Teens Blog
I have a plan for Tuesday, November 15, 2011. That plan is to read Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever! It’s time to start the countdown.
Follow the countdown along with me and other Wimpy Kid fans as we await the fate of Greg Heffley in the 6th installment of the best selling series. What school property does he damage? And if he doesn’t damage it, who does? Is Rowley involved? What is his punishment? Does his family get snowed in over the Winter break? Less than one month until we all find out!
Share your predictions that day, play Wimpy Kid games, eat sugar and create your own diary at the Wimpy Kid Release Party at the Oshtemo Branch Library on Tuesday, November 15, from 6 pm to 7 pm. Wimpy Kid fans of all ages are welcome! Say hi to me while you’re there and let me know if you had enough Wimpy Kid Fever to tune in to the Countdown too!
Book
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
1419702238
Fall is always a great time here at KPL. Oh sure, you gotta go back to school, but the air is cool, the leaves are changing colors, and we've still got a ton of stuff going on at the Teen department! We kick Teen Read Week off in two weeks, but you can already show off your creative side with Picture It, going on now through the 26th! Then, help benefit the Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes by reading for the fun of it at the annual Read-A-Thon! Pick up a pledge form at the Teen Desk.
Finally, mark your calendar, make a note in your to-do list, or do whatever else it is you need to do to remind yourself about our Authors @ The Zoo event at 6:30 PM on November 3rd! We're super-excited to have two of our favorite authors coming to visit the library: Holly Black, creator of the Curse Workers series (White Cat, Red Glove, and the forthcoming Black Heart), The Spiderwick Chronicles, and the collections Geektastic, Zombies vs. Unicorns, and others; and Robin Wasserman, author of the Cold Awakening trilogy (Skinned, Crashed, and Wired) along with Hacking Harvard and the forthcoming Book of Blood and Shadow. It's going to be a metric ton of awesomeness, so don't miss it!
Looking for something a little out of the ordinary? Like classic video games, geeky movies or old pop music from the 80's? Then you need Ernest Cline's new book,Ready Player One, a love letter to 1980's pop culture thinly disguised as an awesome science-fiction novel.
Like almost everyone else on earth, 18-year-old Wade Watts spends all of his waking life plugged into the OASIS, a virtual reality game so lifelike that the real world seems drab by comparision. And for good reason- The year is 2044, and the real world is a horrible place. Food is scarce, energy is ridiculously expensive, the environment is trashed, and crime and poverty are widespread. Wade lives with his aunt in a squalid trailer park so overcrowded that the trailers are stacked up by the dozens like makeshift skyscrapers. Orphaned after his mother dies of a drug overdose and his father is shot dead while looting food during a power outage, Wade escapes to the OASIS for school, recreation, and a sense of purpose: James Halliday, the creator of the OASIS, left a treasure worth 240 billion dollars hidden deep inside, locked away behind three 80's-themed puzzles so difficult that millions of players have been unable to figure out the first one after years of searching. Like the rest of humanity, Wade is on the hunt. Wade and his fellow hunters are the sworn enemies of the IOI Corporation, whose army of gamers is also on the hunt in order to take control of the OASIS for their own nefarious purposes. And then, one day, Wade finds the first key. When the rest of the world finds out, the story becomes a fast-paced treasure hunt with Wade and his nerd friends racing to find the rest of the keys before IOI does. It won't be easy, though, especially after Wade discovers that IOI won't stop at merely killing egg-hunting players in the virtual world.
Along the way, Cline gives us a few glimpses of the hellhole that the real world has become, and suggests that maybe, just maybe, we can make things better if we just step out of the game for a while. It's not a perfect book, but it's a fun book and worth reading just for the enjoyment of playing spot-the-80's-reference.
Book
Ready player one : a novel
9780307887436
Summer is almost over and so is the 2011 Summer Reading Game! If you're playing the game this year, don't forget that the last day to check in your game boards and earn prizes and giveaway chances is this coming Friday, August 26th. Don't come in on Saturday and try to check in because you'll be very, very disappointed...
