Monday, March 3, 2014

Switching to tumblr

We've made over 900 posts here on Blogger, but all good things must come to pass, and we are on to a new platform.

Find us now at http://snoisleteens.tumblr.com/!

Friday, February 28, 2014

Weekend Book Giveaway: The Queen's Choice

The Queen's Choice at Sno-IsleSo many great series are ending this year!  Happily, some great looking new ones are just getting started.  This week we are giving away Cayla Kluver's The Queen's Choice, book one in the Heirs of Chrior trilogy:

Magic was seeping out of me, black and agonizing. I could see it drifting away. The magic that would let me pass the Road to reach home again. When sixteen-year-old Anya learns that her aunt, Queen of the Faerie Kingdom of Chrior, will soon die, her grief is equaled only by her despair for the future of the kingdom. Her young cousin, Illumina, is unfit to rule, and Anya is determined not to take up the queen's mantle herself. Convinced that the only solution is to find Prince Zabriel, who long ago disappeared into the human realm of Warckum, and persuade him to take up his rightful crown, Anya journeys into the Warckum Territory to bring him home. But her journey is doomed to be more harrowing than she ever could have imagined....

All our copies are currently checked out and the hold list hasn't gotten crazy yet, but I'm betting this is a series that will be taking off really soon!  If you want a chance to win an ARC and read it before it gets big, tell me this:  What is the hardest choice you've had to make this year?

Winner will be selected by Random Number Generator on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library. 

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

All about the 2014 Alex Awards

A little over a month ago the 2014 Alex Awards were announced at the Youth Media Awards at the ALA Midwinter Conference in Philadelphia. I've talked about it before, but I had the honor to serve one more year on the Alex Award Committee. 


The award is named in honor of the late Margaret Alexander Edwards, fondly called “Alex” by her closest friends, a pioneer in providing library services to young adults. At Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Edwards used adult books extensively with teens to broaden their experience and enrich their understanding of themselves and their world.

The 2014 Alex Awards has a book for every teen reader. From dysfunctional families to alien-inhabited brains to a savory graphic memoir, this diverse list will not disappoint. The Alex Awards were created to recognize that many teens enjoy and often prefer books written for adults, and to assist librarians in recommending adult books that appeal to teens. A full list of official nominations are available online.

  • “Brewster” by Mark Slouka: Feeling stifled and powerless, high school friends Ray Cappicciano and Jon Mosher yearn for change and plan for freedom from their blue-collar town and dysfunctional homes, even while knowing they can never truly escape.
  • “The Death of Bees” by Lisa O’Donnell: With their parents dead and buried in the backyard, Scottish teens Marnie and Nelly are finally free from a childhood wracked with abuse. If only the neighbor’s dog would quit digging in the garden.
  • “Help for the Haunted” by John Searles: Sylvie has been dealing with taunting classmates, her erratic older sister and the unsolved murder of her ghost-hunting parents. But perhaps more problematic are the cursed remnants of her parents’ work still lingering in the basement.
  • “Lexicon: a novel” by Max Barry: In this fast-paced, cutthroat story, words are weapons and poets are the ones who wield the swords. Teen prodigy Emily may be the finest poet ever until she makes the catastrophic mistake of falling in love.
  • “Lives of Tao” by Wesley Chu: Couch potato Roen Tan becomes host to the alien Tao who has lived millennia inside some of the most famous people in history. With Tao on board, Roen enters a war to save mankind.
  • Mother, mother: a novel” by Koren Zailckas: Why did Rose run away? Did Violet really stab her little brother? Is her alcoholic father really having an affair? In this chilling novel about family dysfunction, does mother really know best?
  • “Relish” by Lucy Knisley: This poignant graphic novel is a wonderful journey of cartoonist Lucy Knisley’s transition from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood, framed by the food that shaped her worldview. Through colorful vignettes she tackles complex issues with humor and unique family recipes.
Which of these have you read? Do you have a favorite? What do you think of the list?

Monday, February 24, 2014

Infamous Insider - what's hot this week @ Sno-Isle

Welcome to Infamous Insider - the weekly feature that gives you tips about what's going on at the library - new items in the collection, indispensable online resources, or fun events you won't want to miss.


