Check out this week’s book trailer for Reckless by Cornelia Funke. Click here to find Reckless at the Library!
posted by Colleen, Teen Services Librarian
Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
Last week K.L. Going posted on her blog that the movie for Fat Kid Rules the World has finally started filming. Click here to read the full post. The independent film is shooting in Seattle, and will star two indie actors Jacob Wysocki and Matt O’Leary. Fat Kid Rules the World is an older novel, but it is a really good read. Also, the audiobook is excellent and is read by Matthew Lillard. Click here to download it! We first meet Troy, who is overweight and depressed, as he is contemplating suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. However, right before he is about to jump onto the tracks, the legend that is Curt MacCrae stops him. Curt has a reputation as a genius guitar player, punk rocker, and a slightly homeless high school drop out. In exchange for saving Troy’s life, Curt claims that Troy owes him lunch, and thus begins an interesting friendship. Troy always wanted to be in a band and Curt just happens to need a drummer, nevermind that Troy can’t play the drums. Together Curt and Troy set out to make an impact on the punk scene in New York. However, how much can a homeless possibly drug addicted skinny kid and a 6’1″ 198 pound depressed guy do to change the world…?
The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the production team behind the TV show Gossip Girl is bringing Anna Godbersen’s Luxe series to the big screen. Filming has not yet begun and the screenplay is currently being written, but it sounds like they want the stlye of the movie to be like that of Moulin Rouge, complete with musical numbers. The Luxe series is a four book series, and the first book entitled The Luxe is set in Manhattan in 1899. The novel opens on a funeral of a young heiress named Elizabeth. We are then taken back through the events that have led to Elizabeth’s death. Scandalous affairs, forced marriages, and high society definitely make this series an interesting spin on the traditional Gossip Girl drama.
Finally, look out for the book Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi later this year. Not only is it in the ever popular dystopian genre, but MTV.com is also reporting that it already has a movie deal. The novel centers on Juliette who has the power to kill by touch. After she accidently kills someone, “the Reestablishment” finds out what she can do and locks up for murder. Meanwhile, outside her prison, the world is falling apart. Look for Shatter Me to hit bookshelfs in November 2011.
posted by Colleen, Teen Services Librarian
The Teen Summer Reading program is still going strong, with only a couple of weeks left! We have been receiving some great book reviews on the logs that are being turned in. So, we are going to post these short reviews, ten at a time, and call them "10 Reviews by You". Hopefully, you'll get lots of helpful suggestions on what book to pick up next! Just click on the title to find it at the Library.
1) Fairest
by Gail Carson Levine
Aza, an innkeeper's daughter, lives in Ayortha where everyone is pretty and can sing. Different since birth, Aza must overcome being ugly, a magic mirror, ogres, and being in prison in order to get her happy ending.
by S. Terrell French
Operation Redwood is about a boy named Julian. His uncle and his company, IPX, want to kill redwood trees to make money. So when Julian accidently reads a protest email to his uncle by a girl named Robin, he's sent on an adventure to save the redwood trees, meet new friends, and defeat evil.
3) Hana-Kimi
by Hisaya Nakajo
One of my favorite series, Hana-Kimi, is about a girl who sees a Japanese track star. Immediately, she was amazed so she travels to Japan to meet him. The catch is that he goes to an all-boys school, so she dresses as a guy and goes to the school.
by Marina Budhos
Ask Me No Questions is about a girl that lived in the U.S. with her family on expired visas. When her dad gets put in jail, she is determined to get him out.
5) 11 Birthdays
by Wendy Mass
11 Birthdays is about two kids who were born on the same day. They were supposed to have their parties together every year. They did until they were 11, and so have to live the same day over eleven times.
by Matt Christopher
Return of the Home Run Kid is about a boy who always hits homeruns, but then hits a massive slump. He then meets a trainer who helped him out, but there's something suspicious about the trainer.
7) Hatchet
by Gary Paulsen
Hatchet is about a boy trapped in the wilderness. He learns how to make bows and arrows with his hatchet to survive.
8) Bloody Jack
by L.A. Meyer
Bloody Jack is one of my favorite books. It is about an orphan girl named Jacky Faber and her adventures. I loved this book so much I kept on reading the series and I am excited to read the next books coming out.
