Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Teen Bloggers Wanted by YALSA!

Do you like to write? Do you know a lot about the media that interests you and your friends? This position might be for you.

This Monday, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Board of Directors voted to invite and include teen bloggers to be incorporated into their roster of librarians and other youth library services advocates. The YALSA blogs are popular and well-read by librarians working with teenagers and young adults all across the country, as well as writers and others interested in YA literature and teens, and cover topics well beyond books, such as movies, music, and other media. As of today, they are accepting applications for these positions.

If you believe you could blog once a month on topics of interest, and would like an application for one of these positions, please inquire with Mrs. Hage at the library.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Web Resources: Free Online Graphic Novels

Via DailyBits.Com, an article that links to seventeen excellent, free, downloadable graphic novels, including the opening segments to Neil Gaiman's Sandman comic, the X-Men-Through-The-Looking-Glass title Doom Patrol, as well as Bill Willingham's popular Fables print. Be sure to read the comments - they link to still more great free-for-download graphic novels such as Girl Genius and Megatokyo, and are a terrific introduction to the genre. Read more here!

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

The Tenth Circle - Discussion and Links

We're all really excited to be discussing The Tenth Circle with you tomorrow! We'll be seeing you at lunch, or if you have thoughts to share, you're welcome to post them in comments for further discussion here on the blog.

Over in the sidebar, there is a link to Jodi Picoult's website for this book. There you can find a discussion guide we'll be looking at for tomorrow, a podcast on inspiration, and more.

Ms. Bennett also found this link which we thought might be of interest. It's a multimedia exploration and explanation of all the elements in Dante's Inferno, one of the major inspirations for Picoult's book. It's a good tool to see how many of the different sins that represent each level Picoult has found a way to focus on with different elements of the story, and to see how many 'levels of hell' she puts the Stone family through.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Spotlight Blog: Young Adult Books Central

For book reviews, up to the minute news, and best of all, monthly giveaways of young adult books just hitting the shelves, take a look at Young Adult Books Central blog and website. This month's featured book giveaways include Poseur and The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Laurie Halse Anderson Needs Your Help!

From her personal blog, Laurie Halse Anderson is looking for help to update the media section of her website. Students who help her by making soundtrack recommendations for some of her books will receive a handwritten thank-you note from the author - so go take a look!

New Ways to Get New Books!

Here's an interesting opportunity for someone who doesn't mind writing in to share their thoughts about the books they read. A number of publishers with a web presence have clubs that YA readers can join to be eligible for drawings to receive advanced release copies of anticipated books, and offer the opportunity to act as book reviewers for their websites.

For more information, take a look at these three links:


HarperTeen's First Look Program

Random House Teen's Random Buzz

Simon and Schuster's PulseIT Club

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Book Giveaways - Melissa Marr and HarperTeen Best of 2007

Via Melissa Marr's own LJ, here's a headsup that her fansite is holding a contest to give away four advanced release copies of Ink Exchange, the anticipated followup to her well-received first YA novel Wicked Lovely. Details on the contest may be found on her fansite, WickedLovely.com.

Interested in reading her first book? Wicked Lovely is featured along with four other books (Pretty Little Liars #1, Jinx, The Luxe, and Ana's Story) as part of HarperTeen's choices for their Best of 2007 Sweepstakes. Sign up for a chance to win this whole prize pack!

The Tenth Circle Reading Guide

Please be sure to take a look at Jodi Picoult's website for her reading guide and more information on our upcoming book club selection. The page for The Tenth Circle is full of neat extras, such as information on the graphic-novel illustration puzzle within the book, a podcast, and discussion questions. We're looking forward to seeing you all at lunch on the 10th!