Can’t Wait for Crossed?

I’m dying for Crossed by Ally Condie to come out on November 1, so I decided to reread the first book in the series, Matched.  Only this time I tried the audiobook on Playaway and it was great! If you don’t know what a Playaway is, it’s basically an MP3-type player that is preloaded with an entire audiobook.

The narrator of Matched does a great job of pulling you into the rhythm of Cassia’s life and I was reminded of why I liked the book so much in the first place!  You can read my review of Matched here.

Hope you give the Playaway a try to tide you over until Crossed comes out.  I’ve got both the Crossed book and the Playaway on order, so no matter which you like, I’ve got you covered.  Look for my review of Crossed in November.   ~ Katie

YA Book Award Winners

It’s book awards season again!  Check out some of these award winners and honor books, available in the teen section of the library.  (Only the books owned by the library are listed here; for the full awards lists, just click the name of the award.)

	The Printz Award “The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.”   Winner: Shipbreaker by Paolo Bacigalupi Honor Books:  Stolen by Lucy Christopher Please Ignore Vera Dietz  by A.S. King Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick Nothing by Janne Teller
	The Stonewall Book Awards for Children’s & YA Literature Honoring “books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience.” Honor Books: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan Love Drugged by James Klise
	The Odyssey Award Awarded “to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.” Honor Book: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan (Available on CD.)
	The William C. Morris YA Debut Award “Honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens.”   Finalists: Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey Crossing the Tracks by Barbara Stuber

Top Books of 2010

You know what the end of the year means, don’t you?  Tons of ‘best of the year’ lists!  So here’s mine: the teen books that were checked out the most in 2010.

Top 15 Fiction Books

1.  “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins (Read my review.)
2.  “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer
3.  “Breaking Dawn” by Stephenie Meyer
4.  “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins (Read my review.)
5.  “Scat” by Carl Hiaasen
6.  “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins (Read my review.)
7.  “New Moon” by Stephenie Meyer
8.  “The Alchemyst” by Michael Scott
9.  “The Boy Who Dared” by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
10.  “Charmed and Dangerous” by Lisi Harrison
11.  “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner” by Stephenie Meyer
12.  “Tangled” by Carolyn Mackler
13.  “The Host” by Stephenie Meyer
14.  “Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel” by James Patterson
15.  “Witch and Wizard” by James Patterson

Top 5 Nonfiction Books

1.  “Mega Traumarama!: Real Girls and Guys Confess More of their Most Mortifying Moments!” by Seventeen Magazine
2.  “Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat” by Megan Carle
3.  “Teens Cook Dessert” by Megan Carle
4.  “Alternacrafts: 20+ Hi-Style, Lo-Budget Projects to Make” by Jessica Vitkus (We made bottle cap magnets using this book’s instructions. Check out the pictures here.)
5.  “Sew with Sara: PJs, Pillows, Bags and More: Fun Stuff to Keep, Give, Sell!” by Sara Trail

Top 5 Audio Books

1.  “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
2.  “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman
3.  “Hoot” by Carl Hiassen
4.  “Brisingr” by Christopher Paolini
5.  “Eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer

Top 5 Graphic Novels

1.  “Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer” by Van Jenson (Read my review.)
2.  “Twilight: The Graphic Novel Vol. 1″ by Stephenie Meyer and Young Kim
3.  “Girl Genius: Omnibus” by Kaja Foglio
4.  “Batman: Jekyll & Hyde” by Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee, and Sean Phillips
5.  “Justice League of America: The Injustice League” by Dwayne McDuffee, Alan Burnett and Ed Benes

Top 5 Manga

1.  “Clover” by CLAMP
2.  “Maximum Ride Vol. 1″ by James Patterson and NaRae Lee
3.  “Maximum Ride Vol. 2″ by James Patterson and NaRae Lee
4.  “Nabari No Ou Vol. 1″ by Yuhki Kamatani
5.  “The Dreaming Vol. 1″ by Queenie Chan

How Do You Listen?

I’ve blogged about Playaways before – they’re the small, portable way to listen to an entire audiobook preloaded on a device about the size of an MP3 player.  Now that I’ve gotten a few more, including “Shiver” by Maggie Stiefvater, and “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, I want to know…

Thanks for your input!  Comment me if you have an idea for an audio book we should buy.

Downloadable audiobooks

Now Winfield Library cardholders can download audiobooks from anywhere using NetLibrary eAudiobooks.   

You must come into the library for a one-time set-up of your free account, then you may login from anywhere and download up to 10 eAudiobooks at a time. Books check out for 3 weeks and may be renewed. Once you have set up your account, click the banner to get started.

You may listen to eAudiobooks on your computer or download the book to a portable listening device. A list of supported portable devices is available here.

For more detailed information, please see:
eAudiobooks Quick Start Guide (.pdf)
eAudiobooks Detailed Guide for Library Users (.pdf)

We have hundreds of titles for young adults from authors including Meg Cabot, Anthony Horowitz, Sarah Dessen, Pete Hautman and more!  Come to the library and set up your free account now.

Katie

It’s Teen Tech Week!

Teen Tech Week is March 8-14 and this year’s theme is “Press Play @ your library.”  So this week, why not try an audiobook?

We’ve got audiobooks of some of your favorite books and series, like the Twilight series on CD, the newest Artemis Fowl on CD, and books on Playaway.  What’s Playaway?  I’m glad you asked!  It’s the newest format for audiobooks, and it’s an entire audiobook preloaded onto a digital device about the size of an MP3 player.  So now you can take your favorite books with you anywhere you go. 

As of today, we have  a small collection of Playaways, but we’re getting more and more.  As always, let me know if your favorite title belongs on this list!

Dragon’s Keep
AUDIO YAFIC CAREY

Just Listen
AUDIO YAFIC DESSEN

The Ruins of Gorlan
AUDIO YAFIC FLANAGAN

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things
AUDIO YAFIC MACKLER

Eragon
AUDIO YAFIC PAOLINI

Romeo and Juliet
AUDIO YAFIC SHAKESPEARE

The Hobbit
AUDIO YAFIC TOLKIEN