The Thumbs Up! Award is given annually to the author of an original work that appeals to teens (12-18), published in the previous year. The award promotes quality teen literature and heightens awareness of the importance of teens as important library patrons. The award includes a statewide teen vote of 20 books. These 20 were narrowed down from over 400 titles by young adult and teen librarians who read over 3,000 hours to choose their top selections during this past year.
It’s now time for the teen vote! All votes must be received by April 29, 2011.
Send it in: Drop the ballot off at the Reference Desk by April 21, 2011, mail it in (you will need a stamp!), or e-mail your choice to the address on the ballot.
Click on book covers to place titles on hold or to make sure they’re on shelf.
White Cat Holly Black Cassel is the only one without a talent in a family full of curse workers. While his other family members illegally cast charms and manipulate memories for the right price, Cassel perfects his skills as a con artist to fit in as a “normal guy” at school. It’s the nightmares about a white cat resembling a murdered girl and bouts of sleepwalking that remind Cassel that he’s anything but normal
Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier In this collection of short stories, various authors including Scott Westerfeld, Meg Cabot, Garth Nix, and Maureen Johnson battle it out to see which is better; unicorns or zombies. Are unicorns arbiters of justice or do they merely fart rainbows? Are zombies truly terrifying or are they merely carriers of diseases?
Beat the Band Don Calame Being paired with the school’s most hated girl for a project threatens to socially destroy Coop, so he decides the only way to save his reputation is to win Battle of the Bands. The only problem: he and his band mates have absolutely no talent. But that won’t stop Coop from going to hilarious lengths to get what he wants.
Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares Rachel Cohn and David Levithan Dash finds a notebook stashed between some books at the used bookstore urging him to follow a set of clues. Intrigued, he leaves his own clues for the notebook owner, Lily, hopeful she will reciprocate. The clues lead both teens on an exploration of New York City during the holidays. Can Dash & Lily transfer what they discovered about each other in the notebook when they meet face to face?
The Search for WondLa Tony DiTerlizzi Eva Nine survives in a bunker with her robot companion and teacher, Muthr. But nothing that she’s learned from Muthr prepares Eva for the destruction of her bunker and what she finds in the outside world. Accompanied by a colorful cast of characters, Eva embarks on a quest to find help. Is she the only surviving human left?
Revolution Jennifer Donnelly Andi, a gifted musician, struggles with depression brought on by the belief that she is responsible for her younger brother’s death. When her mother is institutionalized, Andi’s father takes her to Paris so that she can concentrate on her studies. Andi finds a diary that sweeps her back in time to the French Revolution. In an attempt to save the dauphin, Andi learns acceptance and the power of forgiveness.
Ostrich Boys Keith Gray After their best friend Ross dies in an accident, three teen boys take matters into their own hands. The bumbling and hypocritical efforts of the community to mourn and remember their friend inspire the boys to steal Ross’ ashes and take them on a road trip to remember. A wild journey follows, including lost money and train tickets, bungee jumping, hitchhiking, and finally figuring out what really happened to Ross.
Will Grayson, Will Grayson John Green and David Levithan Under a bizarre set of circumstances, Will Grayson meets another teenage boy with the same name who has travelled to the city on a blind date to meet his online boyfriend. Their name might be the only thing these two teens have in common. But Will Grayson’s best friend, named Tiny Cooper, a gay football player who writes, produces, and performs musicals and is anything but tiny, might force both Wills to reexamine their own identities.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz A.S. King Vera Dietz, pizza delivery technician, is a high school senior who’s just trying to stay off the radar of evil Jenny and her loser friends. But ever since Charlie, her ex-best friend and neighbor died, she’s been haunted by visions of him begging her to clear his name around his suspicious death. Will Vera be able to stand up to Jenny and tell the truth about the night that Charlie died?
Lost for Words Alice Kuipers Sophie’s older sister Emily died during summer vacation. When she eventually returns to her London school, sixteen-year-old Sophie feels isolated from her old friends and distant with her mother. Finally taking the advice of her counselor and with the encouragement of Rosa-Leigh, the new girl at school, Sophie begins trying to express the emotions and guilt that have absorbed her life.
Party Tom Leveen It’s Saturday night and the big end of the school year party is going down. Focusing on eleven different teens at the party, each chapter is written from one teen’s points of view. Their stories merge and intersect as we read about their problems, fears and dreams.
Finnikin of the Rock Melina Marchetta The kingdom of Lumatere has been overpowered by an imposter and then cursed, an act which has closed the walls and left homeless those citizens who had escaped. Finnikin is the son of the head of the King’s Guard of Lumatere who grew up with the royal children, but now ten years later his life is spent traveling the neighboring countries trying to record the fate of his people. When he is introduced to Evanjelin, a mysterious girl who claims to know the location of Prince Balthazar, his childhood friend and heir to Lumatere, Finnikin and his companions face a perilous journey back to their homeland.
