Color Online Summer Book Drive

Color Online is running their Summer Book Drive. Please check it out and consider donating a book or two (or more) to this worthwhile cause. They also have a wishlist at Powell's.

To send donations directly, mail books media rate to:
ALTERNATIVES FOR GIRLS
C/O LIBRARY
903 W. GRAND BLVD
DETROIT, MI 48208

If you have any questions, please contact them at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com

Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

In the riveting post-apocalyptic tale The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Mary's village is surrounded by the ravenous undead Unconsecrated. When the fence protecting the villagers is breached her life changes instantly. This elegant tale is filled with romance, heartbreak, despair, and hopefulness --- not to mention zombies (!).

Review: fat hoochie prom queen

Do you want to know what happens when a feisty 200+ pound Puerto Rican girl is challenged to run for Prom Queen? If you do, read Nico Medina's fat hoochie prom queen. Bridget beat at Margarita (Madge) Diaz for a role in a TV show when they were both 8 years old. They haven't spoken since. Now they're 18 and Bridget, teen star, is running for prom queen. Lucas, Madge's gay best friend, promises her $50 to ask Bridget why, when she's already popular, is she running for prom queen. Bridget gives her a curt response, essentially telling Madge that she couldn't beat Bridget if she tried. You don't tell a feisty, self confident, fun loving Madge to buzz off. Madge decides to run against Bridget.

fat hoochie prom queen is a fun book with romance, antics, fun characters and lots of action. Definitely give it a try.

YA Paranormal Panel @ RomanceDivas

Christopher Golden, Cassandra Clare, Rachel Caine, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Lucienne Diver, Jeff Mariotte, and Alyson Noel are all talking about writing YA Paranormal fiction at the Romance Divas forum. Join the discussion - The forum is free to join!

The discussion will be taking place through Saturday, May 30th. Christopher will be at the forum on Thursday, May 28th and Friday, May 29th. Drop by the forum and post your questions for these fantastic authors!

Review: The Chosen One

A gripping page-turner about a secret world... this powerful book grabs you from the first sentence and quickly makes you fall in love with the courageous main character. Growing up in an isolated community, thirteen-year-old Kyra has never questioned her family’s beliefs or the fact that her father has multiple wives. But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle—who already has six wives—Kyra is faced with a desperate choice between family or freedom. Read my review at YA Books Central.

Fantasy Road Trip Contest

Got this from Random House...if one of you wins, let me know! :-)

Even if you’re stuck at home this summer, you can still get away—just use your imagination!

Listening Library is sponsoring the Fantasy Road Trip Contest, challenging teens to create videos based on an imaginary road trip with characters from one of three great fantasy series.

Making their entries is a great way to engage teens in what they’re reading and encourage them to be creative. And since many families will be forgoing expensive vacations and summer camps this year, the Fantasy Road Trip Contest is a perfect (and free!) summer activity.

THINGS TO KNOW:

Ø CONTEST INFO: Teens ages 13-18 should create short films that answer the questions, “If you could go on a road trip with a character from your favorite audio series, where would you go? What would you do along the way? How would you travel?”

Ø PARTICIPATING AUTHORS: Libba Bray, author of the Gemma Doyle Trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, and The Sweet Far Thing), Tamora Pierce, author of, among many, many titles, the Beka Cooper series (her current series, so far it includes Terrier and Bloodhound), and Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (including the latest, The Last Olympian).

Ø HOW TO ENTER: teens can visit www.fantasyroadtripcontest.com to watch a video about how to enter, see video requirements and find out lots of information about the authors and their books.

Ø WINNERS: Authors will judge the videos, each picking a winner (for a total of three), who will receive an 8GB iPod Touch and a collection of signed audiobooks.

Ø DATES: The contest will be open from June 1-August 17; it’s a great activity to keep kids entertained while they’re home for the summer!

Strange Angels Book Trailer

Got this from Penguin, thought you might like it:

We wanted to send along this new book trailer for Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow. It is her first YA book and we thought your readers would be interested. Here’s the YouTube link to the trailer if you are interested in posting it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQPXGh7YYaw

Below is a short summary:

Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called the touch. (Comes in handy when youre traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie).Then her dad turns up dead—but still walking—and Dru knows shes next. Even worse, shes got two guys hungry for her affections, and theyre not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever—or whoever— is hunting her?

