The YA Book Log

HAVE YOU READ THE BEST OF 2010 PART TWO — NONFICTION

You have opened your presents, eaten your favorite holiday meal, so now it is time for a little mental stimulation. Here is the list of nonfiction titles recommended for young adult from the library periodical, School Library Journal.
FREDERICK DOUGLASS: A NOBLE LIFE by David Adler
Born a slave, and separated from his mother at a young age, Douglass was raised on plantations owned by people both cruel and caring. But freedom was never far from his mind and, once he achieved it, he became an eloquent spokesperson for the rights of others. (Grades 7 up)
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BARBIE: A DOLL’S HISTORY AND HER IMPACT ON US by Tanya Lee Stone
This biography examines how the Barbie doll became the icon that she is and the impact she has had on our culture through passionate anecdotes and memories from a range of girls and women. (Grades 6 up)
THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD: A TRUE STORY OF ADVENTURE, HEROISM & TREACHERY By Steve Sheinkin
This title provides a biography of America’s first traitor–Benedict Arnold–that reads like an adventure tale, full of heroism, treachery, battle scenes, and surprising twists. (Grades 7 up)
SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD: A STORY OF MAGIC, SPICE, SLAVERY, FREEDOM AND SCIENCE by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
This narrative looks at the biter realities behind the growth, harvesting, and refining of sugar cane, including its role in driving the Atlantic slave trade and the displacement and brutalization of millions of people. (Grades 8 up)
THEY CALL THEMSELVES THE K.K.K.: THE BIRTH OF AN AMERICAN TERRORIST GROUP by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
This book documents the history and origin of the Ku Klux Klan from its beginning in Pulaski, Tennessee, and provides personal accounts, congressional documents, diaries, and more. (Grades 7-10)
TIME YOU LET ME IN: 25 POETS UNDER 25
selected by Naomi Shihab Nye
Twenty-five poets on the cusp of adulthood brings hope, humor, intelligence, passions and complications in this book of poetry (Grades 9 up)
THE WAR TO END ALL WARS: WORLD WAR I by Russell Friedman
While historians debate the causes of the First World War, there is no disagreement that it ushered in an era of modern warfare with weapons capable of mass destruction and death. This book chronicles the conflict.
(Grades 7 up)

HAVE YOU READ THE BEST OF 2010 PART ONE — FICTION

Over the past twelve months many stories have been published for teens and tweens. The noted periodical, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, selected the best. You will find all of these titles at the East Meadow Public Library.

HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY OF READING.
13 TREASURES by Michelle Harrison
Bedeviled by evil fairies that only she can see, thirteen-year-old Tanya is sent to stay with her cold and distant grandmother at Elvesden Manor. where she and the caretaker’s son solve a disturbing mystery that leads them to the discovery that Tanya’s life is in danger. (TWEEN)
ALCHEMY AND MEGGY SWANN by Karen Cushman
In 1573, the crippled, scorned, and destitute Meggy Swann goes to London, where she meets her father, an impoverished alchemist, and eventually discovers that although her legs are bent and weak, she has many other strengths. (TWEEN)
ANNEXED by Sharon Dogar
Everyone knows about Anne Frank and her life hidden in the secret annex, but what about Peter van Pels, the boy who was also trapped there with her? As Peter and Anne become closer and closer in their confined quarters, how can they make sense of what they see happening around them? Anne’s diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter’s story goes on, beyond their betrayal and into the Nazi death camps. (HIGH SCHOOL)
ATHENA:GREY-EYED GODDESS by George O’Connor
From the moment she emerged, fully grown, from the head of Zeus, Athena was one of the most complex Olympians. This graphic novel retells her many interwoven tales: how she killed Pallas, fought the Gigantes, aided Perseus, and cursed Arachne. (GRAPHIC NOVEL)
BLACK HOLE SUN by David Gill
On the planet Mars, sixteen-year-old Durango and his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community to protect their most valuable resource from a feral band of marauders. (HIGH SCHOOL)
CONFESSIONS OF THE SULLIVAN SISTERS
By Natalie Standiford
Upon learning on Christmas Day that their rich and imperious grandmother may soon die and disown the family unless the one who offended her deeply will confess, each of the three Sullivan sisters sets down her offenses on paper. (HIGH SCHOOL)
A CONSPIRACY OF KINGS by Megan Whalen Turner
Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Sophos, an unwilling prince, tries to save his country from being destroyed by rebellion and exploited by the conniving Mede empire.
COSMIC by Frank Cottrell
Super-sized, eleven-year-old Liam makes a giant leap for boy-kind by competing with a group of adults for the chance to go into space. (TWEEN)
FEVER CRUMB by Philip Reeve
Foundling Fever Crumb has been raised as an engineer although females in the future London, England, are not believed capable of rational thought, but at age fourteen she leaves her sheltered world and begins to learn startling truths about her past while facing danger in the present.
FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK by Melina Marchetta
Now on the cusp of manhood, Finnikin, who was a child when the royal family of Lumatere was brutally murdered and replaced by an imposter, reluctantly joins forces with an enigmatic young novice and fellow-exile, who claims that her dark dreams will lead them to a surviving royal child and a way to regain the throne of Lumatere.
THE GRIMM LEGACY by Polly Shulman
New York high school student Elizabeth gets an after-school job as a page at the “New-York Circulating Material Repository,” and when she gains coveted access to its Grimm Collection of magical objects, she and the other pages are drawn into a series of frightening adventures involving mythical creatures and stolen goods.
INCARECERON by Catherine Fisher
To free herself from an upcoming arranged marriage, Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, a futuristic prison with a mind of its own, decides to help a young prisoner escape.
KING OF ITHAKA by Tracy Barrett
When sixteen-year-old Telemachos and his two best friends, one a centaur, leave their life of privilege to undertake a quest to find Telemachos’s father Odysseus, they learn much along the way about what it means to be a man and a king.
OSTRICH BOYS by Keith Gray
After their best friend Ross dies, English teenagers Blake, Kenny, and Sim plan a proper memorial by taking his ashes to Ross, Scotland, an adventure-filled journey that tests their loyalty to each other and forces them to question what friendship means.
THE RED PYRAMID by Rick Riordan
After their father’s research experiment at the British Museum unleashes the Egyptian god Set, Carter and Sadie Kane embark on a dangerous journey across the globe–a quest which brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. (TWEEN)
REVOLUTION by Jennifer Donnelly
An angry, grieving seventeen-year-old musician facing expulsion from her prestigious Brooklyn private school travels to Paris to complete a school assignment and uncovers a diary written during the French revolution by a young actress attempting to help a tortured, imprisoned little boy–Louis Charles, the lost king of France. (HIGH SCHOOL)
THE THINGS A BROTHER KNOWS by Dana Reinhardt
Although they have never gotten along well, seventeen-year-old Levi follows his older brother Boaz, an ex-Marine, on a walking trip from Boston to Washington, D.C. in hopes of learning why Boaz is completely withdrawn. (HIGH SCHOOL)
THREE RIVERS RISING: A NOVEL OF THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD
By Jame Richards
Sixteen-year-old Celestia is a wealthy member of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, where she meets and falls in love with Peter, a hired hand who lives in the valley below, and by the time of the torrential rains that lead to the disastrous Johnstown flood of 1889, she has been disowned by her family and is staying with him in Johnstown. Includes an author’s note and historical timeline.
TOADS AND DIAMONDS by Heather Tomlinson
A retelling of the Perrault fairy tale set in pre-colonial India, in which two stepsisters receive gifts from a goddess and each walks her own path to find her gift’s purpose, discovering romance along the way.
TRASH by Andy Mulligan
Fourteen-year-olds Raphael and Gardo team up with a younger boy, Rat, to figure out the mysteries surrounding a bag Raphael finds during their daily life of sorting through trash in a third-world country’s dump.
WICKED GIRLS: A NOVEL OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS
by Stephanie Hemphill
A fictionalized account, told in verse, of the Salem witch trials, told from the perspective of three young women living in Salem in 1692–Mercy Lewis, Margaret Walcott, and Ann Putnam, Jr. (HIGH SCHOOL)
ZOMBIES VS. UNICORNS by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
Twelve short stories by a variety of authors seek to answer the question of whether zombies are better than unicorns. (HIGH SCHOOL)
WATCH FOR PART TWO — NONFICTION BOOKS
Mrs Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

2010 MICHAEL L. PRINTZ AWARD

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big>The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

This year’s Printz Award goes to

GOING BOVINE by Libba Bray
Cameron Smith, a disaffected sixteen year-old who, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeld Jakob’s (aka mad cow) disease, sets off on a road trip with a death-obsessed video gaming dwarf he meets in the hospital in an attempt to find a cure.

