I am currently working as a school library intern one day a week in a K-8 independent school. This is my day:

6:20 Wake up, shower, eat, catch up on email, Twitter, and Tumblr

7:25 Make the 20-minute commute to the school

7:45 Arrive, meet with my mentor librarian and talk about day’s plan before school starts at 8. She found a box of old paperbacks to give away to students, so a gaggle of lower school kids are sifting through. It takes them a while to understand that these are books they get to keep and don’t have to bring back to the library!

8:00 School starts, no classes for the first two periods, but a board committee is meeting in the library. I catalog a stack of donated books including some popular chapter books and easy reader non-fiction. Mostly copy cataloging, but we do add longer descriptions and more subject terms, though these are totally informal. Have to look up a few series numbers for a few titles that aren’t clearly numbered and do a bit of original cataloging for some Pokemon books. A few books are library bound, so I just add barcode and spine labels to go straight on the shelf.

9:50 Time for the daily school-wide assembly! Wednesdays are kind of a grab bag, so I never know what to expect. Today, the 8th graders did a flash mob dance to Eye of the Tiger to interrupt a fake current event. Not the usual fare, but lots of fun.

10:05 Recess time! More students hear about the free books and check them out. A 2nd grader comes by to do a survey about what kind of books people like to read. I answer comic books from her list of choices. Start shelving the overflowing returns cart.

10:20 First of two 5th grade classes in a row. I observe the lesson which includes a review of BibMe, which they are using for a project, and some read-alouds that tie into their other classes: The Hatmaker’s Sign by Candace Fleming for their colonial unit and the beginning of The Friendship by Mildred Taylor, since they just read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

11:10 During the second 5th grade class, I shelve books and finish up a few cataloging tasks from earlier.

12:00 Lunch-time! After eating, we are on library duty. More kids come in and finally empty out the free paperbacks box. Lots of students are in using the computers, but mostly to take pictures of themselves with FaceTime.

12:40 Study hall/SSR time. The library is open to 7th graders for quiet study or reading and lots of students are  using the computers and some settle in on the couches and in the storytime area to read. I help a student find some more dystopian books to read — she’s read a lot, but I give her a few more titles that interest her.

1:20 I go collect the 1st grade students for their library class. The single file line does not stay single file for the very short walk to the library! I observe the lesson which includes a reading of I See a Kookaburra! by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page and a look at some of Steve Jenkins’ other awesome non-fiction books. The students also watch a short video about the rainforest to tie-in with their regular class unit.

2:10 No more classes today, so my mentor librarian and I go over some professional development stuff before I head home for the day.

2:50 Lots of errands to run!

5:00 Home for the evening. Time to catch up on email, Twitter, Google Reader, etc. I have some YALSA committee stuff to work on, including finishing up the press release for the YALSA Writing Award Jury (look out for the winners soon!) and writing a blog post for the YALS Advisory Board to go with the upcoming Winter issue.

]]> http://www.youthservicescorner.com/2012/library-day-in-the-life/feed/ 0 http://www.youthservicescorner.com/2012/links-of-the-week-january-28-2/ http://www.youthservicescorner.com/2012/links-of-the-week-january-28-2/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:09:12 +0000 whitney http://www.youthservicescorner.com/?p=2109

Five Stars
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Penguin)
Horn Book, PW, SLJ, Booklist, Kirkus

Four Stars
Crow by Barbara Wright (Random House)
Horn Book, PW, SLJ, Kirkus

There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff (Penguin)
Horn Book, PW, Booklist, Kirkus

Three Stars
Miles to Go for Freedom: Segregation and Civil Rights in the Jim Crow Years by Linda Barrett Osborne (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
PW, SLJ, Kirkus

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour (Penguin)
PW, SLJ, Kirkus

Two Stars
Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson (Penguin)
PW, Kirkus

Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey (Dial)
SLJ, Kirkus

Try Not to Breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard (Penguin)
PW, Kirkus

I’m having a hard time getting the stars from Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly — I only have access to them via a database and they’re embargoed for a month or two each. If you have access to a print subscription and would like to help me compile this list, please let me know!

