Books on My Desk

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Call #: Y JOHN

Piper has the chance to manage the hottest new rock band at her high school. There's only one problem -- she cant' tell if they are any good. It's hard to judge music when you're deaf.






A Girl, a Ghost, and the Hollywood Hills by Lizabeth Zindel
Call #: Y ZINDEL

When the ghost of Holly's mother claims she was murdered by Holly's aunt, Claudia, Holly must decide how far she will go to get revenge.







Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhardt
Call #: Y REINHARD and YCD REINHARD

Although they have never gotten along well, seventeen-year-old Levi follows his older brother Boaz, an ex-Marine, on a walking trip from Boston to Washington, D.C. in hopes of learning why Boaz is completely withdrawn.






Havoc by Chris Wooding
Call #: Y WOODING
(Sequel to: Malice)

Part novel. Part comic.
Everyone knows the rumors -- if you gather the right things and say the right words, you'll be taken to Malice, a world that exists within a terrifying comic book. Seth managed to escape from Malice, but it meant leaving his best friend, Kady, trapped there. And he's not sure whether he should try to take down the malice comic from his own world or go back with an artifact he thinks can help from within.



The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith
Call #: Y SMITH

After being kidnapped and barely escaping, sixteen-year-old jack goes to London with his best friend Connor, where someone gives him a pair of glasses that send him to an alternate universe where war is raging, he is responsible for the survival of two younger boys, and Connor is trying to kill them all.

Tag Line Tuesday

Here is the reveal for the latest Tag Line survey posted via the Library's Facebook page. These titles are new arrivals to our Young Adult collection and contain plenty of zombie, vampire hunter, space mission action and more to keep you entertained.

Wired by Robin Wasserman
Call #: Y WASSERM
Tag Line: Humanity is the past. She is the future.

(Skinned trilogy, book 3) Lia is back at home, pretending to be the perfect daughter, but she has become the public face of the mech, devoting her life to convincing the world that she and other like her deserve to exist, until shocking truths are revealed, forcing her to make a life-changing decision.


Blood Feud by Ayxandra Harvey
Call #: Y HARVEY
Tag Line: Love is the best revenge.

(The Drake Chronicles series) As the clans gather for the coronation of the next vampire queen, new alliances are beginning to form and the power of the clan leaders is threatened by a would-be usurper.


Z by Michael Thomas Ford
Call #: Y FORD
Tag Line: In the game of zombie hunting there can only be one winner.

In the year 2032, after a virus that turned people into zombies has been eradicated, Josh is invited to join an underground gaming society, where the gamers hunt zombies and the action is more dangerous than it seems.


Crusade by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie
Call #: Y HOLDER
Tag Line: The Cursed Ones are here. Prepare for battle.

An international team of six teenaged vampire hunters, trained in Salamanca, Spain, goes to New Orleans seeking to rescue team-member Jenn's younger sister as the vampires escalate their efforts to take over the Earth.


Black Hole Sun by David MacInnis Gill
Call #: Y GILL
Tag Line: He's lost his family. He's lost his crew. He's got the scars to prove it. You don't want to mess with Durango.

On the planet Mars, sixteen-year-old Durango and his crew of mercenaries are hired by the settlers of a mining community to protect their most valuable resource from a feral band of marauders.

My, What Big Eyes Readers Have!

As I process new books for the children and young adult departments I cannot help but notice certain trends in publishing. Last year brought with it an iceberg-sized pile of books about polar bears and penguins. 2010 ushered in a swarm of bug and insect books and now sheep appear to be the latest graze, I mean craze in kids’ publishing.

For teens (and adults) all things supernatural are extremely popular. It is probably no surprise that vampires, vampires, vampires (Marsha, Marsha, Marsha) continue to dominate storylines due to the Twilight series phenomena. I’ve seen an onslaught of angel related romances emerge and it may be that angels are looking to become the new vampires, but they’ll have to contend with zombies and werewolves on the bookshelves. Werewolves have the upper hand though because a new theme taking off in both kids’ and young adult literature is Red Riding Hood. That’s right, Red is making her big comeback.

New teen titles spinning the Little Red Riding Hood & Big Bad Wolf motif include Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde, Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce, and Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakely-Cartwright (paperback release date: Jan. 25, 2011). The latter title has been adapted for film (tagline: Believe the legend. Beware the wolf.) The new Red Riding Hood movie starring Amanda Seyfried will debut March 2011 and if it turns out to be any good, will help boost Red’s overall ratings.

Authors and illustrators have also been busy reworking the tale of Little Red for younger audiences such as Gail Carson Levine's Betsy Red Hoodie. Here are some links to other Red Riding Hood titles:

http://amzn.to/fUTaf5

http://classiclit.about.com/od/booklists/tp/aatp_redridingh.htm

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/ridinghood/books.html

If Red doesn't make it as the next big thing, what topic or character do you wish would come in vogue?

Books on My Desk

Another batch of recommended reads have arrived from the Junior Library Guild.
Place your holds now.

The Miracle Stealer by Neil Connelly, Call #: Y CONNELL

In small-town Pennsylvania, nineteen-year-old Andi Grant will do anything to protect her six-year-old brother Daniel from those who believe he has a God-given gift as a healer--including their own mother.

Prisoners in the Palace: How Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel; a novel of intrigue and romance by Michaela MacColl, Call #: Y MACCOLL

Recently orphaned and destitute, seventeen-year-old Liza Hastings earns a position as a lady's maid to sixteen-year-old Princess Victoria at Kensington Palace in 1836, the year before Victoria becomes Queen of England.

I Will Save You by Matt De la Pena, Call #: Y PENA

Seventeen-year-old Kidd Ellison runs away to work for the summer at a beach campsite in California where his hard work and good looks lead to friendship and love but painful past memories surface in menacing ways.

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde, Call #: Y VANDEVE

Presents eight twists on the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood, exploring such issues as why most characters seem dim-witted and what, exactly, is the theme.

Score!: The action and artistry of hockey’s magnificent moment by Mark Stewart & Mike Kennedy, Call #: Y 796.355 STEWART

Find out about the hardest slap shots, the most unstoppable one-timers, and the wildest attempts to put the puck in the net.From overtime game-winners to profiles of the greatest players and performances, this book is crammed with amazing facts for every hockey fan!

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz, Call #: Y MARIZ

In a futuristic alternative school set in a shopping mall where video game-playing students are observed and used by corporate sponsors for market research, Katey "Kid" Dade struggles to figure out where she fits in and whether she even wants to.

Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan by John Bul Dau & Martha Arual Akech Call #: Y 962.4043 DAU

One of thousands of children who fled strife in southern Sudan, John Bul Dau survived hunger, exhaustion, and violence. His wife, Martha, endured similar hardships. In this memorable book, the two convey the best of African values while relating searing accounts of famine and war. There’s warmth as well, in their humorous tales of adapting to American life. For its importance as a primary source, for its inclusion of the rarely told female perspective of Sudan’s lost children, for its celebration of human resilience, this is the perfect story to inform and inspire young readers.