Book Review: Shadowlands

I started a new series...I really have to stop doing this!!!

Shadowlands

Kate Brian

One night, Rory took a shortcut through the woods to get home.  On the way, she is attacked by her teacher.  Fortunately, Rory is able to escape this madman's clutches, but when the FBI comes to visit and explains that Mr. Nell is a serial killer of young girls, the family is put into the Witness Protection Program.

When they get to Juniper Landing, they feel they've found a paradise--a beach town with tourists and parties and sunshine.  But when Rory's friends seem to disappear, and her sister refuses to admit she knows Olivia, Rory begins to wonder if something isn't quite right with this town.  Why can't everyone see all the people she sees?

This was a strange book.  From the title, I figured it would be some sort of fantasy novel dealing with death and ghosts.  Then I started reading, and began to think it was going to a murder/mystery novel.  The book goes back and forth, quite successfully.

However, too little is revealed at such a slow pace--the reader doesn't understand what is happening until the last chapter.  While I understand there needs to be a big "reveal," there were not enough clues and foreshadowing throughout the story to satisfy me when I hear the truth.

Regardless, I feel like this series has a lot of potential, and I am excited to check out the next book!

Hayyyy Babayyyy

If only I had gotten this pick up line by a guy in school.  Oh well, I'm fairly certain that Mitchell might have said this jokingly at some point in the last year.

Guys---"nerdy" girls or "bookworms" are going to be the most successful and coolest women when they grow up, so learn this line now! :D

Book Review: Heaven's Shadow

Every once in awhile, it's good for me to read an actual adult book instead of YA.  I tend to go for SciFi/Fantasy stuff. When I was tidying up that section in the library, I came across this book...

Heaven's Shadow

David S. Goyer & Michael Cassutt

Goodreads Summary:

Three years ago, an object one hundred miles across was spotted on a trajectory for Earth's sun. Now, its journey is almost over. As it approaches, two competing manned vehicles race through almost half a million kilometers of space to reach it first. But when they both arrive on the entity, they learn that it has been sent toward Earth for a reason. An intelligent race is desperately attempting to communicate with our primitive species. And the message is: Help us. 

I decided it was time to read a book for adults, and I generally choose Science Fiction when I do this.  Heaven's Shadow is quite a strange book, but eerily addicting!  The authors took a general space mission mixed with aliens and added a meteor that turns out not to be quite what they thought.  When some of the astronauts are exposed to the cold, zero gravity of space, I feel it in my bones.  

This book takes you all over the place, both physically, and emotionally.  When the main character meets his dead wife on the asteroid, you begin to wonder what the heck more could possibly happen! This book will keep you on your toes, and it's a nice break from the Young Adult section!

Star Wars meets Dr. Seuss!

I found this meme online....This summer we are making FanFic and Comic books. I would LOVE if someone combined these 2 for theirs!

Reading Before Bed?

Do you ever read before going to bed? I have a few teens that have told me they do the following...

I'm definitely guilty of this...only, it's a problem when it's a huge book like Game of Thrones.  Sleep will NEVER happen then! 

What books have YOU done this with?! Comment on the bloooooog!

If I wrote a Nerdy Librarian Mystery Book...

I found this cover online--I assume this is not a real book, but ohhhh how I wish it were!

Librarians seem so sweet and kind, maybe "shhhhushing" throughout the day, but do NOT cross us! Mwah ha ha!

Book Review: Let's Get Lost

I listened on CD to a new, well-rated realistic fiction story and it was probably one of the best books I've read in 2015.

Let's Get Lost

Adi Alsaid

Five strangers have one thing in common.  Leila is on a road trip, north--to see the Northern Lights.  On the way, she crashes into 4 new people, some metaphorically, some literally and changes the way they see life, while at the same time, they transform her. 

Hudson works as a mechanic and is on the way to a scholarship for college when he meets, and falls head over heels for Leila.  Bree is on the run from her family, her past, and her fears.  Elliot is convinced his life is a romantic comedy where he will get the girl of his dreams.  And Sonia worries the loss of one boyfriend and the gain of a new one.

The four teens are transformed as Leila rumbles through their towns on her way to find her own truth.  When Leila leaves each town, each teen is forever changed with a new, wide-eyed view at the world and all they can accomplish.  Now it is up to Leila to find the ultimate truth.

I love this book for a million reasons, but I will write about a few here.  I was unsure what to expect from this book.  I knew very little about it, and was unconvinced I'd really enjoy it.  At the beginning you have a pretty common "Teen Rom Com" story between the boy and girl teens.  However, it ends in tragedy, but you're left feeling that this part of the story is not quite over--which convinces you to read until the end to figure out what happens.  The whole story you're left wondering what Leila is looking for.  What has happened to her in the past? Why won't she tell anyone anything about who she is?

