Trailer Tuesday: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

This is an example of what makes a good trailer to me - it really leaves me wanting to know more.* What is her power? What does the name mean? Ugh. I'll have to READ it to find out!

Publisher description: "Sixteen-year-old Ruby breaks out of a government-run 'rehabilitation camp' for teens who acquired dangerous powers after surviving a virus that wiped out most American children."



*Are you ready for our annual Video Contest? Have you figured out your subject??

Weekend Book Give-Away: The Colossus Rises

Looking fora  fun new fantasy adventure series, with a bit of history mixed in?  Look no further, Peter Lerangis's new book The Colossus Rises is the first in an epic seven-book series called Seven Wonders:

One Boy: Jack McKinley is an ordinary kid with an extraordinary problem. In a few months, he's going to die. 
One Mission: Jack needs to find seven magic loculi that, when combined, have the power to cure him. 
One Problem: The loculi are the relics of a lost civilization and haven't been seen in thousands of years.
 Seven Wonders:  Because they're hidden in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 

For a chance to win an Advanced Reader Copy of this new book,  tell me about which of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World you wish you could travel back in time to see, and why.

 Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday February 19, 2013. 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.

Trailer Tuesday: Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

No lie, I totatally dug Carriger's adult series The Parasol Protectorate. I have high hopes for her first teen endeavor, Etiquette & Espionage (especially since the trailer has some funny moments).

Publisher description: "In an alternate England of 1851, spirited fourteen-year-old Sophronia is enrolled in a finishing school where, she is suprised to learn, lessons include not only the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also diversion, deceit, and espionage."

Weekend Book Give-Away: Hokey Pokey

Jerry Spinelli is one of my favorite authors.  He has writen so many wonderful books, that are surprising and moving and just great.  I'm really excited about his new book, Hokey Pokey:

Welcome to Hokey Pokey. A place and a time, when childhood is at its best: games to play, bikes to ride, experiences to be had. There are no adults in Hokey Pokey, just kids, and the laws governing Hokey Pokey are simple and finite. But when one of the biggest kids, Jack, has his beloved bike stolen--and by a girl, no less--his entire world, and the world of Hokey Pokey, turns to chaos. Without his bike, Jack feels like everything has started to go wrong. He feels different, not like himself, and he knows something is about to change. And even more troubling he alone hears a faint train whistle. But that's impossible: every kid knows there no trains in Hokey Pokey, only tracks. 

For a chance to win an Advanced Readers Copy of this new book, tell me about one of your favorite childhood memories.

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday February 12, 2013. 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.

Trailer Tuesday: The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Hold Still by Nina LaCour was such an emotional read for me that, even though her new book, The Disenchantments , sounds entirely different, I haven't yet read it because I'm scared I'm going to end up in a soggy puddle of tears. Have you read it? Am I being ridiculous? Let me know in the comments!

"Colby's post-high school plans have long been that he and his best friend Beth would tour with her band, then spend a year in Europe, but when she announces that she will start college just after the tour, Colby struggles to understand why she changed her mind and what losing her means for his future." -Publisher summary

Weekend Book Give-Away: Splintered by A. G. Howard

I don't know about you, but I love a story that takes something familiar and totally reinvents it in new and creative ways.  That is why I am excited about Splintered by A. G. Howard.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers...precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now. When her mother's mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice's tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice's mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

For a chance to win a preview copy of this magical new book, tell me your favorite Wonderland image or detail (be it from the original books, a movie, or something else), and why it is special to you.

Winner will be selected with Random Number Generator on Tuesday February 5, 2013. 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.

All about the 2013 Alex Awards

 This past Monday at the Youth Media Awards, the 2013 Alex Awards were announced. The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to teens, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from books published the previous year.

The award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. Edwards pioneered young adult library services and worked for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. The Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.

I've been on the Alex Awards for two years and selecting the winners is always a great joy. It also means I read 250+ adult books a year. This year's list is as eclectic as ever. “From madcap adventures to portraits of compelling characters and beautifully illustrated nonfiction titles, this year's list has a book for every teen reader,” said Rachel McDonald, chair of the 2013 Alex Awards Committee.

“Caring is Creepy" by David Zimmerman: While trying to survive a long boring summer in rural Georgia, Lynn befriends a lonely soldier online.  When they meet face to face, tables are turned as Lynn tries to exert power in her out-of-control life.  Dangerous, amusing, role-bending, and definitely creepy!

 

“Girlchild,”by Tupelo Hassman: With only a worn copy of the Girl Scout Handbook for reference, resourceful and tenacious Rory Hendrix must navigate the depressing landscape of a 1970s trailer park where she suffers abuse at the hands of a neighbor and neglect from her mother.

 

“Juvenile in Justice" by Richard Ross: Richard Ross' riveting photographs give voices to incarcerated youth in juvenile detention centers across America.

 

“Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore” by Robin Sloan: Clay Johnson loses his web-designer job and begins working the night shift in a bookstore with only a few customers.  This marvelous mashup blends mystery, adventure, and romance into a literary and technological tale.
 

“My Friend Dahmer” by Derf Backderf: Written by a former classmate of Jeffery Dahmer, this graphic novel illustrates the teenage years of a future serial killer.

 

“One Shot at Forever” by Chris Ballard: This remarkable story follows the Macon Ironmen, a team of misfits with a hippie coach, through a recordsetting baseball season.

 

“Pure”by Juliana Baggott: In a world destroyed by nuclear detonations, only a privileged few have remained pure. Two teens from different sides of the Dome unite to search for answers to troubling questions about their origins.

 

“The Round House” by Louise Erdrich: An attack on 13-year-old Joe's mother near their North Dakota Ojibwe reservation home leads him and his friends on a quest to solve the crime.  This coming-of-age story highlights friendship, family, tradition, and the uneasy relationship between the tribal and white communities.

“Tell the Wolves I'm Home” by Carol Rifka Brunt: June thought she knew everything about her beloved uncle, Finn. After his death from a mysterious new illness called AIDS, his grieving boyfriend delivers Finn's favorite teapot to June's door, and she realizes nothing is what she thought it was: not her family, not her uncle, not even herself.

 

“Where'd You Go, Bernadette?” by Maria Semple: Through a series of emails, letters, and FBI files, Bee follows the trail of her missing mother to the ends of the earth in this quirky, laugh-out-loud tale.

Have you read any of these? What was your favorite? Do you agree with the list?