A blog for young readers (and YA lovers) from the Providence Athenaeum.
The Providence Athenaeum is a unique library and cultural center in the heart of Providence, Rhode Island. Growing out of the Providence Library Company (fourth library in the United States), the Athenaeum as we know it was formed in 1836. Our handsome building on the corner of Benefit and College was completed in 1838.
We are one of the few surviving membership libraries in the nation. Student memberships are available - visit or call for more information.
This blog is updated by one of our circulation assistants (and YA enthusiast), RJ. Follow us to find out what's new in our Young Adult corner, or just for a daily dose of literary shenanigans.
You can follow the Ath on twitter or facebook. Our catalog and much more information about us can be found at our homepage.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Who Will Own the Night Tournament: Round Five Winner!
It’s the unicorn! Sorry Team Zombie, but when it comes to a straight up showdown, of course the mighty and elegant unicorn was going to take out the shuffling brain-eaters. The only hope the zombie had was biting the unicorn and infecting it, and even if unicorns were susceptible to zombieism, the unicorn would just become the best zombie ever, in which case it still wins.
Not that I’m biased or anything…
Check back tomorrow for Round Six (featuring two deadly creatures who may or may not exist), or come into the Athenaeum to see the full bracket of contenders and vote in person.
And if you haven’t already, check out our summer Staff Picks on the Own The Night theme!
8 Reasons Why Unicorns are Better than Zombies
In case you are unsure how to vote in the latest round of our Who Will Own the Night Tournament, YA author Holly Black offers eight reasons to join Team Unicorn. This is one of the posts that formally started the zombie/unicorn feud, and Black does make some excellent points: “Unicorns are hard core. They’re the natural enemy of lions. C’mon, they have swords on their frikkin’ heads.”
Who Will Own the Night Tournament, Round Five: Zombie vs. Unicorn
In celebration of the 2012 summer reading theme across Rhode Island, Own the Night, every Monday our blog will feature two night-dwellers or otherwise creepy characters facing each other down. Vote on one below, or come on in to the Athenaeum to vote in person and see the full bracket of all the contenders!
The contenders this week are inspired by the whimsical YA anthology with a very straightforward name: Zombies Vs. Unicorns.
Unicorns are known for being beautiful, but they’re a lot of substance behind all that rainbow-and-glitter style. According to European folklore, their horns are imbued with incredible healing and purifying powers. Their fierceness and intelligence made them impossible to hunt – the only way to capture a unicorn was if one should choose to appear to a maiden.
The term “zombie” originated in Haiti, referring to a person brought back from the dead or in a mindless trance. Horror and fantasy literature has transformed the walking dead into a monster with singular purpose – consume. In their quest for flesh, the zombies of fiction can spread the plague or curse that transformed them and multiply rapidly. The unicorn might dispose of one zombie easily, but one zombie never stays just one for long…
If you’ve read the collection edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, you know which team many popular YA authors are on… but that’s all about which stories are best. When it turns into a brawl, who’s left standing? Who will own the night?
What’s New: Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Currently on the New YA Bookshelf is Zombies vs. Unicorns, a very entertaining collection featuring some of the YA world’s bestselling and most beloved authors. From editor Holly Black’s official website:
It’s a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths—for good and evil—of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?
My personal favorites from each category were Diana Peterfreund’s The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn and Libba Bray’s Prom Night. This anthology joins the Athenaeum just in time for the RI 2012 Summer Reading theme, Own the Night. Visit the Ath and devour a few stories!
