September 18, 2013

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Free Student Publishing How-To Manual | Big Brain Club

Big Brain Club

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 Survey Groups Millennials into Harry Potter or Katniss Everdeen Camp

MTV Millennial Study

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.

Reader Expectations for ‘The Art of War,’ Snitches, and 50 Cent | YA Underground

Changin the Game Plan

How much do our expectations influence our reading? Sometimes it’s the cover that throws you off, or maybe the author’s back story. And then again, what we think is great may not ring the bell for the teens we serve. Amy Cheney presents several titles that have met her teen readers’ expectations, including classics, self-help narratives, and YA novels for reluctant and urban readers.

Teens Review ‘Talk a Good Game’, ‘Encore’, ‘The Last of Us’ | Music and Games

Hunter Hayes Encore

Our teens review music for R&B listeners as well as country/western fans; Kelly Rowland, well-known for her affiliation with Destiny’s Child, dishes out tasty tunes on her lastest album ​Talk a Good Game​, while relative newbie Hunter Hayes hits the mark with his special release, ​Encore. Looking for a videogame experience that promises a “gut-wrenching journey full of action, horror, combat, and stealth?” Cue up ​The Last of Us​, a new release for Playstation 3.

Urban Teen Fiction Flip Books Show Two Points of View | Giveaway

Flip Book covers

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.

In the Swing of Summer, Planning for Winter | Fresh Paint

Tween crafts

It’s official. Gum Spring Library is no longer the new kid in town. And now the realization that tweens are the most frequent Teen Center users has forced staff to look more closely at upcoming programs.

The Debut: Hollis Seamon, ‘Somebody Up There Hates You’

Somebody Up There Hates You

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.

Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Finalists Revealed

Walden Book Award

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).

Teens Review ‘Famous Last Words’ and ‘Since You Asked’ | Books

Famous Last Words

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) Schools and Public Library’s Wild Cards! Partnership

Wild Cards logo

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.

A Giveaway Befitting a Bollywood Star

Problem with Being Slightly Heroic

Uma Krishnaswami’s charming novels will have young readers tap-tap-tapping their toes as the colors and music of Bollywood dance through these madcap middle grade romps, and now five lucky people can win her two books featuring Dini, Maddie, and Dolly–The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, and The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic.

‘The Wolverine’ Returns: Graphic Novels for Teens | Media Mania

Wolverine First Cuts

With the release of The Wolverine, movie fans will be clamoring to read more about the man who put the “SKINT!” into hand-to-hand combat. Consider enhancing your graphic novel collection with titles about this plain-talking, hard-scrapping hero.

Augmented Reality with Aurasma | Tech Tidbits

Aurasma Star Trek

Aurasma is an augmented reality tool which allows you to overlay images and videos on to static content, sort of like “QR codes on steroids.” The Guybrarian has incorporated it into his back-to-school library orientation plan, and thinks you should too.

Teens Review ‘Random Access Memories’, ‘Grid 2′, ‘Minis on the Move’ | Music and Games

Minis on the Move

Summer vacation calls for cool tunes and lots of screen time. Daft Punk’s latest album promises to put them front and center on the U.S. music scene—tracks from Random Access Memories will be blasting from car windows. To escape the heat, our reviewer recommends hitting the virtual race track with Grid 2, a car racing game. And for fans of everything Mario, add Minis on the Move to the collection for puzzle fun and games.

Marie Lu and Alex London Talk About Debt, Society and ‘Proxy’ | SLJTeen Interview

Proxy

Marie Lu, author of the “Legend” series (Putnam) knows a thing or two about dystopian worlds. That made her the perfect person to sit down with Alex London to talk about some of the observations he draws about society in his YA debut novel Proxy (Philomel).

Owen David Campbell | From the Trenches

Owen David Campbell

Sara Grajek Campbell, our former From the Trenches columnist, got married while writing for SLJTeen. She gave up working on the column in order to pursue another project. Here’s a glimpse of what that “project” looks like.

Teens Review ‘Golden’, ‘The Great Gatsby’ Soundtrack, ‘Star Trek: The Video Game’ | Music and Games

Great Gatsby soundtrack

Though the reviews of the recently released film, The Great Gatsby, are remarkably mixed, the soundtrack gets high praise from our teen reviewer. It’s hard not to like Lady Antebellum, with their sweet sounds and finely wrought lyrics on love and heartbreak, on their latest album Golden. What happens to Star Trek when it just becomes a shoot-em-up and logic goes by the wayside? Read on for our reviewer’s take on Star Trek: The Video Game.

The Debut: SLJ Talks to Katja Millay About ‘The Sea of Tranquility’

The Sea of Tranquility

Angela Carstensen, Adult Books for Teens blogger, had a hard time putting The Sea of Tranquility down, even after reading it all the way through. Debut author Katja Millay put the book together by gathering scribbles, random lines, and characters in her head, calling her attempt to create an outline “laughable.”

Youth Ethical Fashion Show | Teen Programming

Youth Ethical Fashion Show

On June 22, The Alameda Shore Center will be hosting The Alameda Youth Ethical Fashion Show. As a way to advocate recycling and sustainability, the fashion show challenges area teen designers to create high-fashion wearables using only clothing purchased at second-market outlets, such as used clothing stores and thrift shops.

National HIV Testing Day | Resources for You and Your Teens

NHTD poster

National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) is June 27th . First established in 2005 by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, NHTD seeks to bring attention to the importance of HIV testing, and through its website, make resources readily available to those who are looking for testing locations, disease facts, and more.