Hot Books for Cold Weather

As the snowy season continues to approach, and frost needs to be scraped off the car every morning, the time has come to brace ourselves for the freezing phenomenon known as a Michigan winter.  Many an evening will be spent inside, snuggling into a favorite chair with a warm blanket and a cup of cocoa.  To keep yourself company in the cold, check out one of these hot new teen reads out right now.

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins:  Lola has no idea what to do when the boy who broke her heart moves back in next door.  Is love in the air again, or will Lola ignore the past and look towards a different future?

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff: Daphne must leave her home in Pandemonium to navigate the perils of Earth, in order to save her little brother.

How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr:  Jill and Mandy are two very different girls who must learn to get along when Jill’s mom decides to adopt Mandy’s baby.

Destined by P.C. Cast: Fans of the House of Night series will not be disappointed in this ninth installment, in which Zoey continues to battle Neferet for the good of all humanity.

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini:  The Inheritance Cycle ends in this gripping fourth novel, Eragon battles to topple the evil king once and for all.

-Liz V., Youth Services Librarian

Make your holidays without breaking the bank

With the holiday season approaching you may be stressed out over what to give your friends and family, especially if you’re short on funds.  Why not get creative and make a unique gift?  Many of these books feature projects made from things that you already have in your house.  There’s a little something for everyone in these titles – jewelry and accessories from old electronics, homemade beauty products (chocolate lip gloss!), one-of-a-kind t-shirts (think of all those freebie tees in the back of your closet), and even a book dedicated to making cool things with plastic shopping bags.

62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer and Other Discarded Electronics

101 Tees: Restyle + Refashion + Revamp

Alternacrafts

Amigurumi! Super Happy Crochet Cute

Ecobeauty: Scrubs, Rubs, Masks, and Bath Bombs for You and Your Friends

Get Hooked Again: Simple Steps to Crochet More Cool Stuff

Kilobyte Couture: Geek Chic Jewelry to Make From Easy-to-Find Computer Components

Steampunkery: polymer clay and mixed media projects

Trash-to-Treasure Papermaking

Upcycled Accessories: 25 Projects Using Repurposed Plastic

-Lynn H., Youth Services Specialist

Teens’ Top Ten Reading List

The votes are in!  Teen readers from around the country weighed in on their favorite books of the past year.

The top selection is:

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Runners-up are:

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Matched by Ally Condie

Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

- Lynn H., CADL Youth Services Specialist

Fright Night: 10 Scary YA Books to Read Before Halloween

The time of year for thrills and chills has finally come around again. The leaves turn, the air grows cooler and all you want to do is curl up at night with a good book that will scare you sleepless. If you’re looking for a great scary story to help keep you entertained between now and the upcoming Halloween holiday, check out one of the following novels from CADL’s collection.

Uninvited by Amanda Marrone: Jordan’s undead ex-boyfriend sits outside her window, night after night, begging to be let in.  If Jordan falls for his smooth talk, it will almost certainly be the last thing she does.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Krause: Vivian, a werewolf, falls hard for human Aiden.  But will her pack ever accept him, and can she keep him safe from her own desperate hungers?

Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan: Horrifying things begin to happen when Darren and his friends sneak out in the night to see a freak show.

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allen Poe: The master of classic horror brings terrifying tales to life.

I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan: After covering up the accidental death they caused, four friends must escape from a killer who knows the truth about what happened that night.

Evernight by Claudia Gray: Evil forces are at work at Bianca’s new boarding school.

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly: A monster, assembled from parts of corpses, is brought to life with terrifying consequences for his creator.

In the Forests of the Night by Amerlia Atwater-Rhodes: Risika seeks a bloody revenge against the vampire who has been her nemesis for three centuries.

Tenderness by Robert Cormier: A chilling tale of a teenaged serial killer, Eric, and the hapless Lori, who falls in love with him, despite the fact that she knows the truth about his violent obsessions.

The Haunting by Joan Lowry Nixon:  Lia tries to rid her new home of the evil spirits which inhabit it.

