Friday 5

Okay, I've decided to take a break from reviews today (mainly because radiation is dragging me down and I desperately need a nap). Since I still want to give you some sort of reading suggestion for the day, I decided to make it a "Friday 5" day and include the 5 books I am currently reading. Yes, I really do have 5 books started right now (actually, probably a few more than that, but admitting to having eight or ten started at once scares me).

(1) Audible app: Abandon by Meg Cabot (the first in a series). I only skimmed this one when it first came out and now I really wanted to take some time with it. Yep, it really is as good as I thought. I'm almost done, and now fear I'm addicted to the series. 

(2) Actual book: Discovering Wes Moore. Autobiography based on his adult title "The Other Wes Moore." I purchased this for our library this summer and since it was sitting in a box in my family room, I figured I should read it before school starts. LOVE it!

(3) Kindle app: Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking by Erin Dionne. This has been the summer for me to reclaim my childhood by reading teen/tween books that remind me of my favorite books growing up. Reminiscent of "From the Mixed-Up Files..." as well as titles by Blue Balliett, with a little National Treasure thrown in. Really fun read so far.

(4) Bluefire app: Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young. Publishers are starting to do egalleys now (sad for my students since I can't share them), but I do still get to read them and don't have to pack them around with me. I can't wait to tell you all about this one. This is the one that I've been staying up late reading the past two nights.

(5) Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin. This galley (actually one that is not electronic) is always in my purse and I take it with me to radiation every day. Unfortunately, the radiation technicians are so on-time that I usually only have a minute or two to read it, which means that I am only a few chapters in. This has been getting lots of advance love and praise, so I'm hoping to finish it soon.

Those are my Friday reads...what are you reading???

Best Fiction Teen Feedback Session

One of the best parts of being on Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA) is the opportunity to hear from teens who have read the nominated books. In my school, this is an ongoing process throughout the year where kids fill out a bookmark-sized review form about nominated and eligible titles. As part of the committee meetings, this happens during the "Teen Session," a time where local teen book groups are brought in to give their opinions about the nominated titles.

I LOVE this two hour session at each conference, and am always madly taking notes on my iPad, trying to get down each and every word. Teens speak about their favorite books from all the nominated titles (you can find the current list here). One of the curious things this time were the books that the teens did not speak about: "What Happened to Goodbye" (Dessen), "The Last Little Blue Envelope" (Johnson), "Cryer's Cross" (McMann) are just a few top authors that none of the teens spoke about. After being surprised by this for a little while, I realized that it was probably because of the last minute publication date/nomination date of most of these titles. Students probably hadn't had the opportunity to read the books before the conference. I look forward to hearing teen comments on these titles at Midwinter in Dallas.

Here are some of the teen comments, as close to word-for-word as I could get. I have not included every book that the teens stood up to talk about, but the ones which teens were clearly passionate about. (Exclamation points are included where the decibal lev)el increased). As near as I could tell, all the teens that spoke were in high school.

"Strings Attached" (Blundell): This book stirred up emotions, had love, drama, suspense, and a heartbreaking ending. One of the best books they had ever read. (I'm actually glad to hear this comment, because while I personally enjoyed this book, I was really worried about teen appeal and who the audience for this book would be).

"Beauty Queens" (Bray): Really liked, funny, interesting, wasn't girly, hilarious, comedic, great one-liners. (Yeah! This is one of the books on my Summer Reading suggestions).

"Iron Thorn" (Kittredge): Had nightmares after reading this, dark, interesting, amazing, characters, full of secrets, good gothic fantasy.

"Absolute Value of Mike" (Erskine): Discusses big ideas, loved comedy throughout the book, strive to be your own person. (There was also discussion about how this book is shelved in the children's section of some libraries and the young-looking cover, which does not help with teen appeal).

"Where She Went" (Forman): Author tapped into emotions, lived up to expectations, well-written, different perspective from the first book, perfect ending.

