YALSA’s 2013 Hub Reading Challenge Begins!
Published February 3, 2013
It’s now February 3 here on the East Coast of the US, so it’s time for YALSA’s 2013 Hub Reading Challenge to begin! We’re hoping the challenge will push you to read/listen to more great books than you would have — and to discover something new in a genre or category you might not have tried.
Challenge objective
Read/listen to 25 of the 83 titles on our list of eligible titles [pdf] to finish the challenge. The list includes YA novels, audiobooks, graphic novels, and books for adults, so there’s plenty to choose from. Bonus objective: read/listen to all 83 titles to conquer the challenge!
Challenge rewards
Beyond experiencing the best of the best that YA lit has to offer, everyone who finishes the challenge will be invited to submit a response to a book they read for the challenge. The response can be text, graphics, audio, video and will be published on The Hub. Furthermore, everyone who finishes the challenge will be entered into a random drawing for our grand prize: a YALSA tote bag full of 2012 and 2013 YA lit! (If the winner is a teacher or librarian or something similar, we’ll also include a few professional development titles.)
Challenge conquerors will receive an elite digital badge to show off how well-read they are.
Challenge guidelines
- The challenge begins at 12:01AM EST on February 3 and ends at 11:59PM EST on June 22.
- Eligible books are the YA titles that were named winners or honor titles for the Schneider Family Book Award and the Stonewall Book Award and those on YALSA’s 2013 Best of the Best list (2013 winners and honor books for the Alex Award, Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, Margaret A. Edwards Award, Michael L. Printz Award, Odyssey Award, and William C. Morris Award, as well as the 2013 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks, Best Fiction, Great Graphic Novels, Popular Paperbacks, and Quick Picks. Middle grade titles recognized by these lists and awards are not included in the list of eligible titles for this challenge.
- Format matters: a title that has been recognized for both the print version and the audiobook version can be both read and listened to and count as two books, but a book that has won multiple awards or appears on multiple lists in the same format only counts as one title. If a book was recognized as a print version, listening to the audiobook does not count.
- Books must be read/listened to (both begun and finished) within the challenge time period. If you’ve already read/listened to a title, you must re-read/listen to it for it to count. The only exception is for titles you read for the Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge; you may count those toward your 25 titles.
- Just about everyone who doesn’t work for ALA is eligible to participate. Yes, non-ALA/YALSA members are eligible. Yes, teens are eligible. Yes, non-US residents/citizens are eligible. (More eligibility questions? Leave a comment or email us.)
- Once you finish the challenge, we’ll contact you with details about creating and publishing your response.
- The grand prize winner will be selected by 11:59pm EST on June 24. The winner will be notified via email.
How to participate
- Comment here announcing your intention to participate. If you’re going to be tracking what you read/listen to on your blog or on Goodreads, LibraryThing, YouTube or some other site, include a link to your blog/shelf/channel/profile in your comment. If you’re not tracking your reading online, keep a list some other way.
- You may “register” by leaving a comment here and starting your reading any time during the challenge period.
- Every Saturday, we’ll publish a check-in post. Leave a comment with everything you’ve read/listened to since the last check-in post. If you’ve reviewed those titles somewhere online, include links to those reviews! Otherwise, let us know what you thought of the books in the comments.
- If you’ve finished the challenge since the last check-in post, fill out the embedded form with your name and contact information. This is how you’ll receive your Finisher’s Badge, how you’ll be contacted about your reader’s response, and how you’ll be entered into the drawing for our grand prize. Please fill out the form only once.
- If you’ve conquered the challenge, let us know in the comments and we’ll send you your Conqueror’s Badge.
Sound good? If you have any questions or problems, let us know in the comments or via email. Otherwise, grab this Participant’s Badge, put it on your blog or in your email signature, and get reading!
You may also like:
- 2013 Hub Reading Challenge final check-in
- 2013 Hub Reading Challenge: Our Winner!
- 2013 Hub Reading Challege check in #10
- 2013 Hub Reading Challenge check-in #7
- 2013 Hub Reading Challenge check in #17
- Bio
- Latest Posts
Gretchen Kolderup
Latest posts by Gretchen Kolderup (see all)
- Librarians Love: Coming of Age Stories for Male Readers - December 1, 2014
- Librarians Love: Books by Non-US Authors - October 9, 2014
- Librarians Love: Contemporary Romance Beyond Best Sellers - September 2, 2014
Share this:
- Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
Published in Awards and Selected Lists and Contests & Challenges
- #bestofya
- #hubchallenge
- 2013 hub reading challenge
- reading challenge
391 Comments
I just couldn’t wait to start reading, so I stayed up til midnight! I’ll be tracking my progress on Goodreads here: www.goodreads.com/user/show/5677039-chelsey
This sounds great! I’ve already read several titles on the list (and started two more within the last couple weeks) but looking forward to checking out more of these award winners & nominees.
I’ll be setting up a GoodReads shelf to keep track. www.goodreads.com/user/show/4965711-erin
I’ve read a few of these, but I had recently made a personal goal to read more of these titles, so I love that you guys are having this challenge. Count me in!
Not sure yet how I’m going to be tracking my books.
I’m in.
I participated for the first time last year and it was a great challenge. I think the hardest part was my decision to only read stuff I hadn’t read before – that narrowed my selections a lot!
I’m keeping track on Goodreads.com:
www.goodreads.com/review/list/3565403?shelf=yalsa-book-challenge-2013
Oooh! This sounds like fun! Count me it…I already have some of these on my TBR pile, anyway. 8-]
Can’t wait to start reading! I’ll be setting up a shelf on Goodreads too!
Okay, I’m going to give this a try. I already did the Morris/Nonfiction awards challenge, so thankfully I already have ten done. Happy reading, everyone!
Oh, and I’ll probably be tweeting my progress @srhlib – probably with the hashtag #hubchallenge again?
Yes! If you’re talking about the challenge on Twitter, use #hubchallenge. :)
I’ll be keeping track on this Goodreads shelf www.goodreads.com/review/list/3499822?shelf=2013-hub-reading-challenge
Thanks for the challenge.
Can’t wait to get started. A bunch of these are already on their way to me from the library and to my Kindle.
I’m in! I will be keeping track on this goodreads shelf and will also post on my blog
Can’t wait!
I’m in!
Ready, set, read! I’m excited to start the challenge. I’ll post longer updates on my blog, Writing ‘Bout Reading and on a Librarything Shelf 2013 Hub Reading Challenge
I completed the Morris and Nonfiction reading challenges and there are a couple of posts about that on my blog. Those books are on their own LibraryThing shelf, Morris/Nonfiction Reading Challenge
I’ve been recruiting at work and have four co-workers who have agreed to read with me. Now the question is if I can get them to comment here. If not, I’ll post summaries of our group effort myself.
You’ll excuse me, I now have to go start reading!