This year’s honor books include:

CHARLES AND EMMA: the Darwins’ leap of faith by Deborah Heiligman
Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma, were deeply in love and very supportive of each other, but their opinions often clashed. Emma was extremely religious, and Charles questioned God’s very existence.
THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST by Rick Yancey
In 1888, twelve-year-old Will Henry chronicles his apprenticeship with Dr. Warthrop, a scientist who hunts and studies real-life monsters, as they discover and attempt to destroy a pod of Anthropophagi.
PUNKZILLA by Adam Rapp
“Punkzilla” is on a mission to see his older brother “P”, before “P” dies of cancer. Still buzzing from his last hit of meth, he embarks on a days-long trip from Portland, Ore. to Memphis, Tenn., writing letters to his family and friends. Along the way, he sees a sketchier side of America and worries if he will make it to see his brother in time.
TALES FROM THE MADMAN UNDERGROUND: an historical romance 1793 by John Barnes
In September 1973, as the school year begins in his depressed Ohio town, high-school senior Kurt Shoemaker determines to be “normal,” despite his chaotic home life with his volatile, alcoholic mother and the deep loyalty and affection he has for his friends in the therapy group dubbed the Madman Underground.
THESE TITLES ARE RECOMMENDED FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS.
Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK (S) FOR 2009?

It is the end of the year and time for everyone to look back on the favorite and worst things of 2009. Once again the Staff of Young Adult Services would love to know what were your favorite reads of 2009. Here are some of ours:
Mrs. Jackson
WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson
Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend’s death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.
THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner
Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up with no memory in the middle of a maze and realizes he must work with the community in which he finds himself if he is to escape.
CHARLES AND EMMA: THE DARWINS’ LEAP OF FAITH by Deborah Heiligman
Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma, were deeply in love and very supportive of each other, but their opinions often clashed. Emma was extremely religious, and Charles questioned God’s very existence.
Ms. Cea

FIRE by Kristin Cashore
In a kingdom called the Dells, Fire is the last human-shaped monster, with unimaginable beauty and the ability to control the minds of those around her, but even with these gifts she cannot escape the strife that overcomes her world.
JESSICA’S GUIDE TO DATING ON THE DARK SIDE by Beth Fantaskey
Seventeen-year-old Jessica, adopted and raised in Pennsylvania, learns that she is descended from a royal line of Romanian vampires and that she is betrothed to a vampire prince, who poses as a foreign exchange student while courting her.
KNUCKLEHEAD by Jon Scieszka
How did Jon Scieszka get so funny? He grew up as one of six brothers with Catholic school, lots of comic books, lazy summers at the lake with time to kill, babysitting misadventures, TV shows, and jokes told at family dinner.
Mrs. Hirsch

STONEFATHER by Orson Scott Card
Runnel, a friendless peasant from a village so humble that money is a new concept, stumbles into a centuries-old feud when he travels to Mitherhome, the city of the wetwizards, seeking his fortune. He accepts a servant’s position in the household of the sole stonemage permitted within the city walls, where his untapped magical talents and his fascination with his master’s abilities are a predictably dangerous combination.
SAYING IT OUT LOUD by Joan Abelove
With the help of her best friend, sixteen-year-old Mindy sorts through her relationships with her solicitous mother and her detached father as she tries to come to terms with the fact that her mother is dying from a brain tumor.
TRIGGER by Susan Vaught
Teenager Jersey Hatch must work through his extensive brain damage to figure out why he decided to shoot himself.
Mrs. Sayan

THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher
When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah’s voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
THE BOY WHO DARED by Susan Bartoletti
In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.
TWISTED by Laurie Halse Anderson
After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.
Ms. Walsh

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman
After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.
THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley
Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, must exonerate her father of murder. Armed with more than enough knowledge to tie two distant deaths together and examine new suspects, she begins a search that will lead her all the way to the King of England himself. (For older teens)
Ms. French

THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.
RIOT by Walter Dean Myers
In 1863, fifteen-year-old Claire, the daughter of an Irish mother and a black father, faces ugly truths and great danger when Irish immigrants, enraged by the Civil War and a federal draft, lash out against blacks and wealthy “swells” of New York City.
THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Philip Pullman
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
JUST POST YOUR FAVORITES UNDER COMMENTS.
THANK YOU AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
YOUNG ADULT SERVICES

2009 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE

On November 18th the National Book Foundation will annouced the winner of this year’s best book in young people’s literature. I have read all five finalists and each one is very special. Here are the finalists.
CHARLES AND EMMA by Deborah Heiligman is a romantic biography between the scientist, Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma. Darwin believed in natural selection and questioned the existence of God, while Emma was extremely religious, but their devotion to one another withstood all their differences.
THIS BIOGRAPHY IS RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 8 AND UP AND EVERYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN HOW A SCIENTIST DEVELOPS A SCIENTIFIC THEORY.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN:TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE by Phillip Hoose tells about the remarkable contribution made by a Montgomery Alabama teenager. More than nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus; Claudette Colvin began her quest for civil rights for all. Not only do you get a picture of the 1950’s in the South, but you get Colvin’s own words making this a compelling primary source.
THIS BIOGRAPHY IS RECOMMENDED FOR GRADES 7 AND UP.
STITCHES: A MEMOIR by David Small recreates his real-life journey, when, at age, 14, he awakes from a harmless operation and discovers he is a virtual mute. Small was never told he had cancer, and as an adult he tells his story through cartoon art with limited text. This memoir of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s is a graphic novel.
THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL IS RECOMMENDED FOR HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS AND SENIORS AND ADULTS.
LIPS TOUCH: THREE TIMES is a collection of three stories by Laini Taylor and illustrated by Jim De Bartolo. Each story, Goblin Fruit, Spicy Little Curses as These, and Hatchling, is about the Kiss and each story has elements of the supernatural. .
THIS SELECTION IS RECOMMENDED FOR HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS AND SENIORS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia writes about three teenage girls from New York City. The lives of Leticia, Dominique, and Trina are irrevocably intertwined through the course of one day in an urban high school after Leticia overhears Dominique’s plans to beat up Trina and must decide whether or not to get involved.
THIS BOOK IS RECOMMENDED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN GRADES 8 TO 12 WHO LIKE URBAN LITERATURE.
AND THE WINNER IS ……. CLAUDETTE COLVIN:TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE. Ms. Colvin and author, Phillip Hoose accepted the award.

TEEN READ WEEK 2009

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten

More than 11,000 teens voted in the 2009 Teens’ Top Ten, with Paper Towns by John Green topping the list. Watch the official announcement in this webcast from World Wrestling Entertainment, hosted by Divas Brie Bella and Nikki Bella and featuring John Green.
Paper Towns by John Green
One month before graduating from his Central Florida high school, Quentin “Q” Jacobsen basks in the predictable boringness of his life until the beautiful and exciting Margo Roth Spiegelman, Q’s neighbor and classmate, takes him on a midnight adventure and then mysteriously disappears.
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
In the fourth and final book in the #1 bestselling teen vampire Twilight Saga, questions will be answered and the fate of Bella and Edward will be revealed.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss’s skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister’s place.
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
Sixteen-year-old Clary continues trying to make sense of the swiftly changing events and relationships in her life as she becomes further involved with the Shadowhunters and their pursuit of demons and discovers some terrifying truths about her parents, her brother Jace, and her boyfriend Simon. (Book 2 in the Mortal Instrument series)
Identical by Ellen Hopkins
Sixteen-year-old identical twin daughters of a district court judge and a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, Kaeleigh and Raeanne Gardella desperately struggle with secrets that have already torn them and their family apart.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.
Wake by Lisa McMann
ver since she was eight years old, high school student Janie Hannagan has been uncontrollably drawn into other people’s dreams, but it is not until she befriends an elderly nursing home patient and becomes involved with an enigmatic fellow-student that she discovers her true power.
Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Zoey’s life at vampyre training school takes a turn for the worse as she loses most of her group of friends and all three of her potential boyfriends and the High Priestess Neferet plans a war on humans that Zoey knows is wrong. (Book 4 in the House of Night series)
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Sophomore Frankie starts dating senior Matthew Livingston, but when he refuses to talk about the all-male secret society that he and his friends belong to, Frankie infiltrates the society in order to enliven their mediocre pranks.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.
DO YOU AGREE WITH THE FINAL LIST. IF YOU DON’T WHAT BOOKS SHOULD HAVE MADE THE LIST. REMEMBER THE BOOK HAD TO BE PUBLISHED IN 2008.
Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

