Chuck Norris wishes he was Zoey Redbird

Do you know what I think is cool? Super-chicks. You know, those girls that have it all: looks, brains, sass, kindness, and the ability to kick a boy in the face. I love how Buffy Summers could quip and pun as she dusted vamps without scuffing her "stylish, yet affordable, boots". I reveled in how Veroinca Mars, could out-smart anyone with her "pixie-spy magic" to solve a case. And of course I love Batgirl. Librarian by day, superhero by night? What's not to love?


Now, thanks to the collective talent of P.C. and Kristen Cast, I have a new super-chick to love. Zoey Redbird is the heroine of the House of Night novels. In the books she's a fledgling (a kid that has been Marked but must complete the Change to become a Vampire) who has been gifted by her goddess with special abilities. (OK. So it's another vampire novel. I promise the next post will be fangs free. But this post isn't really about vampires. It's about female empowerment. Keep reading.)

I think Zoey may be one of my favorite YA heroines of all time. On the surface, I like how relateable she is. She loves non-diet brown pop with something that might border on obsession. She refuses to have a potty mouth, even though some of her friends tease her about it. She likes geeking out with her friends. She loves greasy burgers, sugary cereals, and Lord of the Rings. And she has a Star Trek sweatshirt.

What I love most about Zoey, however, is the stuff that goes on beyond the surface. Zoey is, like all of us, insecure at times. She struggles with her choices, and doesn't always make the right ones. In fact, she's made some really huge, terrible, ugly mistakes. And those mistakes have consequences, which she is mature enough to accept. Zoey recognizes her strength without being smug or conceited. She realizes that her skills and responsibilities outweighs those of her friends, yet she still sees them as equals. Zoey Redbird exudes awareness, beauty, confidence, courage, fortitude, kindness, and tenacity. And she can seriously kick butt.

I think it's important that we have women like Zoey to look up to. Our current pop culture climate has most female characters spending the majority of time salivating over Milano Blahniks and scheming on how to stab their best friend in the back so that they can hook-up with their Ken doll wannabe boyfriend. Is that seriously the kind of person you want to be? Or do you want to be strong, smart, sensitive and sassy? For me the choice is simple. I choose the super-chicks.

Introducing TooDee

It is my great pleasure to introduce the new Marshall County Public Library mascot, TooDee.





According to her birth parents (UglyDoll), "TooDee is curious about everything. If [s]he had a nose, it would be into everything. What's this? What's that? [...] So TooDee is going to be looking to you for all the answers. When you're pretending to have them all, be sure to keep a straight face and look TooDee right in in the eyes...or at [her] three front teeth. Oh and TooDee likes Grape Drink. No question about that."

Also, TooDee's birth parents were under the false impression that TooDee is a boy. I have been assured by several members of my YAAP that TooDee is, in fact, female.

I'm very excited that TooDee has come to live with us. She is going to be spending lots of time hanging out with YAAPers and coming to all of the YA meetings and events. She's also going to lend her likeness to YA ads and fliers, and she's even offered to help me write blogs for this site. If you are interested in having TooDee spend a weekend with you, come to the next YAAP meeting on October 1st!

YAAPity YAAP, Please Come Back

Next Wednesday (September 10th @ 4 PM) we will be having our first YAAP meeting of the 2008-2009 year. I'm SO excited! We're going to be adding lots of cool stuff this year that I really think everyone is going to find fantabulous.

YAAP, for those of you that are curious, is the Young Adult Advisory Panel. It is comprised of teens in the 8th - 12th grades. YAAP meets once a month and is responsible for making sure that Young Adult programming at the Marshall County Public Library rocks. They also hang out and eat junk food.

Why should you consider joining YAAP? Here are 5 of my favorite reasons:

1. You get a say in what kinds of activities are planned for you and your friends. How am I suppose to know what teenagers consider fun if you don't tell me? I still find the original Nintendo and Super Mario Brothers to be an excellent way to pass an afternoon.

2. You can meet people with similar interests. Do you like books? Do you like hanging out at the library? So do YAAPers! They also like manga and swimming and music and tons of other stuff, because YAAPers are cool people. You should be one.

3. YAAP looks good on college applications. Also, Miss Tammy can write an awesome letter of recommendation.

4. You gain valuable life experiences. No, really, it's a good thing. Learning how to work in groups and how to be comfortable expressing your thoughts and ideas with others is really important.

5. YAAP is fun. Like, real fun. Not just "fun for a library". We eat junk food. We watch random, hysterical YouTube videos. We have inside jokes. Good times.

So, if you're in grades 8-12 (well, not at the same time, but you get the idea), please join us September 10 from 4 PM - 5 PM in the Calvert City meeting room. I hope to see lots of you there!