Called 2 B Saints is an online Catholic organization created by teens, for teens. Our mission is to give everyday information from around the world, but to also focus on Catholic events, information, people and stories. It gives a Catholic outlook on everyday life, fitting our faith into our daily events. Our mission is to show teens around the world how we can live normal, everyday lives, while also focusing on our faith in a unique way. We are here to show that even though Catholics are not perfect, we can still have God play a part in our lives.

The website features weekly audio and video podcasts, news from the world of sports and entertainment, and practical advice for teens–all from the perspective of Catholic teens themselves.

Students have been working in groups to produce content for the site–developing topics for articles, creating storyboards for videos, and writing scripts for podcasts. Together, they and I are learning what it takes to be a part of a multimedia web organization.  We’re all pretty new at this, but we have a lot of enthusiasm and passion.

The model and inspiration for our site is the fantastic work being done by Fr. Roderick Vonhögen and others at SQPN, the Star Quest Production Network.

We encourage you to visit Called2BSaints.com today and subscribe to our blog feed. You can also copy and paste our podcast feed in your iTunes software to listen on your iPod or other mp3 player. And if you like what you hear in our podcast, be sure to vote for Called2BSaints on Podcast Alley.

Please help us spread the word by mentioning us to teens, teachers, and parents; or perhaps you’d like to add Called2BSaints to your blogroll.  If you have a comment, question or suggestion, you can use the Contact Us page to send us your feedback. The more feedback the students get, the more motivated and excited they’ll be to keep improving their content.

Thanks in advance for your help in supporting our new endeavor.

I’d really love to get your feedback about what you find useful and what you’d like to see change.  Please consider taking time out of your busy day to take the new poll about improving this site, or to leave a comment on this post.

Thanks again for allowing me to be a part of your life and for all the work you do to improve teen literacy.

• You might have noticed a new tab on the top of the page called “Classroom Posters.” I’ve partnered with AllPosters.com to bring you literature-themed posters for your classrooms. You’ll find authors, book covers, and inspiring words for growing readers.
• Also, be sure to visit the Teen Literacy Bookstore, where I’ve selected some of the best books for teachers of literature.
• Every time you make a purchase or a donation, you help further the cause of teen literacy by helping to defray the costs of this website and contributing toward books for my classroom library. Thanks to the generosity of people like Chaleygirl, I was able to purchase several new titles yesterday for my students, including Markus Zusak’s award-winning novel The Book Thief.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported Teen Literacy Tips over the past few months, either by leaving comments or by patronizing the sponsors. I couldn’t do it without you.

The only thing I can figure is that since I read some of their books ten years ago when I made the list, they think I just copied titles and called it good. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have spent over seventeen years teaching literature to junior high students, and in that time have formulated my own opinions regarding what teens like to read.

I contacted Scribd this afternoon, and Jared Friedman, president of Scribd, has already replied to my email, directing me to file something called a counter-notification, which I have done. Hopefully the matter will be cleared up shortly.

If I have violated copyright unintentionally I will correct the matter and post a new list. But I can’t for the life of me imagine how my personally developed list could violate copyright.

And I’m not sure what the SFWA has to gain by requesting that the list be removed. That list does nothing but encourage people to buy their books. I don’t know if Cory Doctorow is a member of the SFWA, but I’m going to send him an email and let him know about the situation to see what he thinks. He’s been advocate for Creative Commons ebooks for awhile and he might be interested in this.

Regardless, I guess I’ll take it as a compliment that what I’m doing here is attracting some attention.

What do you think? If you’ve seen my list, do you think it violates copyright? And if you’re the member of the SFWA who reported it, maybe you could provide some explanation of what exactly I did wrong.

You can read all about the reason for my trip here.