TBD Wish List SOLD OUT!

Let's give a cheer for the success of the TBD Wish List! I heard from Colleen at Guys Lit Wire that ALL 772 BOOKS WERE PURCHASED! A total sellout, in the very best way. :~)

You all ROCKED THE DROP!

Ojo Ecino Day School and Alchesay High School have new books descending on them daily now as Powell's delivers.

Here's to Colleen who built and maintained those lists and twittered her fingers off. Here's to Guys Lit Wire and the special help of extra tweets from celebs like Neil Gaiman. And here's to you. Many of you were able to buy multiple copies.

If you have any suggestions for next time around, leave them in the comments for us! Otherwise, do a little dance, rgz!

TBD Wish List Final Hours, 2010

Colleen is winding down the TBD Wish Lists over at Guys Lit Wire. Check out her amazing post about the tribal schools receiving their shipments. Over 600 books have been purchased! Here's what she said after chatting with the librarians:

"No one expected so many books, not one of them thought so many people could be so generous to children they never met and would likely never know. It just all seemed too good to be true.

How awesome is it that you could prove them wrong in such a lovely way."

There may still be time to jump in and make a difference yourself if you haven't yet. Bravo!

PS. Neil Gaiman just tweeted the TBD Wish List AGAIN (Wednesday), so Colleen is leaving the lists up until Friday. Go, rgz, go!!!

TBD Wish List is LIVE!

*squeeeee* You guys are doing GREAT! Over 100 books purchased at the TBD Wish List in 24 hours! You have Guys Lit Wire running around over there. Way to go, ladies! The books are dropping on Ojo Encino and Alchesay High School, adding to their tribal school libraries.

Colleen has constructed amazing lists and a beautiful post at Guys Lit Wire, so be sure to check it out if you haven't yet. Here are the photos she chose to share from American Youth. Beautiful.

And here are her speedy instructions for purchase:

"First, hit the Powells site and on the upper right click on "wish list". From there you will be prompted for the email address of the list owner. Type in "guyslitwire@gmail.com". You will then be given the choice to select either Ojo Encino or Alchesay. Once you are looking at the lists (which contain hundreds of titles) you can make your selection of a new, used, or sale copy. After your done and ready to make your purchase you will be asked to confirm that you are buying books for a certain wishlist. Checking those boxes will keep the lists up to date and prevent books from appearing as unsold even after they were purchased. Now all you have to do is enter the mailing addresses, and here they are:

Mary Nickless
Ojo Encino Day School Librarian
HCR 79 Box 7
Cuba, NM 87013
(505) 731-2333

Marilyn Hill
Alchesay High School
200 Falcon Way
Whiteriver, AZ 85941
928-338-4848"

So there you go. Read, reflect, and reach out for TBD 2010, rgz!

Winter Blog Blast Tour (WBBT)

For the past two years, Colleen from Chasing Ray has organized series upon series of author interviews. These blog tours, hosted and posted at various blogs, have been dubbed the Summer Blog Blast Tour (SBBT for short) and Winter Blog Blast Tour (aka WBBT). Each event is one week long and involves a multitude of authors, bloggers, and readers.

Many authors whose works have been mentioned here at the readergirlz blog will be participating, as will four out of the five postergirlz - Shelf Elf, Miss Erin, HipWriterMama, and moi. (I'm sure Jackie will be following, too!) I conducted five interviews for WBBT, one of which will posted at my book blog, Bildungsroman, each weekday morning this week. I kicked things off this morning with author Courtney Sheinmel, who has posted here at readergirlz about hope and family.

Visit Chasing Ray for the master list for this year's WBBT. I also posted the full schedule at Bildungsroman.

Defending Bella, What a Girl Wants

Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray has posted her latest discussion in the "What a Girl Wants" series. This time she asked us about vampires. I stuck with my position, rgz! Here you go:












Lorie Ann Grover: "I don’t typically read horror, so I can’t comment on the general trend in the vamp books, but I have read the Twilight series. Awhile back, Martha Brockenbrough, author and MSN Cinemama, wrote an article with my opposing point of view: Does Twilight Suck the Brains Out of Teens? She fell on the yes side, and I fell on the no. Going back and reading my entry, I still agree with my position. Edward’s the hot, superhero in teen lit who raises the bar for today’s boyfriends. His looks aside, here's a quote:

“Note how completely enamored Edward is of Bella. He sees her weaknesses and finds her humanity endearing. He listens to every word. He never pressures her for sex. She pursues him. Into that perfect mix, pour danger, that alluring trademark of any great hero, just enough for tension to vibrate. We cheer as he denies himself because of his passion for her.”

Is Bella a passive role model for teen girls? I still say she can be seen as a positive role model. She isn’t consumed about her appearance. She’s strong in school and anticipates college. She thinks of others, acting with generosity to family and friends. She solves crises through her actions. So she’s attracted to a dangerous boy. She weighs her possibilities and acts.

In 2007, we hosted Stephenie Meyer at readergirlz. Next month we are featuring Graceling by Kristin Cashore.



Katsa is a very different heroine, but the sparks fly when she crosses Po. Who doesn’t like a little romance? I obviously do."

What a Girl Wants at Chasing Ray

This week, Colleen Mondor of the fabulous blog Chasing Ray will launch a series of posts featuring writers whose YA novels feature strong female characters. This endeavor, aptly titled What a Girl Wants, will include authors Margo Rabb, Sara Ryan, Jacqueline Kelly, Loree Griffin Burns, Zetta Elliott, Beth Kephart, Laurel Snyder, Mayra Lazara Dole, Melissa Wyatt, Kekla Magoon, Jenny Davidson, and our own Lorie Ann Grover! I really look forward to seeing what these ladies have to say. Go, Colleen.

Reminder: The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys

Here's what Colleen says over at GLW, rgz:

"The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys to benefit the teens held in the LA County Juvenile Justice system is still rocking along! We really appreciate all the help we have gotten thus far and hope that folks will continue to share the link and let those who are unfamiliar with our project know about what we are trying to accomplish. Please read my earlier post on our partnership with InsideOut Writers in LA and how to access the Powells Wish List. Did a book change your life? Well now's the time to pay that literary favor forward."



I just bought Jacqueline Woodson's Locomotion for the teens. It's awesome having the chance to contribute. Just visiting the Wish List is very interesting. So many are affordable, btw.

Standing O for GLW!