Review: A Curious Collection of Cats

Betsy Franco's new book of poetry is for all cat lovers, young and old. In more than thirty concrete poems, cats are their own endearingly fabulous selves, engaging in quirky mischief of all kinds. The book is illustrated by Michael Wertz in bright colors, playful shapes, and perfect (“purrfect”) catlike grace and humor. Read my review at Young Adult (& Kids!) Books Central.

Review: Henry Huggins

Henry Huggins needs good press.

With the Ramona and Beezus movie on the way next spring, now is a great time to reread those Beverly Cleary classics. Why not start with Henry Huggins?

Read more here.

Review: The ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro

Pucker up!

Tina's Ferraro's The ABC's of Kissing Boys is the perfect summer read. The fates have aligned against Parker Stanhope, or at least the varsity soccer coach has. After kicking butt on JV for two years, Parker is positive she’ll be moving on up - but she doesn’t. Not only has she lost her spot on the team; she’s losing her friends, too.

Read more here.

Review: The Last Olympian

Percy Jackson returns, and this time he’s fighting for his life, his friends, and the existence of Olympus and life as we know it. Lord Kronos has gathered a massive army of Titans, gods, demons, monsters, and slighted demigods to help achieve his goal of destroying Mount Olympus and the gods that live there. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and the rest of the residents of Camp Half-Blood must do what they can to stop Kronos and his minions from taking down Olympus and ending the benefits our civilization reaps from the presence of the gods in America. Read the full review here.

Win a Copy of Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle!

I dared author Lauren Myracle to describe her newest book, Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks, solely in song titles - and she did! Only she didn't list the arists - just the songs - to test my music recognition.

Do YOU recognize the songs and know who sang 'em? Read my interview with Lauren Myracle, figure out who sang what, and then leave a comment with your guesses before midnight PST on Sunday, May 24th. One random commenter will receive a signed copy of Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks. Good luck!

Update: Congratulations to Jenna, who was selected to be the winner!

View the complete Peace, Love, & Baby Ducks playlist.

Review: Wild River

If you're in the mood for a fast-paced, exciting page-turner of an adventure story, Wild River features an unlikely, video-game-playing hero who must battle the elements (white water, wild animals, and more) to save his brother's life. Can he do it . . .before it's too late?

Review: Always in Trouble

When Toby (who once majored in Bad Behavior) graduates with honors from Dog Obedience School, he turns into a model dog--who folds laundry, takes the garbage out, bakes bread, and more. But can a pooch who was Always in Trouble truly reform? Find out in this clever and hilarious picture book.

GuysLitWire Book Fair for Boys

Please help us get books into the hands of teenage boys.

As posted by Colleen at GuysLitWire -

In the very beginning GLW started with a mission to bring great books to the attention of teenage boys. We had read the data on boys reading less, heard stories from all over the internet of boys saying they just couldn't find good books to read and as reviewers many of us had ample evidence that more books are published aimed at teenage girls rather than boys. Our goal was to look both at new books and old and write about books we thought boys might like but could have missed. As our group of bloggers is so big (more than two dozen) and so eclectic, we aimed to write about all kinds of books for all kinds of boys and on that front, based on response to that blog, I think we are doing a pretty good job.

But in the grand scheme of things, we just don't think that's enough.

We are moving today into the second phase of GLW, where we put our money where our mouth is and physically act on getting books into the hands of boys that otherwise have none. Today we start the first two week Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys to help the teens incarcerated in the LA County Juvenile Justice System. They have no books - at all - and they need them; they need them desperately.

There are currently about 50,000 incarcerated juveniles in the U.S. (About another 200,000 juveniles are incarcerated as adults.) In LA County (in 2007) there approximately 2,700 juveniles incarcerated. They are held in three jails: Central Juvenile Hall, Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall and Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. About 300 of those kids (between the age of 12 and 18) are enrolled in voluntary classes through the InsideOut Writers Program. InsideOut is the GLW partner in the Book Fair for Boys.

