Thanks to cloudscome for mentioning Poem in Your Pocket Day. I researched it and discovered the PIYP website:

In honor of April's National Poetry Month, New York City is hosting the 6th annual Poem in Your Pocket Day (PIYP) on Thursday, April 17, 2008. This series of events is intended to celebrate the versatility and inspiration of poetry by encouraging New Yorkers of all ages to carry a poem in their pockets to share with friends, classmates, coworkers and family. Readings across the city throughout the day will culminate in a public poetry open-mike session for kids and adults in Bryant Park at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan.

This year, Poem in Your Pocket Day and Support Teen Literature Day are the same day, April 17th. Perhaps you New Yorkers will attend a PIYP event, then leave behind a book as part of Operation Teen Book Drop!

I am rocking the drop - are you?

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YALSA and readergirlz are partners in Operation Teen Book Drop (TBD). To celebrate April 17th, 2008, Support Teen Literature Day, we've organized a massive, coordinated release of 10,000 publisher-donated YA books into the top pediatric hospitals across the country!

We invite you to celebrate Support Teen Lit Day with us. Donate one of your own books to your community, then join our amazing online book bash, The TBD Post-Op Party, the night of April 17th.

Donate a Book

First, download and print the appropriate readergirlz/YALSA/TBD bookplate. Paste it into the book you plan to donate.



If you are an author, download this plate.
If you are a reader, download this plate.

Blog about Operation TBD and place the I Rock the Drop icon on your site. Get the icon at http://www.readergirlz.com/tbd.html - Simply cut and paste the code we've provided into your blog or at your site, and the result will look like this!



Talk About It

At the readergirlz MySpace group forum (http://groups.myspace.com/readergirlz) look for the threads entitled TBD rgz! and TBD Authors! Post a reply in the thread that applies to you, and participate in other TBD threads as they are posted in the forum.

Drop a Book on April 17th

Leave one copy of your novel, with a TBD bookplate pasted inside, in a teen gathering spot in your community. Place it where the book will be found, taken, and read. (i.e. a coffee shop, the park, your school, a bus stop.) Imagine the fun someone will have when they find your donation! This is the same day all 10,000 publisher-donated books will be dropped in pediatric hospitals across the country, and it is the same day authors and readergirlz worldwide will release their own books into their communities just as you have.

Join the TBD Post Op Party on April 17th

We invite all readergirlz and authors to join our online two-hour book party hosted at the readergirlz MySpace group forum on April 17th, Support Teen Literature Day, from 6 PM - 8 PM Pacific / 9 PM - 11 PM Eastern. The chat will be in a thread titled TBD Post Op Party. The readergirlz divas will be giving away books and prizes, and chatting with teens and authors from around the world.

Operation TBD has special meaning to the readergirlz divas. After researching pediatric oncology wards for her novel GIRL OVERBOARD, Justina Chen Headley spent a year purchasing autographed YA novels to donate to her local Children's Hospital, specifically because most hospitals do not have comfort objects for teens. Lorie Ann Grover (ON POINTE) and Dia Calhoun (AVIELLE OF RHIA) personally know the healing power of stories during hospital stays, since they both live with chronic illness. Mitali Perkins (WHITE HOUSE RULES) has recently joined the team and is eager to support a readergirlz/YALSA special project.

We all know that books give hope. Together, let's show our love of teen lit and ROCK THE DROP.

Read, reflect, and reach out!

~ Dia Calhoun, Lorie Ann Grover, Justina Chen Headley, and Mitali Perkins (readergirlz divas / authors)

TBD Recommended Reads

The postergirlz advisory council recommend a variety of titles for teens dealing with health issues. Their list of picks is split into two sections: Under Redefining Normal, the book characters are facing similar trials themselves or their friends or family have health concerns. Escape Reads are for all teens who need a moment to journey to another place and refuel their own energy and hope. The readergirlz divas and postergirlz hope that many find comfort and encouragement through these works of literature.

YALSA librarians selected books all about teens whose lives are affected by illness and injury, either their own or a loved one's. Some of these books are realistic fiction, some nonfiction, some historical fiction, some science fiction and fantasy. By reading these books, ill and injured teens, or those with sick family members or friends, will know that they are not alone in their battles against disease.

Download the list of books recommended by the postergirlz

Download the list of books recommended by YALSA

Download, print, and share the TBD bookmarks



Official Press Release

For more information contact:
Sara Easterly, Publicist for readergirlz
Sara Easterly & Friends
sara@saraeasterly.com
206-632-8588

RECORD NUMBERS OF YOUNG-ADULT BOOKS WILL BE DONATED TO TEEN PATIENTS THURSDAY AS PART OF READERGIRLZ AND YALSA LITERACY PROGRAM
“Operation TBD” puts 10,000 books into North America’s top pediatric hospitals in celebration of Support Teen Literature Day on April 17

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Download the press release (DOC or PDF)

For more on this and other literacy and activism projects, plus recommendations of remarkable books for teens and adults, please visit www.readergirlz.com

Trying to think of a place to drop books? Here are some ideas!

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Please feel free to repost this at your blog.