Wednesday, March 7, 2012

When Technology Goes Wrong

We're celebrating technology this week but what happens when we relinquish too much control to our technology? The following books ask us to consider how much technology we really need in our lives and what happens when that technology goes wrong.

Feed by MT Anderson
For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and to play around with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who knows something about what it's like to live without the feed-and about resisting its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains.

Ashes by Ilsa Bick
An electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky, destroying every electronic device, and wiping out every computerized system. Not to mention that the EMP also kills most of the world's population, turning some of those who remain into zombies and giving the others superhuman senses. Alex hiked into the woods to say good-bye to her dead parents and her personal demons. Now desperate to find out what happened after the pulse crushes her to the ground, Alex meets up with Tom, a young soldier, and Ellie, a girl whose grandfather was killed by the EMP. For this improvised family and the others who are spared, it's now a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human.  

Candor by Pam Bachorz
In the model community of Candor, Florida, every teen wants to be like Oscar Banks. The son of the town's founder, Oscar earns straight As, is student-body president, and is in demand for every club and cause. But Oscar has a secret. He knows that parents bring their teens to Candor to make them respectful, compliant--perfect--through subliminal Messages that carefully correct and control their behavior. And Oscar' s built a business sabotaging his father's scheme with Messages of his own, getting his clients out before they're turned. After all, who would ever suspect the perfect Oscar Banks? Then he meets Nia, the girl he can't stand to see changed. Saving Nia means losing her forever; however, keeping her in Candor, Oscar risks exposure . . . and more. 

Wither. The Chemical Garden Trilogy: Book 1 by Lauren DeStefano
At age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years to live. Thanks to a botched effort to create a perfect race, all females live to be twenty and males live to age twenty-five. While geneticists seek a miracle antidote, orphans roam the streets, polygamy abounds and girls are kidnapped and married off in order to repopulate the world. After Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she is desperate to escape from her husband's strange world, which includes a sinister father-in-law in search of the antidote and a slew of sister wives who are not to be trusted. On the cusp of her seventeenth birthday, Rhine attempts to flee--but what she finds is a society spiraling into anarchy.

A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan
It should have been a short suspended-animation sleep but this time Rose wakes up to find her past is long gone -- and her future full of peril. Rosalinda Fitzroy has been asleep for sixty-two years when she is woken by a kiss. Locked away in the chemically induced slumber of a stasis tube in a forgotten subbasement, sixteen-year-old Rose slept straight through the Dark Times that killed millions and utterly changed the world she knew. Now, her parents and her first love are long gone and Rose-- hailed upon her awakening as the long-lost heir to an interplanetary empire-- is thrust alone into a future in which she is viewed as either a freak or a threat. Desperate to put the past behind her and adapt to her new world, Rose finds herself drawn to the boy who kissed her awake, hoping that he can help her to start fresh. But when a deadly danger jeopardizes her fragile new existence, Rose must face the ghosts of her past with open eyes -- or be left without any future at all.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman
In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them. Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs and Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away. Unwind challenges readers' ideas about life -- not just where life begins and where it ends -- but what it truly means to be alive

Memento Nora by Angie Smibert
Nora is about to experience her first visit to TFC (Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic). Her parents are insisting she go after witnessing a horrible terrorist attack. Not everyone trusts the TFC though. When Nora meets Micah and Winter, she is thrust into a world of mystery and rebellion. Soon, the graphic novel, "Memento," based on their sad and frightening memories, becomes a hit. Copies are spread into different cities. Will they be able to keep their identities a secret? Will they be able to stay ahead of the people in the black vans? Will they be able to keep their memories?

From Voya

Kimberly

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Geek Out @ Your Library!

It's Teen Tech Week but we're celebrating technology all month with these great programs:
Remember to check out all of the other great technology the library offers. You can download free music through Freegal and check out ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive. If you're the creative type,  you can share your original writings and artwork on the Teen Co-op. And don't forget about our Research Databases that can help you with your homework.

Kimberly

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

Cover imageJay Asher is the author of the hugely popular Thirteen Reasons Why (which I loved!) and Carolyn Mackler is the author of the very funny The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. So of course I had very high expectations for The Future of Us and was not disappointed.

