Get ready to "Read for your Life"

Many have been buzzing about the changing of guards for the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature for some time now (Fuse #8, Mother Reader and A Year of Reading among them). While some people leaked the information on the interwebz last night (I'm looking at you NYTimes!), Katherine Patterson was officially named the 2nd National Ambassador for Young People's Literature this morning.

First and foremost, congratulations! Not only to Ms. Patterson, but to everyone who had a hand in selecting her because you did a phenomenal job. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak at the Baker and Taylor CATS Publisher preview this past November and she was delightful and showed that she will do much more than step up to the plate.

Jon Scieszka spent his time as Ambassador promoting the love of reading and motivating reluctant readers to enjoy reading. What will Katherine Patterson do? She has already started her Ambassadorial duties declaring that "Read for your Life" is going to be her driving force. What this entails we will find out in more detail in the coming weeks. If her time prior to receiving this honor is anything to go by, it can only be good for young people's literature. Shelf Talker has written up a fabulous summary of Ms. Patterson's numerous qualifications for the post and links to the aforementioned NYTimes article that is definitely work checking out for a more detailed look at Ms. Patterson's accomplishments.