The Kids Who Ruined Trivia

When I was in 9th grade, my chemistry teacher used to start each class period with a variety of trivia questions. If you raised your hand, were called on, and answered the question correctly, you were given a piece of candy, and a few extra credit questions. We would also come into class with trivia questions for our teacher, and if we could stump him, we got a treat. It was always a super enjoyable time because everyone tried and who doesn't love a nice Reeses peanut butter cup?! After a few weeks of enjoying trivia time, certain classmates of mine would not take their seats, or they would just continue talking and ignore the bell. When this would happen, Mr. Bowman would skip trivia time and go straight to teacher. This happened so many days in a row that all of a sudden he stopped doing it all together, and when we asked him about it he said, "It seemed that a few kids would have rather spent that time talking." That group of 3-4 students ruined it for all of us.

There are not a lot of events that truly bond us YA book bloggers together, but The YA Sisterhood managed to create a variety of tournaments (Crush,Heroine and the yet to be had Villian) that brought us all together. It was truly a remarkable community. Friendly armies fighting for their crush to win a battle and ultimately the war. I know that I always look forward to the tournaments, and judging by the amount of tweets about the tournaments... it is apparent that you all are too. To understand my comparison, you might want to click on that YA Sisterhood link above and read their post. It is really unfortunate that something that is so much fun, and that loads of bloggers really enjoy doing is ruined because people go to such great lengths to ruin it for the rest of us. I was actually appalled when I read that people had sent Cassandra Clare hate mail for her characters' winning the last two tournaments, or that the YA Sisters are personally getting attacked for what other people are voting. Do you not realize that Cassandra Clare built up such a solid fan base that they teamed up and voted their favorite characters to become champion? Cassandra Clare did not send the sisters any sort of compensation, or bribe. The tournament was designed to be a fun event for bloggers, a way for us to gush over our favorite men, or ladies.

This also brings me to the negativity and bullying that certain people think is appropriate on the internet. It the ladies of The YA Sisterhood where standing in front of you... would you still call them "sick," or would you still say nasty things to Ms. Clare if you were at one of her book signings. I notice that a lot of people, especially on goodreads, tend to blatantly bash authors writing or characters.  When I see those reviews, they make me both angry and sad. I do not understand how people can be so mean, and rude to people who clearly have access to their reviews. Saying you are planning on burning their book, or that you could write a better book... is not only egotistical but also incredibly insensitive. I love being a part of the blogger/goodreads community, but sometimes... like today... it reminds me of those kids in high school. Those kids who ruined trivia time. Because that is was these negative people did they ruined the tournaments for the rest of the community. Call me over dramatic, but frankly, you should be ashamed of yourselves if you go to such great lengths to express your negativity in such a rude and disrespectful way.