The Youth Media Awards, the collection of awards handed out by the American Library Association, will be presented this Monday, January 23. For young adult literature, the Michael L. Printz award is considered the highest achievement. Awarded annually since 2000, it honors the best book (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or anthology) in terms of literary merit and up to four honor books that were published in the United States during the award year. A committee of nine YALSA members discuss the eligible titles at the Annual and Midwinter ALA meetings and choose the winner and honor books in a closed door session.

To promote the reading and discussion of quality YA books, many library systems and regional library groups organize Mock Printz events. Typically, librarians will choose a shortlist of titles that they think merit inclusion on the Printz list. They then meet to discuss the books and choose their own winner and honor books before the official ceremony.

I’m always curious to see what books look like contenders for the award, so for the last two years (2011, 2010) I have compiled Mock Printz lists and winners. It’s not the best predictor of the eventual winner, especially since a lot of the groups share lists to some extent, but still an interesting exercise. Last year, for example, Ship Breaker and Nothing had a lot of Mock Printz buzz, while the others were pretty much under the radar.

This year, I looked at 20 lists. Several titles appear on multiple lists, but there are a lot that only appear on one list. A total of 55 individual books were listed.

Of the lists I looked at, here are the books that appeared on the most lists and the number of lists they appeared on:

• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (16)
• Chime by Franny Billingsley (14)
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (13)
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (9)
• Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (8)
• Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones (6)
• Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma (7)
• Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard (7)

I also weighted the lists that picked honor and award books (15 of the lists) to generate a slightly different list. Award books got three points, honor books got two points, and other nominees got one point:

• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (25 – 4 wins and 4 honors)
• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (25 – 2 wins and 5 honors)
• Chime by Franny Billingsley (19 – 1 win and 3 honors)
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (14 – 1 win and 3 honors)
• Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (10 – 2 honors)
• Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard (9 – 1 win)
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (8 – 1 win and 1 honor)

Other winning Mock Printz titles include:

• A Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (don’t think this one’s eligible, not pubbed for YA, but could win an Alex Award)
• Blood Red Road by Moira Young
• To Timbuktu by Casey Sciezska
• Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
• Rotters by Daniel Kraus

What do you think? Who will take home the big award on Monday morning?

The full lists from each library or library system appear below.

North Suburban Library System
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (winner)
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (honor)
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (honor)
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Oregon Young Adult Network
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (winner)
Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow (honor)
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (honor)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (honor)
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Maricopa County (AZ)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (winner)
Chime by Franny Billingsley (honor)
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (honor)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Angry Young Man by Chris Lynch
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Family by Mikol Ostow
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Tighter by Adele Griffin

South Central Kansas Library System
A Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (winner)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (honor)
Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories by Megan Kelley Hall (honor)

Austin Public Library
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (winner)
Blood Red Road by Moira Young (honor)
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (honor)
Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Flesh and Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Nassau Library System and Suffolk Cooperative Library System
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (winner)
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (honor)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (honor)
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Lie by Caroline Bock
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Pick-up Game: a Full Day of Full Court by Marc Aronson, et al
Shine by Lauren Myracle
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Minnesota Library Association Twin Cities Contingent
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (winner)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (honor)
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt (honor)
Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard

Chicago Public Library
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (winner-teens)
Leverage by Joshua Cohen (winner-librarians)
You Against Me by Jenny Downham (honor)

Eva Perry – Wake County NC
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard (winner)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (honor)
Chime by Franny Billingsley (honor)
Every You, Every Me by David Levithan (honor)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente (honor)

Bank Street College of Education School for Children
Blood Red Road by Moira Young (winner)
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (honor)
Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 by Sally M Walker (honor)
My Big Mouth: 10 Songs I Wrote That Almost Got Me Killed by Peter Hannan (honor)

Bergen County Cooperative Library System (NJ)
To Timbuktu by Casey Sciezska (winner)
Chime by Franny Billingsley (honor)
The Summer I Learned to Fly by Dana Reinhardt (honor)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta

SLJ Someday My Printz Will Come
Chime by Franny Billingsley (winner)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente
The Returning by Christine Hinwood

Ocean County Libraries
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (winner)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (honor)
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (honor)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (honor)
Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Stick by Andrew Smith
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Ramapo Catskill Library System (RCLS)
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (winner)
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick

Franklin Public Library
Rotters by Daniel Kraus (winner)
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (honor)
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King (honor)
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Human.4 by Mike A. Lancaster
I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Karma by Cathy Ostlere
Leverage by Joshua Cohen
Shine by Lauren Myracle
Stick by Andrew Smith
The Queen of Water by Laura Resau
Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Delafield, WI
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

Prescott Public Library
Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Trapped by Michael Northrop

FYA Book Club Vancouver, WA
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Shine by Lauren Myracle

GKHS
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Flip by Martyn Bedford
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Karma by Cathy Ostlere
Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams
Paper Covers Rock by Jenny Hubbard
Pick-up Game: a Full Day of Full Court by Marc Aronson, et al
The Queen of Water by Laura Resau

Fort Vancouver Regional Library
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones
Chime by Franny Billingsley
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Karma by Cathy Ostlere
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Welcome to Bordertown by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner

Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
May 2012 (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
The sequel to the Printz Award-winning The Ship Breaker

Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown
July 2012 (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Looks like an interesting brother/sister road trip book from the author of Hate List and Bitter End

Messy by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
6/5/12 (Little, Brown/Poppy)
The sequel to Spoiled from the FugGirls

The Rivals by Daisy Whitney
February 2012 (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
The sequel to the Mockingbirds (which I still haven’t read, but just picked up the paperback from my local indie bookstore!)

Boy 21 by Matthew Quick
3/5/12 (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
I loved Quick’s Sorta Like a Rock Star, so am curious to see read his next book

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
2/28/12 (HarperCollins)
The sequel to the dystopian Delirium

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
5/1/12 (HarperCollins)
The sequel to Divergent

Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore
5/1/12 (Penguin)
The long-awaited third book in the Seven Kingdoms series (Graceling, Fire)

Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger
4/1/12 (Abrams Books for Young Readers/Amulet Books)
Though I still haven’t read the Origami Yoda books, I know they’re popular and want to check this one out for my school library internship site.

Explorer edited by Kazu Kibuishi
3/1/12 (Abrams Books for Young Readers/Amulet Books)
This graphic novel anthology looks gorgeous with lots of contributors from the popular Flight anthologies.

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
5/8/12 (S&S Books for Young Readers)
The second novel from the author of Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

Black Heart by Holly Black
4/3/12 (Margaret K. McElderry Books/S&S)
The third book in the Curse Workers series (White Cat, Red Glove) — love the new covers too!

The Year of the Beasts by Cecil Castellucci and Nate Powell
5/22/12 (Roaring Brook Press/MacMillan)
An alternating prose/graphic novel from one of my favorite authors, Castellucci.

Perception by Kim Harrington
3/1/12 (Scholastic Point)
The sequel to Clarity

The List by Siobhan Vivian
4/1/12 (Scholastic Push)
Another interesting looking contemporary novel from Vivian (Not That Kind of Girl, Same Difference)

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
6/19/12 (St. Martin’s Press)
Excited to see this zombie(?) book from one of my favorite contemp authors. (This one’s up on NetGalley already!)

Here are a few titles that relate to some aspects of the series. Know any other good read-alikes? Let us know in the comments!

For the era:
Shirley by Kaoru Mori
A collection of manga stories about teenage maids in Edwardian England. The artist produced another series, Emma, about maids in the Victorian era.

The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low
Sixteen-year-old Petronella teams up with her eccentric uncle, her best friend Jane, and Jane’s brother to find the important guests who were kidnapped from her birthday party in Edwardian London.

For the World War I aspects:
Without Warning: Ellen’s Story 1914-1918 by Dennis Hamley
The account of a working-class English girl as she comes of age during World War I, witnessing the horrors of war first at home and then as a nurse in France.

