Are you a readergirlz girl?

On March 01, 2007, four leaders of Young Adult Literature asserted their influence in the world of female empowerment. Readergirlz, the heartfelt project of writers Justina Chen Headley, Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, and Lorie Ann Grover, went live on March 01, honoring National Women’s History Month and celebrating the female youth of today—tomorrow’s women.

“Our world needs more gutsy girls,” proclaimed the readergirlz divas and, instead of simply talking about it, these motivated, dedicated women did something to make it happen:

Mechele R. Dillard: How did the four of you—Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, Lorie Ann Grover, and Justina Chen Headley—find each other for this project?

Justina Chen Headley: When I was out on my book tour last spring, I made an effort to visit urban areas (high schools & community centers) that couldn’t otherwise afford an author. I was shocked and heartbroken—all these incredibly insightful kids with impoverished libraries and schools. I knew that I could figure out a way to provide teens—regardless of their socio-economic situation—with a rich author experience.

So I approached three critically acclaimed and philanthropically minded YA authors—Dia Calhoun, Janet Lee Carey, and Lorie Ann Grover—to start readergirlz. And here we are, ready to launch on March 1 for National Women’s History Month!

MRD: Readergirlz “celebrates books featuring strong female characters, connects girls with stories that will change the way they see themselves, and inspires girls to have the guts to make history of their own.” How will readergirlz approach and achieve these objectives?

Dia Calhoun: First, readergirlz will feature YA books with strong female characters, and we look forward to discussing them in our forums on MySpace—teens can talk with each other and with the author about the characters. Our suggested book party—outlined in each issue each month—is another way to celebrate the book and character.

Second, good literature changes the way you see yourself. I know that for me personally, seeing how strong female characters in books face their challenges and find their dreams always opens up new possibilities in my own mind and heart about ways that I can deal with my own life. I hope that will be true for teen readers as well.

Third, as far as inspiring girls to have the guts to make history of their own, readergirlz hopes to do that by encouraging girls to engage in community service projects related to each book. We hope the books will stir readers’ passions and inspire them to do great things.

MRD: What characteristics define a strong, gutsy, readergirlz female?

Janet Lee Carey: A gutsy girl in literature is someone who faces the challenges the story throws at her (usually pretty tough ones). She takes risks, faces failure and success, learns to rely upon herself in ways she never imagined, and discovers who her real friends are. By the end of the story, she steps out into the world a stronger, gutsier girl.

As for our readergirlz members, we hope and expect no less from them. We know teen girls today have some tough choices ahead of them. We also know how smart and strong they are. We believe each and every one of them is a gutsy girl, and we’re here to help them with great literature and great community service ideas.

MRD: There will be a new book selected and celebrated each month on the readergirlz Web site. What will be the criteria for this selection? How will this monthly event be celebrated?

Lorie Ann Grover: Right now we are polling librarians, bloggers, and readergirlz themselves for great recommendations. We'd like to present different genres, perspectives, and themes that will inspire readergirlz everywhere. Of course, we are looking for the highest quality literature as well.

The monthly choice will be announced at our MySpace (www.myspace.com/readergirlz) and website (www.readergirlz.com). The author will pose discussion questions and provide an interview as well as fabulous ideas for hosting a readergirlz book party, down to the menu, playlist, and decorations. A community service project will be offered to motivate readergirlz to action. Finally, we can’t wait to dialogue about the book at our MySpace Group site—groups.myspace.com/readergirlz. There, readergirlz will be able to share their impressions of the book and tell everyone how they implemented the community service project.

MRD: Books selected as readergirlz titles will have “community service tie-ins.” Can you give Suite101.com readers an example of such a tie-in?

JCH: Sure! The first featured book happens to be mine, Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies), which includes an ugly racist incident. One of my favorite websites is www.tolerance.org, an organization that funds grants specifically for teens to shake up social boundaries at high schools. So we’ll challenge readergirlz to think of creative ways to break down social, racial, and socio-economic lines at their own schools—and to apply for Mix It Up grants so they can impact not only themselves, but also their classmates.

Now, take this and multiply it by 12 books and 12 community service projects over a year, and you can just imagine all the wonderful ways we hope to activate teen girls to make a difference, whether it’s encouraging healthy body images or healthy minds or self-acceptance.

MRD: How personally involved do each of you hope to be with readergirlz?

DC: We are each of us—Janet, Lorie Ann, Justina, and me—very personally involved with readergirlz. We are all working hard and passionately! We’re all active on our MySpace site. We’ll all be hosting other authors who appear on the list. We’re all going on the readergirlz tour to schools, libraries, and bookstores. We all have ongoing roles and responsibilities. And we’re all still trying to keep writing at the same time!

MRD: Will readergirlz focus solely on authors who write Young Adult Literature?

JLC: Oh, I’m so glad you used the word literature! Yes, we're exclusively featuring YA literature because we support great teen reads. The readergirlz divas are committed to choosing books from any genre as long as they're good literature and feature at least one gutsy girl. Lots of teen librarians and girls have been popping over to our MySpace site and website to list their favorite gutsy girls in lit, so we have a great selection to choose from.

MRD: Will Readergirlz focus solely on female authors?

DC: Readergirlz will focus solely on female characters, not on female authors. Men can write wonderful female characters, and we hope to include them.

MRD: This site has been established by four award-winning, critically-acclaimed authors; will the site offer advice for young girls who have dreams of establishing their own writing careers?

LAG: Right now we are focused on reading and discussing great books. However, if we begin to hear back from the readergirlz that they are interested in writing as well, we may very well offer up guides and tips for writing.

***********************************************************************************************************************

The readergirlz divas will be featured on Teen Fiction at Suite101.com over the next four weeks, including interviews with Justina Chen Headley (Nothing But the Truth (And a Few White Lies), Little & Brown Young Readers, 2006), Dia Calhoun (Avielle of Rhia, Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, 2006), Lorie Ann Grover (On Pointe, Margaret K. McElderry, 2004) and Janet Lee Carey (The Beast of Noor, Atheneum, 2006). Learn more about these talented, dedicated women and their upcoming projects by checking out Teen Fiction at Suite101.com each Friday—Justina Chen Headley will lead this awesome lineup of readergirlz divas on March 09, 2007. Don't be late!

In the meantime, click over to the readergirlz official Web site, or check out the readergirlz MySpace. Take a gutsy leap and begin making your own powerful history, just like the readergirlz divas.

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds