Looking for Alaska

Green, John. Looking for Alaska. ISBN-10: 0142402516, ISBN-13: 9780142402511. Graphia. 2007.

Plot Summary
"Pudge" has left his friendless life behind in Florida in hopes of a better life at the Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama. Things are immediately different when his roommate shows up and introduces Pudge to Alaska. She's beautiful, funny, rebellious, sexy and a mess. She fascinates him and makes him crazy with lust. That was all before what came after.

Critical Evaluation
All teens envision leaving behind bad times for what Pudge calls the "Great Perhaps" (from Rabelais). At his new boarding school, Culver Creek, he is able to shuck the boringness of the first 16 years of his life for the drinking, smoking and prank-pulling life with his roommate "the Colonel" and the Colonel's best friend, the beautiful Alaska. The two of them drag Pudge into the world and give him experiences beyond his wildest dreams. Interestingly, the book is in two parts (before and after), and further divided into the days "before" and the days "after." As the number of days before dwindles, readers wait with breaths held for what will happen. And when tragedy does strike, the characters and readers will realize that you can never go back, knowing what you now know. John Green weaves a story rich with the feelings young men have toward sex and love and friendship and how the three are vastly different. He ties humor into lives that are lacking any, and empathetic emotion where you least expect it.

Reader's Annotation
Pudge goes to boarding school to escape his boring life. He never expects to find the friends he does, or to fall in love with the funny, smart and {yet} sad Alaska, or to have to learn how to deal with losing her.

About the Author
John Green worked as a publishing assistant and production editor for Booklist during the years he wrote his first novel, Looking for Alaska. It was published in 2005 to excellent reviews—it went on to win the Michael L. Printz award in 2006, among many other accolades. His second novel for young adults, An Abundance of Katherines, was published in 2006, and followed by Paper Towns in 2008. Green also is working with David Levithan on the novel Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Green's books are full of feeling and hilarity while facing deep topics.

Genre
Boys/Men
Dating/Sex
Death/Dying

Curriculum Ties
no applications

Booktalking Ideas
Would you leave this life you're living now behind for another…
How would you cope with a friend's death…

Awards
Michael L. Prinze Award (2006)

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15+

Why I included this title...
I have always heard good things about this book—it's a good one.

Wii Sports

Wii Sports. Ninetendo: 207. ASIN B00212H6VG.

Summary & Evaluation
Ninetendo has a brilliant marketing department! They included the Wii Sports game with the console and a Wii-mote (remote controller) in a bundle. And Wii Sports is the game that many people associate with the Wii because of the commercials that showed families and friends of all ages off the couch and playing together. Although, Wii Sports doesn't have the truly realistic graphics like the one-sport specific games, it does have the functionality that makes it easy enough that anyone of any age can play.

The Wii Sports game contains following games: baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis. The games can be played almost anywhere, at anytime without taking any consideration to the weather. The games are simple because they are meant to be fun for everyone, and not targeted at only serious gamers—although, gamers do like this too. For example:

• In boxing, players need only their Wii-mote and nunchuk to mimic the two handed punching of the sport, and it can be played solo or with another player
  
• in baseball, you are only pitching the ball and/or batting depending if you're playing against the Wii or another player
  
• tennis is merely serving the ball, and then lobbing the ball back and forth with either a backhand or a forehand. Tennis can be played with the system or with four other players
  
• golf is best played by using the power meter, the map and the wind monitor, all of which help you get the ball into the hole. Golf can be played alone or with a "foursome" of players
  
• and bowling, is maybe the most difficult because of how closely it imitates real life bowling. You have to push the right buttons at the right time to actually throw the ball. This can be a four person game too.
  

But before you begin to play Wii Sports, a custom-made Mii (a little avatar) must be created. Your Mii file will record your achievements and advancements in skill that take you to new levels. And to add to the level of competition, your Mii can play with other Miis because all of the games feature multiple player options. You can improve your statistics by playing any of the training games that help you play the sports.

Wii Sports isn't meant to replace traditional exercise, but it can be used to bring people together in many different social settings—parties, retirement homes, schools and libraries.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages: all ages

Why I included this game...
Wii Sports is fun and enjoyed by so many people. I like the social aspect of the games.

Graphic from qishan.com. Retrieved from http://www.qisahn.com/nintendo-wii-pre-owned-games-c-2_70/wii-sports-used-p-639 on December 14, 2010.

