BOOK: THE HUNGER GAMES
On Monday I finished reading a preview copy of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (author of the Gregor the Overlander series) -- and what a read it was!
In a future North America, the Capitol rules harshly over what was once 13, now 12, outlying districts. Every year, in order to remind the citizens of its power, the Capitol requires each district to send one boy and one girl as tributes to participate in a nationally televised reality show -- the Hunger Games -- in which 24 teenagers are trapped in a remote environment and forced to fight to the death on live TV. The last one alive brings wealth and glory to their district. When her younger sister is chosen as a tribute, Katniss volunteers in her place, knowing that she will probably not survive. But once the Hunger Games begin, she becomes a real contender, struggling to survive and win while retaining her humanity and stick it to the system.
My first reaction to this book was that it's harsh! My second was that it was similar in content to many stories that I enjoy reading about the end of our world as we know it -- all those futuristic dystopia tales of hardship and struggle and a controlling centralized government. So despite the difficult premise and the hanging ending (this is the first book in a trilogy), I liked it; read it in about a day. Not for the faint-hearted, however -- there's blood and death and weapons -- but there's also love and redemption.
We don't actually own it yet -- it doesn't get published until October, but be looking for it then!
Until then, try reading the Longlight Legacy trilogy by Dennis Foon.

Labels: book news, book review, good books, new books, teen issues

~emily - 12:53 PM~
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CORALINE ON THE BIG SCREEN
If you're on my Facebook, you've seen today's posts from ICV2 about Coraline, that fantastic book by Neil Gaiman, going big screen early next year. I think I reported the news about Coraline some time ago, but now it's really on it's way. And on top of that, there's a graphic novel of it coming out this summer (be looking for it on our shelves in a little while -- I have it on order). I decided I'd link to Variety's article on the upcoming movie and the other projects Laika Studios are planning on doing in the near future -- they look pretty good.
Here's the link. Enjoy. I'm totally looking forward to this stuff -- I loved reading Coraline.
(PS -- Coraline is on the Middle School Summer Reading Long List.)

Labels: book news, fantasy books, good books, graphic novels, movies, summer reading

~emily - 11:36 AM~
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LITTLE BROTHER -- DOWNLOADABLE BOOK
We just received a new book: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, which I've checked out to start reading -- it's been getting pretty good reviews and sounds interesting. Here's a blurb:

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is 17 years old, and he already knows how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, outmaneuvering his high school’s surveillance systems is like playing an antique computer game.
But while he and his friends are skipping school one afternoon, they find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re ruthlessly interrogated for days.
When the DHS finally lets them go, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state and every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that he has only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

Here's a cool thing about this book -- you can download for free at the author's site/blog: http://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/
Download, read, and enjoy!

Labels: book news, new books, school

~emily - 1:11 PM~
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TAG CLOUD
For the next few days (or weeks!), you may see a few changes and messes at the bottom of this blog page -- I'm working on a tag cloud for books I've either bookended on this blog, or books in lists posted on the FPL Teen Reading Page, or just random books I want to add to the list. The tag cloud will help you find books that I've talked about that may be of interest to you, based on keywords from the book description. (The tag cloud isn't for blog posts in general.) The disarray comes from my not being sure of which bookmarking tool I want to use -- there are lots of great ones out there with different functionalities, appearances, and alliances. I'm currently looking at del.icio.us, Blinklist, and Furl, but there may be others as well. Eventually I'll just pick one and deal with the quirks, but in the meantime, have patience -- and give the tag cloud a try! Let me know what you think!

Labels: book news, booklists, books for boys, books for girls, graphic novels, links

~emily - 10:22 AM~
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TWILIGHT TRAILERS
There are a couple of fan-created trailers for Twilight posted up on YouTube. I'm embedding the short one here, and am linking to the longer one here.
Stephenie Meyer got to spend the weekend with the cast and crew on the set of the movie. She wrote about it here.
And here's the official movie site: The Twilight Saga.
I hope that keeps you satisfied until the movie comes out! :-)

Labels: book news, movies

~emily - 9:29 AM~
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AND THE BIG WINNERS ARE...
The book awards were announced yesterday. Winners are as follow:

Michael L Printz Award -- literary excellence for Young Adults~
(WINNER) The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean
(Honor) Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet by Elizabeth Knox
(Honor) One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke
(Honor) Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins
(Honor) Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Setphanie Hemphill

Margaret A Edwards Award -- a lifetime of excellent writing for young adults~
Orson Scott Card

Alex Awards -- honors for 10 adult books with appeal to teens
American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China by Matthew Polly
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire
Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

Other Winners:
Coretta Scott King Award -- (Honor) November Blues by Sharon M Draper
Pura Belpre Award -- (WINNER) The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle
(Honor) Frida: Viva la Vida! by Carmen T Bernier-Grand
Odyssey Award -- (Honor) Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy (Listen & Live Audio)
(Honor) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Listening Library)
(Honor) Treasure Island (Listening Library)
Schneider Family Book Award -- (Teen Award) Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby
Robert F Sibert Informational Book Award -- (Winner) The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis

For the way complete list, visit the ALA.org site.

Labels: awards, book news, new books

~emily - 9:12 AM~
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HIPPO GNU DEER!!!

PROJECT 17 BOOK TRAILER
Project 17 is a new book by Laurie Stolarz (who wrote the Blue is for Nightmares series of books) that takes place at the former state hospital in Danvers, MA. Watch the trailer -- see what you think....