"Exposed" (Marcus): Loved it, accurate description of relationships, not a cheesy ending, loved the poems and only the words necessary were used.

"False Princess" (O'Neal): Loved it!

"Anna and the French Kiss" (Perkins): Classic romance, really like the book. Liked the details about Paris, which helped shape the book. You feel like you are part of the book while you are reading.

"Delirium" (Oliver): Different, unique, shocking ending, stayed up late reading, amazing.

"This Dark Endeavor" (Oppel): Good twist on the Frankenstein story!

"Between Shades of Gray" (Sepetys): Wonderful, good flow, believable characters, loved this book, another side to the World War II story, making you a character through the protagonist, emotionally rattling.

"Running Dream" (Van Draanen): Really liked!

"Blink and Caution" (Wynne-Jones): Liked points of view, really liked book.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Laini Taylor's new book, "Daughter of Smoke & Bone," comes out in September and has already been nominated for Best Fiction.  Even though I haven't read it yet (because one of the teens in my neighborhood stole my advance copy), I am looking forward to reading it!

Last month, at the ALA Conference in New Orleans, Little Brown Books/Hachette Books threw a terrific "launch" party for this book which I was lucky enough to be invited to. It was a such a fun evening, complete with "smoke," masks, fortune tellers, and bone readers. New Orleans was a perfect setting for this event, and it was great to meet the amazing Laini Taylor!

The book promises to be a terrifically creepy read, set in a unique world. "Black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Karou fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out."

By the way, here is a picture of me in my mask from the event. Of course, my daughter confiscated the mask as soon as she found it in my suitcase, so I will never see it again. But it was fun while it lasted!

Have you read the book? I'd love to know what you think...

Summer Reading!

School is FINALLY out...yeah! Those snow days, many of which weren't really snow days, stretched the year out an extra week, but we have survived and made it to SUMMER! Now, if only the sun would cooperate...


If you are looking for good reads for all ages, from Kindergarten through High School (and adult!), check out the EJH Library "Summer Reading" website. The lists are divided by grade level, and students of all ages, reading levels, and interests will find something good to read, I promise. Some will find MANY great books to read. The lists are designed for students "graduating" from the grade levels listed, but some students will also find titles of interest on the lists above and below their grade level. (By the way, the call numbers listed next to each title are the King County Library System call numbers). And if you are a grown up looking for something good to read this summer, start with the High School list. Great titles to choose from!


Stay tuned to the blog throughout the summer. It will be updated daily with "latest and greatest" titles not published in time to be included on the Summer Reading lists. I would LOVE your feedback on books that you've read or books that I should review here! Feel free to comment. We can have our own online book club...

BFYA Reading Challenge, Update #4

,Oh please don't get me started on how far behind I am in my reading. When nominations finally closed, there were 91 books nominated for Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA). Because I was BUSY reading non-nominated titles so that I could complete my summer reading lists for all grades, I got behind! I am going to have to abandon my dream of reading everything before our committee meeting.

However, it's not as bad as you might think. Here's the update:

16 DAYS TO GO

34 BOOKS TO READ (oooh, that does look scary, but there are several weekend days and a LONG plane ride to the meeting).

Of the 34 books to read, I don't have 14 of them, so am unlikely to read them at this point. That brings the number down to 20. That feels better!

So, with the end of school madness, two kids birthdays, Father's Day, and packing for this trip, am I going to make it?

BFYA Reading Challenge, Update #3

If you haven't been keeping up...on Monday, 5/16/11, I began a new reading challenge. At the time, there were 48 nominated books left to read in the 40 days before my committee meeting at ALA in June. Here is an update on my progress:

I swear I've been reading! But I feel like I just can't keep up. Probably doesn't help that this weekend I read 6 books NOT nominated because they were more interesting to me than the ones I should have been reading. Whoops! (A list of those titles will be coming soon...I might even nominate one or two of them).


