-years-for-a-book-like-this/ …

2) A quick and funny article also from Forever Young Adult on Book Boyfriends/Girlfriends: http://www.foreveryoungadult.com/2012/07/23/dream-girls-a-boys-list-of-swoonworthy-ya-characters/ …

Do you have any book boyfriends/girlfriends? haha I think I've accumulated a few too many over the years, but right now my top three are Andrius Arvydas from Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (see my review here), Stephen Barley from The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova and Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (forthcoming guest post review for the wonderful There's A Book blog!)

3) Kidlitcon calling for submissions for 2012! http://fb.me/1RUJA7cTJ 


4) Pixar’s 22 Rules to Phenomenal Storytelling [INFOGRAPHIC] http://pbjpublishing.com/blog/2012/07/09/pixars-22-rules-to-phenomenal-storytelling-infographic/  …   thanks to @Loveofxena for sharing!


5) Judging a Book by Its Cover: A 6-year-old Guesses What Classic Novels Are All About http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2012/07/12/judging-a-book-by-its-cover-a-6-year-old-guesses-what-classic-novels-are-all-about/ … via@babbleeditors

6) Flavorwire's 20 Most Beautiful Children's Books : http://www.flavorwire.com/306958/the-20-most-beautiful-childrens-books-of-all-time 


7) John Green's Crash Courses are AMAZING!!! I posted a link to a poster for the World history courses http://fb.me/1vkaDdpPr  . Also Crash course related, John Green tweeted this: @thecrashcourse just hit 8 million views. Thanks for watching and learning along with us! http://www.youtube.com/crashcourse 

8) Roger Sutton posted a video interview with author/illustrator Melissa Sweet: http://www.hbook.com/2012/07/authors-illustrators/interviews/melissa-sweet-live-five-questions/

9) Wonderful video posted by Aileen Leijten that I "retweeted": Waldorf Education England http://vimeo.com/1535001#at=13 

10) The Book Truck: Mobile Library Hits Mexico City's Streets - Cities - GOOD http://ow.ly/cizWq 

11) Check out @lisabrowndraws 's wonderful work! Love this one:http://americanchickens.com/portfolio/analog/13.php …

12) Video of a school library that Maira Kalman designed and decorated:  httyoutu.be/P7KDSFQy5Mk

13) An another awesome review of Small Damages from Danielle at There's A Book: http://www.theresabook.com/2012/07/book-review-small-damages-by-beth-kephart/

14) Great Article! Making War Personal in Young Adult Novels - Publishing Perspectives http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/07/making-war-personal-in-young-adult-novels/#.UAXR42Qmkog.twitter … 


and


15) Great advice in an extremely funny video from John Green on "How to Become An Adult": http://youtu.be/UBKKcxCuH-g