WCPL YOUNG ADULT BLOG

While I was out...

2010-11-15T09:45:00.000-05:00

I MISSED you! I've been gone for TWO WEEKS, recovering from surgery. Now that I'm back, I've discovered tons of books waiting for me to give all of you, so I will waste no time. I have so many to show you, I'm just going to send them upstairs and let you dig into them yourselves! In no particular order, our new books:

Angel by Cliff McNish...

I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson...

Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick...

The Absolute Value of -1 by Steve Brezenoff...

The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston...

I've also refreshed our supply of Lurlene McDaniel's books, if you're interested!

I promise I'll get back to giving you full introductions to our new books--once I get through this giant pile next to my desk...

Mother / Daughter Craft Samples Are Here!

2010-11-15T09:22:00.000-05:00

Teens and moms! I came back from my sick leave to discover we now have SAMPLES of our mother / daughter craft!

We'll paint the frames, decoupage, and adorn these frames with charms--they'll be as unique as each of us! I am very excited about this craft. It was what I looked forward to in the hospital--breaking out the Mod Podge and going to town.

If you haven't signed up for the program yet, drop by the library or give us a call and we'll sign you up! Hope to see you Thursday!

YA Mother-Daughter Craft with Candie Cooper!

2010-11-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about this craft!

The amazing Candie Cooper will help us all make our very own picture frames--decorated to match our unique personalities.

If you haven't met Candie, she's a local author and artist who comes in to teach us all how to be CRAFTY. In other words, she's a real Crafty Lady. We love Candie.

So daughters, bring your moms, moms, bring your daughters, and join us for a night of crafty fun!

This event is open to students grades 6 to 12--sign up at the upstairs circulation desk!

(The picture is yoinked from Candie's blog)

Listen up--New Audio!

2010-11-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

We have new audio books! (I knew you'd be excited.)

We have Cassandra Clare first three Mortal Instruments novels! City of Bones read by Ari Graynor, City of Ashes read by Natalie Moore, and City of Glass, also read by Natalie Moore.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, read by Kevin T. Collins and Eve Bianco, is here.

By Maggie Stiefvater, we have Shiver, read by Jenna Lamia and David Ledoux, and Linger, read by Dan Bittner, Pierce Cravens, Emma Galvin, and Jenna Lamia.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray, read by Erik Davies, has arrived!

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, read by Alan Cummings, is here.

And, last but not least, We have Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, read by MacLeod Andrews and Nick Podehl!

Falling for New Paranormal Fiction

2010-11-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

My favorite of the new books is Zombies vs. Unicorns.

Nearly as strange as it sounds, ZvU tackles one of life's most troubling questions: Which is better, zombies or unicorns?

The debate first sprang up on Justine Larbalestier's blog, then spread to Holly Black's blog, eventually overtaking both. Larbalestier proclaimed zombies were superior; Black insisted unicorns were WAY better. The two decided to ask other YA authors to contribute short stories about either zombies or unicorns that were then gathered up into this anthology.

Both creepy and utterly hilarious, ZvU is made of awesome. Don't believe me? Check out the authors! Team Unicorn, led by Holly Black, is: Kathleen Duey, Meg Cabot, Garth Nix, Margo Lanagan, Naomi Novik, and Diana Peterfreund! Team Zombie, headed up by Justine Larbalestier, is Libba Bray, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Scott Westerfeld, and Carrie Ryan!

So which are you...Team Zombie, or Team Unicorn? Show your pride with downloads from Simon & Schuster!

Other by Karen Kincy is here!

Gwen Williams has a big secret. She's an "Other," a shapeshifter, and although her talents are acceptable in most areas, her tiny Washington hometown isn't too keen on vampires, centaurs, pretty much anything different.

Now a werewolf pack has moved into town, and Others are showing up dead. What follows is a paranormal murder mystery. Police are struggling to find a murderer they're sure is, well, paranormal in origin, ignoring the possibility of a serial killer. while Gwen and her friends are hunting the murderer themselves. This one's great for mystery fans and fantasy fans alike.

We now have The Fallen 1, which includes both The Fallen and Leviathan by Thomas E. Sniegoski and The Fallen 2, which is made up of the third and fourth books: Aerie and Reckoning.

Aaron's eighteenth birthday arrives, along with the unsettling discovery that he is now hearing voices. In his head. Like he's crazy. Aaron spent his childhood moving from foster home to foster home and isn't sure who to trust with his fears.

Aaron wants to talk with one of the girls he knows from school, but Aaron doesn't really have an easy time trusting people, especially the strange man who follows him around, insisting that Aaron is the son of a mortal and an angel. According to the Mystery Man, Aaron has been chosen to redeem the Fallen. Aaron tries to ignore the news. He also tries to pretend he doesn't have all the supernatural abilities he's discovered. But he can't deny it all for long. Dark powers are rising, and mostly they're just out to kill him.

The second Fallen* novel has arrived! Here is Torment by Lauren Kate:

Luce has been separated from her fallen angel boyfriend Daniel, and she's devastated. He must go fight the Outcasts before they succeed in killing him. While he's gone, he arranges for Luce to be hidden at Shoreline, a special school for Nephilim where she learns about Shadows and how to regain memories of her previous lives.

But as she learns more about her past, Luce begins to wonder if Daniel has told her the whole truth. She knows he's hiding something from her. What if the past he told her they shared wasn't true--what if she's really destined to love someone else?

13 to Life by Shannon Delany has arrived!

Jessie Gillmansen's entire life was torn apart when her mother died. Now all she wants is for her life to stay exactly as it is. When she gives the new guy, Pietr Rusakova, around her high school, she has no idea how much change he's brought to her hometown. Pietr has a very dangerous secret, and he's brought a whole lot of trouble to town with him.

From Iron-Age Ireland, we have Shapeshifter by Holly Bennett!

A shapeshifter, Sive is now trapped in the form of a deer, running for her life as a sorcerer chases her across Ireland. Throw in the child left on the side of a mountain, and you have Shapeshifter!

Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri

Instead of following the original Faust and his deal with the devil for wealth, power, and the like**; this take on the Faust legend five children vanish from around Europe, only to show up after years at a party in New York. They are, of course, accompanied by their beautiful governess, Madame Vileroy. When they begin attending the Marlowe School in Manhattan, they are instantly popular and successful. Of course, their governess's "gifts" help. But as the fun of their situation begins to wear off, the five realize their obsessions are taking control. Something must be done to escape the dark path they're on, before there's no going back.

*The irony of having two books from two different series named Fallen has not escaped me.

**As always with retellings, I urge you to read through the original story of Dr. Faust FIRST.

You Picked Them: The Teens' Top Ten of 2010!

2010-10-18T15:27:00.000-05:00

Happy Teen Read Week!

October 17--23, 2010

Teen Read Week is again upon us, and if you're like me, that can only mean one thing...that the YALSA has announced your picks for the Teens' Top Ten list!

Without further ado, here is the 2010 Teen's Top Ten:

1. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

2. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

3. Heist Society by Ally Carter

4. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

5. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

6. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

7. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

8. If I Stay by Gayle Forman

9. Fire by Kristin Cashore

10. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

What's the best thing about this list? All female authors! There's your proof: girls rock.

Congrats to all the authors!

New Website, New Blog, New BOOKS!

2010-10-13T12:20:00.004-05:00

Guess what?

The library is getting a new, beautiful website! As I write this Tech People are working hard to make the new site awesome.

Part of this new website will involve picking this blog up and dropping it in a new spot. Now the teen blog will live on the website, and I will have to learn to use a whole different blogging platform. That will be funny for you to watch, even if you aren't in the same room with me.

I'll give you all the new info when the site goes live. Which should be Monday...maybe.

Meanwhile, I have new books for you to read!

Pendragon, Book Ten: The Soldiers of Halla by D.J. MacHale

This is the grand finale, at least of this series. Bobby Pendragon and the other Travelers, as they join forces to take Saint Dane down. This is your chance to find out the answers to all the questions you've had through the first nine books, and Bobby's only chance to finally save Halla and, well, everywhere else. No pressure.

Fans of Alyson Noel's Immortals books can pick up Shadowland, book three of the series.

Ever and Damen have a huge problem: Damen has been cursed, and a single touch from Ever will kill him. Death would mean an eternity in the Shadowland, an abyss for lost souls. Clearly, neither of them want that to happen, so Ever searches for a cure with Magick. Then she meets Jude, a surfer with magical talents. Jude seems familiar to Ever, and she finds herself drawn to him even as she searches for Damen's cure. As, Damen pulls away from Ever in hope of protecting her from the darkness in his soul, Jude and Ever grow closer, and Ever's love for Damen is put to the test.

Deadly Little Lies, the follow-up to Deadly Little Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz has arrived!

This is where we run into a problem. Because I haven't read the first book yet, too many other people wanted it. I waited. But since I haven't read the first book, I can't tell you anything about the second book for fear of giving away part of the plot of Deadly Little Lies. Here's what you NEED to know: Camelia loves Ben, Ben has a gift (and a curse)--he can see a person's future when he touches them (this is called psychometry),and MAYBE Ben loves Camelia. Probably he loves her. Then Something Else happens, and then it's summer, and AFTER summer is when the book begins.

Flygirl by Sherrie L. Smith, which looks REALLY GOOD.

Ida Mae Jones went flying with her pilot father as often as she could, but his death puts the sky out of reach for her. Ida is black and female--both traits will keep her feet firmly on the ground. World War II could change all that. The Army has formed the WASP--Women Airforce Service Pilots--and Ida can join. But only if she uses her light skin to pass as a white girl. Ida has always longed to fly, but she quickly finds out that denying her family and her history is a lot harder than it sounds. Ida must find a way to fulfil her dreams without losing herself in the process.

(This one is going on my reading list.)

Look for updates on the new website in the next few days!

We have a winner!

2010-10-12T07:59:00.002-05:00

Congrats to Valerie, winner of our Mockingjay Giveaway!

Thanks to everyone who entered--and watch for more giveaways in the coming months.

Win a Copy of Mockingjay!

2010-09-28T08:38:00.001-05:00

Have you finished it yet?

I had my own, personal copy of Mockingjay preordered from the moment The Internet would let me do it, back before it had a cover or even a name! When it finally arrived, I carried it around with me for three days without even opening it, because I felt it was "too precious to read."

I'm always a bit worried about the end of a series--any series. It's far too easy for authors to try to cram in more information than is necessary or leave out so much that we're all frustrated that we don't know how, for example, Harry and his friends managed to get from the battlefield to, well, the rest of their lives. Sadly, each reader thinks that a different amount of information is vital. Some would be satisfied with the knowledge that life would go on, while others would want to know the birth dates of the protagonist's children, their occupation, their yearly gross income, the make and model of their car, and so forth.

I am somewhere in the middle. If an author wraps up two hundred pages of conflict with a paragraph designed to convince me that everything will be just fine after all, I will not believe them. Instead, I will roll my eyes, sigh, and pick up the next book from my reading pile. I have a pile of books I must read. It's very tall. I have much less patience for the last book in a series. If an author screws up that last book, the final volume in a series...I hate the whole series. Ask me how many times I've read through the Harry Potter books (I lost count at 20). Now ask me how many times I've read them since the last book came out (not once). Why? Because, in my opinion, J.K. Rowling blew the ending (naturally, you may disagree with me, I expect it). This is coming from the girl who had her ENTIRE BEDROOM decorated in Harry Potter paraphernalia. I made my own wand. Really. I didn't just love those books. I LIVED those books. But now they sit undisturbed on my bookshelf, flanked by my Harry Potter bookends*.

I tell you all this in order to make it clear to you how high my standards are for series fiction, so you won't take it lightly when I tell you:

It was beautiful--wonderful! I can't express in words how fantastic it was! I could tell you why, but it would mean Spoilers, and we are a Spoiler-Free zone here on the blog.

Instead, I will tell you the following:

1. Collins wrote in just enough information for me to be content with Katniss' story. I didn't put the book down thinking that she'd left me with too little information or certain that life wouldn't have worked out so seamlessly for everyone after all they'd been through in the first two books.

2. I cried. A lot.

3. I wanted to strangle several main characters (because they weren't doing what I thought they should). I wanted to murder others (because they were so evil). Still more characters just needed a hug, after all they'd been through (including some of the ones I wanted to strangle).

4. At one point near the end, I may have screamed.

5. The scream may have taken place in the middle of the library.

6. I have caught myself singing several of the songs from the book, despite the fact that I don't know what the actual melodies should be. I made up my own.

7. I take comfort in the knowledge that I'm not the only person who has done this**.

Oh, and one other thing. I loved Mockingjay so much, I feel the urgent need to give a copy away.

That's right! I have a brand new, shiny, hardcover copy of Mockingjay to give to one of you. In order to get your chance to win it, you have to do one simple thing...

Well, one thing other than walk into the library. We'll assume you are already here.

Go to the circulation desk upstairs, get an entry form. Then you will answer my little trivia question, because I like to check and see that you're paying attention. Then you must fill out the rest of said entry form COMPLETELY before handing it to the person behind the desk. They will then put it in the Legendary Re-purposed Coffee Can, and you will be entered.

The not-so-fine print? Here it is:

You, personally, may only fill out and turn in one entry form. One. Not twelve. One. So when I open the top, I shouldn't see five entries from you. I should see one with your name on it. Just the one. That's 1. One. Uno. Unless you jump through some hoops for me. I'll explain in a moment. If you jump through the aforementioned hoops, I will see your name more than once, but it will be in MY handwriting.

Your entry must be filled out all the way. Completely. If you don't have a phone number, make sure we have an alternate means of contacting you to tell you that you've won. It's important. If I can't reach the winner, I'll get all whiny and depressed.

You must be in grades 7-12 to participate. If you aren't, you're out of luck. Sorry.

All that being said, there is something you can do to increase your odds that I will permit. Several somethings. In fact, I encourage you to do these somethings:

If you leave a comment on THIS post right HERE and say, "Gee, Laura, I really want that book!" I will write your name and e-mail down on an entry form and pop it into the can. Just be sure to enter your E-MAIL while filling out the comment form! Otherwise I will be unable to notify you that you've won.

If you visit Twitter and say something like "@wabashteens, I must have Mockingjay!" use the hashtag #MockingjayGiveaway, and I will write your name down on an entry form and pop it in the can too. If you win, I will @ reply to you via Twitter telling you how you can pick up your book. Be prepared for this to happen. Watch for a reply on Twitter.

If you visit our page on Facebook and leave a comment on the "Mockingjay Giveaway!" announcement, I will write your name down on an entry form and pop it in the can AGAIN.

So really, you actually have FOUR chances to win.

I will draw a winner on OCTOBER 11 at 5:00 P.M.. Be sure you've entered before that time!

I'll notify you the following day and tell you what you need to do to pick up your prize (which is to say, you'll need to walk in, tell the librarian your name, and the librarian will hand you the book. Easy, right?).

If you have not yet read any of the previous books of The Hunger Games trilogy, I strongly urge you to go read them now. There is a reason I loved them so much that I have not one, but two Hunger Games t-shirts.

For those of you who've already finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy, might I make a few suggestions? First, read Suzanne Collins' other books--like the Gregory the Overlander series. Then try The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Maze Runner by James Dashner, Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, or How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff if you're looking for more books set in dystopian societies, or read Graceling by Kristin Cashore or any of Tamora Pierce's books if you're looking for a strong female protagonist. That list could go on forever. If you've read all those and still want more ideas, you can ask me on Twitter (@wabashteens), ask me here, or even ask me on Facebook on the Wabash Carnegie Public Library page. And you can certainly feel free to come visit me in person!

*Until December, when I read through all seven books in seven days. Watch for updates...

**Really. Look it up on YouTube if you don't believe me.

SPEAK Loudly (and Banned Book Week)

2010-09-25T07:39:00.011-05:00

On September 18, 2010 an opinion piece was printed in the Springfield, Missouri News-Leader. The post was by a man named Wesley Scroggins (a Dickensian name if I've ever heard one).

In it, Scroggins, an associate professor of marketing at Missouri State University*, criticises several books: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. He labels them "filthy" and advises the Republic school district get rid of them (never mind the fact that he homeschools his kids, so this has no effect on him**).

I could recount the entire sordid business for you, but instead I am going to send you on a little scavenger hunt, here to read what Scroggins wrote and to read Laurie Halse Anderson's response on her blog, "This Guy Thinks SPEAK Is Pornography" and Sarah Ockler's reaction, "On Book Banning, Zealots, and Ostriches". I'd give you a link for Kurt Vonnegut too, but he passed away in 2007. He can't speak up about this anymore, so the rest of us will for him.

The book world sprang to action. Indiana English teacher Paul Hankins started a Twitter feed #SpeakLoudly to protest Scroggins' desire to ban Speak, Twenty Boy Summer, and Slaughterhouse Five. Sarah Ockler held a contest challenging people to Speak Loudly in their community and online and tell her what they did in support of the Speak Loudly campaign for a chance to win a "Wesley Scroggins Filthy Books Prize Pack!" I love her sense of humor. Speak Loudly has since evolved into a larger movement. Hankins now has a Speak Loudly website dedicated to fighting book banning. Among other things, speakloudly.org has compiled as many anti-Speak-banning blog entries as possible and their collection is still growing. He's done an amazing job on this. Paul Hankins is now added to my list of Book Heroes.

I should have written this entry up last week, but I confess, I was in shock.

I mean, I get Slaughterhouse Five. Mostly because it's been banned before. Widely. It's about a war and it's pretty violent. But it was taught in three separate college courses I took AND I read it in high school, because that's how good it is. Sure, it's rough. It's a book about war. And poor Billy Pilgrim has a rough go of it. He's sent overseas, he fights in the Battle of the Bulge, he's separated from his unit, and he's taken prisoner by Germans. Who steal his shoes! So he's barefoot--in WINTER! From that point, Billy is moved to a P.O.W. camp in a former slaughterhouse in Dresden. Dresden is then bombed. Extensively. The city is reduced to a smoking crater, comparable to the surface of the moon. This actually happened during WWII, and Vonnegut was there. In fact, he was cut off from his unit and taken to the same POW camp Billy is sent to. Then he witnessed the bombing of Dresden. He called the experience, "utter destruction" and "carnage unfathomable." Vonnegut's novel reflects the brutality he experienced. It's hard to read, but it HAPPENED. Slaughterhouse Five is a classic. Students read it, study it, and walk away with a greater understanding of war. But it still gets banned a lot.

I don't even get the whole Twenty Boy Summer banning. Why? I don't even think Scroggins read the book. But then, I doubt he read any of them. It sounds more like he had someone point out all the scenes that they had problems with, and he just summarized them. But Twenty Boy Summer is about the loss of a loved one, not wild teenage party fun. There are books dedicated only to partying teenagers, but Twenty Boy Summer isn't one of them. Sarah Ockler explains:

I’m not going to spend a lot of time defending my book other than to say what those who’ve read it already know — despite its lighthearted title, TBS is not about parties and sex. It’s about two girls struggling in the aftermath of a major tragedy, with grieving parents and unfamiliar situations and secrets that threaten to kill their friendship. It’s a scary world for them, and my job as a writer is to tell their story honestly, without judgment. And I know I’ve done my job because I hear from teens who’ve experienced devastating loss, and they tell me how much the book meant to them or how they could relate to the characters more than they can relate to their own friends sometimes. One email like that is all I needed to know that I did what I set out to do.

And Speak?

Of all the YA novels I've read in my lifetime, I can think of not one other novel that has had a more positive impact than Speak. Rape isn't an easy thing to talk about. Some victims go years before ever sharing their experience with someone else or getting help. In the novel, Melinda begins her freshman year alone, shunned by her friends because she called the police while at a party over the summer. What her friends don't know is that Melinda made the call because she was raped. She begins the school year a selective mute, unable to admit what happened to her. By the end of the year, Melinda finds the strength to speak out against her attacker and opens up to her art teacher (I love her art teacher).

Speak is one of the most vitally important works of young adult literature out there. It opens a line of dialogue in the home, the classroom, between friends, and I've even heard of it being used therapeutically. Reading many of the blogs Speak fans have posted this week, I have been awestruck at how much good Speak has done. Now more than ever, it is clear that no library should be without it. Melinda didn't just get her own voice back; she gave others back their voices too.

Laurie Halse Anderson wrote a response to Scroggins' opinion piece. It's a must-read.

