Showing posts with label Ransom Riggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ransom Riggs. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1, 2015

New books for October ~ Part 5

Keepers of the Labyrinth by Erin Moulton
Action/Adventure 
Lil Bennett goes to Crete to find answers about the circumstances of her mother's death, and there finds herself entangled in an adventure of mythical proportions that leads her and her friends through the very labyrinth in which the real Minotaur was imprisoned.

The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell
Contemporary Fiction 
A teen grapples with ALS and his decision to die in this devastatingly beautiful debut novel infused with the haunting grace of samurai death poetry and the noble importance of friendship. Abe Sora is going to die, and he's only seventeen years old. Diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), he's already lost the use of his legs, which means he can no longer attend school. Seeking a sense of normality, Sora visits teen chat rooms online and finally finds what he's been longing for: friendship without pity. As much as he loves his new friends, he can't ignore what's ahead. He's beginning to lose the function of his hands, and soon he'll become even more of a burden to his mother. Inspired by the death poems of the legendary Japanese warriors known as samurai, Sora makes the decision to leave life on his own terms. And he needs his friends to help him.

Library of Souls by Ranson Riggs
Paranormal 
Time is running out for the Peculiar Children. With a dangerous madman on the loose and their beloved Miss Peregrine still in danger, Jacob Portman and Emma Bloom are forced to stage the most daring of rescue missions. They'll travel through a war-torn landscape, meet new allies, and face greater dangers than ever. Will Jacob come into his own as the hero his fellow Peculiars know him to be? (Features more than 50 all-new Peculiar photographs.)

Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz
Science Fiction 
Fifteen-year-old bender Kivali has had a rough time in a gender-rigid culture. Abandoned as a baby and raised by Sheila, an ardent nonconformist, Kivali has always been surrounded by uncertainty. Where did she come from? Is it true what Sheila says, that she was deposited on Earth by the mysterious saurians? What are you? people ask, and Kivali isn't sure. Boy/girl? Human/lizard? Both/neither? Now she's in CropCamp, with all of its schedules and regs, and the first real friends she's ever had. Strange occurrences and complicated relationships raise questions Kivali has never before had to consider. But she has a gift--the power to enter a trancelike state to harness the "knowings" inside her. She has Lizard Radio. Will it be enough to save her?

Lock & Mori by Heather Petty
Mystery 
In modern-day London, two brilliant high school students-one Sherlock Holmes and a Miss James "Mori" Moriarty-meet. A murder will bring them together. The truth very well might drive them apart. Before they were mortal enemies, they were much more... FACT: Someone has been murdered in London's Regent's Park. The police have no leads. FACT: Miss James "Mori" Moriarty and Sherlock "Lock" Holmes should be hitting the books on a school night. Instead, they are out crashing a crime scene. FACT: Lock has challenged Mori to solve the case before he does. Challenge accepted. FACT: Despite agreeing to Lock's one rule-they must share every clue with each other-Mori is keeping secrets. OBSERVATION: Sometimes you can't trust the people closest to you with matters of the heart. And after this case, Mori may never trust Lock again.



Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Teen Book Club - November

So, due to weather, our Teen Book Club meeting for November actually happened in December.  Oh well!

Our book for November was

When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
Here are the discussion questions we used:

1.  First impressions.  What did you think of the book?
2.  This book has dual narrative, in that it has 2 narrators, Hannah & Clay.  Did you enjoy this kind of writing of the story?  How would it be different if it was just Hannah?  Just Clay?  Someone else entirely?
3.  Are each of Hannah’s 13 reasons equally important?  Why specifically did Hannah commit suicide?  Who is responsible for Hannah’s death?
4.  Did you have a book with a copy of the Map in it?  Did that enhance your experience of the story?
5.  Why did Clay leave the room after kissing Hannah?  Do you think he had to?  What else could he have done?  Why did Hannah put him on her list of the 13 reasons why she killed herself?
6.  What role do adults play in what happened to  Hannah?  Do you think any adult could have done something to help her?
7.   How do you think Clay is changed by listening to the tapes?
8.  Why do you think this book is popular?
9.  Selena Gomez is set to star in the movie adaptation of the book.  Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson) is rumored to be playing Clay. Like/dislike?  Who else would you cast?
10.  Ratings and final thoughts?

