More Award Winners

Two great teen book awards were announced today...the Printz Award for outstanding YA fiction and the Morris Award for best new YA author.

The Printz Award winner is Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta.
The Printz Honor books are:
Nation by Terry Pratchett
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson

The Morris Award winner is A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce. The Morris shortlist books are:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Absolute Brightness by James Lecesne
Madapple by Christina Meldrum
Me, the Missing, and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

In other award news The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman won the Newbery Medal.

Happy Reading!

The Knife of Never Letting Go

There are times when I pick up a book and get so completely involved in the story I have to pull myself out of the fictional world in order to function in the “real world.” Those are also the books I’m most unhappy to see end. I love to find out what happens, but can’t bear to leave the characters. Luckily, The Knife of Letting Go by Patrick Ness is the first in a series; so, feel free to get involved knowing there are more stories to come.

Set in a world filled with “noise” Todd is constantly bombarded by the thoughts of men. Todd lives in a secluded community of only men as the women have died from a mysterious disease that allows the men to hear each other’s thoughts and killed all the women. Or so Todd has been told. When Todd meets Viola, a girl his age, alone in the swamp, he begins to question everything he knows. Where did Viola come from? Why hasn’t she been infected? Why can’t he hear her “noise?” After Todd saves Viola from being killed by a man from his town, the two set off to find another community that may protect them. Accompanied by Todd’s faithful dog, Manchee, the two must learn to trust each other if they hope to survive and find answers to their questions.

A truly extraordinary novel. Let me know what you think!

Morris Award for New YA Authors

The American Library Association has a new award, the Morris Award, that will honor the best work of teen fiction by a first time author. The 2009 shortlist includes two of my favorite books of 2008, Graceling by Kristin Cashore and Madapple by Christina Meldrum, along with three other books that sound great! The winner from this shortlist will be announced at the end of January.

And if you like to read award winners, don't forget the Printz Award will also be announced in just a few weeks. While you wait for the results try one of the Teens' Top Ten winners or one of the National Book Award winners.

Art & Writing Contest

Here's your chance to win great CASH prizes, have your art work displayed, and your writing published! The 5th annual Art & Writing Contest is going on right now; submit your original art or writing to the library for your chance to win $50, $25, or $10 cash and gain some recognition.

Complete rules and entry forms are available in the library and online.

Good luck!

Milwaukee Bucks Reading Challenge

Do you love BASKETBALL? How about READING? Did you know you can get a FREE TICKET to a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game just by reading?!

Simply sign up at your local library for the Milwaukee Bucks Reading Challenge. Then get reading to earn a free ticket to a Bucks home game! The program is open to all students in 3rd-10th grades.

Become an ALL-STAR READER in the Milwaukee Bucks Reading Challenge!

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!