Review: Dark Life by Kat Falls

The oceans have risen, with catastrophic results. Now humanity finds itself divided between those who would embrace the depths of the sea or choose to remain above, packed together like sardines. As subsea pioneers begin to discover that life below comes with interesting consequences, their ability to forge ahead into the unknown will determine not only their fate but that of those above as well. Click here to read my full review.

Lego City Fight This Fire!

When the new firefighter trainee starts his first day he can't seem to get anything right. The chief is worried that the new guy won't be able to become a firefighter, but then they realize they just have to find his special talent! To read more of my review, click here.

The Berenstain Bears Get Ready for Christmas

Help Brother, Sister, and Honey search the Bear family tree house to find their 'bearloom' manger scene in this memorable and fun lift-the-flap Christmas story. I just love books that the whole family can read together and discuss afterwards, to read more of my review, click here. 

Trailer Tuesday: Clockwork Prince, Legend, The Alchemyst

Legend by Marie Lu releases today. How better to celebrate than with the trailer?

If you've read this book, write your review here for a chance to win a Bag of Books from our YABC Book Shelf!




Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
The highly anticipated trailer for Clockwork Prince released yesterday. What do you think?

Have you read this book? Write your review here! Each review you write enters you into our Bag of Books drawing at the end of the month!




Here is a cinematic trailer for The Alchemyst by Michael Scott, the first book in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. If you've read this book, write your review here!

Review: Journal of a Schoolyard Bully by Farley Katz

In this book, Niko Kayler is a proud, trouble-making, 7th grade bully who cannot seem to stay out of trouble. After getting in trouble at school for tormenting his classmates, Niko is sent to a therapist in the hopes of realizing the wrongs of his bullying ways. At the instruction of his therapist, Niko is forced to keep a journal of his actions.  Click here for my full review.

Review: Unforsaken by Sophie Littlefield

Hailey Tarbell is still struggling to come to grips with her special gift as a Healer and the good that it can do.  And even more so with the horrific effects it can have if her gift is harnessed and used by the wrong people.  She has already experienced this firsthand.  An experience she never wants to happen again.  Click here to read my full review.

Released This Week

Here are some of this week's Young Adult book releases. To learn more about each book, click on its cover art to be redirected to its page on Young Adult Books Central.

November 20, 2011 - November 26, 2011

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This post is brought to you by Missy's Reads & Reviews. It spotlights some of the newly released books in YA - but is not in chronological order. To see the books on the date that they are actually published, please be sure to "like" Missy's Reads & Reviews on Facebook.

The Pledge

Charlaina "Charlie" Hart has to hide her special gift of being able to understand all languages in a future world where having such a talent is considered a crime.  Then she meets the mysterious Max and everything in her life changes.  The Pledge isn't the typical dystopian novel but rather puts an unique twist on a familiar premise.

Click here to read more

Trailer Tuesday: The Future of Us, The Underdogs

Today's Trailer Tuesday features The Future of Us and The Underdogs. I've been waiting for quite a while to see what the trailer would be like for The Future of Us. What do you think? Does it make you want to read the book?


The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
Click here to read or write reviews of this book!




The Underdogs by Mike Lupica
Click here to read or write reviews of this book!

Review: Let's Count to 100! by Masayuki Sebe

Bright and colorful animals and children invite your child to count, count, and count some more as you explore this book full of numerous scenes. Click here to read my full review.

Review: The Future of Us

If you could know the future, would you want to?  If you could change the future, would you?  For Emma and Josh, it's a real possibility. It's 1996 and Emma just got a computer.  When she loads the AOL disk that Josh gave her, she got more than she bargained for.  Not only was she connected to the internet, but she was connected to Facebook...in 2011.

Emma's in a bad marriage.  Josh is married to the hottest girl in school.  They each realize that an action taken today can impact the future.  One wants to change the future and one doesn't.  In The Future of Us, Carolyn Mackler (The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things) and Jay Asher (Thirteen Reasons Why) have collaborated to produce a fun, thoughtful, romantic book.  Emma and Josh are great, as are their friends Tyson and Kellan.  The story is fast paced and realistic...as realistic as a story can be that deals with the future.  It's a new twist on an old theme.

I highly recommend The Future of Us.  It should be in your future.  For the full review, click here.

Review: The Underdogs by Mike Lupica

Will Tyler can fly on a football field. He may not be the biggest running back around, but no one can touch him when it comes to hitting the hole and finding the end zone. And no one can match his love of the game. When Will has a football in hand, he may as well be flying for real because life can't touch him - his dad isn't so defeated, his town isn't so poor, and everyone has something to cheer for. All of which does him no good if the football season is canceled. With no funding for things like uniforms and a cared-for playing field, with seemingly every other family moving to find jobs, there simply isn't enough money or players for a season. Unless one kid can rally an entire town and give everyone a reason to believe . . .

Click here to read my full review.



 

Review: Moo, Moo, Brown Cow, Have You Any Milk? by Phillis Gershator

Folksy drawings illustrate an updated classic nursery rhyme as a boy ventures through his farm and discovers where wool, honey, milk, eggs, and down come from. Click here to read my full review.