Prom

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Prom. ISBN-10: 0142405701, ISBN-13: 9780142405703. Puffin Books. 2006.

Summary
After the math teacher runs off with all of the money for the senior prom, Ashley and her friends have to scramble for the next eleven days to get the prom off the ground. The problem is that Ashley doesn't care. She's got a lot going on in her life: she's struggling to graduate, has to wear a nasty rat costume and serve pizza to bratty kids, her mom is very pregnant and her drop-out boyfriend has ideas about Ashley's future than don't match her own. But between her prom-crazy aunts, and her friend Nat's relentless belief in the "prom cause" Ashley is dragged into helping the committee get creative and put together a great prom for their low-income high school.

Critical Evaluation
The concept of an elaborate prom in this low-income neighborhood high school is one that would appear depressing because not only did the math teacher run off with the money, the school authorities seem apathetic, and it doesn't sound like any of these girls can afford the niceties they dream of for the perfect prom. Laurie Halse Anderson takes this disheartening situation and tries to infuse some comedy with Ashley's prom-fanatical and boisterous aunts, her friend Nat who will stop at nothing to have the prom of her dreams and Nat's grandma who is a "little" crazy. Fans of Speak and Twisted maybe disappointed, but other readers may enjoy the comedic change of pace from Anderson.

Reader's Annotation
Ashley is caught up in planning a prom she doesn't care about when the money goes missing with the math teacher. Together with friends and families, the prom committee works to all of their prom dreams come true.

About the Author
Laurie Halse Anderson is a native to New York state, and is where she currently lives and writes. The bestselling author writes books for kids of all ages, but is possibly best known for her young adult novels. Her debut novelSpeak was a National Book Award finalist, a New York Times bestseller and a Printz Honor book. Catalyst followed in 2003, Prom in 2006 and Twisted in 2008—all of which touching on tough subjects with delicacy and the right amount of humor.

Anderson is also very well known for her American History picture books that highlight the women who also helped shape our country. Vet Volunteers is a chapter book series written for elementary readers. While Anderson alternates between her projects, she is often recognized for her outstanding efforts. She was presented with 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award forCatalyst, Fever 1793 and Speak. In 2008, she received the ALAN Award for her "outstanding contribution to the field of adolescent literature. And in April 2010, she was chosen to be the School Library Month spokesperson by the American Association of School Librarians.

Genre
Girls/Women
Adolescence

Curriculum Ties
n/a

Booktalking Ideas
How far would you go to help a friend?…
Given a situation that seems hopeless, are you able to see around the limitations for a solution or hit the brick wall…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 15-18

Why I included this title...
I really enjoyed Speak and Twisted… and I thought I'd enjoy this one too.

Shiver

Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver. ISBN-10: 054512367, ISBN-13: 9780545123266. Scholastic Press. 2009.

Summary
As a child, Grace was attacked by wolves. She survived and has been drawn to the wolf pack in the area ever since. She has interest especially in one wolf, the one with yellow eyes that seems to watch her. Sam is watching Grace as he is caught between his two lives—a warm weather human, and a wolf when the temperatures drop. When the wolf pack comes under fire, literally, Grace and Sam meet and fall in love. But the weather is getting colder in Minnesota, and they both come to realize what their future holds.

Critical Evaluation
A town in Minnesota has a big problem with wolves. Grace was attacked by the wolves when she was a child. So was Sam. Unlike Grace, Sam's is a part-time member of the pack. When the weather changes and temperatures drop, he and the others return to their wolf form. Now a local rich kid has been killed by the pack, but his body is missing and the wolf pack is one more wolf stronger. Amidst the mystery of the missing body, and the influx of wolves on the town, Grace and Sam have finally been brought together after years of watching each other from afar. Their relationship is intense because winter is closing in with colder temperatures. The immediacy of the relationship gives this paranormal romance its spark. Readers will turn the pages as quickly as they can to find out if Sam can be saved.

Reader's Annotation
Loving a werewolf is difficult. Grace loves Sam, but Sam is about to turn back to a wolf as winter draws near. They fight to keep him warm, human, and alive.

