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July 30, 2009
BEST BOOK SURVIVOR ISLAND
On Monday, July 20 the Young Adult Room held our very first BEST BOOK SURVIVOR ISLAND. Five books went to the library counsel.
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS by J. K. Rowling
The final installment of the Harry Potter series who will rule the wizard's world?
IF THE WITNESS LIED by Caroline B. Cooney
Torn apart by tragedies and the publicity they brought, siblings Smithy, Jack, and Madison, aged fourteen to sixteen, tap into their parent's courage to pull together and protect their brother Tris, nearly three, from further media exploitation and a much more sinister threat.
PLAYING FOR PIZZA by John Grisham
A former American football star joins the Parma Panthers to play football in a small town in Italy.
VAMPIRE KISSES by Ellen Schreiber
Sixteen-year-old Raven, an outcast who always wears black and hopes to become a vampire some day, falls in love with the mysterious new boy in town, eager to find out if he can make her dreams come true.
WHISPERING WOODS (MAGIC: THE GATHERING) by Clayton Emery
Gull shouldn't have taken the job. This wizard is worse than any he's heard about before. Between tavern brawls, magical battles, and a strange artifact turning up, Gull is kept very busy. And now that his half-wit sister is beginning to gather her wits, Gull really has his hands full.
AND THE WINNER IS
OUR NEXT BEST BOOK SURVIVOR ISLAND WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY, OCTBER 3 AT 2 PM IN THE YOUNG ADULT ROOM, SO MARK YOUR CALENDARS. YOU CAN PRESENT A BOOK OR JUST BE ON THE JURY.
Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services
Posted by fjacksonem at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2009
YELLOW FLAG by Robert Lipsyte
YELLOW FLAG is one of many of Robert Lipsyte’s successful novels. It focuses on something all teenagers can identify with making choices. The main character, Kyle is forced to put on the helmet and race in place of his brother Kris, who is injured after a win by a spiteful runner up. Coming from a family rich in racing history, Kyle, the quiet trumpet player, is forced to chose between his quintet, the girl of his dreams, the gig of his life, and between following in his family’s footsteps, and another girl of his dreams. The story continues when Kris doesn’t recover in time to race, so Kyle chooses to race for the #12 team instead of practice for the quintet, which he feels he is more out of place there. After gaining his family a major sponsor, he is asked to join the team as a second car on the circuit, #12A. With this offer on the table, he needs to decide where his final loyalties lie, with his family, or with his band.
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR TEENAGE GUYS AND ANYONE WHO ENJOYS RACING. FOR ME, THE BOOK READ FAST AND IT WAS HARD TO PUT DOWN AFTER THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS. THE AGE GROUP I BELIEVE WOULD ENJOY THE BOOK THE MOST ARE GUYS (OR GIRLS) RANGING FROM THE EIGHTH GRADE TO THE TENTH GRADE.
Andrew Scarpitta
Chaminade High School
12th grade
Posted by fjacksonem at 8:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2009
DIAL L FOR LOSER by Lisi Harrison
DIAL L FOR LOSER is the 6th book in the Clique novel series by Lisi Harrison. In this book the girls of the Pretty Committee are expelled from their school O.C.D. The girls are close to begging Principal Burns to readmit them to O.C.D. but luck strikes them. The girls are invited to Dylan’s mothers show, The Daily Grind. Before the show Massie, Kristen, Alicia, Dylan and Clair meet Abby Boyd and Hadly Durk the stars of the upcoming movie Dial L for Losers. But everything doesn't go so smoothly. Hadly found out that Abby and her boyfriend were fooling around behind her back and she starts to throw a fit. She then declares that she would not star in a movie with Abby. The director of the movie Rupert Mann started to panic and he borrowed Massie’s phone but he left without giving it back to her. A few days later Rupert announced on TV, that he wanted Massie to call him on her phone. When she called, Rupert invited only Clair, Massie, and Alicia to audition for Hadly's old part. Once they get to LA everyone was pretty sure that Alicia or Massie would get the part but Clair got the part and Alicia and Massie are green with envy. Clair starts to live the perfect life. She's "best friends" with Abby Boyd, gets her picture in a magazine, and gets a new phone from the producers of Dial L for Loser. But as famous as Clair gets the jealous Massie and Alicia become and they make her life horrible. But karma strikes them back when Conner Foley uses them to get Abby Boyd jealous. In the end Massie, Clair, and Alicia become friends again, but Clair has a decision to make. She gets a call from a producer and wants her to move to LA but she's not sure what to do.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO TEENAGE GIRLS. THEY’LL ENJOY THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT’S ABOUT 5 THIRTEEN YEAR OLD GIRLS DEALING WITH SCHOOL, BOYS, LOOKING GOOD AND LIFE IN GENERAL AND THAT’S WHAT MOST GIRLS AROUND 13 DEAL WITH. ONCE YOU START READING ONE OF THE BOOKS FROM THE SERIES YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO STOP READING!
