Best Books of 2008 (according to me!)

A lot of great books were published in 2008 and I only read a small fraction of them. But from the ones I did get to read here are 10 of my favorites.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Madapple by Christina Meldrum
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (adult nonfiction 158.1 P334)
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (adult fiction)
Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

In addition to those amazing books, here are another 10 that were great, but didn't quite make the top 10 list.

Exodus by Julie Bertagna
The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti
She’s So Money by Cherry Cheva
Airman by Eoin Colfer
Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau (youth fiction)
Rumors: a Luxe novel by Anna Godbersen
Paper Towns by John Green
Would You by Marthe Jocelyn
Skinned by Robin Wasserman

I can't wait for 2009 to start reading more new books!

Teen Advisory Board Appreciation Party

The Teen Advisory Board is a volunteer group of 7th-12th grade students who help make the library a great place. TAB members volunteer at library events, do fund raising, make suggestions for purchase, and help create and plan events. To say thanks for all the great stuff they do through out the year, we had an Appreciation Party last night. This a great way for TAB members to get to know each other, enjoy some pizza, and have fun! We played Wii Sports, Apples to Apples, and had an exciting round of Spoons, with Anna M. being named Spoons champion!

The Teen Advisory Board is always accepting new members. If you're interested in joining check out the TAB page for an application and more info.

And to all my amazing TAB members...
thanks for a great year!

Twilight Read-A-Likes

So you've read all the books in the Twilight series 12 times and seen the movie 8 times! Now what? If you can't get enough of the supernatural world, romance, and excitement...I've got the answer. Find a great book on one of the library's booklists. Start with If you like Twilight... A booklist filled with fantastic vampire and supernatural romance books. Like:
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb



Happy Reading!

Weekend Events in Shorewood

The Shorewood Showcase is this weekend, December 5th and 6th at 8 p.m. Enjoy an amazing talent show while supporting AFS and SHS Drama. To reserve tickets go to the Shorewood School District site.

Also going on this weekend is the 29th Annual Shorewood Arts and Craft Fair. Stop by Atwater Elementary School on Sunday, December 7th from 10-4 for great gifts.

Marley & Me: The Movie

That wild, yet lovable dog, Marley, is coming to the big screen! If you fell in love with Marley after reading John Grogan's bestselling book Marley and Me or the kids version Marley: A Dog Like No Other, then wait until you see the movie! Watch the trailer and read the book!

Twilight Movie Update

Thanks to a $70 million box office opening weekend, the second Twilight movie is now in the works! Yes, that's right, Summit Entertainment has stated New Moon, the second book is the Twilight series, will be made into a movie. Check out Stephenie's site for more info!

Gaming Madness

We've got Gaming Madness at the library!

Last weekend we celebrated National Gaming Day with Mario Kart and lots of fun board games. And gave away some cool prizes.

Coming up in December, February, and March we're having Mario Kart Tournaments. It's your chance to race for great prizes, including Best Buy and Culver's gift cards!

We'll also have board games like Apples to Apples, Clue, Jenga, and many more available to play during the Tournament.

Check out the gaming page for more info.

National Book Award Winner

I mentioned a few weeks ago the nominees for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The winner has been announced....

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Here's an interview with the author.
Check out the winning title and any of the nominees from the library.

Audiobooks

We've got lots of great YA titles as audiobooks (books on CD and Playaway MP3). Some recent additions to the collection include:

Books on CD:
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Midnight Twins by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Paper Towns by John Green
Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
Smiles to Go by Jerry Spinelli
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Playaways:
Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman

Listen to a great book!

National Gaming Day

Celebrate National Gaming Day with video games and board games, food and fun, at the Shorewood Library. We’ve got Wii Sports and Mario Kart, Clue, Apples to Apple, Chess, Scrabble, Jenga, and much more! Bring your friends and have some fun on Saturday, November 15 from 1-3 p.m. Open to students in 5th-12th grade.

See you for Gaming Fun on Saturday!

Read-A-Thon

The Shorewood Library Teen Advisory Board Read-A-Thon fundraiser was a great success! A total of $314 was given to the Shorewood Intermediate School Library to purchase Playaway audio books. That is $157 from Read-A-Thon fundraising and $157 in matching funds from the Friends of the Shorewood Public Library.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated and generously donated money! Your involvement is greatly appreciated.