Each teen she meets brings out a little more of who Leila is, and draws the reader in so subtly, you don't realize just at which point you've been completely hooked into the story.  You won't be able to stop.  You have to find out what is going on with these 4 teens and how the real world applies to them...especially when Leila, a whirlwind, comes in and changes everything.  

This is one realistic fiction novel you do NOT want to miss.  It has humor, tragedy, drama, love, confusion, and every other emotion teens may go through in their first 18 years of life. 

Have you ever read the same book as someone else?

So, have you and your best friend read the same book and talk and giggle about it all day?  Did you read The Hobbit after your mother? Did you read Percy Jackson with your classmate?  You might have read the story, but I can guarantee you, you did not read the same book.  You each saw and experienced different emotion throughout the book.  There is no way you will ever read a book the same way as me--because you are not me.  That's an incredible idea with literature.  Literature is shaped by your own lives and experiences.  Depending on what you have gone through, a story can be entirely changed by who you are that no one can every quite understand.  WHOAH! MIND BLOWN!

Book Review: Stitching Snow

I read another fairy tale meets future meets robots meets dystopia...and IT ROCKED MY WORLD!

Stitching Snow

R.C. Lewis

Goodreads summary:

Princess Snow is missing.

Her home planet is filled with violence and corruption at the hands of King Matthias and his wife as they attempt to punish her captors. The king will stop at nothing to get his beloved daughter back—but that’s assuming she wants to return at all.

Essie has grown used to being cold. Temperatures on the planet Thanda are always sub-zero, and she fills her days with coding and repairs for the seven loyal drones that run the local mines.

When a mysterious young man named Dane crash-lands near her home, Essie agrees to help the pilot repair his ship. But soon she realizes that Dane’s arrival was far from accidental, and she’s pulled into the heart of a war she’s risked everything to avoid. With the galaxy’s future—and her own—in jeopardy, Essie must choose who to trust in a fiery fight for survival.

I am totally digging the new wave of fairy tales that have been coming out.  I know there are a TON and they may get pretty cookie cutter, like the dystopian books and vampire books got, but it's still to the point that they are cool :D

I love science fiction a lot, which is why I liked Cinder so much.  If you read Cinder, this is a new book by a new author that is in the same vein.  AND, as far as I know, it's a standalone book so you don't have to worry about when the next 2, 3, or 4 books come out.  The enjoyment is all packed in to one incredible book!

This story combines some fast paced drama and action with some slower parts where Lewis explains her characters and the history of what has happened to Princess Snow.  Princess Snow is a girl in pink that can't fend for herself.  She's a robot-making, planet-saving power house that will leave you breathless from the first page.  GET IT NOW!

the waves in the ocean...

Sometimes....actually most times, this is how I feel...

Books are a journey, and they have the power to take you further than any plane, train, or automobile can even dream of.  They can be dangerous; they can be cunning; they can wrap your mind around it so tight, you never want to leave.  And it is my favorite thing in the world.

Stars Wars can be funny :D

I heart Pinterest and Star Wars memes.  The two have come together and ended up in the culmination of the best day of my life!  If you don't love Star Wars, shame on you!

   

Last TAB poem!

Our TAB members are incredible! Thank you to all the members that made a poem for me to share. Teens are super duper :D

Reading rocks

so do books

what don't you try it

maybe you will like it

libraries hold the knowledge

to the universe

--Anonymous TAB member

How astute.  And the perfect ending to the perfect slurry of poems!

Say WHA????

I was talking to the girls from the high school book club and we were discussing the title of the book we read for that month.  I asked them why the author chose that title, and why the "R" was backwards in the title.  Then we got on to pinterest and we discussed the following meme...

and it's true! Almost every book I've read does this somewhere in the middle or at the end! We had a good giggle at book club over this fact.

Book Review: Independent Study

I've actually been listening to a lot of books on CD and a lot of playaways...the same goes for this second book in The Testing series!

Independent Study

Joelle Charbonneau

Goodreads summary:
In the series debut The Testing, sixteen-year-old Cia Vale was chosen by the United Commonwealth government as one of the best and brightest graduates of all the colonies . . . a promising leader in the effort to revitalize postwar civilization. In Independent Study, Cia is a freshman at the University in Tosu City with her hometown sweetheart, Tomas—and though the government has tried to erase her memory of the brutal horrors of The Testing, Cia remembers. Her attempts to expose the ugly truth behind the government’s murderous programs put her—and her loved ones—in a world of danger. But the future of the Commonwealth depends on her.