ARE YOU READY TO VOTE FOR THE 2009 TEEN’S TOP TEN

WHAT ARE THE BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS FOR 2009? You can help pick the winners. Just read the nominated titles in July and August, then vote between August 25, 2009 and September 18, 2009 at www.ala.org/teenstopten.
Cashore, Kristin. Graceling. 2008.
Lady Katsa is born with a Grace (super talent) of killing and her uncle, the king, makes her his brute squad. When she meets Po, a rival kingdom’s Graceling, she becomes more powerful as a woman of justice, self knowledge, and romance.
Cast, Kristin & P.C. Untamed. 2008.
At finishing school for young vampyres, Zoey makes a shocking discovery about the school’s leader, but no one will listen to her as her undead friends and 3 boyfriends turn against her. Loyalties are strained, truths are revealed, and an ancient evil is awakened in Cast’s fourth House of Night novel.
Clare, Cassandra. City of Ashes. 2008.
The second in the Mortal Instruments trilogy, this volume continues the saga of Clary and her best friend Simon as they struggle to find their place in a magical world parallel to their NYC home. Demon-fighting shadowhunters, vampires, warlocks, werewolves, faeries, and a master villain named Valentine provide a heart-pounding backdrop as Clary uncovers secrets about her past.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. 2008.
To save her young sister from competing, Katniss Everdeen takes her place in the annual Hunger Games, a televised competition in which only one person, the winner, survives. By turns an adventure, a love story, and a futuristic thriller, this is the first in a planned trilogy.
Fukui , Isamu. Truancy. 2008.
In the totalitarian society that Tack lives in, a rebel group called the Truancy is fighting for freedom. But Tack vows revenge on the Truancy when someone he loves is killed accidentally during one of their attacks on the government.
Fukui , Isamu. Truancy: Origins. 2009.
Umasi and Zen, adopted and raised in a life of privilege, are horrified to discover that their father is behind the restrictive policies of their city. One brother will be driven to rebellion.
Gaiman, Neil. The Graveyard Book. 2008.
When a toddler wanders away from his home just before assassins slay his family, he ends up in a graveyard. Named Nobody Owens, the ghosts and other denizens of the cemetery adopt him and teach him important skills he will need to survive.
Green, John. Paper Towns. 2008.
When they were little, Margo Roth Spiegelman was Q’s best friend. Now, a month before high school graduation, she disappears after taking Q on a night of pranks involving dead fish and a depilatory, sending him on a quest to find her.
Harris, Joanne. Runemarks. 2008.
Maddie is shunned by the town because of the mysterious rune mark on her hand. This same rune mark will shatter her dull existence as it propels her into the center of a war between the new controlling religious government and the Norse gods of old.
Hopkins, Ellen. Identical. 2008.
Identical teenage twins, Raeanne and Kaeleigh, respond in totally opposite ways to the abuse and abandonment from their parents. One twin finds bulimia and cutting eases the pain and helps her to maintain her passivity, while the other, more rebellious twin sinks into the world of drugs and sex.
Lockhart, E. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. 2008.
When Frankie’s boyfriend joins a secret society that she isn’t supposed to know anything about, she surprises everyone–including herself–by trying to beat them and become the biggest prankster of them all.
Marriott, Zoё. Daughter of the Flames. 2009.
Zira bears scars from the battle that left her orphaned and in the care of the Ruan people. When a tyrant king threatens her home, Zira seeks help from an unlikely romantic interest and uncovers the truth about her past.
McMann, Lisa. Wake. 2008.
Going to sleep isn’t a big deal for most of us, but for Janie, falling asleep means getting sucked into other people’s dreams. The supernatural ability she’s always considered a nuisance quickly becomes a nightmare when she blunders into a dream and witnesses a murder.
Meyer, Stephenie. Breaking Dawn. 2008.
In this, the fourth and final installment of the Twilight Saga, Bella’s new life as the wife of vampire Edward Cullen is wrought with unexpected obstacles, difficult decisions, and potentially overwhelming outcomes.
Moran, Katy. Bloodline. 2009.
In the brutal world of Dark Age Britain, Essa fights for his life, his identity, and the lives of those he loves. Paolini and Tolkien fans will be drawn in.
Ness, Patrick. The Knife of Never Letting Go. (Chaos Walking. Book 1). 2008.
Dangerous secrets can even be hidden in a world where all men and animals hear each others’ thoughts. Because all women died shortly after he was born, Todd Hewitt is the last boy left in his town. When he learns a dangerous secret, he runs for his life with his dog and finds something even more surprising: a girl!
Noёl, Alyson. Evermore. 2009.
Her life ripped apart by a tragic accident that killed her family, Ever struggles with her newfound ability to hear people’s thoughts. Enter Damen, the new boy who seems the perfect distraction — except he doesn’t eat or drink, and soon Ever discovers a supernatural new world of which she is now part.
Palmer, Robin. Geek Charming. 2009.
Dylan’s middle name is “crisis.” It seems to follow her wherever she goes. First she catches her boyfriend staring at another girl. Then her beautiful designer bag takes a swim in a fountain. However, along with crisis comes opportunity, and Dylan’s Beverly Hills world is about to be turned upside-down.
Pierce, Tamora. Melting Stones. 2008.
All life, both plant and animal, on the Battle Islands is mysteriously dying. Stone mage Evvy responds to the islander’s call for help. They need her magic to solve the mystery. Accompanied by her friend and mentor, Luvo, she uncovers the deep secret revealed by the stones and the volcano. Will it be in time to rescue the children?
Scott, Elizabeth. Living Dead Girl. 2008.
Alice was kidnapped when she was young and is forced to pretend to be a little girl to please Ray. She could never escape and wishes for death. Soon her wish will become true, as she had become too old and now she must find Ray a replacement for her.
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. Eternal. 2009.
Zachary, a guardian angel has, against all rules, fallen in love with his charge. When he sees Miranda sleeping in the shadow of death, his attempt to save her hurls her into life as a vampire princess and exiles him from heaven.
Smith, Sherri L. Flygirl. 2009.
Because she wants to fly and to support her soldier brother, 18-year-old Ida May Jones passes for white amidst obstacles of race and gender and joins the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II .
Weingarten, Lynn. Wherever Nina Lies. 2009.
Two years after 16-year-old Ellie’s older sister, Nina, disappeared, Ellie pieces together clues to her whereabouts and heads out on a road trip that leads to murder and mystery with her hot new boyfriend, Sean.
Werlin, Nancy. Impossible. 2008.
This gentle story details young teen Lucy’s rape and subsequent pregnancy, with an amazingly supportive cast of a faithful boyfriend and loving parents. A fairy tale set in the present, with flashes of realism and romance.
Yee, Lisa. Absolutely Maybe. 2009.
Maybe (short for Maybelline, her mother’s favorite mascara) leaves home and heads to California on a mission to find her biological father, and avoid her mother’s planned wedding number seven.
Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK(S) FOR 2008?