What I'm Reading: Dystopian Fiction

Thanks to a member of the Teen Advisory Board who recommended this wonderful book, I've found one of my favorite novels of 2008!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is an amazing work of dystopian fiction. Set in a futuristic North America, the capital, Panem, controls the 12 districts with authoritarian rule. Every year two teens from each district are chosen via lottery to participate in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death that brings glory and wealth to the winner and their district. The "tributes" must endure harsh natural obstacles, finding food, water, and shelter; all while being hunted by the other tributes. Katniss Everdeen volunteers for the Games to save her younger sister, who was chosen from the lottery. Thus begins Katniss's journey from the depths of poverty to the opulence of the capital to the frightening reality that is the Hunger Games.

Other great YA dystopian novels I've read:
The Giver by Lois Lowry

Uglies; Pretties; Specials; and Extras by Scott Westerfeld

Feed by M.T. Anderson

The Declaration by Gemma Malley

The Silenced by James DeVita

Teens' Top Ten 2008

More award information to announce!
The Teens' Top Ten for 2008 have been selected. The Teens' Top Ten is an award voted on by teens from around the country during Teen Read Week in October.

Here are this year's winners:

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

National Book Award

The National Book Award finalists for 2008 have been announced! The finalists in the "Young People's Literature" category, which includes youth and teen fiction, are:

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

The winner will be announced on November 19.

Teen Read Week

This week is Teen Read Week, a national initiative sponsored by the American Library Association to promote teens and reading.

Here at the library we promote teens and reading everyday! We have book groups, an online newsletter of new teen books, a Summer Reading program, tons of great books, and special events happening all the time.

This year to celebrate Teen Read Week, the library's Teen Advisory Board is sponsoring a Read-A-Thon!

So find a great YA book and celebrate Teen Read Week!

TAB Read-A-Thon

The Teen Advisory Board is "Reading to Raise Money" for the Shorewood Intermediate School library and your invited to help!

Here's how it works:
1. Pick up a Donation Form (or print it from our website)
2. Ask for donations
3. Come to the Read-A-Thon on Saturday, October 18th
4. READ
5. Turn in the donation money to the Shorewood Public Library by Sunday, October 26, 2008
6. All donations will be given to the SIS library for the purchase of Playaway audio books.

The day of the Read-A-Thon will include FOOD and PRIZES!

So go ahead, raise money for a great cause and have fun reading!

Banned Books Week

This week is Banned Books Week, a time to focus on freedom of speech, the meaning of censorship and celebrating the freedom to read.

The American Library Association tracks challenges to books across the country and each year lists the 10 most frequently challenged books. ALA also has lists of the top 10 challenged authors, the top 100 banned/challenged books from 2000-2007, and many others.

The books on the list may surprise you. Take a look and celebrate your freedom to read!

What I'm Reading: Graphic Novels

Just a few graphic novel recommendations!

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (ages 12+)
Award winning graphic novel about the struggles of being perceived as different. Tells three interrelated stories: being the only Chinese American boy at a new school, a Chinese fable about the Monkey King, and about being embarrassed by a stereotypical Chinese relative.

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (ages 14+)
Combines both Persepolis books in one volume. Follows Marjane from childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution through adolescence in Europe and her return to Tehran for college.

Miki Falls by Mark Crilley (ages 12+)
On a lighter note, Miki Falls is about the romance between Miki and Hero, a boy with secrets...a boy who might not be human. For anyone who loves a supernatural romance.

Letters About Literature

Have you ever read a book that changed your life? Created a strong emotional impact? Or made you think seriously about an issue? If so, now is your chance to write a letter to the author of that book. Let them know how much their novel, poetry collection, play, etc. made an impact on you. The Library of Congress and Target are sponsoring a contest called Letters About Literature. Write a letter to the author of the work you made a personal connection with, send it to the Letters About Literature competition, and you could win a $500 Target gift card and $10,000 for your local school or public library.

Entry forms are available at the Shorewood Library or online at www.lettersaboutliterature.org.

Good luck!

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

One of my favorite books of 2006 was Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. And now it's being released as a movie next month starring the amazing Micheal Cera and Kat Dennings. Check out the trailer and check out the book!

What I'm Reading: Realistic Fiction

I wanted to share a few good realistic fiction books I've read lately.

She's So Money by Cherry Cheva

Maya's always been the good girl; studies hard and gets good grades all while helping her family at their Thai restaurant. Then Maya makes a huge mistake at the restaurant, hides it from her parents, and gets into deep trouble with local hottie Camden King.


Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley

Snowboarder, Syrah, has long been defined by her father, a cell phone billionaire. After an accident that prevents Syrah from snowboarding, she begins to find a new life that allows her to step out from her father's shadow and show everyone the real Syrah Cheng.


