Mixing Worlds

Remember how last week I read Justine Larbalestier's How to Ditch Your Fairy? Well, yesterday I read another faerie book. This time it was Melissa Marr's Fragile Eternity, the sequel to the much loved (by me) Wicked Lovely. And now I can't stop trying to combine the two worlds.

Can you imagine what would happen if Marr's faeries found themselves attached to humans in Larbalestier's New Avalon? Charlie thought the All-The-Boys-Like-You Fairy was bad, but imagine the horror of having Niall as your own personal fairy. You would have to beat off both boys and girls with the proverbial stick.* I suppose Keenan or Donita would be helpful to have around when it came to warming things up or cooling them off, but it would suck if you were one of those weird luge/bobsled kids and had a Summer Faerie hanging around all the time. And imagine the complete airhead you would turn into if your aura was constantly clouded by a Summer Girl.

Sounds horrific, right? But interesting. I can't help but thinking what stories we would have if fictional YA worlds started colliding. What if Miles Halter and 13 Little Blue Envelopes' Ginny were to start hanging out? What would Alice Cullen think of Zoey Redbird?** How would Blair Waldorf adjust to life at Frankie Landau-Banks' boarding school?

So, YA writers, are you out there? Are you listening? We want cross-over novels! Please?

*We won't even begin to discuss how much you would enjoy beating someone with a stick if you had Naill as your own person faerie.

**I'm thinking that Zoey and Alice would be big shopping buddies.

Are you a Norse God?

Are you now, or have you ever been, a time traveling cyborg or vampire?*

These oh-so-important questions come from the movie 17 Again, which I had the good sense to watch on Saturday night. I must say, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Zac Effron was completely adorable and the character Ned may be my new geektastic favorite. I highly recommend it.

Watching this movie made me think about what I would do if I was to wake up tomorrow and find that I was magically transformed back into my 17 year old self. After much thought I realized that it wouldn't be too horribly big of a deal for me. I wouldn't need to go buy a more teen friendly wardrobe, I have plenty of outfits that would suffice.** I wouldn't feel tempted to reclaim my glory days, because I didn't find high school all that glorious. I wouldn't worry about being oppressed by the popular kids and having my head plunged into a toliet, because no one really bothered me in high school.*** I wouldn't even have to worry about finding new friends to hang out with; some of my favorite people in the world are in high school.

I wonder what this says about me. On one hand, it could mean that I've lived a somewhat fulfilled life, free of major regrets. On the other, it might mean that I'm stuck in some sort of arrested development, unable to advance past the point I was when I was a teenager. I, however, choose to believe Option #3: I'm a rare breed of cool that transends such mundane things as age or time.****

*When given a "no" response to this question Ned replied, "A vampire wouldn't tell; a cyborg wouldn't know." Love it!

**Although, upon closer examination of my closet I did find that I do own an awful lot of grown-up clothes. Ick. How did that happen?

***Does this really happen to anyone? I don't remember anyone being grossly mistreated at my high school, and certainly no one getting their head shoved in a toilet. Why do movies make that seem like a common occurrence?

****As you will remember, I'm all about creating my own reality. Please, let me keep this one.

Maureen Johnson has to go to trapeze school

Due to a rather carelessly made bet, YA author Maureen Johnson has to now attend trapeze school. This, dear ones, is why I prefer YA literature and authors. Have you ever heard of James Patterson offering to go to trapeze school?

Summer Reading Smackdown

In our local high school the kids brave enough to take Honors English are required to do summer reading. In the past each student was required to read two very long and boring books that were predetermined by the RSRF*. It was tedious for the students and somewhat perilous for the YA Librarian**.

But now the rules have changed.

