Operation Teen Book Drop Is April 15th...


If you associate April 15th with (ick) filing your taxes, here's a better alternative--think of it as a fantastic day for teen lit. On April 15th Operation Teen Book Drop will deliver 10,000 new books to teens on Native Reservations and Tribal Lands, more than 100 top young adult authors will leave their books in public places for young readers to discover, and members of the public can buy books online and have them shipped to tribal libraries.

For this event, which coordinates with YALSA's Support Teen Literature Day, publishers donated the books, valued at more than $175,000.

“These publishers have shown astounding vision and generosity by supporting Operation Teen Book Drop,” says readergirlz co-founder and award-winning novelist Dia Calhoun. “Now underserved teens can benefit from the current explosion of high quality YA books. These teens can see their own experience, their tragedies and their triumphs in these books, books that become shining doorways to the young human spirit.”

The donations are especially significant to Native teens. “In their lives, they really don’t have new books,” says Mary Nickless, the librarian at Ojo Encino Day School, one of 44 institutions that will benefit from Operation TBD.

In its third year, Operation TBD is part of a massive effort by librarians, young adult authors, and avid readers to spur reading on a nationwide scale. The day aims to encourage teens to read for the fun of it.

The effort is coordinated by readergirlz, the Young Adult Library Services Association, GuysLitWire, and a new partner, If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything, a national reading club for Native children.

Kudos to participating publishers! They include: Abrams Books; Bloomsbury/Walker Books/Candlewick Press; Chronicle Books; Hachette Book Group; Boyds Mills Press; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Milkweed; Mirrorstone Books; Orca Book Publishers; Scholastic; Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing; Tor/Forge/Starscape/Tor Teen/ Roaring Brook Press, an Imprint of the Macmillans Children's Publishing Group; and Better World Books.

For more information, visit www.readergirlz.com and http://readergirlz.blogspot.com, or contact readergirlzdivas@gmail.com

readergirlz and YALSA's Operation Teen Book Drop...


If you' don't get readergirlz newslettter, you may not have heard about Operation Teen Book Drop. readergirlz (YA authors Dia Calhoun, Lorie Ann Grover, Justina Chen Headley and Mitali Perkinshave) have teamed with YALSA "to build awareness for April 17, 2008, Support Teen Literature Day" and organized Operation TBD: "a massive, coordinated release of 10,000 publisher-donated YA books into the top pediatric hospitals across the country."

readergirlz invites others to celebrate Support Teen Lit Day with them. Here are their suggestions:

• Download a readergirlz/YALSA bookplate for Operation TBD found on the readergirlz website.
• Blog and bulletin about Operation TBD and your upcoming participation, and place the "I Rock the Drop" icon on your site.
• Announce your participation by joining the readergirlz MySpace group forum and posting on the TBD threads.
• On April 17th, leave one copy of a YA novel in a teen gathering spot in your community. Place it where the book will be found, taken, and read (i.e. a coffee shop, the park, a community center, a bus stop.) And make sure you've placed an Operation TBD bookplate inside!
• Party with the readergirlz and YA authors on their online two-hour book bash hosted at the readergirlz MySpace forum on April 17th from 6-8pm PDT/9-11pm EDT. You can win books and prizes, chat with other book lovers, and celebrate literacy.