More Book/Nerd Stuff

I just love nerdy book stuff.  Books will never die. You might as well get used to that fact.  Here are some more great things for nerds!

  Book Stairs!

 I have always been a fan of when                                                                                                   books have maps to go with their stories!

  cover a wall with a story?! YES PLEASE!

  Old card catalogs!

Aww! Cute little framed bookshelves!  

  These might become a teen craft...

Hermione says it all:

Book Review: The Infinite Sea

I blogged a book review for The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey last month, and I have now read the second book...which leaves me with a similar aftertaste and opinion as the first.

The Infinite Sea

Rick Yancey

When we left the teens in the first book, the training camp where the aliens train children to kill humans (and the kids don't know this is what is happening), has been destroyed and Cassie and her group are on the run to stay hidden from General Vosch and the other aliens posing as humans.

Evan Walker, and alien-human hybrid is left behind and found by his old partner and friend, but he must decide if he is an alien or if he can push the alien being out of his body in the name of love.

The teens struggle to find a way to take out the aliens before the aliens completely destroy the human race.

This series has such great potential...and I feel like it's about 70% there.  I love the idea of an alien invasion, but like I griped about in the first book, we never SEE the aliens or really their ship.  How do we know there actually ARE aliens and it's not some government conspiracy?  Also, the love stories...I'm tired of them.  There is a NEW one in this book, and it drives me up the wall.

Also, the first part of the book follows Cassie's group, solely.  The second half jumps to Ringer and her struggle to escape the clutches of General Vosch.  I feel like the author just left me hanging on both counts.  I guess I prefer a back and forth narrative rather than a half and half book.  

HowEVER, I do enjoy the writing of Yancey.  He is great at describing the struggles and emotions of the teens.  He has the characters reminisce before the invasion and before the teens found each other.  THIS part I absolutely LOVE.  You don't quite understand all the characters from the get-go.  They have flaws, mannerisms, and language that is difficult to understand under the current circumstances, but Yancey gives us glimpses at their past lives so we can understand why they are how they are now.

All in all, I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars...You make your own decision!!

Book Review: Clean

I need to read more realistic fiction.  I took a chance with a seemingly interesting book...I wasn't disappointed.

Clean

Amy Reed

Olivia, Christopher, Jason, Kelly, and Eva are all addicts.  Each teenager has their own vice, and they are all now in rehab to try to face their addictions.  From alcohol to drugs to diet pills, the teens meet with their therapy group leader, form relationships, relapse, and struggle to find the answers to life and what they need to get better--and how to feel important.

Told from multiple perspectives and through personal essays by the teens, this heart-wrenching tale tells of teens going through real issues, and they must now face themselves.

When beginning books told in this manner, I start out confused...there are multiple perspectives and different styles of writing.  But I grew to love this approach to this story.  It makes sense.  All the teens are different--from different cultures, mannerisms, and mindsets.  Eva, the goth poet has a more musical narrative than Jason who is angry and swears a lot.  

I don't know how many teens go through these sorts of things in small town Indiana, but I DO know teens get into drugs and alcohol and anorexia.  It's not a joke. And this book, while maybe to the extreme, tells teens and adults that these are real things and we need to be conscious of these situations.  How can we help people going through this? How did they get to this point? Basically, no matter color or money or popularity makes a person immune to this sort of trouble.

Reed paints a beautiful, disturbing story that I think all teens will get SOMEthing out of.  Come get the book!!

Trekkies/Best Pick Up Line Ever

It was only a few years ago that I got into Star Trek.  I grew up a Star Wars girl, so I always chose that first.  But there are some great lines in Star Trek! Check this scene out!

 

Guys, try this out next time :D

Book Review: Rebel Spring

Did any of you read my book review of Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes? It was a good one! Did you actually check out the book beCAUSE of the review? Probably not, but that's okay.  I read the second book of the series, and like the first one, it BLEW MY MIND! I literally read this book in one sitting. I'm not kidding.  I read it all in one day, on my couch, with my kitty curled up by my feet.