This summer students are required to read one long and boring book predetermined by the RSRF and then they get to choose (yes, choose!) a book from a list! I'm very excited about this new approach.***

Here's the thing, though. I've been looking at these lists. To be honest, I like them. Each class gets a nice variety of genres and whatnot. What I don't understand, however, is what they were thinking when they were coming up with the list for the incoming Sophomores. Among the dozen-ish titles they have to choose from are The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

Let me repeat that: They can either read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins or The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

Don't get me wrong. The Fountainhead is a classic. It's full of deep meaning and whatnot. But what fifteen year old is going to say, "Hmmmm...you know, I think I'll voluntarily read The Fountainhead instead of The Hunger Games?" Especially when they realize that The Fountainhead was written in 1943 and has 752 pages, whereas The Hunger Games was released in 2008 and has 384 extremely readable (and even re-readable) pages? According to Amazon, a hardback copy of The Fountainhead weighs twice as much as a hardback copy of The Hunger Games!****

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe fifteen year olds are clamoring to read big books about architecture and human archetypes and... OK, sorry. No. I'm not seeing it. I think I'm just going to order another two or three copies of The Hunger Games for the library. I have a feeling I'll be needing them this summer.

*RSRF: The Required Summer Reading Fairy. This fairy's job is to pick books that will crush the souls and reading desires of all high school students.

**Imagine it: School starts in just 5 days and there are zero copies of The Reivers left in the entire Marshall County Public Library System. A dozen crazed teenagers have Miss Tammy cornered, their entire GPA hanging in the balance. It's not fun, people. It's not fun at all.

***I like choices. Forced reading isn't fun for anyone, including librarians who love to read.

****That's just physical weight. The mental weight of The Fountainhead is like 10 times greater than that of The Hunger Games. Really. I didn't just make that up.

I do not have a blogging fairy

I have recently started reading How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier. The basic idea in the book is that everyone has their own fairy that follows them around and improves some aspect of their life. There are All-The-Boys-Like-Me Fairies, Clothes Shopping Fairies, and even something called "Grip Fairies", which apparently helps with athletics. Our main character, Charlie, is burdened with a Parking Fairy, which means that she is constantly drug around on errands to ensure that the driver has the very best parking spot available. Charlie thinks this could be the worst fairy anyone has ever had. Apparently, Charlie has never been Christmas shopping.

Of course, reading about other people's fairies has made me wonder what fairy I've been blessed with. After some careful consideration I've narrowed it down to the following:

The Bargain Rack Fairy: The somewhat awkward cousin of the Clothes Shopping Fairy. If there is a bargain rack within 10 miles of me, I know it. Sadly, it's often filled with clothes that (1) fit poorly and (2) have never been or never will be in style.*

The Make Others Feel Better About Themselves Due To Your Athletic Ineptitude Fairy: I know, this doesn't sound like a good fairy to have, and I tend to think so myself when I'm nursing a bump on the head or jammed finger, but I take comfort in knowing that no one else ever has to be picked last for a team.

The Act Like A Kid Despite Your Age Fairy: I love this fairy. It means that I can play with anyone below the age of 16-ish and have fun. Of course, many adults that have to deal with me on a regular basis would very much like to squish this fairy.

The Lose Myself In A Book Fairy: Yet another great fairy to have. I once joked with my friend that when I get old and loose my marbles I will bore everyone with stories of all the fun I had in my younger days when I dated a vampire who sparkled in the sun, went on a cross-country trip in a minivan to find my friend Margo, traveled through Europe following instructions found in letters left to me by my crazy aunt, battled to the death in a warped reality TV show, and fought against the forces of evil with my rag-tag band of friends that I affectionately called the Scooby Gang**.

I'm hoping that Charlie finds a way to rid herself of her fairy and gets a really cool one. Maybe if it works for her I'll try it out myself. I would kill for an Eat All You Want But Still Loose Weight Fairy or a Spend Money Constantly And Never Go Broke Fairy. Of course, knowing my luck, I would just end up with a Feel Compelled To Actually Make Your Bed Fairy.

*This, in fact, does not keep me from buying them. I mean, this green leopard skin top with pink bows is only $2.50! It's a steal!

**This last part may or may not be true. I'm not allowed to discuss Slayer business.

Just for the record.

I do not like dentists. It's not the pain. It's not even the annoying high-pitched squeal of the drill thingy. It's that chair and that light and those people with the masks and the gloves and the instruments of torture. I always feel as though I've been abducted by space aliens.

