The LibrariYAn

Hunger Games Camp: Hunger Games Jeopardy!

2011-11-17T15:42:00.001-05:00

Back in the summer I posted a bunch about the activities we did at my Hunger Games camp. These included the Reaping, the Training Center, Target Practice, Remake Center/Opening Ceremonies, Survival Skills and the Mini Bow and Arrow Craft. Next up is Hunger Games Jeopardy!

This was a really great activity that we spread out over two days as one of our last activities of the day. After spending the mornings of camp running around like crazy folk (hula hooping in the training center, playing Capture the Flag, etc.), I tried to schedule less physically taxing activities for the afternoon. Trivia fit the bill.

Our trivia was played in teams of 3-4 and was Jeoprady! style (using all the same point values, rules and daily double opportunities). In advance I spent way too much time creating two rounds of questions (plus a final wager round) in PowerPoint. I projected the PowerPoint through an LCD projector onto a large screen. I had originally purchased little hand-clapper toys for the campers to use to "buzz" in, but that created a crazy loud and almost uncontrollable environment, so we switched to just raising hands. Just like in Jeopardy, campers had to wait until the question was read aloud in full (though they could see it on the screen too).

Unfortunately, I'm not able to post the PowerPoint with the questions here (because I just don't know how!). I thought I'd be able to, but it seems not. If you are interested in having me email you the files, just send me an email.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games Trailer

2011-11-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

Uh.Maze.Ing.

This just might inspire me to get back on the blog!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Newsies Rehearsals on You Tube

2011-09-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

Eek! It's a sneak peek at Newsies, which opens TOMORROW at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ.

Do you have your tickets yet?

If your answer to the ticket question was "no," then what are you waiting for? Get on it!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Are YOU the Biggest Newsies Fan?

2011-08-23T09:56:00.000-04:00

As I have previously mentioned, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ will be bringing the 1990s Disney musical Newsies to the big stage this fall. I've already purchased my tickets. Have you?

Paper Mill has already announced a "Fan Day" on Sunday, October 2nd, which will cost $25 (plus the cost of a ticket to that night's 7pm show) includes a reception and an opportunity to meet and chat with the stage cast. But what I found out about today is even cooler: the Newsies Biggest Fan contest!

Here's the skinny: The contest began YESTERDAY (oops!) and will be run through the Newsies Facebook page. Each week, contestants will be given two "tasks" which they complete to win up to 100 points. One task will be social media-related and the other will be creative. The person with the most points wins! And here's what they win:

One grand prize winner will receive: two round trip airline tickets courtesy of American Airlines, a two-night stay with breakfast at the Hilton Short Hills, two spa treatments at eforea spa at Hilton Short Hills, two tickets to the “Newsies” opening night performance and after party, a gift card courtesy of Investors Savings Bank ($500) and a “Newsies” gift bag.

Sounds pretty hot, huh? I am contemplating entering the contest, even though I live in VA and traveling up to NJ for the performance already have tickets for will be time-consuming enough. What about you? Will you enter?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games Camp: Mini Bow & Arrow Craft

2011-08-07T20:56:00.000-04:00

So, I've been recapping the activities we did at my recent Hunger Games Camp. Thus far, I've covered the Reaping, the Training Center, Target Practice, Remake Center/Opening Ceremonies, and Survival Skills. Next up is our Mini Bow and Arrow Craft*.

We all know that Katniss Everdeen is a force to be reckoned with when she got a bow and arrow. This craft uses household items to create cool looking and fast/far shooting miniature bow and arrow sets.

Materials:

Wire hanger
Needle Nose Pliers (with snip function)
Rubber Bands
Coffee-stirrer (I got mine at McDonald's)
Q-tips/Cotton Swabs
Elmer's All-Purpose Glue
Scissors

Set Up:

Use pliers to cut a wire hanger into four pieces (bottom of hanger cut in half, “arms” of hanger cut off)
Use the pliers to curl in the ends of the wire**. This makes the arrow look cool and protects users from the possibly sharp metal edges. It also provides a spot for the rubber band to hook into.
Bracing the center of the wire in two hands, bend it in half about 1/4 of the way. Again using your hands, bend each half into kind of a rounded moon shape. The wire should now look kind of like a letter B with no stick/back and curled in ends**.
Lay out materials for each set. This should include:

1 metal bow
1 rubber band
6 Q-tips
6 coffee stirrers
glue

Procedure:

Attach one end of the rubber band to one of the curled ends, give the rubber band several twists, then attach it to the other end. The bow is complete!
To make the arrows, cut off one end of each cotton swab. Glue the swabinto the ends of the coffee straws.
Cut a slight notch into the other ends of the straws.
Use this miniature bow the same way you would a large one. Be careful where and what you shoot: the arrows will really fly!

*This craft idea was emailed to be by a fantastic librarian who hosted her own Hunger Games event. I can't seem to find her information, but she found the craft on eHow. Unfortunately, the link that I used to get to the tutorial just weeks ago doesn't seem to exist anymore. Luckily, I wrote down, adapted and reorganized/clarified the directions for myself, so I can post it here for you!

**I'm still working on getting pictures. I know they'll be helpful, and they're coming.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Too Good Not to Share: Harry Potter as Teen Comedy

2011-07-30T07:27:00.000-04:00

Saw this posted over at Bookshelves of Doom this morning, and just had to repost.

Impressive. And I can always appreciate new ways to extend the Potter legacy, even if Pottermore isn't really my thing.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games Camp: Survival Skills

2011-07-22T09:09:00.000-04:00

While most of the activities for the week-long Hunger Games Camp were active, outdoor, run-around type things where the tributes were earning points in an effort to become the victor of the Hunger Games. Every once in a while, though, we took some time to do more passive activities just for fun. One such example was the Survival Skills training. This 3-hour session was led by Bill (and Nick?) from Ancestral Knowledge, a wilderness education organization located just over the border in Maryland*. The guys from Ancestral Knowledge definitely know their stuff, and their resourcefulness and know-how would make Katniss Everdeen proud!

During the time they were with us (one ungodly hot morning), they covered the basics for wilderness survival: find/make shelter (and stay warm), locate water, procure food and build a fire. Because we were limited on time, they briefly went over strategies for staying warm, such as stuffing your clothes full of leaves, and how to use streams and rivers as guides to get one to safety (aka, follow the stream to the river, the river to civilization). We mainly focused on food-related skills: making cordage (rope) from plants, knot tying, alternatives to knives and making fire! Most of what we covered might sound a little ho-hum, but the tributes loved it! Almost everyone was able to quickly catch on with tying the various knots, and campers added their own little spin to the activity by seeing who could not only learn the knot, but also do it with their eyes closed. Whenever someone managed to get the knot without needing to see it, they beamed with pride.

The real hit during this session (aside from seeing fire "made") was cordage. After Bill demonstrated how to make rope using the innards of a branch of dogbane, the kids got to make their own, using raffia. And they loved it! It's fairly easy to do and goes quickly once you get the hang of it. Boys were competing to see who could make the longest rope. Girls were making necklaces and bracelets. When one of the male tributes asked if there was a knife he could use to cut his cordage, an impromptu lesson on how to turn rocks into knives (using only rocks to form and shape other rocks) ensued. A good time was had by all!

We closed with the Ancestral Knowledge guys showing us a couple of ways to build a fire. Then it was time for lunch. But a few kids stayed behind to ask questions and even got to try out throwing a spear using the atlatl. Definitely a highlight of the day!

I definitely want to bring these guys back next time. We'll probably mix up the skills taught, dedicating a bit more time to letting the kids try out spear throwing (why not?) and maybe adding some additional skills.

*There are tons of wilderness education organizations, so just Google around to see what's near you. If all else fails, there may be an accomplished boy scout or boy scout leader who can come in and cover some basic wilderness skills.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games Camp: Remake Center and Opening Ceremonies

2011-07-21T22:52:00.000-04:00

If you're just tuning in, I'm recapping the fantastically awesome week-long Hunger Games Camp that I created and ran last week. I've already described the Reaping, and the Training Center (obstacle course and target practice). Now it's time to head to the Remake Center and prepare for Opening Ceremonies!

Disclaimer: I danced ballet, tap and jazz from the time I was 5 until I was 18, performed in school plays starting at age 11 and had some fairly awesome Halloween costumes - all of which were stored in my parents attic. Those costumes, plus some face paint, body glitter and colored hairspray that I picked up at a party store made this activity work.

Remake Center and Opening Ceremonies

Just as Katniss was made up for her first televised appearance in front of the citizens of Panem at the Opening Ceremonies, campers will have the opportunity to restyle and put on costumes. Campers will style hair, makeup and dress in ways befitting their district’s primary industries. Campers will be judged by the Gamemakers in each of the three categories, basing their rankings on the quality and appropriateness of the costume, given the tribute’s district.

Materials:

wide variety of costume clothing
face paint
body glitter
temporary tattoos
sponges
cups of water
colored hair spray

Set Up:

Three stations should be arranged: hair, makeup and costume.
All materials available for each station should be out on display.
One counselor should be assigned to each station and assist campers with the items available for use.

Procedure:

Read the following excerpt from the Hunger Games:

(page 66 – Remake Center) “for the opening ceremonies, you're supposed to wear something that suggests your district's principal industry. District 11, agriculture. District 4, fishing. District 3, factories. This means that coming from District 12, Peeta and I will be in some kind of coal miner's getup. Since the baggy miner's jumpsuits are not particularly becoming, our tributes usually end up in skimpy outfits and hats with headlamps. One year, our tributes were stark naked and covered in black powder to represent coal dust. It's always dreadful and does nothing to win favor with the crowd...A few hours later, I am dressed in what will either be the most sensational or the deadliest costume in the opening ceremonies. I'm in a simple black unitard that covers me from ankle to neck. Shiny leather boots lace up to my knees. But it's the fluttering cape made of streams of orange, yellow and red and the matching headpiece that define this costume. Cinna plans to light them on fire just before our chariot rolls into the streets...My face is relatively clear of makeup, just a bit of highlighting here and there. My hair has been brushed out and then braided down my back in my usual style.”

Divide campers into three groups.
Send one group to each station.
Have counselors assist campers with putting up makeup, hairspray, temporary tattoos and costumes. Tributes should dress in attire that represents their home districts.
If more than one camper wants to wear a specific costume piece, that is okay. Campers will be judged one at a time and can hand off costume pieces if necessary.
Gamemakers will judge the tributes on a scale of 1-10, looking for both creativity and appropriateness, given the home district's major industry.

Opening Ceremonies

If time allows, tributes may be interviewed by Caesar Flickerman.
Begin the activity by reading this excerpt from the Hunger Games:

(page 119) “The team works on me until late afternoon, turning my skin to glowing satin, stenciling patterns on my arms, painting flame designs on my twenty perfect nails. Then Venia goes to work on my hair, weaving strands of red into a pattern that begins at my left ear, wraps around my head and then falls in one braid down my right shoulder. They erase my face with a layer of pale makeup and draw my features back out. Huge dark eyes, full red lips, lashes that throw off bits of light when I blink. Finally, they cover my entire body in a powder that makes me shimmer in gold dust...The creature standing before me in the full-length mirror has come from another world. Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make their clothes from jewels. Because my dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression I am engulfed in tongues of fire.”

Have “Caesar” interview tributes, asking them questions about their strategy for the games and their home districts. No points awarded. This is just for fun!