Rebel Spring

Morgan Rhodes

The second book of this series picks up right where Falling Kingdoms left off.  King Gaius is now ruler of all 3 lands, now called Mytica.  We still follow Lucia, a strong sorceress that is now in a coma. Magnus, Lucia's brother and the son of King Gaius who wins his power through blood.  Cleo, the daughter of the fallen King who is now engaged to Magnus.  And Jonas, a rebel leader from Paelsia who must fight to take down King Gaius. 

King Gaius is now meeting, in his dreams, with Melenia, an Olding.  She is a sorceress that has convinced Gaius to build a road across the land, using slaves and the blood of his people.  When it is complete, Gaius believes he will be emperor of all the land, but Melenia may have something different in store.

Betrayals, love, danger, and death run amuck, and it is up to the four teenagers to find out the truth of magic and the Oldlings and Watchers before the world burns.

I love high fantasy, and this is perfect high fantasy for teens...well, and for adults, too.  In the fantasy I've read thus far, I can't remember any plots that similar to the one of this series, which is incredibly important to me.  Yes, there is a formula for fantasy, and Rhodes uses that, but she weaves a tale so strong and deep that you cannot stop reading it.  You HAVE to find out what is going on, who is lying, who is in trouble, who is working for who.  It's like Game of Thrones for teens, and I cannot WAIT for the next book!

 

This one is at our library too...I have it on hold.

The FOURTH book is:

Expected out this December!

More Doctor Who!

Thank you Pinterest for "ruining" my life!

Dr. Who is SO great! Have you watched it yet?! You totes need to. I found this online and most applied to me :D  If you don't know any of these references, get a move on Netflix to watch Dr. Who.

Ryan Gosling Part 2

I can't help but be in love with Ryan Gosling as much as all you teens...so I found this picture and I LOL'd.  What a great light-hearted response!

Book Review: Broken

I stepped outside my comfort zone, once again, to try a book that usually is not my cup of tea...what resulted was confusing...neither good nor bad...

Broken

Elizabeth Pulford

Told between alternating points of view and part graphic novel, this story is about a teenage girl Zara, in Australia.  Zara was the girl that was abducted at 7.  Thank God she escaped, but tragedy seems to follow her.  When she takes a ride with her brother, Jem, on his newly fixed motorcycle, the two are in an accident, killing Jem, the only person that knew everything about Zara's abduction and Zara's most favorite person on the planet.  Zara is knocked into a coma for months, and it is here the story takes place.  Zara is stuck in a coma but can hear the conversation around her...at the same time, she falls deep into her subconscious to try to find Jem, but along the way, her mind creates the monsters and people from Jem's favorite comic book.  They delay Zara's quest, and at the end of the day, Zara must face the truth about her past to find her brother.

To begin, this book has a LOT going on.  Not only do we jump back and forth in time, we also jump into Zara's mind and into the hospital room as her family and friends try to talk to her.  This can get VERY confusing, but the author does a fairly decent job at changing the fonts and creating comic book illustrations for the different parts, consistently.  The graphic/comic book portions of the story didn't seem all the important to me as a reader, BUT, I did get that it was supposed to be Zara's link to Jem because Jem LOVES a particular comic and Zara believes if she draws in her subconscious these comics, it might draw her closer to Jem.  I actually wouldn't have minded if there had been MORE comics to add to the quest, but alas, there was not.

The idea of this story is a gut-wrenching one.  Zara goes through a horrible kidnapping at a young age...one she represses for years and years, and it takes this accident, a coma, and her quest for her brother to finally come to terms with it.  The connection between the accident and the kidnapping seems a little strained, but again, I understand what the author was trying to do, and thus, I was able to appreciate the story as a whole. 

This book is not for the light-hearted.  It WILL make you think and challenge your focus.  If you think you can handle that, then get this book!

Young Hoosier Book Award Nominees 2015-16

The list for Young Hoosiers for next school year is out!

I have begun purchasing 2 copies of each of these books. We have SOME of them on playaway. Check out the new books in the YA section to find these great choices!

Let me know if any of these are particularly good choices for me to do for the NMS book club.

