I'm announcing this now so you can get your thinking caps on because it's a writing contest. Don't worry. You don't need to write much. It's a Drabble contest. What's Drabble you say? Well let me tell you. A drabble is a short work of fiction, exactly one hundred words in length (I may be lenient with that), not necessarily including the title.
What will you win? As I said in the title, I've got Danny Marks ARC of Velveteen, signed. I've got a messed up copy of Never Eighteen, and when I say messed up, it means I messed up on the signing (spelled the name wrong) so I ripped that page out. So I will now sign it to you. I also have a signed Never Eighteen poster and Velveteen and Never Eighteen bookmarks and other swag.
Why am I holding this awesome contest you ask? Well in honor of Teen Read Week of course. And what is Teen Read Week? It's a program put on by the Young Adult Library Services Association. It's a time to celebrate reading for fun and encourage
teens to take advantage of reading in all its forms —books and
magazines, e-books, audiobooks and more — and become regular library
users.
So, how do you enter? Write a piece of Drabble with a Scary/Halloween theme, it can be scary, funny, gross, whatever. Send it to my email meganbosticbooks (at) gmail . com Monday-Thursday of next week. All entries must be in by Thursday 5 pm Pacific time. I will announce the winner on my Friday morning blog.
Spread the word. I'd prefer not to get 2 entries.
Friday Scribbles
Next Pandora Song: The Way We Get By by Spoon
Book of the Week: Velveteen of course
Netflix of the Week: Friday Night Lights Season Three. Will Smash get in to Texas Tech? Don't tell me.
Quote of the Week: "People want to know why I do this, why I write such
gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I
keep it in a jar on my desk." ~ Stephen King
Did you know that this week is Banned Book Week? What is Banned Book Week you ask? It's an annual celebration of our freedom to read whatever we choose. Libraries and bookstores nationwide get involved, drawing attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays
of banned books and hosting a variety of events. Banned Books Week began in 1982 and more than 11,300 books have been challenged since.
For more information on Banned Books Week, Visit the American Library Association (ALA).
According to the ALA, there were 326
challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2011. The 10 most challenged titles of 2011 were:
ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee Reasons: offensive language; racism
I will say this, number 10 is my favorite book ever. Racism? Um, do we need to censor that fact that racism ever took place? It's a historical fact that there were bigots in our country, and hey, guess what, come here, I have a secret, *whispers* there still are.
I'm appalled that books are still banned in this day and age, but you know what, I hope that someday I am in the company of these wonderful books, and that my book also makes the list of challenged books.
