A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel

Today, the new movie version of “A Christmas Carol” comes out in theaters, but why not read the book first?  We have a new graphic novel version of the book which has great art and the complete text of the original book by Charles Dickens. (FYI, our book has a black-on-black cover, but that’s pretty hard to see in a small image, so I put the color version of the cover in this post.) 

While you’re reading the classics, give “Frankenstein” or “Macbeth” a try, too!  We have them both in graphic novel format, and they’re school assignment approved, since they’re the full text of the original, not abridged.  But just in case you need it, we also have “Macbeth” in the quick text version which has quick, modern language.  If you try any of these graphic classics and think we should buy more, let me know!

Fairy Tales New and Retold

New today at the library is Ash, a unique retelling of Cinderella by Malinda Lo.  Ash wishes a fairy will take her away from her cruel stepmother, until the day she must choose between a handsome fairy cursed to love her and the King’s Huntress whom she loves.  YA FIC LO.

Read chapter one of Ash on Malinda Lo’s website.

Want to read other fairy tales new or retold?  Try one of these:

Beastly
YA FIC FLINNN
A modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast from the point of view of the Beast, a vain private school student. Read it before the movie comes out in 2010!

Just Ella
YA FIC HADDIX
Feeling suffocated by palace rules and court etiquette after accepting Prince Charming’s proposal, Ella plots to escape.

Princess of the Midnight Ball
YA FIC GEORGE
Galen hopes to break the spell on twelve princesses who are cursed to dance each night until their slippers are ragged.

Book of a Thousand Days
YA FIC HALE
Dashti, sworn to obey her mistress, Lady Saren, shares Saren’s years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her to the lands of her true love.

East
YA FIC PATTOU
A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.

A Curse Dark as Gold
YA FIC BUNCE
Upon her father’s death, Charlotte struggles to keep the family’s mill running and decide whether to accept help from a stranger who can spin straw into gold.

Princess Ben
YA FIC MURDOCK
A girl is transformed, through instruction in life at court, determination, and magic, from sullen, graceless Ben into Crown Princess Benevolence.

Bound
YA FIC NAPOLI
Xing-Xing endures a life of neglect and servitude, as her stepmother binds her own child’s feet so that she, and not Xing-Xing, might marry well.

Stardust
YA FIC GAIMAN
In the quiet English hamlet of Wall, Tristan embarks on a remarkable journey to recover a fallen star.

Where is Amanda Valentino?

Ever since Amanda moved to Orion and singled out Callie to be her guide, she made Callie feel special.  Far from the prying eyes of her ‘friends’ the I-girls, she could be her true self and enjoy the attention of fascinating, eccentric Amanda.  But Amanda Valentino was a master of being exactly who she wasn’t.  When she suddenly disappears, Callie can’t help but be confused, worried, then angry when she finds out that she wasn’t Amanda’s only guide after all.  

This book is one of those where everything could be a clue, so I don’t want to tell you too much, but here’s my take on the book: 

Invisible I was intriguing to say the least.  Every little clue, every note or drawing Amanda left behind takes on extreme importance in your mind as you try to figure out why she left and who she REALLY was.  Who else in town knew Amanda, but knew her as a completely different person? 

The book was very well done, but I’ll wait until the next book to judge the series as a whole.  This series has a planned EIGHT books and I don’t know if I can take that.  You know the TV show Lost?  Everyone I know who watched it got so frustrated because there were a jillion questions and clues, but for the longest time you never found out anything that mattered.  I really hope The Amanda Project series can avoid becoming just a series of clues without ever getting anywhere before book eight.  I need answers!  Hope you’ll read the book and tell me what you think. 

In the meantime, check out www.theamandaproject.com  where you can become part of the community, check out other people’s theories about what happened to Amanda, and post your own ideas.

The Amanda Project Book 1: Invisible I by Stella Lennon is now available at the library.

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Monstrumology: the study of life forms generally malevolent to humans; the hunting of such creatures.

Apprentice monstrumologist Will Henry cannot escape his creeping dread each time there’s a midnight knock on the door of the home of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop.  Although no one in the town of New Jerusalem speaks of it, they all know the special area of study which consumes the doctor’s life, a study none of them would voluntarily undertake.  Unless, like Erasmus Gray, they happened upon an abomination like the one he found one night while engaged in the ghoulish task of graverobbing. 