And I know that these activities will be a whole lot cooler with pictures, so I'm going to work on going through the hundreds (literally) that I took during the week and edit the posts to add visuals. Gimme a few days!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games Camp: The Training Center - Target Practice

2011-07-21T11:51:00.001-04:00

If you're just joining us, I'm recapping the week-long Hunger Games Camp that I ran at my middle school. I've already covered the Reaping and the Training Center Obstacle Course. Now it's time for Katniss' favorite activity - Target Practice!

Target Practice

Katniss Everdeen is an expert hunter. Her weapon of choice is the bow and arrow, but she also uses other weapons that require great amounts of hand/eye coordination. In this activity, campers will take target practice using a variety of projectiles, including a bow & arrow, slingshot and rocket spears. Points will be awarded for every “hit” arrow and slingshot hit. For the rocket spears, points will be awarded to all participants, the camper shooting the farthest receiving 24 points (or however many campers there are) and the closest receiving 1 point.

Materials:

2 Junior Bow & Arrow Sets (with rubber suctions at end)
2 Bullseye Targets (included in above set)
2 Slingshots
Several smallish rocks to use with slingshots (shooting BBs is a bit too difficult)
20 Empty Soda Cans
4 Foam Finger Flyer Rockets
24 Cone Discs

Set Up:

Bow and Arrow: Hang the bullseye targets on trees and position the shooting station (bow and arrows) a few yards back. (Do a test with campers to see how far they are able to shoot the arrows and adjust as necessary to ensure that everyone has a chance to hit the targets)
Slingshot: Stack the soda cans into two separate pyramids (4,3,2,1) and position the shooting station (slingshots) a few yards back. (Do a test with campers to see how far they are able to shoot the arrows and adjust as necessary to ensure that everyone has a chance to hit the targets)
Rocket Spears: Place two cones to designate the area from behind which campers should shoot the rocket spears. Each camper will have 4 tries. Use the cone discs (or send out the tribute, as getting hit with a foam rocket doesn't hurt) to mark the spot on the ground each tribute's farthest travelling spear landed.
For each station (especially slingshot), ensure that there is an area where campers who are not shooting must stay. Safety first!

Procedure:

Read the following excerpt from the Hunger Games:

(page 100-101) “I walk to the archery station. Oh, the weapons! I've been itching to get my hands on them for days! Bows made of wood and plastic and metal and materials I can't even name. Arrows with feathers cut in flawless uniform lines. I choose a bow, string it, and sling the matching quiver of arrows over my shoulder. There's a shooting range, but it's much too limited. Standard bull's-eyes and human silhouettes. I walk to the center of the gymnasium and pick my first target. The dummy used for knife practice...I take my initial position and skewer the dummy right through the heart. Then I sever the rope that holds the sandbag for boxing, and the bag splits open as it slams to the ground. Without pausing, I shoulder-roll forward, come up on one knee, and send an arrow into one of the hanging lights high above the gymnasium floor. A shower of sparks bursts from the fixture. It's excellent shooting. I turn to the Gamemakers. A few are nodding approval, but the majority of them are fixated on a roast pig that has just arrived at their banquet table. Suddenly I am furious, that with my life on the line, they don't even have the decency to pay attention to me. That I'm being upstaged by a dead pig. My heart starts to pound and I can feel my face burning. Without thinking, I pull an arrow from my quiver and send it straight at the Gamemaker's table. I hear shouts of alarm as people stumble back. The arrow skewers the apple in the pig's mouth and pins it to the wall behind it. Everyone stares at me in disbelief. "Thank you for your consideration," I say. Then I give a slight bow and walk straight toward the exit without being dismissed.”

Break campers up into three groups and take each group to a different section. A leader should go with each group to ensure safety.
After the group completes one activity, they will rotate to the next activity
Points are awarded as described in introduction.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games Camp: The Training Center

2011-07-20T20:57:00.000-04:00

Once we finished the Reaping, it was time to board the train to the Capitol (read: head outside) and make our way to the Training Center. Here, tributes were given ~15 minutes to practice any of the skills they wished and then tasked with completing a timed obstacle course involving each of the skills.

The Training Center

For this activity, campers will each complete a timed obstacle course. Campers will be given an opportunity before competition begins to practice each activity. When the whistle sounds, each camper will go through the course one at a time. Times will be recorded. Points will be awarded to all participants, the fastest receiving 24 points (or however many campers there are) and the slowest receiving 1 point.

Suggested Materials:

6 Traffic Cones
4 Small Hula Hoops
1 Medium Hula Hoop
1 Large Hula Hoop
1 Soccer Ball
1 Soccer Net
1 Baseball/Wiffleball Bat
1 Football
2 Jump Ropes
1 Stopwatch
1 Whistle

Suggested Setup:

(Start Line marked by two cones) BEGIN TIMER

Distance of ~10 yards RUN TO HOOPS

(4 Small Hula Hoops, Staggered) HOPSCOTCH THROUGH HOOPS

(2 Jump Ropes, placed 3 feet apart) JUMP THE DISTANCE

(4 Cones Spaced Apart) DRIBBLE SOCCER BALL, WEAVING THROUGH CONES

(1 Soccer Goal) KICK THE BALL INTO THE GOAL

(1 Large Hula Hoop) HULA HOOP FOR 10 SECONDS

(1 Football) THROW BALL THROUGH THE HOOP

(have someone hold the hoop up in the air)

(1 Medium Hula Hoop)

(1 Baseball/Wiffle Ball Bat) TRACKER JACKER ATTACK! SPIN AROUND 3x,

RUN ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE START

Procedure:

Read aloud this excerpt from the Hunger Game

(page 93) “The actual training rooms are below ground level of our building. With these elevators, the ride is less than a minute. The doors open into an enormous gymnasium filled with various weapons and obstacle courses…As soon as we join the circle, the head trainer, a tall, athletic woman named Atala steps up and begins to explain the training schedule. Experts in each skill will remain at their stations. We will be free to travel from area to area as we choose, per our mentor's instructions. Some of the stations teach survival skills, others fighting techniques. We are forbidden to engage in any combative exercise with another tribute. There are assistants on hand if we want to practice with a partner.”

Give campers 15-20 minutes to try each station. Counselors should provide assistance as needed
Blow the whistle to bring everyone together for evaluation
One at a time, have campers go through the obstacle course
Award points to all participants, the fastest receiving 24 points (or however many campers there are) and the slowest receiving 1 point.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games Camp: The Reaping

2011-07-20T08:53:00.000-04:00

I was trying to figure out the best way to organize all of my information on the Hunger Games camp I ran last week, and I decided that the best way to do so would be to give an activity-by-activity write up in the order that we did everything. This is easier for me, since I've already created "activity plans" for each thing we did, and I also think this organization makes it easier for others to search and find things via Google, etc.. This first activity is pretty easy, since it's The Reaping, which isn't too complicated anyway. Here's how it went:

The Reaping

Materials:

· 1-2 Large Glass Bowls (one for boys, one for girls, or you can combine)

· One slip of paper for each camper

· Pink Wig (for Effie Trinket)

· Top Hat (for Mayor Undersee)

· Dry Erase Board and Marker

· Copy of The Hunger Games

Set Up:

Place the bowl and dry erase board at the front of the area
On the dry erase board, draw a chart with three columns and thirteen rows. Complete the chart as follows*:

District	Tribute #1	Tribute #2
1: Luxury Goods
2: Weapons
3: Electronics
4: Fishing
5: Sports
6: Oil
7: Lumber
8: Textiles
9: Arts
10: Livestock
11: Agriculture
12: Coal Mining

*I totally made up the industries for Districts 5 and 9, but the rest are taken from the books. I chose Sports and Arts because they were easy to costume and no other reason. Change as necessary.

As campers arrive, have them write their names, and a Hunger Games nickname, if they would like, on a slip of paper and then drop it into the bowl.

Procedure:

Once everyone has arrived, one of the gamemakers begins the session by reading aloud two brief sections from The Hunger Games which introduce the Reaping:

(page 13) “You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve. That year, your name is entered once. At thirteen, twice. And so on and so on until you reach the age of eighteen, the final year of eligibility, when your name goes into the pool seven times. That's true for every citizen in all twelve districts in the entire country of Panem. But here's the catch. Say you are poor and starving as we were. You can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each terrerae is worth a meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person. You may do this for each of your family members as well. So, at the age of twelve, I had my name entered four times. Once, because I had to and three times because for tesserae for grain and oil for myself, Prim and my mother. In fact, every year I have needed to do this. And the entries are cumulative. So now, at the age of sixteen, my name will be in the reaping twenty times. Gale, who is eighteen, and has been either helping or single-handedly feeding a family of five for seven years, will have his name in forty-two times.”

Page (16) “Attendance [at the reaping] is mandatory unless you are on death's door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case. If not, you will be imprisoned…People file in silently and sign in…Twelve through eighteen year olds are herded into the roped areas marked off by ages, the oldest in the front, the young ones, like Prim, toward the back. Family members line up around the perimeter, holding tightly to one another's hands...We all exchange tense nods then focus our attention on the temporary stage that is set up before the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium and two large glass balls, one for the boys, and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball. Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen written on them in careful handwriting.”

· Mayor Undersee (dressed in top hat): Our great nation of Panem rose from the ashes of a place called North America. Before Panem there were many disasters that ravaged this land: droughts, storms, fires, and encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land. Because of all these horrific events, our ancestors engaged in a brutal war for what little sustenance remained. After years of fighting came the establishment of Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve districts were defeated; the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. If either boys or girls are not available, a district may second two of either gender. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins. The Hunger Games is a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the remaining districts battle starvation…And now, allow me to introduce Effie Trinket!

· Effie Trinket (dressed in pink wig - bright green pantsuit optional): Welcome to the 74^th Reaping for the Hunger Games! I am Effie Trinket, and I have come to draw the names to determine the tributes who will be competing in this year’s games. I will draw the names one district at a time. As your name is called, please come to the front. We will take your photograph. Once all tributes have been selected, we will board the train to the Capitol. May the odds be ever in your favor!

The names of tributes are drawn one at a time, two for each district.
Tribute names are filled-in on the chart as names are called.
As names are called and tributes come forward, each tribute has his or her picture taken for the end-of-camp video highlights montage.

Short and sweet!

Oh, and if you're wondering about why I included reading quotes from HG, my reasons are two-fold. 1) I wanted to show how the activity was rooted in the book and 2) I let the kids know in advance that listening carefully to the sections I read-aloud would give them a leg up in Hunger Games Jeopardy!, since the clues were directly related to the portions I read.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Holy Wow! Hunger Games Motion Poster

2011-07-19T13:40:00.000-04:00

Lionsgate just released the first "motion poster" for the March 2012 release of Hunger Games. Since I can't figure out how to get the code and post it here, you're just going to have to go over to Yahoo! Movies and see it for yourself.

Pretty awesome, huh?

You may (or may not) have noticed that I haven't been around much. Last week was Hunger Games Camp, and the lead up and all last week was quite intense. A splendid time was guaranteed for all, and camp delivered. A full recap will be coming soon.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Yes, It's Another Video: KeSha's Blow

2011-06-30T23:08:00.000-04:00

One of my key takeaways from ALA is that Ke$ha's "Blow" video is ridiculous. See for yourself.