The Book Fair for Boys is built around a wish list at Powells Books. We chose Powells because the GLW crew was very determined to use an independent bookstore for this endeavor (another example of putting our money where our mouth is). Everyone gave their ideas of books that teenage boys would love and so we have a wishlist of all kinds of titles. Some of the boys in LA County are reading at the adult level, others are reading picture books; some are very interested in nonfiction while others hope for novels. What we have built at Powells is a list that is, quite simply, all things for all boys. We've got science fiction and fantasy, history, biography, graphic novels, short stories, war stories, poetry, animal stories and on and on and on. We have put together what we think is the beginning of a library that will be available for any teens using the classrooms in the LA County system. We have, we hope, given them a larger piece of the world that is waiting for them to return to.

And this is just the beginning.

GLW intends to build a longterm relationship with IOW and run book fairs on a semi annual basis. We also have invited IOW to assist the boys in submitting book reviews to our site. We hope in this way to show them that their opinions are valued and to also give them a bit of writing and publishing experience. The book reviews are a way to show that this is not a vanity project - it's a long haul endeavor that hopefully will tie Guys Lit Wire, InsideOut Writers and the boys of LA County for a long long time.

The library will grow as we return to it, and as it grows so will the power of books for boys who have never experienced how magical and transformative books can be.

Going through Powells makes the wish list a little more complicated - they do not operate with a gift registry system yet (although I understand they are working on it). This means that everyone who wants to purchase books for the fair will need to enter the mailing address individually. We hope that the fact that we are buying books from a real independent bricks and mortar store will make up for the inconvenience. Please adhere to the list - the books MUST be paperback - no exceptions. If you want to buy a Standard Used copy that would be fine and hopefully, because of the great sale and used prices at Powells, we will sellout the entire list of 125 books.

You access the Book Fair for Boys list through the main wish list page. Enter our email: guyslitwire@gmail.com From there you can survey the list on one page and after you have made your selections, here is the mailing address:

Eve Porinchak
IOW
5850 Brookline Lane
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Eve is one of the volunteer teachers for IOW and while their offices move she has graciously agreed to use her home address for the fair.

The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys will run for two weeks and we invite everyone who buys a book to please comment on our site or send us an email and let us know your first name, where you are from and what you bought so we can run a list of how the Fair is going. We hope to be a sellout, but honestly any number of books will be most welcome. I am a big believer in changing the world in small steps by great masses of people and after seeing how effective Guys Lit Wire can be through the work of many bloggers, I am certain that a group effort can help the boys incarcerated in LA County in a big way. A book can be a small thing in some ways but in others, as so many of us know, it can be everything. We don't think it is enough to just talk about books we love; we want to do something more and we hope that our readers will help us help some boys that really don't know what they are missing.

Read Colleen's entire post.

Bully Bust 2009

I just learned about Bully Bust 2009, a "community-led concerted effort to reduce bullying in schools," sponsored by the Center for Social and Emotional Education and Boy Meets Girl. Bully Bust encourages people to speak up when they see bullying happening in their schools, in their neighborhoods, or online, and to take the STAND UP pledge:

Support those around me who are being bullied or victimized
Tell a friend, teacher or parent when I see someone being bullied
Ask myself, "How would I want to be treated?"
Note where and when bullying occurs (bathroom, playground, online) and
Do something when I see someone being bullied – be an UPSTANDER

Understand why bullies bully
Practice being a good role model for my fellow students and share "STAND UP to bullies" strategies

Sign the pledge and learn more about the campaign at http://www.bullybust.org Send the link to your friends and family members. If you're a teacher or a librarian, I hope you'll tell your students and patrons about it, too.

Looking for a book about bullying, gossiping, or peer pressure to discuss in class or in a book group? Try one of these titles:

Suitable for high school:
Looks by Madeleine George
Read My Lips by Teri Brown
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
Walking Naked by Alyssa Brugman
Shattering Glass by Gail Giles
Breaking Point by Alex Flinn
Crimes of the Sarahs by Kristen Tracy (quirky and comedic)
Good Girls by Laura Ruby (content for older teens)
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr (content for older teens)

Suitable for middle school or upper elementary school:
The Girls by Amy Goldman Koss
Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee

- and this is just the tip of the iceberg. For more books about bullying, peer pressure, and other such topics, consult my Tough Issues for Teens booklist.

