YA
If this girl had a wishbone…what would she hope for?
It’s Monday! What are you reading?
A face, masked in cobalt feathers, has been haunting my reading life for a couple of years now. I think the first time I encountered it, I was browsing the teen section at the local book store, my soy chai latte in hand. I picked it up that day, ran my fingers over the images of the feathers thinking that I might feel their soft, glossy texture. I remember a tangible chill that ran up the length of my fingers and the length of my arm. Then, I put it down.
Since that day, the enigmatic mask and daring gaze caught me now and then as I straightened shelves, pulled books out of the return bin, and even placed it in to the hands of one of my avid fantasy readers.
“Have you ever asked yourself,do monsters make war, or does war make monsters? I’ve seen things, angel. There are guerrilla armies that make little boys kill their own families. Such acts rip out the soul and make space for beasts to grow inside. Armies need beasts, don’t they? Pet beasts, to do their terrible work! And the worst part is, it’s almost impossible to retrieve a soul that has been ripped away. Almost.”
Daughter of Smoke and Bone and its sequel, Days of Blood and Starlight completely captured my reading imagination, leaving my heart hurting for the present political and humanitarian situation in Syria, and compelling me to get my hands on my own wishbone.
This YA fantasy series by National Book Award author Laini Taylor is Romeo and Juliet, Aida, and Paradise Lost--but it also reads, to me, as a marvelous commentary on contemporary tensions and turmoils filling the CNN and MSNBC newsfeed this past week.
I do not pretend to understand, nor have I really sought understanding in regards to the present situation in Syria. It honestly hurts my heart to do so. When I find my mind grappling with the myriad of political commentary, ethical analysis, and presidential criticism, my son’s face surfaces in my mind, and I freeze at the thought of the world that he is inheriting.
Karou, the heroine of Daughter of Smoke and bone finds herself in the middle of an ancient battle between good and evil–but, of course, who the real demons are is in the eye of the beholder.
Here’s the thing that I love most about extraordinary Young Adult works–they allow teens to explore, experience, and process situations and questions in a safe context. Many teens will gravitate this series for the unmistakable star-crossed lovers and first love; but, many–I believe–will find that this little work of fantasy has a lot to contribute to in the way they choose to respond to their generation’s greatest conflict: hate.
“You have only to begin, Lir. Mercy breeds mercy as slaughter breeds slaughter. We can’t expect the world to be better than we make it.”
Reel Reading for Real Readers: Summer Lovin’ Book Picks
Reel Reading for Real Readers will be taking it’s own summer vacation over at threeteacherstalk.com, but we’ll keep the summer reading fun rolling here :-).
A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay
When sheltered American good girl Allyson “LuLu” Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.
Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon! (Goodreads.com)
When I truly love a book, I put off the inevitable end. True to form, I am holding steady in a landing pattern fifty pages until the end, stealing myself to end my journey Forman’s latest teenage Odyssey.
Reel Reading for Real Readers: October Mourning
Visit Three Teachers Talk for more book trailers for teens every Thursday and join in the meme!
It’s April and the display ideas, special events and activities, and poetry slams are blowing up the school library blogosphere. We love National Poetry Month.
Today’s book trailer features a novel told through verse, October Mourning, that relates the events of October 6th, 1998 when gay teenager, Mathew Shephard, was lured from a bar, savagely beaten, tied to a fence post, and left to die. Leslea Newman employs multiple points of view and verse to create a poignant homage and raise awareness of the tragedy.
Sometimes, poetry is the only means to express what our hearts are feeling. Sometimes, poetry can turn the darkest, ugliest, most tragic moments into opportunities for personal and spiritual growth.
Book Review: When You Were Here by Daisy Whitney
“When someone you love has died, there is a certain grace period during which you can get away with murder. Not literal murder, but pretty much anything else.”
I’ve never lost someone close to me to cancer. Most of my loved ones who have passed have been from the older generation (great aunts, grandparents, etc.). In this respect, I count myself very lucky.
