The world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teens
Dodie Ownes left the glamorous world of retrospective conversion and disco to jump on the library vendor train. Since then, she has been learning at the feet of the masters about all things library. Dodie lives in Golden, Colorado, where even the sign which arches the main street says "Howdy."
Know a deserving school librarian, media specialist, or teacher-librarian? AASL has many opportunities for recognizing their smarts, bravery, and innovative style through its 2014 Awards program. And the online awards database promises to make the nomination process easier than ever.
Do you have plans for recognizing Anti-Bullying Month in October? One great way to wrap up the month is to join the national Mix It Up at Lunch campaign. Mix It Up at Lunch Day is set for October 29, but you can plan it for any day, any time of the year.
Looking for career guidance resources for your teens? The “Be What You Want” series from Beyond Words may be just the ticket. To whet your appetite, the publisher is giving away 50 copies of the latest title, So, You Want To Be a Chef?!
Looking for a break from the paranormal genre? The only monsters you’ll find in these books are of the human variety—a maniacal kidnapper, an abusive boyfriend, elitist survivors, and one’s own memory.
If your teens went crazy over A.G. Howard’s debut YA novel Splintered, it’s a sure bet that the second book in the just-announced trilogy will have them Unhinged.
Do you know of an an outstanding educator whom you’d like to send to the head of the class? The International Reading Association (IRA) is now accepting applications for both its Arbuthnot and Jerry Johns Award.
After the storms last spring devastated the Moore (OK) community, Capstone recently sent a shipment of 3,000-plus books to support the city’s two elementary schools, Briarwood Elementary and Plaza Towers Elementary.
Imagine a day in your library devoted to the basics of coding in Python and sending a roomful of teens home with computers they can keep. Now imagine doing this for about $30! It’s completely possible, because it happened at Southwest Regional Library, a regional branch of the Durham County Library system in Durham, North Carolina.
Fans of Gina Damico’s titles Croak and Scorch don’t have much longer to wait for the final title in the series, Rogue, due on shelves soon. To keep readers’ baited, Damico has just announced her 2013 Rogue Blog Tour. You’ll need strong powers of observation to keep up with her on this tour, and you’ll need to know all the letters of the English alphabet, too.
Cia Vale is honored to be chosen as a Testing candidate, eager to prove her worthiness as a University student and future leader of the United Commonwealth. But on the eve of her departure, her father’s advice hints at a darker side to her upcoming studies–trust no one. Houghton Harcourt is giving five lucky SLJTeen readers a chance to find out who Cia can trust, and win the ultimate Testing prize pack.
We all know about the summer reading slide. This summer, 180 students from two Buffalo (NY) suburban school districts spent four weeks with grad students working on their reading and writing skills, hoping to reverse that effect.
Don’t procrastinate: get your plans in place now for Teen Read Week, October 13-19, brought to you by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). This year’s theme, Seek the Unknown, has a world of possibilities for libraries and teens to explore.
“What did you do this summer?” We’ve come up with 10 methods to use when answering that question which will allow your students to share the richness of their summer experiences. These activities just might help teachers and classmates to better know, understand and appreciate each other, as well.
The Big Brain Club is now offering its how-to manual for student publishing programs to any schools interested in participating. The manual provides a blueprint for the program, making it easy to get organized and up and running quickly, especially key with the new school year just weeks away.
MTV recently surveyed its core audience, the Millennials, in order to better understand the younger subset of that group, ages 13-17, as they age into the older group, ages 18-24. And while the results may not be surprising, MTV’s deft interpretation of the responses divides the Millennials into two distinct archetypes as represented by the two biggest names in fiction over the past 15 years—Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen.
The Lockwood Lions crosstown rivals, the Grovehill Giants, seem to have it all. Or do they? When the cheer squad and the football players get together, it always gets intense. But there are two sides to every story—whose side are you on? Five lucky winners will get a collection of leveled readers, including the new Truly Fine/Forever Hot from Saddleback.
Late fall 2012, SLJTeen editor Dodie Ownes was introduced to Somebody Up There Hates You by YA debut author Hollis Seamon. Her first thought was, “Oh no, a riff on The Fault in Our Stars.” But that never really should have been a concern.
The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has announced the finalists for the 2013 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction. No surprises here – just some tough decisions to make. Former winners include Lauren Myracle (Shine, Amulet), Francisco X. Stork (The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, Scholastic) and Kristin Cashore (Fire, Penguin).
Both of our featured titles have ties to journalism. In Famous Last Words, Sam is the obituary writer for a local paper, while Holly is the copy editor for the high school newspaper in Since You Asked. Teens taking the summer off from writing may be inspired to return to the keyboard and see what kind of stories they can cook up themselves.
Saint Paul (MN) public schools and the Saint Paul Public Library have teamed up to provide library cards and library resources to incoming freshmen with their Wild Cards! summer school program.