This is the time of year, when everyone looks back on the favorite and worst things of the year. In this entry the Staff of Young Adult Services would love to know what were your favorite reads of 2008. Here are some of ours:
Mrs. Jackson
THE DEAD AND THE GONE by Susan Beth Pfeffer
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J.K. Rowling
HURRICANE SONG by Paul Volponi
UNBELIEVABLE: A PRETTY LITTLE LIARS NOVEL by Sara Shepard
Ms. Cea
SUCKS TO BE ME : THE ALL-TRUE CONFESSIONS OF MINA HAMILTON, TEEN VAMPIRE (MAYBE) by Kimberly Pauley
MY LIFE, The MUSICAL by Maryrose Wood
THE CHRONICLES OF VLADIMIR TOD : EIGHTH GRADE BITES by Heather Brewer
Mrs. Hirsch
THE BURN JOURNALS by Brent Runyon
THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon
A LONG WAY GONE by Ishmael Beah
Mrs. Sayan
RAT LIFE by Tedd Arnold
THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE-LANDAU-BANKS by E. Lockhart
Ms. Walsh
WHAT WAS LOST by Catherine O’Flynn
JUST POST YOUR FAVORITES UNDER COMMENTS.
THANK YOU AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
STAFF OF YOUNG ADULT SERVICES

