The Answer Sheet: Literature


Posted at 12:30 PM ET, 02/02/2011

That's one heavy book: 10,119 pages, 2 feet thick
By Valerie Strauss
There’s a new book in the University of Iowa Libraries but don’t expect anybody to read it all the way through in a single sitting. It’s a 10,119 page, 2-foot-thick book of poetry.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:30 PM ET, 02/02/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature | Tags:  biggest book, dave morice, guinness book of world records, iowa writers' workshop, literature, longest book, poetry book, university of iowa

Posted at 12:30 PM ET, 02/02/2011

That's one heavy book: 10,119 pages, 2 feet thick
By Valerie Strauss
There’s a new book in the University of Iowa Libraries but don’t expect anybody to read it all the way through in a single sitting. It’s a 10,119 page, 2-foot-thick book of poetry.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:30 PM ET, 02/02/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature | Tags:  biggest book, dave morice, guinness book of world records, iowa writers' workshop, literature, longest book, poetry book, university of iowa

Posted at 10:00 AM ET, 12/10/2010

Finalists for young adult literature award
By Valerie Strauss
Here are the five books selected by the Young Adult Library Services Association as finalists for the 2011 William C. Morris Award, which honors a book written for young adults by a previously unpublished author.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:00 AM ET, 12/10/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature | Tags:  YAL, adolescent lit, adolescent literature, american library association, books for teens, literature, reading, teen novels, young adult lit, young adult literature

Posted at 12:00 PM ET, 11/06/2010

Must we have the digital vs. print battle?
By Valerie Strauss
Do we have to have a fight over digital vs. print in children's literature? Why can't we have both?

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:00 PM ET, 11/06/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature | Tags:  barnes and noble, children's literature, digital books, digital media, digital vs. print, future of books, getting kids to read, kid lit, kindle, raising a reader

Posted at 11:23 AM ET, 09/04/2010

How 'Twilight,' other dark fiction affect teen brains
By Valerie Strauss
Scientists, authors and education experts are meeting this weekend at Cambridge University to investigate how fiction with dark themes, such as the "Twilight" saga and the "Harry Potter" series, affects and alters the teenage brain. Here's a Q&A with the conference organizer, who talks about what parents can/should do about it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:23 AM ET, 09/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature, Literature | Tags:  altering teen mind, brain research, cambridge university conference, dark themes in young adult literature, edward cullen, effects on teen brains, emergent adult, emergent adult conference, harry potter and twilight, his dark materials, how teen brains are affected by reading, neuroscience and teenage brain, teenage brain, themes in YA lit, twilight, twilight and teen mind, twilight saga, young adult literature

Posted at 12:46 PM ET, 07/16/2010

The education of 'Twilight's' Edward Cullen
By Valerie Strauss
Someone has to correct an error made (in another publication) about Edward Cullen's education. That someone is going to be me.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:46 PM ET, 07/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature | Tags:  edward cullen and college, edward cullen and high school, edward cullen and medical degrees, edward cullen and school, gail collins and palin, gail collins and the bad news bears, levi and bristol, levi johnston and bristol palin, robert pattinson and edward cullen, twilight, where did edward cullen go to school

Posted at 10:54 AM ET, 07/11/2010

‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ from $3.95 to $39,000
By Valerie Strauss
In 1960 you could buy the first edition of "To Kill a Mockingbird" for $3.95. Today you can pay $39,000!

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:54 AM ET, 07/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature | Tags:  cost of mockingbird, first edition and mockingbird, gregory peck and to kill a mockingbird, rare books, rare books and mockinbird, to kill a mockingbird, to kill a mockingbird and film, to kill a mockingbird first edition

Posted at 10:34 AM ET, 07/11/2010

Why ‘Mockingbird’ has been challenged
By Valerie Strauss
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is now a classic, but there have been challenges to the book over the years, and initial reviews were mixed in 1960. One called it "sugar-water."

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:34 AM ET, 07/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature | Tags:  banned books, challenged books, challenges to mockingbird, mockingbird, reviews of mockingbird, reviews of to kill a mockingbird, to kill a mockingbird

Posted at 03:00 PM ET, 04/16/2010

"Twilight" on 2009 Most Challenged Books list
By Valerie Strauss
My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult and banned books, Eclipse, Twilight, Breaking Dawn, Eclipse and banned books, banned books, Twilight and banned, The Twilight Saga books joined the list of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009, the American Library Association says. The list includes "Catcher in the Rye," and, believe it or not, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:00 PM ET, 04/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature | Tags:  amercan library association, challenged books

Posted at 10:00 AM ET, 03/05/2010

Wiesel's 'Night,' 'Hamlet' in 60 seconds?
By Valerie Strauss
What would you say about an effort to boil down the plots of great literary works into a 60-second video? Would that entice young readers to run to the library and grab the book? Here's a program that thinks it would. I don't.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:00 AM ET, 03/05/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature | Tags:  literature, videos

Posted at 11:26 PM ET, 02/04/2010

Fairfax County schools reject book challenges
By Valerie Strauss
Parental challenges to books in school curriculum usually make when district officials succumb to the challenge and restrict or remove the resource. But some don’t. Some stand firm and reject the challenge. That’s what Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia--one of the finest systems in the country--has been doing for years in the face of a handful of challenges about books in its classes.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:26 PM ET, 02/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature, Literature | Tags:  Fairfax County Public Schools, challenging books

Posted at 05:00 PM ET, 01/28/2010

Taking Anne Frank off shelves: Indefensible
By Valerie Strauss
It isn't the first time that a classic book has been pulled off a library shelf because a parent didn't want their darling child to read it, but it is equally obscene every time it happens. This just happened in Culpeper County Public Schools, where a version of the “Diary of A Young Girl,” by Anne Frank was removed from schools because a parent complained about graphic sexual language, according to the Star Exponent.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 PM ET, 01/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature | Tags:  banned books