The fight to keep Speak in Republic Schools is making good progress, thanks to Speak Loudly and the hundreds of blogs individuals have contributed. You can read another News-Leader article, in which Scroggins tries to convince us he didn't call Speak pornography, despite the fact he did, both in his editorial (link up above) and in his original complaint to the school board. But we can't just stop caring about this issue now that things are looking up.

Books are banned all over our country constantly. Textbooks are rewritten to avoid hot topics (Maureen Johnson was just talking about textbook censoring yesterday). Authors are uninvited to speaking engagements (it's happened to Ellen Hopkins twice). Banned Book Week starts today. It's our yearly reminder that we can't just shrug our shoulders when someone tries to take a book away from us. Books are ideas; books are powerful. No one should ever be able to take away the freedom to read.

Have you seen my bookshelf? Good luck taking my books away. They go with me to the grave. Maybe if someone is really nice, I'll give them away in my will instead of insisting that they line my coffin so I can take them with me to the afterlife, ancient-Egypt-style.

To Wesley Scroggins, I give my favorite piece of U.S. war propaganda:

Even though I am a pacifist, I really like this poster.

This week I encourage you to celebrate Banned Book Week by reading Speak, Twenty Boy Summer, Slaughterhouse Five, or another banned book (I recommend Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian). You can find a title here, on the ALA's list of challenged and banned books from 2009-2010. Here is their list of banned classics.

You can also get involved in Speak Loudly by visiting the organizations website and by using the #SpeakLoudly tag on Twitter, writing about how Speak and other banned books have changed your life, and by talking to your teachers, parents, and friends.

I hope to see lots of banned books getting checked out next week!

*What does that job title say to me? It says, "Smart enough to be a college professor means smart enough to KNOW BETTER."

**This is according to every resource I've found, including the Springfield News-Leader and Sarah Ockler's website. If I discover otherwise or can clarify this further, I'll let you know.

Picture courtesy of Creative Commons, was a WWII propaganda poster released by the U.S. Department of War Information.

Note: This is my personal rant. As with all the other blogs I write here, I'm sharing my own opinions, not the library's official stance on any issue. Sorry I have to put this in here, but such is the world we live in.

A Confession (and my review of Cassandra Clare's latest)

2010-09-20T08:41:00.000-05:00

I may have accidentally, possibly, blacked out in the bookstore.

Really. There's no other explanation for how I ended up with Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes AND City of Glass on the passenger seat of my car when I haven't even finished City of Bones yet. I mean, I work in a library, I could just check them out, right? Apparently not.

I think it was book fumes. The smell of paper and ink? Book fumes.

Yeah. That was it. The fumes were too strong, and I succumbed to them. Book fumes convinced me that I needed to OWN the first three books of The Mortal Instruments, not just to read them.

What?

The first book, City of Bones?

Yeah. I bought that too. But--it was on a different day! It isn't my fault!

Okay, well, it kind of is...but there's an explanation!

See, I read Clockwork Angel.

And it was really, really good. Seriously good. And it was more than just me liking the whole Victorian setting, much more. I could not put it down. It was fantastic, addictive, I couldn't get enough. And when I finished it, I was talking with some of my book-lover friends, and they were shocked to hear I hadn't read The Mortal Instruments books yet. Frankly, so was I. Because the second I put down Clockwork Angel, I thought, "Hey! maybe there are parallels between the two series! I need to know about them, don't I? Don't I?" And by the time I'd finished that sentence, I had City of Bones in my hands and was on my way out of Walmart. The truth is, I think I just needed more Cassandra Clare, not another episode of Laura's Fun with Literary Analysis.

I mean, Clockwork Angel is wonderful! I loved it. Really loved it. It's the kind of book I like to read instead of watching television, because I hate commercials so much, I stopped watching television. TV on DVD, all the way.

What?

You want me to talk about Clockwork Angel? While avoiding spoilery?

Well, I think that can be arranged.

Lots of people urged me to read The Mortal Instruments, but I have a LLLOOOOONNNNGGGG list of books to read. It's really long. But Clockwork Angel is a new series, and it's actually set BEFORE The Mortal Instruments, so I thought I'd be okay starting with Clockwork Angel first.

It was more than okay. I never felt confused about anything Shadowhunter-y. So don't worry about reading Clockwork Angel first.

Naturally, I can't tell you if it's a better idea to read one series before starting the other, but I can say with great confidence that Clockwork Angel in no way spoils City of Bones (or the first 255 pages of City of Ashes I don't think I've put these books down since buying them). I doubt it spoils anything.

I might be a tad biased. I LOVE Victorian literature. I am also quite fond of contemporary works set in the Victorian era.

Clockwork Angel follows Tessa Gray, newly arrived in London. Tessa believes she is meeting her brother, but instead she meets up with the Dark Sisters, who claim Tessa's brother sent them to escort her to her new home.

Unfortunately for Tessa, the Dark Sisters kidnap her and force her to develop a supernatural talent Tessa never knew she possessed. Tessa attempts to escape, and in the process meets up with Shadowhunters Will and Jem (Jem! *swoons*), who bring her to London's Institute, where she will be safe while they work to determine why she was kidnapped, what the Dark Sisters were planning, and what force the sisters served.

All that is paraphrased from the publisher's blurb. No spoilers.

Now I will say my piece, avoiding spoilers.

One fault I often find with many contemporary books with historical settings is that characters often think or behave in a way contrary to what was socially acceptable during the time they lived. Cassandra Clare does not in any way, shape, or form fall into this trap. She gives us a simple and elegant explanation for her characters' "modern" behavior: The Shadowhunter world is set apart from the mundane world. So, Shadowhunter relationships are without the strict social separation between classes. Mercifully for Tessa, Shadowhunters are also more open to women (HOORAY!). Tessa is permitted far more freedom at the Institute than she could have had anywhere else. That little explanation makes the whole book tons of fun to read, even after all the classes I took in college that stressed the strict social order and the lack of women's rights through history. Believe it or not, it was this solution that made me love Clockwork Angel as much as I do.

Character analysis time.

Tessa is American, brought over to a new country and, sadly, left alone and friendless. I immediately liked her. Why? She loves to read! Moreover, Tessa is the kind of protagonist YA lit (and every other genre of literature) thrives on. She isn't the most beautiful girl in the room, she's nervous about taking on new challenges and meeting strange people, she misses her brother and her aunt, and she makes mistakes. That means readers like you and me have an easy time relating to Tessa. We can see ourselves being her friend, or even BEING Tessa, were we dropped in a foreign country and left to fend for ourselves in the 1800's. Tessa makes Clockwork Angel appealing from the moment you pick it up.

I often wanted to clout Will, because he ought to know better. Also because he shouldn't act the way he does with people who care about him. He's arrogant, overconfident, and narcissistic--on the surface. We can only guess what Will is really like. I think something Very Bad happened to Will, and he doesn't want to deal, so he stalks the streets of London with his weapons looking for a fight. I think he's trying to atone for...something. If he would just start being kind...But I can relax, because Cassandra Clare mentioned on Twitter that Will would be smacked about in the future, so I won't have to think about doing it myself all the time.

I adore Jem (And not just because he's well behaved around Tessa). He's compassionate and a true gentleman. In Tessa's day, that was a Big Deal. I think it's a Big Deal NOW. He opens up to Tessa about his storied past rather than KEEPING SECRETS (*cough* Will), and what he went through only makes me like him more. But Jem has problems of his own. I only hope he can solve them before--

I stopped myself, see?

There is also some question (in my view) as to whether Jem told us--Tessa, that is--the whole truth. But that might just be my own paranoia...

Cassandra Clare can be very proud of Clockwork Angel. She's totally won me over. I am hooked. And with the sheer volume of books she has coming out in the next two years alone, we won't be left waiting for long.

If you want to ask question or chat about the book with Cassandra Clare (and who wouldn't? I have!) go to Goodreads and join in the discussion

Seven Evil Ex-Boyfriends, Killer / Hero Robots, Zombies, and Mirror's Edge

2010-09-13T13:05:00.011-05:00

We have new graphic novels!

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, in which Scott Pilgrim (23 years old, Rating: Awesome) meets up with his dream girl: Ramona V. Flowers (Age Unknown, Status: Scott Is an Idiot), while he is, unfortunately, dating a girl named Knives (Knives Chau, 17 years old, Status: Totally Crazy) which isn't that big of a deal when you consider that Ramona has Seven EVIL Ex-Boyfriends that Scott must face, one by one, before he can really date Ramona. Oh, and there's punk rock and some fighting (the girl's name is KNIVES, remember?). Here's the official website.

Scott Pilgrim's various adventures became a film, and you can make your own Scott-Pilgrim-style-you here.

(The avatar maker thing loads faster if you don't keep punching the heart. Oh, and here is mine.)

I also snatched up the next six volumes of Pluto Urasawa X Tezuka because it's just that good.

We now have volumes 1-7, and we're waiting for 8.

I love this series.

Basically, it's a retelling of Astro Boy, but if you're like me, you had no idea what Astro Boy was until you did some research.

A Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis of Astro Boy:

After the tragic death of his young son Tobio, Doctor Tenma creates an immensely powerful robot replica of Tobio to take Tobio's place. Tenma treated Astro (the robot copy) just like his son, but when he realized Astro could never take Tobio's place (it had to do with cubes over flowers), he gave Astro to an EVIL CIRCUS GUY named Hamegg, who was very evil. Luckily for Astro, the new head of government security, Professor Ochanomizu, sees him perform and persuades Hamegg to give Astro up. Ochanomizu treats Astro well, and they discover Astro has super-powers that he uses to save the world from robot-hating humans, human-hating robots, robot-hating-robots, human-hating-humans, and space invaders.

In Pluto, humans and robots live together in peace. But the seven most powerful robots in the world are being destroyed serial-killer style. Through the series, we are introduced to each robot while the murder investigation is underway. Pluto is a lot like the old film noir mysteries. It is also VERY GOOD. You should, therefore, go read it.

The Unwritten 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Wilson Taylor has written a series of fantasy novels about Tommy Taylor. The books are hugely popular--Harry Potter popular. When Wilson goes missing, his fans hope he'll reappear someday with one more book...

Meanwhile, the real Tom Taylor, the son Wilson abandoned, has lived his life half-worshiped, as if he were really the character his father wrote, living and breathing. Tom's life is becoming hauntingly similar to Tommy's as "he's drawn into a strange literary underworld where the power of storytelling is as strong as any spell" (from the publisher's blurb. I really liked it).

Not Simple by Natsume Ono

Ian was separated from his sister as a child. But as he grows older, he decides to leave Australia to take an international quest to find her. He travels to England and later America, where he meets Jim, a reporter writing a book about Ian's life: Not Simple. Ian's story is told backwards through Jim's narrative, resulting in a story within a story, a book inside the book. This is the kind of thing people like me write papers on.

And, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and... *shudders* Seth Grahame-Smith

I'm not even going to say anything about this. Just...read Jane Austen's novel too, okay? I mean, I'm a lit major, this is like taking a razor blade to the Mona Lisa. Really. But, you go ahead...have fun... *backs away from graphic novel*

I am a girl, as you know. What you might not know is that I am also a Gamer. Have you played Mirror's Edge? Play it. It will make you want to leap off buildings in real life, but resist that. Instead, read this:

I think there is nothing cooler than free running. I wish I could do it! But I all I manage is falling down and hurting myself with great frequency.

And, last but not least: We have tons of new Bleach upstairs too.

New Books, OR, How Sarah Rees Brennan Made My Day

2010-09-13T10:13:00.013-05:00

First we must talk about Sarah Rees Brennan (author of such YA titles as: The Demon's Lexicon, The Demon's Covenant, and The Eternal Kiss) and how she MADE MY DAY!

I didn't sleep very well last night. I actually didn't sleep at all. Well, maybe I slept an hour. But that was it! So I am groggy. Not awake at all. In fact, I bet I am not even very nice right now, and people are avoiding me. But I could be wrong.

The important thing is that I'm not in a sour mood anymore. And it is because Sarah Rees Brennan MADE MY DAY.

Do any of you watch The Vampire Diaries? I started watching them last week, since the first season came out on DVD so I could rent it. Somehow, that show works. I don't know why. It just does. I have found myself captivated by it.

As it turns out, I am not alone. Sarah Rees Brennan (who must be referred to with all three of her names at every moment because together, they sound so epic) watches the show too, and she has provided us with her commentary.

Without further ado, go read.

You should probably just read her blog every day now, because I told you to.

Now that I am in a happy mood, have some new books:

Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill

One girl, one boy. Their eyes meet from across the car wash. It was love at first sight--except the girl's grandfather sold his soul to the devil for a classic Caddy and used HER soul as collateral. Now the devil's come around to collect, and he's taking the car AND her soul. Luckily Bug Smoot is fearless and ready for a fight. And Luckily that boy from the car wash is a secret agent dedicated to facing down the paranormal.

Eon by Alison Goodman

Fans of Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore will love Eon. He's spent his whole life training to become a Dragoneye. Except Eon is really Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl, not the twelve-year-old boy she's been pretending to be. If her secret is discovered, she'll be executed. Women are forbidden to use Dragon Magic. And then everything falls apart.

Also, I should mention that it IS possible to stand the way Eona is posed on the cover. Although you can't get out of that position without professional help. Otherwise it hurts. I would know. What? Yoga made me do it.

Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Robid McKinley and Peter Dickinson (two fantasy greats you should absolutely know)

McKinley and Dickinson have written five short stories about creatures whose lives and deaths are centered around fire. With the two of them behind it, this book is bound to be a masterpiece of storytelling.

Wow. That pun was completely unintentional. Sorry.

Moving on.

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau, author of Red Glass

Zeeta and her English-teacher mother, Layla, move from country to country yearly. Layla thrives on change, but Zeeta isn't so happy with their arrangement.

Finding herself in the Ecuadoran Andes, Zeeta meets up with an American teen, Wendell, who has come to Ecuador searching for his birth parents. Zeeta agrees to help him in his search for the truth.

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz

This novel begins with a near-death experience for poor Camelia, whose day couldn't have been worse. She hopes. After meeting up with mysterious Ben, the new boy in school who may or may not have been the cause of his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Camelia's ordinary life becomes anything but--complete with mysterious telephone calls, packages, and thinly veiled threats. Now Camelia is wondering if she can really trust Ben, or if their secrets will keep them apart.

Jealousy by Lili St. Crow, the third Strange Angels novel

Poor Dru has finally made it to Schola Prima, home of the Order and training center for the djamphir, but the safety she was looking for is still out of reach. While Graves and Christophe struggle to...not...kill each other, Dru is still coping with the four-hundred-year-old psychotic nosferat Sergej, who wants her dead. Meanwhile, the Order is captivated by newcomer Anna, who wouldn't mind taking on Dru herself, so Anna can have what she really wants: Christophe.

It's Never too Early

2010-09-08T12:31:00.002-05:00

I know the school year has only just begun, and all of you are doubtless concerned with all sorts of school-related things. But I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't throw little tidbits of information your way when I find them. So here is one of them...

The Wabash County College Fair is being held at Manchester College on September 29 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. It's totally free, and students can meet with representatives from 37 different schools. Just drop by the College Union that night, and you can pick up brochures, ask questions, learn about academic requirements, and so forth.

If you want more information about this event, go read more about it here.

More New Series Fiction

2010-08-25T14:44:00.021-05:00

First I have to say, these books are very...pink. And they mostly have girls on the cover. So if you dislike books that are pink with girls on the cover, you might want to try another post. But I will say this: Publishers market books to the people they feel will be the most likely to buy said books in vast quantities, so be aware. Sometimes this is misleading, so you'll want to be aware of that as you pick out books for yourself!

Broken Soup by Jenny Valentine has a strange title, but I promise it will make perfect sense when you've read the book. It's also one of the many books that looks like "chick-lit" but ISN'T. Valentine also wrote Me, the Missing, and the Dead (I told you about that a few months ago. A few weeks ago? You don't really expect me to keep track, I hope), which I couldn't put down.

Rowan's brother is dead. Her father is gone. Her mother won't get out of bed. And Rowan is raising her little sister, Stroma, and trying to keep it all together.

She's waiting in line when a boy walks up to her and hands her a photo negative, claiming she'd dropped it. Knowing she hadn't, Rowan tries to argue, but in the end, keeps it. Once developed, she discovers a mystery.

The Treasure Map of Boys: Noel, Jackson, Finn, Hutch, Gideon--and Me, Ruby Oliver by E.Lockhart, is the third Ruby Oliver book.

This is one series you'll want to give a chance, even if you're not the pink-girl-book kind of person. Why? In short, E. Lockhart is squirt-milk-out-your-nose hilarious. She takes funny to places it's never been before, and her novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks made me laugh so hard I felt like I'd done a thousand sit-ups the next morning (did you know you could pull your abdominal muscles when you laugh? You can. It is a painful discovery).

So if you are drawn to humorous books, give Ruby Oliver a chance. She won't disappoint.

From Frewin Jones' Faerie Path series, The Seventh Daughter*...

and The Immortal Realm

We have Bleach 10 (more volumes to come).

The sequel to Rules of the Road (some of you might remember that from Battle of the Books this year), Best Foot Forward. Both are by Joan Bauer. But you Battle alumni should have known that already.

It is on my reading list. But someone else gets it first. Because I am Nice.

Spells, the sequel to Wings, by Aprilynne Pike

Because you ASKED, I got it in hardcover--because, again, I am Nice. This installment continues Laurel's story as she struggles to balance her human life with her faerie identity. She doesn't want to leave her home--or David, her human boyfriend--behind. When she's summoned to Avalon, though, Laurel meets the faerie sentry Tamani, and is instantly drawn to him. Now Laurel must choose, and deal with the heartbreak that could result.

The Chaos Walking series continues with The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness.

Todd is running with the wounded Viola, but the two find themselves captured by Mayor Prentiss. Todd and Viola are separated, and he is imprisoned while the Mayor reveals his horrifying new order. Todd has no idea where Viola is, if she is safe, or if she is still alive. He doesn't know who the Answer are. And then the bombing begins.

The third book in this series, Monsters of Men, is due out September 28, so if you haven't started reading this series, now is the time. I've got Monsters of Men preordered for us, so watch for it on the new book cart after its release!

Have you read this yet?

You should. Only the Good Spy Young by Ally Carter, Gallagher Girls book four.

I got hit by a car while reading this book. I couldn't put it down, so I was reading it and walking, and all of a sudden, out of the blue, BAM!

It didn't really hurt all that much. It was mostly just a nudge, not even enough to really bruise. I was so surprised; I looked up from my book and realized--

The car was standing still.

I had walked right into it, while it sat parked in a spot in a space in the lot, just as it was supposed to be. It wasn't even pulled up too far or at a funny angle. It was just like all the cars around it.

And we have all of Lurlene McDaniel's Angels in Pink series, Raina's Story, Holly's Story, and Kathleen's Story.

Three best friends Raina, Holly, and Kathleen sign up as volunteers at Parker-Sloan General Hospital at Raina's persuasion. The three girls find romance, discover family secrets, and cope with tragedy as they grow closer together.

Next we have Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard--or, to clarify, we have Pretty Little Liars, Flawless, Perfect, Unbelievable, Wicked, Killer, and Heartless--the first seven books in the series.

Now, I have a little confession to make.

Those covers kind of freak me out.

You know how some dolls aren't cute at all, but kind of scary? Or really scary? The dolls on these books look mean, but not frightening, until you flip the books over and look at the back covers.

You see, the dolls on the covers were made to look identical to the models featured on the back, and it's CREEPY. I've taken to referring to them as The Demon Barbie Doll Books, so don't be confused if I call them that in the future. That's what the publisher gets for putting evil looking Barbie-esque dolls right there on the cover.

As I'm sure you already know, there is a television series based on Shepard's PLL books on ABC Family. I have only seen one episode, because I don't have cable or satillite at home, but it seemed good. It had a Desperate Housewives kind of feel to it--miserable girls with dark secrets who have everything they want but still aren't content, mostly because of the secrets.

Spencer, Aria, Emily and Hanna are all best friends with Alison, who they refer to as A. The five of them share a secret, something none of them talks about. Each of the girls loves A, but one day A vanishes without a trace and the girls feel something that surprises them a little. Relief. Because as wonderful as A was, bright, popular, the center of attention, she was also cruel and manipulative, someone they feared as much as admired.

The real mystery is how A went missing--what happened to her, and how were her friends involved?

Hey, don't look at me! I just started the first book.

