January 19, 2015 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Recently I was at a school in Harlem, giving my standard presentation of how I became an author and what my work is about, and I found myself at the section on Press Play, which many of the kids had read, and I was nervous to speak about the story’s roots. There, before me, sat […]
October 28, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Yay, it’s Pub Day! And to celebrate the fact that Press Play is out in the world, I’ve created a fun and interactive giveaway. You have the opportunity to win a signed copy of Press Play, as well as this long-sleeve T-shirt. From today, 10/28, through Tuesday, 11/11, you have one job––to create a video. […]
October 16, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Earlier this month it was revealed that the football program at Sayreville in New Jersey was suspended due to allegations that the team was engaging in horrific acts of hazing that included sexually abusing their team mates. Hazing asks – forces, requires – people to do embarrassing or dangerous acts in order for them to […]
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October 10, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
What are you willing to do to belong to a group? That’s what hazing is, being asked to do certain things in order to be admitted into a special group of people like a team, a club, or a sorority or fraternity. Often the things people are asked to do to prove they are worthy […]
August 7, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
I’m a 36-year-old, cisgendered, heterosexual, white male, who writes Young Adult novels that are boy-centric, and I’m bothered by the slim definition of what it means to be a man. I was raised under very stereotypical precepts about manhood, and I was always bothered by them. Instead of watching sports, I read. Shyness overtook bravery. […]
July 9, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
This year at ALA Annual I learned lots of things, met lots of people, and came back with a ton of ideas I wanted to pitch. But in the end, it always comes back to the books for me and I saw lots of great ones. From rain that will kill you to a book […]
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April 2, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
Fifteen years ago, the novel Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson was released. Today, this novel is a classic that still speaks to the heart of teens everywhere. I have teens regularly come in and ask for this book. Speak is the story of Melinda, who has stopped speaking. As a survivor of a sexual assault, Melinda […]
February 19, 2014 by Karen Jensen, MLS
As part of the #SVYALit project, we reached out to author Eric Devine and asked him to write. We wanted to make sure that male voices are heard in the discussion. And he is an awesome writer and teacher. Today he shares with us his experiences of teaching Speak in the classroom. Please note, we […]
August 2, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS
This Week at TLT: We all need to be more aware of what poverty looks like.Jennifer Wills joins us with her thoughts on program themes.Dare you to read this excellent guest post and giveaway with author Eric Devine!This week’s book reviews are A Really Awesome Mess by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin and Boy Nobody […]
July 29, 2013 by Karen Jensen, MLS
I spent a lot of time as a teenager risking my life. And not in some symbolic sense. I put myself in harm’s way on so many occasions that when I tell stories of my youth, someone always says, “I cannot believe you’re still alive.” Neither can I. And I blame the Internet. Really, the […]
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