Upcoming Reviews....

Now that Spring break is in full swing I'm hoping to have time to sit at computer and write some reviews for some great books I have read lately. As you can tell I like to mix up new ones with a few old ones. On the list is the following:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Schooled by Gordon Korman
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewster
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
Spud by John van de Ruit
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Shift by Jennifer Bradbury

Currently on my bookshelf to read during Spring Break is-
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Paper Towns by John Green
Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Away Laughng On A Fast Camel by Louise Rennison

The reason I'm here.....

I started this blog with two goals in mind. First, is to give the teenagers that come into my library a place to go to get more information about books they are thinking about reading and to talk about books they either love or hate.
When I started working at my library I noticed that with the exception of using the computers the teens in our town do not really use the library. Once I looked at our old out dated books I began to understand why. We have books on the shelf that date back to the 1950s-no joke. So I have begun a quest of sorts....to bring teens back into the library and discover what they would like to read. This is my second goal. I'm exploring different ways to get teens in the door and maybe keep them coming back for more. I would love to have some game nights, pizza and book discussions and anything else that they would like. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

Gamer Girl

Just finished Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi. Recommended by a girl that lives for daily doses of Rune Scape. I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to get into it because I know practically nothing about online gaming. Turns out I had nothing to stress about because the story was very easy to fall into.
Maddy Starr is forced to leave her exclusive private school and friends when her mother suddenly decides to leave her father and start a new life in a small town outside of Boston. To make matters worse they move in with her crazy grandma. Unfortunately on Maddie's first day at her new school crazy grandma insists on not only picking out her clothes but also taking her to school. Of course her and grandma run into a crowd of popular kids and Maddy is immediately labeled "freak girl".
As Maddy struggles to find new friends and come to gripes with her parents split she becomes involved with a role playing online computer game called Fields of Fantasy. Her game character is her complete opposite, a beautiful, confident, brave elf named Allora. The plot thickens as she meets a mysterious knight -Sir Leo who seems so charming online but keeps pressuring her to meet in person.
Fields of Fastasy becomes Maddy's escape as she deals with the truth behind her parents divorce and the constant hell that her new school has become.
Can Maddy learn to stand up for herself and face her fears? Can she find a way to fit into her new school? Will she decide to meet Sir Leo in person even though she's been warned of the dangers of online predators?
Check out Gamer Girl and find out for yourself.......

I liked this book, it was a little predictable but still a good story with a solid, likeable character. I would recommend Gamer Girl to readers 12 and up.

This book is available at the Salmon Public Library.

The Earth, My Butt and other Big Round Things

I just finished The Earth, My Butt and other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler. It was published in 2003 and won a Printz award.
It came highly recommended from a group of 8th grade girls my son hangs out with.

The main character Virginia Shreves is a plus size high schooler who lives by the "fat girl code of conduct."
She feels out of place in what she calls her picture perfect family. She is unable to communicate with her mother who happens to be a adolescent psychologist, her busy jet setting father who leers at young hot bodies, her popular older brother that her parents worship and a beautiful, skinny sister who has run off to Africa.
Just when things couldn't get worse her very best friend moves across the country to Walla Walla, Washington so her parents can write a book about onions.

One phone call changes everything she thought she knew about her family and her self.
Virginia is a girl that is very easy to relate to if you remember all the ups and downs of high school drama. I loved being dropped in the middle of her complicated life and watching her grow through out the book. She slowly comes into her own as she figures out a way to deal with not only her own issues but her not so perfect family's issues. Her anger and frustrations felt very real and I liked that her transformation doesn't happen over night.
Good book! I would recommend this book for readers 13 and up. There are some sexual situations to be aware of.

This book is available at the Salmon Public Library.