So ridiculous that I don't even know what the most ridiculous part is. Dawson? Unicorns? Laser beams and rainbows?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Britney's 'I Wanna Go' Hunger Games Remix

2011-06-25T16:35:00.000-04:00

I have never heard Britney's "I Wanna Go." But I still love this HG remix.

I just might have to figure out a way to work this into my Hunger Games camp. Which starts on July 11. And which still needs to be planned.

P.S. I'm at ALA in New Orleans!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

The Dish on Pottermore

2011-06-22T12:40:00.000-04:00

Early Word is reporting that The Times of London has the inside scoop on Pottermore (would link to ToL, but don't have a subscription). It's an online game with clues to prizes in the real world. 39 Clues-ish. Geocaching-ish. Interesting to say the least. Will need to see how this develops. And, you know, if the scoop is true.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Pottermore?

2011-06-16T19:08:00.000-04:00

What is Pottermore? Why is J.K. Rowling making us wait until June 23rd to find out?

And speaking of Harry Potter, have you purchased your movie tickets for HP7 Part 2 yet? I haven't. I should get on that.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

48 24 Hour Book Challenge: The Eleventh Plague

2011-06-06T09:36:00.000-04:00

I just finished up my own personal 4824 Hour Book Challenge (inspired by MotherReader, but unable to set aside the weekend) with an ARC of Jeff Hirsch's post-apocalyptic debut novel (note: NOT a dystopia) The Eleventh Plague. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the cover art and quote from Suzanne Collins had me feeling I was in for something good that was a possible Hunger Games read-alike. And it was good, but it wasn't what I thought it would be.

Since I keep getting hung up on a few things that irked me about the this book, I think I need to get them out of the way first, before I move on to the things I enjoyed.

Name Dropping: From McDonald's (on the first page) to Kroger to even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Lord of the Rings, there were recognizable names all throughout the book. And even though Hirsch chose carefully and selected brands and books that are likely to stand the test of time, every time I read a "name" it pulled me out of the world they were in, and back into my own. I realize that maybe that was the point, to show that this could be the world that waits just around the corner, but I just didn't like it. It felt like a commercial. Happily, these references subsided as the story developed.
Dropping the phrase "son of a b*tch" three pages in to the story. It's the only curse word in the entire book and there it is in the first chapter! This made me uncomfortable because I pictured a 7th grader (the book's audience is ages 12+/grades 7+) going wide-eyed* and wondering if the rest of the book was right for them. Then I thought about the parent who would read the jacket summary and perhaps the first one or two chapters before purchasing the book or while reviewing their child's library selections. Language that early in a book typically signifies you're in for more and worse as the story develops. Needless to say, by Chapter 2 I was ready to pitch this book into my "do not buy" pile. But I kept reading, and while the story that unfolded wasn't what I expected, it was pretty good.
The title. The book isn't about the Eleventh Plague. It's about the surviving and rebuilding in the wake of the Eleventh Plague. It's about trying to build a community when everything has been torn down. There's still action, for sure. But it's not about the fall of society that happened due to the Eleventh Plague. It's about the struggle to make the remains of the world something worth fighting for, when forces are combining to destroy what little is left. It would have been so much cooler to call it the The Twelfth Plague.

So what did I like?

Realistic Setting and Backstory: I liked that the story drew heavily from reality (which I realize some may say lies in contradiction to my first dislike). Twenty years prior to the story's present, a group of "American students backpacking in China were caught where they shouldn't have been and mistaken for spies," which wouldn't have been a big deal, but "oil was running out, and the Earth was getting warmer." Sound familiar? Then the USA nukes China and in response, China unleashes a souped-up version of the flu, known as P11, on the American populace and invades the west coast. Hundreds of millions die and civilization crumbles. That's a sweet set up.
Protagonist Stephen Quinn: He's fifteen and he's angsty. He's lost everyone he ever loved and has trust issues. He's a lover and a fighter, and he's a reader. The complete package.
The Drama: I was pulled into both the fight/action sequences and the light romantic sub-plot. Those pages flew by and I could very easily put myself into the world and feel like I was fighting and struggling alongside Stephen.

A Hunger Games read-alike it is not. Not everything post-apocalyptic with teenagers is "like" HG. Would fans of Hunger Games enjoy it? Probably. Most people probably wouldn't get hung up on the things I did, and thus transition easily into the story that drives the novel forward. I'll definitely be interested to see what other people think as reviews start popping up (likely closer to the September release date).

The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

Scholastic, hardcover $17.99

Release Date: September 2011

Review copy provided by ARC picked up at BEA.

Note: Quoted sections in review are from an uncorrected proof. Text is not final.

*You're probably reading this and thinking "if you think they haven't heard worse, you must live on another planet." I know that our world is filled with violence and cursing and bad things. And I know my 6th graders have seen Hot Tub Time Machine and There Will Be Blood. They can take it. But have you seen a middle schooler's reaction when there's an unexpected curse (or as my kids say, "cuss") word? It's humorous to me how strongly they react when they don't see it coming. They'll mark the page and show it to me and ask if I knew it was there. 7th and 8th graders will turn books back in after finishing them and tell me that although they read and really liked the book, I should be careful about checking it out to other students, who might not be able to handle it.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

4824 Hour Book Challenge: A Tale Dark and Grimm

2011-06-05T13:27:00.000-04:00

Do you enjoy the darkly sarcastic narrator from the Lemony Snicket books? Is The Princess Bride a favorite movie, both for it's fairytale story and the back and forth narrative between Columbo and Kevin Arnold*? Do you have a stomach that isn't bothered by hacked up bodies being thrown into bubbling cauldrons? Then perhaps you might want to pick up Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark and Grimm.

It's darkly frightening oddly humorous adventure fairytale. And I read it in just one sitting, from 10am this morning until 12:30pm. From richly colored and foreboding cover to the introduction which warns of the blood and awesomeness that lies ahead. From the actual blood and awesomeness (read: a magnificently rendered, true to its origins as a Grimm's fairytale retelling of the story of Hansel and Gretel, yet completely original in narrative voice) to the author's pleading that small children not continue to read/listen further. To the author's note that just makes you feel good inside, it's one heckuva darned good middle grade read. I could most of my middle schoolers have a rollicking good time reading it, even if the older ones later said that book was "too young" for them, and dismissed the enjoyment they took and the giggles and gasps they made along the way.

And now, I should probably email the author and start devising a school visit plan, but I really must continue to read!

Next up: The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch (who I had the pleasure to meet at BEA's Speed-dating with Children's Authors).

*If this sentence makes no sense to you, I urge you to: 1) Netflix or otherwise obtain the ability to view episodes of the television crime series Columbo and the beloved coming-of-age drama series, The Wonder Years (I'd link to the DVD collection, but, much to my and everyone else's despair, it does not exist. 2) View the episodes. 3) Netflix or otherwise obtain the ability to view the comic adventure/fairytale romance etc. etc. that is movie The Princess Bride. 4) View the movie.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

48 24 Hour Book Challenge

2011-06-05T09:54:00.003-04:00

This weekend marks MotherReader's 6th Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge. We've been a bit pre-occupied with other things here, so I've barely has a chance to even crack open a book since Thursday. I'd wanted to be a part of the official 48 Hour Book Challenge, but alas it was not to be. Therefore, I'm creating my own little 24 Hour Book Challenge, starting just as soon as this post goes live!

My first book will be Adam Gidwitz's A Tale Dark and Grimm, which I need to make sure I read before getting in touch with him about a potential school visit. I've heard only wonderful things about it, so this should be a good one.

Once I finish that, it's on to reading ARCs of newly released and upcoming dystopias! For the Hunger Games camp I'm leading this summer, I'm planning to spend ~30 minutes at the end of one of the days talking up some HG read-alikes to my book-crazy campers. They'll be students going into the 6th-9th grades, so I need a variety of options. Luckily, I know they all love Hunger Games! On my TBR pile are Divergent, Variant. The Eleventh Plague, Ashes, and Legend. I'm all ears for additional recommendations!

Time to get reading! I'll check in with you after I finish A Tale Dark and Grimm.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Back From SLJ and BEA!

2011-05-27T11:22:00.000-04:00

So, technically I got back on Tuesday evening, and I never even mentioned I was going, but regardless of these facts, I'm back! Did you miss me? No? Oh well.

Anyhoot, I had a great few days up north, first visiting family and friends and then heading off to Monday's SLJ Day of Dialog and Tuesdays BEA. It was a whirlwind trip that left me exhausted, but also excited about the plethora of upcoming releases and anxious for the next school year, even though this one hasn't quite ended just yet. There's so much to say that I could blab on and on about it, but instead, I will limit myself to my Top 5 Takeaways for each of the two conference days.

Top 5 Takeaways from SLJ's Day of Dialog:
1. I don't think it is possible to have spent a better $29.99 (I'm an SLJ subscriber) on anything, ever. Breakfast, ARCs, author panels, lunch, author signings, a cocktail party AND the company of school librarians? Unbeatable.
2. Katherine Paterson's keynote shows she's quite the character. And here I confess that I don't believe I've ever read any of her work. Addressing this ASAP.
3. Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) is just as witty and sarcastic in person as he is on paper. Moreover, though I think Tim Curry (a favorite of mine) does the voice work on his audiobooks, I highly recommend he do it himself, as his voice is rich and just simply amazing and his timing spot on.
4. Dave Roman and John Green (no, not THAT John Green, another one) are partnering to bring you the graphic novel Teen Boat. It's inspired by the 80s cartoon Turbo Teen (think one part Night Rider, one part Teen Wolf, all parts awesome), which probably no one other than me and my three siblings has ever heard of, but I'm so excited about this that it's embarassing.
5. Adam Gidwitz looks like a young Edward Norton. And more to the point, even though I haven't yet read A Tale Dark and Grimm, he's so approachable and funny that I'm going to look into having him come to my school next year.

Top 5 Takeaways from BEA:
1. People are ruthless and fairly ridiculous about getting free ARCs. Most of them don't even seem to care what the book is, as long as it is free.
2. Speed Dating with Children's Authors was dizzyingly and amazingly fantastic. I arrived early and scoped out the table that had stacks of bound sample pages from James Dashner's Death Cure and waited patiently for his arrival. He was early and I got to chat with him for several minutes before the event began. Rock!
3. Lunch options at the Javitz Center are NOT tasty and are VERY expensive. Next time, I'm registering for the Librarian's Lunch, which is free AND tasty. Mad props to the SLJ/LJ Librarian's Lounge which picked up the Javitz Center food offerings slack by providing tasty nibbles and beverages, a place to sit and compose oneself and good company.
4. If you are nice and not grabby and greedy, the publisher staffs can be really great resources. So friendly and helpful and willing to grab an ARC from the locked cabinet for you if you let them know you won't be there for the signing the next day, are really excited about a specific title and are both a school librarian and blogger.
5. The YA Editor's Buzz never fails to disappoint. The only thing that could have made it better would be not forgetting to have someone put out the ARCs at the end. They were stacked in the back in boxes, but no staff person manned the operation. ARC craziness ensued.

