The books for now.

I am currently getting my Masters in Library Science (MLS). My course of study is centered around becoming a school media specialist, probably in middle school. Whether that actually happens is up for debate, as it seems everyday the public library atmosphere looks more and more appealing. But I digress.

This summer, I'm taking a class on Young Adult (YA) literature. It's being taught by Deborah Taylor, whom I now consider to be a genius in the field. She has been on the selection team for numerous awards committees for YA lit, including (among others) the Best Books for Young Adults, the Michael L. Printz Award, Capitol Choices, and the Coretta Scott King Award. Basically, she's a rock star and the class is fantastic.

This blog is essentially starting because of the work I have to do for this class. We are required to read more than a dozen YA works over the course of six weeks or so. Most of them are for a final project on a theme of our choice. The rest are assigned to help us get a sampling of some of the different types of material out there.

All this is by means of saying that for the next few weeks, the only things I'll be reading are going to be YA lit, and I absolutely love it. One of my roommates and I were talking about it, and YA books are freakin' awesome. It's kind of like watching an hour long television show. You get something better than your typical sitcom, but it's not as involved or as lengthy as a feature length film. Plus, if you have a DVD and you get to take out the commercials (which is like adding pictures instead of more text in a YA book) it's even shorter and more enjoyable.

The theme I've decided on for my project is biographies and autobiographies in graphic format. I'm completely psyched and can't wait to do some writing on it. Having never read a graphic novel in my life, it will be an interesting experience. I had no idea there was such a broad field with so many variants. Though I knew graphic novels existed (The Sandman being the only one I had ever really seen), I certainly didn't realize there are people's life stories floating around in comics. Some of them really are incredible. It goes far beyond the boundaries of superheroes and villains.

Later, once class is over and I have my summer of pure pleasure reading back, I'll maybe delve into some other stuff. I've been thinking about retrospectively reviewing some of the books I recently read before starting this blog. At least, some of the ones I've hated and loved most. I have a feeling though, that YA lit might dominate my reviewing for a little while. I'm really getting a kick out of the field and there's just so much new, great stuff to get into. However, I usually require as much variety as possible, so we'll see how it goes. Some time in the future, I might make an attempt to separate out genres, formats, or reading levels, but for now it's all going to stay in one place.