J.D. Salinger, 1919 – 2010

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though." — J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye)

We were very sad to learn that J.D. Salinger, the legendary and reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye, passed away yesterday at the age of 91. His protagonist Holden Caulfield is the ultimate icon of teenage rebellion and the story changed my life when I first read it in high school all those years ago. Catcher in the Rye was his only published novel, but he did release some of short stories; Franny and Zooey and Nine Stories are both worthwhile reading.

You can read more on Salinger's life here at NPR.org.

YALSA announces 2010 Margaret A. Edwards Award

Jim Murphy is the recipient of the 2010 Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring his significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens.

Murphy’s well-researched books bring history alive through multiple narratives involving young people. Primary sources, maps, photos, illustrations and dialogue reveal the drama of historical events, making Murphy’s books fast-paced reading of particular interest for young adults. The reader participates in the lives of these individuals and the events that shaped history.

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 tells the story of the devastating course of the epidemic and highlights the heroic efforts of some, and the ignorance of others, to curb this disease that has yet to be eradicated.

Blizzard! The Storm that Changed America tells the chilling story of the three-day 1888 storm that crippled the East Coast.

The Great Fire reveals the myriad events that led to the catastrophic fire that destroyed much of Chicago in 1871.

The Long Road to Gettysburg details perspectives of young soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and the events that culminated in the Gettysburg Address.

A Young Patriot: The American Revolution as Experienced by One Boy follows 15-year-old Joseph Plumb Martin, from his enlistment through the many battles and hardships of the American Revolution.

We're big fans of Mr. Murphy and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on this well-deserved honor!

YALSA announces 2010 Alex Awards

Every year, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) chooses 10 adult books with special appeal to teen readers (you!) to receive the 2010 Alex Awards.

Some of the 2010 Alex Award winners are:


The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff
A young woman runs away from home and finds love in the most unexpected place.

Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr.
In infancy, Junior Thibodeaux is encoded with a prophesy: a comet will obliterate life on Earth in thirty-six years. Alone in this knowledge, he comes of age in rural Maine grappling with the question: Does anything I do matter?

The Good Soldiers by David Finkel
In the tradition of "Black Hawk Down," The Good Soldiers takes an unforgettable look at the heroes and the ruined soldiers fighting in the Iraq War.

The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch
The poignant, harrowing story of four siblings--Amanda, Liz, Dan, and Diana Welch--who despite their wrenching loss and subsequent separation, retained the resilience and humor that both their mother and father endowed them with--growing up as lost souls, taking disastrous turns along the way, but eventually coming out right side up and being together again.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
A thrilling and original coming of-age novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world.

My Abandonment by Peter Rock
In the tradition of Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild," Rock's "My Abandonment," inspired by a true story and told through the startlingly sincere voice of his young protagonist, offers a riveting and unsettling account of a girl and her father who live off the grid.

Don't be afraid to wander out of Teen Space and into the adult book stacks to find these engrossing books, and more!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I

We admit it - we're suckers for anything Harry. Unfortunately, November (the expected release date of the new movie) is a veeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy long time away. Lucky for us, the latest DVD release contained a bonus teaser trailer for the new movie, and is now available online at MovieWeb. Or, you can just watch it here...

How you can help Haiti

Now that we've made it through our own bout of inclement weather, we'd like to take this chance to remind you that those affected by the earthquakes in Haiti are not so fortunate. Help is still needed, and every little bit counts.

The Los Angeles Times published a great list of organizations that we've taken the liberty of reposting for you. Of course, it's always a good idea to do your research to make sure you are working with a reputable agency; CharityNavigator is a good start for learning more about each agency, what they do, and how they use their donations.

