Featured Teen Book Review of the Week: Struck

If there is anything I love, it is an honest book review. And M.B. from Marysville is NOT afraid to pan a book when she doesn't like it:

Struck
0 stars.

Describe the book: Mia Price is addicted to getting struck by lightning. After having to relocate because of her dangerous ability, she thinks she has finally started to escape her addiction, but when a massive quake strikes San Francisco and a giant lightning storm threatens to take out the survivors, it's up to Mia to save the world.  

What did you think: This was terrible. I thought I was getting a book about a girl addicted to lighting trying to get over her issues in the face of a deadly earthquake, but instead I got random religious cults warring, dumb plot twists, and obnoxiously unlikeable characters who don't really make me like them any better by the end of the book.  

Who would you recommend it to: Don't read it. Seriously. It's weird.

- M.B. (Grade 11) from Marysville Library

Ok...M.B. I'm sending you another book, hopefully one you enjoy a whole lot more.   Happy Teen Read Month!

Trailer Tuesday: The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

You'll often find The Prince of Mist, sans creepy music, in the Teen Explore collection. I hear the audio version is great.

Teen Read Month Special: Our Favorites - Shift

Today's Teen Read Month favorite is by David from the Camano Island Library Pilot Project, who enjoyed Shift by Jennifer Bradbury.

"Chris and his best friend Win take off on a cross-country bike trip at the end of the summer, heading to Seattle from West Virginia. Right around Concrete, Chris gets a flat, and rather than wait for him, Win speeds ahead. Chris eventually makes it to Seattle, and when he gets back home to West Virginia, the FBI is waiting: they want to know where Win disappeared to. “Shift” is a compelling story about friendships and the (literal) road not taken. Plus you get to name-check Concrete, Sedro-Woolley, Chuckanut Drive and more!"

Some friends fade away....Others disappear. Imagine you and your best friend head out West on a cross-country bike trek. Imagine that the two of you get into a fight -- and stop riding together. Imagine you reach Seattle, go back home, start college. Imagine you think your former best friend does too. Imagine he doesn't. Imagine your world shifting.... Shift is a tour de force -- a literary debut that'll knock the wind out of you as it explores the depths of loyalty, the depths of friendship, and the unknowable depths of another person.

For more books that take place in our area, check out our teen booklist The Pacific Northwest.

Teen Read Month Special: Our Favorites - The Knife of Never Letting Go

Today's Teen Read Month favorite is from Chuck at the Monroe Library.

"Have you ever wondered what it might be like if every other male could hear your thoughts, non-stop, all day long?  What if you could hear all of their thoughts?  What if you could hear the thoughts of all male animals, too, including your dog?  Now imagine that, besides dealing with all of the “Noise” from hearing everyone’s thoughts, you live in a world where all females have completely disappeared and you have no idea how or why. And it all takes place on another planet.  If that sounds like the kind of mystery you could sink your teeth into, then you should read The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness."

Pursued by power-hungry Prentiss and mad minister Aaron, young Todd and Viola set out across New World searching for answers about his colony's true past and seeking a way to warn the ship bringing hopeful settlers from Old World. 

If this sounds like your sort of thing, you might also enjoy the books on our Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction booklist!

Teen Read Month Special: Our Favorites - Lord of the Rings

Today's Teen Read Month favorite comes from Jackie at the Sultan Library. 

"My favorite many years ago and still today: The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. A group of characters that are so distinct and become like old, beloved friends to the reader, who face adventure, trolls, goblins, wizards, and even doom together, but remain steadfast to their mission to save Middle Earth."

Even if you have seen all three movies, you haven't gotten the whole story.  These are also awesome audiobooks...which you can download from our website!

Weekend Book Give-Away: Shadow and Bone

This week's awesome book give-away is Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.  At least 20 people are waiting to read this, but if you win you can get it much sooner!

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life--a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha...and the secrets of her heart.

Never been good at anything?  So sad...surely everyone is good at something, no?  For a chance to win this book, tell me 1) something you are good at (not matter how small) and 2) what you would like your dormant power to be.

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday October 16, 2012. 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.

Teen Read Month Special: Our Favorites - Rotters

Today's Teen Read Month pick is by Joy from the Bookmobile.  She loves Rotters by Daniel Kraus:

"If you like listening to books or want to give audiobooks a try, the reader is great! The author spins a tale that gets grosser and more revolting as you dig deeper into the novel. As I got further along into the book and all sense of reality was lost, I would find myself laughing aloud with the complete over-the-top yuck described— eyeballs plucked out, the stink of death and much more."

Grave-robbing. What kind of monster would do such a thing? It's true that Leonardo da Vinci did it, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the resurrection men of nineteenth-century Scotland practically made it an art. But none of this matters to Joey Crouch, a sixteen-year-old straight-A student living in Chicago with his single mom. For the most part, Joey's life is about playing the trumpet and avoiding the daily humiliations of high school. Everything changes when Joey's mother dies in a tragic accident and he is sent to rural Iowa to live with the father he has never known, a strange, solitary man with unimaginable secrets. At first, Joey's father wants nothing to do with him, but once father and son come to terms with each other, Joey's life takes a turn both macabre and exhilarating. Daniel Kraus's masterful plotting and unforgettable characters makeRottersa moving, terrifying, and unconventional epic about fathers and sons, complex family ties, taboos, and the ever-present specter of mortality.

For more great spooky reads, check out our Teen Read Month booklist Creepy Things (and People) That Go Bump in the Night.