9) The Pact
by Jodi Picoult
The Pact is about guy who is falsely accused of murdering his girlfriend. It was a good book!
by Melody Carlson
Diary of a Teenage Girl is actually a good book. It's about a girl who lets God come into her heart and how she has hardships with love, friends, and her family changing.
by Will Hobbs
I read the book The Maze by Will Hobbs. Rick Walker, an escapee from the local juvenile prison, finds himself lost in Canyonlands National Park in Utah, where he finds the camp of Lon Peregrino, a bird biologist who is working to reintroduce California Condors in the wild. In the process of working with the condors and exploring the canyon landscapes Rick comes to learn more about himself and realize that running away from his problems will not solve them. When two men come to Lon’s camp, Rick automatically knows that something is not right. He listens into their conversation and finds out that Lon’s condors are in grave danger. After further investigations, Rick finds out that the two men are hiding something. Something big.
review submitted by Emily
If you’re not a big fan of blood and gore- then this is not the book for you. If you like blood, guts, gore, suspense and nightmare provoking monsters– then The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey is like winning the lottery for you!
It takes place back in 1800’s, where Will Henry is an assistant to Dr. Warthrop, a Monstrumologist who is someone who studies and sometimes kills monsters. The story begins with a knock at the door in late one night revealing a grave robber with a very special delivery…a dead monstrous beast, with its last meal still in its mouth. The beast is known as an Anthropophagi, a headless monster complete with a mouth in its chest full of skull crushing teeth. Soon the doctor and Will Henry begin to realize that this Anthropophagi appearance wasn’t random when more gruesome killings are discovered. Extra hands have to be called in to launch a great hunt for these blood thirsty creatures and Will Henry finds himself at the dangerous forefront of it all – either as the victor or perhaps just monster bait.
by Joanna Philbin
This book is one of my favorites. It has it all: mystery, comedy, and a little horror. Three girls combine forces to overcome Ava, the girl who’s out to get them all. I would definitely recommend this book to girls who like…girly books!
review submitted by Nida
by Steven Layne
I read the book Mergers by Stephen Layne. It is a science fiction/fantasy novel. Between Dirk, Mateo, Keiko, and Nicci, the world as they know it is at risk. When a machine called the merger created by Senator Broogue combines all races in order to create “peace”, it does anything but that. When Dirk, Mateo, Keiko, and Nicci were kids, they knew they were different. Their skin wasn’t merged. If someone saw them they would be in great danger. Dr. Lisa Tyrone takes the kids in and raises them until Senator Broogue kills her. Along the way, the kids meet three people just like them. Soon they find out that the fate of the world is in their hands.
review submitted by Emily
Beatrice lives in Chicago– well actually she lives in Abnegation, one of the factions of Chicago. Everyone in Abnegation is self-less. There are four other factions: amity (friendship/peace), dauntless (fearless), erudite (intelligence), and candor( who always speak the truth). Beatrice is now 16, which means it’s time to figure out which faction she’ll spend the rest of her life in. If she doesn’t chose Abnegation, this choice also means cutting herself off from her Abnegation parents. A test, which is actually a simulation, helps decide which faction she would be best suited for, but Beatrice still has the final choice. Beatrice’s test doesn’t offer an conclusive results, her test proctor informs her that she’s a divergent. Being a Divergent means you are someone who doesn’t fit in any of the clearly defined factions, and is a result she must not share with anyone because the consequences could be terrible.
Which faction does Beatrice settle on? Dauntless, and the action ramps up from that point on. Beatrice, who now goes by Tris, finds out that even her though she has chosen Dauntless as her new faction this doesn’t mean they chose her. Only ten initiates will be accepted in the faction and the newbies must prove themselves by performing well in intense tasks like fighting, knife throwing, shooting, and most of all confronting and overcoming their fears. Tris seems to have the odds stacked against her since she was an Abnegation and kind of scrawny, but her determination and some support from one of the trainers, who’s named Four, help her stay in the running for a slot. While proving her worth to Dauntless, Tris also finds herself questioning the Dauntless and the other factions and their true motives. Her divergent-ness starts to become more apparent to not just her but to others who are secretly observing her. Will she be able to keep her secret and what does her divergence mean for the future of all of the factions?
From Bad to Cursed by Katie Alender was just published last month and is the follow up to Bad Girls Don’t Die. This week’s book trailer is a two for one deal, because both books have had awesomely creepy trailers. Check out the trailers below and then click here for Bad Girls Don’t Die and click here for From Bad to Cursed, to check the books out in the Library.
