Introducing Miss Erin

She appeared on my blog as a sprite—this charm-struck fairy in red, this voice of reason. Miss Erin. She'd wing in, then wing off: I never quite knew where she went.

Then I began to follow her blog. I began to understand that Miss Erin Marie is (now) a rising senior who reads widely and well, who aspires to a career on the stage, who loves poems so much she'll often post one (my kind of blogger, absolutely), and whose voice is so trusted that she was named the only teen reader on the esteemed Cybils Awards panel.

http://misserinmarie.blogspot.com/

I wanted to know even more about her. I asked her these questions:

As a widely respected teen reviewer, you were asked to join the Cybils Award panel for 2007. Go back to a time when you were just framing your presence on the web. What were your goals, and who did you hope would find you?

When I first started my blog, I didn't think anyone would ever read it other than a few friends and relatives. Once I realized there was a pretty amazing community of book lovers out there, I started focusing what I wrote to be a bit less random, and a bit more book-oriented.
Tell us about your blog: What it is meant to achieve and how you've crafted it.

The purpose of my blog is mainly to share with people - share my thoughts on books, share poetry (some is original, most isn't), share interviews with authors, articles - anything that I want to say.

You had a poem about fame on your blog not so long ago — a look at how your idea of what the word means has changed as your own presence in the world has expanded. What are your life aspirations? What is the ideal path for one such as you, who acts, dances, sings, loves Shakespeare, and reads and reads and reads?

What a big question...life aspirations. To be a good friend. To be a happy and content person in whatever I do. To act my heart out - whether it be in community theater or major motion pictures. To read, write, sing and travel. To get married. To find beauty in all that I see.

I have been delighted, but never surprised, by the caliber of young people who are out here making the web their own, and who are together shaping American culture. Sometimes I'm not entirely certain that adults are giving your generation all the credit it deserves. How would you define your own peers? Are they as engaged as you in literature and the arts? Do they understand and celebrate your passion?

YES! All of my friends love to read, and a good many of them enjoy writing. All of them love art - whether it be the kind that hangs in museums, or movies, or photography, or theatre, or music. And even if not quite all of them understand why acting is such a big deal to me, they all support it wholeheartedly!

I was dismayed, as I made clear in recent blogs, by a NYT article that suggested that female teen readers are primarily obsessed with brand names—that this is the stuff of daily conversation. Tell me, Miss E. Is it true?

Some girls probably are, but I doubt they're the majority. Fashion's one thing (I like fashion!), but I can't imagine having a conversation about brand names with my friends...we all agree that there's so many more important things in life than who's wearing what. Er, rather, who's wearing who.

You read Shakespeare. You also read Harry Potter. Do books need a YA label after all? When you pick up a book that is designated YA, what do you expect to find that you won't find in a so-called adult book?

A teen protagonist. That's really the only thing I expect differently - I still expect/hope for a good story, well-rounded characters, and good writing, no matter what type of book I pick up. As for whether books need a YA label...I don't have a problem with that, and I like that there's a section of books in a bookstore that I can go to for protagonists who are my age. What I have a problem with is when people look down at the YA label, and think less of a book because of where it's shelved. A good story is a good story. Period.

How will you craft your coming year?

Well, this'll be my senior year of high school, so I'll be focusing on the classes I need to graduate. I have one play lined up to act in after the one I'm in currently, and who knows, maybe there'll be another. I'd like to get my driver's license, and maybe a job. I want to spend a lot of time with friends. Travel a little, perhaps. Take some acting classes. We'll see what happens...I'm open for adventure.

Thank you, Beth!