There, curled around the dead body of a girl was a monster out of myth, which had died while sating it’s hunger for human flesh: an Anthropophagi.  It’s hideous, headless form housed two black eyes and a gaping mouth filled with teeth meant to rip open humans.  The doctor knows that where there is one Anthropophagi, there are many, so he enlists his assistant, orphan Will Henry, to aid him in ridding New Jerusalem of the menace brought to their doorstep.

Lovers of horror, the gruesome and the grotesque, this is the book for you.  Each Anthropophagi attack is described with grim realism down to the shattered skulls and dripping gore.  Will Henry’s observations made me cringe and want to turn away even as I couldn’t put this book down.  As the two become closer to finding out the origins of the Anthropophagi in New Jerusalem, the suspense grows as you find out just what brought the monsters to America’s shores.

But beyond the dread and death, it’s worth reading this book just for the fascinating  Warthrop and Will Henry.  Warthrop’s intensity and complete dedication to his work have an all too human cause, and Will Henry’s determination, doubts and turmoil helped make him a realistic young man thrust into a strange new world upon his parents’ death.  

I highly recommend this book.  Seriously, what are you waiting for???  The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey is now available at the library.

Katie

New Short Stories

If I needed to think of a slogan for this post it would probably be something like “Short stories: not just for English class anymore!”   You might associate short stories with assigned reading, but some amazing authors are putting their stamp on short fiction.  We have two new collections in now at the library: 

The first is, “Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd.”  Do I even have to say anything after that title?  Fandom, RPGs, Buffy, Jedis, Rocky Horror…this book has all that and more.  There are 29 short stories from authors including Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, Garth Nix, John Green, and Wendy Mass.   

“The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural” is perfect for all you horror fans, especially with Halloween right around the corner.  Authors including M.T. Anderson, Annette Kurtis Clause, Holly Black, and Marcus Sedgwick bring to life tales of grave-robbing, poison, vampires, necromancers and more.

If you could get your favorite authors together to write a collection of short stories, who would the authors be, and what would you want them to write about?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Grace has never been afraid of the wolves that roam the woods behind her house.  When she was younger, she was pulled off her tire swing and dragged into the woods, but even the sensation of being prodded and bitten was overshadowed by the protection of one yellow-eyed wolf who refused to join the pack as they attacked her.   

Six years after being pulled from her swing, another animal attack sends the town into a panic, determined to hunt down the wolves and kill them. Grace knows that she is the only chance her wolf has to survive.   She had always suspected her wolf was more than just another animal, and she was about to find out how close to the truth she was.  

Sam had tried to force himself to be human before, just so he could be closer to Grace, closer to his true self, but he had no choice.  Every year, as summer turned to fall and the temperature dropped, he changed into a wolf, and now he’s worried that this might be the last year he has left before the change becomes permanent. 

Told from the alternating points of view of Sam and Grace, the book also alternates beautifully between their despair at the thought of Sam changing forever, and the joy that they could finally be together.  The language of the book is striking at times, like Sam’s feelings when he kisses Grace for the first time: “I was wild and tame and pulled into shreds and crushed into being all at once.”

If you like romance of the star-crossed lovers variety, need something to read after Twilight, or just have a thing for wolves, I highly recommend Shiver.  I really enjoyed the book, though the ending was a little rushed for my taste – I wanted more! 

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is now available at the library, and will soon be available as a Playaway audio book.

She is seriously going bovine

Libba Bray’s new book “Going Bovine” is now available at the library.  Normally I’d give you a little about the book, but why not here it directly from the fabulous Libba herself?

The Hollow

When you were younger, how scary was the Legend of Sleepy Hollow?  Check out this passage (and make sure to use the appropriate ghost-story voice):

“On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow-traveller in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck on perceiving that he was headless!  But his horror was still more increased, on observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of the saddle…”

The story is a classic for a reason!  But what happened to the town after Ichabod vanished?  Jessica Verday’s “The Hollow” takes place in modern day Sleepy Hollow and follows Abbey, grieving and in denial after her best friend Kristen disappears at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetary. 