*A.R. Quiz-takers BEWARE. The Seventh Daughter was not always the title of this book! The title USED to be The Sorcerer King, but it was SWITCHED in order to confuse you and make you think this book isn't worth any A.R. points when, in fact, it IS! Just look up The Sorcerer King when you want to take the quiz. And, for the record, the reading level is 5.8 and it's worth 12 points.

Did you know that...

2010-08-23T12:35:00.003-05:00

Every year the ALA (librarian-speak for the American Library Association) reveals the Teen's Top Ten--the books judged to be the top ten new titles for teen readers?

But the ALA doesn't pick them. You do.

You can now skip my whole rant by going to the Place Where Voting Happens:

Vote here!

Now that you're done, you don't have to listen to me anymore. Isn't that nice?

If, however, you chose to stick around, you get to hear more fascinating information about the 2010 Teens Top Ten list!

Lots of you just left, didn't you?

*sigh*

In order for the list to happen, teens nominate their favorite books of the previous year. Nominators are members of book groups in 15 schools and public libraries all over the country. Kind of like what your math or science teacher would call a "random sampling"--a smallish-group of teens that can represent the whole (which is you).

Now we get to talk statistics! Because I feel like it, that's why.

When you hear on the news, "80% of today's youth finds this blog post boring," it isn't just a made-up number like that statistic is up there. Why? Because that would be a lie and the news people would get sued. Or eight out of ten of you would all think that this blog entry is boring, because the news said you had to. Wait. Maybe not that last one.

You can tell my statistic is made up because it is a very low number for a blog about statistics. I mean, if I really asked you how boring you found statistics, you would say "VERY BORING!" or roll your eyes and walk away. Most of you would do this. Except for my friend Kat who actually went to school for Math and Crunches Numbers all day long. She told me I could call her if I needed to do math in my head, like to figure out sales tax or how big a tip to leave. Kat is nice.

But most of you, I'm guessing, would call statistics "boring," leaving me with no other choice but to MAKE YOU BORED! And if I really asked all of you, we might, perhaps find out that 99.9999% of you find statistics to be skull-crushingly, mind-bendingly, sleep inducingly boring.

Or we might find that 33.8% of you hate statistics, 12.2% of you don't really care whether I talk about statistics or not because you're indifferent to statistics in general, and all the rest of you LOVE statistics and dance around the room when someone starts talking about them.

In order to find out how many of you think I'm boring, I could go out and ask you each, "Do you think statistics are boring?" And then you would answer me. Then I could tally up my results and tell you with complete certainty that X% of you think I am boring and Y% of you hang on my every word.

But let's face it. I am not a people person. I like to sit in the back of the room with my book and pretend I don't exist. That makes things quieter, you know? So I would need to do what all other scientists and pollsters around the world do, which is CHEAT.

That's what it is, really. At least, that's what it is when you're me and someone tries to explain statistics to you.

Most statistics are complied using Random Sampling (which is not a proper noun, but it looks more important that way). Using my Boredom Poll model, I would feed, say, the yearbook from your high school into a computer. The computer would then spit out names of people it picked using a complicated formula that makes it random. This is where the philosopher in me wants to say, "Nothing is random." But that's a blog for another day. An accurate sample is BIG--the more people the better. Let's say, for the purpose of argument, that I rounded up 100 people from all the area high schools using my computer program and asked them my questions. That would be a Random Sample. And, given how our country schools are pretty tiny, it is an okay-ish sample size. I would then take your answers and have Kat crunch the numbers to tell me the real percent of you who think, "Laura is being very boring in this blog post, and I wish she would talk more about sneezing pandas

or angry goats,

or the time you got caught in the revolving door,

which kind of looked like this but without all the broken glass.

Now back to my point.

The ALA takes a random sample of teens from around the country and asks them, "What were your favorite books this year?" And they give the ALA lists. And the ALA takes the lists and compiles them into a Master List and then YOU VOTE!

And once you've voted, the ALA compiles the votes AGAIN and then during Teen Read Week, which is October 17--22, it announces the 2010 TEEN'S TOP TEN!

And then we throw a party because Paper Towns won. Oh. Wait. That was last year.

Voting for this year's list opens TODAY! So...

Go VOTE!

New Series Fiction

2010-08-16T15:24:00.003-05:00

Behold!

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson and Ned Rust!

Daniel fights creatures of gut-wrenching terror in this second installment of alien mayhem!

The fourth Blue Bloods novel: The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz...

The Blue Bloods are in a battle for their very survival as the threat of the Silver Bloods grows and--I don't know what that means. Sorry. Romance, vampirism, and so forth. Enjoy.

The Best Books I'd Never Read (Until Today): As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth

2010-07-26T13:33:00.003-05:00

Vital statistics: As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins, all-around-awesome book.

I have had some vacations go horribly wrong in my life, but even my worst moments couldn't compare with Ry's summer.

What begins as an innocent trip to archaeology camp goes horribly awry as he first discovers the camp no longer exists, then manages to first lose his cell phone charge, then his train (along with backpack and majority of possessions), then a large quantity of blood (nosebleed), then one shoe, then the vision in one eye (he ran into a cable).

Meanwhile, his mother and father are on a sailing trip, out of touch, and having a "fabulous" time. Except for the mast breaking. And the twisted ankle. And the robbery.

And Ry's grandfather is concussed.

And missing.

And he isn't altogether sure where he is, except he may or may not have lost the dogs, if there were dogs at all.

(There were.)

The dogs are on their way to the old house, Incredible-Journey-style.

If they could remember where the old house was.

And since his family just moved...Ry can't very well depend on the neighbors to come to the rescue...

But in between all the losing, Ry does a lot of finding. He finds Del, for one, and the two embark on a family-finding, true-love-tracking adventure.

Here's my favorite quote, which I must share. It involves the replacement shoes Ry is forced to purchase following the loss of the aforementioned boot. The shoes in question are white lizard-skin loafers with gold chain (one chain is missing):

"The shoes were a metaphor for the decline of western civilization: crappy and glitzy and barely useful, but pretty comfortable. This is the narrator's opinion. Ry didn't think that thought specifically, but he felt as dispirited as if he had."

Oh--and it goes on!

"The contrast between the shoes and the striped tube socks was interesting. Probably a metaphor for something depressing, too. It looked as if a lawm mower-riding failed gambler in shorts with a potbelly should be attached to his legs."

It goes without saying that the above caused me to laugh hysterically, inhale sweet tea, and choke. But it was worth it.

Now that I've finished As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth, I'm reading Lynne Rae Perkin's novel Criss Cross--the one that won the Newbery Medal.

And if the Printz committee is paying attention to little old me...take a good long look at this one.*

*The above sentence is my way of saying, "Give this book LOTS of awards because it is GOOD and I LOVED it.

Presents!

2010-07-20T14:18:00.008-05:00

Next week on this very day, it will be My Birthday! You may leave presents for me at the circulation desk. I like yarn.

But for now, I will give you gifts.

Splendor by Anna Godberson

Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

Crash Into Me by Albert Borris

Everlost by Neal Shusterman (this is Book 1 of the Skinjacker Trilogy)

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

And, last but not least...

Just Another Hero by Sharon M. Draper

You may unwrap them now.

The Best Book You've Never Read, First Edition

2010-07-16T08:32:00.003-05:00

While I was moving paperbacks around, changing shelving, I realized that some of my most-favoritest books haven't been read...recently.

I'm not going to admit how long it's been since they were first popular, because that would mean admitting exactly how much time has passed since my high school days. It really hasn't been that long, but it has been long enough that I don't want to have to count the years. I don't want to get depressed. I have a birthday coming up, and that isn't the time to wax nostalgic about how I am basically a wizened crone.

All I need are a dozen or so cats, really. Then the image would be complete.

As I thought about my birthday, I remembered an awesome book, a book which involved the end of the world. The world, I must add, was scheduled to end on my birthday. At least in this novel.

Armageddon Summer by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville scheduled the end of the world on my birthday, July 27, 2000. Really. Well, they wrote it. Reverend Beelson is the one who said it. Teenagers Jed and Marina, brought into Reverend Beelson's cult by their fanatical parents, are forced to reassess their own beliefs as they prepare for The End of the World. Which also happens to be Marina's 14th birthday.

I loved this book when I was in high school. Not just because of the birthday thing, though that was a plus, but because Yolen and Coville created a suspenseful page-turner with DEPTH. That's really rare. It gets you thinking about philosophy, how our faith impacts our views of reality, and how love and friendship changes our lives.

On top of all that, you can pick this up, put it down, or read it all in one sitting. It's the perfect summer read!

As I become more and more decrepit, my hair thinning and turning white, liver spots randomly appearing, my voice growing raspy and frail, I will think of more great books from back in my day that you might have missed. Provided I live that long.* And that my memory holds out...

*Despite her varied complaints, whines, and false assertions, Laura remains young. Ish. Also, she is in realitively good health, aside from allergies. So no worries. In addition, she feels that her birthday would be a crummy time for the world to end, though her birth may have been some kind of portent announcing the end of all. We'll just have to wait and see.

Drowning in new books!

2010-07-10T13:46:00.000-05:00

For some reason, a full five of our new books this time around are water-related in some way or other. I don't know why this is, unless it means that, subconsciously, I really want to go swimming.

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman...

Miranda Merchant leaves New York behind for the summer, taking a ferry to Selkie Island, a place of legend. She feels a connection to the island, its history, and to a local boy named Leo. Things head toward romance, and then it all gets paranormal. As per usual.

The Shape of Water by Anne Spollen...

Magda's mother is gone, and now she's consumed by anxiety and loneliness. Her mother always told her the world was filled with secrets the two of them shared, but instead of the strange and the beautiful, now Magda fears, madness. A school of fish begins to haunt her and her only escape is through fires she sets in the marshes near her home. Magda must unravel family secrets to find a stable place in the world.

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler...

For this one, I'm just giving you the publisher's back cover rant, because it's better than what I could write--it's really good:

Mom knew that the mermaids--hand-carved from driftwood by the owner of a souvenir shop--were all I wanted to take home from Florida. As she bought them, she looked down at me, her eyes not just glittering but snapping with fire like two Forth of July sparklers. She ran her finger down the length of my nose, almost like you'd stroke a favorite pet, and said to the salesman, "We're just alike, me and Aura." And you know, back then, the idea of that didn't scare the absolute hell out of me.

I'll clarify: Aura's schizophrenic mother causes her to shun her creative talent, but as her mother's condition worsens, she embraces her artistic ability, her family, and finally escapes her fears.

The Keening by A. LaFaye...

In 1918, Lyza's greatest regret is that her only artistic talent is carving letters into wood, until her mother's death in the influenza epidemic. Her heartbroken father begins to prepare for the return of Liza's mother, and Liza concentrates on keeping him from being committed to a work farm even as daily funeral marches pass their Maine home. She must rely on her own talents and courage to survive.

See, the water? It's on the cover. I'm sure it's in the book too, but it wasn't on the back cover or in the little part I read...but water! On the cover! It's there.

Looking toward the future, The Carbon Diaries: 2015 by Saci Lloyd, shows us the world five years from now (eep!) when global warming will be/is tearing the world apart.

Laura (not me) turns 16 and is awarded her carbon debit card, but she's busy juggling exams, her band, and trying to catch Ravi's eye. But as natural disasters hit and her parents grow closer to divorce, life just keeps getting worse. Laura must brace for impact as the worst hurricane in history heads straight for her London home, holding on to whatever normalcy she can.

How water? Global warming means flooding, silly. And it's a wonder London is above water for poor Laura. England being an island and all.

You know, now that I'm looking back over these, I'm thinking that some of them also have something else in common...mental illness. Hmm...

New Hardcovers

2010-07-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

Finally, I am at the end of all the new books, and I must say, it's taken a great deal of time and effort to--

I'm not fooling anyone, am I?

Without further ado, the hardcovers that didn't fit in any other category and therefore have there own post! Incidentally, these are also the books that I'm most eager to read myself, in addition to The Cardturner, For the Win and As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth. You can read more about those titles here.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson...

Lennie is quiet, a voracious reader, happily in the shadow of her older sister Bailey. But when Bailey dies, Lennie is suddenly the center of attention. Suddenly, she has not one boy in her life, but two. Toby, Bailey's boyfriend, who shares Lennie's grief, and Joe, the new boy in town, whose musical talent attracts Lennie. One boy helps her leave her sorrow behind, the other comforts her during it.

Needless to say, there will be some choosing involved...

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver...

Samantha Kingston's charmed life has come to an untimely end. She leaves behind her boyfriend, her terrific best friends, her popularity, and on February 12, a Friday, she dies.

But that isn't how the story ends.

Samantha gets a second chance--actually, she gets seven. She relives her final day through one week, a week to solve the mystery of her own death and to rediscover the value of everything she's about to leave behind.

Fever Crumb by Phillip Reeve...

This description is a bit complicated, all good fantasy is. But you'll have to bear with me through my convoluted summary.

Fever, adopted and raised by Dr. Crumb, is the only girl ever to have served as apprentice in the Order of Engineers. Women, in their society, are considered incapable of doing the work, believed to be unreasonable creatures. Now Fever must leave Dr. Crumb behind and work alongside Kit Solent, an archaeologist, who is attempting to gain entrance to a locked room.

See, the room used to belong to a man named Auric Godshawk, the last of the Scriven overlords. The Scriven weren't human, they used to rule the city, but were killed off in a coup. Think Revolutionary War.

As Fever tries to get the door unlocked, memories that aren't her own begin to haunt her. Kit seems very interested to learn all about them. Fever remembers nothing of her life before Dr. Crumb but what he told her: she was orphaned. But now she's beginning to question all of what she thought was true, where the memories are coming from, why strangers want her dead, and what her role is in unlocking the secrets of the past.

Original fantasy novels are few and far between, and this is one of them. I wait for these kinds of books; I love them. I'm very excited! But...I have to finish reading the two other books I've started this week before I let myself start another. One of the many trials of library life.

Free Audiobooks! FREE!

2010-07-07T15:41:00.001-05:00

I just discovered something fantastic. I'm very excited about this, and I don't even listen to audiobooks all that much.

SYNC, an online community (it's a Ning, like the Nerdfighters community) that wants to build up a bigger audience for audiobooks, is giving us all FREE audiobooks for the rest of the summer.

On top of all that, they are books you will actually WANT to read--or listen to in this case--because they are good!

They give you two titles each week--they started on July 1, so you have only the remainder of today to get this week's selection--one YA novel and one "classic" that goes along with it. The books might have similar themes, one might be a retelling on the other, both might have horrifying monsters--you get the idea.

Without further ado, the schedule:

July 1 - July 7

The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

July 8 - July 14

Over the End Line by Alfred C. Martino

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

July 15 - July 21

Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

July 22 - July 28

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

July 29 - August 4

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

August 5 - August 11

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

August 12 - August 18

Beastly by Alex Flinn
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

August 19 - August 25

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

August 26 - September 1

Handbook for Boys by Walter Dean Myers

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

This is what you need to do!

1. You go to the SYNC website.

2. You click on the "YA Literature Listeners: Watch video and enter here" link. Or you can just click the word "here" right here.

3. Click the "Download audiobooks" link, or this one [Note: That particular link might expire when the two titles this week change, be warned. Just use the link to SYNC in that case.] It tells you some stuff about the books, like that they're in MP3 format and so forth, and that you must first download OverDrive, which takes less than five minutes and is also FREE. You'll need that program later.

4. Once you've downloaded OverDrive, on the audiobook download page (link up in #3), you will see the two book titles on your right, under the green SYNC logo. Click "Get your SYNC Link" for the book you want (you can go back and get the other later).

5. It will ask for your name and e-mail, type them in and hit "Submit"--you'll be redirected to the actual download page.

6. Click "Get your SYNC Link" again

7. Click "Download (Whatever book you choose) Now!"

8. Overdrive, the program you downloaded earlier, will pop open, ask you where you want your book stored, click "Okay" and then ask what parts of the book you want, just tell it to download them all--the default option.

9. When your book has fully downloaded, it's in OverDrive whenever you want it. You can burn it to a CD (or several) or easily transfer it to your iPod or other MP3-capable device. Like your phone. Or your Kindle. *Pulls Kindle out of bag, downloads books onto Kindle*

This whole process takes less than five minutes. Trust me.

What's awesome is that even though each title is only free for a week, the download never expires--those books are yours FOREVER. Meaning the next time your parents decide to drag you halfway across the country by car, you have something to entertain yourself with that doesn't involve hitting your siblings, fighting with your siblings, throwing things at your siblings until they finally notice, shoving things up the nose or in the ears of your sleeping sibling...you get the idea. And don't pretend you are "too old" to do any of those things. I'm in my 20's and I STILL do all of those things to my younger brother and would do far worse to him if I didn't know he could now hit harder than I can, and run faster.

If you want to, you can even use the Ning community to talk about the books you're listening to, or you can talk to us on Facebook or here on the blog. Or in person, because I'm around the library every day (mostly).

So go download free books now!

And here's the link to SYNC again...just in case scrolling up to look for it sounds too much like work.

Some Short Stories, and Some Long Ones

2010-07-07T14:13:00.002-05:00

Can I just tell you that I have a LOT of new books right now, and keeping up is hard!

Okay. I'm done.

First come the short story collections. We have two.

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci.

Featuring stories from (drumroll please): M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Hope Harson, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Tracy Lynn, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Cynthia & Greg Leitich Smith, Scott Westerfeld, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr! Simply put, this book is Made of Awesome.

I, of course, flipped right to the story by John Green. DFTBA.

And, if you enjoy the story by Kelly Link in Geektastic, be sure to check out this collection of short stories, which is all Kelly Link all the time: Pretty Monsters

The book contains, but is not limited to: A phone booth in Las Vegas (those are around), Aliens (who knows), Unhelpful Wizards (would you be helpful if you were a wizard?), Possibly carnivorous sofas (mine eats coins and darning needles), A handbag with a village inside it (seems that way sometimes), Tennessee Fainting Goats (exist), Dueling librarians (true story), A statue of George Washington (they make those, you know), A boy named Onion (it could happen--my grandpa's nickname was "Onions"), Pirates, An undead babysitter, A nationally ranked soccer player, Evil Cinderella, Shapeshifters, and An unexpected campfire guest.

On to the long-ish stories. Novels.

Tim Wynne-Jones' spooky and suspenseful The Uninvited ...

Mimi Shapiro flees NYU and an ill-advised relationship with one of her professors. She heads to her father's cottage in Canada only to discover that someone else is already living there, a little tidbit her father didn't mention when he told her where to find the hide-a-key. Jay, the other resident, instantly accuses Mimi of leaving strange tokens for him, snake skins, a dead bird, and so forth. Mimi, fresh off a road-trip, definitely isn't involved, so who's doing this? And what does he--or she--want?

Choppy Socky Blues by Ed Briant...

Jason Smallfield desires only one thing, to be as different from his father as he can. The complete opposite, if possible. His movie-stuntman dad lied and dumped his family like yesterday's trash. Jason even stops taking karate, his favorite thing in the world, just to avoid comparison to his father. But then he meets Tinga, a gorgeous girl about to test for her blue belt. Jason blurts out that he's about to take the same test...then has to turn to his father for help getting ready in time.

Asta in the Wings by Jan Elizabeth Watson...

Asta Hewitt and her brother Orion have been isolated from the world by their delusional mother. The two are happy, creating their own peaceful, imaginary world. When their family is suddenly drug into the strange "real" world, Asta must find a way to fit in, while still staying true to herself and her family. Asta is a lovely narrator, funny and hopeful. This is a wonderful novel.

And Then Everything Unraveled by Jennifer Sturman...

Delia is certain her mother isn't dead. But she's the only one who thinks so. So she's shipped off to New York City to live with her aunts, "one a downtown bohemian, the other an uptown ice queen." She's also stuck coping with her new school (snooty) and trying to avoid falling for the wrong guy. All the while, she's looking for her mother, finding lies and conspiracies, discovering that the wrong guy might not be so wrong after all and that some secrets might need to stay secret.

For GUYS (and Girls, I Suppose)

2010-07-03T11:31:00.016-05:00

Over the last month of the summer reading program, I have tried to find some of you books to read, and you do a lot of shrugging when I ask you if you like something...so I have decided to compile A Reading Guy-de. Get it? It's "guy" and "guide" put together!

No one else is laughing.

In fact, there were some face-palms. That means you think I'm a moron.

You're right.

Here, though, are some NEW books that don't involve the beheaded torso of some girl, or pink on the cover.