Review: Quick Cash for Teens

In the inspiring how-to Quick Cash for Teens, a financial advisor gives us the scoop on how to decide what business you should start, how to manage it, tales from young entrepreneurs . . .plus lots of great (and easily understandable, even to those of us finance- and/or math-challenged folks) info on how to handle your income.

Review: L is for Lollygag

Let’s face it. Dictionaries are boring. But L is for Lollygag isn’t your normal dictionary. Pick up this book and all sorts of clever and quirky words will be jumping off your tongue in no time. Click here to read the review.

Review: Paraworld Zero

Readers looking for a surprising space adventure will find a worthy candidate in Paraworld Zero. Click here to read the review.

Review: The Eternal Hourglass

What would you do if you found out on your 13th birthday that you had the ability to see the past, present and future?  When Nick Rostov finds this out, and then shortly afterwards is taken to live with the relatives he never knew he had (who just happen to be Russian magicians), his life as he knows it is over.  Gone are cheeseburgers, pizza, and a lazy summer of doing nothing.  Now he must learn how to use his magical powers and at the same time find out what the creatures known as Shadowkeepers want from him.  

Read the full review here.

Auction for Bridget Zinn

From April Henry's blog and the auction website -

Three things happened to Bridget [Zinn] in February:
1. She got an agent for her young adult novel.
2. She got married.
3. She found out she has Stage Four colon cancer.

I met Bridget a year ago at an Oregon SWCBI event. She had just moved to Portland from Wisconsin, where she was a teen librarian. She is a beautiful person, inside and out. When she found out she had an agent, she was just glowing. A few days later she went to a naturopath for headaches and vision problems. She ended up in the ER – and learned very quickly that she had cancer. Big, bad cancer.

Today, Bridget is going in for her second grueling round of chemo to help fight her Stage Four colon cancer.

To help defray some of the costs, authors and artists all over the US have banded together to offer their services in an online auction.

Here's how you can help. A group of writers who have been impressed with Bridget’s friendliness and what can only be described as her radiant joy (even now) has banded together to help Bridget with the costs she faces.

MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
One of the activities will be an online auction. If you are an artist, do you have a piece of art you could donate? If you are an author, could you donate a signed copy of your book? Or even a critique of the first 10 or 20 pages of someone’s work in progress? Do you have anything else you could contribute? If so, please email Jone MacCulloch: macrush53@yahoo.com

MAKE A BID
Would you like the first pages of a manuscript critiqued? Are you ready to market a book, need a bookmark or advice on a query letter? Want to get away to Torrey, Utah and take in the fabulous national parks in the area? In the market for some signed books? Looking for a handmade baby quilt, handmade book, jewelry and more? Check out the items at Bridget Zinn Auction at http://bridgetzinnauction.wordpress.com The money will help her with medical expenses.

If you could spread the word, I would be grateful.

And if you would like to follow Bridget's blog or just find out more about her, you can do so at http://www.bridgetzinn.com/blog/

Items up for auction are listed as individual posts at http://bridgetzinnauction.wordpress.com To bid on an a item, make a comment directly below that item.

A silent auction featuring local items will take place on May 29th at the Lucky Lab Brew Pub, 915 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Details will be posted at http://bridgetzinnauction.wordpress.com/lucky-lab/

Review: Nothing but Ghosts

Two people have 'disappeared': 16-year-old Katie when her mother died of cancer and a debutante in Katie's town, 16-yar-old Miss Martine on September 10, 1954 for unknown reasons. As Katie works on Miss Martine's estate one summer, she swears she sees Miss Martine peek out of one of the upper windows. What could have caused Miss Martine to become a recluse at the young age of sixteen? Katie must find out the answer.

So begins the mystery of Nothing but Ghosts by Beth Kephart. But this book is more than a mystery. It is a wonderfully written book about coping with loss, about parents loving each other and their children and receiving love in return.

Nothing but Ghosts contains suspense, action, and romance. It has greate characters. Animals and gardens take on special significance. It takes place in a wonderful town. It is beautifully written. It is a reading treat.

