Well I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Lost Symbol but didn't get to Shanghai Girls before I was tempted back to YA. I picked up After by Amy Efaw as they finished processing it and haven't been able to put it down. It's the story of a 15 year old girl who is accused of putting her newborn baby into the trash behind her apartment. Amy Efaw says she researched the juvenile facility where the story takes place and writes a very realistic interpretation of what we often hear in the news- stories of abandoned babies. A tough but good read.

Although I LOVE reading YA, I have had several adult fiction titles on my to-read list lately. I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer- a touching story of reaffirmation and survival post WWII on a little English island called Guernsey- off the coast of France. It was educational and sad to read about the ravages that the German occupation wrought on the small island and its people. This would be a great companion book to Goodnight Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian

I am currently reading Lost Symbol by Dan Brown- I enjoyed The DaVinci Code and loved Angels & Demons- high hopes for this new one!

Lots of new YA books arriving daily so I will continue reading them once I am done with the new Lisa See book- Shanghai Girls. Don't be afraid to read crossover books- they are great books that are perfectly well suited to young adults or adults and you're encouraged to read them no matter your age! I can recommend tons of adult book titles for young adults- the three here are perfect examples. There are also many that go the other way- YA for adult readers- The Hunger Games & Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and I recently gave Graceling by Kristen Cashore to an adult who raved about it.

I finished The Tear Collector by Patrick James. It was a very interesting twist on a vampire story- refreshing with all the other blood-sucking vampire stories out there. Instead of living off the blood of their victims, these 'vampires' collect tears without victimizing people- or do they? What would you call it when someone lures you in with sympathy and a shoulder to cry on, and it's YOUR tears they collect in order to survive- are you being hurt? Is this genuine sympathy or are they just helping to help themselves? Does it matter? Interesting questions and some very well developed characters that will draw you into the story.

I have also finished listening to my playaway of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater which I enjoyed although I think the ending was too clean and neat. These days I almost assume and expect unhappy endings from YA novels. I thought the book was going to be more wherewolf/vampire themed, but was pleasantly surprised to find a very touching story about adaptation, choice, heartache and love. I recommend it.
I have since picked up The Tear Collector by Patrick James. This book got rave reviews before publication, so when it came in on a recent order I grabbed it before someone else could. So far so good- I just started it and will report back soon!

Oh my- I didn't realize it has been 2 weeks since I posted- yikes! I've been busy reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I am Scout by Charles Shields (a Nelle Harper Lee bio) in preparation for our Big Read discussions.
For those of you who may not know, The Big Read is an initiative developed by the National Endowment for the Arts- NEA http://www.neabigread.org/- in response to a study done in 2004 which showed that we were becoming an illiterate society and people were not reading anymore- called Reading at Risk http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.Html. At the time I begged to differ because the kids at my high school (I was a high school librarian then) were reading a lot. An updated study now shows that the greatest increase in reading in these past few years has been amongst the teen and young adult population- YEAH (I saw it coming!)- check out To Read or Not to Read http://www.arts.gov/research/ToRead_ExecSum.pdf
My opinion is that young people now see reading as a cool activity, respect those who read and have great choices in literature TO read- all starting with and thanks to JK (Harry Potter changed the face of reading and readers). There was a time when readers were concidered nerds & dweebs but not anymore- the knowledge that those who read, succeed, is now commonly accepted and embraced!