The newest book from Cory Doctorow (who is made of awesome, so if you don't know him, read his stuff) For the Win.

I'm going to let the publisher describe it for you:

At any hour of the day or night, millions of people around the globe are engrossed in multiplayer online games, questing and battling to win virtual "gold," jewels, and precious artifacts. Meanwhile, others seek to exploit this vast shadow economy, running electronic sweatshops in the world's poorest countries, where countless "gold farmers," bound to their work by abusive contracts and physical threats, harvest virtual treasure for their employers to sell to First World gamers who are willing to spend real money to skip straight to higher-level gameplay.

Mala is a brilliant 15-year-old from rural India whose leadership skills in virtual combat have earned her the title of "General Robotwalla." In Shenzen, heart of China's industrial boom, Matthew is defying his former bosses to build his own successful gold-farming team. Leonard, who calls himself Wei-Dong, lives in Southern California, but spends his nights fighting virtual battles alongside his buddies in Asia, a world away. All of these young people, and more, will become entangled with the mysterious young woman called Big Sister Nor, who will use her experience, her knowledge of history, and her connections with real-world organizers to build them into a movement that can challenge the status quo.

That would be the blurb from the dust jacket of the first edition, brought to us all by Tor (and now I won't get sued).

And although I love the U.S. cover, I have to say, the U.K. one is legendary, as it reminds me of an old Soviet-era propaganda poster.

From the author of Holes (Remember Holes? If you don't, go read that too), Louis Sachar, we have The Cardturner.

Alton's summer is looking bleak. Here is why: 1. His girlfriend dumped him 2. She did so in order to date his bast friend 3. He is penniless 4. He is jobless 5. His parents have forced him to drive his great-uncle Lester to bridge club four times a week and 6. He must be Lester's cardturner because 7. Lester is blind 8. Lester is old 9. Lester is sick and 10. Lester is RICH.

As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth by Lynne Rae Perkins has eye catching illustrations to go along with poor Ry's many near-death experiences. They look like something out of The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook, which is a much-referenced part of my home library (I love the travel one too--it teaches you how to ask for towels to stop the bleeding in, like, five languages. You can't beat that.).

See, Ry was headed to archaeology camp, but before he could get there, it was cancelled, but when he tried to call home, his train left while he stood dumbstruck on the platform and now he has no food and no anything else and his parents are off in the Caribbean and his grandfather is concussed not to mention missing and Ry has to get home using only his wits and the lint from his pockets.

A personal favorite of mine is the utterly original Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin.

Part thriller, part dark comedy, part philosophical debate, Fade to Blue follows Sophie Blue, Goth-Girl Supreme, who is currently being stalked by a Popsicle-Truck-Driving Robot/Man who may or may not be her father, who vanished/spontaneously combusted/got abducted by aliens a year ago and Kenny Fade, the Basketball God with the gorgeous cheerleader girlfriend and the perfect life. What do they have in common? They're both pretty certain they're losing their minds.

This novel starts out, well...novel, then breaks into a graphic novel portion, then snaps back to prose without skipping a beat. And the ending--I'll just let you figure that out for yourself.

Wereling by Steve Feasey, for those of you who aren't sick of the whole werewolf thing (I am).

Trey wakes up one morning in "retina-splitting, vomit-inducing agony" with his clothes shredded and his room trashed. Now he's being hunted by every demon out there and by the "most psychopathic bloodsucker to rock the Netherworld." All because he can take on a vampire and win. Maybe.

And remember this one from earlier today?

And there's always this one, a generation ship "waking up" and destroying the people on board...

Living Hell by Catherine Jinks.

And the prison Incarceron (by Catherine Fisher), filled with prisoners who've lived inside its ever-changing walls there whole lives, until Finn decides to escape, that is.

And Maze Runner, a giant experiment filled with boys with no memories, except Thomas, who knows more about the Glade than he wants to remember.

For those of you who enjoy literary fiction (books that make you think, the ones that have Symbols and Whatnot), take a look at these:

Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan

And Going Bovine by Libba Bray.

That's enough to get you started, right?

Author Spotlight: Laura Wiess

2010-07-03T10:05:00.007-05:00

I discovered one of Laura Wiess' books and wanted to read them all, and I think you'll feel the same way.

Leftovers follows best friends Blair and Ardith, who band together to do "something unforgivable" which might involve murder, but I didn't read long enough to find out. Why? Because this book made me cry in the third chapter. Heart-wrenching. But then, I cry a lot when I read. Not normally, but when I read...a lot. I would have kept going, but I was sitting at the circulation desk just then, and crying here is not such a great idea.

Poor Ardith is abused and neglected through her childhood and into adolescence. She is so damaged that the portions of the narrative she tells are in second person--in other words, she has no concrete identity and the trauma is enough that she deflects it to someone else--she says "you" instead of "I."

Blair, on the other hand, is in a nice house in a well-off neighborhood--with a mother who cares more about her career than Blair and a father who is more focused on his affair than his family. Blair's only real family, her dog, is stolen from her by her parents when the family moves to an even nicer house, breaking Blair's heart. And mine. That was when I stopped.

From the opening, the novel seems to be told in a manner similar to a confession, perhaps to the police or even to the girls' victim.

Such a Pretty Girl

Meredith's father was locked away in jail, sentenced to nine years in prison for raping her. However, instead of serving all nine years, he served three. Now he's coming home. Meredith's mother remains in staunch denial of her husband's crimes and Meredith, at fifteen, has nowhere else to go. Meredith has no choice but to save herself, and all the other children her father has hurt.

Believe me when I tell you that you will adore Meredith. She is such a strong, quirky, real narrator. I've seen her compared to Scout from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. I would consider that an accurate parallel. Meredith will be your hero.

In How it Ends, all Hanna's wanted was to date Scott. When they finally start dating, what she imagined to be a fairy tale romance is in reality dark, cruel, and harsh. Hanna has no idea why Scott could treat her this way, and, bewildered, she remains in the relationship.

Hanna decides to spend time with her dying neighbor Helen, whose home was once Hanna's refuge. Now, though, her illness has made Helen a stranger. The two begin to listen to an audiobook, and Hanna is drawn to the story, changed by it, until suddenly it becomes frighteningly real.

You should note that a lot of the subject matter Wiess explores will appeal to fans of Ellen Hopkins--except these aren't written in verse. And--to my knowledge--no meth. Thank goodness for that. Fans of Because I am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas or Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott will also be drawn to Wiess' books.

If you want to read more about Laura Wiess or her books, you can visit her website and send her an e-mail, read excerpts, and so forth.

New Series Fiction!

2010-07-03T08:57:00.009-05:00

A whole host of our favorite series(es) have new installments just in time for our summer vacations!

Garth Nix's final book in The Keys to the Kingdom: Lord Sunday!

This is book seven, the last day of the week--and I've been waiting a Very Long Time to see what happens.

The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavan, book one of The Homelanders has arrived in paperback!

Charlie West wakes up with no memory, bruised and bloodied, and the first thing he hears is a stranger ordering someone to kill him.

The tenth (and last--according to the cover) book in the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison: Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? has arrived!

I would answer that question, but I need a British slang dictionary first...

Books 3, 4, and 5 of The Warriors: Power of Three series by Erin Hunter.

And for those of you (like me) who adore Tamora Pierce, Beka Cooper Book Two: Bloodhound.

This is the follow-up to Terrier.

Enjoy!

Beach (Ha--We're Landlocked!) Reads

2010-06-28T15:33:00.009-05:00

I have way too many new books to show you, so I'm giving you pretty covers all in a row and not much of a description, because there just isn't space! You'll notice awfully fast that these are the "girly" books of the bunch. I promise guy-friendly reads tomorrow.

Very briefly,

I Kissed A Zombie, and I Liked It by Adam Selzer!

Vampire princess meets goth-zombie rocker boy. Love ensues.

Comeback by Vicki Grant with its oddly small picture. It is a smallish book, but still...

Ria, who is "perfect" to outside observers, loses everything she cares about as her parents divorce and her father vanishes in a plane crash. Now she discovers he wasn't the man she thought he was, and must take action to protect herself, her brother, and her father's good name.

Remember the pretty green dress from the cover of Vanity? The one I may or may not have told you I wanted, and the one that I told you (maybe I just thought it) was kind of creepy because it was like a girl was in the dress, only there was no girl in it at all, it was like Invisible Girl was wearing it? No?

Well, here is the second in the trilogy, Gorgeous by Rachel Vail, this volume following Allison Avery, the middle sister, who may have just made a deal with the devil. Can I just mention, I really love the color of that nail polish. Why is it that you never find nice colors like that when you go looking for them?

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.

Best friends Anna and Frankie decide to spend their days in Zanzibar Bay searching for their first summer romance, and by meeting one boy a day, they're sure to find love. But Anna hasn't told Frankie she's already had a summer romance--with Frankie's brother Matt, who died the previous year.

The Alpha Bet by Stephanie Hale,

Grace Kelly (just like the movie star), has been coping with her overprotective mother for years. So she studies hard, graduates from high school at 16, and starts her own life at college. Grace decides to rush the Alphas, a very exclusive sorority, tells one tiny--massive--lie, and things get complicated fast.

Swoon at Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter.

Polly, whose grandmother is the famous advice columnist Miss Swoon, ought to know everything about boys. But she vows to spend her summer working at Wild Waves, a western-themed water park, without boys. None. No way. When her grandmother comes to stay, Polly hopes she'll be able to help. But her Miss Swoon is still just as boy crazy as Polly doesn't want to be...

T-Shirt Design!

2010-06-18T09:13:00.007-05:00

I have pictures of our t-shirt design class! Last night, Candie Cooper (here's her website and here's her blog) taught us how to silk screen...

And it was a lot of fun!

Back when I was young, when trees covered the earth and steamboats chugged over the Mississippi, when telegrams sent the latest news and ponies still ran across the west carrying mail to the settlers, we had to make our own silk screens. We did that in drafting class (although what that has to do with architecture, I shall never know). The screens are troublesome to make, you need a special printer and it was so annoying to do that the teacher only let us make one screen.

This meant that the whole class had to pick one design we all liked. None of us liked the design. Then, we had to use all the same color because the screen could only really be used one time before it was ruined.

But now that's changed. Candie snatched up a bunch of samples at a trade show of this new product called Simply Screen--Plaid makes it (the Mod Podge people).

These are amazing.

Basically, you grab a screen (these are at big craft stores, and will soon be at Walmart) and some paint (there is special paint, also at the biggie craft stores-but-soon-Walmart). You peel the screen (which is a little sticky on one side to hold it in place) off its backing, then put the screen down on your shirt.

Then, you take your paint and squirt out a line across the top or side of the screen, about as thick as the mayo on a sandwich from Subway--well, maybe more like toothpaste from a tube. They put on tons of mayo at Subway.

After that, you use the little squeegee that comes with the screen to drag the paint across the screen at a 45 degree angle. It goes through the thin silk mesh of the design and hits the fabric underneath.

You can also just paint your shirt through the screen with a brush. Whatever you want.

And you can layer different colors of paint, leaving you with black lettering tinged with copper or pink. Very fun.

When you finish your design, you wash out the screen and put it back on the backing (sticky side down), and you can use the screen over and over again.

The whole process can take moments--my first shirt took like five minutes to make. And I love it.

The hair dryer helps the paint dry quickly. When it's done, you can wash the shirt like normal (but inside out, I'd imagine, would help keep it looking pretty). You can also glue on little crystals (or "sparklies" as I was calling them last night).

Is anyone else as excited about this as I am?

2010-06-16T13:41:00.001-05:00

Waiting is hard. Very, very hard.

Now that you're done reading books for school--read for fun!

2010-06-04T15:54:00.000-05:00

I managed to go through the vast majority of the new books for you, in between all the registering I've been doing for our summer reading program. It's very busy in here. You should come. The more the merrier.

After all, you're coming in for these books anyway, so you could register for the reading program (it only takes a few minutes) and get tons of points for reading books you were going to read anyway, then you could spend said points, getting raffle tickets for our drawings I told you about here or saving up for the whole paperback book order thing, which is fabulous. Just a suggestion.

Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress by Maria Padian...

Brett is a normal girl, a great soccer player, good student, has a terrific best friend, and pretty much has the eighth grade scene figured out. But then comes the prank.

Now she's a total loser, a juvenile delinquent who eats lunch with the principal every single day.

Nevertheless, Brett soldiers on, even as her entire world changes around her.

She's just smart-mouthed enough to make me very happy.

Under the Same Sky by Cynthia DeFelice...

Joe Pedersen wants a motorbike, something he's sure will give him the freedom he craves. He hopes his father will buy him one for his fourteenth birthday, but he's out of luck. Instead, his dad suggests that Joe work over the summer to earn money for the bike. Joe jumps at the chance, and joins up with the summer migrant workers on his family farm.

This novel challenges prejudices and is bound to make you think.

Warriors: Power of Three, Book Two: Dark River by Erin Hunter...

You know this series by now, I hope, so I'm not going deep into it. Just know that it's here.

Saving Juliet by Suzanne Selfors...

Juliet's horrible, pointless death proves yet again that arranged marriages have got to go. Down with patriarchy! Oh. Right. The book.

Mimi, 17 years old and forced into playing Juliet on Broadway (Sob! Your life is so hard...) opposite the incredibly attractive Troy, is catapulted with her costar into Shakespeare's Verona, Italy. Soon she realizes that she has tons in common with Juliet, who is also being steered down a path she doesn't want. So Mimi sets out to save Juliet and give her a happy ending.

Good luck.

What's next?

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner...

If you think Percy Jackson had it bad, wait until you hear about poor Helen. As in "The face that launched a thousand ships."

Helen doesn't want to get married, but she's a beautiful princess, so that's kind of her job. *retch* Still, she trains with her brothers, dreaming of heroic adventures and freedom.

Instead of waiting for the gods to help her, Helen goes it alone, making friends with Atlanta and the non-mummified Oracle of Delphi.

A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker...

Hooray! Fiona's school has roped her into participating in Trying the Knot, a mandatory class dedicated to showing students what married life is all about. Fiona is paired up with "super-jock" (what does that mean?) Todd Harding. And then Fiona's crush is paired up with Todd's super-evil girlfriend. Fiona's best friend is fated to spend the year with Johnny Mercer, who is huge and a class clown.

Comedy ensues.

Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey...

Solange Drake is the only female vampire ever born, destined to be a vampire queen, and the girl every vampire boy wants to date. Well, marry. Or maybe kill, what with the bounty hunter situation.

When Solange is kidnapped, she must depend on her brother Nicholas and her (human) best friend Lucy to save her. If Lucy doesn't need saving herself, what with Nicholas. And then there's the vampire hunter helping Solange survive...

Epic battles, drama, humor, and so forth. Enjoy.

In Ecstasy by Kate McCaffrey...

When painfully shy Mia's popular best friend Sophie suggests that the two of them try ecstasy, Mia hopes it will help fit in. The two girls are then pulled apart as the drug changes their lives.

Although it's not written in verse, readers will draw parallels between this book and Crank.

Jack: Secret Histories by F. Paul Wilson...

Jack has discovered his talent. He's great at fixing things. At making things right. So when he and his friends Weezy and Eddie find a corpse in the woods, Jack decides to make things right...

Inside Out by Terry Trueman...

I love the publisher's blurb for this one, so I'm quoting for you: "A busy coffee shop--a robbery gone wrong. Two gunmen, nine hostages, flashing lights. And Zach is caught in the mayhem. But nobody realizes that Zach--who has no gun and no knife--has a mind more dangerous than any weapon."

It's on my reading list.

Albatross by Josie Bloss...

Overcoming her parent's painful divorce, Tess moves to Michigan. She's lost without her old life, but her attraction to Micah is beginning to help. But Micah is intense, his affection for her moving from warm and caring to controlling and violent.

Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli...

Is a must for historical fiction fans. Napoli tells the story of Calogero and his family, six Sicilians living in Tallulah, Louisiana in 1899.

The immigrants are welcomed by some in the town, but others shun them. Calogero struggles to adapt to his new home, aided by Patricia, a beautiful young black woman. But every day, relations between the white community and the Sicilians grow closer to a violent conclusion.

Based on a actual historical events, Napoli gives us a story every American should know.

Speaking of civil rights, here is Free? a collection of short stories edited by Amnesty International.

I'm excited about Eoin Colfer's story. Maybe I'll just take a peek here...

Jars of Glass by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler...

Sisters Chloe and Shana both long for their lives to go back to normal, the way it was before their mother went to the hospital. Chloe wants her mother to come home; Shana never wants to see their mother again. While Shana tries to escape, Chloe is left to be the responsible one.

When their situation gets even worse, the sisters must unite to rebuild their family.

A Touch of Sci-Fi, a Touch of Fantasy

2010-06-04T14:55:00.009-05:00

First, I have a novel by one of my favorite authors of all time, Melina Marchetta: Finnikin of the Rock.

I love Melina Marchetta. She is fabulous. She is made of awesome. Her writing makes me swoon.

Finnikin is told that he must sacrifice a pound of his flesh to save his kingdom. He and his two friends, Prince Balthazar and Lucian mix their blood to keep their homeland safe.

But their safeguard fails. During five unspeakable days, the king, queen, and their children are murdered. The throne is seized, the land cursed, and the few who manage to escape wander homeless, dying by the thousand of illness.

Ten years pass.

Finnikin is called to another rock, this time to meet with Evanjalin, a novice who insists that Prince Balthazar lives. She urges Finnikin and his master, Sr Topher, to come with her to find the prince.

Even with all the epic fantasy awesomeness this book has, I must now throw in that Finnikin of the Rock is not for fantasy lovers only. Marchetta's writing will blow you away, even if you thrive on chick lit or, dare I say, vampire books. Try to read the first chapter and put it down.

I dare you.

Leaving fantasy behind, I steer you to science fiction--Living Hell by Catherine Jinks.

With Earth long since destroyed, Cheney and her family live on what we sci-fi buffs would call a "generation ship"--a vessel created to take a huge population of people(be it colonists, refugees, etc.) from one planet to another.

Their ship, Plexus, has nurtured them for years. At least until the radiation wave.

Now Plexus is trying to kill them. Cheney and his friends must find a way to fight the ship before their home ends their lives.

Think Aliens but with no alien, just the ship. And death, lots of death.

Second, I have some graphic novels.

Camilla d'Errico's Burn

Burn was once human, now he's mixture of both man and machine, blended physically with the horrible machine Shoftiel, one of the many robots made to serve humanity that waged war on their creators, tearing through Burn's home and leaving it destroyed. When Burn and Shoftiel emerge from the wreck, they discover they have merged, and now must battle internally for control over their shared body.

For Burn, this means escaping Shoftiel's genocidal programming, staying strong enough to remain as close to human as he can. Each drawing manages to capture the depth of emotion d'Errico explores. Beautifully done.

And because I like Buffy so very much, No Future for You, volume 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.

In this offering, Faith makes an entrance, called on by Giles to stop one of the thousands of new Slayers, one who has decided she likes killing more than just vampires.

Oh, and have I mentioned before that the only reason I get out of bed on Thursdays is that I know Fringe will be on in the evening? Because it's true.

So when I heard J.J. Abrams had made us a Fringe graphic novel, I couldn't resist. Especially because it shows us how Walter Bishop and William Bell began their work...

I just did this yesterday, but no one was filming it.

2010-06-02T14:02:00.003-05:00

I was laughing at this over the weekend, and now I can't get the song out of my head, so here you go.

This is what we librarians do when you aren't around.

Make Waves at Your Library!

2010-06-02T11:32:00.003-05:00

Our Y.A. Summer Reading Program has begun!

We're doing things a little differently this time around. Last year was my first time running the show, and I had no idea what to give you for prizes. I mean, you'll read what you want to no matter what I offer up to you as an incentive, so what could I possibly do to inspire you...

This year, we're trying raffles. Instead of using your points to buy something that will only entertain you for a little while, you can use points to buy raffle tickets and get the chance at winning something more exciting.

We'll be doing five raffle drawings on Mondays, starting on June 28 and ending on July 26.

Prizes?

We'll be giving out tickets to Eclipse, copies of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, a Nerf Super-Soaker Shot Blast (to allow you to fully express your love for your siblings and friends), a copy of the first DVD box set of Naruto Shippuden, and a $25.00 iTunes gift card.

In addition to all of that, you can also use your points to earn an ever-popular book order--meaning you earn 600 pts, tell me what paperback book you want to own, and I order it for you.

And we also have watches, bookmarks, and flip flop necklaces.