The Scar Boys : a novel: Written as a college admission essay, eighteen-year-old Harry Jones recounts a childhood defined by the hideous scars he hid behind, and how forming a band brought self-confidence, friendship, and his first kiss...

Not only does this look like a great book, there's a Spotify playlist so you can listen to the songs each chapter is named for.

Learn more about The Scar Boys at author Len Vlahos' website.


While we're on the subject of music, we have exciting news about Freegal, our music downloading service.  Not only can you continue to download three songs a week (and keep them!), you can now listen to streaming music for up to three hours a day.  You can even create playlists of your favorites.  But wait - there's more!  Freegal now offers video downloads too - one video counts as two songs toward your weekly limit.

I don't know about you, but I like free music!

EVENT ALERT - Divergent Pre-Release Party @ the Mukilteo Library

Friday, February 28th, 1:00 pm

Celebrate the upcoming movie release of Divergent, based on the book by Veronica Roth. Which faction will you join, and will you survive the initiation? Get together with other teens for book-related games, food, crafts, trivia, and more.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Trailer Tuesday: Crusher by Niall Leonard

If you want to see the underbelly of modern London with a noir tint, Crusher is absolutely the book for you. It's dark and tense.

From the publisher: "After he discovers his father murdered, Finn, now the prime suspect, scours the London underworld, exposing secrets and facing danger, to determine the true killer."

Friday, February 14, 2014

Weekend Book Giveaway: Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant

This week's book is a nice change of pace, a graphic novel packed with adventure, called Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff:

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=657966
Join troublemaker Delilah Dirk for a headlong plunge into adventure! Lovable ne'er-do-well Delilah Dirk is an Indiana Jones for the 19th century. She has traveled to Japan, Indonesia, France, and even the New World. Using the skills she's picked up on the way, Delilah's adventures continue as she plots to rob a rich and corrupt Sultan in Constantinople. With the aid of her flying boat and her new-found friend, Selim, she evades the Sultan's guards, leaves angry pirates in the dust, and fights her way through the countryside. For Delilah, one adventure leads to the next in this thrilling and funny installment in her exciting life. 

Currently, we have no copies available of this fun title, so if you want to beat the holds wait and have a chance to win a copy all your own, leave an answer to this question in the comments:  If you could go to any corner of the world tomorrow and have an adventure, where would you want to go, and why?

Winner will be selected by Random Number Generator on Tuesday, February 18, 2014. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library. 

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Anti-Valentine's Day Party



Don't have a Valentine? Don't worry! Join your friends at the Mill Creek Library for an Anti-Valentine's Day Party on Friday, February 14th from 7-9 p.m. for a night of board games, duct tape roses, "un-valentines," a cupcake decorating contest, music, quizes, and door prizes. There are no hateful hearts here, just a night to focus on friends and fun.



While you're at the party, make sure you check out a book from our "blind date with a book" display. Pizza, snacks, door prizes and crafts are provided by the Friends of the Mill Creek Library. 



Space is limited to 25 people for the cupcake decorating so sign up in advance on the library website. The Anti-Valentine's Day Party is only for teens in grades 6-12. For more information, contact Danielle at the Mill Creek Library


Bonus:  If you already have plans tomorrow night, or need something to do in the afternoon, we will be also having a Anti-Valentine’s Day Craft Party at the Mukilteo Library from 1-4pm.  We’ll be making unValentine cards and other cynical creations. Games, snacks, and door prizes too! Enjoy uncelebrating this holiday while being creative with other teens.  For more information, contact Melleny.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

2014 Teen Tech Month Video Contest

Teen Tech Month Video Contest
I'm delighted to announce our 7th Annual Teen Tech Month Video Contest!  This year we are doing things slightly different.  We are still offering Best Buy gift cards to the video best loved by viewers ($150) and for the Librarian's Choice prize ($75), but we have an all new category this year for Best Group Project.   If your class, library advisory board, school video team submit a video and enter it in this category, you have a chance to win a pizza party!