Every year teen book groups across the country nominate their favorite books from the previous year for the chance to be chosen as the Teens' Top Ten. Now that they've done the nominating, the voting is up to you! Make sure to read some of the awesome books that have been nominated so that you're ready to pick your favorites when voting opens on August 22nd. The winners wil be announced during Teen Read Week (Oct. 16-22). The nominees are:
Drought by Pam Bachorz
I Am J by Cris Beam
You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin
Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier
The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins
Matched by Ally Condie
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
Lies by Michael Grant
Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
The False Princess by Ellis O'Neal
Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Yesterday, the American Library Association announced the 2011 Youth Media Awards. The winner of the 2011 Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature is one of my personal favorites, Paolo Bacigalupi's post-apocalyptic thriller Ship Breaker. Set in the ruins of what used to be New Orleans after the world's oil output has dwindled and civilization as we know it has collapsed, Ship Breaker is the story of a boy named Nailer and his fellow crewmembers who make a living tearing apart abandoned oil tankers for scrap. Battered by horrific working conditions and the effects of global warming, Nailer must use all of his wits to stay alive in this amazing adventure story set in a very possible near future.
Also announced on Tuesday were the 2011 Printz Honor books: Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King, Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick, and Nothing by Janne Teller. Check them out!
Book
Ship Breaker
9780316056212
Editor's note: Welcome our newest Teen page blogger, TAB member Rebecca Henning! This is her first blog post, and while it's been a long time coming due to various technical glitches, I think it's worth sharing with all of you. -Stewart
On October 23, teens and tweens showed up to the teen section of the Central library, to read for a good cause. Participants read to raise cans and other dry goods for Loves and Fishes. They provide food for the needy, and are a great hope to those who need it. They read from 10 am to 4 pm with a one hour lunch and photo session where participants got their own READ poster, like the ones in the teen section!
Teens/tweens who arrived at the read-a-thon where all ages from grade six to grade twelve. Jamera Jackson from Hillside Middle School says that she came because "I like to read, want to have fun, and get new books." She says that she loves girly girl books and her favorite book is What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones (which is actually a book of short poems that tell a story and one of my favorites). Now on the other end of the wide spectrum of people that arrived was Noah Gross who is also in the sixth grade at Hillside. His favorite genre is fantasy and favorite book is Ranger's Apprentance by Jhon Falgan. There were also some high scholars there like Elizabeth Austin who is a junior at Loy Norrix High School. She loves all fiction and her favorite book is Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows, by J. K. Rowling (another of my favorite books).
Overall the read-a-thon was a success, bringing food to people and people to books, something everyone can enjoy.
From more enthusiastic readers:
From AKE, age 13:
Glass Houses, by Rachel Caine
OMG!!This is an AMAZING book. It's about a girl who moves to a new city called Morganville. Except there is a surprise waiting for her there. If you haven't already guessed it...Vampires! This is a very compelling read that made we want to read more and more! This book is actually part of a series! And it would be one of the best books that I have EVER READ!!
And from AH, age 14, another vampire series:
Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schreiber
This book is totally awesome! It's full of romance and even a little action. I would definitely recommend this book to those who are looking for something to sink their teeth into! Enjoy.
Book
Glass Houses
0451219945
If so, spread the word! Write a short summary that will entice other teen readers.
Here's one we recently recevied from R. K., 18:
"Sapphique", sequel to the book "Incarceron", is as much a tale of adventure as it is a story of learning to find oneself in the world. Characters inside the prison cope with physical challenges that range from magic acts to monsters that meld their flesh with your own, while those on the Outside of the prison find the falsehoods of life in the Realm the largest obstacle of all. This sequal brings much more depth and description to the story of "Incarceron" with just as much action and mystery as the first. The characters seem genuine in their wants, needs, and actions, and the plot keeps one interested until the final page. Overall, it is a very good book and I would recommend any books written by this author [Catherine Fisher].
Book
Sapphique
0803733976
We couldn't have said it better ourselves! We're celebrating "reading for the fun of it" all week.
Come and join us!