We also have sign-up sheets out for our next program--t-shirt design with Candie Cooper--so come by the library and register!

I'm running out of ways to tell you...

2010-05-28T08:20:00.004-05:00

More new books!

Children of the Sea: Volume 1 by Daisuke Igarashi, another new graphic novel.

Ruka still remembers seeing a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her father works. Now much older, she is haunted by dreams of the experience and oddly drawn to the boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. Both were raised by dugongs, both feel drawn to the sea the way Ruka is.

The employees at the aquarium are baffled by the strange disappearance of fish from both their tanks and from the ocean, and nearly unaware of what's happening to the children.

Winner of the William C. Morris Debut Award, Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse as Dark as Gold...

Gold thread offers Charlotte Miller a chance to pay off her family's debts and save their mill. She can also offer her sister a better life, work for other people in the town, and it will finally free Charlotte from her uncle.

Charlotte makes a deal (sound familiar yet?) with Jack Spinner, unwittingly walking into a trap that has plagued generations of Millers before her.

Fans of Beastly, Robin McKinley (Beauty, Spindle's End), and Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted, Ever, Fairest) will love this book.

The Great Wide Sea by M. H. Herlong

Brothers Ben, Dylan, and Gerry are still reeling from their mother's death when their father sells their house and takes them on a sailing trip in the Bahamas. Just as they start to adjust to the change, they wake up one morning to discover their father has vanished, leaving them stranded, lost between the Bahamas and Bermuda.

And what are they supposed to do about the storm?

More New Graphic Novels!

2010-05-24T12:02:00.004-05:00

I loved this book so much that I just ordered the rest of the series...it's amazing. Pluto: Volume 1 by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka.

In a futuristic society, man and robots coexist. But then, Mont Blanc, a powerful and beloved Swiss robot, is destroyed. Soon after, a key human proponent of robot civil rights is killed. The two crimes are seemingly unrelated--except for the way the bodies have been arranged after death. Now Detective Gesicht is assigned to the case, and he soon discovers that he, as one of the seven greatest robots of the world, is also a target.

Superman: the Coming of Atlas...

Which I have not read, except to say that Atlas is big and evil-ish, and could actually manage to kill Superman, somehow. Is that possible?

The Invincible Iron Man: The Five Nightmares...

Tony Stark faces off against Obadiah Stane's son Ezekiel--who's much smarter than his father and obsessed with revenge. He's created Iron Man 2.0--and has managed to become all five of Stark's nightmares. Stark has to stop Ezekiel before he unleashes his creation and kills hundreds of innocent people. Spiderman even comes to help...

Another to-be-continued novel Bayou: Volume 1 by Jeremy Love.

Only Lee Wagstaff can see the fantastical gods and monsters, inspired by years of slavery, civil war, and racism, that inhabit the bayou. When her father is accused of kidnapping and threatened with lynching, Lee must rescue the missing girl with only the help of a swamp monster named Bayou.

And if you love graphic novels or have thought of writing your own, here's a book that might help: You Can Do a Graphic Novel by Barbara Slate.

I took a look at this and can tell you that, even if you just want to write a novel, this has some good information for you.

The New Book Cart Can Hold No More...

2010-05-18T09:09:00.012-05:00

A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn...

Talia can't help but touch the spindle, even though she'd been warned not to. Oops.

And 316 years later, Jack discovers a pretty girl while on his boring tour. She's asleep, and he just can't resist kissing her. Oops.

Now he's stuck with a bratty princess--and she's stuck with him. How do you explain that to your parents?

I really love the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil books by Rosemary Clement-Moore--here's the latest:

Highway to Hell, in which Maggie and D&D Lisa go for a road trip during spring break. Everything's fabulous. Until the thing with the dead cow. Oh, and the punctured gas tank. And now they're stranded in Dulcina, Texas--"a town so small it has an owner." Oh--and evil. It has lots of evil.

The sequel to The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh, The Twilight Prisoner.

Jack Perdu is back from the ghostly underworld of NYC, safe and alive. So why is he still seeing ghosts?

He works hard to adapt to his new school, but before he knows it, he and his classmate Cora have crossed the wrong threshold. Now they're in the underworld, and they might never get back out.

Love You Hate You Miss You by Elizabeth Scott

Amy's best friend Julia is dead, and it's all Amy's fault. Seventy-five days later, on orders from her shrink, Amy starts a diary. But it isn't a day-to-day chronicle of her life. It's all letters to Julia. As she writes, she realizes that her life before wasn't all that great. And life now could end up not being quite so terrible, after all.

Maximum Ride fans, behold: Max by James Patterson.

The flock are still on a quest to save the world, but they can only make it happen if they manage to survive...

The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennen

Nick and his brother Alan are living on the run, dodging magicians who are hunting them down to get back a charm that Nick and Alan...liberated.

One night, a brother and sister appear at their doorstep. The boy has a mark--a sign of death--and only a magician's blood can get rid of it. Then Alan gets the mark. And Nick is the only one who can save him. But first he has to find out why his brother is lying about their past...

Another action-packed novel, Reality Check by Peter Abrahams.

Cody has a perfect life, until his girlfriend Clea is sent off to boarding school across the country. Then his football career abruptly ends when he tears his ACL. And the worst is yet to come. Cody finds a headline: Local Girl Missing. Clea has vanished. The only clue is a letter she sent Cody before she disappeared.

So Cody heads for Vermont.

Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher.

Leon Sanders looks like he ought to be featured on the FBI's Most-Wanted list. His locker is right next to Melody Hennon, a total freak. Everyone avoids her, including Leon, until one day he takes a chance. He discovers that Melody is funny, smart, and interesting. They become friends, even more than friends.

That is, until Leon is approached by the beautiful social butterfly Amy Green, who he saves from detention. Now both girls are interested, and Leon could end up hurting them both.

Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

Lucas Swain lives in London. His father is missing, he disappeared five years ago. No one is looking for him. All the same, Lucas has a pretty normal life. Until he meets Violet, that is. She's interesting, and Lucas is sure she has something to tell him about his father. The thing is, Violet is already dead. Really dead.

In an urn, dead.

Yeah.

That dead.

More Graphic Novels

2010-05-18T07:57:00.004-05:00

Orange by Benjamin

The artwork is lovely--full color and everything.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight: the Long Way Home by Joss Whedon and Georges Jeanty

X-Men Misfits by Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman, illustrated by Anzu

Kim Dong Hwa's Color Trilogy

Shiny New Books, Graphic and Otherwise

2010-05-17T08:20:00.011-05:00

Behold the results of my graphic-novel ordering-spree!

And, well, my other ordering-sprees...

Buffy enthusiasts (myself included) will enjoy this series of graphic novels, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight, which picks up where the television series left off.

Those of us who spent the better part of our high school years watching Buffy will understand what this means. To those of you (most of you) who are too young to remember the television series, fret not. You can watch them on DVD now. Netflix, my friends. Netflix.

Here is a ridiculously simplified synopsis: Buffy, your Stereotypical California-Girl Cheerleader Type, discovers to her shock (and horror) that she is the Slayer, "One girl in all the world who--" Yeah. Giles explains it better. Buffy's calling, in short, is to slay evil in all its forms, from Inca Mummy Girl to Giant Cobra Monsters. Mostly, though, it's vampires.

Aided by her Watcher (Giles) and her two best friends, Willow and Xander, Buffy spends seven seasons knocking vampires around. Along the way, she meets Angel, a vampire with a soul (she falls in love with Angel, then he gets his own TV show). Oh, and there's Spike, who doesn't have a soul but he does have a chip in his head courtesy of the U.S. government which prevents him from hurting humans. Spike gets smacked around a lot. He even gets thrashed by a puppet, but that's in Angel, not Buffy.

Long story short: Buffy saves the world. A lot. It says so on her tombstone.

Wolves at the Gate is the third in the series--the other two are still in processing upstairs and they won't let me put them out on the shelf until they have barcodes. But don't worry. They're coming. In the meantime, entertain yourself with these...

Thirst, volumes 1 and 2, which contain no less than three books each:

All by Christopher Pike. Alisa is a vampire who drinks to survive, but never kills. Her one goal? To stay immortal. Or was it to become human again? Un-life is complicated.

We also have the next House of Night book, Burned by P. C. Cast and Kristen Cast. You know this series by now, so I'll leave you to it.

And Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen and Dusty Higgins...

Which is, quite frankly, hilarious. Read the first page, and you won't be able to put it down.

Remember when I told you about Lament by Maggie Stiefvater and Shiver? Here's another of her books, Ballad .

Celtic myth and paranormal goodness, in short.

The Summer I turned Pretty by Jenny Han...

Belly leaves school and home behind for Cousins Beach, where she's spent every summer of her life. There she joins her mother's best friend, Conrad, and Jeremiah. Belly adores Conrad, but he's never given her a second glance. But this summer, everything changes.

The Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher...

Alice lives her life in the background, but now she's ready to stop. It's time to make a change, in her art, her life, and in love.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers...

Regina used to be one of the Fearsome Fivesome, easily one of the most popular girls at her high school. But now she's fallen from grace, her friends want nothing to do with her, and Regina's stuck dealing with rumors and bullying. As Regina tries to make up for the hurt she's caused, the abuse grows steadily worse during the final explosive days of Regina's senior year.

Resistance by Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis...

France, World War II: in Paul Tessier's small village, life goes on. Paul's father is a P.O.W. held by the German Army. His best friend, Henri, is Jewish. When Henri's family vanishes, Paul and his sister keep Henri hidden. But their secret doesn't stay hidden--soon the Resistance makes contact. Paul, Henri, and Marie soon become their youngest recruits.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George...

Like Robin McKinley's Beauty, Princess of the Midnight Ball is a retelling of a classic fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Rose and her sisters must dance each night for the King Under Stone. No one has ever been able to break the spell. But soon Rose, joined by Galen, decides to take on the challenge herself.

Gamers will be familiar with this already...

Prince of Persia hits theaters May 28. While you wait, you can check out the graphic novel.

We have several new X-Men graphic novels:

A new Superman:

Mercury by Hope Larson...

Set in Nova Scotia way back in 1859, Josey meets Asa Curry (mysterious and very handsome) Asa, somehow, has a strange gift. He can find gold anywhere. But he isn't as innocent as his gift sounds.

Same place, different time: 150 years later, Tara, whose house has just burned down, discovers a pendant that's more than what it seems...

IraqiGirl, a compilation of different blog entries written by Hadiya from her home of Mosul, Iraq at the onset of the war.

Hadiya's identity has been protected; writing this book has put her life in danger.

Next on my reading list is Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.

Set in Incarceron, a prison where inmates are trapped among metal forests, cities and wilderness, the walls have been sealed around generations of prisoners for centuries. Finn, at seventeen, thinks he came from outside Incarceron. He decides to escape. Along the way, he discovers a key and Claudia, who claims she lives outside the prison. She wants Finn's help, but it might not be that easy. Incarceron is alive.

Okay, maybe I'll read this first: Gentlemen by Michael Northrop...

Michael, Tommy, Mixer and Bones are feared and ignored in their high school. The only person who seems to care is Mr. Haberman, who calls them "gentlemen." But when one of their group vanishes, all clues seem to point to Mr. Haberman...

Jane Yolen's Foiled...

Aleria excels at fencing but lives the rest of her life in the background. But now she's starting to wonder if she really doesn't fit in anywhere. At least not in this world...

The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King...

Emer Morrisey spent her teenage years as a pirate--back in the late 17th century. She's got it made--a huge fortune and a true love to settle down with--until she ends up dead. And cursed. She has to spend one hundred lives as a dog before finally becoming human again. But her memory stays intact. Now she's your average American teenager who really could use a ride out to Jamaica. And a shovel, if it isn't too much trouble.

The Book of Samuel by Erik Raschke...

Samuel's dad is gone, off to "save the world" and Samuel's left to pick up the pieces. He enjoys a series of adventures--often hilarious ones--and tries to sort out his life. Soon he's at a crossroads of religion and community, family and friends, love and hate, as he struggles to keep his world together.

New Books: You Saw it on Twitter First!

2010-05-12T12:37:00.003-05:00

See? I'm advertising. Me. On Twitter.

Why do you care? Because you can see the new things happening at the library on Twitter way faster than you can on this blog (unless you're reading the Twitter widget thing) due to the character restriction.

I am wordy. I write a lot. So when I'm talking up new books, I use so many words to do it that it sometimes takes me a while.

That is why the Twitter thing is awesome, because lots of times, the new books are on the cart way before the blog is up. Unless I'm reading one of them...

For your reading pleasure:

Twilight: The Graphic Novel by Stephanie Meyer, adapted by Young Kim.

This is for all of you who just can't get enough Twilight in your day. Enjoy.

For the rest of you, we have Lament by Maggie Stiefvater, who you might know from her other book Shiver, which you might have read. If you haven't, grab it when you're next in Y.A. Territory, it's up there.

In this novel, Stiefvater takes on Celtic lore. Dierdre, crippled by her paralyzing stage fright before a performance , is assisted by flautist Luke Dillon. Overcoming her terror, she plays her harp with Luke's accompaniment. Suddenly, she finds four-leaf clovers everywhere, she develops strange powers-- including telekinesis--and begins to meet strange people who seem to...dislike her.

Dierdre discovers that she is a cloverhand, someone who can see faeries, and now her whole family and her best friend are in terrible danger. Fortunately for her, Luke, who was sent to kill her, seems to be the only faerie who doesn't want her dead.

We also have Fade, the second book of the Wake trilogy by Lisa McMann...

Remember Janie? The girl who can see into other people's dreams--who dreams other people's dreams? Well, she remembers you.

Or rather, she remembers that dream you had of falling down the bleachers in the gym. The one where the whole school was there to see--you know the one.

Janie and I talk. What can I say?

Well, Janie and Cabel are just trying to get some quality alone time, but the real world is starting to be just as bad as their dreams. Fieldridge High is having some...issues. When Janie sees into a classmate's violent nightmares, everything starts making sense.

But now she's out of her depth, trying to keep Cabel's strange behavior from causing them both more trouble, and she's found out something very bad about her ability. And it isn't just that she's stuck as a dream catcher for life.

And my current absolutely favorite book of the year: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan.

I love this book, it's fantastic, now go read it! Tiny Cooper alone will make it worth your while!

The concept? Two teens, both named Will Grayson, meet up on one night in Chicago and it changes both their lives forever.

Remember, sometimes I will put new fiction up on the short hardcover shelf!

Something(s) New

2010-05-10T14:52:00.004-05:00

My obsession with Twitter has rapidly increased over the last month, and I decided to bring you in on my fun.

(This would be your cue to check out the side-bar dealie...)

Oh, and I just randomly changed the layout to psych you out. Did it work?

Because I know there can never be enough...

2010-05-04T09:30:00.001-05:00

New Books!

Royal Blood by Ellen Schreiber, sixth in the Vampire Kisses series.

This one starts with Raven headed back to school and Alexander's parents coming to visit. Nothing like a vampire family reunion to threaten their relationship, is there? Paranormal love strikes.

Fallen by Lauren Kate...

Luce Price is fascinated by Daniel Grigori, who seems so familiar to her. What Luce can't figure out is why. Luce is stuck at Sword & Cross boarding school in Savannah, a miserable place with no cellphones filled with security cameras and troublemakers. But while Luce can't get enough of Daniel, Daniel refuses to spend any time with Luce--and he's very clear that he'll never want to. Luce, slightly obsessed (from what the book jacket says, she seems it), is still drawn to him. She dedicates herself to finding out Daniel's secret at any cost. Paranormal love strikes again.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick...

Nora Grey wants nothing to do with romance, despite her friend Vee's encouragement. But when she meets Patch, that changes, even though she'd rather it didn't.

Suddenly, Nora's life starts getting a lot more dangerous, and Patch might be the reason why. He seems to know everything about her and be everywhere at once. While part of her is intrigued, the other part couldn't be far enough away from him. And when she goes looking for answers, she finds more than what she's bargained for. Now she's in the middle of a battle and choosing the wrong side could mean she ends up dead. Paranormal love strikes yet again.

Dystopia continues in Hunger, the sequel to Gone by Michael Grant.

With the adults still missing and supplies running out, the teens are starting to turn against each other. Some have powers, some don't and chaos is setting in. Think The Lord of the Flies without the conch shell. Or, hey, like J. J. Abram's Lost. Now, with everyone out for themselves, the Darkness, a creature from the hills, comes out and starts calling to the kids in the FAYZ. Calling, and controlling.

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot, the sequel to Airhead, which continues with Em's story.

Now that brainiac Em is stuck in supermodel Nikki's body (bizarre accident leading to body transfer), she's stuck balancing Nikki's life of runway shows and ex-boyfriends taking over her life, which used to be pretty tame. And she's still trying to convince the love of her life that models can have brains too...

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley...

Is all about Terra Cooper, who has the body any girl would want but a port-wine stain (a type of birthmark) marring one side of her face.

Terra has done everything possible to try and hide the mark, and she has the low self esteem to prove it. Her father doesn't help, his ridicule plagues her, fueling her desire to leave the Northwest for the East Coast when she goes to college. Her father even ruins that, though, and Terra has to deal with the consequences.

One of them is Jacob, a good-looking goth-guy, who challenges everything she's ever believed about herself and her life and sends her plans into yet another direction.

After the Moment by Garret Freymann-Weyr...

When Leigh Hunter, the super-polite good guy, meets self-proclaimed train wreck Maia Morland, love is in the air. But life isn't always like Days of Our Lives (which I've never watched. Never. Not even when I was in junior high and bored out of my mind during the summertime, back before I had a car or a job or a life or fast internet and we had only network television and Marlena was in that cage and everyone was looking for her even though that one girl totally knew she was in the cage all along but wasn't doing anything about it because of that blackmail thing).

Unfortunately, something awful happens to Maia and Leigh "betrays both her trust and her love," but I don't know what the back cover means by that just yet since I haven't read it...you'll have to let me know!

Now here's a book that's more my speed: Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev.

Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie) lives in the Theatre Illuminata, along with all the characters from every play ever written. The actors are all bound to the Theatre by The Book, a collection of scripts. Now Bertie's about to lose everyone she loves and the only home she's ever known all because The Book is threatened. Assisted by her fairy friends (from A Midsummer Night's Dream ) Bertie's off to save The Book (while putting up with the two handsome men vying for her affection).

What I'm Reading These Days

2010-04-20T07:54:00.005-05:00

I've been very busy lately ordering you tons of new books. This is because I am attracted to printer's ink, shiny covers, and good writing. It's kind of like those little bugs that get zapped by those lights you put outside during the summer, only instead of being electrocuted, sometimes I get paper cuts.

I've never thought those lights actually worked. Think about it. You put out a light which attracts bugs, then kills them. But before they die, they come to the light. Which is by you, where you are sitting outside. So you really end up with more bugs, don't you?

I have a problem with tangents.

In between all of the new book stuff, I have been reading. And oh, is the reading not an amazing thing?

This came in the mail for me last week, and I loved it.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. I could not put this book down.

At first I found myself looking forward to the Will Grayson chapters and powering through the will grayson chapters (Will Grayson is one Will, the other will is chronically depressed--his narration is in all lowercase letters). Why? will's life hard to read about, since it's so painful for him to live. As he starts to leave his forced-solitude, this changes. By the end, you're rooting for both Wills and Tiny Cooper (who is fantastic).

I won't tell you who wrote which Will Grayson--it's more fun to figure out on your own. But I will tell you--Will Grayson, Will Grayson is a definite must-read!

After finishing Will Grayson, Will Grayson, I started talking to Polly, who used to be the guru of all things YA here at the library before I took over a year ago. I asked if she'd read any of David Levithan's books. We talked teen lit for a while, until this book came up:

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini.

I'd picked this book up several times because I think the cover is awesome. I mean, look at that! Then I'd vow to read it after I finished [INSERT TITLE HERE] and then when I'd finished the book I was reading, I'd vow to read It's Kind of a Funny Story after the new book I just had to read first.

In other words, I kept getting distracted by shiny new books.

I knew (this would be last Thursday) that I couldn't go straight from reading about Will Graysons to reading about zombies, so instead of jumping right into The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I went upstairs and grabbed It's Kind of a Funny Story.

Wow.

Mini summary: Craig, an ambitious 15 year old, spent his entire time in junior high studying for the entrance exam for Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, easily the best high school in New York. Finally he takes the test and discovers he's made it--with a perfect score.