Review: Oh No! Time to Go!

All the many ways people say goodbye are catalogued in rhymes and cartoony illustrations in the sweetly poignant picture book Oh No! Time to Go!

Review: Undercover

Did you ever pick up a book that you couldn't put down? Well, Undercover by Beth Kephart is one such book for me. I started it last night and am half way through in a day.

Undercover is Elisa's story. She's a talented writer who uses her talents to write short love ditties for guys in her high school to give to the cute girls. Elisa feels like the ugly duckling and wonders whether anyone will be attracted to her.

Wwhen Theo asks Elisa to write poems to stuck-up, ditzy Lila, she is surprisingly sad. For some reason this is different. While she usually writes one or two poems for a guy, Lila is demanding, wanting more from Theo, so Elisa writes more poems which makes the hurt even stronger.

When Elisa begins studying Cyrano de Bergerac in English, the parallels between herself and Cyrano become evident.

Elisa has found a haven at a nearby secluded lake. There she views nature, writes her poetry and begins ice skating. One day Theo follows her to the lake. They begin a friendship and she starts wondering whether he like her as more than a friend?

Undercover is an engrossing book. I can’t put it down. The writing speaks to you. The descriptions are marvelous. Kephart’s characters are real. You feel Elisa’s family dynamics...her love for her father and the distance between Elisa and her mother and sister. You can picture Theo being led around by Lila and you want him to wake up and see the wonders of Elisa. You want her to be happy.

It took me one book, House of Dance, to become a major Beth Kephart fan. It took a second book, Undercover, to solidify that status. And I’m sure her upcoming book, Nothing But Ghosts, coming out in June will be a winner as well. Do yourself a favor and read all of Beth Kephart's books. You won’t be disappointed.

Meet Tilly in May

I'll have four books in the Tilly and Friends series up at the site.

Hello Tilly.

Happy Hector.

Pretty Pru.

Where's Tumpty?

Undercover by Beth Kephart contest

To celebrate the paperback release of her novel Undercover, author Beth Kephart is holding a contest. Simply leave a comment at her blog with a link to a poem you've posted at your blog. Beth says, "I'll be assembling fragments of those poems for a future post, and I'll be asking a special person to choose a favorite."

This contest will close on May 10th. Enter now!

Read my review of Undercover by Beth Kephart at Young Adult (& Kids) Books Central or Bildungsroman.

Read my review of House of Dance by Beth Kephart.

Read my exclusive interview with Beth Kephart.

Review: When You Reach Me

If you're looking for a good mystery, check out When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.  Want to read a good coming-of-age novel?  Try When You Reach Me.  Stead's novel combines mysterious notes appearing in 12-year-old Miranda's things with beautifully written relationships.  The end result is an incredible novel that you won't want to put down.  Read the full review here...

Review: Starclimber

The lure of outer space has existed since time began. People looked longingly up at the stars since the dawn of man. It has spawned great scientists such as Galileo and Copernicus. But, how do you get to outer space? That has been the age old question.

Well, Kenneth Oppel has supplied the answer in Starclimber, the third book featuring Matt Cruse and Kate DeVries. If you haven’t read Airborn and Skybreaker, you have deprived yourself an infinite amount of pleasure.

The book starts with Matt piloting a small aerocrane delivering material to the Celestial Tower, a tower being built in Paris with the goal of reaching the heavens. The Babelites are against this project and Matt’s ship is almost blown to smithereens by one of them, posing as a crew member.

Matt and Kate are approached by the head of an airship company and asked if they would like to join a space mission. Both immediately agree, although Matt must go through extensive training and may not make the cut. How do they intend to get to space? In a rocket climbing a 25,000 mile strand of incredibly durable thread..the Astral Cable. I’ll tell you no more, because you NEED to read it yourself.

Starclimber takes you through the rigorous training program. You follow Matt, Kate and a colorful group of travelers as they climb the Astral Cable. You know it won’t be smooth sailing. You also know you’ll meet unbelievable creatures.

A lot of fantasy and a little bit of romance makes for one fun read. I highly recommend Starclimber, Airborn and Skybreaker.