From the Editor

Hello, I’m Sarah Flowers, and I’m filling in for Valerie Ott for this issue, because she is busy with her newborn daughter. This has been a delightful experience for me, and I am especially pleased to have been able to work on this Teen Read WeekTM (TRW) issue of YALS, since I love this year’s theme: LOL @ your library®. I know laughing isn’t always the first thing that teens associate with libraries, but some of the articles in this issue might help librarians get teens to change their minds about that.

For example, Dawn Rutherford provides a list of graphic novels to make teens laugh, and Francisca Goldsmith suggests some humorous audiobooks. Robyn Lupa, Megan Fink, and Nichole Pereira all have suggestions for LOL programs and activities for TRW at your library. Then there are some ideas in this issue about other ways of “reading” during TRW. Linda Braun talks about reading blogs and wikis (which can be pretty funny at times), Katherine Makens shares some insights about gaming with teens, and Diane Monnier and Diane Tuccillo talk about teens reading for YALSA’s YA Galley Project.

Seth Cassel, a Maryland sixteen-year-old, shares his experiences in setting up a Web site for teen book reviewers and tells us a little about what his reviewers like to read. Meanwhile, Stacy Creel and some of her students at St. John’s University went out and surveyed teens in malls and other places to find out what they were reading. Since YALSA believes so strongly and actively in youth participation, these articles are a great way for us all to see how real teens are reading in other parts of the country and how that compares to the teens in our own libraries.

And, okay, the books of Brian James aren’t exactly hilarious, but teens certainly are reading them, and Dominique McCafferty’s interview with James makes for some fascinating reading.

With all the suggestions here, you’ll have many ways to show the teens in your community that libraries—and librarians—can be fun. So LOL all the way through TRW! For more booklists and TRW ideas, be sure to check out the TRW Web page at
www.ala.org/teenread.