Get more info at Jessica Verday’s website or read chapter one of “The Hollow” before you check it out.

I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets

Quick! Describe your life in only six words.  It’s harder than it seems, but the results are fascinating 100% of the time. 

Now available at the library is “I Can’t Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous and Obscure.”   Open it up to any page and you’ll find a tantalizing glimpse into the mind and heart of someone who only had six words in which to give you an important piece of themselves.  Hundreds of authors, hundreds of autobiographies, and hundreds of stories to choose from. 

In the book, Sarah R. says she’s “Now always thinking in six-word phrases,” and after reading this book I was too.  I loved the book, but there’s just too much to tell in only one phrase!  Here are two of mine:

Recommend studying abroad; changed my self-perception.

Unexpectedly enjoying being a teen librarian.

And here’s a classic quote by librarian Betty Rosenberg, which just happens to be six words, but they are words to live by:

Never apologize for your reading tastes.

Check out the book now, and comment me with your own six word memoir.   Be sure to go to www.smithteens.com to add your memoir to their project.

Food, girls, and other things Andy can’t have

306.4 pounds.  NOT 307.  That’s how much Andy Zansky weighs on the first day of his sophomore year.  He expects it to be pretty much a repeat of his freshman experience: hanging with his best friend Eytan doing Model UN, having luck with no girls whatsoever, and trying to avoid being abused by a jerk named Ugo. 

But then, the weekend before school starts, he meets beautiful April at a wedding being catered by his mother, a specialist in creating mini-food for any special occasion.  When April shows up as a new student at school, Andy’s focus becomes getting her to notice him, and maybe even fall in love at second sight.  Unfortunately, a gym-class incident involving Andy, a misplaced soccer kick and his size XXXL underwear pretty much puts an end to that dream.  Until football tryouts.

Will being a member of the team finally give Andy a chance to be popular?  Can football notoriety erase April’s memory of the underwear incident?  Will Andy fall victim to the deliciousness of his mother’s mini-pies?

This book is a consistently funny, quick read that I recommend if you want a good laugh.  Check out Food, girls, and other things I can’t have by Allen Zadoff, now available a the library.

The Vampire Diaries

Are you already hooked on The Vampire Diaries TV show?  Find more juicy details about Elena, Stefan, and Damon in the books by L.J. Smith.  We have the first two books, The Awakening and The Struggle, now available at the library, and the next two, The Fury and Dark Reunion, are being processed.  Don’t let the drama end!  Check out the books now at the library.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I just got done with Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins’ sequel to The Hunger Games, and I can’t believe I have to wait another year to find out what happens next! 

Katniss could never have predicted the consequences of  her actions at the end of last year’s Hunger Games, when the threat of her and Peeta’s suicide in the arena led to the Capitol allowing them both to live.  Nor could she know how much her ‘undying love’ for Peeta would affect her relationships back home in District 12, especially with Gale, the friend-with-the-possibility-of more she had to leave behind. 

There’s SO much going on in the book, and I would not want to deprive you of all the moments that left me gasping in shock.  Expect trouble in the Districts, an appearance from the odious President Snow, and a shocking twist to the rules of the Games.  So surprising that I believe I yelled out “WHAT?!”  Suzanne Collins, I love you yet I curse your name – now that’s what I call a good writer.

The unrelenting grip of the Capitol and the misery that hangs over the daily lives of those in the Districts sometimes made me long for a good action scene in the arena just to get away from it.  But Katniss’ ability to appreciate the small pleasures in her expected-to-be-brief life helped turn it around.  I detested the Capitol’s treachery, envied Katniss’ bravery, and laughed at least one time at Peeta’s complete audacity.

I hope you like Catching Fire as much as I did.  Put your name on hold for the book now at the library.

Alphas

Can’t wait for the next Clique book to come out?  Try the first book in Lisi Harrison’s new series, Alphas.

It’s about a highly exclusive school, Alpha Academy, located on exotic, isolated Alpha Island.   Alpha Academy is open to students by invitation only and girls must claw their way to the top of the class, because out of 100 girls chosen for admittance, only one will win worldwide fame. 