If you prefer to listen to your scary stories, instead of reading them, make sure to check out the spooky fun that will be hosted at CADL Leslie on Thursday, October 20 at 6:00 pm.  Ages 10 and up can visit the library for Scary Stories for Halloween Night, where scary stories and spooky snacks will add up to a fun filled night!  Registration is required for this program; call 517-589-9400.

- Liz V., Youth Services Librarian

If High School Wasn’t for You: GED Resources for Teens

A lot of information is passed around this time of year on back-to-school resources for teens.  What are not mentioned as often are the numerous resources for teens who, for whatever reason, are not able to finish high school.  Check out the following GED resources available at your local CADL library:

On-Line Library Resources:

Visit our Education Resources website to see what electronic resources are available free through the library.  Use the Learning Express Library to take practice GED tests.

Check out our collection:

We have numerous books on GED testing available at the library.  Some are available for checkout, and some are reference books, which are kept on the library shelf and available for in-house use when you visit the facility.  Here are a few great books to help you study for your GED:

Barron’s GED, High School Equivalency Exam by Barron’s.

The GED for Dummies by Murray Shukyn.

Kaplan’s GED by Caren Van Slyke.

Paterson’s Master the GED 2010 by Ronald Kaprov.

For additional information on GED resources in your area, consider contacting your local alternative education school, or your area’s Community Education program.  If you need help finding the right resource, make sure to call your local CADL library branch.

-Liz V., Youth Services Librarian

Hispanic Heritage YA Novels

National Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15 this year.  It is a month in which tribute is paid to the many Hispanic Americans who have contributed to our nation’s history and culture.  Celebrate this year by reading a teen book with a Hispanic protagonist.  If you don’t know where to get started, try one of these great reads available in CADL’s collection.

Life, After by Sarah Littman

Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin

Red Hot Slasa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

Illegal by Bettina Restrepo

To find out more about National Hispanic Heritage Month, visit http://hispanicheritagemonth.gov/.

-Liz V., Youth Services Librarian

Celebrate Your Freedom to Read: Banned Books Week Sept. 24 – Oct. 1

Banned Books Week has been celebrated annually for thirty years to raise awareness of the freedom to choose what we read from a full array of possibilities.  Some groups and individuals seek to limit or prohibit access to books, often citing concern about the appropriateness of the book for certain audiences, usually children and teens.  Some popular young adult titles have been challenged and banned in the past year.  Imagine how it would feel to walk into the library and be told that you weren’t allowed to read your favorite book because it had been banned.

Popular Young Adult Titles Challenged & Banned in 2010 –2011

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Kristen Stewart stars in the film version)

Betrayed by P.C. Cast

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

TTYL by Lauren Myracle

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Bone by Jeff Smith

While there are instances in which books are banned or removed from a library due to complaints, there are other books that are challenged and successfully retained in the collection, often due to support from students and community members.  Check out the websites for authors Chris Crutcher, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Judy Blume -  all censorship activists who provide suggestions
and support.  For more information on banned and challenged books and actions you can take, check out www.bannedbooksweek.org

-Lynn H., CADL Youth Services Specialist

Teen Books With Feline Friends

If you can believe it, September is National Happy Cat Month.  As the owner of a feline myself, I have decided to celebrate this rather odd occasion by compiling a list of YA books with spunky cat sidekicks as characters.  For a little frivolous feline fun, check out one of the following YA reads from CADL’s collection.

Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison: Georgia keeps a journal about navigating first love and dealing with her enormous nose, all while trying to stop her crazy cat from terrorizing the neighbor’s dog.

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot: Mia discovers that she is a princess, and must adjust to her life changing from average to royal in the blink of an eye.  Luckily, she has her cat Fat Louie to help her out.

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa: Meghan must navigate the faerie underworld to save her little brother, with a secretive cat named Grimalkin as her guide.

White Cat by Holly Black: Cassel has always tried to resist the family business of curse working. However, nightmares featuring a white cat, where Cassel is standing over the body of his murdered friend, may make it impossible to stay away.

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass: Young Mia keeps it a secret that she sees numbers and words as colors and shapes, until the loss of her beloved cat Mango forces her to reveal the truth.

