Reading Marathon Book Reviews

WANT A CHANCE TO WIN FREE BOOKS OR A $25 VISA GIFT CARD?  KEEP READING FOR MORE INFORMATION!

We have passed the halfway point in the February Reading Marathon, so hopefully you have been making progress and keeping your form up-to-date!  If you need a new form, you can print one here.  Don't forget, your form must be turned in by March 2nd.

I want to take a minute to highlight a special option for the Reading Marathon, and that is submitting a book review for our blog. 

What happens when you submit a review for the blog?

Submit one or more online book reviews AND turn in your Reading Marathon form by the March 2 deadline, and you'll be eligible for our random drawings on March 15 when we'll give away four $25 VISA Gift Cards and 10 free books.
 
You might be saying to yourself "that sounds great, I'd LOVE a chance to win free books or a $25 VISA Gift Card, what do I have to do?"  :-) Well, it's REALLY easy to enter, just follow the steps below:
 
1) Read a book.
2) Go to this form here and fill out the information.
3) That's it!  You are then automatically entered.  Fill in another form if you would like to review another book.
4) Check the Teen Book Reviews page here to see your review posted (reviews will take 3-5 days to post).
 
BONUS- Checking out the Teen Book Reviews page can help you decide what to read next for the Reading Marathon.  :-)

HAPPY READING!
 
Posted by Brenna Bohny, Library Assistant

READ LIKE A WOLF EATS!

"READ. Read like a wolf eats. Not just my books. Read everything you can get your hands on. Read what they tell you not to read. Read when you're not supposed to be reading. JUST READ."

(QUESTION: What award-winning author wrote that? Find out at the end of this post.)

That's a great message for the READING MARATHON!

If you're in Grades 6-8, here's the drill:

1) READ as much as you can through the month of February. (It's already February 5, so crank it up.) 

2) RECORD what you read on the official Reading Marathon form you received at school (or print one here).

3) TURN IN your form by the deadline: MARCH 2.

Here's what you can win:

Bragging rights and free treats - Ben & Jerry's ice cream, bagels and pizza.

And that's not all ...

Contribute a Teen Book Review here and you might also win a $25 VISA GIFT CARD!

Yup. Submit one or more online book reviews AND turn in your Reading Marathon form by the March 2 deadline, and you'll be eligible for our random drawings on March 15 when we'll give away four $25 VISA Gift Cards and 10 free books.

So JUST READ!

(ANSWER: Gary Paulsen - author of Hatchet, How Angel Peterson Got His Name, Lawn Boy, Harris & Me, Woodsong and many more.)

posted by Mrs. Mitgang

2012 AWARD WINNERS!

The American Library Association (ALA) -- which sponsors a load of book awards, including the famous Newbery Award -- just announced the 2012 winners today.

Here are the winners for the awards aimed at young and old teen readers like you . . .

NEWBERY MEDAL WINNER for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature
          Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
NEWBERY HONOR BOOKS 
          Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
          Breaking Stalin's Nose by Eugene Yelchin

MICHAEL L. PRINTZ AWARD for excellence in literature written for young adults

          Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
MICHAEL L. PRINTZ HONOR BOOKS
          Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
          The Returning by Christine Hinwood
          Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
          The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

YALSA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION FOR YOUNG ADULTS
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery 
by Steve Sheinkin
YALSA NONFICTION AWARD FINALISTS
Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science 
by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition 
by Karen Blumenthal
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires 
Along the Way) by Sue Macy
Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein by Susan Goldman Rubin

ALEX AWARDS for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences

Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin

In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens 

by Brooke Hauser

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Robopocalypse: A Novel by Daniel H. Wilson

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: A Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston

The Talk-Funny Girl by Roland Merullo

Posted by Gina Mitgang

Best Books of 2011 - A Random Roundup

So here we are on the last day of 2011. HAPPY NEW YEAR! By now, there are lots of "Best Books of 2011" lists out there. I've posted links to a few of them below. See how many of the books you've read. Or pick up ideas for good books to read in 2012. Or better yet, submit reviews of your own favorites of 2011 for our Teen Reviews page. You can open the review form from the left-hand column of this blog page. THANK YOU for sharing your own favorites of 2011.

Publisher's Weekly Best Children's FICTION 2011

Here are the teen faves from the list ...

The Future of Us 
by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
Chime 

by Franny Billingsley

Beauty Queens 
by Libba Bray

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Legend by Marie Lu

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Variant by Robison Wells

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

Publisher's Weekly Best Children's NON-FICTION 2011

Here are the teen faves from the list:

Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 

2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert by Marc Aronson

Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin

Amazon's Best Books of 2011: Young Adult

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Exposed by Kimberly Marcus

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard paul Evan


Kirkus Reviews - Best Teen Books of 2011 FICTION

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Anya's Ghost by Vera BrosgolAshfall by Mike Mullin
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Brooklyn Burning by Steve Brezenoff
Bunheads by Sophie Flack

Chime by Franny Billingsley
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando
Finding Somewhere by Joseph Monninger
                          The Fitzosbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper
                          The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
I Am J by Cris Beam
If I Could Fly by Judith Ortiz Cofer
Island's End by Padma Venkatraman
The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
Mangaman by Barry Lyga
Misfit by Jon Skovron
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
                          Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams
                          Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace
Queen of Hearts by Martha Brooks
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten
Stay With Me by Paul Griffin
Strings Attached by Judy Blundell
Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore
This Thing Called the Future by J. L. Powers
Tighter by Adele Griffin
Tilt by Alan Cumyn
Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Virtuosity by Jessica Martinez
White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick
Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Winter Town by Stephen Emond


Kirkus Reviews -Best Teen Books of 2011 NONFICTION
Black & White by Larry Dave Brimner
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal
I. M. Pei: Architect of Time, Place and Purpose by Jill Rubalcaba








Goodreads Choice Awards - Best Books of 2011 
according to goodreads.com reader votes
Favorite Book - Divergent by Veronica Roth
Best Young Adult Fiction - Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Best Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction - Divergent by Veronica Roth

Completed Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

There are several YA series that finished this fall. I'm going to focus on three of my favorites.

Leviathan is the first book in a trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. It is Steampunk, which means it takes place during World War I. But there's one major change: the British have beasties, giant fabricated animals, and the Germans have walkers, huge pieces of machinery that lumber around waging war. The second book is Behemoth and the third book is Goliath.

Terrier is the first book in a trilogy by Tamora Pierce. It is set in a medieval fantasy world where girls are allowed to be knights and in the police (in contrast to Pierce's earlier books set later in the timeline). The book is written in diary format, and follows Beka Cooper on her first days in the police.The second book is Bloodhound and the third book is Mastiff.

Eragon is the first book in a quartet by Christopher Paolini. It also takes place in a medieval fantasy world, but one with an evil dictator and dragons. This is a story of how a simple farm boy becomes the stuff of legend. The second book is Eldest, the third book is Brisingr, and the fourth book is Inheritance.

As mentioned in the title, these are all series that were completed this fall. That means there will be no waits for the next book. Check them out today!

Posted by Elizabeth, Teen Volunteer