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Starting on January 16th, Amy Cheney from Alameda County (CA) Library, Juvenile Hall will be contributing a column to SLJTeen titled YA Underground: Teen Books You Might Have Missed. Scheduled to run every other month, Amy will write about books she’s reading and authors that are of interest to teens—particularly those from poverty classes and/or incarcerated youth.
Cold winter weather provides the perfect setting for putting on headphones to listen to a good book. For over 50 years, Search Institute, a nonprofit organization, has worked to improve the lives of young people by examining and offering ideas to combat risky behaviors and determining what kids need to succeed. They were early adopters of the adage “It takes a village to raise a child,” believing that the entire community must band together to help [...]
If you’re looking for official justification for the purchase of graphic novels, look no further than the Common Core State Standards. In grades 6-12, students will be required to apply the Reading standards to a variety of text types, including graphic novels. For mature readers, this fall’s releases offer stories of war, madness, gangs, and failed dreams. Young adult patrons will have much to think and talk about after reading these selections.
The breakdown of this year’s list reflects the realities of the publishing world—YA continues to dominate in terms of output and sheer heft, but there was a noticeable uptick in the numbers of fine middle grade novels. There were several terrific picture books with engaging characters and dynamic art.
Adapting any children’s classic to a new format is tricky. Purists will scream it’s not the original, others will be delighted to discover a new way to enjoy an old favorite. The good news is, we aren’t being asked to choose between formats.
Start with a missing object, ask a few questions, throw in some red herrings and what do you have? An unputdownable mystery! This fall’s releases offer openers and new entries in fun whodunit series, and standalones that will keep your patrons sleuthing for clues.
Over the next few issues of SLJTeen, I’ll be posting brief summaries of many of the sessions I attended at the annual National Council of Teachers of English annual conference, held in Las Vegas, Nov.15-18, 2012. Hand-outs for many of the sessions are available from the NCTE 2012 website. This round up includes sessions on nonfiction resources for English teachers, literacy efforts for incarcerated youth and adults, and faeries in young adult literature.
If there was any doubt that 2012 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist Ruta Sepetys could meet readers’ expectations after Between Shades of Gray, put those fears aside—her upcoming title, Out of The Easy, confirms that this writer is here to stay. Lost memory remains a popular convention in YA lit, as Unremembered and Being Henry David remind us, and for romantics, Meant to Be offers a fun frolic through the streets of London.
The idea of a book within a book is not a new idea—The Book Thief, Inkheart, and Fahrenheit 451 all explore this theme. It’s fun to think that the characters you are reading about may show up in your living room, ready to interact and share their literary lives with you. In some cases, such as Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, the books become characters themselves. For a light-hearted and quick read, check out It’s a Book by Lane Smith. Although it’s a children’s picture book, the humor will definitely appeal to teens.
It’s no secret children love learning about animals, and picture books about them are some of the most popular titles in libraries. Three apps combining story and facts about animal life have recently been made available. “Touch and Go’s” reviewers took at look at them.
Though Election Day is behind us, it’s never too late for a president-related story, whether it’s a light graphic novel or enlightening poems.
The film “Rise of the Guardians,” based on William Joyce’s popular series “Guardians of Childhood” premieres on November 21. Fans of folk and fairy tales will delight in the characters found in both the original series, the film, and in new books inspired by the movie.
Some genres have year-round appeal. Enter the ghost story. This fall’s ghost stories combine other elements our students enjoy reading. A girl dies too soon. A crime needs to be solved. The Titanic. These books have short, cliff-hanging chapters with no good stopping place. You can almost read them in one sitting―unless your fear factor is released. Like me, you may have to do Pinterest between chapters, and refrain from reading them before bed! Happy haunting!
New titles point to the tantalizing clues left by ancient remains, and the painstaking work of geologists, archeologists, and physical and cultural anthropologists, as they search for and consider evidence, draw conclusions, and re-examine theories in light of new information and technologies.
Blending modern-day sensibilities with an avid appreciation for the source material and an endless knack for inventiveness, two novels by Adam Gidwitz, make sound starting points for examinations of folklore.
With the release of Adele’s lushly orchestrated theme song and heaps of media coverage, the buzz is building for the opening of Skyfall (PG-13) on November 9, 2012. Take advantage of the Bond bonanza and display or booktalk a selection of recently published young adult spy thrillers. Impossible to put down, these titles feature an array of unforgettable protagonists, a mix of time periods and settings, and a teen-tantalizing variety of narrative styles.
THIS MONTH WE’LL BE TAKING A LOOK AT materials that can be used in a number of ways, but primarily in toddler and preschool storytimes: collections of rhymes, counting books, jokes and riddles, poetry, stories for infants and toddlers, and a couple of classic picture books. Planning storytimes requires a constant search for material, not just for books to share, but for bits and pieces to use between the stories. Librarians need to be armed with poems, fingerplays, songs, [...]
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A visit to the children’s section of any large bookstore might leave the impression that current fantasy consists almost entirely of lengthy Harry Potter or Percy Jackson clones, entries in a trilogy or longer series. Happily, some deeper digging uncovers a wonderful variety of middle grade, stand-alone fantasy novels which exemplify some of the best qualities and possibilities of the genre. While all fiction faces the challenge of making the reader believe in [...]
Author Karen Cushman is no stranger to the medieval and Renaissance world. Her first novel, the Newbery Honor book “Catherine Called Birdy,” examined the period from the perspective of a noble-born girl waiting to be married off. The author’s latest work, “Will Sparrow’s Road,” is set during 16th-century England and its title character lives a life that Birdy could only “[fantasize] about as she sat inside embroidering.”
LEAVITT , Martine. My Book of Life by Angel. 244p. Farrar/Margaret Ferguson. 2012. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-374-35123-6; ebook $9.99. ISBN 978-0-374-35124-3.
Gr 9 Up–A 16-year-old caught up in a life of drugs and prostitution finds the strength to protect a younger girl in this lyrical novel in verse. Angel describes how her pimp, Call, lured her from her family with promises and “candy,” the drug her body craves even as she tries to resist it, and onto street corners in Vancouver, [...]
