Join our book group

Now’s the perfect time to join our teen book group.  What else do you have to do, it’s like the arctic tundra out there!  So find a good book, anything you like, and read it before our next book group on March 4.   This month it’s up to you what to read, so get on it!

Book group meets March 4 at 4:00 p.m. 

Katie

It’s all up to you now

If you’ve ever thought of joining the library’s teen book group but didn’t like the books we were reading, now’s your chance to give it a try! 

In January and February, we’ll be holding a free-form book group.  You can read anything you want and we’ll all meet to talk about everyone’s books.  If there’s a book you love that you want to tell other people about, or one you just couldn’t get into no matter how much you tried, tell us about it!

You can read anything: science fiction, fantasy, manga, romance, new books or old.  We’d love to give this free-form group a real shot, but we need your help!  Come to our next meeting Friday, January 4 at 4:00 p.m. and tell us about what you’re reading. 

It’ll also be a great time to tell us about any new books you think we should buy.  We want to know what you want…

Katie

Y.A. Café Book Break Review

Hey everyone,

On June 5, we discussed Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. We were pleased to have a newbie join our group!  Once again, we all enjoyed the thrills and suspense of the story, but we were left hanging at the end. We are all eager to read the final book in the trilogy….but is there a 4^th?? We’ve heard rumors that the author is working on something called Extras, which will finally be the final book in the series.

Now that it’s summertime, we hope more of you can join us!! Our next meeting is on July 3^rd at 4:00 PM. We will be discussing Mister Monday by Garth Nix. We always have FOOD, so come hungry!!!!

See you soon,

Tressa and Nuccia

Y.A. Café Book Break Review

Hey everyone,

Our Y.A. Café Book discussed Rob& Sara.com by P.J. Petersen and Ivy Ruckman. This was a first for our group. We had never read a book based entirely on emails. The book was different, emotional and suspenseful.  Sara’s friend Angie has cancer and to support her, a group of friends shave their heads. Sara posts a poem about it on the message board and is criticized by some readers, except for Rob who shows support. Thus begins a friendship between Sara and Rob through daily emails.

Sara, whose father is a colonel, is a smart, caring girl who develops a relationship with Rob, who attends a boarding school for troubled rich teens. At times you begin to doubt Rob’s true identity.  However, as their relationship grows, they help each other and begin to care deeply for one another.  Right up to the end, you find yourself wondering if Rob and Sara will ever meet.

Would you believe the book was written through e-mails between the two authors?  We felt it got a little repetitive towards the end and a little tiresome reading e-mails for the WHOLE story. But it was intriguing and fun to read something different like this. We are definitely hoping for a sequel!

Tressa and Nuccia 

Y.A. Café Book Break Review

Hey everyone,

Our Y.A. Café Book discussed Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan. We all agreed that this was an adventurous, emotional, and well developed book based on events from Shackle ton’s 1914-1916 Antarctica Expedition. But be warned, you’ll need a blanket, tissues and a hot beverage while reading this book. What the people on television’s Survivor go through does not compare to what the 28 men experienced simply to stay alive.  This excellent story about survival, hope, and courage is seen through the eyes eighteen year old Perce Blackborow. Imagine having to eat only penguin and seal, sleeping in subzero conditions, or having to cope with frostbite and surgery in terrible conditions. This book exemplifies courageous heroes willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the team.

Read it, it’s worth it! Enjoy!

Nuccia and Tressa

Y.A. Café Book Break Review

Hey everyone,

This month’s book group was great! The time just flew by, and we found we still had a lot we wanted to talk about. On March 6^th, we met to discuss Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, which is about a society that turns ugly people beautiful on their sixteen birthdays. Just as Tally is about to turn 16 and become one of the Pretties, she is thrown into the dangerous world of Special Cicumstances and bribed to find her friend Shay who has run away. Shay has escaped and found a “real” world where everyone is acknowledged for who they are, without bowing to the desires of the Pretty society.

