Like many other public libraries out there, we are knee-deep in Summer Reading events and programs, but I’ll be escaping briefly soon from the frenzy…I’m getting ready to head out to Chicago tomorrow for my second ALA Annual Conference!

I attended last year in Anaheim for the first time, and since it was my first conference, I was just there to take it all in and attend workshops and exhibits. I was so inspired by all of the people I met and the information I gathered that I decided to apply for YALSA committee work. I didn’t hear anything after that for a few months, but was delighted to be offered invitations last winter to two different task forces! The first is the Advocacy Task Force, which is responsible for carrying out YALSA’s “@ your library” campaign that helps libraries to advocate for better teen services and resources. The second is the Young Adult Literature Symposium 2010 Task Force, which is working to plan the second biannual YA Lit Symposium being held in Albuquerque in Nov. ‘10.

So this year, I’ll be attending committee meetings in addition to workshops and exhibits! It feels great to get more professionally involved as my librarian career continues to develop. I am really excited to bring home some new ideas and perspectives, especially during these rough times where it can often be hard to focus on the positive and keep moving forward. I’ll try to report back with my adventures in Chicago. I’ll be attending with two great colleagues and friends, and in addition to our busy conference schedules, we plan on setting aside some fun time to explore the city. Can’t wait!

King of the Screwups by K.L. Going

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well, “Fat Kid Rules the World” still remains my favorite K.L. Going book thus far, but this one was pretty good. Liam wasn’t particularly likable to me, but the premise of his character is pretty amusing: a guy who screws everything up because he’s too “perfect.” Well, in the social context of high school, at least. He’s the heartbreaker, the athlete, the fashionista, the rich boy, the teenage Adonis… Mr. Popularity. But he screws up one time too many for his CEO father and is shipped off to live in a dingy trailer with Aunt Pete, his outcast gay glam-rock DJ uncle. The fact that Liam has to try to be unpopular and studious in his new school (and screws that up miserably, too) in order to please his disappointed father is so laughably ridiculous. He tries wearing crappy clothes, making friends with the nerds, joining AV, etc, and yet the cheerleaders are still fawning over him and the jocks are still saving a space for him at the lunch table.

With a supermodel for a mother, you start thinking that maybe this poor guy is genetically predisposed for this grueling chore of hot babes, friends, parties, etc etc. Oh, the humanity. But surprise! Liam is a decent guy inside who just once wants to do something right in the eyes of his father. He also has a profound love/talent for fashion and style, leading one to believe that there is more in store for him (and not what you’d expect for a straight popular guy) after the glories of high school. Aunt Pete and his motley band of friends are there along the way to help Liam realize that he is not defined by how others define him.

I read a lot of YA fiction, and while I often delight in deserved comeuppance against the Normies and Jocks as a former (present?) nerd, it gets old. And Liam doesn’t necessarily deserve it. He’s naturally handsome and has great social skills, so he’s popular. No mystery there. But we get to see beyond the stereotypes, and we get to see him take the messy, unconventional steps of putting together the pieces of who he really wants to be.

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