When the feminist pop culture blog Jezebel launched, it brought a bit of synergy into Lizzie Skurnick‘s life—a high-profile outlet where she could act upon her desire to write about the novels that had had significant impact on her when she was a young reader. The column quickly became popular, and it wasn’t too long before Skurnick and her agent, ICM’s Kate Lee, were talking with Avon about a book. Last week, at an Upper West Side apartment just off Central Park, Skurnick’s friends gathered to celebrate the publication of Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading.
Snacks drawn from children’s and YA literature (e.g., peanut butter cookies as mentioned in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler) were scattered throughout the apartment, as literary bloggers Maud Newton and D.E. Rasso mingled with a cluster of YA authors that included Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson, and Robin Wasserman, along with writers from the “grown-up” literary scene like Julie Klam and Liam Callahan.
We’ve been dipping in and out of the book ever since the party, and even if we weren’t already acquainted with Skurnick through her previous literary blog, we’d be recommending you check it out. Like the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books print spin-off, Beyond Heaving Bosoms, Shelf Discovery takes a serious look at an otherwise critically neglected corner of contemporary English-language literature, but isn’t afraid to have fun while doing so. Our New York readers can find out for themselves Tuesday night, July 28, at the Tribeca Barnes & Noble, where Skurnick will be making an in-store appearance.