The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman

Katie and her sister Michaela do everything together. That is until they move from New York City to small town Fir Lake and Michaela becomes Miss Popularity. Katie misses the city, her friends, and ballet, but not as much as she misses her sister.

Fall Book Groups

There are two great book groups that run during the school year.

The 6th-8th Grade Book Group has a planning meeting on September 26 to share book ideas and plan the selections for the rest of the year. If you're in 6th-8th grade feel free to stop by. We meet at 7 p.m. in the lower level meeting room of the village center/library.

The other book group we offer is for high school students. Our 9th-12th Grade Book Group meets once a month at 6 p.m. to talk about a variety of interesting books. On September 9th we'll be sharing everything we loved and hated about Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer!

And did I mention...there is always food!

Summer 2008 Prize Winners

We had a great summer here at the library!

Catch the Reading Wave: Teen Summer Reading
-- 184 teens signed up for Catch the Reading Wave
-- over 310,000 pages were read this summer by teens
-- we gave away over $300 worth of prizes

Congratulations to the Winners!
Arwen B.
Anthony S.
Chloe K.
Grace P.
Jay T.
Ben S.
Angela S.
Sarah F.
Ana-Maria R.
Namrata T.
Rachel B.
Katie H.
Ronnie E.
John S.
Esther P.
Laura G.
Katie K.
Sally S.
Chara Y.
Menachem K.
Myra W.
Grace F.
Kimberly P.

Thanks for an amazing summer!

Teens' Top Ten

Voting for the Teens' Top Ten is coming up in October! You've still got time to read the nominations before you cast your vote for the best teen books of 2008!

In case you're wondering the Teens' Top Ten is an award created and voted on by teens across the country. Selected book groups create the nomination list and during Teen Read Week in October, teens around the country vote for the books they love.

Interested in what books won in past years? Here are the Teens' Top Ten for 2007, 2006 and 2005.

Info about voting for this years winners will be posted soon.

Pandora

Looking for a radio station that always plays the songs you like? And may introduce you to some great new artists? Pandora is an amazing way to listen to music online. You create your stations based on the bands and singers you love, then Pandora finds similar music by a variety of artists. Check out their site to learn more about this fantastic, and free, online community.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

The second Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie comes out in theaters today! Another addition to a summer of great movies.

Wordle

Just something fun. Wordle is a cool way to create word clouds. Here's an example using words from our del.icio.us site, ShorewoodLibrary.Teen.

Breaking Dawn

The fourth book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer is coming out in less than a month! To celebrate the library is having a Breaking Dawn Release Party on Friday, August 1 from 5-8:30 p.m. We'll talk about the books and the movie, play Twilight Trivia to win great prizes, make t-shirts, and enjoy pizza and other treats!

And if you're interested in continuing the fun, several bookstores are having midnight release parties.

Milwaukee's local bookstore, Schwartz Bookshop, is having a Breaking Dawn Prom!

If you can't get tickets to the prom, check out Barnes and Noble's event for another opportunity to meet local Twilighters and get your copy of Breaking Dawn.

Have fun!

Teen Summer Event Info

There are tons of events going on this summer for students entering 7th-12th grade!

Sign-up for Teen Summer Reading for your chance to win great prizes.

Enjoy pizza and a great book discussion during Pizza and Pages Book Group. There are four books to choose from including: Peak by Roland Smith; Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham; Airman by Eoin Colfer; and The Luxe by Anna Godbersen. Registration is required, stop by the library or sign-up online.

Attention all Twilight fans! To celebrate the release of Breaking Dawn, the library is having a Breaking Dawn Release Party! On Friday, August 1 from 5-8:30 p.m. we'll play Twilight Trivia to win great prizes, decorate t-shirts, enjoy some great food, talk about this amazing series and lots more. Registration is required; stop by the library to pick up a form or print it.

And a little something for the gamers. For the first time the library is offering open play events. We'll have a Wii and an Xbox set up with DDR, Wii Sports, Mario Kart and Rock Band! No registration is required, simply have fun with your friends playing some awesome games on a big screen TV!

See you at the library this summer!

Movie Trailers

Two great books are coming out as movies in the next couple of months. I just saw the trailer for the new Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie and it looks like fun!

And for you Twilight fans, the trailer is finally here! And check out this MTV video with people's reactions to the Twilight teaser trailer.

Summer 2008

I have been so exclusively focused on Teen Summer Reading and planning our summer events, I haven't had a chance to post in a while. As I'm still wrapped up in summer I thought I'd share a preview of what's coming up!