Samiha Chaudhury
Woodland Middle School
8th Grade
Posted by fjacksonem at 9:16 AM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2009
THE WAVE by Todd Strasser
THE WAVE by Todd Strasser was a real life incident that took place in Palo,Alto California in 1967.
In the novel, Ben Ross is a social studies teacher at Gordan high school. Ben's class is learning about the Nazi's. After showing a film to the students they dont understand why Germans had let Hitler control them. The next day Ben decides to conduct an experiment called the Wave so the students can understand the chapter a lot better. Over time the wave experiment goes further and further, students start giving up their freedoms to join the Wave. David and Laurie are the only student who realize what has become of the wave. The wave has gone to far for even Ben to stop it. Will Ben be able to stop what had started as a classroom experiment in time, or is history destined to repeat itself again? Find out by reading THE WAVE.
I RECCOMEND THIS GREAT BOOK FOR READERS WHO LOVE HISTORY AND SUSPENSE. ALSO I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR READERS WHO ARE ENTERING GRADES SEVEN THROUGH TWELVE.
Yash Shah
W. Tresper Clarke Middle School
Grade 8
Posted by fjacksonem at 7:15 PM | Comments (1)
July 15, 2009
SLEEPAWAY GIRLS by Jen Calonita
It was many years ago,when I was a counselor at a sleepaway camp. There was swimming, arts and crafts, and camp fires. All of these memories were brought back to life in Jen Calonita's SLEEPAWAY GIRLS.
Starring in this book is Samantha Montgomery, student at Carle Place High School (Long Island) and star of the nationally know Dial and Dash television commerical. Sam was always doing for others, especially her BFF, Mal. Now Mal has a boyfriend and has little time for Sam, so Sam decides to apply to be a C.I.T, (Counselor in Training) at Camp Whispering Pines in New York's Catskill Mountains.
This is Sam's first time at any camp, so her inexperience makes her the fall girl for Whispering Pines' superstar, Ashley, daughter of the camp's owner. Sam looks for love in the boyfriend market, when she has a crush on Hunter, a blonde surfer-type counselor. Finally, there are her campers, each little girl with her own special needs.
Sam thought camp was singing songs and camp fires, but she is about to learn; it is more about friendship and who Samantha Montgomery really is.
IN CASE YOUR PARENTS WON'T SEND YOU TO SLEEPAWAY CAMP AND YOU LOVE CAMP FIRES AND SMORES, I RECOMMEND YOU READ SLEEPAWAY GIRLS. IT IS GOOD READ FOR GIRLS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.
Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services .
Posted by fjacksonem at 6:45 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2009
PROJECT SWEET LIFE by Brent Hartinger
Have you ever had the feeling that as a kid you should have the right to do what you want to do? Well find out what is right in PROJECT SWEET LIFE by Brent Hartinger.
In every child’s life they are approached with the option of taking a summer job at 15. But Dave, Curtis and Victor don’t have that option because of their dads who feel you must start earning money and get exposed to the real world.
Of course being the lazy teens who want to enjoy their last summer lie to their parents stating they got jobs when they don’t. They just need money. Victor, the genius, calculates they need $7000 at the end of summer to show their parents only because the dads want to see money and hard work. Thus the athletic one, Curtis, comes up with the ultimate plan, Project Sweet Life.
The plan is to get one big payoff that covers the summer and then they can relax. They have many methods to do so such as a garage sale, the China Tunnels and the Labash Coins, and many more. It is up to you to find out whether or not the plan turned out to be a big flop or the trio became rich. Of course, there will be very big consequences if the plan fails. Also what will they do about when the parents visit their so called “workplaces”?
I RECOMMEND THIS TO STUDENTS WHO LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO REALLY SPEND THEIR SUMMER.
Siddesh Ramesh
W.Tresper Clarke Middle School
Grade 8
Posted by fjacksonem at 8:21 PM | Comments (0)
July 3, 2009
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
Posted by fjacksonem at 2:35 PM | Comments (0)