The SLJ Day of Dialog and BEA are definitely two of my favorite book events. I'll be writing more about the ARCs I picked up as soon as I get a chance to read them. Until then, I'll be looking to see how everyone else enjoyed their SLJ Day of Dialog and BEA!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

School Librarians in Los Angeles Defending Their Jobs

2011-05-17T15:09:00.000-04:00

In case you were hiding under a rock these past few years, let me get you up to speed:

The economy collapsed and the mortgage bubble burst
Wall Street was at fault
There's no money to pay for public services, like schools and libraries
Wall Street is back to record earnings
Despite the economic rebound, no one is hiring
Public employees are being laid off, asked to take wage cuts and blamed for everything

And that brings us to the present. A present where school librarians in Los Angeles are being made to testify in court proceedings to defend their work as educators. They're bringing in lesson plans and discussing their teaching methods, all in an attempt to prove that they are teachers. Meanwhile, LAUSD is trying to prove they do not teach (because if they did, then they could be transferred instead of let go).

Say what? Just because someone doesn't have a regularly scheduled class with a course name and description, that makes his or her teaching non-existent? Even if that person prepares lesson plans and works with teachers to plan units and TEACHes the research process? Anyone who has ever been anywhere near a school library will tell you that librarians teach. And thankfully, this article sides with school librarians.

But naturally I have to rant about one tiny part of the article. The last paragraph. Why was it even written? It just shows that the reporter is one of "those people" who hasn't been in a school library in quite some time:

It doesn't seem right to punish an educator for choosing the quiet and contemplation of book stacks over the noise and hubbub of a classroom or a gymnasium. But that's where we are in these strange and stupid times.

Quiet and contemplation? Don't get me wrong. I appreciate this article's defense of librarians, and the rest of the article is spot-on, but the closing paragraph shows that the author doesn't really know school libraries at all. Hector Tobar, you need to come visit my library and tell me how much quiet and contemplation you get a chance to enjoy. This joint is jumpin' with active, inquisitive students. And I'll be the last person to shush them.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Face Book. But with Trees.

2011-05-17T08:00:00.006-04:00

I don't know if there's any book jacket concept creepier than the tree-face book. Yikes. The whole lesson I took from the movie The Evil Dead was that trees are evil. But like vampires and werewolves and zombies before it*, it seems like it's a thing. If two creepy covers can be "a thing". Do two covers make a trend?

Season of Secrets by Sally Nichols
Sent by their father to live in the country with their grandparents after the sudden death of their mother, Molly's older sister Hannah expresses her grief in a raging rebellion while imaginative Molly finds herself increasingly distracted by visions, that seemingly only she can see, of a strange hunt in the nearby forest.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce
When the owner of a candy shop molds magical treats that instill confidence, bravery, and passion, eighteen-year-old Gretchen’s haunted childhood memories of her twin sister’s abduction by a witch-like monster begin to fade until girls start vanishing at the annual chocolate festival.

Are there other tree-face books out there? Part of me kinda hopes not, but part of me kinda hopes so...

*Word on the street is that mermaids are up next. Wasn't there supposed to be a fairy craze too? I missed that one.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

The Purpose of Young Adult Literature...

2011-05-16T10:58:00.000-04:00

is twofold: to tell a story and, according New York Times contributor Lisa Belkin, to send a message (by teaching a lesson).

I disagree. Why do books for teens need to teach a lesson? Can't they just be for enjoyment? Escape? Or maybe just to show a world or reality different from (or maybe even the same as) one's own?

YA literature doesn't HAVE to be anything more than it is: written for teens.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Rebecca Black, Meet Gabbie Rae

2011-05-14T09:52:00.000-04:00

The world isn't big enough for two middle school singing stars...

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Tween Tuesday: The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book (Now With Even More!)

2011-05-09T09:12:00.000-04:00

I haven't done a Tween Tuesday post in quite some time, but was inspired to do so today after receiving a copy of the soon-to-be-released The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book in the mail from Amulet. This journal is an update from a previous release, but has (says the press release) "more than 60 new pages" and "includes 32 pages of full-color comics." The book is filled with prompts including "Unfinished Comics," "Your Desert Island Picks" and "Which Would You Rather Do?" (ex. Wear the same Halloween costume every year OR Wear the same pair of socks for a week - I choose Halloween costume!). The pages that gave me the biggest laugh were Rodrick's Activity Pages which featured things like an impossible to solve (literally) maze and questions like, "Answer this question yes or no only: Q: Are you embarrassed that you popped in your diaper today?*" Such a gem!

Anyhoot, going through the journal (NOT diary) was so much fun that I had to keep from filling it out myself so that I could save it as a prize for a student. Highly recommended for the Wimpy Kid crew.

Oh! Oh! Oh! And there's a contest! It's The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Comics Contest. One lucky (artistically and humorously talented) winner will get a signed copy of the book, $500 for him or herself and $1,000 to the library of the winner's choice. Sweet.

The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
by Jeff Kinney
Release Date: May 10, 2011 (hardcover)
Copy provided by the publisher, Amulet

*Rodrick reminds me so much of my older brother that it is scary.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Another Good Fan-Made Hunger Games Trailer

2011-05-08T11:14:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted about The Hunger Games, and it's not because I'm not still ridiculously excited about it and the fact that they're making a movie. I haven't agreed with some of the casting decisions so I've decided it's better to just sit silently and wait for the movie to come together and then place judgment. Plus, I've been busily preparing for my Hunger Games Camp!

Anyway, it's occurred to me that there are tons of really good fan-made HG trailers all over the internet, and I should probably be storing up links to these cool clips somewhere. I saw this one courtesy of Fuse #8:

I know there are some other really good ones out there too. Which one is your favorite?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

FREE Comic Book Day!

2011-05-07T08:00:00.001-04:00

It's the first Saturday in May, and that can mean only one thing: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!

Go get yours.

LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Coming This Fall: A Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler Collaboration!

2011-05-06T12:41:00.000-04:00

Ever since I finished Jay Asher's debut novel Th1rt3en Reasons Why in November of 2007, I have been stalking* him in an attempt to find out any information possible about any upcoming projects. Today that wait is FINALLY over! It has been announced that Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler (author of the Printz Honor book, The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things fame) have co-written a novel, The Future of Us, which is set to release under Penguin's Razorbill imprint this fall.

Jay and Carolyn both created cute videos to promote the upcoming title. Here's Jay's video. Here's Carolyn's. Set in a world before high-speed internet, The Future of Us is the story of Emma and Josh, who log onto a free trial CD-ROM of AOL and "discover themselves on Facebook...fifteen years in the future." Hmm...Dial-up internet? Time travel? Sounds oddly intriguing. And since these are two authors whose past work I have enjoyed, I'm excited to see how it turns out.

ARCs at BEA? ALA? I hope so!

*internet stalking, not "real" stalking

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Zombie Nation

2011-05-04T14:26:00.001-04:00

I'm not really into horror or paranormal/supernatural, so when the whole zombie craze started I figured it best left to others. Then John Maberry's Rot & Ruin won the 2010 Cybils YA Science Fiction & Fantasy award, and people had been yammering on and on about The Forest of Hands and Teeth since before its release, and I read-aloud to my 8th graders from Ryan Mecum's Zombie Haiku and we all loved it (even if some people had to hold down the vomit in their throats), and I loved the movies Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead. So what was I waiting for?

I started my zombie adventure by reading Zombie Haiku in full. The book is a series of haiku poems written by a man trying to escape a zombie apocalypse. It was a quick and relatively pain~~less~~ful read. I had to stop numerous times. Some of it was so gross that I just focused on shallow breathing and tried not to look at the photos and illustrations. I had already read Werewolf Haiku, so I should've known what to expect, but I foolishly thought it couldn't be as disgusting. I was wrong.

This one has been a smash hit with both my male and female reluctant readers and also my horror fans.

I continued the journey with John Maberry's Rot and Ruin (the first in a planned trilogy). This was more my style and I quickly became engrossed in the story. In zombie-apocalypse California, multi-racial (Caucasian and Japanese) protagonist Benny Imura has reached the age where he must decide on a career. Since his parents death (and subsequent zombification) when Benny was young, he has been raised by his emotionally distant half-brother Tom, a zombie bounty hunter. Benny had planned on a career within the safety of the fences, but Tom invites him to train with him out in the Rot & Ruin, and he quickly discovers that "killing zoms" more about brains than braun and that zombies ~~are~~ were people too!

I was definitely surprised by how much I enjoyed Rot & Ruin, but my passion for character-driven zombie novels really reached its apex with Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Wow! I can't believe it took me this long to finally get around to reading these books. Why didn't I just listen when everyone was raving about the first one years ago?

It's a familiar scene: zombie apocaplyse, most of the world taken over by the living dead (known here as the Unconsecrated), only remaining survivors live a pared down existence protected from the zombies (who live in the Forest of Hands and Teeth) by a fence. The sisterhood rule the town with an iron fist and distribute information about the Unconsecrated, life before and life outside the fence on a "need to know" basis. Then there's a breach. The town is overrun by Unconsecreated and it's up to Mary and the handful of others who have escaped to search for safety beyond the fence.

So. Good. I plowed through all three of the books (thank goodness the third and final volume was *just* released) in a matter of days. But if you're still not sure it's something you're interested in, watch this trailer.

Now get to the nearest library, bookstore and/or ereader and start reading.

ETA: As if reading my mind, there is now a zombie-proof house!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Copy Covers: Hearts Made of Stuff

2011-05-03T14:31:00.000-04:00

As I was paging through some publisher catalogs and review journals this week, I noticed that there are an abundance of new and soon-to-be-released books out right now with covers that feature hearts made of things. Things like barbed-wire, pills, pieces of glass, candy...

Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma
Teen brother and sister Lochan and Maya have grown close caring for their younger siblings in the absence of their alcoholic, wayward mother, but trouble looms when their feelings for each other grow into desperate love.

But I Love Him by Amanda Grace
Ann begins her senior year of high school as a happy, straight-A student and track star, but her life changes drastically when she become involved with a haunted young man named Connor and cannot seem to free herself from the abusive relationship.

The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski
A teenage girl tries to balance her life, but her time is split between her first love, a cake-decorating business, her dad's reality television show, and her efforts to find her missing mother.

Love Drugged by James Klise
Fifteen-year-old Jamie is dismayed by his attraction to boys, and when a beautiful girl shows an interest in him, he is all the more intrigued by her father's work developing a drug called Rehomoline.

Recovery Road by Blake Nelson
Seventeen-year-old Maddie meets Stewart in a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abuse, and they begin a relationship, which they try to maintain after they both finish treatment.

Ask Elizabeth by Elizabeth Berkley
(aka Jesse Spano!)
Provides real answers to questions teenage girls often have about their bodies, love, friends, and other aspects of life.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Books Under 200 Pages

2011-05-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

If your library is anything like mine, there's always a few people for whom the length of the book, rather than the genre, plot, characters and other elements that make up the story, is the most important factor when selecting a book. You know who I'm talking about...The fourteen-year-old boy who is soccer-obsessed, but would rather read Angela Johnson than Mal Peet. The twelve-year-old super-sleuth who you just know would love The Mysterious Benedict Society, but she sticks to the shorter Enola Holmes mysteries.

Should you encourage them to expand their reading horizons? Of course. But what if you're in a pinch? Thankfully, Angela Leeper has created a list of Books Under 200 Pages for just such occasions. It's not an extensive list (20 titles under 200 page and 5 under 225), but it's a start.

Books by Harry Mazer and Dean Hughes work well with my 6th grade boys. Gina McMurchy-Barber's Free as a Bird has also been quite popular with both my 7th grade girls who LOVE to read, and also those who avoid it like the plague. What other titles under or around 200 pages do you recommend?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Books Into Movies: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 2 Trailer

2011-04-28T09:24:00.001-04:00

I know where I'll be on July 15th...