This book really messes with your mind and makes you wonder just who is truly “ugly” and whether it’s worth it to want to turn “pretty.” It was also amusing to see how everyday, normal stuff to US is so unusual for THEM. Tally had never seen or heard of things such as roller coasters or magazines. Items like that didn’t exist in their world. Instead, she is used to hoverboards and interface rings. Her food was dehydrated and ‘cooked’ by adding water to it. When she began living within The Smoke, she had to learn to find food for herself and work with her own two hands. We were all in agreement that this storyline kept you captivated until the very end. Although at times over-descriptive, you still wondered what was going to happen next. Because this is the first book in a trilogy, the ending also left you wanting to know how it would truly conclude. Therefore, it was unanimous that we chose to read Pretties as our June book group book.Whether you read the story now, or wait until summertime, we’d love to have you join usAlso, remember, if you’ve read the book group book, but missed the meeting, please share your comments on our blog!!Talk to you soon,

Tressa and Nuccia

P.S. For a real-life demonstration of uglies to pretties, check out this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC3ptE6ka_I

Y.A. Café Book Break Review

Although the snowstorm on February 6 prevented our monthly meeting, Tressa and I still discussed Fake ID by Walter Sorrells. Quite honestly, I felt riveted to the book, and I read it practically in one sitting. The book grabs you right from the start- Chass and her mother must assume a new identity. I kept asking myself why and what happened to Chass’s mother to have to live like that. Right on Chass’s sixteenth birthday, her mom disappears. Chass has six days to find out who she really is with the help of a really good friend, Ben. Along the way, secrets of the past are slowly unraveled, and Chass finds strength to discover who she really is.

Tressa, on the other hand, enjoyed the book, yet found it difficult at times to believe. Would this really happen to a sixteen-year-old? Perhaps it would have been more realistic if Chass were a little older. We both agreed, though, that it would be difficult having to live your life with your suitcase by the door, ready to leave at a moment’s notice, and never knowing your true identity.

If you like mysteries, this is a page-turner!  Read it! It would be great if the author wrote a sequel.

Join us next month as we discuss Uglies by Scott Westerfeld about a society that turns ugly people beautiful on their sixteen birthdays.

Nuccia and Tressa

Y.A. Café Book Break Review

Hi everyone,

Our Y.A. Café Book Group met last week and discussed Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar. Scott Hudson is a like-able narrator with familiar high school problems. Scott finds out on his first day as a Freshman that his mom is expecting a baby, and through the course of the year he writes survival tips in a journal for his unborn sibling. In his quest to date an old kindergarten classmate, he joins the school newspaper, the student council, and the spring play, adding to his already heavy course load. As childhood friendships begin to change, unlikely friendships develop.

We felt this was a great book, especially for those of you who are soon to be freshmen, as it deals with so many issues facing teens – from bullies to dating.

Please post your comments if you can’t make our Y.A. Café’ Book Group. We’d love to hear from you if you read this book or our next book, Fake ID by Walter Sorrells. Join us on  February 6 for hot chocolate and more.

Tressa and Nuccia

Next month’s book group book now available

Our next book group book, Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar, is now available at the circulation desk.  Please post your comments about this book here or on the “Y.A. Book Group” page of this site. Here’s a brief synopsis of the book from David Lubar’s website:

“Welcome to high school. Forget about getting any sleep or a decent lunch for the next four years. Brace yourself for too much homework, too much attention from dangerous seniors, and no idea at all what your Spanish teacher is talking about. Or your math teacher, for that matter. Join freshman Scott Hudson for a very funny look at a serious time of life.”

Katie

The Manny – our review

Hey everyone,

We had a great discussion this month about The Manny by Sarah L. Thomson. We enjoyed lattes and hot chocolate. Everyone thought the book was entertaining and well written, and we were able to share babysitting stories of our own.  

It was a great book for both girls and guys. The main character, Justin, was hired as a nanny for the summer. He learned about responsiblities, friendships, and family, besides babysitting a four year old. If you’re looking for a hilarious and relaxing read, give this author a try.

If you read this book, but weren’t able to make it to our group, please feel free to post your thoughts and share your comments!

Nuccia and Tressa