Banned Books Week Contest!
Banned book week is coming up, which is awesome. Not awesome that books get banned, but awesome that we get a week to celebrate the freedom to read what we want. This year, banned book week is from September 25 to October 2, and I'm planning a big old party at that time.
It frustrates and infuriates me that censorship is still alive and well in this supposedly enlightened age. Just last month, author Ellen Hopkins was uninvited from Teen Lit Fest because someone decided that an author who writes about relevant issues for teens would be a bad influence. After all, her YA books include such edgy and dark things as drugs and sex, which of course must never be spoken about in front of kids because then they might have to, y'know, think about these issues they deal with on a daily basis and why just going along with whatever the popular kids are doing might not be the best idea.
Ahem. So before this turns into a rant, I'd like to announce my exciting Banned Books Contest. If you'd like to enter, first take a look at any of the ALA's most frequently challenged lists or the list of books challenged or banned in 2009-2010 (warning: pdf file) and pick yourself a book, either one you'd like to read or one you've read. Then write yourself a review (there's no word limit, so it can be as long or short as you need to express your thoughts) and either e-mail it to me (genrereviews at gmail dot com) or send me a link to the review on your blog. During Banned Book Week, I will put up as many banned book reviews as I possibly can (or share the links, in the case of those who'd rather I send the traffic over to your own blog). At the end of the week, y'all get to vote on your favourite review, and the winner gets an awesome banned book prize pack. (Seriously, guys. It's awesome.) What's in the prize pack? More details later, as I'm not yet finished adding things to it (YES this means it will get more awesome) but it includes a mug, a button, some gitch, a messenger bag, and a copy of one challenged book from the lists linked above (your choice).
So what are you waiting for? Get with the reading and reviewing! This prize pack of awesome is just waiting for a home.
It frustrates and infuriates me that censorship is still alive and well in this supposedly enlightened age. Just last month, author Ellen Hopkins was uninvited from Teen Lit Fest because someone decided that an author who writes about relevant issues for teens would be a bad influence. After all, her YA books include such edgy and dark things as drugs and sex, which of course must never be spoken about in front of kids because then they might have to, y'know, think about these issues they deal with on a daily basis and why just going along with whatever the popular kids are doing might not be the best idea.
Ahem. So before this turns into a rant, I'd like to announce my exciting Banned Books Contest. If you'd like to enter, first take a look at any of the ALA's most frequently challenged lists or the list of books challenged or banned in 2009-2010 (warning: pdf file) and pick yourself a book, either one you'd like to read or one you've read. Then write yourself a review (there's no word limit, so it can be as long or short as you need to express your thoughts) and either e-mail it to me (genrereviews at gmail dot com) or send me a link to the review on your blog. During Banned Book Week, I will put up as many banned book reviews as I possibly can (or share the links, in the case of those who'd rather I send the traffic over to your own blog). At the end of the week, y'all get to vote on your favourite review, and the winner gets an awesome banned book prize pack. (Seriously, guys. It's awesome.) What's in the prize pack? More details later, as I'm not yet finished adding things to it (YES this means it will get more awesome) but it includes a mug, a button, some gitch, a messenger bag, and a copy of one challenged book from the lists linked above (your choice).
So what are you waiting for? Get with the reading and reviewing! This prize pack of awesome is just waiting for a home.