Monday Meme: Back to School Books!

Yep, it's time for back to school! Here are 3 such themed books to get you in the mood (except for #3-- that one just might scare you into never wanting to go back). Click the cover to go to the goodreads page or the link below to request a copy from the library.

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Monday Meme: If You Liked THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

      The Fault in Our Stars has become one of the most iconic books for teens in just a few years. The heartbreaking story of love, loss, and finding yourself amid tragedy struck a chord with almost everyone who has read it, and there are really no books that quite fit into TFIOS's category of snark and sadness. However, there are other book in a similar vein that are just as good- and they're different from John Green's novels. So if you're looking for something other than a John Green novel to pick up, or just looking to branch out, here's something new to try. 

Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell: Cath loves fanfiction. When she goes to college and her sister and best friend begins to move on from their high school identities, she has to figure out who she is...on her own. Not completely- with the help of newfound friends and at the close of her Simon Snow fanfiction (now its own novel by Rainbow) she tries to fit herself in somewhere in a new world. If you'd like to see if she succeeds, click here! I loved this novel, and I think most people have. It's also an Eliot Rosewater Award nominee this year!

Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta: I've probably mentioned this book before. It's a favorite of mine, and even though it's a little older, I can't stop singing its praises. It tells the story of Taylor, who lives at a boarding school- she has no parents, and her school is at war with the Townies and the Cadets. When the only adult she trusts disappears, she has to piece together the only clues she has left to not only figure out her past, but maybe even change her future. If you'd like to see what all my fuss is about, click here.

Being Henry David- Cal Armistead: This one is my ringer. When Hank wakes up at Penn Station with no memories and only a worn copy of Walden in his hands, he decides to become Henry David Thoreau and seek out Walden Pond to try piecing together his tattered memories. The only way to find out what they are is to face a tragic past- but with the help of new friends, he might be able to do just that. I was thoroughly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, and I think you'll like it too. Click here to try it out.

Monday Meme Spotlight: Eliot Rosewater Award

It's award time again! Every year a selection of books are chosen for the Eliot Rosewater Award, nominated in the fall and award given in the late spring. It's a program for high school students to choose the winner, and here are a few of the books nominated this year.

Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell: Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone. For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? This one is really fun, and there's a lot to be loved in this novel. Request a copy here.

Throne of Glass audiobook- Sarah J. Maas: After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men- thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for three years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best. Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. I have a lot of friends who adore this book, and the audiobook is said to be amazing as well. Click here to request it.

Boy Nobody- Allen Zadoff: They needed the perfect assassin. Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die-of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target. But when he's assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's mission. I haven't read this one personally, but I think it looks pretty interesting. And it must be good if it was nominated for an award. Click here to request a copy.

So hopefully one or more of these sound interesting to you, and be sure to check out the rest of the selection on display in the teen area.

Monday Meme Spotlight: YALSA 2014

     We all like to be winners. But sometimes, that's just not possible. There is one organization, though, that chooses the best of the best in young adult literature every year. This is YALSA, the Young Adult Librarian Services Association. Every year, they pick books that represent the best in YA for all sorts of awards and recognition. Here are just a few sterling picks from last year.

1. All the Truth That's In Me- Julie Berry: I love this book. Love it. It's set in a different type of world, a sort of Salem-meets-Amish town where people are old-fashioned and no one is safe from the insanity of one man. It's the story of a girl who was abducted and kept prisoner for years, a girl who's had her tongue cut out. It's a story of redemption, of moving on, of finding a way to live when it seems impossible and when everyone seems to be against you. Easily one of the best books I've evr read, I see why Berry's novel was chosen by YALSA. You can get your copy by clicking on this link.

2.The Naturals- Jennifer Barnes: Mystery abounds in this novel about gifted teens chosen to work in a special FBI profiling program to solve cold cases. But everything gets more dangerous, as you might expect, when secrets about the program are revealed to the teens involved. Although I haven't read this one, it did get put on a best fiction list, and kwatanabe loves this series, and that's a good enough recommendation for me!

3. Scarlet-Marissa Meyer: This is the second book of the Lunar Chronicles series, which is one of my favorites of all time, and of that series, Scarlet is my favorite right now. It was when I really started to understand how very well sculpted and thought out the storyline for the series was, and I love the characters in Meyer's futuristic France. And Wolf, too, who is simply awesome, a triumph of creation. You'll have to read it to find out who he is! You can find the whole series by clicking right here. (The order is Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest- and coming this fall is Winter)

4. Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell: I related pretty well to this book. It's about a girl in college who's stuck in a fictional world- she's more concerned with her fanfiction than she is with her real life. This is the story of how her friends pull her into the real world, and how she finds out that real life can be better than fiction. Honestly, Rowell's writing is fantastic. Everyone knows about Eleanor & Park, but I found Fangirl to be better (but of course, that's just me). If you'd like to see what I'm excited about, click this link.

     So these are just a few of YALSA's best fiction for 2014. They have several years worth of results and recommendations, though, so you can find the website and the 'best fiction' section by clicking here. It can look a little overwhelming at first, but it gets easier to navigate the more you explore. So while not everyone's a winner, you can find some who are.