Will Weaver to judge YALSA’s 2010 WrestleMania Reading Challenge
Contact: Stephanie Kuenn
YALSA Communications Specialist
(312) 280-2128
NEWS
For Immediate Release
June 9, 2009
CHICAGO — Will Weaver, author of “Saturday Night Dirt” and “Super Stock Rookie,” will judge the 2010 WrestleMania Reading Challenge championship in Phoenix, Ariz., announced the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
The WrestleMania Reading Challenge, sponsored by YALSA and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), encourages teens and tweens to read one item a week, beginning  during Teen Read Week and ending in January. Teens and tweens can win prizes and incentives from WWE, including the chance to compete in the WrestleMania Reading Challenge championships to win ringside tickets to WrestleMania XXVI in Phoenix in March. The sponsoring library of each finalist wins $2,000. Details on the 2010 challenge are available online at
www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/wrmc/wrmc.cfm. Registration for the 2010 challenge ends July 31.Â
Weaver’s appearance at the challenge championships is courtesy of Farrar, Straus & Giroux Books for Young Readers and Square Fish, imprints of Macmillan Publishing Group. Finalists in the grades 7-8 categories of the challenge will read and answer questions about “Saturday Night Dirt” at the championships; finalists in grades 9-12 will read “Super Stock Rookie.” Weaver will visit schools in the Phoenix area in the days leading up to the challenge championships, in addition to judging the championship round. For his part, Weaver is ready to rumble.
“I’m coming down from Minnesota like the Viking I am — ready to rock the boat and take names — names of the winning readers,” Weaver said. “What writer wouldn't want to pal around with good readers, attractive librarians and professional wrestlers?”
For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the world leader in selecting books, videos and audio books for teens. For more information about YALSA or for lists of recommended reading, viewing and listening, go to
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390; or e-mail:
yalsa@ala.org.
Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at
wwe.com and
corporate.wwe.com. For information on its global activities, go to
http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/
Launched in 1954, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, publishes books for toddlers through young adults and has an award-winning backlist including three Caldecott Medal Books, ten Caldecott Honor Books, three Newbery Medal Books, nine Newbery Honor Books, three National Book Award winners, eleven National Book Award Finalists, three Michael L. Printz Honor Books, and two Robert F. Sibert Honor Books.
Square Fish’s titles consist of the paperbacks, reprints and reissues from the amazing backlists of Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers, Feiwel and Friends, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers and Roaring Brook Press.
Among our longtime authors and illustrators are not only Will Weaver, but also Natalie Babbitt, Alexandra Day, Jack Gantos, Madeleine L'Engle, Peter Sís, Uri Shulevitz, David Small, William Steig, and Sarah Stewart.