So, here's where I stand today: 3 more books have been nominated, bringing the total to 80. STOP THIS MADNESS! Luckily the cutoff for nominations is this Sunday, so I'll have almost a month to catch up without more being added to the pile.

Since the last update, I have finished: "Angry Young Man" (Lynch), "The Piper's Son" (Marchetta), "Jasper Jones" (Silvey), and "Bitter Melon" (Chow). I am still listening to "Chime" (Billingsly) though I am counting it as "read" because I'm so close. I also finished "BADD" (Tharp), "The Absolute Value of Mike" (Erskine), "Ten Miles Past Normal" (Dowell), and "Sharks & Boys" (Tracy). WHEW!

I am currently about to start reading "Anna and the French Kiss" by Perkins.

Grand total: 42 books to read in 32 days.

This percentage doesn't seem to be getting any better. However, it is worth noting that I do not currently have a copy of 16 of the titles, and I might not before the meeting. When you subtract these out, it leaves 26 books to read in 32 days. Ooooh, I like that much better!

Thanks for checking in to my updates. I promise reviews of these books this week, hopefully by the weekend. Stay tuned to the BFYA list here. And I would love to know what books are keeping you busy right now!

Someday, in all my free time...

Being on an award committee is nothing new to me...I've been on various national committees that involve lots of reading for years. My favorite one was the SB&F Prize book award for Young Adults, which recognizes outstanding science writing. Excellent non-fiction for children and teens is a passion of mine, and since I am a science major, this award was close to my heart. Unfortunately, in the time since my two year stint on this committee, my non-fiction reading has dramatically dropped off, making me very sad.

Another favorite committee of mine was YALSA's Popular Paperbacks. This award recognizes popular titles to encourage teens to read for pleasure.  What could be better than that?! During my two years on this committee, my complaint was that I was reading (or re-reading) all things older (the books had to be in paperback after all), and that I did not read any new titles during that two years. I feel like there is a gap of great books in the publishing world that I have never read!

Enter my latest award committee, YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA). This award recognizes the best in new fiction for teens published in a 16-month calendar year. I will never complain about not getting to read the new books ever again! However, at this point in the year (voting takes place in early January), all I am reading are the books nominated for the award. If it didn't make the list, then I just don't have the time to read it.

I would really love to find extra time in the day to read all those books that I want to read JUST FOR ME! I know that characters in the books I read do this all the time, so it must be possible. If I were to figure out how, here is a just a small list of books I would love to read:

Virals by Kathy Reichs
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (the sequel to Incarceron, I have had this book in my possession since JUNE, but still haven't had a chance to read it!)
Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter
Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan
King of Ithaka by Tracy Barrett
Charlie Bone and the Red Knight by Jenny Nimmo
The Youngest Templar series by Michael Spradlin
You are Not Here by Samantha Schutz
The Rivalry by John Feinstein
And the list goes on...and on...and on. Every day I come across a new title that went immediately out on the school library shelves before I got a chance to read it.

What about you? What is on your WISH list of books to read from the past couple of years? Have you read any of mine?

Countdown to Mockingjay...And I have to Work?

Just like many of you, I am anxiously awaiting the release of "Mockingjay," Suzanne Collins' last book in The Hunger Games trilogy.  As if you couldn't tell by all the previous blog posts on the book/series/author, or the countdown clock not-so-subtly placed on the right-hand side of the blog.

Here's my problem--I have just realized that the book's release day is my FIRST DAY BACK TO WORK.  What?!  This must be some kind of joke, right?  How can a librarian be expected to work on what is likely to be the biggest "book party" of the year?  And I thought having curriculum night on the premier evening of "Survivor" every year was bad.  This is a whole new level of torture.

