Jenn's Picks

Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer;

I'm late to the party on this series of books, I know, but wow, I may make up for it in the sheer force of my obsession. I read these three books through TWICE in the space of about two weeks. For those who may not have read them yet, they are the story of Bella Swan, who's moved to cloudy, rainy, dreary Forks, Washington to live with her dad. In her new town she falls in love with a vampire, finds a new best friend who's a werewolf, and well, adventure follows. If you like vampire / werewolf stories, you might like these. If you like hopelessly gooey, eternally heart-wrenching love stories (wherein the characters say things like "You are my life now....") then you need to read these books ASAP.

Several of of LGPL-ers went to a talk last week about Great New YA books from 2007 and 2008, and we're reading them as fast as we can get our hands on them. Here are some I tried this week:

The Beautiful Miscellaneous by Dominic Smith;

I was drawn to this book, hoping for another "An Abundance of Katherines," and I didn't exactly get what I expected. The story is about a boy, Nathan, who's parents keep hoping he'll show some signs of genius. His dad is a quantum physicist who has a tendency to take him to the Stanford Linear Accelerator for his birthday, rather than Disneyland. Then, Nathan is in a car accident, and when he wakes up he has a photographic memory and a case of synesthesia (which I had already learned about on an episode of "House".) Even still, with his new-found genius, he and his dad still have a hard time. It's not lighthearted, like "An Abundance of Katherines," but still an intriguing read. We've got this on in our adult collection.

Hush : an Irish princess' tale by Donna Jo Napoli.;

This is a hard book to "enjoy" in the strictest sense of the word. It's very well written, and I was thinking about it whenever I wasn't reading it, but it's a rather sad book, all in all. The story starts in Ireland, in the 900s, where Melkorka is an Irish princess. She's captured by a Viking slaving ship, headed for Iceland. While captive, she refuses to speak, and the Vikings think she is a stork / witch. She's comparatively well treated, and she refines her views of slavery, obviously. All in all, I'd say it's worth a read, but maybe be prepared to follow it up with something a little more lighthearted.

Laika by Nick Abadzis ;

Another sad but compelling story. The story of Laika, the dog that was aboard Sputnik II, the first living being in space. A really informative look at the story of Sputnik, and some of the characters involved in building the satellites and working with the animals. Again, grab something light for when when you finish this one.

Week of January 27, 2008

Beastly by Alex Flinn - This veritable page turner hooked me from the start.
It tells the story of Kyle Kingsbury's oh so superficial beauty and the cause for him to be changed into a beast by a being "as old as the ages and young as the dawn..."
Early on, Kyle has been cruel to the less beautiful..."Second grade, you told Terry Fisher that the reason her head was lopsided was because her mother had slamed it in the car door. She cried for an hour."
Enter Kendra, expelled to New York City for being impulsive too often - "turn someone into a frog first, ask questions later." Kyle's now 15 years old - he's matured into someone so "horrible and insensitive" that Kendra (the witch) takes action - "you've used beauty to be cruel to those less fortunate."
The story is interspersed with pages of a chatroom helpline in which Beast is a part; the members include a frog - One can't help but speculate if Kendra had a hand in this as well.
Beauty takes the form of a kindred spirit from a life that superficially looks
quite opposite of Kyle's yet we see as similar.
I'd recommend this story for all teenagers and beyond. It's very well told,
thought out, and adapted for modern times.



The Braid by Helen Frost - An interesting story told in poetic form of a poor Scottish family torn apart in 1850 when they are expelled from their home.
Braids of interwoven hairlocks are exchanged by two of the daughters - "She'd cut the braid close to our heads, tucked half into my hand - You/me/sisters/always."
What I liked best about the story was the poetic form. The words depict situations, bare plot. A lot is happening that's left to the imagination.
If you want a fast paced short book on the immigrant experience, Braid would be a consideration. I'd recommed it for older teens and adults.

Week of January 20, 2008

Safe by Susan Shaw – 13 year old Tracy is attacked and brutally beaten. The person that Tracy had depended on to keep her safe before was her deceased mom. The focus of this short gripping book is how Tracy finds a positive path to heal her broken spirit. It was a good read.

Finding Daddy by Louise Plummer – Mira can’t understand why her mother is mum about the father she doesn’t remember. Nearly 16 years old, she decides to find him herself.
The result is horrific. A real page turner even though
I knew early on why her mother didn’t tell her. - Cheryl

Ada Blackjack, a true story of survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven - An Alaskan Native American in 1921 joins an all male expedition to a remote island off of Russia as their seamstress. The group faces many hardships; its main goal a sham. One explorer had been on another disastrous expedition organized by the same lecturer/adventurer several years before (Ice Master –The doomed 1913 voyage of the Karluk by Jennifer Niven). This time he was not so lucky. She alone survived on the island – to be rescued in August, 1923. Both are gripping adventure stories – very well written. Both books really sparked my interest about survival in extreme conditions.

Week of January 12, 2008

Download an audiobook to your PC. Twilight and New moon, part of the popular romantic vampire trilogy by Stephenie Meyer are but two of many available through our digital library consortium.

Eclipse, the last of the trilogy is available as a CD audiobook.

Week of January 5, 2008

Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn -- A series of books (the next two are called "Shrimp" and "Cupcake") with a great main character, Cyd Charisse. Cyd goes through a lot in these three books, moves from one family member's house to the next and breaking up and getting back together (and breaking up and getting back together) with her boyfriend Shrimp, and trying to decide what she wants to do with her life. Liked this one so much I went out and bought a copy of it for my home collection. Sometimes Cyd's decisions make me roll my eyes, but she ALWAYS makes me laugh.

-Jenn


The Blue Girl, by Charles de Lint -- A classic story of two non-popular girls trying to make their way at high school, while dealing with the ghost who haunts their hallways and a few unpredictable fairies (not the sweet fluffy kind.) This was my first book by de Lint, and from what I've read, he has several books set in the town of Newford, where The Blue Girl takes place. I'd definitely read more.



-Jenn





Winterdance, by Gary Paulsen -- This one's downstairs in the adult non-fiction collection, but it's worth the trip. The story of a guy who decides to run the Iditarod dog sled race. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, given that I didn't have much of an interest in dog sled racing. It's thrilling, but also downright funny. Laugh out loud on an airplane funny. Any dog lover has to read this book.

-Jenn




Clubbing by Andi Watson is an illustrated story set in United Kingdom with a likeable city goth girl from London. I liked the way Lottie lets the reader in on what’s happening. She’s a delight. Her adventure involves misperceptions and a secret cult. Even a dragon figures into the mix.

Trickster’s queen by Tamora Pierce continues Alianne of Pirate’s

Swoop’s adventures as a spy. Will her expanding group of conspirators succeed in overthrowing the current regime and place their queen in power? A good very imaginative read.