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Books for Teens

2011-04-26T21:23:00.000-04:00

Books for Teens is "a new fundraising initiative from YALSA, [whose] mission is to empower the nation’s at-risk teens to achieve more by providing them with free high quality, new, age-appropriate books. Funds raised through Books for Teens will be distributed to libraries in communities with a high level of poverty, where teen services librarians will purchase and distribute new books, encourage teens to get library cards and provide teens with reading-focused events and activities."

Why I'm Telling You About It: This spring, spurred on by my work as an ALA Emerging Leader, I decided to volunteer for a YALSA committee. Before I knew it, I'd been asked (and agreed) to chair a new committee called Books for Teens. The committee is just starting to get down to business and I wanted to share our mission and ask for your support.

Our first step as a committee is to get the word out about Books for Teens by letting librarians and library advocates (YOU!) know about our existence. Now that you know, support the cause* and tell your friends and fellow library lovers (heck, tell your enemies and library haters)!

*and if you want to make a donation to get things rolling, that would be nice too!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Bedtime Stories...

2011-04-22T21:30:00.000-04:00

I know this blog is about YA literature, but hear me out on this one. My brother, a father of three, told me today about a great children's book. It probably won't win the Caldecott (or any other awards for that matter), but it is an absolutely perfect book to read to that restless toddler who just wants you read "one more book"...

A sample verse:

The cats nestle close to their kittens now.
The lambs have laid down with the sheep.
You're cozy and warm in your bed, my dear
Please go the fuck to sleep.

Author Adam Mansbach has really outdone himself with his latest title, Go the F*ck to Sleep.

And now, as my mother used to tell me after we finished up our prayers and she tucked me into bed...Goodnight! Sleep tight! Don't let the bedbugs bite!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Because I Got a Nook Last Week, Library Books Come to Kindle!

2011-04-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

I knew that as soon as I got a Nook, Kindle would become library-friendly. And lo and behold, dozens of news outlets are reporting today that Kindle will be creating a feature to allow users to borrow ebooks from their libraries through Overdrive. EarlyWord has a roundup of articles.

Kindle owners, you're welcome!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

I don't know how to put this, but librarians are kind of a big deal...

2011-04-16T18:15:00.000-04:00

Even CNN knows it.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

YALSA's Teens' Top Ten Nominees

2011-04-14T21:00:00.000-04:00

Today YALSA announced the 25 nominations for this year's Teens' Top Ten. I've read four, but already had intentions to read many of the others. Guess I've got some reading to do and some titles to recommend between now and September when the winners are announced.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Unsuitable Books for Teens

2011-04-14T09:19:00.000-04:00

Once in a while, a book comes along that is so inappropriate in so many ways - drugs, sex, abuse, disrespect of authority, lack of consequences, vulgar language - that it just shouldn't be read by anyone under the age of 18. And so, naturally, it is read in droves by exactly that same group of people. This explains why in sixth grade, my friends and I were addicted to V.C. Andrews. (Though I still can't explain why my devout Catholic mother read and owned those books AND allowed me to read her entire collection and share it with friends. Of course, she's a librarian too and encourages people to read whatever they love, so I guess it makes some sense.)

Anyway, all this is to say that Patrick Ness has created a list of his Top 10 'Unsuitable' Books for Teenagers. While V.C. Andrews didn't make the official list, I was especially delighted to see Stephen King's The Stand, which I read in 7th grade, after watching the miniseries (Rob Lowe's return to stardom!) on TV with my family.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

In Theatres This Thanksgiving: The Muppets!

2011-04-12T10:44:00.003-04:00

It seems that everything I loved when I was in late elementary and middle school (Sweet Valley, Newsies, New Kids on the Block) is coming back. So naturally it's time for the Muppets to make a comeback, and they'll do just that with a new major motion picture The Muppets, this coming Thanksgiving.

While it's true that the Muppets never really left, recent films like Muppets from Space and Muppet Treasure Island can't hold a candle to classics like The Muppet Movie, Muppets Take Manhattan or my personal favorite Jim Henson creation, The Christmas Toy. I'm counting on Jason Segel's creepy yet admirable obsession with puppet musicals to make this a success!

ETA: Um, how did I miss this awesome video?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Another Person Finds and Falls in Love with the Library!

2011-04-11T19:44:00.000-04:00

Ebooks and book-books and DVDs, oh my! It's a National Library Week miracle.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-04-08T15:22:00.000-04:00

Today marks the start of the LibrariYAn's thirty-first year on earth. I'm celebrating turning thirty-one-wonderful the best way I know how: friends, pizza, ice cream cake and board games (and perchance some adult beverages). Lucky for me, the LibrariMAn (aka my husband) showered me with some spectacular gifts, including a NOOKColor! To go with it, I received a beautiful JAVOedge Cherry Blossom cover/case and a screen protector.

Being the good LibrariYAn that I am, I've already downloaded my first library ebook from Overdrive. Even for a tech-savvy LibrariYAn, figuring out exactly what I needed to do to make it happen took a little bit of research, but once I understood what I needed to do, I had The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan* downloaded and was reading!

So quick! So easy! I think I'm in love with my ereader.

*Yes, I know, it's an awesome book, and I should've read it sooner, but alas, life and other books got in the way. The important thing is that I'm reading it now.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Extra! Extra! Newsies Principal Auditions on May 2nd!

2011-04-06T22:05:00.000-04:00

I sure hope you're not sick of reading these Newsies updates, because I am definitely NOT sick of writing them.

Today's news: Playbill posted today for principal auditions. The roles include Jack, Davie, Les, and Joseph Pulitzer (naturally), but who else? Katherine Plumber. Katherine Plumber? Who the heck is that?!? Apparently, it's Joe Pulitzer's daughter. And she's sassy. Methinks this means the play script has dreamy leader Jack Kelly pairing up not with Davie's sister Sarah, but with Pulitzer's daughter. Perhaps? And what of reporter Bryan Denton? Medda "Meadowlark" Larkson? Anybody's guess.

I knew they'd be changing the script and probably writing some new musical numbers, but I fear there's a story change in store, and I'm scared. Don't ruin Newsies!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Audition for Newsies!

2011-03-31T21:52:00.000-04:00

Chorus auditions for the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Newsies will take place on Tuesday, May 3rd. If you're between the ages of 16 and 49, there just might be a place for you!

If only I still lived in NJ, I'd be so all over this.

And yes, I'm going to post about Newsies a lot between now and October. Get used to it.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

2011-03-23T11:24:00.000-04:00

In this sequel to Gayle Forman’s tear-jerker debut novel, If I Stay, it’s Adam’s turn to narrate. It’s been three years since the tragic accident that took the lives of Mia’s parents and brother. In that time, Adam and Mia have matured, and the edgier tone of the book reflects their passage into adulthood. Where If I Stay had sweetness and innocent sadness that middle school readers could devour, Where She Went is for an older audience. As with most high school sweethearts, Mia and Adam’s paths have diverged. Musical success has brought him to L.A. and her to New York City. The abrupt end to their relationship has left Adam undone, which, while good for his songwriting, has left scars that have lasted through the years. Then, a chance meeting offers a chance at redemption and an opportunity to heal the past.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Dutton Books, $16.99
Release Date: April 5, 2011
Reviewed from ARC provided by publisher at ALA Mid-winter.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

An Irish Blessing for St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T12:11:00.000-04:00

May those who love us, love us
And those who don't,
May God turn their hearts.
And if he can't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we may know them by their walking.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Who Knew That "Friday" Could be Better than "The Mall?"

2011-03-14T21:16:00.000-04:00

Watch out, Robin Sparkles...

Rebecca Black is after your fan base.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Quick Survey for School Librarians

2011-03-12T15:08:00.000-05:00

Remember how I posted a couple months ago that I was selected to be one of ALA's Emerging Leaders? Well, my group is working hard on our project and we have some questions for school librarians. We're basically trying to get a feel for whether folks know about the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner and different ways librarians are incorporating web 2.0 technology into instruction. If you are a school librarian, please complete this survey. If you aren't a school librarian, pass on the link to those school librarians you know. The more the merrier!

Thanks!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Open the Gates and Seize the Day!

2011-03-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

Don't be afraid and don't delay! Newsies (my most favorite musical which I own on VHS and watched waaay too many times and which I also own the soundtrack to and have the entire thing memorized) will be coming to the stage. According to a NYTimes article that I missed (and only stumbled upon because I decided to Google "Newsies musical" for no reason in particular), Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ will be bringing it to the stage this coming September. Just yesterday, Disney released additional details.

Back in high school I was the annoying girl who said things like "Specs was on Nickelodeon's Roundhouse," memorized all the songs and dances and plotted for us to do it as our musical, except I couldn't figure out a way around the lack of female roles. I personally wanted to be the mom who is looking for her son in the soup line ("Patrick...darling...since you left me, I am undone...Mother...loves you...God save my son!"). I'd heard rumors that it might head to Broadway, but nothing ever panned out.

Tickets go on sale this summer, and you can bet your butt I will be among the first to buy.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Library Pun = Comic Gold

2011-03-05T00:01:00.002-05:00

Seriously? I'm the LibrariYAn, and I can't make this stuff up. An acutal NYTimes headline reads "One Way to Encourage Checking-Out at the Library." Guess I don't have that market cornered*.

ETA: The above article is about library speed-dating events. A great idea, I think. I firmly believe in the library as a place for the community to gather. Probably not something to implement at the middle school level though.

*It was a lame joke, but I just.had.to.take.it.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Is Blogging Dead?

2011-02-24T11:29:00.000-05:00

Maybe. Or at least it's dying out. Many RSS feed readers have already ceased to exist (is Google Reader the only one left?) and just today, I got an email from Yahoo's MyBlogLog, letting me know it will terminate on May 24th of this year*. This week, the NYTimes reported: Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sties Like Twitter. It's no surprise that with our ever-shortening attention spans, the lure of the 30-second sound-byte and the popularity of texting over actual talking that this would be the case. While blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger and LiveJournal continue to exist, who knows when their numbers might be up.

But is it really so dire? In addition to the article above on the death of blogs, this week's NYTimes also featured a huge article on Mommy Blogs. So perhaps the end of blogging isn't as imminent as it might seem. In the meantime, I'll work to keep my blog posts short and sweet, ala Bookshelves of Doom, in hopes that folks keep reading.

*so I guess I'll have to find another way to track the trickle of blog traffic!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Hunger Games: Teens on Jeopardy Disappoint

2011-02-24T10:21:00.000-05:00

If you're a loyal Jeopardy watcher like I am, then you were watching last night when NO ONE knew the answer the question about the title of the third book in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. One contestant tried, but he stumbled out "Mockingbird" before quickly adding "Jay!" No money for him, and it's anyone's guess, so, sneaky blonde-haired-girl confidently answered "Mockingjay." She lucked out there, but I can't believe this wasn't a question where everyone was on the clicker trying to ring in as fast as possible. Where does Jeopardy find these kids?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Sadness: L.K. Madigan Has Passed Away

2011-02-23T20:17:00.000-05:00

Author L.K. Madigan lost her battle with pancreatic cancer. Madigan's first novel, Flash Burnout, won the William C. Morris Award last year. Her second novel, The Mermaid's Mirror was released this fall. We hardly knew ye. May she rest in peace.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Breaking News: Libraries Have eBooks

2011-02-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

This just in: You can check out ebooks from your public library!