Back to School: Homework Help Books for Teens

Now that school is back in session, the time has come to consider ways to support a student’s success.  If you’re looking for resources to support you in those tricky subjects that you just can’t seem to wrap your brain around, look no further than the collection at CADL.  We have all sorts of books to assist you in reading, writing, science and math. Here are just a few examples of print resources from CADL’s collection which may help demystify those tangled algebraic calculations or decode those dense literary essays.

Precalculus Workbook for Dummies by Yang Kuang.

Chemistry Demystified by Linda Williams.

Writing Research Papers by James Lester.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to English Literature by Jay Stevenson.

In addition to our print collection, CADL’s website also has a great collection of local tutoring resources, as well as electronic homework assistance databases.  Click here to see what’s available.

-Liz V., Youth Services Librarian

Dig out that Snuggie and get ready for fall book releases!

Fall is just around the corner, and while the end of summer can be sad – so long vacation, days at the beach and staying up all hours of the night with friends – fall offers its own treats.  The demise of those pesky mosquitos, campfires on cool nights, the return of high school and college sports and, last but not least, the release of some great new books.  You’re going to have to wait a while to get your hands on some of these titles, but in the meantime put yourself on the waiting list and imagine being curled up under a cozy blanket on a cool day with a steaming cup of cocoa and a book that you just can’t put down.

One of the perks of being a librarian is the opportunity to read books prior to their release date and I found these titles to be packed with action, suspense, and a touch of romance.

Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan is due out on September 27th.  It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and features two main characters, Waverly and Kieran.  After Earth is deemed lost to environmental disaster, two ships of pioneers set forth in space so the human race can colonize on New Earth.  Waverly and Kieran are the oldest children born aboard the Empyrean ship, and all assume that they will marry and that Kieran will one day be captain of the ship.  Tragedy strikes when the New Horizon ship unexpectedly attacks the Empyrean and kidnaps all of the girls.  Waverly and Kieran find themselves thrown into fights for their own survival and the survival of those around them.  The ending leaves a lot of loose ends, especially concerning the romance between Waverly and Kieran and a sequel is in the works.  This book will appeal to fans of Ally Condie’s Matched.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson is due out on September 20th.  This story features overweight princess Elisa who has spent her life in the shadows of her older and prettier sister.  For reasons unknown to her, Elisa is married off to the handsome king of the nearby kingdom on her sixteenth birthday and is thrown into a dangerous world of political intrigue and a country on the verge of war with invading hordes led by mysterious sorcerers.  As Elisa discovers her  identity and uncovers her own magical power, can she also save those she loves and her country as well?  This book is the first in a series and will appeal to fans of Fire by Kristen Cashore and Princess Ben by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.

Due out on October 4th is Darkfall, the final title in the Healing Wars trilogy by Janice Hardy.  This fantasy series features heroine Nya and her younger sister Tali, who have been left orphaned by war.  Tali, who has inherited the powers of a Healer from their mother, begins training at the Healing League.  Nya also possesses special powers, but unlike a Healer, who can extract pain through touch and transfer it to the blue metal Pynvium, Nya can only transfer pain from one person to another, making her an abomination.  Because of their powers Nya and Tali are targets for the evil duke who is invading their city.  There is lots of action, snappy dialogue and a fearless heroine who will surely succeed in the final book.  This trilogy will appeal to fans of the Beka Cooper trilogy by Tamora Pierce.

Some other titles coming out this fall are:

The Son of Neptune, the second in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, is due out on October 4th.

The Death Cure by James Dashner is the final title in the Maze Runner trilogy and is due out on October 11th.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, author of the Shiver trilogy, is due out on October 18th.

Seizure by Kathy Reichs is the follow-up to Virals and is due out on October 18th.

Mastiff, the final book in the Beka Cooper trilogy by Tamora Pierce, is due out on October 25th.

Crossed, the second book in the Matched trilogy by Ally Condie, is due out on November 1st.

Inheritance, the fourth book in the Inheritance cycle by Christopher Paolini, is due out on November 8th.

- Lynn H., CADL Youth Services Specialist