I had the honor today of lunching with a fave YA librarian–one of the conference-going, planner types. I have no idea how these folks do so much. Definitely warriors for the cause. We talked a bit about how far Native American children’s/YAs are lagging behind books representing other groups in terms of reflecting modern life. Light-a-candle kind of talk, but still concerned. Problem is, our numbers are small, and there’s no quick fix for that. Only option is to cultivate up-and-comers and encourage friends from other communities to take an interest. We also talked about Julie Anne Peters latest, LUNA (Little Brown, 2004), which may be the first YA with a transgendered character. Still reading TOO BIG A STORM by Marsha Qualey (Dial, 2004). Thinking again about talking to Lisa Firkle about doing a major redesign on my site. Past time to take it to the next level, past time for a change.