*I apologize for lack of library-related content, but I'm trying to blog every working day in April. I'm running out of stuff here people. Plus, the dentist really does freak me out. I thought you needed to know that.

Creating Your Own Reality

Technically, I have failed in my BE(w)DA* efforts. Thursday I worked, but I did not blog. There is a valid reason though. Thursday was the in-house workshop for the Marshall County Public Library, which meant no blogging time for Miss Tammy.

At said workshop we spent the better part of the morning being told that we create our own realities in our head and should just lie to ourselves until we believe the world (and our jobs) is all rainbows and sunshine. To a certain extent, I believe this. Actually, I practice this on a regular basis. I choose to believe that straightening books is fun, which makes that aspect of my job not only tolerable, but a pleasant experience. I choose to believe that people want my opinion on what they should be reading, which makes it easier for me to approach someone and help them find a book. I choose to believe that Jensen Ackles is madly in love with and stalking me via my TV on Thursday nights, which makes me happy and content. I choose to believe I am sane, which keeps me from being locked up in a padded room where my dear Jensen will never find me.

However, I have to argue that there are things that you cannot change simply by changing your outlook. For example, say that you keep telling yourself over and over again that bears are cute and cuddly. Eventually you will begin to believe that bears are, in fact, cute and cuddly. What's going to happen when you're hiking and run into a giant grizzly and you decide to give that cute and cuddly guy a hug? I will tell you right here and now it will be nothing good.

Creating your own reality is a very powerful and dangerous ability. Please, use it with caution.

*BE(w)DA: Blog Every Work Day in April, a cousin of BEDA.

Super-short blog

I've recently started reading 100 Young Americans. Fascinating doesn't even begin to cover it.

Peace, Love and Smelly Hippies

Yesterday was an interesting day here at the old @CC library. We had some out-of-town visitors using the public access Internet computers that were absolutely fascinating. They were both young, attractive people - polite, and friendly. That's not exactly compelling, but the fact that they lived in their van, had waist long dread locks, and played a pan flute while wandering around the library was.

I'm intrigued by people who live outside of our normal social constructs. I'm such a "do what is expected of you" type person that I can't imagine have the chutzpah to be a nonconformist. Sure, I might have giggled at the flute playing, balked at the swirls around the eyes tattoo, and complained about the non-Spring Fresh smell, but I admired them. It takes courage to be who you want to be, despite what others think. I wish I could be more like that.

The Disreputable History of Miss Tammy

This weekend I finally got around to reading E. Lockheart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.* Due to the compelling nature of the book I have decided to enroll myself into a private school**, infiltrate a secret all-male society, and orchestrate elaborate pranks.

*Great book. Really. You should read it.
**I could totally pass for a high school student, right?

Hippity, Hoppity Easter is on it's Way

Five things I like about Easter:

1. It's a good excuse to buy a new dress.
2. Buying a new dress necessitates buying new shoes.
3. Russell Stover's carmel eggs
4. Peeps
5. Spending the day with my friend and her family (because my family doesn't really do Easter)

I hope you all have a great holiday!

Tweet, Tweet

I've finally caved in and got myself a Twitter account. Not that I actually plan on tweeting, mind you. Really, who cares what I'm doing at any given moment?* Instead, I'm using it to follow the not-so-mundane lives of my favorite YA authors and assorted other celebrities. I'm so thankful that the Internet makes stalking so easy and convenient.

*What would it look like if Miss Tammy actually tweeted on Twitter? Something like this:
"I'm cataloging books."
"I'm suppose to be cataloging books, but playing online instead."
"I'm hungry."
"I'm eating."
Yep. My life is exciting.

MTV's Spring Break House

Does MTV still have a Spring Break House? Does MTV still exist? Quite possibly the surest sign that I'm getting old and losing touch with the young folk - I haven't watched MTV since...well, since they actually showed music videos. Yeah, it's been a long while.

Anyways, it's Spring Break here in Marshall County (although the weather isn't exactly Spring-like). I miss Spring Break. I would enjoy a random week off every April. Maybe I could present the idea to the library board. I'm sure they would go for it.

