New books for October ~ Part 7

Show and Prove by Sofia Quintero

Historical Fiction 

Friends Smiles and Nike spend the summer of 1983 in the South Bronx working a job at a summer camp, chasing girls, and breakdancing.

Silver in the Blood by Jessica Day George

Paranormal 

In 1897, seventeen-year-olds Dacia and Lou, New York socialites and cousins, visit their maternal homeland of Romania and learn the family secret--that they are shapeshifters, expected to take their rightful places and marry proper husbands.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Fantasy 

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price--and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone... A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.

Stand Off by Andrew Smith

Contemporary Fiction 

Now a senior at Pine Mountain Academy, fifteen-year-old Ryan Dean West becomes captain of the rugby team, shares his dormitory room with a twelve-year-old prodigy, Sam Abernathy, and through the course of the year learns to appreciate things he has tried to resist, including change.

State of Grace by Hilary Badger

Science Fiction 

Ever since she was created, Wren has lived with her friends in an Eden created by Dot--but lately she has been troubled by visions of a very different world, and when she meets Dennis who comes from outside, she begins to confront the ugly truth at the heart of paradise.

February Book Club Recap - We ♥ Eleanor & Park!

The Teen Book Club met last night to discuss the February book club pick...

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (audiobook)

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Discussion Questions

1. What did you think of the book?  First impressions?
2. Did you like the narrators?  What do you think they did well, not well?  Do you think it was good to have the two narrators?  How would the book have been different with just one?
3. Did you enjoy the writing in this book?  Would you be interested in reading other books by this author?  Why or why not?
4. How do Eleanor and Park's parents shape their outlooks on the future, relationships, and life in general?  How do they differ?
5. Is Eleanor's mother a "good" mother?  Why does she stay with Richie?
6. Do you think Eleanor and Park's relationship would be different if the story was set in 2015 instead of 1986?  How would it be different?  How would it be the same?
7. Steve says he is Park's friend - is this true, is he a true friend?  Are Steve and Tina "bad guys" in this story?  Do you think Tina and Eleanor could ever be friends?
8. Why are music and comics important in Park's life?  How are they important in Eleanor's?
9. Was Eleanor right to run away?  Should she have left her brothers and sister behind?  Was there anything else should could have done to help them?
10. Why do you think Eleanor does not open any of the letters from Park?  At the end of the book, what do you think those "three words" Park read are?
11. Casting call!  Do you have anyone in mind to cast as Eleanor or Park?
12. Ratings and final thoughts?

Ratings:

Catherine - 10 - Just read it, its amazing, an awesome audiobook.

Hannah - 10 - I love the book so much that I can't even say how much I like it.

Librarian Karyn - 10 - A sweet love story with authentic teen voices, and the narrators for the audio book made it even better!

Melanie - Didn't finish yet, withholds her rating until she does

If you liked this book you might also enjoy...

Another book by the same author 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she's really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can't stop worrying about her...

Another award-winning audio book   

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A. S. King -  Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities--but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she's never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person's infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions--and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying: A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women's rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she'll do anything to make sure this one doesn't come to pass.

Another book set in the 1980s 

Dancer Daughter Traitor Spy by Elizabeth Kiem - Marya is a ballet dancer born of privilege; her mother, Sveta, is the most popular ballet dancer in the Soviet Union: the regime's glamorous face to the west. When her mother disappears, Marya and her father suspect their lives are in danger and arrange a harrowing defection. But Marya has a secret - like her mother, she can see glimpses of the future: a gift coveted by the powers-that-be in the Soviet Union. Worse, she is sure her father is doomed to be murdered at their new home in Brighton beach.