About the Author
Maggie Stiefvater is a renaissance woman. In addition to being a fairly new author of young adult novels, she has worked as an artist and can play the piano, Celtic harp and the bagpipes. In fact she has just begin her writing career, as her first novel—Lament—was published in 2008. It was the first book in her Books of Faerie series. The series is about homicidal fairies and thus far has just the second book, Ballad (2009). That year was busy, as the first book in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series (Shiver) was also released in 2009. She's continued the series paranormal romance with publishing Linger (2010) and the soon to be released Forever (2011). On her website, she alludes to working on a collection of short stories and a "super secret" stand alone novel.

Stiefvater (pronounced as steve-otter)lives in Virginia with her family and a collection of animals.

Genre
Paranormal Romance

Challenges
Absent Parents
Sexual Content

Curriculum Ties
no applications

Booktalking Ideas
Would you keep dating someone who often "changed" into something else…
If you did keep dating that person, how far would you go out of your way to help that someone to fight the change…

Awards
Australia's Silver Inky award for Best International Book (2010)

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 14+

Why I included this title...
Because I couldn't get into the Twilight series, I thought I'd try a paranormal/werewolf romance.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Gale Virtual Reference Library. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=idahofpl&authCount=1. Gale Cengage Learning: 2010.

Overview
The Idaho Falls Public Library provides access to the Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) database from our home page to help anyone with their research projects. The GVRL is a collection of thousands of reference e-books that are instantly available. The Gale Cengage Group stresses that the information is solid and can be trusted for accurate information. The benefits for students are that the e-books offer a wide range of topics, are accessible at anytime and can be converted to text-to-speech (ReadSpeaker Technology) for those who require the help. There are also benefits to libraries who offer the GVRL: we can offer more sources for our patrons, while not using space we might not have; we will never lose one volume to a collection and we make our young adult patrons happy because of the easy and quick access—and happy patrons will remember us and use us again.

The GVRL is easy to use. A patron can either do a basic search using either a document title, a keyword, or a subject search; or it's also possible to view the publications available for more of a browsing search. There are many areas that would appeal to a young adult, such as VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever, Notable Sports Figures and Political Theories for Students. For each publication, there is a search by table of contents and a list of illustrations—which is a great way to avoid the sketchy Google image search. The last best thing about this database is the citation tools. Building a bibliography can be very tricky, and having the most up-to-date styles are extremely helpful.

I have used this site at the library, for my school and have helped my kids use it for their research. I have never had a link that was broken and all of the information is current.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 13+

Why I included this database...
A traditional library can't be open around the clock, so having information that can be accessed beyond normal library hours is invaluable.

Graphic from Gale Cengage. Retrieved from http://www.gale.cengage.com/ on December 14, 2010.

My Bonny Light Horseman

Meyer, L.A. My Bonny Light Horseman. ISBN-10: 0152060030, ISBN-13: 9780152060039. Harcourt Children's Books. 2007.

Summary
In My Bonny Horseman, we meet up with Jacky Faber again. In this sixth installment of the Bloody Jack series, Jacky is back at sea, captain of her own shipping company… but not for long because she is captured by the British and taken back to England for her crimes. However, she doesn't make that far and is then recaptured by the French, for the crimes she committed against them too. In true Jacky Faber style, she shimmies her way out of certain death to become an English spy to keep an eye on Napoleon! Even as her eye wanders to a certain French gentleman, her heart still belongs to Jaimy.

Critical Evaluation
This is a great girl-power series of books. Jacky has come a long way from little Mary, the orphan on the streets of London. This book finds Jacky in some precarious positions in her first mission as a spy is under the ruse of a courtesan—if not an all out and out prostitute. Her wits keep her pure even as she gets information out of powerful men. And her military smarts help her on the front lines as a deep spy working for the emperor of France. There is enough history to be historic, but it's not boring for young adults because of the amount of suspense and adventure.

Reader's Annotation
Jacky Faber is back on another adventure that takes her from her own boat, to a prisoner of Britain, then a prisoner to France, a dancer/courtesan and then a spy to watch over Napoleon.

About the Author
Louis A. Meyer, also known simply as L. A. Meyer, is the author of the eight outstanding books in the Bloody Jack series. Since his birth in 1942, he has traveled the world with is Army family, graduated from the University of Florida-Gainesville, joined the navy, received his Master's of Fine Arts in Painting from Boston University, he taught school, published two children's books, married and raised two boys, and now splits his time writing about the infamous Jacky and running his Clair de Loon gallery in Bar Harbor, Maine.