Oh well, I hope those of you that are Spring Breaking it are having an excellent week. And for my kiddos that are in New Orleans doing mission work, may you return home safely.

Rainy days and Mondays

There are just some things that are suppose to happen. The sun is suppose to rise in the east and set in the west. Reality TV shows are suppose to showcase humans at their worst. And it's suppose to be sunny and warm on Tater Day.

Apparently, the weather gods forgot to get that memo.

It's not like I'm upset that the cold rain and sleet ruined my chance to go stand on the street corner, surrounded by carnies and rebel flags. In all honesty, there was no way you were getting me near that mess in the first place. But for me Tater Day has always been the unofficial first day of Spring. Instead of being in the mood for shorts and ice cream cones, I'm now feeling the need for hot cocoa and a Snuggie. I actually considered listening to Christmas music yesterday. And that's just wrong.

Should I stay or should I go?

I'm currently reading a book called If I Stay by Gayle Foreman. You may have heard of it since Catherine Hardwicke was rumored to have signed on to direct1 it before it ever made it to a bookshelf2. In this book a girl, Mia, has a pretty awesome life until one really wretched accident. The book follows Mia around as she examines her life and decides if she is going to stay in the land of the living or move on3. It's quite disturbing, actually. And it's making me think a whole lot of deep, introspective thoughts. I'm not quite finished with it yet, but unless the last fourth of it does something to totally upset me, I'm giving this book two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

1: I wonder which was the deciding factor in wanting Catherine for this project: Her ability to turn a YA novel into a major blockbuster or the fact that she can withstand filming in Oregon (where If I Stay is set).

2: Who sells the film rights to a book before it is even released as the actual book? I can see it now. "The new major motion picture based on the book Stephenie Meyer has yet to write!")

3: I keep thinking of that moment on Buffy when she tells Dawn, "The hardest thing in this world is living in it." And then she jumps through the pretty special effects and makes me cry.

My apologies for the bad footnoting notations. If you know how to make them correctly on blogger, please feel free to share your knowledge.

The Bag Lady Returns

Remember last year when we raffled off some really cool bags full of books to raise money for the Young Adult Advisory Panel? Well, we're doing it again! Mucho excitement. This year we have five different bag themes - Young Adult, Summer Beach Reads, Children, Fairy Tale, and (of course) Twilight. You can view more information about all the bags here.

For those of you curious as to how the money that is raised will be spent, I'll give you a run down of what the YAAP did with last year's earnings. First, they bought the "big" prizes for the Summer Reading Program (LCD TV and mall gift certificates). The idea was that cool prizes would encourage more people to participate...and they were right! We had almost double the number of summer reading participants in last year's YA Summer Reading Program. Next, they purchased prizes for the End of Summer Mega Event (Twilight Carnival). The Twilight Carnival ended up attracting 75 teenagers, by far the largest number of participants we have ever had at a YA event. For some attendees it was their first exposure to the library and YA services. After that they had some money left over, which I allowed them to use however they saw fit. Their decision was to give back to the community (since it has done so much for them), and sponsor a child in need at Christmas.

So, that's where the money goes. I think it's a worthy cause. Not to mention, those bags are wicked cool. Next time you're at the library be sure and have a $1 handy. Tickets are on sale at all three branches of the Marshall County Public Library and through the members of the YAAP. Not in the Marshall County area? Mail me a check and I'll put your name in the drawing! (I'll even mail your bag to you should you win.)

Blog Every Day April

Thanks to the beloved Maureen Johnson, there is now a push for people to blog every day in April. Every single one. All 30 of them. Lots of YA people are probably doing. I am not one of them.

But I will resolve to blog more in April. At least once a week. And I'll try to do at least every day that I work, although you may have to make do with teeny-tiny, tweet-like blogs. But I am going to put forth an effort. Promise.

(For the record, Maureen is blogging every day in April and I highly encourage you to read each and every one because that is one funny lady.)

(Also note that this my first lame attempt at a blog in April. They'll get better. Maybe.)