Book Club Book - March 

Eyes Wide Open by Paul Fleischman

Paul Fleischman offers teens an environmental wake-up call and a tool kit for decoding the barrage of conflicting information confronting them. We're living in an Ah-Ha moment. Take 250 years of human ingenuity. Add abundant fossil fuels. The result: a population and lifestyle never before seen. The downsides weren't visible for centuries, but now they are. Suddenly everything needs rethinking - suburbs, cars, fast food, cheap prices. It's a changed world. This book explains it. Not with isolated facts, but the principles driving attitudes and events, from vested interests to denial to big-country syndrome. Because money is as important as molecules in the environment, science is joined with politics, history, and psychology to provide the briefing needed to comprehend the 21st century.

New Books for a New School Year - September books part 4

No Dawn Without Darkness by Dayna Lorentz

With the power cut and the quarantined mall thrown into darkness, teens Shay, Marco, Lexi, Ryan, and Ginger must change in order to survive, and, when the doors finally open, they may not like what they've become.

Going Over by Beth Kephart

It is February 1983, and Berlin is a divided city with a miles-long barricade separating east from west. But the city isn't the only thing that is divided. Ada lives among the rebels, punkers, and immigrants of Kreuzberg in West Berlin. Stefan lives in East Berlin, in a faceless apartment bunker of Friedrichshain. Bound by love and separated by circumstance, their only chance for a life together lies in a high-risk escape. But will Stefan find the courage to leap? Or will forces beyond his control stand in his way?

High and Dry by Sarah Skilton

Framed for a stranger's near-fatal overdose at a party, blackmailed into finding a mysterious flash drive everyone in school seems anxious to suppress, and pressured by his shady best friend to throw an upcoming game, high school soccer player Charlie Dixon spends a frantic week trying to clear his name, win back the girl of his dreams, and escape a past that may be responsible for all his current problems.

Briony Hatch by Ginny & Penelope Skinner

Briony Hatch hates reality. She prefers the fantasy world of her favourite novels: The Starling Black Adventures, in which ghosts are real and you can cast magic spells to defeat your enemies. In her real life, Briony's parents are getting divorced and her friends are preoccupied by losing weight and shagging boys. Briony has tried all Starling Black's magic spells in her bedroom but they don't seem to be working. Her mother wants her to grow up, get her head out of those books and pack - they're leaving Dad and moving into a bungalow the other side of town. Worst of all, Briony has almost finished the last ever Starling Black novel; life will soon have no meaning at all. But Briony is about to learn that fantasy and reality aren't always so easy to distinguish, and life doesn't have to be dull just because you're getting older.

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin

A groundbreaking work of LGBT literature takes an honest look at the life, love, and struggles of transgender teens. Author and photographer Susan Kuklin met and interviewed six transgender or gender-neutral young adults and used her considerable skills to represent them thoughtfully and respectfully before, during, and after their personal acknowledgment of gender preference. Portraits, family photographs, and candid images grace the pages, augmenting the emotional and physical journey each youth has taken. Each honest discussion and disclosure, whether joyful or heartbreaking, is completely different from the other because of family dynamics, living situations, gender , and the transition these teens make in recognition of their true selves.

New Audiobooks

5 new audiobooks out on the shelves now!

The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison

Having experienced compulsive behavior all her life, Lo's symptoms are getting her into trouble when she witnesses a murder while wandering dangerous quarters of Cleveland, Ohio, collecting things that do not belong to her, obsessing about her brother's death.

 

 Scowler by Daniel Kraus

In the midst of a 1981 meteor shower in Iowa, a homicidal maniac escapes from prison and returns to the farm where his nineteen-year-old son, Ry, must summon three childhood toys--Mr. Furrington, Jesus Christ, and Scowler--to protect himself, his eleven-year-old sister, Sarah, and their mother.

 

Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Since Eureka's mother drowned, she wishes she were dead too, but after discovering that an ancient book is more than a story Eureka begins to believe that Ander is right about her being involved in strange things--and in grave danger.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Beatrice Pryor lives in a dystopian Chicago, which is divided into five factions devoted to different virtues. On a set day every year, sixteen-year-olds must select which faction they will devote the rest of their lives to. Beatrice must choose between staying with her family and being who she really is. Beatrice also has a secret, one she has been warned can mean death if exposed. Now, Beatrice will be forced to make tough choices that can determine the course of her future.