Alphabetical list of relief organizations:

• ActionAid International USA
Donate online: www.actionaidusa.org 1-202-835-1240

• Action Against Hunger
Donate online: www.actionagainsthunger.org 1-800-424-2372

• Adventist Development and Relief Agency
Donate online: www.adra.org 1-877-777-1420

• Agape Flights
Donate online: www.agapeflights.com 1-941-584-8078

• American Refugee Committee
Donate online: www.arcrelief.org 1-800-875-7060

• American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Donate online: www.jdc.org 1-212-687-6200

• American Jewish World Service
Donate online: ajws.org 1-212-792-2900

• AmeriCares
Donate online: www.americares.org 1-800-486-4357

• Artists for Peace and Justice
Donate online: www.artistsforpeaceandjustice.com
info@artistsforpeaceandjustice.com

• Beyond Borders
Donate online: www.beyondborders.net 1-866-424-8403

• B'nai B'rith International
Donate online: www.bnaibrith.org 1-202-857-6600

• CARE
Donate online: www.care.org 1-800-521-2273

• CarmaFoundation
Donate online: www.carmafoundation.org

• Catholic Relief Services
Donate online: crs.org1-800-736-3467

• CHF International
Donate online: www.chfinternational.org 1-866-779-2243

• Childcare Worldwide
Donate online: www.childcareworldwide.org 1-800-553-2328

• ChildFund International
Donate online: www.childfund.org 1-800-776-6767

• Church World Services
Donate online: www.churchworldservice.org 1-800-297-1516

• Clinton Foundation
Donate online: www.clintonfoundation.org 1-501-748-0471
Text "HAITI" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Clinton Foundation's Haiti relief efforts

• Concern Worldwide
Donate online: www.concernusa.org 1-212-557-8000

• Convoy of Hope
Donate online: www.convoyofhope.org 1-417-823-8998

• Cross International
Donate online: www.crossinternational.org 1-800-391-8545

• CRUDEM Foundation
Donate online: www.crudem.org 1-413-642-0450

• CRWRC
Donate online: www.crwrc.org 1-800-55-CRWRC

• Direct Relief International
Donate online: www.directrelief.org 1-805-964-4767

• Doctors Without Borders
Donate online: doctorswithoutborders.org 1-888-392-0392

• Episcopal Relief and Development
Donate online: www.er-d.org 1-800-334-7626

• Feed My Starving Children
Donate online: www.fmsc.org 1-763-504-2919

• FINCA International
Donate online: www.villagebanking.org 1-202-682-1510

• Food for the Hungry
Donate online: http://www.fh.org 1-800-248-6437

• Food for the Poor
Donate online: www.foodforthepoor.org 1-800-427-9104

• Friends of WFP
Donate online: www.friendsofwfp.org 1-866-929-1694

• Friends of the Orphans
Donate online: www.friendsoftheorphans.org 1-312-386-7499

• Grassroots International
Donate online: www.grassrootsonline.org 1-617-524-1400

• Habitat for Humanity
Donate online: www.habitat.org 1-800-422-4828

• Haiti Children
Donate online: www.haitichildren.com 1-877-424-8454

• Haiti Foundation Against Poverty
Donate online: haitifoundation.com 1-616-608-6606

• Haiti Marycare
Donate online: www.haitimarycare.com 1-203-675-4770

• Haitian Health Foundation
Donate online: www.haitianhealthfoundation.org 1-860-886-4357

• Hands Together
Donate online: www.handstogether.org 1-413-731-7716

• Healing Hands for Haiti
Donate online: www.healinghandsforhaiti.org 1-651-769-5846

• Heifer International
Donate online: www.heifer.org 1-800-696-1918
Heifer has worked in Haiti for more than 10 years and currently works with more than 16,000 families in Haiti, providing gifts of livestock, seeds, trees and training, to help them become self-reliant.

• Helping Hands International Foundation
Donate online: www.hhifinc.org 1-800-986-9640
Helping Hands International Foundation is organizing a medical relief team to go to Haiti on Feb. 7th, and needs medical supplies, especially pain medications Morphine and Dilaudid. They also have room for more doctors and nurses - interested parties should contact them at info@hhifinc.org

• Hospital Albert Schweitzer Haiti
Donate online: www.hashaiti.org
A hospital 40 miles outside Port-au-Prince that needs all the help it can get to treat the 500+ patients currently seeking treatment at the 80 bed facility.

