This past weekend, I went to Bookfest at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center to hear a session called "Coming of Age in America With Roger Bennett and Benjamin Nugent." I had heard about Bennett's books Bar Mitzvah Disco and Camp Camp from the literary agent we happen to have in common and was really eager to hear him talk about my obsession: Summer camp in the 1980s. Having gone to a YMCA overnight camp from age 7 through 13 and later worked at a Y Camp in Oregon and a Jewish camp in the Berkshires, you could say I'm a camp-o-file. Oh and that doesn't even include the camp staff reunion I dragged my now husband (then boyfriend) to about five years ago.

I was definitely able to get my nostalgia fix looking at the photos Bennett collected from his extensive network of past campers, but I also learned that he has a greater goal for his books. While it came off as being a bit tongue and cheek (British sarcasm?), he challenged Tom Brokaw to a fight over whose generation is really the greatest. Through these collections, Bennett is attempting to tell the story of my generation - aka Generation X - through books full of bad 80s hair, Bennetton sweaters and bubble handwriting. Camp Camp is just the second in what will be a 20-book series that is part of his undertaking called The Academy of the Recent Past.

Bennet's ambitious goals aside, I do think camp was a seminal experience for many of growing up — not "spa camp" or "hangout on a college campus camp" but "go away for the entire summer if you can make it that long camp." Camp Camp captures everything from the faux Native American rituals to the pale green and pink plates, the tortuous wedgies and nasty gossip to first kisses and counselor crushes (they were gods - remember? Even though they were just teenagers!). Most of all, the book seems to capture the possibility of starting over — for a lot of kids who struggled to fit in during the school year, camp was a place you could reinvent yourself. I just started reading the book and already it nails the longing throughout the year for that first day of camp including the meticulous planning around what to wear.

I am really curious to know Ypulse readers' ideas about how camp has changed (or whether it has) for the current generation of campers. I know at my old Y Camp, for example, you can no longer stay for the entire summer — only a week at a time. I also know from past Ypulse coverage that niche camps have been springing up like "princess camps" or other academic oriented camps that sound like just another way to pad your college resume. And of course the Camp Camp generation didn't have the internet or cell phones yet. We had to hand write letters to mom and dad. The phone call was only in cases of severe homesickness or physical illness. So all you modern-day campers or parents of campers, what aspects of Bennett's Camp Camp memories are definitively ours and what themes live on today?

Page to Screen (Neil Gaiman signs on to produce a live-action adaptation of "The Graveyard Book") (MTV Movie Blog)

- Blog the vote! (Across the kid litosphere bloggers speak out about why voting matters. The master list of participants is up on Chasing Ray. Plus Obama and McCain coming to a comic book near you) (via Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast) (Cleveland.com)

- ReaderGirlz (moves from MySpace and welcomes new "diva" blogger Melissa Walker)

- Freddy the Pig goes to Washington (Fifth-graders at Tenacre Country Day School give their fictional picks for who they'd want to see as Prez) (Shelftalker)

- Literary twins (A mother of twins speaks out against literary stereotypes. As the sister of twins, I can also attest to the lack of realism) (The Guardian)

- More Trouble for Google? (Harvard refuses to play ball with Google Books) (Information Week)

- A guide (to the best graphic nonfiction for teens) (SLJ)

- Guys Lit Wire talks to Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (author of Floating Circus, about what it feels like to write from a boy's POV.)

- New study names four types of Harry Potter readers (and they correspond with the different Hogwarts houses?! I don't know if I buy this.) (The Bookseller)

- Fourth Story Media (a new "multi-platform" company telling stories across books, the web, mobile phones and other media)

- World’s first multimedia novel… (published on a T-Shirt) (2d Code)

As much as I can appreciate YA books that reflect the high-tech times we live in, there's something refreshing about stories like Trenton Lee Stewart's debut novel The Mysterious Benedict Society and its sequel The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey that in spite of their contemporary setting seem to willfully deny the ubiquity of cell phones, iPods and even (impossible as this may seem) the internet. Instead, the four children that comprise the titular association rely on their wits, talents and book smarts (read: dictionaries and encyclopedias) to get by. Oh, and they also learn morse code.