 

 Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

Happy birthday to Siobhan Dowd!

Siobhan is pronounced like "shiv - awn"  You're welcome!

We have one book by Siobhan...

Ireland 1984. After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, who is charming, eloquent, and persuasive. But when Declan suddenly leaves Ireland to seek his fortune in America, Shell finds herself pregnant and the center of a scandal that rocks the small community in which she lives, with repercussions across the whole country. The lives of those immediately around her will never be the same again. This is a story of love and loss, religious belief and spirituality--it will move the hearts of any who read it. 

In November I am Thankful for...New Books! (part 1)

A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury

As the partition of India nears in 1947 bringing violence even to Jalandhar, Tariq, a Muslim, finds himself caught between his forbidden interest in Anupreet, a Sikh girl, and Margaret, a British girl whose affection for him might help with his dream of studying at Oxford.

Bzrk Reloaded by Michael Grant

The entire BZRK cell--including Noah and Sadie--has been left in pieces after the last round of battle with the Armstrong Twins, conjoined brother who plot to rob mankind of its free will. Vincents mind is shattered, and his memories hold dangerous secrets--secrets that Lear, BZRKs mysterious leader, will stop at nothing to protect. Meanwhile, Bug Man has taken control of the Presidents brain, but playing with sanity is a dangerous game. The consequences can spiral way out of control, and the Armstrong Twins are not people Bug Man can afford to disappoint. The nano is as terrifying, exhilarating, and unpredictable as ever. But the wall of secrets that surrounds it is cracking. What will it reveal? And once the dust has settled, who will be sane enough to find out? 

 Champion by Marie Lu

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic--and each other--and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic's border cities.

 The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Sixteen-year-old Isadora, the mortal daughter of Isis and Osiris, is sick of being in the middle of family drama so she jumps at the chance to leave Egypt and start a new life in San Diego with her brother.

 Dancer Daughter Traitor Spy by Elizabeth Kiem

After a harrowing defection to the United States in 1982, Russian teenager Marya and her father settle in Brooklyn, where Marya is drawn into a web of intrigue involving her gift of foresight, her mother's disappearance, and a boy she cannot bring herself to trust.

April's new books are all vampire romances! (Part 1)

April Fools :)

The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

As magic fades from the world, Jennifer Strange is having trouble keeping her magician employment agency business afloat, until she begins having visions that foretell the death of the last dragon and the coming of Big Magic.

Zom-B: Underground by Darren Shan

Waking up in a military complex, months after zombies attacked school, B has no memory of the last few months. Life in the UK has turned tough since the outbreak, and B is woven into life- and battle- in the new military regime quickly. But as B learns more about the zombies held in the complex and the scientists keeping them captive, unease settles in. Why exactly was B saved? And is there anyone left in the world to trust?

Fairy Tail vol 1 by Hiro Mashima

Cute girl wizard Lucy wants to join the Fairy Tail, a club for the most powerful wizards.  But instead, her ambitions land her in the clutches of a gang of unsavory pirates led by a devious magician.  Her only hope is Natsu, a strange boy she happens to meet on her travels.  Natsu's not your typical hero- he get motion sickness, eats like a pig, and his best friend is a talking cat.  With friends like this, is Lucy better off with her enemies?

Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs

While trying to save her brother from the witch three years ago, Greta was thrown into the fire herself, falling through a portal to a dangerous world where humans are the enemy, and every ogre, goblin, and ghoul has a dark side that comes out with the full moon. To survive, 17-year-old Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young Goblin King, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her determination to escape. But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. The full moon is mere days away, and an ancient evil being knows she’s the key to opening the portal. If Greta fails, she and the boys she finds stranded in the woods will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back . . .

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.