YA Gotta Hear This: Big news! The Austin Teen Book Festival is now the Texas Teen Book Festival. ATBF has partnered with the Texas Book Festival and St. Edward’s University. We’re thrilled as ever to be a part of this awesome annual event and very excited for the new partnerships! The Texas Teen Book Festival is scheduled for Oct 18.
Call on Your Brother, When You Need a Hand: Israel donates 300+ books to Tokyo, Japan. Last week there were reports of vandalism in Tokyo libraries that affected 265 copies of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl & other related books. Israel stepped up on Thursday to rebuild the collection. It is still unknown who was behind the vandalism.
Controversy & Reactions: Alison Bechdel speaks out against South Carolina’s funding cut for College of Charleston. The college had put Bechdel’s graphic novel, Fun Home, on it’s docket of summer reading for students. In response, SC House of Reps cut the school’s funding due to the book’s “promoting the gay & lesbian lifestyle.” Bechdel released a statement to Publisher’s Weekly, “It’s sad and absurd that the College of Charleston is facing a funding cut for teaching my book–a book which is after all about the toll that this sort of small-mindedness takes on people’s lives.”
Reading Rail-line: Amtrak is offering residences to writers. Not an actual program yet, Amtrak has been answering different petitions from writers for free trips on Amtrak trains that give them time to write. They have plans to continue offering free or low-cost rides but are still assessing the cost-to-benefit ratio of the endeavor.
Never Surrender: Filipino native Socorro Ramos has been in the bookseller business since 1945. At 91, she’s still going strong with the secret to longevity being, “work every day.” The National Book Store survived Japanese occupation & censorship during WWII (Ramos hid the books she wanted to protect) to become the largest book chain in the Philippines.
Steinbeck Birthday Present: A new movie version of East of Eden is in the works. Lots of great names are already attached: Gary Ross (Hunger Games, Big) is set to direct with Brian Grazer (Imagine Entertainment) producing and Jennifer Lawrence attached, as well. Yesterday would have been Steinbeck’s 112th birthday. If you missed it, you should check out some of the images from the Google Doodle that honored him yesterday.
Bully No More: Jay Asher, author of Thirteen Reasons Why, heads an anti-bullying campaign. Partnering with schools to host Asher as he spreads the message of tolerance among peers, the 50 States Against Bullying tour is slated for October 2014 – May 2015. The campaign hopes to send Asher to at least one school per state. Asher encourages teachers & librarians to nominate their schools through the campaign website.
Mic Check: Hilary Clinton will be the key-note speaker at this year’s Association of American Publishers. “Hillary Clinton’s unprecedented public service has been marked by tireless commitment to improving learning,” Tom Allen CEO of AAP.
Do Not Distract: The Huffington Post put together a list of ways to use your technology to help your write your novel. These should help you get some words down on the page instead of Words With Friends.
BookPeople 