In the same spirit as Encyclopedia Brown, (another whipsmart protagonist, and a personal favorite of mine growing up), Reynie Muldoon, along with the other members of the Benedict Society, are championed and ultimately rewarded for their mental gifts and their honed physical abilities (i.e. walking on one's hands). And though the suggestion is delivered in a not-so-subtle way (the bad guy attempts to brainwash children around the world through subliminal messages sent via the TV), these characters do inspire young readers to look beyond the various screens in their life and seek out stimulation from old-fashioned sources of entertainment such as word games and puzzles.

While this is not to say that technology has to be vilified in order for tweens and teens to be able to appreciate the alternative, it is in an interesting tactic to place a premium on engaged problem-solving versus passive behavior like television-watching. What's more, Stewart makes the choice seem obvious. As the characters progressively become more self-confident the closer they get to reaching their goal (foiling the evil genius and his plot to take over the world), you not only find yourself rooting for Reynie and his crew, but also attempting to solve the riddles and word play yourself (and trust me, even adults may break a mental sweat trying to wrap their heads around some of those doozies.)

What struck me most about both the novel and its sequel is that by requiring extra work on the part of the reader, the whole reading experience actually became more enjoyable. Upon finishing the book, I felt I had accomplished more than just completing a story. Of course, I think it could also be argued (and proven) that kid lit can accomplish the same feat by actually embracing new media (see Scholastic's The 39 Clues), but nevertheless I was still impressed and charmed by Stewart's low-tech approach.

As Ypulse approaches its fifth anniversary this spring, we are once again evolving and changing as the business grows. I have been fairly transparent over the years about sharing our plans and asking for feedback. We’ve been hard at work finalizing our 2009 strategy, which involves some content and staffing additions and changes, and I want to share them with you.

We will be redesigning Ypulse to highlight six unique content channels. These include: Books, Tweens, Campus, Urban, Youth Marketing and Mobile. To help us manage the coverage in all six of these channels, I’m excited to announce that Meredith Sires (pictured in the photo!) is joining Ypulse.com as a full-time managing editor beginning November 1.

In order to focus on building editorial content and readership for all six channels, we will no longer distribute a separate Ypulse Books newsletter - the final newsletter will go out on November 12. Instead, all unique content – Books, Campus, Marketing, Mobile, Tweens, and Urban – will appear in Ypulse.com and in the Ypulse Daily Update. For Ypulse Books fans, be assured that we will continue our coverage of YA book marketing and youth literacy trends – just directly on Ypulse.com and in our regular Ypulse Essentials coverage. The Ypulse Books channel – like the other five new Ypulse channels – will become a regularly updated archive of ongoing coverage.

Indeed, there will be new sponsorship opportunities on all of these channels. We plan to launch the new site and new channels in January.

More on our new managing editor, Meredith Sires: Meredith comes to us from Market Partners International/Publishing Trends, where she was an international editor and associate consultant. Meredith also will be looking for both guest posters and regular stringers to contribute to Ypulse, especially in some of the new channels. To get in touch with Meredith, email her at Meredith@ypulse.com.

Allison Decker will no longer be editing Ypulse Books. She has done an amazing job in developing the voice and tone of Ypulse Books and creating several features we hope to preserve. Allison continues her work as a passionate practitioner in the field as a school librarian. To keep in touch with Alli, email her at allidecker at mac.com

Ypulse blogger Casey Lewis will become our Campus Editor, contributing periodically to Ypulse about campus trends and, of course, her passion: fashion!

We will be focusing on two big Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashups in 2009. Our San Francisco Mashup, set for June 1-2 at the Hotel Nikko, will focus on leading edge technology youth are using right now as well as what’s next in the youth technology space. Our second Youth Marketing Mashup will be in November of 2009 in New York City at a date and venue to be announced and will focus on content and how traditional media industries like publishing, television/film and music are adapting and embracing new technology to authentically reach youth.

Finally, Ypulse Research will continue to resell market research reports about tweens, teens and early twentysomethings as well as a new series of quarterly white papers focusing on youth, marketing and technology written by us from a Ypulse perspective. Look for our first white paper in the winter of 2009!

In today's Ypulse Books Alli flashes back to a non-classic she feels should be a YA classic, I Capture The Castle, which was originally published n 1948. And in Ypulse Book Essentials, follow the links to a review of Loser, about the nerdy life of Jewish outsider Jupiter Glazer, check out Judgeby a new hot-or-not-like site for book covers and find out why librarians just keep getting hipper.

