Will You "Rock the Drop" on April 17?

The writing goddesses over at readergirlz have partnered with YALSA to organize the April 17 event Operation Teen Book Drop. The date is no accident; it was handpicked to coincide with this year's Support Teen Literature Day.

Participating YA publishers will — all at once — donate 10,000 books to some of the top pediatric hospitals in North America.

YA novelist and readergirlz co-founder Justine Chen Headley came up with the idea while touring a children's hospital as research for her book Girl Overboard.

Headley says, "I couldn’t help noticing that teen patients didn’t seem to have the comfort objects that the little ones did. As an author, I knew that YA books — books with exceptional characters and fabulous stories — could provide teen patients with some of the escape and inspiration they needed."

If you're a "readergirl" or a YA author, you can participate in Operation TBD by donating a book to the cause. Just download the appropriate bookplate from the readergirlz site, attach it to a favorite YA book you've read/written, and drop it off at a popular teen gathering site on April 17. Leave it where someone will find it!

I love that publishers are so generously giving books to teen patients that just need a break, a little time to themselves. And I absolutely ADORE the thought of readers and authors everywhere releasing great YA books into the environment for a lucky teen to find.

I plan to "Rock the Drop"! Do you?



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FYI for book lovers of all ages: The individual-donation part of the event is reminiscent of the fun perpetuated since 2001 at BookCrossing. Check that out, too, if you like the idea of anonymously putting your favorite reads into the happy hands of random readers. BUT, first things first: Operation TBD.