I will preface this review with the disclaimer that I did listen to this book on CD while I was working on a lot of other stuff, so my opinion may be a bit skewed because I did not offer the story my full attention.

This book is a great pick up from the first installment, The Testing.  I actually enjoyed this one more than the first one, because you guessed it--less love stories going on!  The struggle of Cia in this new world is truly relate-able regardless of the dystopian setting.  Cia is trying to make it in her new studies and find out who she is, who she trusts, and what the future holds for her.  The fact that there is a bunch of adventure and crazy emotional turmoil only adds to the fact that Cia is out of her element.  

If you read The Testing, you must continue to the series! 

National Library Week

For those of you who do not know (which is probably everyone), this week is National Library Week.  Unfortunately, MCPL has not done anything this week for it :(  I wish I had come up with some stellar ideas for the teens, at least, but I have failed.



HowEVER, the Topeka/Shawnee Public Library in Kansas has taken this week and made it one phenomenal library-loving 7 days! Check out their video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNfnL64rOQ

TAB Poem #6

C: Crazy

H: hyper

R: reads!

I: invincible

S: super

--by Chris

TAB Poem #5

Roses are red

food is good

eat that pizza?

I think I should!!!

                              --Anonymous TAB member

TAB Poem #4

Some members are silly and like silly poems too :D

I like food

It tastes gÖd

it raises my mood

it is never rude

it is my dude

--Anonymous

TAB Poem #3

Forever listening to words

of hatred, because their remarks

never cease

They never care that they 

are torturing an already 

broken soul

Their words are the teeth

and claws that shred a heart

to bits

No matter how much they

are ignored, for it's not like it

used to be, they never stop until

they're bored.

And they always leave a 

dead and tormented person in 

shame of living.

--Anonymous

TAB Poem #2

Here is the next poem from a TAB member!

I've been bent and broken 

but--I hope--in to a better shape

Some things are buried so deep

no one can find but 

occasionally some can un-dig you!

hide and seek with no seeker

love leads to hatred

trust leads to lies

darkness consumes all

the light in your heart

--Lily

TAB Loves National Poetry Month!

So, at our last TAB meeting, I had the members write some poems to share with you for National Poetry Month.  Here is the first one!

Books are the key!

Lands long lost are

suddenly found, mysteries

of the Earth are slowly 

unwound, imagination in pages

all around, with places in

which I can be me, the cage

I am in requires a key

So it looks to be books 

that set me free

                                                                             -- Anonymous TAB member

Book Review: Odin's Ravens

Book number 2! Norse Mythology is my favorite mythology!

Odin's Ravens

K.L. Armstrong & M.A. Marr

Summary from Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16060302-odin-s-ravens?ac=1):

Seven kids, Thor's hammer, and a whole lot of Valkyries are the only things standing against the end of the world. 

When thirteen-year-old Matt Thorsen, a modern day descendant of the Norse god Thor, was chosen to represent Thor in an epic battle to prevent the apocalypse he thought he knew how things would play out. Gather the descendants standing in for gods like Loki and Odin, defeat a giant serpent, and save the world. No problem, right?

But the descendants' journey grinds to a halt when their friend and descendant Baldwin is poisoned and killed and Matt, Fen, and Laurie must travel to the Underworld in the hopes of saving him. But that's only their first stop on their journey to reunite the challengers, find Thor's hammer, and stop the apocalypse--a journey filled with enough tooth-and-nail battles and larger-than-life monsters to make Matt a legend in his own right.

Norse folklore is probably my favorite. Even more than Greek mythology (though THAT is really freaking incredible!)  This book continues the story of Matt Thorsen (Thor representative) and his friends going through the Underworld to save their friend that died in the first book.  This book delves deeper into Norse mythology and I learned a lot about it that I didn't know before--which only included Thor, Odin, and Loki.  This story explains SO much more!

There is action, there is love, there is truth and betrayal and you will absolutely love this story! If you liked Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles, this is in the same vein, but in my opinion, better, because it has THOR!

Star Wars Jedi Cloaks

You know it....

I apologize to the non-Star Wars nerds...I grew up on Star Wars...It is my favorite movie, so you will be getting many more posts about Star Wars!

Book Review: Alliance

I listened to the second Paladin Prophecy on CD, and while it's not quite the same, I enjoyed the book!

Alliance (Paladin Prophecy #2)

Mark Frost

I'm going to take the summary from Goodreads again, because they do such a wonderful job!

Alliance summary

After exposing the sinister underground society of students known as the Knights of Charlemagne, Will West stays at the Center over the summer to explore his newly developing physical and mental abilities. Meanwhile, his roommates investigate the Knights' shadowy purpose and discover unsettling information about their own backgrounds. Will and his friends must quickly figure out what's going on and separate friend from foe as they prepare for the coming fight.