Losers (explores the nerdy life of Jewish outsider Jupiter Glazer, a cross between the two important characters of Phillip Roth: Alexander Portnoy and "Swede" Levov. More importantly, this reviewer concludes, it illustrates how "Judaism has gone mainstream.") (The Jewish Daily Forward)

- Judgeby.com (like a Hot-or-Not for book covers!)

- Really cool interview of Kelly Link (author of Pretty Monsters. I'm checking her out this weekend for sure.) (LA Times)

- Google suit settled (The agreement states that Google will pay the Authors Guild and five major publishers $125 million.) (Silicon Alley Insider)

- Librarian and Libraries get cooler and cooler (as they create space and programs to build community and provide services that are all totally free. I wonder if libraries will see a surge in activity as our impending economic doom becomes more of reality?) (Arizona Republic)

- Free Book Fridays (It's easy. Every Friday they give books away…and they just launched a teen site.)

- DK rocks! (Don't you agree? Soon their Crime Scene Detectives series will be a kids' show for television. Produced by Beyond Productions.) (Cynopsis)

- Amanda Craig recommends (some good and scary books for the Halloween Holiday. Plus Claire Mysko looks back on The Dollhouse Murders, the YA book that really creeped her out) (NY Times, reg. required)

- OMG! (The Jonas Brothers and Walter the Farting Dog…coming to the big screen?! Not to mention The Electric Kool Aid Test, but that's in a different category all together (Powell's)

- Librarian reviews 'Crank' (And assures us this book definitely doesn't glorify drug use.) (Wassau Daily Herrald)

- Oui! (YA book sales up in France.) (Bookseller)

I Capture the Castle isn't a young adult book per se, at least not as we now generally define the genre. Those categories really didn't exist in 1948 when it was written. However, it certainly has all the makings of a great young adult story with the perfect teen-age protagonist. It doesn't have the savvy modern characters or the fast pace of the YA fiction we read today, but what it's lacking in those departments it makes up for in heart and soul. The drama in Cassandra's life is very similar to those in most contemporary YA novels. Dysfunctional family, class, first love and the sheer agony of growing up are the daily challenges she labors over in her journal. Her descriptions of brand-new feelings, thoughts and discoveries are as fresh and new as any modern day storyteller, and that's what makes it so timeless.

Cassandra grows from a playful young girl into a thoughtful, sensible woman over the course an eventful year. Very straight forward is the telling of her families' life in their beautiful but old and dilapidated rented castle in the English country-side. They are growing poorer by the hour to everybody's terror except the man of the house, Cassandra's father. Mortmain, the mad genius, is a seemingly washed-up author whose last great work of literature was published almost a decade ago at the time of Cassandra's memoir. A central theme in the novel is Mortmain's writer's block and his questionable sanity. This weighs on Cassandra as does her sister Rose's unhappiness with their station in life. At one point in I Capture the Castle, Cassandra compares Rose and herself to the Bennett sisters of Pride and Prejudice. And besides the obvious British-isms and the oh-so-proper language, it does read like a Jane Austen novel.

The other central plot is your typical love triangle, but it's more like a square with a triangle inside of it…let me explain. One day at the castle the landlords show up. The Cottons are a wildly rich American family who at first are simply obsessed with Mortmain's celebrity as a writer. Soon though they become intertwined and equally fascinated with the whole family and love triangles, squares, and ovals abound. It's really fun: Rose wants nothing more than to escape their eccentric desperate life so she talks herself into falling for Simon, the wealthy eldest Cotton son, but she never really loves him. While he worships her, she's really falling for Neil, Simon's brother. Simon and Rose get engaged. Stephen, (he's essentially the adopted-super-hot-stable-boy-turned-model/actor…) has always been in love with Cassandra and professes his love over and over to her. She never reciprocates. She can't. She's in love with Simon….. and on and on. There's much more to these relationships than I can describe here, and a few more triangles to boot, but the main thing is how Cassandra processes and navigates in completely new emotional territory.

I think what I love best in I Capture the Castle is Cassandra's voice. I first read it in college and when I picked it up to re-read, I could completely hear her sweet, enthusiastic voice as clear as a bell in the very first line. It had the exact same musical quality I remembered liking so much — so endearing, so refreshing. She is an insanely likable narrator and tells a colorful and rich coming-of-age story. I'm not sure if this Dodie Smith novel is considered as much of a YA classic as her 101 Dalmatians is for children, but after re-reading it as such I think it should be.