So, while I contemplate if this type of event is what sick days are for (joking Principal Olson..he, he, he), I am reminded of a perk of working at the public library through all the years of Harry Potter releases.  Since I worked many Saturdays (and Sundays, it was an awesome work schedule--not), and Scholastic finally got smart and released the books on Saturdays or in the summer (as kids were skipping school to get/read the books), I would have a copy of the book waiting for me when I arrived at work.  And since it was release day, all the library patrons were home reading their own copies.  The library was a quiet, peaceful place to sit with a good book...say, for example, one by J.K. Rowling.  I could make quite a dent on the book by Monday, when all the kids would finally start rolling in again and want to talk to me about what happened to Harry.

But my public library days are long behind me.  In fact, I did get to spend a few joyous days in July 2007 savoring the final Harry Potter book at home, trying not to ignore my own children, and not worrying about work.  "Mockingjay versus Work" though is a whole new dilemma, as I can't imagine anyone being too pleased about my sitting through all the staff meetings with a book in my hand.

So, the work day ends at 3:30pm (I am very grateful I live a mile from the school).  Do not call me, do not text me, do not expect me to cook you dinner.  I will be curled up with a good book, reacquainting myself with my friend Katniss, hoping life works out for her just as it did for my friend Harry. 

Where will you be on August 24th?  Will you be reading "Mockingjay"?  Did you buy a copy, or will you get it from the library?  By the way, there will be multiple copies at school on the first day...in case you haven't read it by then...

Which book are you most looking forward to?

Penguin Publishers, sponsors of a wonderful BFYA Teen Pizza Party at the American Library Association conference in June (see a previous blog post), are currently promoting "Five Amazing Books" over the next 5 months.  They have set up a pretty cool website where you can find out more about each of the books.  Called "Breathless Reads" because "every page will leave you breathless," a different title is highlighted each month.  Check it out.  Which one you are most looking forward to reading?  Do you like this kind of marketing about new books?

And if you are interested, I have advance copies of all of the books except "The Replacement."  Comment if you would like to read one of the other four before they are published...

P.S. Though I am looking forward to reading all of them, I am most excited about "Sapphique," the sequel to "Incarceron" which I loved.  I have not read it yet, even though the book is sitting on my family room table.  It is a treat I am rewarding myself with when I finish the other books in my "must read" pile.  My 14-year-old neighbor highly recommends "Matched" by the way...

I need something good to read!

Okay, that may seem like a ridiculous title for a blog post, considering I currently have SIX BOXES of books stacked up by my front door (and believe me, they are big boxes and taking up lots of space).  Half of the books are brand new from publishers, and the other half are advanced copies that I picked up at the American Library Conference in June.  Surely there is something good to be found in there, right?

Well, the problem is, I can't seem to pick them right now.  All the books that I am picking are just not winning me over.  Now, to be fair, I just gave bags of books to 6 different neighbor kids, and am mailing some excellent suggestions to Ms. LaBrie and Mr. Kaneko.  Perhaps the OUTSTANDING books were in the ones that I picked out for them.  Each of the kids that borrowed books has a variety of reading tastes, from science fiction, vampires, historical fiction, adventure, realistic, and love stories.  And I found many interesting titles for each of them.  Now, to await their reports and critiques!

But for me, I so want to find that one AMAZING book that I feel so passionately about.  The reviews that I have been posting lately are all from books that I read in June, before my Best Fiction (BFYA) meeting in Washington, D.C.  Or they are books that I've already read and gone back to ("Ironman," "Power of One"...see previous blog posts).

For example, I've been reading the same book for 4 days now and am only halfway through.  It sounds great, the premise is interesting, I like the main character...but it is clearly just not keeping my interest.  Hmmm, follow my own advice and stop, or keep going?  There is also the book that I abandoned after 35 or 40 pages.  Again, it sounded so interesting, a fun adventure story perfect for summer (and short!), but I spent the majority of the time wishing the one character would tell the other one to "SHUT UP!" that I just had to stop.  Either that means it is brilliant writing and the character was supposed to annoy me, or it's just not worthy of my time.  (When I put the book down, however, my husband thought I was already done with the entire book...ha, ha, I'm not that much of a speed reader.  Just abandoning the madness)!