This book was even better than the first, which usually sequels tend to lack something the first book has all over.  The plot thickens in this story and we learn a TON more of the history of the Knights and the other worldly creatures.  

The characters are more developed, and while there are SOME character flaws and plot holes, I feel that Frost has a solid story throughout.  I think you definitely need to start with the first book, The Paladin Prophecy and keep going with this series! 

What Libraries Mean To Me

I'm a nerd. I always have been. I've been the smart kid that reads a ton, and does exactly what she should...well for the most part ;)  But, I'm not really bothered by it.  It's done well for me in my adult life.  And I know I can thank books and libraries for making that happen.  Scroll down to see the inner workings of this Teen Librarian and her past with libraries!



Why Libraries are a Necessity in My Life

1.  The stories took me other places where I could avoid realizing I life in a small town where everyone knows my business, there is horse poop around every corner, and annoying people all over the place.

2.  When my parents divorced, I went to the library to do my homework, read, hang out--anything to avoid being at home where depression ran rampant.

3.  I learned a TON of stuff for adulthood, even great vocabulary that helped me rock the SATs and get into a great college--for FREE.

4. My library card was free. This was the only thing that was free in my life...unlike gas, my car, going out with friends, cell phone, etc.

5. Not quite related, but I got asked out on my first date at the library! Bahahaha

6. The library gave me a GREAT job as a page in 2008. 4 years later, they gave me a full time position as a library assistant, and in 2014, I was officially named the Teen Librarian after I'd finished my Masters in Library Science.  This is by far the most important.  I LOVE my job.  I love programming for teens, buying and cataloging books...this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.  I never would have gotten here without libraries!

Book Review: The Fat Girl

I read another realistic fiction...I didn't quite expect this, but I liked it!

The Fat Girl

Marilyn Sachs

Jeff is fit. He's hot. He's got a new girlfriend, and now he's trying out ceramics at school.  Only one problem--the fat girl.  Her name is Ellen. She's clumsy, overweight, loud, and terrible at ceramics.  When Ellen overhears horrible words about her said by Jeff, she contemplates suicide.  Jeff knows he screwed up and heads to Ellen's house to make sure she's okay.  What follows that conversation is a friendship, but is it one with the right motivations and emotions?  Jeff gives Ellen tips on what to wear, how to do her hair and makeup, eat right, and exercise.  Jeff even starts dating Ellen.  But does Jeff truly love Ellen? Or does he love his "project"?  When Ellen starts to gain her independence and confidence, the two must decide what love is and what is important in life.

In general, this book is a typical, boy bullies fat kid, feels bad, make the fat kid hot and popular.  HowEVER, there are a lot of emotional themes and issues throughout this story.  I found myself yelling at Jeff to grow the freak up and leave Ellen alone, or at least confess that he's only in the relationship to lord over her and her weight loss.  

Ellen, like most of these stories, finds out she's a way cooler person than she's given herself credit for.  And the best part--she tells Jeff that.  She tells him to get lost, that she is better than she was and she doesn't need a man in her life to make her feel wanted.

There are a lot of general, recycled themes in this book, but it's really okay.  You know why? Because these themes have continued to fall on deaf ears for decades.   There are STILL the fat kids getting bullied and popular people trying to project their idea of popularity on their new guinea pig.  Had this issue already been solved in society, this book would be redundant and obsolete.  But it's not.  And we need more of these voices until people grow up and figure out that it only matters what YOU think of yourself, not what you think of others or what others think of you.  Thank you, Marilyn Sachs!

National Poetry Month!

I love April! Mostly because it means the snow is gone AND it's my birthday APRIL 20! (eh hem, just FYI)  But! It's National Poetry Month! I know, I know. Everyone hates poetry.  It's lame. It's girly.  Whatever...it is only that if you let it be.  It can also be a way to say what you want to say with incomplete sentences, emotions through words, playing with words and phrases.

I put up a TON of poetry stuff that you teens can play with at the library! I also put out our poetry books, and any fiction books written in verse.  Here are some of the things I have set up for you!

I will have white paper on the round table that you can jot thoughts and poems down--Poems can be as few words as you want! Check out my poem:

Armor,

Knights rush off to destruction.

BAM! I wrote a poem! That's all it has to be! Have fun with it!

Black out poetry is by the window.  Take a RIPPED OUT page from a book! :-O and black out all the words you DON'T want, and leave some great words to form a poem.  Then tape it to the window for everyone to see! (You can remain anonymous)

  Push-Pin Poetry! check the bulletin Board to move words                                                                                    around and create your own poem!