Released This Week

Here are some of this week's Young Adult book releases. To learn more about each book, click on its cover art to be redirected to its page on Young Adult Books Central.

November 13, 2011 - November 19, 2011

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This post is brought to you by Missy's Reads & Reviews. It spotlights some of the newly released books in YA - but is not in chronological order. To see the books on the date that they are actually published, please be sure to "like" Missy's Reads & Reviews on Facebook.

Review: The Death Cure (Maze Runner Trilogy Book 3)

 


"The time for lies is over." The problem? Whose telling the truth and whose telling more lies? Thomas knows WICKED has lied to him before, when they sent him into the Maze and again when they dropped him into the Scorch. He knows they've used those closest to him as weapons of betrayal in attempts to collect data for their "cure" blueprint but now they say he and the other Gladers need to trust them one last time.

This much anticipated final chapter in The Maze Runner trilogy is filled with action, and edge of your seat suspense that will leave you wondering who can really be trusted right up to the last page. Alliances will be formed, friendships will be put to the ultimate test and choices made that beg the questions, "Are the lives of a few worth losing to save countless more? and Do the ends always justify the means no matter what?" 


Click here to read my full review

Darker Still

Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart is obsessed with a painting of an English Lord.  She persuades her father, a employer of the ten-year-old Metropolitan Museum of Art, to get his employers to purchase the painting.  Seems there's more to the painting.  Dark magic has trapped Lord Denbury inside and a lookalike is now walking the streets of 1880 NYC killing women.  Can Natalie solve the runes around the frame of the painting to release Denbury in time to stop the murders?  Or will she be next on the killer's list?  Darker Still is a lush Gothic tale that has mystery, magic, and even romance. 
Click here to read more

Trailer Tuesday: The Hunger Games, Hunted, The Space Between

The Space Between is Brenna Yovanoff's latest YA novel.
Have you read it? Share your thoughts here!




Have you seen this trailer for Hunted by YABC's good friend Cheryl Rainfield?
If you've read this book, be sure to share your review here.




And of course I have to include the first full official trailer for The Hunger Games film. I have to say, I wasn't very impressed with the trailer at first because I'm a highly skeptical person, and I don't want the film to let me down. But I'm happy to say it's growing on me. I'm so excited to be back in Panem again!

If you've read The Hunger Games, tell us your thoughts here!

Giveaway: A Closer Look (Signed Copy and Bracelet)

Enter to win a signed copy of A CLOSER LOOK by Karen DelleCava and a bracelet, like the one mentioned in the book!

Simply fill out the entry form below to enter. This giveaway is open until midnight, November 30, 2011.

A bit about A CLOSER LOOK:

Freshman year is going well for Cassie, a standout sprinter who is about to move up to varsity; school has been fine, her best friend Tara is also running track, and Tommy, that cute sax player she likes has asked her to come see his band rehearse.

But in a matter of weeks, Cassie has a secret she is trying to hide from everyone. Her hair has started falling out, and she's doing everything possible to keep it from showing. When her parents tell her it happened to her once before, at age 3, she is horrified, and a trip to the dermatologist confirms what she has been afraid of: that all of her hair may fall out. 

She has alopecia, and there is no known effective treatment. Cassie eventually gets a wig when she can no longer disguise the truth, and she finally confides in Tommy about it. But when he starts being standoffish and avoids her, she feels betrayed. Then, at a track meet, Robin, her rival on the team, exposes her secret to the whole crowd. With her worst fears realized, will Cassie ever be able to face her classmates, her teammates, and most of all, Tommy?

Review: 13 Gifts by Wendy Mass

When Tara, a self-proclaimed shrinking violet, steals the school mascot, a goat, in order to make some friends with the popular crowd and gets caught, she gets herself in a heap of trouble. In addition, her parents decide that instead of taking her on their summer trip to Madagascar to study the courtship rituals of the Bamboo Lemur, she must go stay with her aunt, uncle, and bratty cousin Emily St. Claire in Willow Falls. Tara thinks it's a good time to start over; she'll be turning 13 after all, so she might as well make the best of it and perhaps even attempt to break out of her shell (in a non-criminal manner). What Tara doesn't know is that this charmed town has something big in store for her on her 13th birthday. It's not a typical birthday. But then again, nothing is Willow Falls is exactly typical!

Click here to read my full review.

Released This Week

Here are some of this week's Young Adult book releases. To learn more about each book, click on its cover art to be redirected to its page on Young Adult Books Central.

November 6, 2011 - November 12, 2011

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This post is brought to you by Missy's Reads & Reviews. It spotlights some of the newly released books in YA - but is not in chronological order. To see the books on the date that they are actually published, please be sure to "like" Missy's Reads & Reviews on Facebook.

