YALSA announces slate for 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium

Contact: Stephanie Kuenn


Communications Specialist


312-280-2128


skuenn@ala.org

NEWS


For Immediate Release


March 11, 2010

CHICAGO —The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) chose its official program slate for the 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium. The Young Adult Literature Symposium will be held at the Albuquerque, N.M. Marriott, Nov. 5-7, with a theme of “Beyond Good Intentions: Diversity, Literature and Teens.” The symposium is funded in part by the William C. Morris Endowment. Details about the symposium, including registration rates and housing information, are available at
www.ala.org/yalitsymposium.

The symposium will begin with a full-day preconference on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning teens, as well as half-day preconferences on readers’ advisory, street literature and “fat lit.” Preconferences require additional registration.

Programs at the symposium will showcase a wide variety of topics within young adult literature and librarianship. They are:

  • Beyond Good Intentions and Chicken Soup: Young Adult Literature and Disability Diversity: How Far Have We Come?
  • Beyond Titillation: Sexuality and the Young Adult Novel
  • Celebramos Libros: Celebrating Mexican-American Literature!
  • Commercial Success and Diversity: Are Both Possible, or Are They A Contradiction in Terms?
  • Connecting Religious Teens with Literature
  • Doomed to Repeat It: Diversity in Historical Fiction
  • The Forms and Faces of Poetry for Teens
  • Heroes in International Literature
  • Images and Issues Beyond the Dominant: Including Diversity in Your Graphic Novel Collection
  • Looking for Diversity? Start with Your Own Teens.
  • The New Gay Teen: Moving Beyond the “Issue” Novel
  • Talk the Walk: Learning New Booktalking Skills Designed to Reach a Variety of Diverse Teen Populations
  • readergirlz Special Ops: Reaching Underserved Teens

The symposium will also feature four paper presentations:

  • Out of the Ghetto and into the Cape: The Changing Face of Graphic Literature
  • Pushing the Envelope: Exploring Sexuality in Teen Literature
  • Teens Today Don’t Read Books Anymore: A Study of Differences in Comprehension, Interest, and Engagement in Print Reading, E-book Reading, and Audiobook Listening
  • Cultural Inquiry, A Literature Based Model for Engaging Youth of Color

For program descriptions and information on speakers, please visit
www.ala.org/yalitsymposium and click “Programs” at the top of the page.

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.