LISNews: Power Influencer, Passion Catalyst

From The Onion:

SANDUSKY, OH—In a moment of confusion, area teenager Eric Dooley briefly walked into a local teen outreach center Tuesday, a place that neither he nor any of his teenaged friends would ever knowingly enter.

"Oh, geez. I'm sorry," the 15-year-old said as he quickly assessed the four battered foosball tables, outdated PlayStation console, overly friendly counselor, and garish orange and purple paint scheme—all intended to appeal to him—before exiting the facility in less than six seconds. "This isn't where I'm supposed to be. Sorry. Sorry."

Dooley reportedly joined a gang later that afternoon.

St. Paul Public Library's "Read Brave" program is a One Read-like campaign with an added goal of youth empowerment. SPPL is encouraging teens to read A.S. King's Everybody See The Ants--a YA novel addressing bullying--and to create art in response to it, in preparation for an author visit from King in late February. Bonus: participating teens get a chance to board Lady Gaga's Born Brave tour bus, which will make a special stop before heading to her February 6th St. Paul concert.

Believe it or not, Generation Y might just be the most bibliophilic generation alive, according to a new consumer study. Gen Y – those born between 1979 and 1989 – spent the most money on books in 2011, knocking the longtime book-buying leaders, baby boomers, from the top spot, according to the 2012 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Review.

Uncovering YA Covers
Starting with The Elevensies and this Goodreads list of 2011 YA releases, Michelle Andelman looked at 900+ covers, focusing only on US releases within the 2011 calendar year.* Originally, Michelle Andelman planned to count every self-published, indie, Big 6, or other book on the list... but somewhere in the 600s Michelle Andelman started losing my mind and decided to keep stats only on presses whose acquisitions are announced in Publisher's Marketplace. This still left her with 624 "traditionally published" books to count.