Help Needed Naming the Teen Area

We need a name for the new teen room in the remodeled library. I only have a few days to come up with something so don't wait! For example: Teen Scene, Annex, Duck Pond, Club YA, The Zone, The Closet, Twilight Zone, etc.... Get your suggestions in now! We have until Monday at 11:59pm. Email me your suggestions at mwheelock@khcpl.org .

Book Byte: Soul Enchilada by David Macinnis Gill

After a demon appears to repossess her car, eighteen-year-old Bug Smoot, discovers that both the car and her soul were given as collateral in a deal made with the Devil by her irrascible grandfather. She now has two-days' grace, to find ways to outsmart the Devil and his minions.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Graceling is a stunning debut novel by author Kristin Cashore. According to the book flap, the story grew out of the authors daydreams about a powerful girl. Let me just say I hope she keeps daydreaming because this book was a wonderful adventure.

Katsa was born Graced. In her land many people are born with many different types of graces. Some are graced with the ability to cook, to fight, to dance, or even to read minds. Katsa’s grace has set her on a lonely path, her grace is the ability to kill. Feeling more cursed than graced, Katsa is the unwilling arm of King Randa, who uses her as a threat to any who would oppose his will. Katsa feels like a hired thug. .

In secret, Katsa created the Council to help the kingdoms from the rule of unfair kings. It is her work with the Council that leads her to cross paths with the Leinid Graceling Prince Po. When Po’s grandfather is captured, Katsa rescues him, but they struggle to find the reasons behind the kidnapping. What they find leads them on an adventure that will threaten both their lives. Can Katsa become more than a thug, can she see her grace as a gift rather than a curse?

This was well written and very entertaining. In fact, it was very difficult to put the book down. Fans of authors like Tamora Pierce and other fantasy authors with strong female characters, will find themselves drawn to this novel.

I look forward to her next book Fire due out in October 2009.




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Book Byte: Marcelo in the Real World by Fancisco X. Stork

Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm. Check it out from the KHCPL Teen Scene!

And the Winner of SLJ's 2009 Battle of the Kids Books Is...

School Library Journal has done a great job with this competition. To see the whole battle and all of the judge's comments you can visit the site linked below.

I have to say that I am thrilled with the final decision, and Judge Lowry's comment's are hilarious. I loved this book from the beginning and found it very hard to put down. Check out the winner and the book I am talking about on SLJ's website below. (Hint, hint... there is a sequel coming out this fall.)

Big Kahuna Round

Book Review: Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Glass Houses is the first book in the Morganville Vampire series. When scholastically brilliant Claire Danvers sets off for college in Morganville, Texas, she gets more than she bargained for. Claire quickly makes an enemy of one of the most popular girls in the dorm and finds her life in danger because of this girl. After leaving the dorms, Claire finds a home in Glass House with three mysterious roommates who are willing to risk their own lives to keep her safe. In Glass House, the mystery of Morganville and its vampire heritage are slowly revealed.

Glass Houses is a fast read, and not a bad one either. Is it original or profound? No, but it was an enjoyable read and a good light vampire story. It is definitely meant to be read as a series, and ends with a cliff hanger that will have you dying for the next book. I recommend this to teens looking for the next vampire read. Entertaining.

Cautions for sensitive readers: This book contains a lot of violence and profanity is used in some of the more extreme situations. As of yet, there is no sex in the series, but I can not say what will happen in the later books.




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Book Byte: Project Sweet Life by Brent Hartinger

When their fathers insist that they get summer jobs, three fifteen-year-old friends in Tacoma, Washington, dedicate their summer vacation to fooling their parents into thinking that they are working, which proves to be even harder than having real jobs would have been.