unadulterated.us

So, uh, hi. I changed the name of my blog.

I mean, come on, "Pink Me" was always kind of dumb. The day I decided to spin all the children's book review posts off my (ahem) other blog, I had to quickly come up with a name that was short and memorable (having learned a valuable lesson from that other blog, whose name is 25 letters long and includes at least one difficult-to-spell word). I named Pink Me after my hair color at the time. I guess it could have been worse.

 

Giant 13-year-old boy voluntarily reading a picture book is on board with the name change. Or at least agrees, "Yeah, Pink Me was kind of stupid."

WHAT IS UNADULTERATED?

But six years and 770 blog posts later, it's time for a more meaningful name (or rather, a name with any meaning at all), and Unadulterated is it. I like it. It means pure and undiluted, and Pink Me has always been reviews and very little else. It's also a dumb pun. As in... I review un-adult books?

What is more, I've been working in the public library for more than a decade now, and reading and reviewing kids' and teen fiction for almost as long. I have formed opinions. UNADULTERATED is they. They appear on this blog UNADULTERATED. Waffle-free. Un-mealy-mouthed. With occasional swearing.

UNADULTERATED.US is not affiliated with my employer (which I never identify) and I don't soft-pedal my observations out of respect for my corporate pals (any pals I have in publishing must love me despite my big mouth).

Choosing a new name for Pink Me has caused me to think about not only what I write and how I write it, but how I work, and my attitudes about kids and reading. And you know what? I'm pretty damn comfortable with UNADULTERATED.

Unadulterated is the steely glint I get in my eye when I start a new teen sci-fi novel and all the girls in it are healers and babysitters. Unadulterated is the ribbon of resolve that threads through my spine when I meet a parent who insists that his child only select books that are "challenging" or "not junk." My belief in the ability of untrammelled pleasure reading to improve skills and enrich lives is - say it with me - UNADULTERATED.

 

 

2008 flashback: some of the kids I often shared books with back then.

WHY IS IT .US?

Well, I was going for .com, of course. Or .net, like parenthetical.net. (Parenthetical was completely my inspiration for allowing myself to consider adjectives by the way - thanks Sam!)

But some Indiana basement-dweller bought unadulterated dot com in like 2002 and has been sitting on it ever since. Won't accept a penny below $4500 - I assume he's holding out for a porn site. Lord knows kidlitters don't have that kind of money. I spent $21.00 to find all that out and it nearly killed me. Not the basement-dweller part. Please. I'm a librarian. You give me a corporate name and I will find a home address, look it up in the tax database for that state, AND look at the place on Google Street View. 

I'd just like to go on record as saying I would NEVER do that to YOU. 

ANYWAY. Making lemonade! I decided that the .US announces the inclusivity of this site! It is US who are unabashed and unfiltered! We ALL have opinions that we fiercely hold and animatedly debate! And here we do it.

 

 

Same kids in 2014: she's the youngest performer in the Baltimore Rock Opera Society And she can kayak circles around you. She's the towhead looking at the camera in 2008. 

 

DOES PINK ME STILL WORK?

Yes. No links or feeds need to be updated. But all of the Pink Me content will also appear at unadulterated.us. It's easier to type.

 

A picture book roundup from Feb 2008. I see Peter Brown's Chowder, Iggy Peck, Jacqueline Jules, and Englebert Sneem!

IT'S NOT AN END BUT A BEGINNING

I'm going to end this post with a paragraph that has lived on the About Pink Me page for many years. It's a paraphrase of the best speech made by Crash Davis, the last likeable character Kevin Costner ever played, in the only baseball movie I have willingly watched more than once. 

I believe in the word, the picture, the rhyme, the cover of a children's book, the illustrated endpaper, nonfiction, illustrated poetry, I believe that the novels of Susan Cooper are sheer, unadulterated genius. I believe more middle grade chapter books should feature nonwhite main characters. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing celebrity-penned picture books and the unreliable narrator (I'm lying about that). I believe in the audio book, teen romance fiction that is not necessarily about vampires, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in reading for pleasure to, with, and around children.

 

Comments

[Ms. Yingling]

Good name. I'm a bit jealous, actually. Nine years ago, I didn't think too hard about my blog name, but it could be worse! At least when my students do a search for my name, my blog comes up and they think I'm famous! Will continue to enjoy your posts with the new blog title!

[Lisa]

I like it, especially the "dumb pun" aspect. Best wishes!

[Daryl]

Good-bye Pink Me (a fine name in my opinion), welcome Unadulterated (suits you to a T). Just keep bloggin', friend.