Teen Summer Reading has a great coupon prize package with coupons from a variety of local stores and restaurants including: City Market, Jimmy Johns, Hollywood Video, Stone Creek Coffee and many more!

We've also got some fun events coming this summer: back by popular demand is the Pizza and Pages Book Group, new this summer is Movie Talkers, a movie discussion group for high school students, for all the Twilight fans we're having a Breaking Dawn release party, and for the gamers we'll have open play on the Wii and Xbox.

More info coming soon!

Celebrate Earth Day Everyday

Earth Day

It's Earth Day tomorrow, April 22. To get in the spirit here are a few reading recommendations.

Exodus by Julie Bertagna
Mara struggles to save her village and other refugees from the rising ocean.

They Came From Below by Blake Nelson
Two girls learn a lot about global pollution from two out-of-this world guys.

The Final Warning: A Maximum Ride novel by James Patterson
While on a mission to save the planet from global warming, Maximum Ride must also protect her friends.

Teen, Inc. by Stefan Petrucha
Jaiden takes a stand against the corporation that raised him when he learns they are illegally polluting.

Hoot and Flush by Carl Hiaasen
Both novels deal with environmental issues, including endangered animals and water pollution.

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
The classic children's story of pollution.

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore
Watch the movie and read the book.

The library owns all of these books, so stop in and pick one up to celebrate Earth Day!

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

One of my favorite authors, E. Lockhart, has a great new book out, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and it’s definitely one of her best. Frankie, known to her family as “bunny rabbit,” is a seemingly sweet, innocent, rather nerdy sophomore at Alabaster Prep School. Not your typical criminal mastermind, but Frankie is much smarter and more determined than anyone ever knew. Shortly after she begins dating her crush, Matthew, a popular senior, she realizes he is lying to her about why he cancels dates and where he’s spending his time. She finds out Matthew is a member of a secret society that she is excluded from because she’s a girl. Feeling the forces of new love while resisting her exclusion from the group; Frankie comes up with a clever and diabolical plan. She will show her family, Matthew, and all of Alabaster Prep that she may look sweet and innocent, but she’s not a bunny rabbit!

FreeRice

Improve your vocabulary and have some fun, all while donating rice through the UN World Food Program to help alleviate hunger around the world. For each word you correctly match with its synonym, Freerice.com will donate 20 grains of rice. Since it began in October of 2007 Free Rice has donated 26,483,813,110 grains of rice! With your help that incredible number can continue to grow and more people will get much needed sustenance. So have fun at Freerice.com, an amazing way to better yourself while making the world a better place.

A Few Good Books

I've read a few good fantasy & sci-fi books lately...

A book group member recommended Hawksong by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. It's the first in a fantasy series about humans who can change into animals. Danica is the leader of the Avians, a group that turns into birds, and will do whatever is necessary to stop the war between her race and the Serpiente, a group that turns in snakes. Exciting and ultimately quite romantic.

The Declaration by Gemma Malley is an exciting dystopian novel about a teenage girl who lives in a society where drugs allow people to live forever and having children is against the law. She is an illegal "surplus" being trained as a servant when she discovers her birth parents are looking for her. Anna must choose between the life she knows and breaking the law to be with her family. A fascinating look into a possible future.

If you like Eragon, you'll love Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan. Will, an orphan, longs to go to Battle School to become a knight, like his father who died in battle. But when it comes time for a job to be assigned, Will is apprenticed as a Ranger, a mysterious group of spies. Through intense training, Will learns about being a Ranger and protecting the kingdom from the terror of Morgorath. Action-packed and the beginning of a great series.

del.icio.us

del.icio.us is a great way to bookmark and share your favorite sites. Check out the library's favorites at http://del.icio.us/shorewoodlibrary.teen. Find something fun, get homework help, find answers to your health questions and lots more.

Where do you like to hang out online? Let me know and I'll add it to our favs.

Brisingr - the third Eragon book

The third book in the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini has been announced. Brisingr, the sequel to Eragon and Eldest, will be released in September 2008. Only a few months to wait!

Check out the Inheritance series online for more info.

Update for Twilight Fans

The Host, Stephenie’s adult science-fiction book, will be released on May 6, 2008.

Eclipse Special Edition will be released on Saturday, May 31, 2008. The special edition will include the first chapter and cover art for Breaking Dawn.

Breaking Dawn will be here on Saturday, August 2, 2008!

And the Twilight movie is coming to theaters on December 12, 2008!

If you want to place a request for either The Host or Breaking Dawn email me at splteen@mcfls.org or place the hold through CountyCat.