With all the fretting we do over tweens who aren't reading, sometimes it's hard to remember to keep encouraging those who already are. That's why I LOVE the idea of publishing fan fiction. Not only does it reward young book lovers for their enthusiasm, but it also takes the role of reader to a new level. A level closer to both the characters they've embraced, as well as the author they admire. And in this age of constant interactivity, this seems like a crucial and valuable development.

Recently the team behind the tween series and website Beacon Street Girls launched an online writing contest that added yet another dimension to this bridge between fans and fiction. Inspired by the imaginative conversations they saw taking place in their online community, the contest is structured as an opportunity for members to finish a story started by the twelve year-old BSG character Charlotte Ramsey. The winner, who will be selected by the series' publisher Simon & Schuster, will see their entry published in the "Extras" section of the book that will come out in the fall.

There are a few things that I find really refreshing about this contest and how it came about. For one, it's a natural extension of what the BSG community was already doing online (that is collaborative writing projects). It simply harnessed that creativity into one specific channel. Another plus for this type of initiative is that it embraced the leap tweens are constantly making between media platforms by taking what was an online activity and publishing the results as print content. If you take a look at the post Anastasia wrote on Reaching Young Adult Readers a while back, this seems like exactly the way we should be approaching the challenge of younger readers who live in two media worlds. Not by virtually banishing them from one, but by linking the two and thereby allowing them to enhance each other.

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Echoing another suggestion Anastasia made to "connect books and music even more," HarperCollinsTina Wells is giving YA lit the American Idol treatment, teaming up with Island Def Jam Group to hold a talent search for a real tween to play the fictional "Mackenzie Blue," an aspiring pop star that will be featured in her upcoming tween series with the same name.

For more coverage of YA books and publishing, check out the Ypulse Books Channel sponsored by Poppy: The new home of today's hottest fiction.

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