Librarian Karyn - 10/10 - This book is AMAZING on audiobook, I didn't want to stop once I started this addicting, heart-wrenching story.
Catherine - 10/10 - Honest, raw, and spoke to the real issues.
Melanie - 10/10 - Great book to raise more awareness of teen suicide & written beautifully.

~~~

If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy:

Another book by the same author – The Future of Us - It's 1996, and less than half of all American high school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on--and discover themselves on Facebook, fifteen years in the future. Everybody wonders what their Destiny will be. Josh and Emma are about to find out.

More books that deal with suicide

By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters - High school student Daelyn Rice, who has been bullied throughout her school career and has more than once attempted suicide, again makes plans to kill herself, in spite of the persistent attempts of an unusual boy to draw her out.

Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams - Living with their mother who earns money as a prostitute, two sisters take care of each other and when the older one attempts suicide, the younger one tries to uncover the reason.

Hold Still by Nina LaCour - As Caitlin struggles to cope with her best friend Ingrid's suicide, she turns inward and quiet, but finding Ingrid's hidden journal, a new classmate, and new projects help Caitlin find a way to reach out again.

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins - Three teens who meet at Reno, Nevada's Aspen Springs mental hospital after each has attempted suicide connect with each other in a way they never have with their parents or anyone else in their lives.


For December we are reading


Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs -  As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow--impossible though it seems--they may still be alive.

Discussion on Tuesday, December 30th 6:00-7:00pm


Tuesday, August 5, 2014

New Books ~ August 2014 ~ Part 1

Kiss of Deception by Mary Pearson
On the morning of her wedding, Princess Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, intrigued when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive--and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets--even as she finds herself falling in love.
Infinite by Jodi Meadows
An earthquake marks the beginning of the Year of Souls, compelling an exiled Ana to beg her friends to help her stop Janan's ascension and protect fellow newsouls.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel by Ransom Riggs
The popular supernatural novel in graphic novel format.

The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr
Kalinka, a Ukrainian Jewish girl on the run from the Nazis, finds unlikely help from two rare Przewalski horses.

Eugene Bullard: World's First Black Fighter Pilot by Larry Greenly
Presents the life of the African American pilot who flew missions for France during World War I, experienced racial discrimination in the United States, was beaten in the Peekskill Riots of 1949, and became a member of the French Legion of Honor.


Thursday, January 30, 2014

Fabulous February New Books ~ Part 4

All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry
YA MYS BER
Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy whos owned her heart as long as she can remember--even if he doesnt know it--her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever. 

Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel
YA HIS ZET
In 1716 London, an orphaned sixteen-year-old girl from a good family impersonates a lady-in-waiting only to discover that the real girl was murdered, the court harbors a nest of spies, and the handsome young artist who is helping her solve the mystery might be a spy himself.

Reality Boy by A. S. King
YA FIC KIN
Gerald Faust started feeling angry even before his mother invited a reality TV crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he's still haunted by his rage-filled youth--which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle--and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school. No one cares that Gerald has tried to learn to control himself; they're all just waiting for him to snap. And he's starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that...until he chooses to create possibilities for himself that he never knew he deserved.

The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
YA ACT WAL
One shocking afternoon, computers around the globe shut down in a viral catastrophe. At sixteen-year-old Adam Daley's high school, the problem first seems to be a typical electrical outage, until students discover that cell phones are down, municipal utilities are failing, and a few computer-free cars like Adam's are the only vehicles that function. Driving home, Adam encounters a storm tide of anger and fear as the region becomes paralyzed. Soon--as resources dwindle, crises mount, and chaos descends--he will see his suburban neighborhood band together for protection. And Adam will understand that having a police captain for a mother and a retired government spy living next door are not just the facts of his life but the keys to his survival.

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
YA PAR RIG
Having escaped Miss Peregrines island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises. Complete with dozens of newly discovered (and thoroughly mesmerizing) vintage photographs, this new adventure will delight readers of all ages.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Movie Monday: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Happy Monday YAs!

The Book:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children , an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

I haven't read this one, but it sounds pretty awesome.  Creepy tale plus kids in in vintage (think: old black and white) photographs?  Awesome.

What we know about the Movie:

20th Century Fox owns the movie rights and Tim Burton (omg!) is attached to direct.  TIM BURTON, PEOPLE!  That's awesome!  This is perfect for him!  I wonder if it'll be animated, stop motion, or live?  That's about all the news we have on this one so far.  Will fill ya in when I find out more!  In the mean time...read it!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Voting for the Teens' Top Ten starts today!

Have you guys and girls heard of the Teens' Top Ten?  The Teens' Top Ten is like the teen's choice awards, for books! Teen book groups in sixteen school and public libraries around the country make lists of the books they really liked from last year and those nominations are posted online. Then, you guys read them and starting TODAY you can vote for your favorite online!  Anyone ages 12 to 18 can vote adn the winners will be announced in October.

You can VOTE HERE

Let's meet the books, shall we?  Here are the nominees for best teen books this year:

All Good Children by Catherine Austen
In the not-too-distant future, Max tries to maintain his identity in a world where the only way to survive is to conform and obey.
