Summer vacation may be drawing to a close, but we haven't seen the end of those high temperatures yet. Still searching for a way to stay cool? Settle down with one of the chilling mysteries from the new teen display at the Blue Springs North Branch, and feel the blood in your veins turn to ice! Whether you prefer your villains with monocles or chainsaws, you will find something to your liking from the wide variety available from MCPL. To get you started, I've included a list of my top picks from a handful of the teen mystery sub-genres.
While many of you may be moaning and groaning, back-to-school is a great time at the library! All the kids who were too busy to visit over the summer suddenly start popping up again. I have parents come in asking for the books you were required to read over the summer, and lots of questions about what to read. You are in luck! There are fans of teen lit at every branch just dying to answer your reader's advisory questions.
Some of my top recommendations this August? (I admit, they are heavily influenced by "Required Reading" lists.)
Guess what time it is! No, not school time. Not Monday Night Football time. Not Halloween time (despite what the stores would have you think). It’s Teens' Top Ten voting time!
Readers looking for a humorous and true-to-life coming-of-age story will find it in L. K. Madigan’s debut novel Flash Burnout. Madigan tells the story of Blake, a high school sophomore who finds himself suddenly immersed in drama as he struggles to juggle the two women in his life: his girlfriend Shannon whom he loves and his best friend and fellow photographer Marissa who needs him.
I, like many of you, used to think that since I was a not-quite-so-young-anymore adult, young adult fiction was not for me. "I am raising a teen", I thought, "I don’t need to be reading about teens. There is quite enough angst in my life". But, after picking up a few YA novels, I realize I couldn’t have been more wrong. YA fiction has become one of my favorite genres.
Speaking on behalf of everyone working in libraries today, I think these are some of our favorite questions. As the holidays grow closer, school vacation starts, and the weather (hopefully) gets colder, it seems like everyone is in the mood for a good book. So in the spirit of upcoming festivities, I’ve put together a quick list of the best, new, and notable books of 2011 so far.
As you may or may not know, MCPL is currently holding its 6 in 12 adult reading challenge. The rules seem easy enough; read six books in twelve months for a chance to win an eReader.
For an avid reader like me, six books seem like a piece of cake. Still, I know there are book lovers out there who wish they could read more but can’t find the time. For those readers, I offer a solution…Why not try a teen book?
Bethany is on Earth! She, Gabriel, and Ivy have been sent from Heaven to help save us from the forces of darkness that grow stronger every day. Their role is to nurture the people of Venus Cove, a sleepy little beach side town. Starting at the high school, Bethany relishes the opportunity to live like a human. She realizes that Xavier Woods, one of the hottest guys in school, is hitting on her. This is wrong, isn't it? Humans and angels are not meant to be together. But whenever she is with him, she feels whole.
In exactly ten days, ten hours, fifty-three minutes, and forty-nine, forty-eight, forty-seven… seconds, this year’s biggest movie (in my completely unofficial and totally biased opinion) will be starting at theaters across the Central Daylight Time zone. Can you believe it?
As a library staff member who works with teens and teen lit all the time, I find myself constantly extolling the value of YA books to adults, whether that’s to my coworkers needing something to display or to customers looking for something to read or even to my friends and family when I’m off the clock. But I realized this morning that I almost never do the reverse, and I’m a little bit ashamed of that.
