From the Loft

Are you counting down to Mockingjay?

2010-07-28T11:33:00.000-04:00

Hands down--the literary event of the summer is the release on August 24th of Mockingjay, the final installment in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy. If you are finding the wait to be unbearable, check out our Brave New World display for read-a-likes to hold you over. Dystopian fiction is not a recent trend in YA--but it is certainly one of the most exciting.

For up-to-date information, cool downloads and giveaways, visit the official Hunger Games website at Scholastic.

Massachusetts Teen Choice Book Awards

2010-07-21T10:48:00.000-04:00

Do you have a favorite book from 2010? Well here is your chance to blow its horn, sing its praises, and basically get it the recognition it deserves! The Massachusetts Library Association is sponsoring its first ever Teen Choice Book Awards. This is your chance to be part of something new and groundbreaking. Nominations opened June 1, 2010 and will remain open until December 31, 2010. You can nominate any sort of book: fiction, non-fiction, manga or graphic novel, serious or seriously weird--so long as it was published this year, it's eligible. In January 2011 (not really that far away, you know) the 5 top nominees will be presented for a revote, with the winner announced on April 14 (which just happens to be Support Teen Literature Day, for those of you keeping score at home.) You can go here to read all of the program rules and regulations (there are always a few of those) and register to vote!

Page2Screen: YA books into film

2008-11-03T14:23:00.006-05:00

November will see the release of not one, not two, but three films released which started life as YA novels. Joining Nick and Norah's Infinite Play List, City of Ember, and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2,which have all graced theaters already this year, we have the highly anticipated Twilight, based on the astronomically successful novel by Stephanie Myers. You can see that one on November 21st. On November 7th, John Boyne's controversial The Boy in the Striped Pajamas will be released. And, if that's too heavy for you, there is always the direct-to-DVD market, which will welcome The Clique into the fold (don't want the Gossip Girls to have all the fun, right?)

Are you funnier than the Wimpy Kid?

2008-10-09T15:41:00.004-04:00

To celebrate the release of the latest Wimpy Kid book, the publishers are sponsoring a do-it-yourself cartoon contest. If you think you (or your life) is funnier than Greg Heffley's, now is your chance to prove it!

Gossip Girl goes multimedia

2008-09-15T13:16:00.002-04:00

Hey all you Gossip Girl fans--text or televised version: check out this article from The New York Times.

Are you ready to vote?

2008-09-08T12:42:00.005-04:00

In case you haven't heard, there is a rather big election coming up in November, that has local as well as national repurcussions. If you are a high school junior or senior who is elligable to vote, and if you have any questions about the process, check out YouthvoteMA.org. To quote the informative email I received this morning:

"YouthvoteMA.org is a website created as a resource for students to find information and opportunities to register to vote. The site www.youthvoteMA.org is targeted at high school students who are, or soon to be, of voting age. Junior and Senior years of high school are incredibly busy for students, and having a resource they can access 24/7 is helpful to answer questions about registering to vote, absentee balloting, and actually voting."

It doesn't get any easier than that!

Dawn has broken, now we wait for Brisingr

2008-08-04T11:32:00.004-04:00

With the arrival, at midnight Saturday morning, of the conclusion to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga, it's time to turn our attention to the next big sequel. Brisingr, the third volume in Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Saga, is due for release September 20, 2008. As the countdown commences, there's a new, dragon-appropriate display in the YA loft of Eragon read-a-likes. Fantastic dragon novels have been around long before 2003 (the pub date of Eragon.) There's Patricia Wrede's Enchanted Forest series, Jane Yolen's Dragon's Blood, and the classic Earthsea series by fantasy guru Ursula LeGuin. As the summer draws to an end, there's still time to enjoy some dragons,to tide you over until the big day arrives!

Jack Gantos and Meg Cabot on Teen Second Life

2008-07-23T10:31:00.003-04:00

YA authors Jack Gantos and Meg Cabot will be appearing on Second Life this summer (Jack as early as tomorrow!) This is a unique opportunity to interact with favorite authors. Information about the program can be found here.

Jack Gantos is the author of the Joey Pigza books and the fantastic autobiography Hole in my Heart. And let's not forget Rotten Ralph! Meg Cabot is the author of, well, it seems just about everything these days. But to narrow the list down to a few highlights, I could mention The Princess Diaries, Avalon High, and the newly released Airhead. She is also the star of a series of rather humorous vids on Youtube.