I know, I know, it's shocking. Utterly shocking. Or it would be if this was about 5 years ago. Anyone who has been to a public library and/or even visited a public library's web page would know that ebooks have been available for quite some time. The students at my school already knew, but Wall Street Journal readers just found out. Today. (Well, okay, yesterday.)

My favorite line from the article is one where she explains that, just like regular books in libraries, there's a possibility that the ebook you want will be checked out, and you'll have to wait. The author continues, "The idea of waiting for a book with many people lined up to borrow it is enough to inspire even some of the most frugal readers to cough up the dough to buy digital books." Seriously? It is THAT important to have Girl With a Dragon Tattoo RIGHT NOW!?!?! Can't you just check out something else (a classic, perhaps?) in the meantime and wait a few weeks? She also doesn't like that Overdrive shows you the entire library catalog (you know, so you could -GASP! - put something on hold if it wasn't readily available), not just what's currently available for checkout.

People who don't know much about libraries make me chuckle.

ETA: Thanks to EarlyWord for pointing me to the WSJ post! In the midst of my rant, I forgot to credit. Shame on me.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

If Lord Voldemort Were a Cat...

2011-02-22T08:45:00.000-05:00

This would be him.

For reference, below is Lord Voldemort. Twins. Identical twins.

Geekologie has the full story of how this precious meowzer came came to look like he-who-shall-not-be-named. How has some pottertastic muggle not adopted him?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

YA in the News

2011-02-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

The past two weeks have been newsworthy for YA lit. First we learned that Jay Asher's novel Th1rteen R3asons Why was going to be a movie and Selena Gomez is set to play Hannah Baker. Then Valentine's Day came around and brought us the announcement of the Cybils winners. This morning's New York Times has an article about dystopias in YA lit, which was kind enough to separate out less-well written, but still popular works like I Am Number Four from higher quality offerings, such as Scott Westerfeld's Uglies books and Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, but still missed the mark on YA lit (if you ask me). And finally, in sad news, the Times also reported that Perry Moore, author of Hero, a novel about a gay superhero, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment.

Oh, and on a personal note, I'm running a week-long Hunger Games camp this summer, and more and more students are coming to me to tell me they've registered. At the same time, more students are asking about Hunger Games and looking for the books, which makes me hopeful that there is some good word-of-mouth buzz around the camp and the books. Gotta love peer pressure!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

This Valentine's Day, Snuggle Up With a Good Book - A Cybils Winner!

2011-02-14T16:51:00.000-05:00

It's February the 14th, which can mean only two things:

1. There will tons of candy and cookies (along with various and sundry red, pink and purple items) on clearance tomorrow.
2. The Cybils winners have been announced!

I don't want to steal their thunder, so head over to their site and check out who won. Then, choose a finalist or winner and buy it for your valentine.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Dear Aspiring Author: Enough With the Vampires

2011-02-08T20:14:00.000-05:00

Everywhere one turns there's another vampire novel. All these Twilight and Buffy imitations have gotten out of hand. My friend (and fellow librarian) Kristie makes a simple request: Stop!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Double the Fun: 2011 National Book Festival Will Be Two-Day Event

2011-02-08T12:58:00.000-05:00

I never made it to last year's festival because the metro was an absolute mess with trains running in both directions on one track (frightening, but true), and none the correct color and direction that I needed, BUT since the event was so huge last year (1 million + attendees!), they've decided to expand the event to two days. Hooray!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Looking Good: LibrariYAn's Wishlist

2011-02-03T16:37:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows that a good librarian knows the collection, is master of the databases, and can find almost anything on the internet faster than you can say "I already tried Google." But to be a LibrariYAn, you must also look great doing it. It's about halfway between Christmas and my birthday, and it's cold outside, so I've been spending some time browsing the internet and compiling a wishlist.

This dress from Etsy needs to be owned by me. It even kinda looks like the girl is standing on a pile of books!

Of course this dress would SELL OUT after I fell in love with it on Mod Cloth last night. It may be called the "Art Instructor" dress, but I think it's perfect for a librarian as well. Perhaps paired with these Library Science heels? (To be honest though, I'd probably wear it with cute ballet flats.)

I've been stalking Ikabags for quite some time now, trying to figure out which one to purchase. They're perfect! Lots of pockets and plenty of space for a book or two (or ereader...someday). Plus, they're handmade and so stylish. But which one do I want?

I'm also kind of in love with this jewelry from Aroha Silhouettes, including this necklace, made from reclaimed vinyl records, and optical illusion pin.

If only my salary as a middle school librarian permitted these purchases...

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Controversy: 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader

2011-02-02T10:53:00.000-05:00

Just a few days ago I posted a link to Bitch Media's list of 100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader. I was excited to see such a list created and had already started thinking about ways to use it. Over the weekend, spurred by comments and emails from readers, staff and volunteers at Bitch read/re-read (at least) three of the titles and made the decision to remove them from the list and replace them with three different books. The titles removed were:

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce - removed due to a "victim blaming" scene
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott - removed because of its "triggering nature"
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan - taken off because it "validates (by failing to critique or discuss) characters who use rape as an act of vengeance"

This has created a blizzard of comments from authors and librarians and it's basically just a big ol' mess. Cries of censorship, authors requesting to have their works removed from the list, and even a little bit of name calling has begun. Yikes.

I haven't read Sisters Red, so I don't feel qualified to make a comment on that title, but I have read the other two and disagree with the reasons given for removal. They are both very mature books that demand an older audience, able to handle the gritty content. I can see how Living Dead Girl could be a "trigger" for victims of abuse, but would argue that Laurie Halse Anderson's Wintergirls, which is on the list (at #5) would be similarly triggering for individuals suffering with or who have suffered with an eating disorder. From my own personal experience, I found that while reading the book and for days afterward my own eating was disordered and I found myself counting every calorie and indulging in negative body image issues more than usual. When I read Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels, I was disturbed by the rape scenes, but I did not feel that it in any way validated the characters use of rape as an act of vengeance. To say that would also be so say that the book condones bestiality, since a character is intimately involved with a bear. For me, that reasoning just doesn't have merit.

But my issue here really isn't with these specific books being taken off the list. Rather, my issue is with putting out and promoting a list that wasn't carefully researched, prepared or vetted. One of the creators of the list admitted that she hadn't actually read all of the books on the list, but compiled the list based on books she had read, reviews and recommendations. Publishing and promoting a book list without personally reviewing the materials (in entirety) first is just bad business. Do I sometimes recommend a book to a student based on reviews, even though I haven't read the book? Certainly. But would I publish a list declaring it to contain the "100 young adult novels that every feminist should add to the stack of books on their bedside table" without ensuring that every single book on the list was read by someone from my organization? Definitely not. If you (person or organization) put out a list, it is your duty to defend your selections and to prepare in advance to be challenged on some materials. It is inevitable that individuals will disagree with something on your list. That's why preparation is key. Read the books. Read all the reviews. As the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts motto indicates, Be Prepared.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

100 Young Adult Books for the Feminist Reader

2011-01-29T15:46:00.000-05:00

from Bitch magazine.

And remember, feminists are raised, not born. So start 'em early.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Save the Date: Hunger Games Movie to Release Marsh 23, 2012!

2011-01-25T18:08:00.000-05:00

There's no cast yet (minor detail), but according to Entertainment Weekly, the release date for the Hunger Games movie has been set. Mark your calendars. Take off from work (because you know you're going to a midnight show). Get ready for the fun to begin!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Let the Battle Begin! SLJ's Battle of the Kids Books is Back

2011-01-24T16:20:00.000-05:00

Well, ok, not yet exactly. But soon! The announcement of titles went out on twitter (follow them: SLJsBoB) today and Educating Alice was kind enough to copy down a complete list. As always, I've read over 50% of the books (maybe even 75%), but there are still a bunch of titles I'm going to need to read before the battle begins, which is usually in March. Better get reading!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

To eRead or Not to eRead (and if so, with which machine?)

2011-01-23T11:21:00.001-05:00

The first day back to school after a glorious two-week holiday break brought streams of students to the library gushing about the ereaders they had received for Christmas. From Nooks to Kindles, to PanDigitals, it seemed everyone had an ereader. Then the kids started asking about what I had, and I was forced to admit that though the idea of an ereader really excited me, I had yet to take the plunge.

"The NookColor is awesome!" they squealed. "I love my Kindle; you should get one," they said. Students even brought in their ereaders to school and encouraged me to play around with them, in hopes that I would deem their ereader best and immediately run out and buy one. Three weeks back to school, and I've yet to commit.

So what's holding me back? Uncertainty. I know that I want an ereader. But after all of my research and test driving, I'm still at a loss to figure out which ereader I want. Here's my thinking:

Barnes & Noble Nook (specifically, the NookColor)
Pros:

Nook loves libraries! You can borrow books from your library via OverDrive
Ability to "share" books with other Nook friends
Available in color = appealing for reading magazines and picture books
Greater internet capabilities
I'm always getting B&N giftcards

Cons:

$249 is a lot of money
What if B&N goes out of business or simply loses the ereader war?
What if the next Kindle plays well with libraries and is color and is cheaper?

Amazon Kindle

Pros:

Attractive $139 price tag
E Ink is perfect for beach and poolside reading (which I plan to do a lot of during summer break)
As the dominating ereader, it probably isn't going anywhere

Cons

I don't really buy books. I check them out from the library. Kindle does not like libraries.
E Ink is great for outdoors, but bad for reading in bed, which I do every night. Buying a book light for a fancy ereader seems silly and kind of obnxious.
I never get Amazon giftcards. What will I do with all the B&N giftcards if I buy a Kindle?

PanDigital (looking at 7" color)

Pros:

Compatible with B&N ebooks and OverDrive
Available in color = appealing for reading magazines and picture books
Greater internet capabilities
$199 price tag falls right in the middle, and seems to offer the most bang for your buck

Cons:

Less popular brand = doubts about winning/continuing to participate in the ereader war long term
Haven't gotten to play with one of these yet, so unsure about pageturning, etc.
Edited to Add: Reviews like this don't make it sound so nice. Yikes!

So that's where I'm at. A large part of me is sick of carrying a weighty separate bag of books every time I travel. And not being an active participant in the ereader craze makes me feel a disconnect with my readers (students) and fellow librarians. But part of me thinks I should just continue to wait and see what happens before wading into the marketplace, because I'm afraid of making a bad decision. What to do?

All opinions are welcome.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

The Glee-ful Library: Books, Movies and Music for Gleeks

2011-01-18T09:10:00.000-05:00

Call me a Gleek.
Call me a Gleetard.
Call me a Gleeject.

Just don't call me on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm, because I'm watching Glee.

Fox's hit musical dramedy Glee cleaned up big at Sunday's Golden Globes. It started with Chris Colfer's shocking (mostly to him!) win for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, continued with Jane Lynch's win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role and was topped off with the Best Television Show - Comedy or Musical award. True, Lea Michele and Matthew Morrisson didn't win for Best Actress or Best Actor, but a clean sweep would be just too much to ask for, wouldn't it?

But I'm getting away from the point of this post! Yes, it's terrific to have so much success to celebrate, but how does the library best respond to the Gleeks they serve? Here are some must-haves for any library - public or school - that serves middle and high school students (and yeah, adults like me) who just can't get enough Glee!