The aching reality is that so many of our teens are living with cancer, living with a parent who has cancer, or living with the loss of someone close to them to cancer. In 2012, John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars beautifully portrays two teens whose friendship-turned-romance strives to overcome the daily battle of cancer remission and regression. Augustus and Hazel bring lighthearted quip and literary banter into a very serious and sad scenario: two teens living with cancer and falling in love.
But, this review isn’t about The Fault in Our Stars. Daisy Whitney (The Mockingbirds) has crafted her own lovely story of Danny, a California teen who has lost his dad to a tragic accident and his mother to cancer. This is not just another “cancer book.”
When You Were Here (Little Brown, June 2013) is a travelogue that takes its reader on a physical journey to Japan where we become part of Danny’s emotional and spiritual journey of healing.
Danny’s journey begins when a letter arrives from Japan offering condolences and seeking guidance in removing and disposing of Danny’s mother’s medications from their Tokyo apartment. A seed is planted, and he embarks on aquest to unravel the mystery of his mother’s rapid decline and confront the man who was her last hope and healer.
I thoroughly enjoyed how Tokyo and its diverse neighborhoods and occupants portrayed the dynamic intersection of Western high-tech influences (i.e., robot-manned ice cream stands) and ancient Eastern philosophy and spiritualism (a temple made famous for its healing tea). Quirky Kana embodies this with her Harajuku-style and Buddhist spiritualism. Kana becomes Dana’s spiritual guide and companion.
This story is about death and love, true, but for me it is about the intersection of the two–healing. How do we heal the rift in our hearts, souls, and minds when we lose a loved one either to death or parting? How can two people help to facilitate that healing process when loss can become a major barrier between them?
I’m having a hard time letting go of Danny. Since I finished it, there have been several moments each day when I want to reach for When You Were Here to pass it on to a colleague or student who I know needs it. Those are the special books; the ones that will always be in circulation; the ones students come back and whisper to me how much it meant to them–and this one will definitely secure a place on that list.
Reel Reading for Real Readers: The New Demon Hunter on the Block
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for some YA movie trailers! Jump on over to Three Teachers Talk for more exciting book trailers!
At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.
Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.
But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.
As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that? (Goodreads.com)
It’s Monday! What are you reading? 3/18/13 (The Evening Edition)
I don’t have much to report this past week (sad face). But I did manage to finish one book and a brand-spanking new shipment of books did arrive in the library today with more expected this week, so my TBR list is about to sky-rocket!
Books I read:
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| Hardcover–which I much prefer. Suits the tone and mood of the book with the rough-hewn dress and sans make-up |
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| Mary in smoky-eye and blackliner? I don’t think so paperback cover. |
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. I am a self-professed M. Night Shamylan fan and as I mentioned in last week’s report, I was really excited by the The Village-esque quality to this story. I don’t know how I feel about the protagonist, however…I’m getting a “I’m a choosy girl who has two great guys who adore me and I just don’t know what I want so I’m going to let my indecisiveness destroy everyone around me” vibe. But, Mary does have some difficult decisions that I know all seventeen-year-old girls can relate to:
Do I believe what I’ve always been told and conform to what’s expected of me?
Do I leave the familiar but limiting community I’ve grown up in to face the dangers of the unknown and risk being even more alone than I am now?
Do I choose the boy who makes me feel like I’m burning or the one who has the constant source of warmth?
Do I run into a forest of flesh-eating zombies, many of whom were once my neighbors and relatives, or do I hide on a platform indefinitely?
I mean, come on…who wouldn’t relate?!
Books I’m Reading:
Books to read:
It’s Monday! What are you reading? 3/11/13
It’s a very special Monday–Spring Break Monday–which means that I am sneaking in a quick post in between car inspections, tire rotations, and a bathroom remodel.