New Series for the summer

2008-07-16T14:28:00.003-04:00

A couple of new series have been added to the Series Collection at the far end of the loft. Well, they are new to us, but they have been wowing teen readers in the UK for awhile now.

The Hungry City Chronicles by Phillip Reeve
From Booklist Gr. 7-10. As the story opens, the great Traction City of London is chasing a small town. When one city takes over another, it processes all reusable materials to create power to run the motorized wheels that enable the city to travel over the land. London's mayor has bigger plans than the domination of a small town, plans involving the use of the weapon that laid waste to Earth millennia earlier. Several young people endeavor to stop the carnage--among them, Tom, an apprentice at the London Museum; a young woman who tries to kill the museum's head historian; the historian's daughter, Katherine; and an apprentice in the Guild of Engineers. The pace of the violence-filled story is frenetic, the sense of helplessness is palpable, and not all the young people survive. A page-turner, this adventure in a city-eat-city world will have readers eagerly suspending disbelief to follow the twists and turns of the imaginative plot. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Traces by Malcolm Rose
Welcome to the world of Traces. Imagine a place where technology rules, where London is a slum and the North is a cultural capital, where from the age of five The Authorities decide your future. In this fascinating parallel world, quick-thinking Luke Harding and his robot sidekick, Malc, make a top forensic team. Luke and Malc have the talent to crack any crime – and a good joke too. Aged sixteen, Luke is the youngest person ever to qualify as a Forensic Investigator. He hardly has time to celebrate before Malc, his Mobile Aid to Law and Crime, calls him to their first case. A student has been mysteriously shot dead with an arrow on the playing fields. An elusive killer is at large and all the evidence points to Luke himself…

Waiting Bites!--Stephanie Meyers Read-a-likes

2008-06-16T13:08:00.004-04:00

Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final title in Stephanie Meyer's phenomenally popular Twilight Series, is due for release August 2nd. It's only June 16th today--that's still a long wait! Fans of Bella and Edward can check out these Read-a-likes to help fill the void while they wait:

In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Risika, a teenage vampire, wanders back in time to the year 1684 when, as a human, she died and was transformed against her will.

PEEPS by Scott Westerfeld
Cal Thompson is a carrier of a parasite that causes vampirism, and must hunt down all of the girlfriends he has unknowingly infected.

Blue Bloods by Melissa De la Cruz
Select teenagers from some of New York City's wealthiest and most socially prominent families learn a startling secret about their bloodlines.

Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde
When sixteen-year-old Kerry Nowicki helps a young man escape from a group of men who claim he is a vampire, she finds herself faced with some bizarre and dangerous choices.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
Having fallen for a human boy, a beautiful teenage werewolf must battle both her packmates and the fear of the townspeople to decide where she belongs and with whom.

These and other titles (Shojo manga Vampire Knight, Katurah and Lord Death, Look for me by Midnight, just to name a few) are on display in the YA loft. No excuses to agonize over the long wait!

Writing Contest Fun--Up All Night

2008-06-05T14:17:00.004-04:00

Publisher Harper Collins has announced a writing contest in conjunction with the publication of Up All Night. Teens between the ages of 14-19 are invited to submit short stories about a character who stays up all night. First prize is the opportunity to be published in the paperback edition of Up All Night. Well that sounds cool! That will put the winning author in the same book as Peter Abrahams, Libba Bray, David Levithan, Sarah Weeks, Gene Luen Yang and Patricia McCormick. Click here to download the registration form. Give it your best shot and make Walpole famous!

Calling all Wimpy Kid Fans....

2008-05-10T15:33:00.002-04:00

Greg Heffley's mishaps obviously translate well. Check out this collection of foreign language editions of both Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

Series Fiction--more of a good thing

2008-04-14T12:06:00.004-04:00

I spent Friday afternoon setting up a new area in the loft dedicated to Series Fiction. Popular series such as Gossip Girls, Daughters of the Moon, Gatekeepers, and new series like Drama Club, Missing Link, and Clique Summer all have a new home at the end of the non-fiction, directly across from the newspapers. The series are arranged alphabetically by title, and there's a handy list, too. New additions to series will now be shelved here rather than with the new fiction.