The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick
Able to see when someone is going to die, Alexandra travels to France as a nurse to save her brother from the fate of war.

For the era from an American perspective:
Bright Young Things series by Anna Godbersen
Two teen girls from the midwest run away to New York and find themselves swept up into the glamour of big city high society in the 1920s.

Timeless by Alexandra Monir
Sent to live with her estranged grandparents in New York, Michele discovers she can transport herself to 1910 through a diary. There, she meets the dashing Phillip Walker and becomes embroiled in a longstanding family feud.

For a bit of a twist:
The Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
An alernate steampunk history of World War I in which a young Austrian prince on the run and a British girl disguised as a boy join forces to help end the war.

(Thanks to Lexi and other YALSA-BKers for some of the ideas on this list!)

In 2011, I read:

• 94 YA books
• 35 adult books
• 21 kids/MG books
• 30 ebooks
• 15 audiobooks
• 13 graphic novels
• Average rating:3.6/5

Favorite 2011 Releases:
Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
Hopefully a shoe-in for a Newbery Medal or Honor, Doug Swieteck’s sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, story got me right in the gut.

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
This debut novel about an intense friendship between two girls in rural Wyoming blew me away with lyrical prose that perfectly evoked its setting and made the characters come alive.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
An honest story about the hurt cancer wreaks on a family, from the perspective of a young boy, that expertly incorporates elements of magical realism.

I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloan
I adored this heart-wrenching novel about two homeless brothers and their journey to find a place for themselves.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
I didn’t know I could love a book about fallen angels, but I fell in love with this world with its fantastical creatures and its kick-ass, blue-haired heroine.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
It’s safe to say that Stephanie Perkins has perfected the contemporary YA romance novel with her second installment about two quirky teens in San Francisco.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan
This space-travel epic is filled with deceit, religious awakenings, coups, romance, and so much more, and is a thrilling, can’t-put-it-down read. Can’t wait for book two!

Pink by Lili Wilkinson
A contemporary novel set in Australia tells an endearing story about an offbeat girl coming to terms with her sexual orientation against a backdrop of theater shenanigans and other fun teen escapades.

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
It deals with some intense bullying and imagined Vietnam War scenes, but Lucky’s emotional journey over one summer vacation in Arizona is super compelling and ends optimistically. Lots of rich, well-developed characters here!

Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
Zita and her best friend get transported to a fantastical planet and go on a grand adventure in this colorful, action-packed, funny graphic novel with an awesome girl protagonist for younger readers.

Non-2011 Releases That I Read and Loved in 2011:
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

(To see all the books I read in 2011 including ratings, visit my LibraryThing page.)

Here’s to another great year of reading!

January 20

Coriolanus
Based on the play by William Shakespeare
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, and Brian Cox
(Limited Release — Rated R)

January 27

The Grey
Based on the short story “Ghost Walker” by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers
Starring Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, and Frank Grillo

One for the Money
Based on the novel by Janet Evanovich
Starring Katherine Heigl, Jason O’Mara, and Daniel Sunjata

Albert Nobbs
Based on a short story by George Moore
Starring Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, and Aaron Johnson
(Rated R)

In Darkness
Based on In the Sewers of Lvov by Robert Marshall
Starring Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, and Agnieszka Grochowska
(Rated R)

February 3

The Woman in Black
Based on the novel by Susan Hill
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, and Ciarán Hinds

Big Miracle
Based on Freeing the Whales by Thomas Rose
Starring Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, and Kristen Bell

February 17

The Secret World of Arrietty
Based on The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki
Starring the voices of Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, and Will Arnett

March 2

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
Based on the book by Dr. Seuss
Starring the voices of Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, and Danny DeVito

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters
Loosely based on the story by the Brothers Grimm
Starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, and Peter Stormare

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Based on the novel by Paul Torday
Starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Amr Waked
(Limited Release)

March 9

John Carter
Based on the novel John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, and Willem Dafoe

The Raven
A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, in which the poet pursues a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer’s stories.
Starring John Cusack, Alice Eve, and Luke Evans

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Based on the novel by Deborah Moggach
Starring Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith

Think Like a Man
Based on the book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey
Starring Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union, and Kevin Hart

March 16

Mirror Mirror
Loosely based on the Snow White tale by the Brothers Grimm
Starring Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, and Armie Hammer

March 23

Hunger Games
Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth

March 30

The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Based on Gideon Defoe’s Pirates! series
Starring the voices of Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek and Jeremy Piven

The Boston Globe takes a look at the burgeoning young adult book market.