 (I just got this one, it will be on the shelf soon!)
 Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
Alex, a resourceful seventeen-year-old running from her incurable brain tumor, Tom, who has left the war in Afghanistan, and Ellie, an angry eight-year-old, join forces after an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky and kills most of the world's population, turning some of those who remain into zombies and giving the others superhuman senses.
(YA SFF BIC - I read this one and really liked it)
Abandon by Meg Cabot
A near-death experience, a horrible incident at school, and a move from Connecticut to Florida have turned seventeen-year-old Pierce's life upside-down, but when she needs him most John Hayden is always there, helping but reminding her of her visit to the Underworld.
(YA PAR CAB - haven't read this one, but Meg Cabot generally writes good stuff!)
 Tempest by Julie Cross
After his girlfriend Holly is fatally shot during a violent struggle, nineteen-year-old Jackson uses his supernatural abilities and travels back in time two years, where he falls in love with Holly all over again, learns that his father is a spy, and discovers powerful enemies of time who will stop at nothing to recruit him for their own purposes.
(YA SFF CRO - haven't read this one, like time travel thou - its on my to-read list!)

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
Following her parents' bitter divorce as she and her father move from town to town, seventeen-year-old Mclean reinvents herself at each school she attends until she is no longer sure she knows who she is or where she belongs.
(YA FIC DES)

Wither by Lauren DeStefano
After modern science turns every human into a genetic time bomb with men dying at age twenty-five and women dying at age twenty, girls are kidnapped and married off in order to repopulate the world.
(YA SFF DES - LOVED this one!   Read it!)

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Adam, now a rising rock star, and Mia, a successful cellist, reunite in New York and reconnect after the horrific events that tore them apart when Mia almost died in a car accident three years earlier.
(YA FIC FOR)
 
Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen
Will Scarlet shadows Robin Hood, with an unerring eye for finding treasures to steal and throwing daggers with deadly accuracy, but when Gisbourne, a ruthless bounty hunter, is hired by the sheriff to capture Robin and his band of thieves, Robin must become Will's protector risking his own life in the process.
(YA HIS GAU)
 
Eona: The Last Dragoneye by Alison Goodman
Facing the ultimate battle for control of the land she calls home, Eona finds herself waging an internal battle every bit as devastating as the war threatening to break out across the kingdom.
(Don't have this one YET - we do have the books that come before it.  Until we get it, you can always request it from another library)
 
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Sixteen-year-old Hazel, a stage IV thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a chance meeting with a boy at cancer support group forces her to reexamine her perspective on love, loss, and life.
(YA FIC GREE - haven't read this one but everyone else just RAVES about it)

Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
When Paige Turner and her family move to New York City from rural Virginia, she tries to make sense of her new life through her sketchbook, and it helps bring her true personality into the open, a process that is equal parts terrifying and rewarding.
(YA GN GUL - the only graphic novel on the list)
 
Legend by Marie Lu
In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, discover that they have a common enemy.
(YA SFF LU and YA BCD LU - I LOVEEEE Dystopia!)

Hourglass by Myra McEntire
Seventeen-year-old Emerson uses her power to manipulate time to help Michael, a consultant hired by her brother, to prevent a murder that happened six months ago while simultaneously navigating their undeniable attraction to one another.
(YA PAR MCE)

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic take on the Cinderella story.
(YA SFF MEY and YA BCD MEY - This is without a doubt my favorite on this list - CYBORG CINDERELLA? NOTHING could be better!!)
 
Shine by Lauren Myracle
When her best friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover the culprits in her small North Carolina town.
(YA MYS MYR)
 
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill--an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss.
(YA SFF NES)

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel
When his twin brother falls ill in the family's chateau in the independent republic of Geneva in the eighteenth century, sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein embarks on a dangerous and uncertain quest to create the forbidden Elixir of Life described in an ancient text in the family's secret Biblioteka Obscura.
(YA SFF OPP)

Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Teenaged Amy, a cryogenically frozen passenger on the spaceship Godspeed, wakes up to discover that someone may have tried to murder her.
(YA SFF REV)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children , an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience.
(YA SFF RIG)

Divergent by Veronica Roth
  In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.
(YA SFF ROT - another great dystopian!)

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author's family, includes a historical note.
(YA HIS SEP)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
(YA SFF STI and YA BCD STI)
 
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
Told from their own viewpoints, seventeen-year-old Jill, in grief over the loss of her father, and Mandy, nearly nineteen, are thrown together when Jill's mother agrees to adopt Mandy's unborn child but nothing turns out as they had anticipated.
(YA FIC ZAR)

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
In a future where chocolate and caffeine are contraband, teenage cellphone use is illegal, and water and paper are carefully rationed, sixteen-year-old Anya Balanchine finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight as heir apparent to an important New York City crime family.
Now get reading and get voting!
VOTE HERE

Monday, July 9, 2012

Teen Book Reivew - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This review is from Michael, age 13.  Michael says that this book is science fiction.  He gave it a 9/10. (nice!) His favorite character was Jake.  Michael said "I liked it because he combined unrelated historic photos into a complex story."  About the cover of the book Michael had this to say, "It was somewhat weird and creepy." (for sure!) He said that he would probably would read more from this author and his last words were "If you read this try to solve the mystery." 


Michael received an extra raffle ticket in this week's Teen Summer Reading Raffle.  If you would like to get an extra ticket this week too, come by and fill out a book review form!