In today's Ypulse Books Alli interviews Anita Liberty, author of THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE and a performance artist, poet, screenwriter and film maker. She also happens to be quite funny. Plus follow the links in today's Ypulse Book Essentials to a glowing review of The Astonishing Life of Octavia Nothing, a discussion on whether authors should describe a character's race and discouraging news about fourth grade reading abilities.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Great review and I've heard the same sentiment– it's most appropriate for an older young reader.) (SF Gate)

- Page to Screen (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the incredible YA book about two boys in Nazi Germany: one a concentration camp prisoner and the other, the son of the camp's director has been made into a film and will be released November 4th.) (Cynposis)

- Some interesting commentary on author David Almond (Part 1) (Here's Part 2. I looooved Skellig.) (Guys Lit Wire)

- Mitali Perkins asks ("Should authors describe a character's race?" Make sure to read the comments and responses. Great discussion.)

- More bad news on the reading front ("Study: Most fourth graders can't read at grade level") (SLJ)

- Getting ARCS and galleys (into the hands of kids. I love it. I wonder if they'll ever use kids to make publishing choices. Why not?) (Publishers Weekly)

- '35 going on 13' (Adults who like YA, and some follow up at the Christian Science Monitor. What I liked about Benedetti's piece at LJ, is that she juxtaposes her taste for YA with her singular desire to read adult literature when she was a teen. I bet that's true for a lot of us, even those of us who DON'T drive mini-vans.) (Library Journal) (Canada.com)

- More talk of the adult-novel-that's-good-for-young-adults (The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti and why can't it just be a good book for everyone? I think we should officially start a new category…Plus check out the Alex Awards.) (Galley Cat)

- Bible Illuminated (Same ol' story, new cool look and feel.) (Cool Hunting)

- Valerie Tripp (Author of over 50 American Girl books, interviewed.) (Washington Post, reg. required)

Anita Liberty is not only an amazing author she is a performance artist, poet, screenwriter and film maker. Her latest, a semi-autobiographic YA novel called THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, (YEP, THAT WOULD BE ME) is about the trials and tribulations of high school — what else, right? It includes all of the main ingredients too: a lot of making-out with undeserving boys, fights with friends, parents you love and hate, and French-exchange students. What's different is that Anita Liberty, who is not a comedian per say, manages to make all of her work totally hilarious!

THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE is playful and fun. Anita's journal moves along pretty quickly incorporating poetry, "charts" of her parents' performance ratings, and very helpful "advice from the author". A lot of Liberty's most simple writing is really insightful though and contrary to what sassy young Anita might like you to think, she's delightful.

We interviewed Anita Liberty about THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE, among other things, and I'm so glad we did. She's an author to watch and if she doesn't make you laugh a little, I don't know what will. Also check her out here.

YPulse Books: You do all kinds of writing-related work. As an artist, is there an identity that you feel more passionately about or to which you feel more connected: comedian, performance artist, monologuist, YA author, screen-writer, film maker? Why?

Anita Liberty: Wow. When I agreed to be interviewed for the Ypulse Author Spotlight, I just assumed you were gonna ask me easy little questions and I wouldn't have to actually work very hard or spend much time crafting thoughtful answers. And then you go and, right off the bat, ask me a question that sends me into an indecisive tailspin, provoking a huge existential crisis to which I have responded by playing a lot of Text Twist and Wordscraper instead of sitting down to address your query. But I'm here now and I'm going to try to answer this as candidly as possible. Wait. One more game of Text Twist. Okay. I've never really loved the act of writing. It's stressful, slow-going and fills me with self-doubt. However, I love having written. I absolutely love that I'm the author of three books. I love having those books on my shelf. It makes me feel like I'm really doing something with my life.

On the other hand, being an author doesn't allow me to monitor and appreciate the reader's response (unless anyone wants to have me over to sit next to her while she reads so I can say, "D'ja like that part? What about that part? Isn't that funny? And clever? Do you have any chips?"). Performing my material does allow me to gauge the immediate response to my writing and that is very satisfying. I've always been a writer, expressed in some form or another, but I began the work that's closest to what I do now as live performance. That's how I grew the body of my work, how I honed my "character," how I staved off many a lonely Saturday night in my twenties. So. Have I answered your question? No, of course not. But I'm getting closer. I guess I'd have to say that, although I engage in it rarely these days, I feel most passionately about my identity as a writer who performs her own material. (Was that one of the choices?)

