Youth Services Corner

Movies Based on Books: April to May 2012

whitney — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:36:36 +0000

(1. The Lucky One 2. Think Like a Man 3. The Moth Diaries
4. The Raven 5. The Pirates! Band of Misfits 6. Headhunters
7. The Avengers 8. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 9. What to Expect When You’re Expecting)

April 6

The Hunter (Rated R – Limited Release)
Starring Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, and Morgana Davies
Based on the novel by Julia Leigh
Critically acclaimed Aussie thriller set in the Tasmanian wilderness

April 20

The Lucky One
Starring Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, and Blythe Danner
Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks
Another Nicholas Sparks romance, this time featuring a young marine searching for his true love

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
Four men turn the tables on their women’s relationship games

The Moth Diaries (Rated R – Limited Release)
Starring Sarah Bolger, Sarah Gadon, and Lily Cole
Based on the novel by Rachel Klein
Horror flick featuring teen girls at a boarding school

April 27

The Raven
Starring John Cusack, Alice Eve, and Luke Evans
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.

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

Headhunters (Rated R – Limited Release)
Based on the novel by Jo Nesbø
A Swedish thriller

May 4

The Avengers
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner
Based on the Marvel comic books
Directed by Joss Whedon, this blockbuster comic-book movie brings together some of the biggest names in the Marvel universe including Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Based on the novel by Deborah Moggach
Starring Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith
British retirees, played by some of the biggest names in UK film, vacation in India

May 18

What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Starring Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Matthew Morrison, and Dennis Quaid
Loosely based on the pregnancy books by Heidi Murkoff
An ensemble comedy about the ups and downs of parenthood

Graphic Novel Resources for Librarians

whitney — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 03:23:53 +0000

There’s no denying that comic books, graphic novels, manga, and the like are as popular as ever. But where can a librarian start to get a handle on these materials? Here are a few resources to get your feet wet in the wide world of graphic novels.

No Flying No Tights: A group review site written by librarians for librarians featuring reviews of graphic novels, manga, and anime for kids through adults. Also offers other recurring features like best of lists, top 5 lists on different topics, and interviews with artists. (Full disclosure, I review for this site)
Graphic Novel Reporter: This site, part of the Book Report Network, produces a huge amount of content. Besides reviews for kids through adults, there are interviews, editorials, lists, behind-the-scenes peeks into the industry, and more.
Good Comics for Kids: A collaborative blog hosted by School Library Journal featuring news and reviews on comics and graphic novels for kids and teens
Comics Worth Reading: News and reviews of graphic novels, manga, comic books, and related subjects. Intelligent and well-written take on the industry, especially appreciate the manga coverage and the comics by women list.
Great Graphic Novels for Teens: The year’s best graphic novels for teens as selected by a YALSA committee, started in 2007. (Note, you will have to log in or fill in a survey to view the lists)
ALSC Graphic Novels Core Collection: A selected list of graphic novels for grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 created by Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) in October 2011. Mostly recent titles.

Do you have a favorite resource for graphic novel reviews and news? Let me know in the comments!

Links of the Week (and beyond): March 2

whitney — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:37:00 +0000

Allison at Reading Everywhere lists five ways libraries can be like Nordstrom when it comes to customer service. Such an important part of working with the public!
The nominees for the 2011 Nebula Awards, including the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book have been announced: Ultraviolet by R.J. Anderson; Chime by Franny Billingsley; The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson; The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout; Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King; Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor; The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman; Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
Want to know what books to look forward to this fall? Publisher’s Weekly has the rundown from dozens of publishers and imprints in their Fall 2012 Sneak Preview.
More book awards! The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for young adult literature nominees are: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray; The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman; A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd by Patrick Ness; Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet; The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
VOYA awarded 24 books perfect 10s in 2011, that is, books that were rated highest in both quality and popularity.

Resource Spotlight: YALS Online Companion

whitney — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:24:53 +0000

If you’re a YALSA member, hopefully you received your print copy of the winter issue of Young Adult Library Services (YALS). For an extended reading experience (even for non-members), check out the new online companion to YALS, which features additional links and resources related to the current issue. As a member of the YALS advisory board, I contributed a post related to an article on the juvenile justice system. Another member wrote about additional resources for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which is the issue’s theme. Keep the site on your radar as new content will be added monthly!

Library Day in the Life

whitney — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:37:48 +0000

For the first time, I am joining the over 300 librarians participating in the Library Day in the Life Project! The Library Day in the Life Project is a semi-annual event coordinated by Bobbi Newman of Libr arian by Day. Twice a year librarians, library staff and library students from all over the globe share a day (or week) in their life through blog posts, photos, video and Twitter updates.

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.

Links of the Week: January 28

whitney — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:09:12 +0000

It’s been a big week for children’s and YA literature with the announcement of the ALA Youth Media Awards! Also check out the YALSA selection lists including Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, Best Fiction for Young Adults, Fabulous Films for Young Adults, Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.
Speaking of awards, Kelly at Stacked wrote a fantastic post about the importance of nominating books you love for the ALA awards and lists that accept field nominations.
Andrea compiled a great list of online resources for librarians and others who work with teens for the February issue of VOYA.
Library Day in the Life Round 8 is coming up this week! Learn more about participating to share what it’s like working in your library.
For a bit of kidlit fun, check out Stephen Colbert’s two-part interview with Maurice Sendak!

Starred YA Books of 2012

whitney — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:12:08 +0000

Like last year, I’ve started keeping track of the starred reviews for YA books published in the big six review publications — The Horn Book, Publisher’s Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, and The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books. The reviews for books published in 2012 are rolling in and here is the list so far:

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!

Mock Printz Roundup 2012

whitney — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:17:15 +0000

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

ARCs I’m Pining For

whitney — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:49:39 +0000

With the ALA Midwinter Meeting just days away, I’m getting excited to see and learn about all of the books that will be coming out in the first part of the year. While I do like the serendipity of discovering new titles on the exhibit hall floor, there are a few that I’ve heard buzz about that I will definitely be looking out for. What books are you looking forward to in the next several months?

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!)

Downton Abbey Read-Alikes for Teens

whitney — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:05:26 +0000

It seems everyone around the internet has Downton Abbey fever. This British period drama set in the 1910s follows the lives of an aristocratic family and their servants during a time of great social and cultural change. The first series aired in the UK in 2010 and the US in early 2011. The second series, already aired in the UK, is currently broadcasting in the US on PBS on Sunday nights.

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!)