I guess we've moved past celebrity picture books

I've gotten used to seeing, expecting, celebrity picture books.  Jamie Lee Curtis, Madonna, John Lithgow, etc., everyone wanted to get in on the picture book industry.  How hard can it be to write 32 pages, right?

Well, now they're encroaching on a territory even more near and dear to my heart, and I have mixed feelings about it.  I didn't know what to expect when I heard Lauren Conrad would be "writing" YA.  But then, for my teen readers, we ordered signed copies of her first book when she came to a nearby bookstore for a signing.  Clearly, there's a bit of a learning curve, because she signed the inside cover of the book, not the title page, where authors are supposed to sign.  As we all know, her first book was an instant best-seller, the next one too, and now it seems that every publisher wants to find their YA celebrity author.  I was surprised to hear when Hilary Duff landed a deal with Simon & Schuster.  We'll wait to see how that one pans out.  I'm afraid Miss Duff may not have the same audience she had years ago, and that a stint on the low-ratings (but admittedly, fun) Gossip Girl does not compare to having her own TV show, a la Lauren Conrad, and constant presence in celeb-focused magazines.  Then news came that husband-wife team from the Decemberists were writing a middle grade series (Harper Collins). Okay, I'll take that seriously.  I mean, Colin Meloy's got writing experience from songwriting, his wife is an illustrator, and oh right, the guy that does their band's artwork also did the covers for the Mysterious Benedict Society books.

But then I hear in the news today that Tyra Banks has landed a deal with Delacorte (an imprint of Random House), to pen a 3-book YA fantasy series.  As Seth and Amy would say, REALLY?!?!

Okay, it doesn't totally blow my mind that Miss Tyra might want to get into the YA action, but a fantasy series.  REALLY!?!  Let it be known that Tyra has already found interest from studios about turning her series into a movie/movies? but she says, "I'm writing true literature, which can than be adapted into film by Bankable."  Again, I wish I had Seth and Amy here to do the duties.

BUT TRUE LITERATURE.  BY TYRA BANKS.

REALLLLYYYY???

Okay, end of snarky post.  I'll go back to reading my BFYA noms and hanging out with my newly adopted kitteh.