The 2020 YA Reading Challenge aims to get bingo in a 5×5 bingo grid, of course by reading YA literature. The bingo row can be any vertical, horizontal or diagonal. If you want, you can even fill in the entire grid! The challenge is organize by book writers @lottareadsbooks @sirkkuwrites @enemmankirjoja and @hennasbooks.
In the challenge, you can fill in one challenge point with one book. You can choose the language you want to read. To participate in the challenge, you must get bingo and then publish a picture on your IG feed (or blog) telling us which books you read and how you got the bingo. The hashtag is #YAlukuhaaste2020.
Remember to also tag the organizers of the challenge
Two gift cards to the Finnish Bookstore will be drawn among all those who get bingo. The challenge will continue until the end of September, so you can participate until September 30, 2020. You can also find detailed instructions in the highlights of the @lottareadsbooks Instagram account.
In August and September, telegram database Lukemo’s Lotta and Heidi will take on the challenge of filling two entire bingo rows. You can follow Lotta and Heidi’s progress and reflections on the books they have read in this regularly updated article and on the Children’s Book Institute’s Instagram account @lkinstituutti.
What is YA?
YA is an abbreviation for Young Adult Literature. The core target group of YA literature is considered to be people aged 12-20. The main character of a YA book is typically 14-19 years old. YA literature includes a wide variety of genres, from romance to science fiction, for example.
The boy as the main character of the book
My novel Moonrise tells the touching story of 17-year-old Joe, who hasn’t seen his older brother Ed in ten years . His brother has been sentenced to death for killing a police officer and is awaiting execution in his cell . When the date is announce, Joe decides to go to Texas to be near his brother during his final days .
While waiting for the Finnish version, sign up for website performance tools I tried to read this in English, but it didn’t work at all. Apparently, my verse novel works for me specifically in Finnish, because this translation by Kaisa Kattelus is really great and nice to read .
I especially liked the description of the family in the book
Joe’s family is poor and broken in many ways , but there have still been love and happy moments in his childhood. These were mostly related to his siblings, and that is why the book is such a harrowing read. Ed’s execution day is approaching every moment and Joe tries everything he can to save his brother. I think the tension , b2c fax anxiety and despair remained until the end .
The book also describes well the unequal structure of American society and the arbitrariness of the police and the judiciary, which is so topical now. In court , Ed’s guilt or innocence is less important than the fact that someone must be held responsible for the death of a white police officer.
At the moment, verse novels are my favorite reading
This latest translation by Sarah Crossan does not disappoint my expectations either. I think the verse form suits the plot of the book and the serious theme of the death penalty particularly well.
A small number of words have managed to capture a powerful emotional response, where sadness, powerlessness and yet somehow hope are simultaneously present. The book touched, spoke to and made you think more broadly about justice and the American legal system, where the most important thing seemed to be finding the right culprit for the crime, not necessarily the right culprit.