The Glee Celebrity READ Poster - The latest (and greatest) from ALA Publishing provides an immediate "Glee fans welcome here!" feel to any library. I ordered mine today.

Glee: The Complete First Season - Obvious. And why not pre-order Season Two while you're at it.

Glee: The Music - Yes, get Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4, but don't forget that the Madonna and Rocky Horror episodes have their own discs, and life wouldn't be complete without the Christmas Album. And then there's Love Songs, Journey to Regionals and the Best of Season 1. Just sayin'.

Glee Karaoke Revolution - There are going to be video games programs in your library, aren't there? Ensure that the Gleeks aren't left out. That happens enough at school.

Fame - The original Glee.

High School Musical - It also came before Glee, and its success is probably the reason Glee was created. This one is a personal favorite of mine, mostly for the catchy music.

Of course, the core of the library's collection is the reading material. Gleeks read too! And here are some titles that are sure to please...

Glee: The Beginning - The first in the official Glee book series. This one is a "before the show" look at the characters. The second one Glee: Foreign Exchange is due out in February. I'll confess to not having read them and not putting too much stock in their literary quality. But they're a must-have for die hards.

Castration Celebration by Jake Wizner - This one is for the 16+ Glee crowd. No, it's not about a glee club. It's about a summer theatre program for drama kids. There's lots of overlap. The plot: Playwright Olivia has sworn off men. Actor Max is determined to get Olivia. Olivia writes her first musical, Castration Celebration. Max is the lead. Raunchy and hilarious, it'll have you singing the songs in your head, and possibly out loud.

Dramarama by E. Lockhart - Yep. This one's theatre camp as well. Sarah/Sayde is the overly dramatic "lead" actress and Demi is the gay black actor. Both are trapped in smalltown Ohio, until the opportunity to express themselves at theatre camp arrives and changes everything. Well, almost. Demi is in his element, but Sayde learns she's not the only one with Broadway dreams. Drama ensues.

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford - Awkward situations and non-stop laughs at the characters expense? Check. Perfect for male Gleeks.

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman - A great choice for middle school Gleeks. A football player forced to attend rehearsals for the school play turns into something of a drama kid, much to the dismay of drama queen (and Drama Club President) Rachel. Snappy dialogue. Humor. It's got everything.

For more recommendations, GreenBeanTeenQueen Sara and Sno-Isle Libraries have some great additions to this list.

Talking about Glee in the library wouldn't be complete without the Glee cast singing and dancing to U Can't Touch This in the library, would it? Nope. Here ya go!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Judging A Book By Its Cover: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

2011-01-11T15:02:00.000-05:00

I was a fan of If I Stay from the moment I heard about its premise: A talented musician and her family are in an awful car wreck that kills everyone. Everyone except teen cellist Mia, who lies in a hospital bed in a coma, where she debates whether to stay on earth or let herself pass into death. Mia narrates her experience of the accident and the aftermath, flashing back to happier times and observing how those who are left behind - her boyfriend, grandparents and other extended family - are dealing with the tragic loss.

Happily, the novel lived up to the emotionally gripping story it promised. Sadly, the original cover looked more like it belonged on an inspirational Hallmark card than a tragic tale of love, loss and letting go. Luckily, the paperback cover (see top right) conveys the novel perfectly. As proof, I offer to you Caleb Nation's review of If I Stay, which aired on NPR's All Things Considered. I don't know how I missed hearing the story when it aired, but thankfully, someone on the YALSA-bk listserv directed my attention to its existence.

Already read and loved If I Stay? Look forward to the release of its sequel, Where She Went, in April. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of it this past weekend at the ALA Midwinter Conference, and am very much looking forward to its arrival via FedEx Ground later this week!

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And the Winner of the 2011 John Newbery Award is...

2011-01-10T11:54:00.000-05:00

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

with honors going to...

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm

For more information about this award, click here.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

And the Winner of the 2011 Michael L. Printz Award is...

2011-01-10T11:24:00.001-05:00

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

with honors going to...

Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Nothing by Janne Teller

Click here to learn more about the Michael L. Printz Award.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

And the Winner of the 2011 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award is...

2011-01-10T11:21:00.000-05:00

Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing by Ann Angel

To learn more about the five finalists and the award, click here.

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And the Winner of the 2011 William C. Morris Award is...

2011-01-10T11:19:00.001-05:00

Freak the Observer by Blythe Woolston

To learn more about the award and the five finalists, click here.

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Book vs. Movie: The Beastly Movie Trailer

2011-01-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

At the prodding of my students* I read Alex Flinn's Beastly over winter break. I knew it was set to release as a movie in 2011, and I always try to read the book before I see the movie, so it was perfect timing. Overall, I found it to be a spectacular modern take on the story of Beauty and the Beast and thoroughly enjoyed the incorporation of chat room interludes featuring other fairytale favorites airing their troubles between sections of the novel.

This month's rotating display in the library features books that have been made into movies, and I included both Beastly and I Am Number Four in the "Coming Soon" section. A student who was browsing the display noted to me that she'd seen the Beastly trailer and asked about the tattoos on Beast's face. Tattoos? Wha? Turns out the story Alex Flinn wrote just wasn't good enough for the big screen and odd and completely unnecessary changes have been made in the film version. Why, oh why must Hollywood do this?

Here are the unnecessary changes I found in just the two and a half minute trailer alone:

* The witch is blond (not to mention played by one of the Olsen twins) and thin and beautiful, instead of, well, not any of that.
* Beast is not furry, but is instead completely hairless and has weird tattoos (or something) all over his body
* Beast rescues Beauty from danger and takes her into captivity instead of taking her as his prisoner in exchange for not calling the cops on her attempted-home-robbery-druggie-father
* Beast grows a rose garden (on his roof instead of in his yard) for Beauty once she arrives, instead of growing it for himself, prior to her arrival

And yet...and yet all of my anger over these changes dissolved when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but Neil Patrick Harris as the tutor. Swoon!

*I'd been planning to read it anyway, but when it was delivered to my faculty mailbox with a note requesting I read it as soon as possible, how could I decline?

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We've All Seen Copy Covers...

2011-01-05T15:38:00.000-05:00

but copy cover fonts? This is new to me.

Cynthia Hand's Unearthly: (released yesterday)

looks a heckuva lot like Cami Garcia's Beautiful Creatures .

Doesn't it?

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Cybils Shortlists Announced

2011-01-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

It's January 1, 2011 and that can mean only one thing: the Cybils shortlists have been announced!

In my cursory review of the shortlists I've come across a few books that I've actually read (mostly nonfiction), a couple books we all kinda knew would make the list (Reckless, The Dark Game, Ship Breaker), a slew of books that are on my TBR pile (Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze, Scrawl, Plain Kate, etc.) and then an unendingly long list of books that I either didn't really know about, or knew about, but just hadn't considered (Harmonic Feedback, Belly Up, Ninth Ward). Guess I've got a lot of reading to do.

I was most surprised about the books that I feel everyone is talking about in the blogosphere, (mostly for Newbery and Printz consideration) but didn't make the list. To my mind, the Newbery-ish titles would include Rita Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer, Deborah Wiles' Countdown, and Katherine Erskine's Mockingbird. And for Printz-ly titles (which I now feel a bit out of touch with because my work with middle schoolers has redirected my reading priorities) I'd have thought Jennifer Donnelly's Revolution, Melina Marchetta's Finnikin of the Rock, and/or Catherine Fisher's Incarceron would have seen some love. It seems like the Cybils lists are generally lacking in historical fiction, which isn't a bad thing per se, but perhaps it might indicate that a separate historical fiction category should be added to showcase the genre. But who am I to advise on such matters?

Alas, Happy New Year!

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New York Times Discussion on Dystopian YA

2010-12-27T17:57:00.000-05:00

Just the other day I posted my favorite science fiction read in 2010 and noted that all were dystopias. Today I popped over to nytimes.com and what to my wondering eyes should appear? A "Room for Debate" discussion on the rise and popularity of dystopian YA! Young adult authors including Scott Westerfeld, Paolo Bacigalupi and Maggie Stiefvater are in on the debate (along with other authors and children's lit folks). Check it out.

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A Few of My Favorite Things (Version 2010, Part Two: Historical Fiction)

2010-12-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

I have been quite terrible about writing reviews this year, opting instead for hastily put together posts that typically link to an article I read online. You noticed, didn't you? I'm sorry.

To make up for it, I'm trying to cram in reviews of my favorite reads before the calendar turns the page to 2010. In my last post, I wrote about my favorite science fiction reads from 2010. In this post, I'll blather on about the best historical fiction. I think that most people's lists would include Jennifer Donnelly's Revolution (which I really enjoyed, but had a few issues with) and Deborah Wiles' Countdown (nothing against it, it just wasn't my favorite), but I found other books just drew me in deeper and left me more satisfied.

Free as a Bird by Gina McMurchy - Tear. Jerker. A moving story set in the 1960s about a girl with downs syndrome who is put in an institution after the death of her caretaker grandmother. The depictions of life in an institution are gritty and realistic, yet also accessible for younger teen readers. The girl, Ruby Jean Sharp, is fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take part in a fledgling "life skills" program which could lead to life outside of the institution. Possibly the most awesome thing about the book, however, is that the author actually worked in the institution which she describes in the story AND has a younger sister with downs (who, incidentally, was NOT institutionalized). I have been recommending this to my middle schoolers and every student who has read this has LOVED it. Read this book.

Letters From Wolfie by Patti Sherlock - This was published in 2004 and I only read it because we received a parent complaint at school* but I wound up loving this book so much that I had to put it on my list. Mark's older brother has shipped off to serve in Vietnam, and seeking some attention, Mark winds up donating his Sheppard mix, Wolfie, to the US Army. Only after Wolfie begins training and Mark starts a correspondence with Wolfie's trainer does Mark realize he's not getting Wolfie back. Ever. Army dogs are considered equipment, and as such, are used up until they aren't up to standard, and then retired by being put to sleep. Mark starts up a campaign to change the way the Army treats dogs, requesting they serve tours, just like soldiers, and then be allowed to return to "civilian life." But it's not just about the dog. Mark's whole world is filled with the current events of the time: his brother away at war, his father a steadfast supporter of the war, his mother seeking new independence and questioning her support of the war, teachers in trouble for speaking out about the war, it's all there. An author's note (which made me cry) at the end briefly explains the history of military dogs.

Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen - This is embarrassing to admit, but Woods Runner is the first book I've read by Gary Paulsen. I'm not sure why it took me so long, but it did. It's set during the Revolutionary War and mixes fiction and nonfiction in a really neat way that I haven't seen done before. I wrote up a long review of this one, but then never posted it until today. Oops. But, now that it's up, you can find it here.

*On page 34 the term "reproductive processes" is used and then on the next page, Playboy magazine is referenced. Fairly harmless, but every parent has the right to make decisions about his or her child's reading.

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Review: Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen

2010-12-23T13:18:00.001-05:00

Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen

Wendy Lamb Books, 2010

Recommended for: Grades 5-8

As a middle school librarian, my collection includes at least one copy of every Gary Paulsen book; from The Island to My Life in Dog Years, we’ve got them all. Rarely does a week go by that I don’t recommend one of Paulsen’s books to a student looking for an adventure, and I always have satisfied customers. But I have a confession to make. For all the Paulsen books I’ve circulated, I’ve never read a single one. At least I hadn’t until yesterday, when, while shelving books, I decided it was high time I cracked open one of his books and gave it a once over.