It can't be all dark and dismal, right?  While I was still on vacation, I did read some galleys (advanced copies) from those boxes (before I mailed them home).  There were winners, and I guess I will just get to posting those reviews.  Case in point: "Forge" by Laurie Halse Anderson (loved it!!); "Girl, Stolen" by Henry (quite good).

So now I am looking for reading suggestions from you...what do you like?  What should I read?  What have you read and loved this summer?  Perhaps I need to stop looking for AMAZING and settle for good summer read?

In Honor Of...Nelson Mandela's Birthday

Nelson Mandela has long been a hero of mine, and is one of those people that I would love to invite to dinner.  His life story is amazing and inspiring.  Since today is his birthday, and I spent the day (after watching Tour de France coverage of course) watching "The Power of One" (starring Morgan Freeman, Stephen Dorff, and even Daniel Craig).  This movie, set in South Africa in the 1930's and 1940's, is based on the book of the same name by Bryce Courtenay.  An excellent historical fiction novel, about a time/place that we don't often study or read about.

I am constantly amazed (shocked, really) that students I talk to do not know who Nelson Mandela is.  Perhaps they will now after watching World Cup coverage?  If you are looking for a good biography of Mandela, there are MANY to be had.  One that I recommend for junior high students is "Mandela" The rebel who led his nation to freedom," part of the National Geographic World History Biography series. 

Free Audiobooks for Summer!!

Do you like listening to audiobooks?  Would you like to try an audiobook for free?  Each week, from July 1st until September 1st, you can download two totally FREE audiobooks through SYNC http://www.audiobooksync.com/!

Anyone can participate, there's no required sign-up or personal info or credit card needed, the titles are in MP3 format compatible with ANY digital player or computer.  The choices each week are one top Teen book (like "Beastly," "Hunger Games," and "Bloody Jack"), and one top Classic ("Treasure Island," "The Power of One," and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.")  All the directions on how to download the files are on the website, including a "how-to" video.

If you take advantage of this, let me know what you think!  

NEW books I'm excited about reading...

Finally done with the library conference and there were MANY books coming out this fall that I was able to snag an advance copy of.  I can think of many EJH readers that will be anxious to check out "Mrs. Yusko's Secret Stash" on the first day of school!

While I probably picked up 3 boxes of books (the mailman loves me, I'm sure), some of the titles I am MOST excited about are:

Sapphique (Fisher), sequel to Incarceron
Hero (Lupica)
Halt's Peril (Flanagan), Ranger's Apprentice, book #9...Mr. Kaneko has already claimed this one.
Sabotaged (Haddix), Missing, book #3...one of my neighbor girls gets first dibs on this one.
Rivalry: Mystery at the Army-Navy Game (Feinstein)
Dark Song (Giles)
Nightshade (Cremer)
Extraordinary (Werlin)...Ms. LaBrie is first in line for this.
Matched (Condie)
Virals (Reichs)...the first teen book from the author/anthropologist that inspired the tv show "Bones."
Guys Read (Scieszka)...a new collection of short stories for guys--yeah!

Torment (Kate), Fallen, book #2Forge (Anderson), Chains, book #2
A Long Walk to Water (Park)

If you are interested in one of these before school starts, send me an email or comment on this blog and I will send it to you.  Otherwise, come check out all the advance books in the library once school starts!

Spending Time with Authors, part 3!

During the meetings for the Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA) award committee this weekend, local teens came to talk to us about the books that have been nominated.  Prior to talking about the books, one of the publishers hosted a pizza party for the teens with some authors (thank you Penguin!).  On Sunday, we were lucky to have some well-spoken teens sharing their thoughts on books and three terrific authors sharing their stories! 