Far Far Away by Tom McNeal

The Fellowship for Alien Detection by Kevin Emerson

The Girl From Felony Bay by J.E Thompson

The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, The Blue Death and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson

The Heartbreak Messenger by Alexander Vance

Hidden Summer by Gin Phillips

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Infestation by Timothy J. Bradley

Jinx by Sage Blackwood

The Living by Matt De La Pena

The Lost Kingdom by Matthew J. Kirby

Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

The Right Fight by Chris Lynch

Sasquatch in the Paint by Kareem Abdul -Jabbar

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

A Summer of Sundays by Lindsay Eland

Sure Signs of Crazy by Karen Harrington

The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick

Twerp by Mark Goldblatt

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Luke, I am Your Father...

Today, I just wanted to share my love of Star Wars...with memes and posters...

 

       A mock up movie poster from Jaws                 

If you haven't seen Star Wars, or  haven't paid attention, stormtroopers are covered in armor and have weapons, yet they are never able to actually hit anyone with their guns.  Also, when they are hit ONCE with a blaster, they are killed....despite all that armor. 

 

I want to do this...Teen night?!

This one is taken from a website that shows Star Wars things in American history...it's pretty impressive! Check it out: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/if-star-wars-was-real-collection

Star Wars is My Favorite Movie

Star Wars...I grew up with it. I love it.  It completes me.  Did you know that when George Lucas was making the original trilogy, he didn't tell the cast that Luke and Leia were actually twins?! That means, in The Empire Strikes Back, when Luke and Leia kiss, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill had NO idea! Here is there reaction...

 

Oh, snap! Another reason George Lucas is a genius.

It's a Doctor Who kind of day...

Doctor Who is freaking amazing. It's been on the air for, like, 50 years.  The reboot of the show with Chris Eccleston was incredible! And we followed it up with David Tennant, Matt Smith, and more!  I was putzing around on the Internet and found some great paraphernalia that I wouldn't mind purchasing...

The Doctor is a Time Lord who travels around space and time in his TARDIS, which happens to look like a UK Police Booth from the 1940s/50s.  He usually has a companion...always British, and they go off on whirlwind adventures to save alien races, stop the Earth from being invaded, and fight the dark powers swirling around the universe.  This show...oh man. You have to see it.

 

 Beautiful.

 Sweet sweater, right?!

Maybe a nerd craft night?

Cover Reveal!

A great writer, and a friend of mine, has written a NEW book and the cover has been revealed! You should definitely check this out online at: http://amzn.to/1BRAvot

It will only be available as an E-book, but it's only about $5! Preorder now!

Zoe lives in England, with her husband and son.  She gets to edit and preview other authors' work before it gets published. She even gets to edit DARREN SHAN!!! (FYI, he is the author of the Demonata series, Cirque Du Freak series, and Zom-B series)

Inside we are all monsters…

Chloe was once a normal girl. Until the night of the car crash that nearly claimed her life. Now Chloe’s mother is dead, her father is a shell of the man he used to be and the secrets that had so carefully kept their family together are falling apart.

A new start is all Chloe and her father can hope for, but when you think you’re no longer human how can you ever start pretending?

A contemporary reworking of a British horror classic, Under My Skin follows seventeen-year-old Chloe into an isolated world of darkness and pain, as she struggles to understand what it really means to be alive. 

Set against the familiar backdrop of everyday, normal teenage worries, Chloe's world has become anything but...  

Due for release on 31st March 2015, Under My Skin is available to pre-order now! 

UK - http://amzn.to/1BNRDu2

US - http://amzn.to/1BRAvot

Book Review: The Good Girl

You want to read a book that will keep you guessing and totally mess with your mind?!?! Yep, I found it. This happens to be the book for the NHS book club, so if you're interested in reading and discussing this book, hit me up!

The Good Girl

Mary Kubica

 

Goodreads has a much better summary than I could give: 

               https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18812405-the-good-girl?from_search=true

Born to a prominent Chicago judge and his stifled socialite wife, Mia Dennett moves against the grain as a young inner-city art teacher. One night, Mia enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn't show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. With his smooth moves and modest wit, at first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life.

Colin's job was to abduct Mia as part of a wild extortion plot and deliver her to his employers. But the plan takes an unexpected turn when Colin suddenly decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota, evading the police and his deadly superiors. Mia's mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them, but no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family's world to shatter.

