Weekend Book Giveaway: Ketchup Clouds

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

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. 

Weekend Book Giveaway: These Broken Stars

This 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.  

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.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

School'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!

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!

Now 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.  

Ransom Riggs is Back!

Ransom 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.

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."

Weekend Book Giveaway: Notable

This 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.  

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?