Recently, I found myself sitting in an audience filled with teens and tweens at a movie theater showing of FAME. At the start of the previews, the screen suddenly filled with a rather non-descript lake scene--well, apparently not that non-descript--as the 100 or so adolescent girls in the room began screaming with joy. Of course, it was the opening to the preview of the TWILIGHT sequel NEW MOON. Recently buff teenage werewolves and all...

It got me thinking, what pop-culture fad had my friends and me falling over ourselves like that? The answer came rather quickly: Leonardo DiCaprio and all things TITANIC.

I bought the soundtrack, took TITANIC quizzes in Teen People magazine, covered my wall in movie posters, memorized lines...yes, it's true. I then recalled something I had truly forgotten...the birth of a late-90s sub-genre of disaster-focused YA fiction. Very suddenly, my bookshelf acquired HINDENBURG 1937, WASHINGTON AVALANCHE 1910, and SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE 1906.

Ah, what's a love story without a sinking ship, burning Zeppelin, or natural catastrophe? To my young heart, nothing could be more tragically romantic. (Is that truly any stranger than an obsession with a stalkerish vamp?) Am I the only one that remembers these books?

And, speaking of YA-reminiscing fun...Starting November 1st, blogger "Booking Mama" launched a six-month SHELF DISCOVERY reading challenge. Pick six (or more) of the titles covered in Lizzie Skurnick's book about classic YA fiction and write quick "book reports" of each...go to her site for details...looks like winners could get free copies!

UPDATE: Anna Campbell will visit Avon's Facebook Boards TODAY!