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German scientists made a really tiny invisibility cloak work, according to a study published in Science this month.

“We put an object under a microscopic structure, a little like a reflective carpet,” said Nicholas Stenger, one of the researchers who worked on the project.

“When we looked at it through a lens and did spectroscopy, no matter what angle we looked at the object from, we saw nothing. The bump became invisible,” said Stenger.

They essentially did it with special lenses that bend light.

This is cool, but Discovery’s treatment of the story is even more interesting. In one breath they paint the news as Harry Potter come to life, and in the next they link the story to one on making soldiers invisible. Hmm.

Beth Revis now has her book deal in place. And, it’s a major one. $$$. Congrats, Beth!

I like to make lists. Sometimes. These are the books I plan to read in the near future:

• Mazerunner, James Dashner
• When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead
• Incarceron, Catherine Fisher
• Going Bovine, Libba Bray
• Hush, Hush, Becca Fitzpatrick
• The Reckoning, Kelley Armstrong (4/6/2010)
• Dead in the Family, Charlaine Harris (5/4/2010)
• Linger, Maggie Stiefvater (7/20/2010)
• Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (8/24/2010)

Right now, though, I’m listening to the second Percy Jackson book on my iPod. (It’s good gym listening.)

Last week, the LA Times did a story called “Young Adult Lit Comes of Age.” Surprise, surprise. Not only is young adult / middle grade fiction doing well-

YA is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak publishing market. Where adult hardcover sales were down 17.8% for the first half of 2009 versus the same period in 2008, children’s/young adult hardcovers were up 30.7%.

-but it’s gaining a whole new readership. Adults.And not just because they have kids.

The Times speculates on a few reasons for this. Blockbuster movies based on books like Twilight, Harry Potter series, Lightning Thief, etc.  YA books (The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian) winning prestigious awards  like the National Book Award. Or, big name authors dipping their pens in the kidlit waters.

Or, it could be just because the books are just good:

According to Skurnick, who also reviews adult fiction for publications including The Times, YA books are “more vibrant” than many adult titles, “with better plots, better characterizations, a more complete creation of a world.”

I like to think it’s the latter. That’s why I read.

I’ve turned in the editorial changes for Memento Nora, which my editor seems to have liked. And, she said the book’s on track to come out in Spring 2011. (I was under the impression it was going to be in July.) Happy dance.