Woods Runner is a historical fiction novel set during the time of the Revolutionary War. The protagonist, Samuel, and his family are blissfully living the rugged frontier life in western Pennsylvania until everything changes in a single day. While Samuel is out hunting in the woods he sees thick black smoke coming from his family’s settlement. By the time he travels the miles back to his home he finds everything burnt to the ground, friends and neighbors shot and scalped and his family missing. Using his tracking skills and woods-sense he determine his parents have been taken prisoner by an invading troop of Iroquois and British soldiers and sets out to find them. On his way he encounters his share of those looking to hurt him and those looking to help.

In contrast to most historical fiction where historical knowledge is interspersed with the narrative (including Paulsen’s own, as he writes in the Author’s Note), each chapter of Woods Runner begins with a brief non-fiction section focused on a specific aspect of Revolutionary life (and death) before returning to the story. I wasn’t used to this format, but I found that I rather enjoyed how the non-fiction pieces provided a scaffold for understanding the coming chapter. While I found this helpful, my complaint would be the absence of even a single bibliographic reference. I trust Mr. Paulsen did his research, and it’s likely that he’s done so much that his knowledge of the topic on which he writes is so deeply ingrained that he’s no longer sure where he learned it, but if Eric Foner can cite where he finds his information, I think Paulsen should as well.

My other small quibble was with Paulsen’s confusion of hay and straw. In the book, a farmer invites Samuel and his friends to sleep on a bed of hay and hay bales. Hay is what horses eat. It’s brown, damp and kind of stinky. Nobody would want to sleep on hay. Straw, however, is a different story. Straw is made from dried plant stalks and is commonly used for animal bedding. It’s an honest mistake, and one I’ve made myself in the past*, but it’s a careless mistake, and one that pulled me away from the action of the story. I’m not sure it would have the same effect on a twelve-year-old who was reading the book, but it was a sticking point for me.

These two issues aside, I thoroughly enjoyed my first foray into the works of Gary Paulsen. The characters voices and descriptions of weapons and hunting felt authentic to the time period, providing an access point for history lovers. Short chapters that tied off as the action sequence concluded made the book accessible to more reluctant readers. An engaging story with enemies and danger at every turn satisfies the need for adventure. And for those needing something a bit more sentimental, the brother-sister relationship and family reunion do the trick. With its appeal to a variety of audiences, this would be a solid choice for a grade-wide required reading.

*A mistake that I stopped making after my husband, who does political advance, did a town hall event in a barn in Iowa and requested (and received) hay to use in the stage design. A smelly error, indeed. Thankfully, they were able to switch out the hay for straw and everything worked out.The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

A Few of My Favorite Things (Version 2010, Part One: Science Fiction)

2010-12-22T15:12:00.001-05:00

As 2010 comes to a close I can't help but look back on the books I've read this year and think about which ones were my favorite. With just 10 days left, my GoodReads account tells me I've read 74 books this year. My goal was 100. There's still time, but I don't think I'll make it through 26 books, even though I'm in the middle of at least 10. Alas. But I did read 74 books, and some were quite good! Here is the first installment of my favorites. I'll begin with my favorite science fiction read this year.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - It's the third book in the dystopic science fiction Hunger Games trilogy, and if I have to say anything more than that, you need to get yourself a copy of The Hunger Games and come back to me when you're finished.

Matched by Allie Condie - I can't remember who said it, but back in September(ish) some blog noted the recent rise of dystopian YA, citing Matched as an example. I hadn't realized dystopias had EVER gone out of style, but perhaps? Anyhoot, this is definitely a good one. I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC at BEA last May and was immediately hooked by the story: It's the future (duh), and society has taken statistical analysis to the ultimate level. All decisions - what you eat, what job you have, who you marry, and even when and how you will die - are made for you, based on data. Coming from a background working with Teach For America, where ALL of our decisions are based on data, I found the premise enticing. The story's twist - what happens if you play with the data in controlled experiments that involve real people - plus the romantic element, had me hooked.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver - Okay, so this one doesn't even come out until February of 2011, but this was another book that I read the ARC of over the summer and just absolutely devoured. Another dystopia (surprise!), but in this society, love (aka delirium nervosa) is seen as a disease, and on one's 18th birthday he or she gets the procedure that prevents the illness. It's just a few months before the main character's 18th birthday and she can't wait to get surgically altered and then matched up with her future husband. She meets a guy, starts getting feelings for him, starts questioning her society, a page-turner ensues.

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Just in Time for Christmas...

2010-12-17T12:08:00.000-05:00

...Entertainment Weekly has come up with 15 Great Gifts for Hunger Games Fans. I'll take one of each, please!

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The Best YA Books of 2010

2010-12-01T14:57:00.000-05:00

It's December, and that means that it's time to start rolling out the "best of" lists! Here's what I've seen thus far...

Kirkus got it started a few weeks ago with their picks.
NPR had Gayle Forman create a list of her "Year's Best Teen Reads."
YALSA announced the shortlist for the Excellence in Nonfiction Award.
Publisher's Weekly issued their Best Children's Books list (see pages 2 and 3).
School Library Journal has their Best Books 2010 lists.

I'm sure there are more out there that I haven't seen, so I'll update this list as I come across more.

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Quidditch: The Next Recognized NCAA Sport?

2010-11-27T11:35:00.001-05:00

So, I inadvertently posted this elsewhere, but it belongs here...

The other day, on our way to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One*, my husband and I were talking about how different this film would be from the others: no Hogwarts, no Dumbledore, and no Quidditch! And then he threw me for a loop and mentioned that he'd heard students at colleges and universities were pushing to have Quidditch recognized by the NCAA. I didn't really believe him. Then I saw this video posted at Fuse #8 this morning and read the above article.

So, I guess it's real. And now it's getting the wheels in my head turning. I'd already been thinking about creating and leading a week-long Hunger Games Survival Camp. Could a Quidditch camp be another possibility?

*30 Second Film Review: I thought it was well-paced and not draggy (unlike the first half of the book). Emma Watson was superb. They all nailed the brief moments of comedy in an otherwise very dark film. I especially enjoyed the seven (or however many there were) Harrys.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Simon and Schuster Groupon

2010-11-27T11:32:00.000-05:00

As much of America continues to recover from the one-two punch of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, it's important to spend time at home relaxing and shopping online.

What better thing to buy than books? What better way to pay for them than with a Groupon?

Today's Groupon (which I think is national) is $20 for $40 worth of books at Simon & Schuster's online store.

You could use it to buy Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series.

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen

2010-11-16T19:21:00.000-05:00

Woods Runner is a historical fiction novel set during the time of the Revolutionary War. The protagonist, Samuel, and his family are blissfully living the rugged frontier life in western Pennsylvania until everything changes in a single day. While Samuel is out hunting in the woods he sees thick black smoke coming from his family’s settlement. By the time he travels the miles back to his home he finds everything burnt to the ground, friends and neighbors shot and scalped and his family missing. Using his tracking skills and woods-sense he determines his parents have been taken prisoner by an invading troop of Iroquois and British soldiers and sets out to find them. On his way he encounters his share of those looking to hurt him and those looking to help.

Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen

Wendy Lamb Books, 2010

Recommended for: Grades 5-8

Breaking News: Teens Still Reading

2010-11-04T22:32:00.000-04:00

I know, I know. I'm flabbergasted at this myself. In a ground-breaking, completely anecdotal study, the Washington Post has found that teenagers still read.

With the astounding success of series including Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games and the bounty of YA releases flooding the market, I kind of thought it was obvious teens were reading. It's entirely feasible that as a middle school librarian whose life is nothing but tween and teen literature, my perceptions are skewed, but I thought this was a given.

Still, I guess it can't hurt anything to share the fact that teens are reading with a larger audience, right? Right.

So, keep up the good work, teens. I know what good readers you are, and now, so does the readership of the Washington Post!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

If Only I'd Married a Librarian...

2010-11-02T16:51:00.000-04:00

We would've totally sent out these "Save the Date" cards...or maybe these...or even these.

Used stacks of our favorite books as centerpieces.

Put these little figurines atop our (ice cream) wedding cake.

But that's okay, because even though I didn't marry a librarian, I this will still look perfect in my office.

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Library School: Hurts So Bad

2010-10-30T23:51:00.000-04:00

Too much of this video - fixing paper jams, the idealism of library students (which I still maintain!), the lack of understanding from outsiders as to why on earth anyone would want to become a librarian - rings true for me not to post this...

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Like the Butterfly Emerges From the Cocoon...

2010-10-28T08:45:00.000-04:00

...so too shall I emerge as a leader. An ALA 2011 Emerging Leader, that is.

I am so honored to not only have been selected as a member of ALA's 2011 class of Emerging Leaders, but also to be sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians*!

I can't wait to head to San Diego in January for the ALA Mid-Winter Meeting to meet my classmates and get down to work on our projects. I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but am eager to see what lies around the bend. I'm also thrilled that I'll be able to be in the room when the 2011 Youth Media Awards are announced, and will hopefully be able to do some live blogging.

For any readers who just might happen to be fellow Emerging Leaders, congratulations! And for any past Emerging Leaders, what can I expect?

*As a librarian at an independent school who works with middle schoolers, I sometimes feel like my job puts me somewhere between your average YALSA and AASL affiliated librarian, and it's so so good to feel the AASL love!

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Review in a Few: As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth

2010-10-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

In the middle of nowhere Montana, en route to summer camp via a train, Ry learns that “a statistically improbable number of things have gone wrong,” and camp has been cancelled. When Ry steps off the train in an attempt to get cell phone service and contact home, the train leaves without him. So begins his adventure where a statistically improbable number of things to go wrong for him as he tries to get back home.

At 352 pages, Ry's journey home has more twists and turns over a few day's time than statistically probable. Some points of the story drag, leaving the reader to wonder if Ry will ever get home. The inclusion of occasional illustrations of Ry's journey are both a welcome addition, but also so sporadic that it feels incomplete. Brief chapters telling the "related stories" of the simultaneous happenings in his grandfather's, parents' and dogs' lives keep the story moving and the peril building and add a little something to the overall narrative. The dogs' story, told through illustrations and dog thoughts are especially enjoyable. An overall satisfying story and something to recommend to older middle schoolers and high schoolers in the mood for a road (water, airplane, train, foot) trip.

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth
by Lynne Rae Perkins
Published by Harper Teen
Copy borrowed from my middle school library.

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All My 8 Year Old Self Wants for Christmas...

2010-10-21T10:26:00.000-04:00

is a Little Librarian kit!

Heck, my adult self wants this.

Am I reliving my childhood too vicariously if I buy one of these for my niece?

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The Future of Books?

2010-10-20T12:11:00.000-04:00

So, picture books are dead and libraries don't need books, but we hear today that college textbooks are alive and well?

I'd like to think all of these articles are a result of slow news days, but with less than two weeks to the midterm elections and confusion about what's included in the First Amendment, it feels like journalists might be focusing on the wrong things.

Can't we just all agree that the publishing industry is undergoing a lot of change due to advances in technology and the economic crisis and that we're not yet sure where the chips will fall in the end?

The LibrariYAn is an Amazon Associate. If you click from links on this blog to Amazon and buy something (anything!), I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.