staff picks
Posted On: Dec 14, 2012 In: Teen Zone
Some novels are just not for everyone, and that’s okay. If everyone liked the same books, a lot of authors would be out of work (and book clubs would be boring). I’d read great reviews of The Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta, but some people I know had given them a big thumbs down, so I had to investigate for myself. In just two days, I fell in love with Melina Marchetta’s epic fantasy Finnikin of the Rock. I was completely engrossed in the story of these amazing characters as they journeyed through the kingdoms of Skulendore.
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Posted On: Dec 2, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.
This is not that world.”
Last year, when Daughter of Smoke and Bone ended with Karou sneaking through a slit in the sky, I couldn’t believe I’d have to wait so many months to find out what happens next. Luckily, it was worth the wait. As much as I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight was better.
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Posted On: Nov 28, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer
What is it about? Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah. And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Read More..
Posted On: Nov 24, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
Rachel Cohn is best known for Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares, two popular contemporary and realistic young adult novels. When I saw she was coming out with a science fiction dystopian novel, I was intrigued.
Beta is set on the otherworldly island of Demesne, where the air is so full of oxygen, the environment so lush, it seems like paradise. The island is staffed by clones made from the bodies of those who have died, and these clones serve the elite humans who make Demesne their home. Elysia is one of the first teen clones, making her a Beta. Read More..
Posted On: Nov 3, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
So, there are a lot of dystopian YA novels out there, and a whole new crop of them this fall. In fact, there were so many I had to update my If you liked The Hunger Games” flowchart (and I still feel like I’m leaving some out).
Despite the seemingly endless supply of novels about a teen challenging the authority of their seemingly perfect yet obviously malicious society, none are quite like Crewel by Gennifer Albin.
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Posted On: Oct 31, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
Since I read A Wrinkle in Time, I have been fascinated with time travel. Whether it involved going back into the past or light-years into the future I was always intrigued by these kind of stories. Though I have never been much of a science nerd, I blazed through Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time, especially the chapter on wormholes and time travel.
But at the end of the day, what really draws me into a book is the love story, so I was interested to read Time Between Us by Tamara Ireland Stone. Read More..
Posted On: Oct 19, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
Perspective is everything. History is written by the victors. Eyewitness accounts of crimes are notoriously unreliable because two people who saw the exact same event may have radically different accounts. There’s no reason to believe two characters in a novel might tell the story in very different ways.
In Jodi Lynn Anderson’s newest novel, Tiger Lily, she recounts the familiar childhood tale of Peter Pan, but with a twist. The story is told from Tinkerbell’s perspective, and she begins long before Peter and the lost boys ever met Wendy Darling. Tink gives us the scoop on Peter Pan’s first love, Tiger Lily.
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Posted On: Oct 7, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
Every time we get a new vampire book, I’m astonished someone is still publishing them. In the young adult section here at Lawrence Public Library, we have 198 books under the the subject heading vampires–fiction. I’m a fan of vampire books, but after some disappointing selections, I’ve become wary of new additions to this bloated genre.
But I decided to take a chance on The Immortal Rules, and I’m glad I did. Julie Kawaga has made a unique and gripping contribution to young adult vampire fiction.
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Posted On: Sep 26, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
Admittedly, I was drawn to the book because of the gorgeous tattoo cover art (I admit that I tend to judge books by their covers). After reading, I was pleased to discover that Kristen-Paige Madonia’s debut, Fingerprints of You, is an excellent example of the rare category of YA literary fiction.
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Posted On: Sep 16, 2012 In: Staff Picks, Teen Zone
I’m a sucker for tragic love stories, whether it’s Ellen Olenska and Newland Archer from The Age of Innocence or Buffy and Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I also have a penchant for the magical way Maggie Stiefvater strings words together. So when I first read the synopsis for her new book, The Raven Boys, I was already hooked.
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