Rewarding Reads

Or should it be Awarding Reads? This post is about some of the award winning books for this year that I've been checking out.
Bluebonnet Books
Sky Jumpers-looking for a good sci fi action story? This is an awesome choice. In a future devastated by war, one girl believes it is up to her to save her community when they are held hostage by bandits, braving the deadly air and a blizzard to get help.
Saving Lucas Biggs- The audiobook of this fantasy story is so well done. How can a girl save her father who's just been sentenced to death for a crime he's innocent of? By going back in time to fix the wrong. But just how far back she must go and how to fix it is hard to believe. Kind of like trying to untangle Christmas lights.
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus- yes! Finally an answer to why he did it! And it has such beautiful artwork. This is a picture book, so it's nowhere near as intimidating as it might sound.
The Night Gardener- One thing I've learned as a MS librarian is that all these kids love scary stories. Here you go. How about one where a house and its inhabitants are slaves to a magical tree that grants wishes and its gardener, who takes a part of their soul every time?

Lone Star List
Great Greene Heist- Working on this book for our Guys Read Book Club! Jackson is trying to quit with all the school pranks, but his crush Gaby needs help winning the student council election since her opponent is cheating! No one else could pull it off like he can.
Popular: a Memoir- Also the winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, this story is written by teenage Texan Maya van Wagenen about how she decided to change her life by following the advice in a vintage popularity guide. What a great inspiration for girls today!
Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights- I'll be adding this one to my list of books to booktalk for African American month. It's a finalist for the above award. I knew nothing of this story from World War II about African Americans in the Navy who refused to continue loading bombs onto ships after a massive explosion caused the deaths of over 300 soldiers and injuring more than 400. It became a trial for the lives of these 50 men accused of mutiny.
Tut: the Story of My Immortal Life-  Percy Jackson fans will love this modern adventure of the immortal King Tut in Washington D.C. as he fights his lifelong nemesis, uncle Horemheb! Gods and goddess popping up all over the place! I wonder if there's going to be a sequel...

Getting ready for NTTBF

There will be many authors at NTTBF in March that I'll be excited to hear from. Ally Condie, Lauren Myracle and Rae Carson to name a few. But there will be many authors that I have not yet encountered in my ya reading. So, with the help of some valuable colleagues, I hunted down some of the newer releases to be promoted. With a mere 5 weeks, I am tackling 3 new authors. On my to be read list before NTTBF: Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott, Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker, and The Last Musketeer: Double Cross by Stuart Gibbs. Now, this may change as I am planning to attend a meeting for the event's booktalkers. Who knows what the future holds?

Raven Boys continue to enthrall

If you've been waiting for the third book in the Raven Boys series, here's what I think you should know. I don't think it's over. In fact, (and I don't think this is really a spoiler), they haven't found Glendower by the end of Blue Lily, Lily Blue. But three's such a magical number, as expressed in the novel several times by various characters. So, where will the series go? Four is a number that could be seen as complete, as in four seasons to a year, etc. But five is more magical. But then there's mystical seven.
As the search for Glendower continues, school starts again, Maura remains missing and the Gray Man fights with his former boss. New characters are brought into the story. Some die or go missing, and still others do reappear. I may actually need a character guide at this point. Through it all, the tale of these four friends (and one ghost) on a quest continues to build up to a climax to appear at some point in the much anticipated future. They are each changing as a person due to the events of the story and the relationships that they are involved in. These relationships are a unique thing for today's teens to discover- very much unlike their reality in my opinion. I hope they pick up and adore these books as I do.

Summer reading

I may have taken summer off from blogging, but not from reading! I'd love to share with you tidbits that might entice you to pick up one of these great titles in our library:

A Matter of Days- Like Life As We Knew It, this story made me want to rethink my apocalyptic preparedness as I followed the journey of Nadia and her brother Rabbit across a ravaged America in search of family and safety. Lone Star title. 

One Dead Spy -part of a graphic novel series called Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales, this Bluebonnet has much to recommend it- fighting, humor and real historical facts!

For Darkness Shows the Stars- This romantic scifi will appeal to fans of Matched or Jane Austen. Teenage lovers Elliot and Kai have been separated for years when he returns to the estate a new man. 

Tut-Coming out in September, this will be the latest from last year's visiting author PJ Hoover. This exciting read about the boy king in modern day Washington DC will appeal to Percy Jackson fans with its Egyptian mythology basis. 

The Last dragonslayer-Every year the Lone Star list includes a pure fantasy title and that is what we have. Unexpectedly, it is also packed with laughs, so check it out. 

Nest- this new book is a sweet story about a friendship between a boy and a girl during difficult times in their lives. If you loved Bridge to Terabithia, this is a book for you. 

One Came Home- another Lone Star but this one historical. It is the journey of a heroine to save her sister in pioneer days- a borderline wild west story. 

Everything Leads to You- Set in Hollywood, this story is unique in many ways, from its characters to the plot. An unexpected, modern- day romance. 

School Spirits- I believe this is a sequel to Hex Hall. Like Paranormalcy, the main character  a high school girl who hunts down things of the supernatural world. In this story she is battling a school's ghost while learning what it's like to attend public school for the first time. 

Nineteen Minutes- By Jodi Piccoult, this suspenseful story switches from the current story of a high school shooter to the past, where readers sympathize with the boy as he is constantly bullied and suffering unrecquited love. 

Pickle- A Bluebonnet nominee for this year, this book is likely to appeal to fans of the Wimpy Kid series. 

The Rithmatist- This might be steampunk with its alternate historical setting and affinity for clockworky things. Also reminded me of Harry Potter, so fantasy fans should give it a go. 

Peter and the Statcatchers-another title for fans of Harry Potter, this fantasy is the story behind Peter Pan. Try the audio- same narrator as Harry Potter audios. 

The Elite- In a cross between The Bachelor, Hunger Games, and a British royal wedding, a futuristic America searches for a girl to marry the prince. This follows The Selection as second in the series and provides a few unexpected twists and turns. 

The Testing -Cia has been selected for the testing to attend University. In this sci fi, it's a bit more deadly than what students currently face!

Odette's Secrets- Another Bluebonnet nominee, this novel in verse tells the story of a French girl who must hide in the countryside during the Nazi occupation of Paris in World War II. 

Some new books!

I had been doing so well. Then a post I tried to write got deleted and other stuff happened, and now it's already the end of the year. We'll, I'll throw out a couple of suggestions for summer reading at least! First we have Girl Parts, an interesting scifi story where all of our technology has led to the invention of lifelike robots  to help people learn to socialize. So sad. But it's a bit intriguing as the dissociated people are teenage boys and the robots are all female companions. The guys can't even touch a girl robot whom he hasn't spent enough time with to know without getting a shock. Doggie training for boys:)

Counting by 7s is one of this year's Bluebonnet titles that might intimidate some readers with its size and others with a blasé cover. But the story is a great tale of loss and love. The characters are quite the unique assortment that readers will remember long after. Very satisfying read.

Tabula Rasa was a cpid- can't put it down. I read it in three days- which is really fast for me! Imagine an experimental hospital where people are given a second chance at redeeming their lives by having some of their memories removed. Yes, it requires brain surgery.... And then there's a power outage, strange findings, people attacking, escaping, remembering, and then realizing you have to go back for one pill or you'll never get fixed. Boy do I see a movie being made out of this one!

Last but not least, who doesn't love Kate DiCamillo? Especially when her book won the Newbery? Flora and Ulysses is also on the Bluebonnet list and is full of amusing illustrations to add to its charm. Ulysses, the squirrel who types out poetry after a vacuum incident, steals the show. Again, a cast of characters to remember!