NPR BOOKS CONFESSES
LOVE FOR “TEEN” READS
“SUMMER BOOKS” SERIES
COMES-OF-AGE WITH YOUNG ADULT FOCUS,
YA AUTHORS REVEAL
FORMATIVE LITERARY INSPIRATIONS
NPRBOOKS.ORG FEATURES ANNUAL
“SUMMER BOOKS” ROUND-UPS FROM NPR FAVORITES
May
30, 2012; Washington,
D.C. – A
good novel doesn’t just transcend the
boundaries of its target market – it knows nothing about target markets. NPR Books takes this
to heart with the launch of its annual Summer Books package, focusing this year’s theme on the
coming-of-age stories that open our eyes to a world beyond childhood and stick
for a lifetime. NPR Books will spotlight Young Adult literature with a new
series and its annual listeners’ poll in addition to round-ups of critics’
picks and exclusive excerpts from this season’s most anticipated reads.
The centerpiece of
Summer Books is “PG-13: Risky
Reads,” a new series exploring the ageless themes and no-holds barred style
that makes the Young Adult genre eternally inspiring. In first-person
submissions, acclaimed authors including Jodi
Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper), Abraham Verghese (Cutting for Stone), Lois Lowry (The Giver) and Jesmyn Ward
(2011 National Book Award for Fiction, Salvage
the Bones) remember the books they may have read before they were quite
ready – a child peeking into the world of adults. The series began on All
Things Considered with the nightmarish nail-bitter I Am the Cheese,
which made a then-12-year-old Ben Marcus worry. Listeners
can also visit the This Is
NPR blog to read similar narratives submitted by NPR staff. Local stations
and broadcast times are available at www.npr.org/stations.
In June, NPR Books
will begin compiling readers’ nominations for the best YA literature of all
time. Listeners can vote for their favorite formative novel and find further
inspiration at www.npr.org/summerbooks. The Top 100 list will be released in August.
Summer
Books 2012 will again offer its extremely popular package of themed critics’
lists compiled by NPR favorites such as Susan Stamberg, Lynn Neary and Maureen
Corrigan, as well as acclaimed literary names like romance author Eloisa James
(Pleasures trilogy) and novelist Madeline Miller (The Song of
Achilles). Other notable compilations include critic Heller McAlpin’s list
of “Seriously Funny” reads to distract that fidgety beach buddy, NPR bookworm
Nancy Pearl’s “Under the Radar” list of inconspicuous gems, and librarian Lee
Butler’s summer reading assignments for those
avid YA fans. These recommendations – for literary fiction, mysteries,
historical fiction, romance, humor and more – will make even avid NPR listeners
turn down the radio and pick up a book. Listeners can also find exclusive text
and audio excerpts from some of this year’s best reads at www.npr.org/books.
Comments