Here's the setup:

If there was a device or program that would give you a glimpse of what your life would be like 15 years from now, would you try it out?
Would you really like to know how life has turned out for you and the people you know?
When you find out that your life in 15 years is nothing like you thought it would be, would you try and change it in the present time?

Emma & Josh do.

Read the book to find out what happens...

Karen

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Fairy Tale Romances

Looking for some fairy-tale romance this Valentine's Day? While you're waiting for your prince (or princess) to come, read some of these great fairy tale retellings!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future. The first book in the Lunar Chronicles offers a futuristic take on the Cinderella story.

Beastly by Alex Flinn
Beastly is a modern retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" told from the point of view of the Beast, a vain Manhattan private school student. Kyle Kingsbury has enjoyed being the most popular guy at school with the meanest and most egotistical attitude; however, he is punished by a witch in his English class and turned into a beast. Kyle now must find his true love and make her accept him as he is in order to break the curse and return him to being the man he once was. Also read Cloaked by Flinn. Cloaked is a modern romantic adventure with elements of The Shoemaker and the Elves and The Frog Prince


Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
A retelling of the French fairy tale set in pre-colonial India, Diribani meets a goddess at the village well and is granted a remarkable gift: flowers and precious jewels drop from her lips whenever she speaks. It seems only right to Tana that the goddess judged her kind, lovely stepsister worthy of such riches. And when Tana encounters the goddess, she is not surprised to find herself speaking snakes and toads as a reward. Blessings and curses are never so clear as they might seem, however. Diribani's newfound wealth brings her a prince--and an attempt on her life. Tana is chased out of the village because the province's governor fears snakes, yet thousands are dying of a plague spread by rats. As the sisters' fates hang in the balance, each struggles to understand her gift. Will it bring her wisdom, good fortune, love . . . or death?

Ash by Malinda Lo
In this variation on the Cinderella story, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother in the wake of her father's death. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted. The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt. Kaisa reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
In this story loosely based on Sleeping Beauty, Rose has been appointed as a healer's apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter's daughter. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging, disgusting bachelor her mother has chosen for her. When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she's never felt before and wonders if he feels the same. But falling in love is forbidden, as Lord Hamlin is betrothed to a mysterious young woman in hiding. Also by Dickerson: The Merchant's Daughter based on Beauty and the Beast.

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright
The body of a young girl is discovered in a field of wheat. Her flesh mutilated by telltale claw marks. The Wolf has broken the peace. When Valerie learns that her sister has been killed by the legendary creature, she finds herself at the center of a dark mystery, one that has plagued her village for generations. It is revealed that the werewolf lives among them, and everyone in the village immediately becomes a suspect. Could her secret love Peter be behind the attacks on her town? Is it her betrothed, Henry? Or someone even closer to her? As the men in the village hunt for the beast, Valerie turns to her grandmother for help. She gives Valerie a handmade red riding cloak, and guides her through the web of lies and deception that has held her town together for so long. Will Valerie discover the werewolf's identity before the town is ripped apart?

Beauty by Robin McKinley
Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage. When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?" Also check out Spindle's End for McKinley's adaption of Sleeping Beauty.

Kimberly

Monday, January 23, 2012

2012 Printz Award Winner

The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.The award winner was announced today and Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley won!

Witty, sardonic Cullen Witter agonizes over the disappearance of his beloved brother, Gabriel, while everyone else in his stiflingly dull Arkansas town thrills to the apparent return of a long-extinct woodpecker. Kidnapping, arcane religious texts, and ornithology collide in this ground-breaking coming-of-age tale.

“Straightforward, yet increasingly complex, this novel masterfully weaves together themes of brotherhood, friendship, loss and religious obsession,” said Printz Award Committee Chair Erin Helmrich.

I read Where Things Come Back this past summer and it was definitely one of the best YA books I read last year. I recommend it if you enjoy quirky, introspective stories. There are also lots of indie music references. In fact, the book was inspired by the Sufjan Stevens' (who I'm in love with btw) song Lord God Bird.

And here are the Printz 2012 Honor Books:

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
In this beautiful piece of bookmaking, heartbroken movie obsessive Min Green dumps a box of relationship ephemera on ex-love Ed Slaterton’s porch, each item attached to a raging, loving, insecure and regretful letter explaining how each memento contributed to their breakup.