This book is told from Colin's, Gabe's, and Eve's points of view from two different time periods--before Mia is found, and after.  This book is a wild roller coaster ride.  From  kidnapping to embezzlement to Stockholm's syndrome, you will have NO idea what just hit you.  The plot moves at a perfect pace, never giving too much information, but giving you enough emotion and storyline to keep you reading and guessing.

Do NOT miss this book!

TAB

Library Problems--

Have you come into the library and been unable to find a teen book because the library doesn't own it? Doesn't that just grind your gears?!

What about a program that you think the library should have, but they aren't getting around to it? Do you wonder what Kelsey, the Teen Librarian, actually does?

Do you want some say in how the Summer Reading Program functions?

 Do you want to boss Kelsey around?

Then YOU should join TAB! We meet the 4th Thursday of every month.  If you're interested, call or email me and I will put you on the list and give you a reminder call the day before!

Book Review: The Living

I never thought I'd like books by Matt De La Pena...Probably because I classified them as "Boy books," but now I see I have misjudged him.

The Living (Book 1)

Matt De La Pena

 

Shy's grandmother is dead from Romero disease, a disease that makes blood pool in the eyes, and the skin so itchy, patients scratch their skin off.  He and his mom need money.  So he gets a job on a cruise ship for the summer, handing out towels, golf clubs, etc. to all the rich people on the ship.  When a strange man speaks with him about a mistake he made and then jumps off the ship, committing suicide, Shy becomes haunted by what secrets he may have been hiding.

When an earthquake hits California, huge tsunamis crash into the boat, utterly destroying it and landing Shy in a broken lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific with a rich, snobby girl (the daughter of a scientist on a secret island).  When they are finally rescued and taken to an island, hundreds of people are sick, BUT there is a boat to take all the passengers and scientists back to the main island...but when Shy and his older buddy Shoeshine find out the truth behind the island and Romero Disease, they must fight for their lives.

I didn't realize it was possible to have this much action jam-packed into a YA book, but Pena pulls it off.  So much is going on in this story, it is impossible to get bored.  From survivor stories, to conspiracies, to the unmerciful might of the seas, you will be on edge the whole time, trying to read faster and faster to get to the end and find out what the heck is happening!

Shy is a great character, and from a background we don't see much in the Midwest, so it was an interesting read to find out a different culture and the way teens act in a different part of the country and work through situations.  

Be aware that a LOT happens in this book.  It jumps around from post-apocalyptic to mystery to thriller to love story.  If you can follow all that, then this is a must-read. If you can't follow all that, you definitely need to try!

The next book in this series, The Hunted continues the story of Shy and Addie and comes out in May of 2015!

Post-It Art

If you haven't come down to the library and put up a Post-It art, you need to get on it pronto! On the window in the YA section, I have placed multiple colors of Post-Its. I want you teens to draw whatever you feel like and put it up to show off your talent! Even if it's just a smiley face or stick figure. I'll take that! Here are some that have already been put up.

 These are awesome! Keep them coming!

RUN!!!

Teehee, made ya look. I found this bookend online and I heart it.

 

I'd love to put these in the library...or at my house...or anywhere, really!

If anyone wants to do this for me, YES PLEASE! My birthday is next month, so get on it :D

OR, does it look like it would be a fun teen craft night idea? It may take a long time...but people could get started at the program and then take it home.  Just painting, right? Right.

I kind of want to do this JUST for Sidney to show off her mad skillzzzz

The Doctor

Many of you may not know yet, but I'm a HUGE Doctor Who fan! Matt Smith is gorrrrrgeous! But Chris Eccleston...he takes the cake, I think. I wish we had the seasons of Doctor Who at the library...I may need to work on that.  In the meantime, enjoy this meme!

Young Hoosier Book Club--One For the Murphys

Our March book club at NMS was for One for the Murphys.  After doling out Oreos and answering trivia from the book, students were able to grab a B-Ball and play "Hit the Coin" where they tried to knock a quarter out of a taped square on the floor.  We had a blast!

8th Grade

7th Grade

6th Grade