The basics:

  1. Create a video promoting the library or your favorite book.
  2. Video length must be 30 seconds to 3 minutes, including credits.
  3. Include credits in the video indicating you produced the video for the Sno-Isle Libraries Video Contest.
  4. Post your video to YouTube with the tag "snoisleteens."
  5. Submit your YouTube URL through our online entry located here by March 31, 2014.
  6. Online voting and winners announced in April.
Rules and guidelines can also be found on our Video Contest page. Here is last year's winner:



This really is one of my favorite things we do each year. I can't wait to see all the creative things you, our talented teens, come up with!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Trailer Tuesday: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge


I generally look forward to a good fairy tale re-telling. Especially one where the girl sounds as kick-butt as Nyx does in Cruel Beauty.

From the publisher: "Betrothed to the demon who rules her country and trained all her life to kill him, seventeen-year-old Nyx Triskelion must now fulfill her destiny and move to the castle to be his wife."

Friday, February 7, 2014

Weekend Book Giveaway: Curtsies & Conspiracies

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=657565I'm really excited about this week's book, the second in the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger.  I loved Etiquette & Espionage, and Curtsies & Conspiracies is every bit as fun.

In her alternate England of 1851, fifteen-year-old Sophronia tries to uncover who is behind a plot to control a prototype that has the potential to alter human and supernatural travel, and to learn what role Mademoiselle Geraldine's academy for young spies plays in the affair. Sophronia must rely on her training to discover who is behind the dangerous plot-and survive the London Season with a full dance card.

Utterly delightful!  With 16 holds, this could take a while to get your hands on, but you have a chance to win a copy you'll get next week if you either tell me your favorite conspiracy theory, or make one up for me!

Winner will be selected by Random Number Generator on Tuesday, February 11, 2014. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library. 

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Trailer Tuesday: Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

What if you killed someone - and got away with it? Would it eat you up inside? Would you find yourself writing a letter to a death row inmate to ease your conscious? That's what Zoe finds herself doing three months after the death (or murder?) of a boy she'd fallen in love with. How did she get there? Find out in the unusually named Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher.

From the publisher: "Zoe, a teenager in Bath, England, writes letters to a death-row inmate in Texas, hoping to find comfort in sharing her guilty secret over the death of a friend with someone who can never tell her family."


Friday, January 31, 2014

Weekend Book Giveaway: Ketchup Clouds

This week's book is Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher:

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=662491
Zoe has an unconventional pen pal-Mr. Stuart Harris, a Texas Death Row inmate and convicted murderer. But then again, Zoe has an unconventional story to tell. A story about how she fell for two boys, betrayed one of them, and killed the other. Hidden away in her backyard shed in the middle of the night with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gives a voice to her heart and her fears after months of silence. Mr. Harris may never respond to Zoe's letters, but at least somebody will know her story-somebody who knows what it's like to kill a person you love. Only through her unusual confession can Zoe hope to atone for her mistakes that have torn lives apart, and work to put her own life back together again.

For a chance to win this Advanced Readers Copy of Ketchup Clouds, tell me about something you did that you regretted, and how you atoned for it.

Winner will be selected by Dawn on Tuesday, February 4, 2014. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library. 

Friday, January 17, 2014

Weekend Book Giveaway: These Broken Stars

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=665861This week we have another exciting science fiction book you might already be waiting for,  These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner:

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other's arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder--would they be better off staying here forever? Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step.


This is the first in a new trilogy (of course), and as I type this there are 17 people to read this.  For a chance to win your own Advanced Readers Copy, tell me the top five qualities you would like in a crash landing companion.

Winner will be selected by Random Number Generator on Monday February 3, 2014. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library.  

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Trailer Tuesday: Not a Drop to Drink

So... that's a disturbing opening...

From the publisher: Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water. Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most important, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty or doesn't leave at all. Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand. But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, the nighttime threats, and the gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won't stop until they get it. . . . With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, debut author Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl's journey in a barren world not so different from our own.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

http://www.uwsc.org/mlkday.phpSchool's out next Monday, and the libraries are all closed.  What are you going to do with your day?  United Way of Snohomish County's Youth United program invites you to take part in MLK Day of Service!   

From their website:

 
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.



Volunteer for Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and Join hundreds of other Snohomish County teens in volunteering to help out in the community. Make MLK Day a day on, not a day off!

What is MLK Day of Service?
Non-profit organizations around Snohomish County are hosting projects on this one day in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and mission. Sign up for a project that interests you! Volunteer with a group or sign up as an individual and meet new people! Get volunteer hours and get the “warm, fuzzy feeling” from helping others.

