I would like to congratulate myself. (You should try it. It's very satisfying). My librarian status is once again certified by a paycheck. I've also joined the Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominating committee. I'm going to be reading books for middle school students.
I don't know if the proceedings of this committee are supposed to be clandestine, but I intend to comment on my experience, because I think the world needs to know how New Moon by Stephenie Meyer could ever be nominated for a statewide award by librarians.
I can understand why teenage girls would vote for it, but how did it get nominated? Your intrepid reporter intends to investigate.
In case you haven't read it, here are my objections: Either Meyer doesn't know anything about Vampire lore or she just doesn't care. Instead of shriveling in the sun, her vampires radiate brilliant light. Her characters exhibit never-before-observed psychological phenomena (Caution: dating Vampires may cause you to hear voices during death-defying teenage hijinks), and worst of all, the book has a made-up Native American tribe! Of people who turn into werewolves!
I know it's fiction. You're allowed to make stuff up. But these are cheap tricks--like the one where the character wakes up at the end of the book and discovers it was all a dream.
And you can't just make up a Native American tribe, OK? Native Americans have been dehumanized enough in children's literature.
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