Labels: book news, book trailers

~emily - 12:16 AM~
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TWILIGHT MOVIE
I'm a few days late on this one, but nevertheless, Summit Entertainment has made announcements about Bella and Edward for the movie of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight -- and the film is listed as being in pre-production! This is great news for fans of the Twilight series, which has quickly become one of the most popular series in the past couple of years.
Congratulations Stephenie -- it's great to see such success from my alma mater!
And for fans of Meyer, she's publishing a new sci-fi book called The Host. It's due out in May, written for adults.

Labels: author news, book news, movies

~emily - 12:07 PM~
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THE HOBBIT
According to ICv2 News, the movie The Hobbit is back on track with director Peter Jackson! For those of you who loved either reading or watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the making of this prequel holds great promise. Better reserve your reading copy now before everybody wants one!

Labels: book news, movies, reserve

~emily - 9:51 AM~
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LOCAL HORROR AUTHOR VISIT!
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes will be at the Framingham B&N one week from today to sign copies of her new book Wyvernhail, The Kiesha'ra: Volume Five. Check it out at 7.30 on October 12 at Barnes & Noble (508-628-5567).
We've got lots of her books at the library, too, so if you want to catch up on the series, check here first!
'Tis the season!

Labels: author news, book news, calendar

~emily - 1:35 PM~
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CHALLENGING AND BANNING
Today we had a lively discussion in the high school library regarding banned/challenged books, and it occurs to me (and another librarian) that this is an unusual concept to many -- and unusual that people would bother to celebrate it. But think on this: imagine living in a time or a place where reading certain books or even owning them was criminal or heretical or profane -- a place/time where having a particular book in your house could get you and your family thrown in jail or your house burned down. Now, I admit that these may sound like extreme circumstances, but they happen -- even recently. And challenges and bannings still happen -- even in the USA. Remember when Harry Potter came onto the scene? In 2001 a religious sect held a bonfire that burned 1.5 million Harry Potter books in Iowa. Michigan and New Mexico also had book burnings for Harry Potter. Communities gather together sometimes to exclude books from school curriculum and from school or public libraries -- and this is done, of course, with the intent to not allow anyone the opportunity to read those books. So take a little time to consider this and maybe read Fahrenheit 451, and appreciate the books and magazines that line the shelves of your classrooms, bookstores, and libraries -- untold opportunities lie within -- and not everyone is able to access them!
(Banned and challenged books are still on display in the YA area -- through Tuesday.)

Labels: book news, displays

~emily - 6:43 PM~
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BOOKENDS: Nick & Norah
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
"I know this is going to sound strange, but would you mind being my girlfriend for the next five minutes?" That's Nick's question to Norah when he sees his ex-girlfriend approaching him in the club where his band just played with her new guy. Norah's response? The best kiss either one of them has ever experienced though they don't necessarily realize it at the moment. Thus begins their long night together, a first date in and out of music clubs, trains, hotels, restaurants, and bathrooms; a first date of love and hate, confusion, certainty, laughter, tears, anger, fun, and more. Told by Nick *and* Norah.
So, I admit I loved this book, despite myself and my regular reading tastes. Nick and Norah were fabulous, so real that I continued thinking about their frenetic, confused plights even when I didn't have the book in hand; and the supporting cast was great. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read -- fast-paced and totally engaging. But, for those of you who need to know, be aware of the swearing (the f-bomb goes off every couple of words) and the sexuality in this book.
Visit the website.
Be sure to catch Cohn's and Levithan's newest collaboration Naomi & Ely's No Kiss List.
Y FICTION Cohn

Labels: book news, book review, books for boys, books for girls, links

~emily - 10:53 AM~
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BANNED BOOKS WEEK
Today is the opening of Banned Books Week. The top ten challenged books in 2006 were these:

"And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, for homosexuality, anti-family, and unsuited to age group;

"Gossip Girls" series by Cecily Von Ziegesar for homosexuality, sexual content, drugs, unsuited to age group, and offensive language;

"Alice" series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for sexual content and offensive language;

"The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things" by Carolyn Mackler for sexual content, anti-family, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;

"The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison for sexual content, offensive language, and unsuited to age group;

"Scary Stories" series by Alvin Schwartz for occult/Satanism, unsuited to age group, violence, and insensitivity;

"Athletic Shorts" by Chris Crutcher for homosexuality and offensive language.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky for homosexuality, sexually explicit, offensive language, and unsuited to age group

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison for offensive language, sexual content, and unsuited to age group;

"The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier for sexual content, offensive language, and violence.

If you want a few more links to interesting challenged and banned books, here is one for the top ten challenged books between 2000-2005 and the 100 most challenged from 1990-2000. I would make a quick guess that at least 2/3 of the books are YA/teen books.
So celebrate your freedom to read this week and pick up a banned or challenged book from the library (I have lots of them out on display!).

Labels: book news, booklists, displays, links

~emily - 10:38 AM~
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PULLMAN'S DARK MATERIALS
All kinds of news on Philip Pullman from Random House today~
* His Dark Materials trilogy is going to be published in a single volume. The omnibus will include every word from all three books, his chapter art, and new vignettes for each book. Read about it here.
* Pullman will be in NYC this November -- he'll do a Times Talks discussion (read about it here -- tics are sold out), and he'll be at the B&N in Union Square on November 1 at 7.00. If you're going to be in the area, check it out!
* A new Pullman book coming out -- his first new book in 5 years! Once Upon a Time in the North is the name of the book and takes place in that land of His Dark Materials. I couldn't possibly do justice to describing it, so I encourage you to take a peek at the press release that recently came out. Exciting stuff!
* Hold on -- we're not done yet! The Golden Compass movie has a superblog! To read up on movie news, contests, and more, be sure to check it out. (From that site you can also choose your daemon. My daemon is Arion, a crow.)

Labels: author news, book news, fantasy books, links, movies, new books

~emily - 11:51 AM~
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