Last week I neglected my favorite day of my blogging week but for good reasons; I am now a GREAT aunt! Between the arrival of a new baby and three classes of seniors researching in the library for the last two weeks I am “knackered” (to quote the characters from one of my favorite reads these past two weeks). So, here is my reading report for the last two weeks:
Books I finished:
Yes, this is a big one–Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake. And, I really enjoyed it. Granted it was full of horror and ghosts and gore, all of the things I try my hardest to avoid. I was completely captured, however and promptly passed it on to as many patrons as I could find. I even included it in my Romeo and Juliet book talk, likening the star-crossed Anna and Cas to Shakespeare’s quintessential teen lovers.
P.S.– apparently Stephenie Meyer is producing a film adaptation of Blake’s gothic romance.
I also read Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray. I enjoyed this contemporary re-make of Ophelia’s experiences growing up in the midst of Elsinore’s family drama, but I found myself feeling detached to the heroine rather than empathetic in the end.
And finally, The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer Smith (sigh). Confession: Sears has commercial called “Connecting Flights,” a spoof on the romantic comedy flick. But, every time I see it , I am secretly wishing that it really were a film! The trailer begins with two professional bloggers who meet in the airport when their flights have been cancelled, thus ensuing a comedy of errors-adventure, resulting in true love. This book is that movie, but better! Jen talks about her thoughts regarding the emotional layers to this book, and I absolutely agree.
And now I must shamelessly scour the internet for any reports of an upcoming film adaptation…
Books I’m reading:
The Forrest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. This series has been sitting on my TBR shelf for about a year now, but I’m really enjoying it. It has a definite M. Nnight Shyamalan’s The Village feel to it. My mind has already robed all of the characters in mustard yellow and bright red.
Books to read:
I should be binge reading this week, but I have wracked up a “honey-do-list” for myself this week. I will most likely continue with Ryan’s series and move through The Dead Tossed Waves and The Dark and Hollow Places. It’s Monday! What are you reading?
Reel Reading for Real Readers: Sometimes you need something sweet
Join Amy and Heather over at threeteacherstalk.com for more fantastic YA book trailers to share with teen readers every Thursday.
There was a little paperback book with a simple black and white photograph of a couple kissing with a cool title that made huges waves at my book fair last fall. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith is the perfect cure for your reading sweet tooth. Like Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Elizabeth Scott, Smith writes a simple, honest, sweet book about love. But don’t let her simplicity fool you.
Reel Reading for Real Readers: Bad Girls Don’t Die
Teens love horror. Is it because they are adrenaline junkies or truly that masochistic? Either way, they flock to the latest slasher/ paranormal/ serial killer flick like bees to honey, drawn by the promise of a horrifying and thrilling time.
I find that with many of my teens who are brought, most of the time unwillingly, into the library to check out a book, I’m able to hook them with the promise of “this is so scary! Don’t read it at night or you’ll have seriously crazy dreams!”
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake has opened my eyes to the realm of teen horror. This morning I was reading it while standing at the circulation desk (no judgment, I’m in the last few chapters), completely engulfed by the action and drama, when I (very loudly and unaware of my surroundings) let slip “oh my god this is so freakin’ scary!” Sixty senior heads popped up from their workstations and stared. “Well it is!” I shook the book at them, “I mean just check out the title and book cover!” They nodded in assent and returned to their research, sharing a brief moment of understanding of how one can become totally involved in a scary moment that leads to such an outburst.
Later, I spent some time walking around looking for titles that I knew my horror-loving students passed around and recommended and found Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender. When I book talk this one all I have to say is, “Look at the cover. Doesn’t it remind you of The Grudge or something?” And, that’s all I’ve been able to get through–the cover. I’m such a scaredy-cat.
The sequel was released this year, From Bad to Cursed. Creepy!
Sometimes it helps to remember that the way to some teen readers’ hearts is through a little bit of creepy-crawly.
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(Re)Inventing the Librarian 