VIDEO: The YA Rebels Rock the Drop!

Some of the YA Rebels Rock the Drop (and we get to see the reaction of the "finders"--yes!):

The Ruby Oliver Series: Self-Respect

This week's theme is Self-respect. In Monday's guest post, featured author E. Lockhart wrote:

"Ruby goes from calling herself a leper (really grodie and unloved) to calling herself a roly-poly (only a little grodie and even beloved by certain bug-fond weirdos). A bit of progress, right."

Sometimes we all judge ourselves harshly. Have you experienced that? How did you change that mindset and up your self-respect factor like Ruby does over these four books?

PS-Don't forget to Rock the Drop tomorrow to be entered to win the entire Ruby Oliver series!

PPS-Visit our archives for a whole month of featured content featuring E. Lockhart and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks!

Drop a Banned Book on Thursday!

The latest list of banned books is out from ALA, and it includes all of the titles pictured below. Why not put one out in the world on Thursday for Rock the Drop and make a statement against book banning...

Rock the Drop to Win E. Lockhart's Ruby Oliver Series!

Perhaps you've heard about this Rock the Drop thing, where we'll be dropping books in public places on Thursday to celebrate YALSA's Support Teen Lit Day, and we hope everyone will join us!

Here's even more incentive: If you Rock the Drop, send us an email (readergirlz AT gmail DOT com) or a photo or a video (just let us know you've rocked it, really), and you'll be entered to win a full set of featured author E. Lockhart's Ruby Oliver series! We'll choose a winner at random on Friday.

Good luck!

Rocking the Drop: Books Everywhere!

Last year, our Miami Host Crissa-Jean Chappell did a stealthy Rock the Drop video. This year, she's rocking it again... (with help from her niece Corie).

I Rock The Drop from crissachappell on Vimeo.

It all goes down this Thursday. Details here.

Rock the Drop: Download Banners and Bookplates!

Readergirlz and Figment are going to ROCK THE DROP in honor of Support Teen Lit Day a week from today: Thursday, April 14th. We can’t wait! Here’s how you can get involved:

* Snag the banner at left, created by the uber-talented David Ostow (who blogs hilarious cartoons here), and add it to your website, linking back to this post to share the love, and proclaiming that you will indeed ROCK THE DROP next week!

* Print a copy of the bookplate below and insert it into a book (or 10!) that you'll drop on April 14th. Drop a book in a public spot (park bench, bus seat, restaurant counter?) and you’re done. Lucky finders will see that the book is part of ROCK THE DROP!

* Snap a photo of your drop and email readergirlz AT gmail DOT com with the pic -- we'll be posting lots of pictures of drops happening all over the world, and our friends at Figment will also be featuring the event!

Imagine people around the globe finding copies of amazing books in unexpected places, gifted out of love for YA lit. Everyone can participate to raise awareness of the day!

Not That Kind of Girl: Passing Judgment

Siobhan Vivian's Not That Kind of Girl is our featured title this week, and in her guest post on Monday, she wrote the following:

"One thing I really wanted to impress upon my readers is that making a 'mistake' doesn’t mean that you are a bad person and are not deserving of respect. I think we, as a culture, are so quick to judge. We expect girls to be perfect, to never make mistakes, to always be smart and rational and make the right decisions. I’m sorry, but that’s just not possible!"

Have you ever been quick to judge someone else? A friend, an acquaintance, or even maybe a celebrity or someone in the public eye?