Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Click on the link to enjoy Lauren's book talk on this popular science fiction title.

NEW FAVORITES

New books!

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.

“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.”

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.”

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

“Two years after sixteen-year-old Chloe discovered classmate London's dead body floating in a Hudson Valley reservoir, she returns home to be with her devoted older sister Ruby, a town favorite, and finds that London is alive and well, and that Ruby may somehow have brought her back to life and persuaded everyone that nothing is amiss.”

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

“Having spent several years in and out of hospitals for a life-threatening illness, pragmatic sixteen-year-old Cam is relocated by her miracle-seeking mother to a town in Maine known for its mystical healing qualities.”

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."

What have YOU been reading?

A review by Kara, Grade 6

A review by Kara, Grade 6
The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins
(5 Stars)

This book takes place in the future. North America as we know it is no more. Instead, there are twelve districts centered around a placed call the Capitol. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is 16 years old. She lives in District 12, which is the coal mining district. She lives with her mother and sister Prim. Years ago, the districts tried to revolt against the Capital. One district, District 13, was even destroyed completely. As a reminder to the districts not to revolt again, each year the Capitol forces two children, a male and a female from each district, ages 12 -18, to participate in the Hunger Games. When it comes time for what they call the reaping, Prim is chosen! Katniss knows her fragile sister couldn’t survive the harsh games, so she immediately volunteers to take her place. Peeta, a baker’s son is also chosen from District 12 and off to the games they go. The Hunger Games takes place in an arena full of difficult obstacles. But there can only be one winner. Can Katniss survive? If so, will she have to kill Peeta?

Find out in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series.

I greatly enjoyed this book. I suggest it, but it can be gory and romantically disturbing at times. It is a thriller.

The library is always looking for guest reviewers. Drop your review to Mrs. C in the Youth Services Department.

January 27 Early Release Day Party

Students in middle school are invited to join us this Friday (January 27) for another Early Release Day Party from Noon to 3 pm. This time we will be making Artist Trading Cards and Duct Tape Crowns. We'll also set up some board games and the Wii.

What are Artist Trading Cards (ATC)? Check here, and here.

Bring your snack.
See you there.

HANDLE WITH CARE

Just a few minutes ago, as I was straightening up the new book display in the Young Adult area, I found something that made me very sad. Our new copy of This Dark Endeavor: the Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel was badly damaged. Though it only has a few torn pages, I will have to remove it from the collection because any more tearing will make the last few pages impossible to read.

(watch the book trailer)

Please, if you return a book that has torn pages, gotten wet, has food stains, or been damaged in any way, tell us. If you tell us right away it gives us an opportunity to repair the book A.S.A.P. Be aware that if the book is badly damaged, as was This Dark Endeavor, and we have to withdraw it from our collection we will ask you to pay for it. (You get to keep the book!) However, by paying the replacement fee it will allow us to purchase a new copy, allowing the book to be available for the next person who wishes to read it.

Send me an email telling me what you've read that you have liked.
kids@scarborough.lib.me.us

Three new books!

Remember Toby McGill? We first met him in Killer Pizza by Greg Taylor. While working at the pizza place Killer Pizza, Toby and his friends are shocked when they find out the shop is really a front for an underground monster hunting organization. Now they are back in this new installment.

Killer Pizza: The Slice. Toby, Annabel, and Strobe's visit to New York City is cut short when they are sent on a secret mission delivering a defecting monster to the Monster Protection Program.

Stephen Biesty, best known for his Cross Section books, has paired up with writer Stewart Ross in a book about explorers. Into the Unknown: how great explorers found their way by land, sea, and air highlights specific travelers and what they used to get around. There is Pytheas the Greek, Leif Eriksson, Captain Cook, and Umberto Nobile, to name a few. For each entry, Biesty has a pull-out section showing details about the explorers mode of transport. It is a lovely book; one that readers can dip into over and over again.

Every wonder what to do if a pack of wolves threatened to attack you? What if you were pinned under a fallen rock? These and many more make up The Worst-Case Senario Survive-O-Pedia. After a brief explanation on how the accidents can happen, the book explains in four or more easy steps, how to come out alive. The book's design reminds me of Ripley's Believe It or Not! with it's two page spreads, limited text, color photos, and entertaining diagrams. This is a great book to take along on those long car rides.

Stop in and we point out more new books!

Would you like a little Dystopia with that novel?

Why are novels with a Dystopian theme all the rage right now in Young Adult literature? Maybe it's because the future of human society is unknown, so writers are free to imagine all kinds of scenarios.

The term Dystopian comes from the French word Dystopia, which means "an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives." (from the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary) It is the opposite of Utopia, a word taken from the book Utopia written by Sir Thomas More in 1516. Utopia describes a place of ideal perfection.

A very popular Dystopian novel is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

If you liked The Hunger Games, try:

Divergent by Veronica Roth. The story takes place in a future Chicago where sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life. Her decision is made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomoly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

Or Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. It won the 2011 Printz Award. "In a futuristic world, teenaged Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl."


Another book that is quickly becoming popular is Matched by Ally Condie.
"All her life, Cassia has never had a choice. The Society dictates everything: when and how to play, where to work, where to live, what to eat and wear, when to die, and most importantly to Cassia as she turns 17, who to marry."

The sequel, Crossed, continues to story of Cassia as she sacrifices everything and heads to the Outer Provinces in search of Ky, where she is confronted with shocking revelations about Society and the promise of rebellion".

My personal, all-time favorite is The White Mountains by John Christopher. Written in 1967, this fast-paced, exciting story is the first in The Tripods trilogy. "Young Will Parker and his companions make a perilous journey toward an outpost of freedom where they hope to escape from the ruling Tripods, who capture mature human beings and make them docile, obedient servants."

Do you have a favorite Dystopian novel? Send me an email to kids@scarborough.lib.me.us
with your title(s).