The Returning by Christine Hinwood
A large cast of characters from two fictional kingdoms recover from a drawn-out, brutal war in a portrait both sweeping and specific as it explores the ramifications of the conflict on Cam, the only one who lives to return to his village.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Spurred by the mysterious death of a schoolmate, Charlie confronts racism and his fears as he learns about family, friendship and love in the oppressive heat of small-town 1960s Australia. Silvey weaves themes of freedom and loyalty with moments of humor in this wrenching novel.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
A bloody, intoxicating horse race on the Island of Thisby is the backdrop for this atmospheric novel. The heart-pounding story pits two teens against death – to win is to survive.

Kimberly

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II by Ron Koertge

Cover imageConsidering that close to a decade has passed between Ron Koertge’s Stoner & Spaz and its sequel, the recently released NowPlaying: Stoner & Spaz II, I was surprised that the sequel picked up where the first book left off. I thought the novel might find the characters crossing paths again several years later, but instead the novel resumes shortly after Ben, a film junkie with cerebral palsy, shows his documentary at a Hollywood art gallery. Colleen, a different kind of junkie who wants to clean up her act, progresses from acquaintance to the status of almost girlfriend in Stoner & Spaz. However, at the end of the book she ditches Ben at the art gallery in favor of another bad seed type of guy.

While Colleen disappears, Ben meets a girl named A.J., another aspiring filmmaker who seems interested in both Ben and his filmmaking skills. She’s also a driven girl from a wealthy family, two things Ben’s controlling and occasionally judgmental grandmother approves of. Much of Koertge’s new book is taken up with Ben trying to choose between Colleen and A.J. He also struggles to figure out if either of them is interested in dating him or if they think of him as more of a friend.

Other conflicts arise. Part of the way through the book, Colleen finds out where Ben’s mom is living and the two of them take a road trip to see her. Ben also grapples with whether the documentary films he’s making are exploiting the people they are about. He considers making a film about Colleen and later in the book A.J. wants Ben to make a film about seeing his mother for the first time since he was four.

I don’t know if all the story lines come together that neatly in Now Playing: Stoner & Spaz II, but since this novel and its predecessor are driven first and foremost by dynamic characters, I was okay with the story meandering at times. I just hope that if Koertge writes a third installment about Ben and Colleen that it doesn’t take as long to come out.

John

Monday, January 9, 2012

Best Adult Books for Teens

All of the following books you'll find in our Adult Fiction & Sci Fi collections but they're good reads for teens too!


Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
Jaffy leaves behind his life on the streets of 19th century London for an adventure to the Pacific Islands aboard a whaling ship in search of a mythical - yet far too real - dragon in this enormously satisfying novel of friendship, survival, and redemption.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Imagine if Willie Wonka had been a video-game designer. Now imagine a world in which most people spend their time as avatars in a virtual reality. The founder of this virtual reality leaves his fortune to the first to win a contest, comprised of puzzles and tasks based on 1980s popular culture. Three teens compete to win against an evil conglomerate.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Alternate chapters weave Victoria's past as a foster child and her present as a semi-homeless 18-year-old. Victoria finds her first job in a florist shop, putting to use the language of flowers she first learned from her only real family, the foster mother she lost 10 years earlier.

The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Fillory is a magical utopia. With little for a monarch to do, Quentin goes on a quest. Alternating chapters relate his old friend Julia's backstory. While the king enjoys life at Brakebills, Julia learns magic on the streets. Her journey is powerful and horrifying in this followup to The Magicians.

Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington
Alice's idyllic small-town life is interrupted when her father's army reserve unit is called up for active duty in Iraq. After he is declared missing in action, she turns to her best friend, the boy next door, for support.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Le Cirque des Rêves appears without warning on the outskirts of cities around the world. Only open at night, it is filled with magic and theater, each tent a sensory experience, manipulated and sustained by two young people locked in a mysterious competition.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Mere months after their mother dies, the Bigtree family's alligator-wrestling theme park and cafe, Swamplandia!, goes out of business, sending the abandoned siblings on individual perilous journeys away from home in this dazzling, affecting, funny novel.

Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
In this artificial intelligence blockbuster, the heroic actions of a handful of characters are told in the form of briefing reports recovered after the Robot Wars that nearly exterminated humanity. This format with its emphasis on survival in battle and full-throttle action will appeal particularly to those who enjoy science-gone-wrong thrillers.



Kimberly

From School Library Journal