But once he starts his first year, he realizes that he's not the best. In fact, he's behind. Craig quickly becomes overwhelmed, depressed, and suicidal, finally calling a suicide hotline and checking himself into a nearby hospital for psychiatric treatment. Since the teen ward is packed full (and under construction) Craig is put in with the adults. While there, Craig starts to tackle his own problems and he does what he can to help his fellow patients.

Still, it isn't the plot that made me love this novel. It was the spot-on descriptions of Craig's depression--his symptoms, thought processes, reasoning--it's so accurate that, even if Vizzini hadn't mentioned his own experience with depression, I would have still been convinced that he'd based the novel on his own struggle.

Now I'm excited about this.

A film adaptation of It's Kind of a Funny Story is in the works! The scheduled release date, from what I can find, is November of 2010, so we don't have that long to wait...I hope.

Go here for more about Ned Vizzini and his books. He also has been posting movie updates.

After I finished reading that, I read The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by

I love Sherlock Holmes. I love Enola. This is a great series--definitely worth a trip downstairs.

What's up next? The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan...

Followed up with The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King.

I love Sherlock Holmes. I love Mary Russell. If you're interested in all things Holmesian, start this series with The Beekeeper's Apprentice. And don't forget Enola.

I'm reading The Language of Bees in anticipation of The God of the Hive, the newest Mary Russell mystery--due out this month. I'm having a hard time waiting.

Keep reading and be ready for the host of new books that are on the way!

YA Book Club!

2010-04-15T13:49:00.004-05:00

I told you a week ago that I had one book I wanted to keep back, to hide from all of you because it was very special...

And here it is!

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson!

I cannot begin to tell you how amazing this book is. No one writes like Laurie Halse Anderson, she is amazingly talented and every new novel she writes blows me away. Wintergirls came out in paperback just recently, and I ordered it the second it was released so that we could have a celebratory book discussion.

I read this book in one day, it was the first book I purchased for my Kindle after Christmas, I read it on December 26, right here at the library, because no one came in on the day after Christmas.

Okay, ridiculously simplified synopsis time.

Lia wakes up Monday morning to 33 missed calls. All were from the same person. And she missed them all on purpose.

Now Cassie, Lia's best friend, is dead. Lia and Cassie had been estranged for over a year, and Lia avoided the calls because she was sure they were a prank. Now she knows they weren't.

In middle school, Lia and Cassie made a pact. Each vowed to be the thinnest girl in school, competing with each other until they both were trapped in matchstick bodies and unable to stop themselves. Now Lia must deal both with the loss of her friend and the guilt of not being able to help her, save her, when Cassie needed her the most.

As Lia spirals deeper and deeper into her illness, she must choose either to join Cassie or to finally save herself.

Told in a lyrical style reminiscent of Speak, Wintergirls is painfully beautiful and impossible to put down.

Book trailer time.

We've got two copies of the book for you to check out and read as well as a ton for sale at the circulation desk for $5.00 each. You can sign up for the book discussion there too. Don't forget to sign up when you buy your book.

As always, it doesn't matter if you've finished the book when the discussion rolls around--come anyway.

And, in order to encourage us all to eat--we will have snacks. I'm thinking waffles or maybe cupcakes. Read the novel to know why.

And while you wait, go here for more about the novel, downloads, and other great resources.

Thanks!

2010-04-15T13:02:00.003-05:00

I wanted to thank everyone who came to our Carnegie Knits program last night, for making it so much fun!

It was great to see so many of you wanted to learn to knit. Especially because knitting is an obsession of mine, evidenced by the pair of handknitted socks (almost finished) sitting in my knitting bag in the office here at the library, waiting for me to finish them.

I hope you all had just as much fun as I did, and I hope you come by to show me how it's going!

A Few New Books

2010-04-12T07:17:00.002-05:00

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon, set in Chicago, 1968.

Smack in the middle of the civil rights movement, and if you know your history, you'll know what happened in Chicago during 1968...(rioting, Democratic National Convention and corresponding police-enforced curfew...makes for some interesting reading).

This book follows 13 year old Sam, son of civil rights activist Roland Childs, and brother to Stick, who is becoming more and more involved with the Black Panthers. Sam's father believes in peaceful protest, his brother in violence, and now Sam must choose which path to take.

On another note entirely, we have Wings by Aprilynne Pike.

Laurel wakes up one morning to discover she has a flower blooming right smack in the middle of her back. They don't make a cream for that...

And now she has wings. Because she's part faerie, part human. As Laurel learns more about her faerie family, she discovers that her main concern isn't how she's supposed to buy a prom dress with wing slits, it's how to keep her human family safe from the faeries who want to destroy them.

Tons and Tons of New Books: Part Four

2010-04-10T12:42:00.004-05:00

There were just some new books I had to read. I just finished The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork.

This is Stork's second young adult novel. The first, as I hope you know, was Marcelo in the Real World. It's one of my all-time favorites (the audio is great, too), so if you haven't read it, start reading now! The Last Summer of the Death Warriors doesn't disappoint--it is amazing. Stork drew from Don Quixote for this novel, but don't expect any actual, real-life windmill tilting to be going on. Instead, Stork unites Pancho, an angry young man reeling from the nearly back-to-back deaths of both his father (in a construction accident) and his sister (who he believes was murdered) with D.Q., who is dying of brain cancer.

Together, the two attempt to live life to the fullest while each tries to tackle their very different goals. D.Q. struggles to survive, while Pancho hunts for his sister's killer.

Go forth and read it! I command thee!

Fine. I don't command. I encourage gently.

And I read Rosie and Skate by Beth Ann Bauman.

This book, narrated by both Rosie and her older sister Skate, shows the sisters differing reactions to the troubles in their lives.

Rosie is dedicated to her alcoholic father. Despite his past behavior, she believes with all her heart that he will eventually come through for her. Now that he's in prison, Rosie visits him every week, writes him, and encourages her sister to do the same. Meanwhile, she attends a support group for children of alcoholics.

Skate is...the opposite. She calls her father "Old Crow" after the whiskey he prefers. She won't visit him, hates the support group, and can't sit still for two minutes in a row. She doesn't even live with her sister, choosing instead to stay with the mother of her boyfriend while he is in college.

Both narrators have distinctive voices, and thought I sometimes wanted to shake them--to get them to realize that what they were doing was Not Good--they have realistic reactions to the troubles they're going through.

Perhaps the most heartening aspect of this novel is that Bauman doesn't get stuck on trying for an after-school-special feel, there is no happy moment where each family member gathers together for hugs and swelling music. The sisters will still struggle. Their father will always be an alcoholic, regardless of how much he drinks. But the reader is left with the knowledge that the two girls have each other and that's enough. A beautiful novel.

As I Run Out the Door...

2010-04-05T15:29:00.003-05:00

A new book!

Waiting for You by Susane Colasanti...

A touch of chick lit perfect for the end of the school year or the start of the summer. Marisa is beginning her sophomore year, hoping to change things up a little. What she'd really like is a boyfriend--a first for her. So...the gorgeous boy, the nerdy boy, or the quixotic D.J. whose identity is the biggest mystery to hit the school?

Learn to Knit!

2010-04-05T07:37:00.005-05:00

Those of you who know me at all will understand the depth of my love for knitting. Why, the mere whiff of yarn fumes will send me rushing into the nearest yarn store to grab up materials, so I can make myself new socks, slippers, gloves, sweaters--you name it.

I have knit lots of socks. And yes, I do know you can buy them for less than five bucks at Walmart. But if I did that, then I wouldn't get to knit them.

Yesterday, I finished knitting a mouse. I made a knitted mouse. Really.

I have had enough people ask me how to knit that I've decided you all have to learn. Seriously.

So.

We are holding Knitting 101 (or our first meeting of Carnegie Knits, if you will) on Wednesday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m.

The library will provide you with the following tools of the knitting trade: needles, yarn, and an experienced teacher. Free of charge. All you need to do is register (downstairs or upstairs at the circulation desks) and then show up.

I will teach you all you need to know to make a scarf and offer help in days to come should you drop stitches, add stitches, or get confused. It happens.

What if you already know how to knit? Come anyway! And if you know how to crochet? Come teach me!

Gratuitous sock picture. Yes, I knit that.

Tons and Tons of New Books: Part Three, Realistic Fiction

2010-04-02T08:31:00.010-05:00

And yes, you're getting a Part Four too. Sorry. It's just that I want to pay special attention to one particular book, so it gets its own entry. You'll see why...

Oh, and I'm reviewing two other ones separately too, because I'm reading them right now and I want to give them their own.

So I guess you could say there is a Part Five and a Part Six on the way, but not really.

Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian...

Emily just wants something different to happen this summer. Her best friend has a boyfriend, leaving Emily feeling left out. So she's eager to go to Philadelphia when she's offered a place in a art program, even if it's only for a few hours a day.

But the city has its own challenges, and Emily finds herself facing the same problems she would have had if she'd stayed at home. Turns out that pressure just doesn't change. Friendships can be tough, and boys are just plain confusing. And sometimes the difference between right and wrong gets blurred.

In honor of National Poetry Month: Because I Am Furniture by Thalia Chaltas!

Anke's father has a terrible temper. She has always faded in the background, never noticed, never troubled by his fits of rage. This means he doesn't hit her, like he does her brother. And he doesn't bother her the way he does her sister. Anke is invisible.

Then she joins the volleyball team.

She finds her voice, and makes herself noticed for the first time. With every serve, she grows closer to facing her family's monster and saving her family.

Fans of Ellen Hopkins will love this book. It's told in a similar style, through poetry, telling the story of a protagonist's pain. But don't worry about a depressing end--I checked!

Ellen Hopkins' fans will also enjoy Punkzilla by Adam Rapp. This unusual book is the chronicle of Jamie--"Punkzilla"--and his mission: to see his brother Peter, "P", before P dies of cancer.

The book jacket says:

Hopping on a bus while still buzzing from his last hit of meth, Jamie embarks on a days-long trip from Portland, Oregon, to Memphis, Tennessee, writing letters to his family and friends--letters so honest he may never send them. Along the way he sees a sketchier side of America the Beautiful: seedy motels, dicey bus stations, and a colorful, sometimes dangerous cast of characters. In his letters to P, he catalogs them all--the freaky but kind transsexual, the old woman with an oozing eye, the girl with the long wavy blond hair.

As his journey progresses, Jamie starts to wonder if he'll manage to make it to his brother in time.

Yes, it's gritty. But it's also a Printz Honor Book, so it must have done something right.

Me, Myself and Ike by K. L. Denman!

Kit Latimer feels alienated. He's paranoid, he's confused, and the only one who steps up as a friend is Ike.

Kit used to be happy, he had a beautiful girlfriend, friends, and a family. But now all that's gone. And Ike just might make him lose even more, if Kit lets him have his way.

This stunning chronicle of mental illness lets us see into the mind of a teen falling into psychosis.

Leaving schizophrenia behind, let's tackle depression with Black Box by Julie Schumacher.

Elena is shocked when her older sister is diagnosed with depression. When Dora enters the hospital, Elena can't make sense of anything anymore.

She spends her time with Dora's friends, the only ones who acknowledge her at school, and tries to ignore her parents' arguing, which seem to start the moment they think Elena is asleep. It only gets worse when Dora comes home. Elena would do anything to make things go back to how they used to be...and eventually all that responsibility becomes more than she can handle.

Presenting the William C. Morris Debut Award Winner, Flash Burnout by L. K. Madigan!

I'm currently reading this one on my Kindle. That's right. Laura has herself a Kindle, and it be Nice.

Yeah, my English professors from college are reading that last sentence and thinking, "Why did we let her graduate again?"

But they probably would know I'm joking...maybe.

They might just say, "Bad grammar is not a laughing matter!" or simply, "Love your dialect." I heard one professor say that a lot.

What I like the most about this novel is the narrator, Blake, who is so realistic, such an accurate portrayal of Teenage Male-ness that sometimes, you just want to throttle him. He's insensitive without meaning to be, he has a girlfriend that walks all over him, but he's so happy to have a pretty girl love him that he doesn't see it. You hate Blake and you love him. He's just that real.

And his reaction to his friend Marissa's problem is what I would imagine many of ours would be. Marissa's mom shows up in a picture Blake takes, only when he shows it to Marissa does he discover that he's taken a portrait of her missing mother. What follows is, for Marissa, heartbreaking. For Blake, it is confusing. His girlfriend loves him, Marissa needs him, and his girlfriend isn't too eager for Blake to be supportive to another girl.

I still don't know what he'll decide to do, and it's infuriating. You just want to shake Blake and tell him to drop Shannon already and go help Marissa. But life doesn't always work out that way either.

This is a wonderful novel; I very much hope you all read it!

Gosh. Is anyone else noticing the trend of heart-wrenching trauma in all of these books? I promise, they aren't all downers, they end with hope or happiness or both! Trust Laura, she would not steer you wrong!

The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer...

This novel has rave reviews. Kirkus (which is a big deal book-reviewer place) says "Mazer's latest novel would give Alfred Hitchcock a run for his money." Now, having watched many a Hitchcock film...that's saying something. Those movies freak me out, so I can only imagine what this book will be like!

Five sisters go about their daily lives, totally unaware of the man who watches them. In alternating points of view, Mazer tells a story that interweaves the lives of the girls and their predator...

That spells thriller. And it looks to be a good one! Fans of books like The Face on the Milk Carton and Z for Zachariah will love it.

Madapple, Christina Meldrum's first novel and a William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist...

Auslag's mother, Maren, raises her in strict isolation. She's taught herbology, many languages, and, most importantly, theology. But when Maren dies, Auslag is sent to live with an aunt and cousins. What follows is a narration of the next years of their lives together, leading up to Auslag's trial for murder: she's accused of killing her aunt and cousin.

The murders are no secret, but the fascinating thing is how they took place.

Tons and Tons of New Books: Part Two, Historical Fiction

2010-04-01T13:31:00.010-05:00

Yes, we did get so many that I can make an entire post out of historical fiction as well as an entire post out of all the fantasy, and there will be a part three with all the realistic fiction--that's how many new books there are!

And yes, this is a good thing. It makes me very happy when scores of new books come downstairs all beautiful with crisp pages, still smelling of paper and ink...but this creates a problem for me. Can you guess what the problem might be?

I can't read them all fast enough. No, I must check them in and take them upstairs and leave them all alone on the New Book cart, knowing that I will have to say goodbye until such a time as I have a free moment to read them. It's hard!

Sigh. You think I'm a freak, don't you. Maybe you're right...

New books!

Finally, at long last, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson!

In the last three months I have read nearly everything she's written. I strongly recommend every book--even the picture ones. They're fantastic! She uses such beautiful imagery, her historical fiction is accurate (to the point that she walked barefoot in the snow so she could better describe how the experience would feel), and she's downright funny! I mean, a little girl with hair that takes over her classroom? Genius.

I read it to all the elementary classes. We had fun.

If you have never read Speak...READ IT. That is her can't-miss book. And if you liked it...well, I have another book of hers you'll love that I'll tell you about tomorrow with the realistic fiction.

Chains is about a slave girl, pre-Civil war. It's set during the Revolutionary war, and it follows a young girl as she seeks freedom. That's all I'm giving you right now because I'm going to read it and tell you more...

I am Apache by Tanya Landman...

Siki's little brother was murdered in front of her when she was just 14. Her hunger for revenge fuels her as she grows, leading her to turn from the traditional role of women in her tribe and instead become a warrior. But as she earns her place among the men, she starts to hear whispers about a secret from her past.

Death on the River by John Wilson, set just following the Civil War.

Jake Clay, confined to the Confederate prison camp in Andersonville in June 1864, befriends Billy Sharp, who teaches him how to survive, at any cost. Torn apart by the war, Jake goes home, but the journey is its own danger, and it may just give him a chance at redemption.

Double Crossing by Eve Tal tells the story of a Jewish family fleeing Czarist Russia for America.

Raizel and her father cross the ocean, not knowing if they will be accepted at Ellis Island or turned away. And if they get sent back, what will happen to them? It's the narration that makes this book, Raizel is fantastic.

Joe Rat by Mark Barratt is set in Victorian London...

This is the time and place I studied most in college--I was the Victorian Literature expert in my graduating class. Everyone else liked Hemingway. Ick!

I bet none of you know what a "tosher" was. A tosher was someone who would dig through the sewers looking for valuable refuse. They stank. You can imagine, since London at the time had just introduced sewer systems. They all ran right into the Thames, the big river running through London, and if you wanted something to drink and pumped some water from the well...it came from the Thames. So London was icky. Very gross. And sometimes, if you drank the water, it would give you nasty diseases like cholera and typhoid.

Joe Rat is a tosher (collectively: "EEEEEWWWW!") under the control of Mother, a Dickensian character that immediately makes me think of Oliver Twist's Fagin.

When Joe meets a runaway girl and a "madman" he starts to question his way of life, but will it change his life for better, or for worse?

Crossing Stones by Helen Frost, author of the Printz Honor Book Keesha's House...

This novel is written in structured verse, telling the story of Muriel Jorgensen, a young woman eager to win the right to vote and passionate about the war--which would be WWI, if you were curious. Frank Norman, a close friend of Muriel's since childhood, has just enlisted to fight in Europe. Muriel had just begun to think he might be more than a friend. Meanwhile, Muriel is surrounded by family and friends who want to silence her, so she must find a way to express herself in a changing world.

And the start of a series, The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding.

This book is also set in London, set in 1790. Cat Royal, our protagonist, is penniless, living in a theater in the old section of London, which is the part where I stayed when I was there (in a boy's choir school turned youth hostel with no air conditioning and 24-hour construction outside).

I am so not joking about the construction.

I bet you were about to shrug that off, too, but no. Right outside the window, all night long. Jackhammers and everything.

Here's what the back says, which I think sums the book up nicely, "Reader, you are about to embark on an ADVENTURE about one HIDDEN TREASURE, two bare-knuckle BOXERS, three ENEMIES, and four hundred and thirty-eight RIOTERS. It is told by an ignorant and prejudiced author--me."

Now I must make clear that that last part up there is a nod to Jane Austen, who during her childhood drafted a short history of England which is a laugh riot, entitled, "The History of England from the reign of Henry the 4th to the death of Charles the 1st" and the author (Jane) is listed like this: "By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian"

Then she adds this little morsel which always cracks me up: "NB. There will be very few Dates in this History."

If only I could have added that to my history papers and gotten away with it...

The other Cat Royal Adventures are on the way! If you get tired of waiting for us to put barcodes in them once you've read this one, you can try reading the Enola Holmes mysteries and the Theodosia books, both downstairs. Quirky heroines, touch of mystery, heart of London, you get the idea. And hey, you can always read those when you've finished reading Cat's books.

Tons and Tons of New Books: Part One

2010-03-30T15:59:00.012-05:00

Part One will have all the fantasy. After that comes all the rest--that's just how much I have to show you.

But first, a question...

Do you think the publishers knew how close these two book covers were? Do you think the cover designers did?

Because that's pretty similar!

As you see, we have The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong, sequel to The Summoning as well as Fragile Eternity, the third book in Melissa Marr's series including Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange.

Following in the paranormal romance/dark fantasy vein, we have Stargazer by Claudia Gray, also a sequel. The first book in this series is Evernight.

And one more paranormal sequel, this one to Lili St. Crow's novel Strange Angels, Betrayals.

I hope this one is as fun as the first was. It's really like a dark version of the Maximum Ride books, lone girl (Dru Anderson) against the world, only in this case she can't just fly away from danger. Oh, and her mother was some kind of superhuman creature, her dad was a zombie--before she killed him, and her only friend just got bitten by a werwulf. Oops. Oh, and now the quasi-vampire guy who came to her rescue has taken her to this secret school where someone wants to kill her.

Poor Dru can't catch a break.

The Singing by Alison Croggon, the fourth book in her Pellinor series.

One more series book: Raven Rise, book nine of the Pendragon books, by D. J. MacHale.

Book ten comes out in paperback in September, so look for it on our shelves then!

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve, Gwyna is a girl running from her village, which has been attacked, pillaged, burned to the ground, and so forth.

She runs into Myrddin, a bard and storyteller who takes her into his service. He trains her as a fighter, a spy, and transforms her into the mysterious Lady of the Lake, all as part of a plot to turn Myrddin's master, Arthur, into King Arthur, the greatest hero of all time.

Something that well thought out can't possibly go wrong, can it? And if it did, nobody would get hurt, right?

Oh.