Andrea Cremer (first-time author of Nightshade), John Green and David Levithan (authors of Will Grayson, Will Grayson) were "on stage" answering questions, telling their stories, and even performing some karaoke straight from the movie "Top Gun."  HILARIOUS!  I wish I had video I could post.

I have an advance copy of Nightshade, which is to be the first book in a trilogy, and I can think of many EJH students that will be anxious to read this book once school starts!  I would recommend Will Grayson, Will Grayson for high school students (you will fall in love with a character named Tiny Cooper, I promise).  You should also look for John Green's An Abundance of Katherines or David Levithan's Wide Awake for those wanting to read more from these two talented authors.

If you ever get the chance to hear any of these authors in person, DO IT!  Always entertaining.  In fact, here is a link to John Green's "Book Nerd Paradise" video of some of his time spent at the library conference...wish he had included the clip of David Levithan singing "You've Lost that Loving Feeling."

Spending Time with Authors, part 2!

More fun with different authors on Sunday! A publisher brunch gave me the opportunity to hear six authors read from their novels (and enjoyed one of the BEST vanilla cupcakes I've ever had).  Each novel is NEW and it is always wonderful hearing from the author and listening to someone else read to you.


Matthew J. Kirby (The Clockwork Three; I can't wait to read this)
Erin Bow (Plain Kate)

Blue Balliett (Danger Box)

Cynthia Lord (Touch Blue; sequel to Rules, which will be our "7th Grade Read" in the fall)
Deborah Wiles (Countdown)
Lucy Christopher (Stolen; nominated for BFYA, for OLDER readers)

Six Day Reading Challenge...update #4

As of 11:03pm on Monday...from the airport, because our plane is delayed.

Books read since Wednesday @ 7pm: 15!
Books currently reading: 1 (actually, I'm listening to it on my iPod)
Books to go: 0!!!!

Number of loads of laundry done: 100 (Okay, not really.  But it sure feels like it)
Number of suitcases packed: 3
Number of military personnel I am currently sitting by: 8
(And we decided that they have pretty cool backpacks.  One would hope there is at least a few perks to that job.  Safe travels all!)

So, even though I only read 15 books, I actually made my goal.  The 16th book that I thought I had to read...I really did not have to.  It is not on our BFYA nominee list, so it will have to wait for later this summer.  My next goal?  I have 10 more books to finish before my award committee meeting on Saturday.  Thank goodness it is a LONG plane ride...

What's your reading goal this summer?????

Six Day Reading Challenge...update!

11am on Friday morning...

Books finished since Wednesday @ 7pm: 5
Books currently reading: 1
Books to go: 10

Number of children's birthdays celebrated: 1
World Cup games watched: 1
World Cup games currently watching: 1
Beginning to wish that we had planned our summer vacation to South Africa!

Enough distractions, back to the reading!

Six-Day Reading Challenge!

I am starting a self-imposed reading exile.  Starting Wednesday evening (school is out--yeah!), I will continue through Monday when we leave for Washington, DC.  My goal?  Finishing all the books I need to read before my award committee meetings so I don't have to pack them...16 books!!  That is not exactly all the books that I have to finish, but there are a few galleys/advance copies that are slim that I've already planned on bringing for the long plane ride.   

I will keep you updated on my progress.  But don't be surprised if I don't post any reviews until I am all done!

I am currently reading...

It has been a couple of days since I updated my reviews. Not that you're interested, but here is why. It is state testing right now and I figured that I would have all the time in the world to read while students were taking their tests. NOT SO! When you have to watch students while they're testing, and get everyone organized, and make sure kids still get a lunch, there really isn't any time to sit and do anything much less read.

So, at various stages this week I have started no less than SEVEN books and have bookmarks in all of them right now to prove it. I'm not sure if it means that none of them are very good or I'm just so scattered this week that nothing is keeping my interest. Whatever the reason, I have probably read the equivalent of 3 books, but have no reviews to report. My goal is to FINISH all of them this weekend. Or to decide they are not worth finishing and give up!