Pretty Sweet Giveaway (and a chance to talk about gratitude for books)

Beth Revis, author of Across the Universe (read my review here) and the upcoming sequel, A Million Suns, is very generously hosting a contest giving away 19 signed YA titles.  The theme of the giveaway is 'books I am grateful for," so in order to win, she is asking bloggers to post on a book that they are grateful for.  Click on the image above to check out the contest and enter for yourself.

Since this is a YA giveaway, I am going to talk about my teenage experience.  In my teen years, I would have to say that I was most grateful for Judy Blume.  And, in particular, I was grateful for Are You There God, It's Me Margaret?  That book really helped me feel like I was growing up and like there were other people out there who had experienced and seemed to understand the awkwardness of teenage girlhood.  I think that there are lots of great YA options nowadays, but I didn't feel like that when I was a teenager.  Certainly there were great books for teens, but not shelves and shelves at the bookstore.  So, I am grateful to Judy Blume (and Francesca Lia Block) for ushering me into a more adult world, and away from the Babysitter's Club (which I totally loved, don't get me wrong).