Aurelie: A Faerie Tale, by Heather Tomlinson...

Three children and a river dragon make a promise, and one day one of them breaks it. Now they are grown and barely speaking and the country is in turmoil. Aurelie is sent on a peacekeeping mission, trying to prevent a war between her closest friends.

Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

Ai Ling remains unmarried, to her family's dishonor and her own relief. She would prefer a life lived free, not trapped in an unequal marriage.

Now on a quest, Ai Ling is pursued by something powerful. She will need all her strength to face it as she journeys closer to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams, and, hopefully, her missing father.

Zombies, anyone?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.

Little bit of romance, little bit of zombies, little bit of shoddy fence repair...

And a book trailer!

Wasn't that one well done? I don't always show them because sometimes they're ridiculous and other times there's nothing to them but moving words, like something any one of us could make with Power Point or Movie Maker, so it doesn't really impress. But this one is good! Like that video game Silent Hill...if you know that series or the other series, Fatal Frame. Good n' Scary.

Dreams of the Dead, book one of The Waking, by Thomas Randall.

Kara Foster moves to Japan, but fitting in at a new school in a new country is the least of her worries. She befriends a fellow outcast, Sakura, whose sister was murdered at the school, a case that remains unsolved. Soon, she's having nightmares that wake her up at night. Not long after that, more students appear, dead, with strange marks on their bodies.

Mystery and the paranormal, all in one freaky package for your reading pleasure.

And a bizarre graphic novel, The Eternal Smile, which I nonetheless found though provoking and interesting. This from Gene Luen Yang, Printz and Eisner Awards Winner.

Including such stories as that of a frog with a computer chip, and an office assistant escaping into a fantasy world by responding to an e-mail requesting her bank account information...

Beautiful Creatures

2010-03-18T14:17:00.003-05:00

I just finished reading Beautiful Creatures, and it was wonderful!

When it first arrived, I thought for sure I could just sandwich it in with all the other Twilight-esque books, but you can't. Beautiful Creatures is its own thing, paranormal without being cliche, romantic without being the kind of desperate dependence/romance that drives me mad; it is the kind of fantasy you can read without considering it ridiculous and unbelievable. As you read about each Ethan and Lena, you believed their struggle was immediate.

I love fantasy, but I hate dark fantasy (if that makes any sense at all), so I was sure this, falling as I assumed it would under the "dark fantasy" label, would be not quite my cup of tea. Not so.

In other words, it was a good book.

I thought I would just read the first few chapters of this one, but over the stretch of the last week, I read the whole thing. I was very impressed by this novel. It's an impressive achievement for two first-time authors.

Go check it out!

New Books Again

2010-03-15T15:25:00.009-05:00

We have a lovely new stack of brand new, shiny-looking books for me to put out for all of your reading pleasure.

And, let's face it, for my reading pleasure. I read. A lot. The people I know will confirm that.

Heist Society from Ally Carter, the author of the Gallagher Girls novels...

I read it, I loved it, and you all ought to read it too. It's like Mission Impossible only with thieves...

The third Cathy book, Cathy's Ring...

Which I was very much looking forward to. It's jumped to the front of my reading list. I love the integration of art in these books, it always makes me pull out my sketch pad so that I can draw badly for several days, until I finally realize I put the sketch pad away for a reason, and it wasn't because I ran out of charcoal.

And, of course, if you don't use dial-up, you can always go here to take a peek at some of the illustrations...

Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith...

Guardian angel, evil vampire king, high school theater wannabe, need I say more?

The much-talked-of Scarlett Fever.

I say much-talked-of because I've talked a lot about it. Here, to my friends and family, to people who don't really even know me...This is a great book. Somehow, Maureen Johnson managed to make her sequel to Suite Scarlett even better than the original! And I loved that book.

James Kennedy's The Order of the Odd Fish...

In this book there are actual knights who research useless information. That should be me. I am like the queen of useless information. How else would I know how you make a Bloomin' Onion when I've never actually tried to make one, worked at Outback Steakhouse, or been taught. I know because I read about it. But I don't have a deep-fryer at home. So no Bloomin' Onions. Still, if you're interested, send me a note. I'll clue you in.

Wherever Nina Lies by Lynn Weingarten...

When Ellie's older sister Nina vanishes, Ellie spends the next two years wondering where she could have gone. When everyone else has given up, Ellie keeps hoping. She knows her sister is out there somewhere. When Ellie finds a drawing that she thinks is a clue to her sister's location, she takes off on a road trip with her crush in an effort to find Nina.

Quaking by Kathryn Erskine...

Matt (who never goes by Matilda), never lets anyone get close. Everything changes when she finds a new home with a Quaker family. The wars in the middle east are mirrored in Matt's struggles to free herself from her painful past. As she learns to stand up for her beliefs, her new family is threatened. She must stand up to her fears before she can find the peace she's been seeking.

We also have Printz Honor Books The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey and Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes, both of which are amazing.

The Monstrumologist is the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrope, who studies monsters the way some might study anatomy or zoology. One evening in 1888--think Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus--a grave robber arrives with their most horrifying case to date...

Gothic horror at its finest.

Tales of the Madman Underground opens on Wednesday, September 5, 1973.

My impression so far (on page 30), is that this novel is very Catcher in the Rye-esque. Karl Shoemaker must make it through his senior year, escape Lightsburg, Ohio, hold down five jobs, care for his "seriously unhinged drunk mother", endure his litter-box of a house, and try to end his membership in the Madman Underground, a group of kids forced to attend group therapy during school hours, for reasons that escape Karl's understanding.

His goal for the school year? "Get up and be normal. Just for today" (pg 3).

Let's see how that works out for him.

And last but certainly not least, Printz Award Winner Going Bovine by Libba Bray.

Poor Cameron just got some bad news. He just wants to get finished with high school. With as little effort as possible. Except he can't do that, because he's going to die.

But just as he's about to collapse into a miserable ball, reveling in the waste that is his life, loopy, punk-angel/hallucination Dulcie comes along telling him that if he can just give her enough sugar--oh, wait--if he can just go out and get it, there's a cure.

This is good news.

So Cam grabs Gonzo, a death-obsessed Gamer dwarf and Viking god/yard gnome Balder and sets off on a road trip meeting up with happiness cults who chug smoothies, physicists who jump between parallel universes so often, they can't remember which one they started out in, mythic jazz musicians in New Orleans, television game shows, snow globe-addicts, and fame-obsessed teens. Here's a little blurb, "From New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray comes a dark comedic journey that poses the questions: Why are we here? What is real? What makes microwave popcorn taste so good? Why must we die? And how do we really learn to live?"

Check out this fish!

2010-03-12T11:59:00.002-05:00

It occurs to me that, although this blog is mostly about books, me reading them, me ordering you all to go out and read them, and the games and crafts we do between books, you might actually have other interests.

I know, it's astounding.

My brother (who I didn't manage to trap in a trunk or suitcase when we were children, and who therefore grew into adulthood, despite all the odds that were against him), is an environmentalist. So, our family is a little obsessed with all things environmental. If we see something in the newspaper, we clip it. We post links and e-mail them to him.

We're all as weird as you think I am. Come on. You know that's what you think.

Today I saw this! How freakish is this fish! It's the biggest fish ever (well, maybe not) and I think it's way cool. So I'm using the podium I have here to force you all to look at it, because...WOW!

It even has plume things up by its head. Why? I have to look it up. Have good weekends, everybody!

More new books!

2010-03-08T14:45:00.005-05:00

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl...

...for the paranormal romance fans among us. Sleepy town, girl with horrible curse, boy dreaming about someone he's never met, secrets, intrigue--the works!

In the medley of books released in the Twilight , there have been some amazing novels and some duds. This is one of the amazing ones. Beautiful Creatures was one of the William C. Morris Award honorees, chosen by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) as the best books written by a first-time author writing for teens. And it wasn't alone!

Ash by Malinda Lo...

...gives us a fresh look at an ages-old, multicultural fairy tale. I mean it--check out how many different versions there are of Cinderella, it will blow your mind.

In this version, Ash (Cinderella) meets up with the dark/evil fairy Sidhean (don't ask me how to pronounce that, because I don't know--Look it up, I plan to). She thinks Sidhean can make all her problems (evil stepmother, etc.) go away. But that isn't really what happens. Then Ash meets Kaisa, the king's huntress, and she learns to love again. But what about the super-evil Sidhean? You'll have to read Ash to find out. Definitely a little Dark Fantasy connection in this one.

The Everafter by Amy Huntley...

...is one I'm really looking forward to reading. It's narrator is a girl using mystical objects, her own belongings, to relive moments of her history and finding that now, she can change them...her first kiss, a trip to Disney World, her sister's wedding, all can be different. How can she do it? Well, it's because she's dead.

The final honoree we already have: Hold Still by Nina LaCour,which I very strongly recommend.

To refresh your midterm-fogged memories: Caitlin is paralyzed by the death of her best friend Ingrid, who committed suicide. Caitlin sinks into depression, shuns family and friends, refuses to see a therapist, and only leaves her home when school begins in the fall. But when she finds Ingrid's journal, she begins to see her friend's struggles and deal with her own. It's an incredibly moving novel for anyone who's known someone struggling with depression, loss, or just missing a friend (people move away, you know. When you say "Tenth grade" I say "Ugh!").

It was amazing! I couldn't believe this was Nina LaCour's first novel; it was written brilliantly.

The winner of the William C. Morris Award was Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan...stay tuned for a full review coming soon!

This is your moment!

2010-03-01T11:23:00.002-05:00

We're about to meet with our website designer, so if you have some comments about the Wabash Carnegie Public Library website (not the blog, that's all me--but you can tell me what you want to see here if you'd like...), leave your opinions, questions, comments, complaints, protests, rants, etc. in the comments.

So think about this and let me know:

1. Is there something missing from the library website that you'd like to see?

2. Is the library website easy to use, or could it be simplified?

3. Could we jazz the website up to make it more fun?

4. Is this something you actually care about, or is this post the most boring thing you've read all day?

Number four is rhetorical. You so completely don't need to answer it. In fact, don't. I really would rather not know, my life is filled with enough depressing things (like winter), adding one more thing would create Mopey Laura, who is no fun at all. She reads Sad Books and will urge you to do the same.

I don't want to read Sad Books. I want Happy Books.

Speaking of which, try When You Reach Me for a Happy Book fix. It's this year's Newbery winner, and as I read it for the second time recently, it occurred to me that I should urge you all to read it.

Fans of Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time will especially love it. If you haven't read that, then I just feel sorry for you, and you should correct it immediately. Go, read Madeline L'Engle. Now.

Scrabble Tile Necklaces!

2010-02-25T18:51:00.006-05:00

Last night, we had a fabulous time making scrabble tile necklaces (type it into the search box on Etsy, you'll see tons of examples).

First, Candie patiently told us what we ought to do...

We tore through dictionaries and scrapbook paper and vintage pictures to figure out what we wanted our pendants to look like.

Then we painted (Plaid has great acrylic paints...)!

And we Mod Podged!

We shared the Mother/Daughter love...

And we took home some amazing necklaces!

Thanks to everyone who came and to Candie for all her help! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

Get ready, ladies!

2010-02-24T13:48:00.002-05:00

As pristine snow drifts over the library, I am in the program room, shoving tables around.

Why?

Because our Mother/Daughter Jewelry Making program is TONIGHT!

I have a ton of you registered and I hope to see you all as we Mod-Podge our hearts out and drive away the cold this evening.

As a reminder: the program starts at 6:30 p.m. at the library, downstairs in our program room. That's where you'll find me and our fearless leader, Candie Cooper, along with (if we can track them both down) our moms. I'll be the one checking off names on the clipboard...because that's how I start my evenings. They finish with me covered in acrylic paint and holding a blow dryer.

Aren't crafts just magical?

Wait a minute...what's a Shmoop?"

2010-02-23T08:15:00.002-05:00

I just put some goodies upstairs, stickers and bookmarks, which all say "Shmoop" on them, so I thought I would be a good and responsible person and tell you what Shmoop is before you all come ask me why I'm making up words again.

I do that sometimes.

But I cannot take credit for the word "Shmoop," as I didn't coin it or anything.

Bored already? Then go explore.

Shmoop (go up and click on the link up there) is an online source for study guides and the like, covering literature, history, civics, biography, music, etc. It was created by the same people who create most of our cool new online resources, bored grad students and bored former grad students. It's amazing what creative people can come up with given enough boredom.

Boredom is an amazing force of creativity. How else would my brother and I have managed to fall into the river so many times? We have one right by our house--it isn't like we went looking for it or anything.

So say you have a history test tomorrow, and you just don't know why you need to study the French and Indian War, when it just doesn't make any sense that the French and Indians totally fought on the same side (mostly) and not against each other the way it sounds in the name of said war, and since the U.S.A. was totally not even a country back then, why do we have to study it for U.S. History?

Shmoop dumbs it down so that people like me, an avid hater of all things nonfiction, will actually read the entries all the way through. Then, they follow it up with this great little section entitled, "Why Should I Care?" When I first saw that section I laughed so hard I needed my inhaler*. I mean, that was my job all through high school, to convince my fellow classmates that learning about whatever we happened to be studying was worthwhile for whatever reason I could think of at the moment.

The glory of this site, the thing that makes it so much better than, say, Wikipedia (which I still love, but don't trust) is that actual people with actual degrees are writing what you find on Shmoop, so it isn't some unshaven illiterate basement dweller deciding what the entry for the French and Indian War should say, it's someone who bothered to study the French and Indian War in grad school, and though they may still be an unshaven basement-dweller, they are far from being illiterate.

So go, explore, maybe pick up a fancy sticker upstairs on the manga/graphic novel shelf, and hopefully you might end up liking your history, lit, or government class a little more than you did before you read this today.

*You should know that, even though I've had asthma for like four years, I still can't spell the word "inhaler" without the computer fixing it for me. That's a little sad, isn't it?

Ladies and Gentlemen...

2010-02-17T18:39:00.002-05:00

May I direct your attention to the sidebar? The one to your (looks at her hands, thinks...) right. Your right. No. Your left. We read left to right.

Look to your left.

You will see the words "WCPL Young Adult Blog" since it's the title. See it? Okay. Underneath it is a little label that says "pages" and beneath that there is "Home" which is where you are right now. You are home. Well, this page is on home. You might be at school or here at the library, I don't know.

Underneath that is a little link that says "YA Authors on the Web!" and it's clickable, just like it is here in this sentence.

Click it here or click it there, because I just spent a long-ish time tracking down all the author blogs and websites I could think of off the top of my head.

Now you can go visit your favorite authors without the hassle of sifting through Google results trying to sell you their books on Amazon. You come here, you can make me get those books for you, and then other people can read them too. So you don't so much need Amazon...at least not for books.

I'll keep hunting down more author blogs and adding them to the list, but I'll try and let you know as I do it. Or, you could always just go click the link and check.

Bond with Mom and Make Some Jewelry!

2010-02-16T13:22:00.001-05:00

Once again were are being graced with the presence of the lovely, talented Candie Cooper! This workshop will be for mothers and daughters. It's set for February 24 at 6:30 p.m.--make sure you register soon, space is limited.

This time we'll be decoupaging pendants for necklaces. Candie made me one (which I love) and we also have a sample she dropped off on display upstairs at the circulation desk. She left me a sample because I couldn't bear sewing my necklace onto a felt backing and then just leaving it there. I am guarding it with extreme jealousy.

You can see some of Candie's decoupage here, on some luggage tags she made (and blogged about) a few years ago. Sadly, I discovered these long after my Grand Tour, so I didn't have super-cool luggage tags as I lugged my suitcase around Europe. So you know, I think my suitcase is lined with lead to make it safe for my clothing during a nuclear disaster. This, however, makes the suitcase weigh something like twenty pounds before I've put anything in it and that makes cobblestone streets hard to cope with.

We'll be re-purposing Scrabble tiles by taking bits of decorative paper, paint, and other bits and bobs. When we're done, they'll be much cooler than earning a triple-word score, and we'll be able to wear them out and about with pride. And of course, there will be the whole mother/daughter bonding thing, which is always good.

In case you're curious, this is a mother/daughter/aunt/niece/mentor/mentoree/grandmother/granddaughter/friend's mom/daughter's friend event, meaning that it is absolutely okay for you not to actually be mother/daughter to participate. You can sign up with any adult you want to spend time with.

Blog Note: In case you were wondering, the word mentoree is one of those words that Frankie Landau Banks would use (from E. Lockhart's great book The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks), but it is not officially a real word according to that horrible creation: the dictionary.

But take it from me, you can word anything you want, verb anything you want, it's wide open. Tons of our words came from Shakespeare's plays--no one had ever written them down before he did. So if you think something should be a word that isn't, go for it. Just don't do it on a research paper...

Scarlett Fever III: Laura's Finished!

2010-02-02T15:54:00.004-05:00

Mere moments ago, just as I inhaled a slice of freshly baked bread, I finished Scarlett Fever.

For the record: I will not be content without a third book in the series, if only for the prospect of more donuts used as projectile weapons. It's a lovely image.

I love the way Maureen Johnson captures humor in her writing, nothing seems staged or unnatural, her narrators respond convincingly when faced with the absurd (such as in the case of Murray the tinkler...and Murray the doorman), and her novels never fail to make me laugh out loud at the circulation desk, in fast-food restaurants, sitting in a coffee shop, anywhere where my laughter would be something of a disruption or inexplicable enough to attract attention. In other words, I get stared at when my laughter brings tears to my eyes faster than that Christian the Lion video on YouTube.

It's like junior high but without all the dodge balls.

I think one of the major reasons Johnson manages to make me snort Wendy's sweet tea (I get the large, with tax it's $1.92 and well worth all the calories and caffeine) up my nose every single solitary time I read the "When Scarlett Met Murray" scene is the theatrical dramaturgy thing. If you know how to make a scene seem real on stage, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt when you sat down to write a novel.

Okay, my writing rant is over--I get this way because of the English degree; I really do try to control myself.

The bottom line? You really should read Johnson's books. I mean it. And with the sequel to Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes coming out mere months from now, what do you have to lose?

Scarlett Fever, a very short quasi-read-a-long

2010-02-01T13:33:00.003-05:00

I'm doubting that many of you have been able to skip out on school and drive all the way to the nearest bookstore to buy Scarlett Fever, nor do I encourage you to do so since that would defeat the purpose of my buying it and putting it upstairs with all the other books we at the library intend for you to check out and read.

That being said, I also don't expect you to do what I have done and will continue to do, which is to pre-order certain books integral to your health and happiness (Melina Marchetta! Suzanne Collins and Hunger Games III! Ally Carter's new book Heist Society!)

Now that I have acknowledged that you are totally off the hook for not standing/sitting in front of your computer while you read this, cradling Scarlett Fever in your reverent hands, I must ask that you forgive me for doing just that.

My compulsion, manic, obsessive fascination with this book began roughly four hours ago, fueled by the happy little icon on Teen Reads announcing their brand new book review for this brand new novel. Before that, I just really wanted to read it. It happens that way with me sometimes. It's like when little kids think of Christmas or their birthdays, and they can focus on nothing but that for days or even weeks beforehand, except for me it's specific books not a new bicycle.

Let me just say, now that Mr. Kindle tells me that I've read 20% of Scarlett Fever: It is every bit as fabulous as Suite Scarlett, if not more so.

And, just so you know, when I'm done being strange about this book, I'll have moved on to this one.

And this one.

I'm sure there'll be more after those...

Scarlett Fever, It's not just a deadly illness anymore...

2010-02-01T11:01:00.002-05:00

Hooray for Maureen Johnson!

Her sequel to Suite Scarlett, Scarlett Fever (no link for this one on her webpage yet, but here's Teen Reads), hits bookshelves today. I have just had it sent to my Kindle so that I can give you a review the second I put it out on our shelves...

Make sure to read the first book before you grab the second!

I'm very excited. Can you tell?

Okay, now I'm going for the Kindle so that I can turn it's little wireless thingie on so that the book can download...

Spam is not just a processed meat product

2010-01-29T10:33:00.002-05:00

It also is the bane of my existence.

Have you seen the amount of spam we've been getting lately in the comments? Most of it has been in old, old posts I don't look at (mostly because they were from before I started writing them). I found one this morning with 30 posts, all advising you to purchase discount perscription medication, perhaps even in an illegal manner.

Don't buy perscription medication from the back of a truck. Even an internet-based truck. Especially if the person selling you the medication spells like this: "thionreaklthngauioenvuioerr djiojoijklngleyioj" (that was what comments looked like. That and there were some in French).