• Hope for Haiti
Donate online: www.hopeforhaiti.com 1-239-434-7183

• International Child Care
Donate online: www.internationalchildcare.org 1-800-722-4453

• International Medical Corps
Donate online: www.imcworldwide.org 1-800-481-4462

• International Organization for Migration
Donate online: www.iom.int

• International Rescue Committee
Donate online: www.theirc.org 1-877-733-8433

• International Relief Teams
Donate online: www.irteams.org 1-619-284-7979

• Interpreters and Translators Volunteering for Haiti
Sign up or look for a translator on Facebook
For those seeking translation resources relating to Haiti

• Islamic Relief USA
Donate online: www.islamicreliefusa.org 1-888-479-4968

• Logistics Cluster Blog
Visit the blog : HERE
Realtime updates from Haiti, plus information for volunteers and others who want to help.

• Lutheran World Relief
Donate online: www.lwr.org 1-800-597-5972

• MADRE
Donate online: www.madre.org 1-212-627-0444

• MAP International
Donate online: www.map.org 1-800-225-8550

• Medical Benevolence Foundation
Donate online: www.mbfoundation.org 1-800-547-7627

• Medical Teams International
Donate online: www.medicalteams.org 1-800-959-4325

• Meds and Food for Kids
Donate online: mfkhaiti.org 1-314-420-1634

• Mennonite Central Committee
Donate online: mcc.org 1-888-563-4676

• Mercy Corps
Donate online: www.mercycorps.org 1-888-256-1900

• Merlin USA
Donate online: merlin-usa.org

• Missionaries of the Poor
Donate online: www.missionariesofthepoor.org 1-404-248-1197

• National Nurses United
www.nationalnursesunited.org

• Nazarene Compassionate Ministries
Donate online: www.ncm.org 1-800-306-9950

• New Life for Haiti
Donate online: newlifeforhaiti.org 1-815-436-7633

• Operation Blessing
Donate online: community.ob.org 1-800-730-2537

• Operation USA
Donate online: www.opusa.org 1-800-678-7255

• Oxfam
Donate online: www.oxfamamerica.org 1-800-776-9326

• Partners in Health
Donate online: www.pih.org 1-617-432-5298

• Relief International
Donate online: www.ri.org/

• RHEMA International
Donate online: rhemainternational.org 1-248-652-9894

• Rural Haiti Project
Donate online: www.ruralhaitiproject.org 1-347-405-5552

• Saint Boniface Haiti Foundation
Donate online: www.haitihealth.org 1-781-963-7243

• Salvation Army
Donate online: salvationarmyusa.org 1-800-SAL-ARMY

• Samaritan's Purse
Donate online: www.samaritanspurse.org 1-828-262-1980

• Save the Children
Donate online: www.savethechildren.org 1-800-728-3843
Donate $10 by texting "SAVE" to 20222

• ShelterBox
Donate online: www.shelterbox.org +44(0)1326-569782 [U.K.]

• Tzu Chi Foundation USA
Donate online: www.interaction.org/organization/taiwan-buddhist-tzu-chi-foundation-usa
1-626-487-4849

• UNICEF
Donate online: www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake 1-800-367-5437

• United Methodist Committee on Relief
Donate online: new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/ 1-800-554-8583

• United Nations World Food Program
Donate online: www.wfp.org/donate/haiti

• Water Missions International
Donate online: www.watermissions.org 1-866-280-7107

• World Concern
Donate online: www.worldconcern.org 1-800-755-5022

• World Hope International
Donate online: www.worldhope.org 1-888-466-4673

• World Relief
Donate online: worldrelief.org 1-800-535-5433

• World Vision
Donate online: www.worldvision.org 1-888-511-6548

• Yele Haiti
Donate online: Yele Haiti.

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