Athena George O’Connor After being born out of the head of her father Zeus fully grown, Athena becomes the goddess of warfare and of civilization. In this graphic novel the Three Fates tell tales of the Greek goddess Athena as she outsmarts humans and gods alike.
Before I Fall Lauren Oliver When pretty, popular Samantha Kingston wakes up on Cupid Day, the last thing she expects is to die in a car crash that night. But she does. And when she dies in the crash, the last thing she expects is to wake up on Cupid Day again. But she does. Will another chance make a difference?
Dirty Little Secrets Cynthia Jaynes Omololu Sixteen-year-old Lucy can’t wait to escape to college like her older siblings and put her embarrassment in her mother’s secret compulsive hording behind her. Upon returning home one night, she discovers her mother has unexpectedly died within the massive piles of accumulated stuff. What can she do to prevent this secret from being exposed to her friends, neighbors, and potential boyfriend?
Anna and the French Kiss Stephanie Perkins Boarding school in France was not how Anna had planned to spend her senior year. But after meeting Etienne St. Clair, the school hottie, things seem to be looking up. Too bad St. Clair has a girlfriend.
Sorta Like a Rock Star Matthew Quick Even though she and her alcoholic mother have been secretly living in an old school bus, Amber stays positive. She teaches English to Korean women using Motown music, entertains the population of a local nursing home, and organizes a group of misfit teenage boys. But when tragedy strikes Amber, it knocks her down hard, so hard that she may not be able to get back up. It is time for the people whose lives Amber has touched to return the gift.
After Ever After Jordan Sonnenblick Cancer survivor Jeffrey is trying to get through the eighth grade like any other “normal” kid. The effects of his leukemia treatment have left him with a pronounced limp and difficulty processing information, particularly math. Jeff’s best friend, wheelchair- bound Tad, offers to help him pass the state test. In return, Jeff will get Tad in shape so he can walk across the stage at graduation.
Ghostopolis Doug TenNapel Bungling ghost wrangler Frank Gallows accidentally zaps Garth into the afterlife, and recruits his ex-girlfriend to help rescue the boy. Meanwhile, Garth and his skeleton horse must navigate Ghostopolis, a world filled with giant bugs, ruthless villains, special powers, and surprising friendships. Will Garth and his rescuers ever make it back to the land of the living?
Not That Kind of Girl Siobhan Vivian Natalie is a straight-laced and ambitious senior and class president hopeful who has never had the time or patience for boys, parties, football games, or fun. That all changes when Natalie meets the rebellious and daring freshman Spencer, falls into an unexpected relationship with a popular jock, and realizes that her best friend is slipping away. Now Natalie is forced to reconsider her rigid views on sex, love, friendship, and life.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Chesterfield Township Library, because they did all the HTML work on this post, and it looks amazing!!
Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences
“The Reapers Are the Angels: A Novel,” by Alden Bell, published by Holt Paperbacks, a division of Henry Holt and Company, LLC “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel,” by Aimee Bender, published by Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc. “The House of Tomorrow,”by Peter Bognanni, published by Amy Einhorn Books, an imprint of G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of the Penguin Group “Room: A Novel,” by Emma Donoghue, published by Little, Brown and Company a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. “The Vanishing of Katharina Linden: A Novel,” by Helen Grant, published by Delacorte, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. “The Radleys,” by Matt Haig, published by Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. “The Lock Artist,”by Steve Hamilton, published by Thomas Dunne Books for Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press “Girl in Translation,” by Jean Kwok, published by Riverhead Books, an imprint of the Penguin Group “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard,” by Liz Murray, published by Hyperion “The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To,” by DC Pierson, published by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Last weekend I cracked open the new book from one of my favorite authors– Robin McKinley. I’ve been reading books by McKinley since I was in high school, and I’ve enjoyed every one, from The Blue Sword to Chalice.
Pegasus is no different. From the beautiful cover art to the shocking ending, this book is so much fun! Sylvie is a super short young girl at the beginning of the story, and she’s terrified of being bonded with the winged horse who will be her ceremonial companion for life. Miraculously, Sylvie finds herself able to communicate freely with Ebon,the huge dark Pagasi who makes no bones about telling her exactly what he thinks. Parents and the ever-important musicians are, naturally, horrified with this turn of events. Let the drama begin!There WILL be a sequel, I assure you.
Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Because of a thousand-year-old alliance between humans and pagasi, Princess Sylviianel is ceremonially bound to Ebon, her own Pegasus, on her twelfth birthday. The two species coexist peacefully, despite the language barriers separating them. Humans and pegasi both rely on specially-trained Speaker magicians as the only means of real communication.
But its different for Sylvi and Ebon. They can understand each other. They quickly grow close-so close that their bond becomes a threat to the status quo-and possibly to the future safety of their two nations.