The series currently shelved here are:

Alice (Naylor)
Avatars (Sutherland)
Clique and Clique Summer (Harrison)
Dark Ground Trilogy (Cross)
Daughters of the Moon (Ewing)
Drama Club (Lerangis)
Faerie Wars (Brennen)
Gatekeepers (Horowitz)
Gossip Girls (Von Ziegesar)
Maximum Ride (Patterson)
Midnighters (Westerfeld)
Missing Link Trilogy (Thompson)
Sally Lockhart Mysteries (Pullman)
Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Brashares)
Uglies (Westerfeld)

It's all in the hopes of making your life easier and more readable!

February Poll Results

2008-03-01T15:20:00.004-05:00

In February I asked "How many books do you read for fun in a month." A whopping 80% said they read more than 5. I'm kind of impressed! I say "kind of" because, in the interest of full disclosure, I should reveal that 80% equalled 4 out of 5 respondents. So......it was a pretty small pool to work from. But I'm encouraged all the same, because finding time to read for fun is not always an easy thing to do, and I'm glad that at least 4 of you are able to do so.

Check out this month's poll "If you had to choose.....Fiction or Non-fiction?"

Spotlight on: Sarah Dessen

2008-02-21T21:25:00.003-05:00

Sarah Dessen is the author of seven novels for young adults. In preperation for her eighth novel, Lock and Key, due for publication in April, Publisher's Weekly recently featured an interview with Dessen. Visit her website to catch up with all the news from her live journal, check out her myspace page, or take a test to discover just which Sarah Dessen character you are.

Calling for Reviewers

2008-02-13T10:39:00.004-05:00

Have you read a great book lately? Or maybe you read one that was just awful, and you want to spare any unsuspecting readers from enduring it. Why not write a review and share what you think with your peers? I'm looking for some teens who would be willing to post reviews to this blog. E-mail me at kdean@ocln.org if you are interested.

Talk to an author! Simon and Schuster hosts YA blogfest

2008-02-09T14:37:00.000-05:00

If you ever wanted a chance to ask your favorite author why they became writers, how they develop their ideas, or even what's up next for your favorite characters, then now's your chance. Publishing house Simon and Schuster is hosting a YA Blogfest from March 14-27. About 100 YA authors, including Holly Black, Avi, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, and Scott Westerfeld, representing all genres in YA literature, will be taking part in the two week cyber-event. Details including listed authors and how to submit questions can be found here.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2008-02-07T09:46:00.000-05:00

Hone your Chinese New Year knowledge here

Books for February

2008-02-06T08:41:00.000-05:00

What better way to ignore the finality of the Patriot's loss to the Giants than to lose yourself in a book? This month's topical display is February: Short stories for a short month. Despite the leap year, February still falls short of the other eleven months. Celebrate February's shortcomings with a collection of short stories. Some recommended titles

Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan
Full House: 10 stories about poker by Pete Hautman
More Horowitz Horror: stories you'll wish you'd never read by Anthony Horrowitz
Love, Football and Other Contact Sports by Alden Carter
The Canine Connection: stories about dogs and people by Betsy Gould Hearne
Water: tales of elemental spirits by Robin McKinley
Dirty Laundry: stories about family secrets by Lisa Rowe Fraustino

library ninja episode 1

2008-01-31T12:06:00.001-05:00

I wish I could take credit for this clever little film. But since I can't, I will promote it happily here. Welcome to the new YA blog for the Walpole Public Library!

Hey there!

2008-01-31T11:59:00.001-05:00

Hello, and welcome to the Walpole Public Library YA blog. This will be the place to come for information about what's new and exciting (or new and okay, new and "I-have-a-report-due-next-Friday", etc) for young adults at the Walpole Public Library. In case you are wondering who's behind this, my name is Kara, and I am the new Youth Services Librarian. I'm the one who's been buying the new graphic novels, making the displays, clearing the shelves, and making some of the changes you may have seen in the YA loft. I'm based down in the Children's Department ('cause I look after them, too,) but I'm often upstairs to see how things are going. My goal is to make the YA area a comfortable, inviting place where teens can hang out, get some work done, and perhaps stumble upon an interesting read. You can tell me how I am doing by either (1) coming downstairs and saying hi, or (2) dropping me a line at kdean@ocln.org