2009 TEEN THREE APPLES BOOK AWARD NOMINEES

The New York Library Association is proud to announce the 15 finalists for the second annual Teen 3 Apples Book Award, a New York State Teen’s Choice Award. This award is jointly sponsored by the Youth Services Section and the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association.
Teens across New York State have nominated the following titles:
BREAKING DAWN by Stephenie Meyer
Although eighteen-year-old Bella joins the dark but seductive world of the immortals by marrying Edward the vampire, her connection to the powerful werewolf Jacob remains strong.
BRISINGR by Christopher Paolini
Following a colossal battle, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives while Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.
THE CLIQUE by Lisi Harrison
Can Claire the new girl at an exclusive private school fit in? The Clique…the only thing harder than getting in is staying in.
ECLIPSE by Stephenie Meyer
When Seattle is ravaged by a mysterious string of killings, Edward, Bella and Jacob need to decide whether their personal lives are more important than the well-being of an entire city.
ERAGON by Christopher Paolini
In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J.K. Rowling
Year 7 – Burdened with the seemingly impossible task of locating and destroying Voldermort’s remaining Horcruxes, Harry struggles to find the inner strength he needs to follow the path set out before him.
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by J.K. Rowling
Year 6 – Harry learns more about Voldemort’s past and is convinced that Draco Malfoy, his Hogwarts enemy, has become a Death Eater.
HATCHET by Gary Paulsen
When the pilot of a two-person plane has a heart attack and dies, Brian has to crash-land
in the Canadian wilderness, and learn how to survive on his own with only a hatchet.
HOLES by Louis Sachar
Living under a family curse brought about by his “No-Good-Dirty-Rotten-Pig-Stealing-Great-Great-Grandfather,” Stanley Yelnats is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to Camp Green Lake where his punishment is to dig holes. What will he dig up?
THE OUTSIDERS by S. E. Hinton
The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent’s death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their world.
PETEY by Ben Mikaelsen
In 1922 Petey, who has cerebral palsy, is misdiagnosed as an idiot and institutionalized; sixty years later, still in the institution, he befriends a boy and shares with him the joy of life.
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson
A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda’s freshman year in high school.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
Scout Finch, daughter of the town lawyer Atticus, has just started school; but her carefree days come to an end when a black man in town is accused of raping a white woman, and her father is the only man willing to defend him.
TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer
Bella falls in love with Edward after she moves from Phoenix to Forks, Washington. He is exquisitely handsome…and a vampire.
WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS by Wilson Rawls
The story of a young boy’s love for two hunting dogs and his coming of age in Oklahoma in the 1930’s.
ALL OF THESE BOOKS ARE GREAT READS FOR THE HOLIDAY RECESS. VOTING WILL BEGIN ON APRIL 1, 2009 AND WILL END ON APRIL 20, 2009.

THE BLUE BLOOD SERIES by Melissa De La Cruz

Raise your hand if you:
o Are age 14 and up
o Are part of a group of privileged Manhattan socialites
o Go to an exclusive and prestigious high school
o Got invited to an ultra elite social club or
o You are the very last bloodline in a distinguished family of… vampires
Well, seeing that I don’t fit into any of those categories…. I can’t raise my hand, but even if I could raise my hand, I wouldn’t for fear of dropping this page-turning series.
I took the suggestion from one of the teens here in the EM library to read De La Cruz’s first book in the series titled Blue Bloods, and I couldn’t put the book down all weekend. If fact, I couldn’t put the whole series down!
Now I know you guys are being hit pretty hard with vampire fever lately, but don’t lose your sight after Twilight. Why not try a different vampire series?
The intriguing plot in Melissa De La Cruz’s Blue Blood series will comfortably cruise you right through a Vampire Weekend.
Set in Manhattan, NY in Duchesne (a private high school) a teen girl named Schuyler is dealing with being treated like an outsider from the ultra posh and popular clique in her high school. Being a humble Goth girl, she dresses and thinks completely different than the socialites that surround her; however she comes to the realization that she isn’t totally different than some of her high society schoolmates. What connects them is their deep history dating back to the voyage of the Mayflower, having blood so ancient that it carries memories of events past, and influential powers for the future. Intertwined with mystery and suspense Schuyler is persistent in solving the devastating crimes against her vanishing schoolmates; she discovers insight to her past, and reveals the dangerous secrets in her community.
I love the series and I highly recommend it for ages 14 and up.
So give the series a try, and let us know if you like it!
-Chrissy Hirsch
YA Librarian

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