Review: "Crossed" (Matched #2) Ally Condie

 

In this much anticipated sequel in the "Matched" Trilogy, "Crossed" picks up where the first book left off and we find Cassia still willing to do whatever it takes to find Ky even if it means risking her life. Nothing is what it seems (including those pesky little blue pills) and everyone seems to have an ulterior motive. Who can Cassia trust and whose really in charge?  Is she just a pawn in a game?  Cassia is faced with tough choices, none of which are black and white, (or should I say, green, blue or red?)  The things she'll discover about herself and the two boys she loves will change her forever.

Click here to read my full review

Announcing: The Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition

Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition

Get in Front of Top YA Editors and Agents with ONLY the First 250 Words of Your YA Novel!

No query? No pitch? No problem!

Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its Third Annual Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition for a chance to win a one-on-one consultation with one of New York's leading YA literary agents! 

If you've written a novel for young adults—or have an idea for one that you would like to write—we invite you to enter our contest. Simply submit only an enticing title along with the first 250 words from the opening of your original YA novel.  http://bit.ly/YAContest

GREAT PRIZES

The Grand Prize Winner will have the opportunity to submit an entire manuscript to YA literary agent Regina Brooks and receive a free, 10-week writing course, courtesy of Gotham Writers' Workshop, plus a collection of gourmet teas from Possibiliteas.co. 

The Top Five Entrants (including the Grand Prize winner) will receive a 15-minute, one-on-one pitch session with Regina Brooks, one of New York’s premier literary agents for young adult books. They will also receive commentary on their submissions by editors at Scholastic, Disney, Harlequin Teen, Random House, Viking, Roaring Brook Press, Sourcebooks, and Kimani Tru and receive a one-year subscription to The Writer magazine.

The First 50 Entrants will receive a copy of Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks.

Enter to win at  http://bit.ly/YAContest   Hurry contest ends November 30, 2011

The Hottest Books of the 2011 Holiday Season

Children’s Literacy Experts at Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs Offer Recommendations to Help Holiday Shoppers

Get ready for holiday shopping. The children’s book experts from Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs have just revealed their picks for what will be the most popular new children’s books for the 2011 holiday season.  This go-to list features books for all ages from a variety of authors and publishers to help gift-givers pick the right books for the kids in their lives.

Some of the book picks include new releases and sequels for popular series, such as The Heroes of Olympus, Book Two: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney, and The 39 Clues®: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 2: A King's Ransom by Jude Watson; others are tied to highly anticipated film releases such as War Horse, Hugo, and The Hunger Games, all of which are based on books.

“Parents, grandparents and educators all know the value of giving the gift of reading to kids, but we know they also struggle to compete with the hot new toy, electronic device or video on the market,” stated Francie Alexander, Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic. “This list was curated by the experts at Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs to help shoppers identify the books that will be sure to delight a child as much as any other favorite gift.”

Scholastic’s Holiday Gift List for Kids

Picture Books

• 10 Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert (Simon & Schuster)
• Can You See What I See? Toyland Express written and illustrated by Walter Wick (Scholastic)
• If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond (HarperCollins)
• The Man in the Moon written and illustrated by William Joyce (Simon & Schuster)
• Pinkalicious: The Princess of Pink Treasury written and illustrated by Victoria Kann (HarperCollins) 

Click here for full list

Transitional Readers and Chapter Books

• Clementine and The Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Disney Hyperion Books)
• Fly Guy: Fly Guy vs. The Flyswatter! by Tedd Arnold (Scholastic)
• Magic Tree House: Dogs in the Dead of Night by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca (Random House)
• Rainbow Magic: Magical Holiday Boxed Set by Daisy Meadows (Scholastic)
• Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers by Dav Pilkey, George Beard, and Harold Hutchins (Scholastic)

Click here for full list

Middle Grade Fiction 

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney (Abrams)
• The Heroes of Olympus, Book Two: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion Books)
• The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 2: A King's Ransom by Jude Watson (Scholastic)
• War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (Scholastic)
• Wonderstruck written and illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic) 

Click here for full list

Young Adult Fiction

• Crossed by Ally Condie (Penguin)
• Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (Random House)
• Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion Books)
• The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic) 

Click here for full list

Nonfiction

• How Cool Is This: An Up-close, Inside Look at How Things Work  (DK Publishing)
• The Hugo Movie Companion: A Behind the Scenes Look at How a Beloved Book Became a Major Motion Picture by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
• Lego Harry Potter: Building The Magical World (DK Publishing)
• Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (DK Publishing)
• Ripley's Believe It or Not!: Special Edition 2012 (Scholastic)

Click here for full list

These books are available through Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs in schools and online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. When you purchase these or any other books through Book Clubs and Book Fairs you are helping out your child’s school. Teachers are awarded bonus points through Scholastic Book Clubs to purchase books and materials for their classrooms, and schools raise money through their Book Fairs to support the school community. If a title from Scholastic’s holiday gift list is not available through your child’s Scholastic Book Club or Scholastic Book Fair, check with your child’s teacher or visit a book retailer or library. 

For the full list please visit http://oomscholasticblog.com/2011/11/we_predict.html. 

For more information on Scholastic (SCHL), visit us at mediaroom.scholastic.com.