Introducing guest blogger Max Leone, thirteen-year-old boy and voracious reader.

A new guest blogger at The Swivet!

Some of you may remember Max Leone, the thirteen-year-old boy from North Jersey who wrote to Publishers Weekly back in November to set folks straight on what exactly it is that a teenage boy likes to read. It was a wonderfully funny - and smart! - letter, so much so that some people questioned whether a thirteen-year-old could actually have written it. At the time, I mentioned in a comment thread that I'd be happy to have Max as a guest blogger here if he wanted to go into more depth about how to get teenage boys to read.

About a week later, I received the following email:

Colleen-

My son, who's enjoying his little whirl of cyber-attention immensely (and can't believe he hasn't been flamed once yet) would like to take you up on your offer to write now and then about books on your blog. He asked me to find out what the parameters are: how long can he write, what should he cover (or avoid), and so forth. As for me, I'm just happy when he spends time on something other than playing World of Warcraft or watching reruns of Japanese reality tv shows.

I was thrilled and - after a little back and forth with Meg (Max's mom), setting some ground rules (like making sure that mom was cc'd on all our correspondence), Max was ready to start blogging.

I asked Max to write a bio for himself. Here's what he came up with:

Max Leone is currently a teenager. He is being stalked by abandoned houses. Things he has eaten include glue, Ben Gay, and paella. His current projects include staring at pictures of dogs and wondering what “convivial” means. He lives in New Jersey with an assortment of reptiles, amphibians, and humans. He cannot wait to discover what new and exciting psychological problems will arise from writing about himself in the third person.

Max's mom assures me that most of the first three sentences are true, and that Max currently lives with two lizards and a frog. Additionally, Max is a huge fan of Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show.

Anyway, please welcome Max to The Swivet!