This brought me great annoyance, because I was forced to individually delete each seperate chunk of spam attatched to each seperate blog entry. And I didn't want to kill 40 minutes doing that. But kill it I did.

So, we are forced to make a slight change. Hopefully this is all the change we have to make, I don't want to have to make more.

Now, when you go to make a comment, it will prompt you for your web address, your Google (or other) ID and your password just like normal. But once you have signed in or remained anonymous, it will force you to type in some gibberish before your post pops up so that we know you are a human being with thoughts and feelings and not a drug-fencing computer stationed in Cambodia or somewhere.

This will take a few moments more for you, and I'm sorry. I just don't want you to have some computer trying to steal your personal information so it can pretend to be you while it sells illegal copies of Avatar on the black market. Nor do I want it pretending to be me.

Sorry guys! Hope this isn't a terrible annoyance.

Thanks,

Laura

Two More New Books!

2010-01-28T18:07:00.004-05:00

The Lab by Jack Heath...

The first book in a series, this novel follows Agent Six of Hearts, 16 years old and a superhuman to boot, working for the Deck, a squadron of genetically superior spies out fighting for justice.

Realistic? No. Fun? Yes. This is a great novel for fans of the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, or for anyone who loved the Bourne movies.

And now for something completely different:

Outside Beauty by Cynthia Kadohata, author of the Newberry winning Kira-Kira as well as Cracked, Weedflower, and the newly-released A Million Shades of Gray.

Shelby's "nontraditional" mother has had four daughters by four men. She's a nontraditional mother to say the least, but she's also a confident, self-assured woman. Suddenly the family is torn apart and the sisters are separated, forced for the first time to function without each other. But then they decide to take matters into their own hands and get their family back together.

Stereotypically speaking, The Lab would be "guy" and Outside Beauty would be "girl"--so I kept the scale kind of balanced in this post. I hope you all can appreciate that.

Of course, I'm reading both...

Two New Fantasy Series: Paranormal and Otherwise...

2010-01-28T14:34:00.007-05:00

Firstly, we now have the entire Night World series in preparation for Strange Fate all by L.J. Smith:

These three books contain nine novels, so that's plenty of reading material--and all are set in the "Night World" full of werewolves, vampires, and witches--perfect for the Twilight fans seaching for another series or the Vampire Diaries fans, as those novels are also by L.J. Smith.

I just read through Secret Vampire (the first novel of Night World) and found it so addictive that I finished it in one sitting, despite my hefty reading list.

We also have the first three books of The Twelve Kingdoms series--something my brother (a huge Anime fan) recommends for anyone interested in Japanese fantasy.

I read the first novel of this series, Sea of Shadows and loved it. I adore fantasy--especially good fantasy, a category this definately belongs in! Graceling or Tamora Pierce fans should take a look at this series.

Waiting...

2010-01-20T13:01:00.003-05:00

Magically, perhaps because I was complaining about it just then (yesterday, the day before?), or perhaps due to the implied otherworldly aspect to this novel, Witch and Wizard has just arrived.

I think what happened was that someone adult-y ordered it and then decided it so belonged with us, as we are young and cool, and they are all grown up and weird. Whatever.

At any rate, we now have Witch and Wizard by James Patterson sitting happily next to me on the desk here, for you all to grab and read, after all the people who already have it on hold.

People must really like James Patterson.

As for myself, I have already started stalking his upcoming Maximum Ride book, Fang. I really am excited about that one. That will be my next book-impulse-buy, at the whatever bookstore or convenience store I happen to see it in. Maybe it will be Kroger, like that other one of his. Although I did manage to buy Max in an actual, honest to goodness bookstore. So you never know...

Enjoy!

Oh, and I just found out that there's a sequel to Saving Francesca (by Melina Marchetta, former book discussion title) coming out in Australia in just a bit. It's called The Piper's Son.

Do you know anyone in Australia? Are you in Australia? Do you like me at all? Because if you do...I need this book. I really do. It's a life and death sort of thing, and I don't know if I can make it long enough to just wait for the U.S. release. I mean, it could take ages!

I'm sure there would be some kind of fantastic reward for you, should you manage to track down a copy without the $30 U.S. shipping fee I would have to pay to get it sent here from there. Maybe if I went to Outback, they might have some connections...

Do I know anyone in Australia?

I have to go check. Happy reading!

New Books!

2010-01-14T15:25:00.007-05:00

I hope everyone had happy holidays! But now that we are all settling back into the world of, well, reality, I have new books to share with you.

I love new books, I've said it before. Here is today's selection:

Revelations by Melissa De La Cruz

I was shocked when someone told me we didn't have this. But now we do. It's part of a series, Blue Bloods and all that. I call it Twilight-Meets-Gossip-Girl. You get the idea. They're wicked fun, though. Except for the whole potential my-family-history-stems-from-vampires thing, which makes me a little weirded out. But then again, I always knew I was a strange-ish person.

Rapture of the Deep, another Bloody Jack Adventure by L. A. Meyer

This is a newbie, in hardcover, for those of you who love this series. I know one of you, at least...

Border Crossing by Jessica Lee Anderson

Border Crossing is the story of a young man's struggle with schizophrenia, dealing with his messed-up family life, and his new job on a cattle ranch (with pretty Vanessa). All he wants is to get away from home, but he has bigger issues, what with all the voices and the border patrol agents from Operation Wetback--a brutal deportation scheme circa 1950...

I love psychology.

And last but not least, Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick, author of the amazing book Sold, which every last one of you should read.

Set during our most recent (current) Iraq War, Private Matt Duffy finds himself in a hospital with a brand new medal and very few memories if what landed him in the hospital in the first place.

He remembers the death of a young Iraqi boy, feeling responsible for the child's death somehow, but the memory is incomplete, due to the head injury he's recovering from. Returned to his unit, he sees danger everywhere and must deal with the fear that he'll be unable to fight when the need arises.

This book promises to give us all insight into the lives of the people we know who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

We also have a new audiobook, Witch and Wizard by James Patterson. We'll have the physical book when it comes out in paperback...I'm eagerly awaiting it. Also the new Maximum Ride book. And the Daniel X one...why does it take so long for paperback?

More in the Endless Parade of New Books...

2009-12-02T19:11:00.011-05:00

Our last straggler in the list of 2009 National Book Award Nominees (for us young'uns) has arrived! Hooray!

Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor!

Looks to be romance (surprised, right?) with a smattering of paranormal--except these are three separate stories, not one big novel. Plus there's a graphic section. It looks interesting--I'll let you know.

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr,

The chronicles of a second pastor's daughter, this novel counters the chick-lit feel of Donut Days with a more grim picture of life as a PK. It, however, is also startlingly accurate. Trust me.

Beautifully written, your heart will break with Sam as she struggles with her mother's absence, her father's demanding job, the disappearance of a girl from her youth group, and Sam's own growing depression.

This is another excellent novel by Sara Zarr, author of Sweethearts and Story of a Girl.

Hold Still by Nina LaCour, which I just finished.

I loved this book. Loved, loved, loved.

Caitlin's friend Ingrid's sudden suicide leaves her reeling. She can't understand why Ingrid would kill herself. When she finds Ingrid's journal, Caitlin begins to see her friend in a way she'd never been able to before.

LaCour's writing made Caitlin's grief and loss real, heartbreakingly so. I strongly recommend this book!

The novel I'm reading right now:

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd.

Holly Hogan ditches school, her latest foster home, England, and her name as she sets off on a road trip to find her mother in Ireland. Calling herself Solace and donning a blonde wig, she's off.

This is a fantastic road trip novel, Holly's humor offsets her often-dangerous surroundings, making her a realistic and like able character. Even if I'm reading it at Culver's and forcing myself not to shout at the book, "CALL HOME, HOLLY! DON'T GET ON THE FERRY!"

I know. Try not getting that involved.

The newest from Ellen Hopkins, Tricks...

And I finally broke down and got Identical in hardcover, because I know you were all tired of waiting. So was I. Over a year in hardcover--and counting!

Sorry guys, I'm not a poetry girl. So no reviews on these.

But, if you love them, hate them, or just plain liked them, let me know what you think in the comments!

Oh--and the new novel The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

Fantastic writing--It's next on my reading list. Thomas wakes up in a lift (elevator) with no memory (never a good sign) and is brought into the Glade by other boys his age. They all know the routine: every 30 days a new boy shows up with no memory of why he's been sent there, and nobody wants to get caught hanging around after dark...

But the next day, Thomas and the other Gladers are shocked to see a girl has arrived in the lift--and she has message for them.

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen...

A thriller of the post-apocalyptic variety, Eli and his family live in an underground bomb-shelter-y compound (and have for the last six years). Only their family: Eli, his parents, and his two sisters. Imagine the cabin fever.

Problems start to plague them, not to mention the constant struggle for...sanity?...and Eli begins to wonder if his father maybe isn't so concerned about what might get in. Now all he cares about is keeping the rest of them from getting out.

And our final offering: Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron.

It looks fantastic; I'll give you more when I've read it...

Still More New Books!

2009-12-02T11:32:00.009-05:00

Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances, contains three interlinked holiday stories by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle--all fantastic authors. I devoured it yesterday, sitting in a coffee shop and hoping, unfortunately, that it would not snow as I knew I had to drive home from Huntington on the oft-ill-plowed State Road 16.

I loved reading this book! It was light and fun, perfect for holiday vacation reading. Especially if this year involves another freak ice storm like last year, the one that left my family without electricity, heat, or running water for more days than I want to mention. By the way, thanks again to my friend Jen, who let me come over to escape having to use buckets of river water to flush the toilet. Those were sad, sad days, and the use of your running--and hot--water was much appreciated.

Aren't friends great?

I cannot stress enough how much I love both John Green and Maureen Johnson. They are fantastic. Read all their books. Repeatedly. They will make your life happy; your world brighter. They will give you reason to go on.

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little--but not by much!

We also have two shiny-new Forensic Mysteries by Alane Ferguson, The Angel of Death and The Circle of Blood, both follow-ups to The Christopher Killer.

Fans of CSI or other procedural crime dramas will love these mysteries, they combine mystery with just the right amount of science.

Another new book is Gone by Michael Grant. Not really gone, though, because it's sitting next to me on the desk (sorry, couldn't help it).

The first in a series, Gone opens with the disappearance of every adult. Only the young remain, but without the use of phones, internet, television, and...well...the police, help is impossible.

Meanwhile, a new social structure dominated by the strongest and cruelest, begins to emerge even as the teens and kids deal with encroaching hunger, a strange creature, mutating animals, and their own growing, unexplained powers.

Very Lord of the Flies. Good, creepy fun. Since, you know, none of us have to live it.

I just finished reading this one: Donut Days by Lara Zielin!

What initially drew me to this novel wasn't the yummy-looking donuts on the cover, or the fact that I hadn't eaten lunch yet when I was picking which new book to read first...It was the subject matter.

Emma is a pastor's daughter, and both her mom and her dad are pastors at the same local church. My mom isn't a pastor, but my dad certainly is, and a lot of the issues Emma goes through in the book seemed pretty familiar.

A lot of Christian fiction for young adults--maybe even for adults, it's been a while since I've read any for that age group--depicts the world as a happy, perfect place. And it isn't, for the most part. This book is a refreshing departure from the norm, with a strong, vibrant narrator facing all the usual teenage dilemmas (boys, friends, family, money for college) and some unusual ones (thinking her own behavior could cost her parents their jobs).

Give this one a go!

Tim Hamilton Just Made My Day

2009-12-02T11:24:00.003-05:00

I feel special, all of a sudden. Look at the comments for yesterday to see why...

And don't forget to check out Tim's blog, Tim Hamilton has an Art Blog--and read his new Fahrenheit 451 adaptation (to be found upstairs in our YA section) while you're at it!

A TON of New Books

2009-12-01T12:51:00.010-05:00

There are a whole lot of these, more than I think I can handle at any given time, but I'll give it a whirl.

A new graphic novel--newer than yesterday's batch because this one came downstairs this morning--Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton.

I am usually not hugely into graphic novels, because I read too fast to concentrate on all the pictures (it's a hard life). But this one is so cool! Come and look at the art--you'll love it.

The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson is all about boarding school and Nazis, never a good combination.

But there's dancing and standing up to bad things, so that's good.

Also, we have new-new paranormal chick-lit, Bite Me by Melissa Francis

Teenage vampire, ex-boyfriend becomes new step-brother, and a former classmate she may or may not have turned into a vampire. Oops. Here's what the publisher says, "The fate of humankind lies in her little undead hands."

I like.

And Whip It, by Shauna Cross, which is now a movie.

This is what happens when your mother wants you to be in pageants, but you'd rather be elbowing people at high speed--roller derby. I want to see the film when it comes out on DVD, but I'd better read this first. It's a rule, that one should read the book prior to seeing the movie. And if such rules were enforced, some of you would be in trouble...

Everything You Want by Barbara Shoup is one of our Rosie Nominees!

Emma's eighteen and she randomly wins the lottery--50 million dollars, and she's just getting started. Those of us with college loans think this sounds rather nice. But Emma only wants to not be lonely, and that's something money can't help her with.

Ditched and punched in the face by her (ex) best friend and crush-of-a-lifetime...this could be a good one.

If you don't know it already, I am currently enjoying all of Maureen Johnson's books, and I thought you might like to do the same. We just got the two novels of hers we didn't already have--The Bermudez Triangle

In which friends Nina, Avery, and Mel face their first summer apart, right before senior year starts. Not too bad, since they'll be back together soon. Nina comes back from a summer program at Stanford to find that Mel and Avery aren't just friends anymore, and now Nina is the odd one out.

And...

Girl at Sea in which Clio Ford is drug onto a boat in the Mediterranean where she must spend the entire summer...with her father. What she'd much rather be doing is spending time at the art store with her crush. Instead she's coping with her dad's friend Martin, his partner Julia, her daughter Elsa, and Aidan, Julia's assistant.

I hope these will get me through the wait for the sequel to Suite Scarlett!

We also have book one of the Chaos Walking series: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

The town where Todd lives is a great deal different from most--everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts for one. They call this Noise, and right before his birthday, Todd stumbles across a spot that goes quiet--no more Noise. Just like that.

Too bad that now he knows it's around, everyone's trying to kill him.

On a much lighter note, the third installment in Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's Edwardian wizardry series, The Mislaid Magician, Or Ten Years After: Being the Private Correspondence Between Two Prominent Families Regarding a Scandal Touching the Highest Levels of Government and Security of the Realm.

LAURA'S WORD TO THE WISE: If you have not read Sorcery and Cecelia or The Grand Tour, check them out first. I have from several trusted sources that this book will be confusing if you don't have a little back story.

However, I refuse to give you back story, because reading it yourself will be more fun. These books will make you laugh, really laugh, and I will not give you a bland description of all that funny.

Of course, we still have more new books, but I'm done fighting this computer for a little while, that vein in my temple is doing the thing where it shoots wave after wave of pain through my cranium, something that might lead to my head popping like an egg in the microwave.

Thought you might like that image.

Some National Book Award Nominees! (And the Winner Is...)

2009-12-01T12:17:00.007-05:00

As you can imagine, winning a National Book Award, or even being nominated for one, is a huge deal.

This means that you're guaranteed a good read, just by knowing a book has been nominated. If you live in my world, that's nice to know. I see a lot of books. Every day. Sometimes it's hard to pick one. Awards help.

You know how much I loved The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian--National Book Award. See? It's true. National Book Award = Good Book.

We know our winner for 2009, Claudette Colvin: Twice for Justice by Phillip Hoose--it's downstairs in the Children's Room if you want to read it.

It tells us all about Colvin, a young African-American woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus and...

Wait. Sound's familiar, huh?

Except Rosa Parks did it nine months later.

Instead of being celebrated like Parks was, Colvin was shunned and dismissed by classmates and community leaders. She later took her case to court, as she continued to stand up against segregation in the south.

Oh, and she was only 15. Did I mention that?

But I'm betting you don't go downstairs much, because I hardly see you. You're like wraiths, you come in the night and check out books that I've picked out, and when I arrive in the morning, the books are gone. And sometimes checkers are on the ground.

So I suggest you take a look at the YA books that were nominated--books I'm betting you'll like.

Read about David Small's eerie childhood in his memoir, Stitches.

Small's family went about their respective lives in almost-complete silence, giving this graphic novel the look and feel of a silent movie. If silent movies had secret cancer. Let me tell you, some things shouldn't be secrets, and cancer is one of them.

Another nominee is Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia.

I've just started this one, but the prose catches you from the first paragraph, so it promises to be an engrossing read. The novel switches between three perspectives, all girls whose lives intertwine even as their stories do the same.

You can also venture into the adult section and pick up Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman.

This book is a kind of dual-biography, describing the conflict between Charles Darwin's love of science and Emma Darwin's faith in God and their shared love for each other. The call number is 576.82 Hei--ask them at the front desk if you want help finding it.

Our last nominee is still on its way...so I'll wait to show it off later. But if you want to take a peek, it's Lips Touch: Three Times by the very pink-haired Laini Taylor.

New Dark Fantasy...

2009-11-30T11:24:00.007-05:00

To fill the dark, miserable, sunless evenings we've been enjoying around here. Is it just me, or do 4:30 p.m. sunsets really sap the joy of life right out of a person?

The Otherworldlies by Jennifer Anne Kogler...

Think Vampire-lit.

Also in that genre, we have Night World Volume 3: Huntress, Black Dawn, and Witchlight by L.J. Smith.

Before you tell me these are novels 6-9 in the series, I know. Volumes 1 and 2 are on their way. For some reason volume 3 took way less time getting here.

One of the mysteries of the universe.

Also, we have Demon Princess: Reign or Shine by Michelle Rowan...

This isn't vampires exactly, but it is paranormal fantasy meets chick lit, and it seems like fun.

We have City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments 3)...

Hold list is already a mile long, so get your name down if you're interested!

And last but certainly not least, we have Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, a romance for all of those on Team Jacob...

This novel is a kind of Twilight-y epic romance involving Grace, a human girl, and Sam, a yellow-eyed wolf who spends a fraction of the year as human. Team Jacobs might like this especially.

Hooray for New Graphic Novels and Audio!

2009-11-30T11:07:00.006-05:00

I told you I would be more entertaining, and I plan on starting now--with new books!

We have new Naruto (volumes 35 and 36) new Death Note (volume 6--so you know, 5 is on the way) and a new InuYasha (volume 17). I'm not going into a ton of detail here, because I'm betting if you want to read these, you already know more about them than I do.

We also have a Holly Black graphic novel, illustrated by Ted Naifeh, The Good Neighbors: Kin.

This is part of a new series, following in Black's dark fantasy vein. Rue, our protagonist, is reeling after her mother's disappearance and dealing with her father's legal trouble--he's accused of murdering Rue's mom. But Rue's mother isn't an ordinary parent, she's a faerie, and she's gone back to the faerie realm. Now Rue has to bring her back.

One more graphic novel--Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Faria Stolarz!

This series was in prose before it went graphic, so if you're interested in seeing how it all started, check out her other novels.

We also have two brand new audio books, which makes me happy because they're all favorites of mine!

We've got the audio version of Catching Fire to go along with the new hardcover--that I love and everyone should read.

Another recent addition is An Abundance of Katherines by John Green--this was so hysterical that I spent half my time reading it out loud to my family members. I can only hope the narrator does justice to TOC and Colin's big finish. If you've read this novel, you'll get that. If you haven't...you're missing something.

Hooray!

2009-11-30T08:23:00.002-05:00

Did you see?

Over there, in the sidebar?

It's my congratulatory NaNoWriMo banner, the one that tells you that I did it--I wrote a 50,000 word novel in 30 days! Except, since I'm posting this today, and I won last night, I really wrote a 50,000 word novel in 29 days.

I thought it might be nice to have one November day not consumed by writing. Also, my brother was telling me he wanted to be able to talk to me sometime soon. I've been ignoring him when he came to speak to me, or just telling him he is "interfering with the process" and to "go kill something" in World of Warcraft.

Apparently, I missed a great deal this month, because he let me know yesterday that he quit WOW weeks ago. Oops.

For all of you still clattering away on your keyboards--you can do it! For all of you who've already finished--Hooray! We did it!

And for those of you who didn't write this year, give it a try next November. There's nothing like the feeling of accomplishment you get when you can call yourself a "Novelist" and have it mean something.

I promise I'll be more entertaining now.