The inspiration for the Bloody Jack series came from listening to British and Celtic folk music in his gallery. The radio station was featuring songs about the tales of young girls dressing up as boys to follow their boyfriends out to sea. One of the most famous of these is Jackaroe. Sadly, the girls in history didn't have the spunk of Jacky Faber, as most were thrown to sea. But it was Meyer's vision that Jacky not go following her heart, rather going to fight her certain death by starvation. After eight books, Jacky is still cheating death.

Genre
Adventure
Girls/Women

Curriculum Ties
History: Napoleonic Wars

Booktalking Ideas
To steal secrets from the enemy, would you act as a spy…
How would you react if you met a major political head on the battle field…

Awards
n/a

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 14+

Why I included this title...
The Bloody Jack series is packed with adventure and suspense, why wouldn't people of all ages want to read it?!

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

Sones, Sonya. One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies. ISBN-10: 1416907882, ISBN-13: 9781416907886. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. 2004.

Summary
Ruby's mom has died. But that's not the only problem: Ruby has to leave her Boston home, her Boston friends and her Boston boyfriend to move across the country to live with her father. Her father is a famous movie star who left Ruby's mom before she was born, and Ruby has turned her grief for her mother to anger toward her father. She's hateful, ungrateful and refuses to show her father any love. But there is more to the story of her father, and it'll take an act of God to help Ruby see that.

Critical Evaluation
Sonya Sones uses epistolary (emails mostly) free verse to tell the story of Ruby. Her mother dies from cancer and she is forced to leave Boston and move to Los Angeles to live with her movie star dad. She's grief-stricken, and funnels that grief to fuel her anger at the dad she never knew because he took off before she was born. She tortures him at every turn—his famous friends, her beautiful room in his mansion, rejecting his endeavors to get to know her. Ruby relies on her emails to her best friend and boyfriend who she left back in Boston, as well as her dead mother and her father's live-in trainer/personal assistant. Young adult readers will side with Ruby over her misery of having to leave her friends, and may understand her anger toward her dad. She's a smart character who tells a great story that twists with an earth-shattering earthquake.

Reader's Annotation
Fifteen year old Ruby has just lost her mom to cancer, and is now living in her movie star dad's Los Angeles mansion—a world away from her best friend and boyfriend she left in Boston. She finds relief in her misery by writing emails to them and even to her dead mother, until an act of God shakes up what she thought she knew.

About the Author
Sonya Sones has spent most of her life drawing, animating or editing something or another. The Boston native was educated at Hampshire college, has taught a Harvard, worked in the film industry as an editor and painted baby clothes for Neiman Marcus stores before enrolling in a poetry class at the University of California-Los Angeles. She had an influential professor who guided her into writing her first book Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy in 1999. In over the last decade, she has written four young adult novels, three short stories and one children's picture book—Violet and Winston—with her husband Bennett Tramer.

In her young adult novels, Sones often incorporates bits and pieces of herself in each book. Inspired by her professor and the actual events surrounding her mentally ill sister, Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy was written first (1999). Sones was writing poems about her first love, and then started thinking about all of the "firsts" in a young girl's life, and she used many those thoughts for What My Mother Doesn't Know (2003). Next she incorporated her own story of an East coast girl relocating to the West coast for One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies (2004). What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know (2007) came from the copious amount of letters asking the author for what happened next in Sophie's story. Sones says she wanted to know what happened too, so she wrote the sequel. Sones is currently working on her fifth novel.

Genre
Poetry/Verse
Death/Dying
Adolescence

Challenges
Homosexuality

Curriculum Ties
English: writing a complete story in verse

Booktalking Ideas
How willing would you be to pick up and move across the country just because your mom has died and you're now forced to live in a Los Angeles mansion…
Do you think you can tell a whole story using free verse poetry tucked into emails…

Awards
Tennessee Volunteer State Teen Read Award (2006)
Iowa Golden Apple Teen Read Award (2006)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2006)
New Hampshire Isinglass Teen Read Award (2006)
South Carolina Mustang Book Award (2005)
Cuffie Award from Publisher's Weekly for Best Book Title of the Year (2006)
Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association (2005)

… and numerous nominations

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 14+

Why I included this title...
Sonya Sones' What My Mother Doesn't Know was recommended to me, and so I wanted to see if her other books were as good… this one was better!