Find out more, and sign up here!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Weekend Book Giveaway: In the Age of Love and Chocolate

This week's book is another final in a trilogy. This time it is Gabrielle Zevin's delicious Birthright series, featuring Anya Balanchine, heiress to a chocolate mob family (the first two are All These Things I've Done and Because it is My Blood).  The newest one,  In the Age of Love and Chocolate looks to be every bit as exciting and tantalizing!

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=664454Now eighteen, life has been more bitter than sweet for Anya. She has lost her parents and her grandmother, and has spent the better part of her high school years in trouble with the law. Perhaps hardest of all, her decision to open a nightclub with her old nemesis Charles Delacroix has cost Anya her relationship with Win. Still, it is Anya's nature to soldier on. She puts the loss of Win behind her and focuses on her work. Against the odds, the nightclub becomes an enormous success, and Anya feels like she is on her way and that nothing will ever go wrong for her again. But after a terrible misjudgment leaves Anya fighting for her life, she is forced to reckon with her choices and to let people help her for the first time in her life.  

For a chance to win this beautiful new hardbound book, describe in great detail the best chocolate item you have every eaten.

Winner will be selected by Random Number Generator on Tuesday, January 14, 2014. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library.  



Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Ransom Riggs is Back!

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=660311Ransom Riggs, the author of the bestselling book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, will be back at the University Book Store in the Mill Creek Town Center on Wednesday, January 15th at 7 p.m. Come hear him talk about his new book The Hollow City, the sequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. There will be a book signing following the talk.

Ransom Riggs was at the University Bookstore last June with his wife and fellow YA author Taheri Mafi and spoke to a crowd of over 100 local teens and adults. He was recently profiled in the New York Times about finding his inspiration for his books in old photos.

Check out the new book trailer for Hollow City to see what the book is about.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Trailer Tuesday: Reboot by Amy Tintera

Well, Reboot is one way to achieve life after death...


From the publisher: "Seventeen-year-old Wren rises from the dead as a Reboot and is trained as an elite crime-fighting soldier until she is given an order she refuses to follow."

Friday, January 3, 2014

Weekend Book Giveaway: Notable

http://catalog.sno-isle.org/polaris/search/title.aspx?ctx=1.1033.0.0.6&cn=664780This week's freebie is an Advanced Reader Copy of Notable by Marni Bates, the third in the Smith High series.

I take no prisoners. I am Chelsea Halloway and I will happily destroy your social life if you mess with me. Just ask anyone. There is no situation I cannot handle. Divorcing parents? No problem. An ex-boyfriend who wants to date Smith High Schools biggest geek instead of me? Just a matter of time before I can make him see reason. At least, until my parents decide to ship me off on a study abroad trip to Cambodia. Now instead of being admired as the queen of the Notables, I am stuck with a bunch of college students who do not take me seriously, and a professor who accidentally landed himself on the wrong side of a drug lord. And it is up to me to get us all out of the country alive--even the annoying jerk with the green eyes who will not stop calling me princess. Oh yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
 
This title has 2 people waiting right now, but you can skip the line and read it next week, if your answer to this question is picked randomly:  Have your parents ever made a decision you were unhappy with, but ended up being ok in the end?  What was it, and what was the result?
 
Winner will be selected by Dawn on Tuesday, January 7, 2014. Be sure to leave a name with your entry, and check back to see if you won. To win you must be a teen (6th-12th grade, or 12-18) who uses a Sno-Isle Library.  


Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014 Reading Challenge

Photo by Anne M.
Happy New Year!

2014 promises all kinds of great books.  How many do you plan to read?  How do you track your reading?

I like using Goodreads to track my books.  Last year I used took part in the Goodreads reading challenge.  My goal was 213 books (I have no idea why I picked that number), and I passed it!  However, I'm not sure how many of those were picture books, which I don't really think should count ;)

If we were to do a Sno-Isle Teens reading challenge group, where we all encourage each other to read more, where would you want that to live?  Facebook?  Goodreads?  On this blog?  Someplace else?  I'd love to get a community together of teen book lovers
from all over Snohomish and Island county talking together about books.

Who's in?