McKinley is very good at showing how difficult and exciting it would be to share your thoughts and feelings with a flying horse, and she describes the pegasi culture as something I never would have imagined from just looking at the cover art. The villains are pretty villainous from the start, but if you’re looking for some violent magical battles, you’re going to be disappointed.
Something tells me there’s going to be more action in the next novel, because there is definitely a war on the horizon, but it’s not the one you might expect!
Last Friday, SRSLY held a big volunteer party at Pierce Park. Teens and adults who had volunteered over the course of 2010 were honored with free food and some nifty prizes! (I won a fleece pullover)
This year Chelsea District Library has supported SRSLY in many ways. In March, we teamed up with the organization to create a message for parents about the dangers of supplying alcohol at house parties.
This Fall, SRSLY and Chelsea are teaming up again for SRSLY Book Blast Tuesday, November 30, 6-7:30pm. We will be discussing Crank, by Ellen Hopkins, and if you sign up early, you will receive a free copy of the book!
Author Pete Hautman recently posted on his blog regarding the uninviting of Ellen Hopkins to the Teen Lit Fest in Humble, Texas. Pete was planning on attending the event, but after he heard that Ellen was asked not to come because “Apparently “several” parents were disturbed by the content of Ellen’s books, and objected to having her at the festival,” he was furious enough to announce that he would not attend. Melissa de la Cruz, Matt de la Pena and Tara Lynn Childs have also decided not to attend.
Pete explained his reasoning this way:
Over the past fifteen years of visiting schools and libraries I have been “uninvited” on two occasions. It is a terrible thing to be told by educators that your life’s work is “inappropriate” for its intended audience. In both cases, I did nothing. I didn’t want to further embarrass the librarians who had invited me – they were already mortified. I just wanted to leave a sour experience behind and get on with the next thing.
I now believe that was a mistake. The political and philosophical problem of censorship, in all its forms, harms all of us, and each of us has a responsibility to fight it. I cannot help but think that those same people who objected to Ellen Hopkins’ work might find some of my books equally disturbing.
In Manila when I was growing up, LOTS of books and movies were ROUTINELY censored. It was part of life. Could we get X book? Nope. Censored! Were we going to get X Hollywood movie? Not a chance. Censored! We had to sneak in racy soap operas, vampire flicks, horror through an underground video network–we watched them on Betamax (or my parents did). The movies we were allowed to see were mostly pablum. (Did anyone see Electric Dreams? When I was in seventh grade we loved this movie. The one with Giorgio Moroder’s theme song? Together in Electric Dreams? No? Just us? Okay. Those were the kinds of movies we were allowed to watch: The love story between a man, a woman and a computer.) When I moved to America, I was happy to discover that you could watch ANYTHING here. Censorship was NOT a way of life. The freedom was dizzying.
Ellen’s books are provocative and challenging. They talk about subjects that some find uncomfortable: drug addiction, incest, teen prostitution. They also talk about love and friendship and family and they are filled with poetry (they are made of poetry). I am constantly surprised and upset and moved by these books. [...] I want every kid to be able to decide whether they want to read Ellen’s books or my books, or anyone’s books. Kids should be able to choose. (Parents can choose not to let their kids read something, and that’s fine. They can also choose not to let their kids go hear someone speak, but you can’t ruin it for other people’s kids whose parents decided THEY can hear a speaker or read a book.)
Curious to know more about the novels of Ellen Hopkins? The Chelsea District Library owns copies of all of her books. The library will be hosting the SRSLY Book Blast in November, discussing Ellen Hopkin’s book Crank. You can sign up for this program and get a free copy of the book!
The Thumbs Up! Book Award is an annual Michigan award celebrating fantastic teen literature. All Michigan Teens (ages 12-18) can vote on their favorite book from the top 20 titles published in 2009. Download your ballot here and return it to Edith Burney (drop it off at any reference desk).
Absina has fled her village of Vranille and her life of prejudice and violence, along with a dwarf named Haret, to seek out the father she’s never known in a place called Watersmeet. Along the way she meets amazing fantastical creatures and embarks on an epic journey where she learns about friendship and the power of forgiveness.
Lia feels extreme guilt over her estranged best friend’s death. On the night of her death, Cassie called Lia 33 times and she never answered. Now Lia deals with her friend’s death from bulimia as she also struggles from her own eating disorder.
Cat is smart, sassy, and funny, but thin she’s not. Her class science project requires that she lives, and eats, like the hominids, our earliest ancestors. Can Cat survive 207 days without junk food and modern electronics?
![MiamiBookFair[1]](http://chelsealibrary.org/teen_blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/MiamiBookFair1.jpg "MiamiBookFair[1]")
The Chelsea District Library is going to the Miami Book Fair!