YPB: How much of THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE are actual entries from your high-school journal and how much did you recreate?

AL: I would say about 37 percent of the book is made up of actual entries from my high school journal. In my books, I always "enhance" the facts of my life and fill in the blanks in a way that (hopefully) drives a narrative and makes the truth that much more entertaining. However, some of the verbatim quotes and incidents are (to me) some of the funniest. For instance, a lot of the Monty stuff in the book is taken straight out of my journal. I actually wrote the words: "His penis was huge! But I haven't seen any others, so what do I know?" (Is the word "penis" allowed in this interview? 'Cause if it's not, I'm not sure I want to continue. The word "penis" should always be invited to the party.)

YPB: What did you learn from writing this book about Anita-the-teen that has informed or changed Anita the adult woman?

AL: I can't say that writing THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE necessarily informed or changed my perception of the adult Anita. What I can say is that it was interesting going back and writing about Anita's teenage years, figuring out who she was well before she ever met Mitchell (the ex-boyfriend who was the inspiration for my first book, HOW TO HEAL THE HURT BY HATING) and reliving the thrill of a first real romance and the agony of unrequited love. To be honest, writing about teenaged Anita sort of got my hormones going - I find myself Googling Zac Efron and Daniel Radcliffe a lot. Mmm. Tasty.

YPB: The narrative in CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE is that of your average scrappy, snarky, totally hilarious teen but the poems seem to me, to be the place where we really see Anita's most reflective and honest side. Was that intentional and/or do think it's more a function of the different genres?

AL: I don't know. I just don't. It wasn't intentional, but writing in a specific format or even just calling the piece a "poem" can give it more emotional heft and intensity than if the same piece were in prose-form. Sometimes I write a diary entry that wants to be a poem. However, I never write a poem that wants to be a diary entry. The poems do tend to be more impulsive and no-holds-barred and un-self-conscious.

YPB: Anita finally has sex — loses her virginity to someone she loves and with whom she has a pretty healthy relationship. Intercourse for lack of more descriptive word, is a pretty hot topic in YA — How did you arrive at the decision to write about this and why?

AL: You know why it's a "hot topic" in YA? 'Cause it's a HOT TOPIC in life. I've been thinking about this a lot. Especially given this year's presidential race and the disparity between the two candidates and their views on teenage pregnancy, birth control and a woman's right-to-choose. Sexual intercourse has become so politicized. And it's pretty much the most natural activity human beings can engage in, besides eating and pooping. I just don't understand it. I mean, I do, but I wish things were different. I'm a mother of a very young daughter. I don't want her to grow up. I don't want her to have sex. I don't want her to smoke or drive or drink or get hurt or be mean or dress slutty or see bad movies or be bored. But that's just irrational. She will grow up. She will have sex. She will try recreational drugs. She will fall in love and get hurt. At least once, I'm sure. But as long as I know that she's making clear and healthy decisions, that she's being safe and not putting herself into compromising positions, that she's with people who care about her and whom she cares about, then having sex is not going to send her on the road to ruin. In fact, I'd feel a lot more comfortable with my teenage daughter having safe and mutually-consenting sex with someone she cared about than her driving a car or being a passenger with an inexperienced driver. So there. And I decided to include my first experience with sex in the book 'cause it happened — I had sex on my 17th birthday! (Oops. I think I changed it to my 18th birthday in the book. Sorry, Mom.)

YPB: Your other books were not necessarily written for young adults. How was writing for a teen audience different from your other writing experiences?

AL: I thought that writing for a teen audience was going to be a lot different than writing for an adult audience. I was wrong. I never compromised my voice or tried to "age down." Teenagers today are very sophisticated, in terms of their intellect and their worldview. There seemed to me to be no reason to edit myself. As long as I wrote about issues and situations that were specific to the teenage experience, I found that I could write in my own (adult) voice and it worked.

YPB: What's next for Anita Liberty? What are you currently working on?

AL: I'm currently in the process of developing a series of webisodes based on THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. I'm also trying to figure out another YA book to pitch. I'm continuing to develop half-hour pilots for television. I just moved out to Los Angeles, so I'm having a lot of lunch meetings. I'm trying to stop biting my nails. And I'm getting really good at Text Twist and WordScraper.

YPB: Thank you very much. I so enjoyed CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE and can't wait to hear about your next project.