YALSA launched a redesign of its website this week.

I love this digital signboard showing live library statistics from the Darien Library in Connecticut.

The Pew Internet and American Life Project released a report on Teens, Kindness and Cruelty on Social Network Sites based on surveys conducted earlier this year.

Forever YA posts about library YAngelism — getting adults to read teen titles. Includes some great pictures of displays!

It’s that time of year for best of lists. Largehearted Boy is my go to source for a frequently updated list of lists and Early Word is collating the children’s lists into a spreadsheet.

I love this new Research Roundup from the YALSA blog — a monthly feature highlighting academic research articles related to libraries and young adults.

What else has been getting buzz this week?

The Cardturner: A Novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker by Louis Sachar (2010)
Alton Richards is facing a boring summer when his parents enlist him to serve as a cardturner for his blind great-uncle at his regular bridge tournaments. While bored at first, Alton soon becomes entranced with the game and the intriguing Toni Castaneda, the only other person his age at the bridge club.

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder by Julie Halpern (2009)
Jess is perfectly content staying home on Friday nights sewing her signature skirts, but her longtime friends would rather hang out with her brother’s punk rock buddies. So Jess looks for a new crowd to hang out with and finds herself playing D&D with a group of lovable nerds.

The Girl Who Invented Romance by Caroline B. Cooney (1988)
Frustrated with her own love life, Kelly decides to make a board game fashioned after the real life ups and downs of love and dating, called Romance.
 

Interstellar Pig by William Sleator (1984)
In this 1980s sci-fi story, 16-year-old Barney befriends his mysterious neighbors who are addicted to a strange board game called Interstellar Pig. When he starts noticing weird coincidences with his life and the game, Barney realizes that there may be more at stake than just winning or losing. A sequel, Parasite Pig was released in 2002.

Games: A Tale of Two Bullies by Carol Gorman (2007)
Instead of suspension, eighth graders and enemies Mick and Boot are ordered to spend every afternoon playing board games until they can work out their issues.

Wizards of The Game by David Lubar (2003)
Eight grader Mercer Dickensen stirs up controversy when he tries to organize a gaming convention based on his favorite role-playing game ‘Wizards of the Warrior World.’ But all of that is overshadowed when he attracts the attention of a group of real wizards who need his help.

Perpetual Check by Rich Wallace (2009)
Two brothers, who couldn’t be more different in most areas, both excel at chess and come head-to-head in the final match of the Pennsylvania High School Chess Championships.

Hikaru no Go: Descent of the Go Master, Vol. 1 by Yumi Hotta (2004)
In this popular manga series, Hikaru finds an old Go board at his grandfather’s house that happens to be inhabited by the spirit of an old Go master. With the help of the spirit, Hikaru starts playing and excelling at the game, much to the chagrin of his competitors.

The Game of Sunken Places by M.T. Anderson (2004)
Thirteen-year-old Gregory and his best friend Brian find an old board game while vacationing at Gregory’s uncle’s mansion. But the game becomes reality and the boys must win in order to settle an age-old battle.

The Revenge of the Shadow King by Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis (2006)
The Grey Griffins are a group of friends, Max, Harley, Ernie, and Natalia, who all love the card game Round Table. When creatures from the game start to show up in real life, the Griffins must band together to save their town. First in a series.

The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer (2011)
Three very different kids, all with a love of Scrabble, come together at the National Youth Scrabble Tournament and their stories intertwine in interesting and magical ways.