Hubert

=Jennifer Hubert= Jennifer Hubert is a Middle School Librarian at the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. She writes a teen literature blog called Reading Rants. She calls her blog "A group of booklists for those of you teens out there who need a good read, but are wondering if there’s life after Judy Blume and Brian Jacques." Hubert also contributes regularly to Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, TimeOut New York Kids, and Amazon.com. She has also written a book called //Reading Rants! A Guide to Books that Rock.//

Hubert's blog includes several booklists, such as Graphic Fantastic and Teen Tearjerkers. These categories allow teens to easily follow genres that they know they like or explore new ones that they may have not read before. Hubert also offers her readers a chance to respond by leaving comments on each review that she posts. This provides teens with the chance to discuss what they're reading, get new ideas or recommendations from their peers, and have a voice in an online community. All of these things are great ways to promote reading interest.

I think Reading Rants is a well-written and comprehensive review of young adult literature that will appeal to teens and inform parents and educators. Hubert's webpage is designed to engage teens by identifying with them. Hubert shares many of her own teenage reading memories, as well as her favorite music, movies and TV shows. All of these qualities make her seem authoratative yet approachable to teens. I think Hubert is doing an invaluable service to teens and thier parents, teachers, and librarians by encouraging reading throughout a lifetime. [mel]