I haven’t read this one yet  but  Alphas reminds me of a cross between the Clique’s mean girls and a reality show where there’s only one person left standing for the grand prize and the contestants are willing to do ANYTHING to win.  Enjoy Alphas, and keep your eye out for Charmed and Dangerous, the Clique prequel, coming out in October.

Free Stuff

Thanks to everyone who filled out my end-of-summer-reading survey during the past few weeks.  You got first dibs on some great advanced copies of new young adult books. 

The survey is now over and I’ve still got plenty of books to give away.  So, it’s now a free-for-all!  Come in to the library’s Y.A. Corner and find the basket marked “Free Books” to check out what’s left.  Almost all are advanced copies of books that don’t come out until the fall. 

First come, first served…
Katie

Book Review: Along for the Ride

This summer, you can submit book reviews during our Summer Reading Program and earn an extra grand prize ticket.

Stephanie L. just read the new Sarah Dessen book, Along for the Ride.

“A teenage girl headed for college in the fall chooses to spend the summer with her father and his new wife in a beach town.  During her stay, she learns to embrace life and childhood through new friends and a beau. This book is a definite summer favorite, if a bit predictable.”

Stephanie L. gave Along for the Ride 4 out of 5 stars.

The Comet’s Curse

If you believe the movies, the only reason to worry about a comet is when it’s on a trajectory to collide with Earth.  But in The Comet’s Curse by Dom Testa, it’s not the comet itself that is dangerous, it’s what it’s carrying: a plague.  Within nine months of Comet Bhaktul passing Earth, it seemed certain that anyone over the age of 18 would soon contract Bhaktul disease and die. 

There is no known cure for the disease, and only one solution: find a group of the smartest, most adaptable, most physically fit teens and train them for a five-year space travel mission to settle Eos, a planet which seems able to support human life.  Sound crazy?  Maybe it is, but it could be humanity’s only chance of survival.

I have to say, this book sucked me in!  As I was reading, I could completely envision this book as a TV series.  There are great characters, a mystery, and flashbacks to the crew members’ lives before joining the Galahad. 

If you’re smart but not a people person, you’ll feel for Bon, the 15-year-old Head of Agriculture, but if you’re the ultimate people person with a cheery disposition, you’ll like Channy, the Activities Director. Maybe you’re like Triana, the reserved 16-year-old Captain of the Galahad, who must shoulder the burdens of command.  Or Gap, the Head of Engineering, who must deal with the technical problems a 5 year space mission will encounter (not to mention a crush on another crew member).  And I can’t forget Roc, the ship’s computer, which was programmed with the personality of its creator.

The Comet’s Curse was a quick read and a satisfying story, but it left plenty of questions for sequels.  Can Roc really be trusted?  Will the entire crew make it to Eos, and what will the planet be like? What are the mystery items locked away in the Storage Section, and will the crew really be able to resist looking inside? Will those left behind on Earth ever find a cure for Bhaktul disease?

Check out The Comet’s Curse by Dom Testa, now available at the library, and try reading Triana’s journal, at the Club Galahad website.

Katie

Summer’s Blockbuster Books

Is the one you’re most looking forward to not listed? Comment me and I’ll let you know if the library has ordered it yet. 

Katie

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

When I say vampires, what comes to mind?  Super strength, super speed, romance and glamour?  If only that were true!  Australian teen Nina Harrison knows all too well that being a vampire is not all it’s cracked up to be in the movies. 

Ever since 1973, when she was bitten at age 15, Nina’s been stuck living at home with her mom, relying on other vampires for rides (since she’ll never turn 16 and can’t get a driver’s license), and seeing the same old vampires week after week at her Tuesday night reformed vampire support group meeting. 

When one of the group members is discovered dead, with nothing but a pile of ash and a single silver bullet found in the coffin he sleeps in, Nina and the other reformed vamps know that they’ve all been put in danger.  His death means that someone found out he was a vampire, hunted him down, and killed him, leaving Nina and the others with no choice but to find the murderer and stop him. 

Will they find him?  I can tell you that they find criminals, kidnappers and werewolves along the way, but to see if they ever find that vampire hunter, you’ll have to read the book. 

If you like reading about vampires and don’t mind having everything you’ve heard about them turned upside down, you’ll enjoy this book.  Even if you don’t like vampire books you’ll enjoy the weirdness of some the characters.  The book has humor, sarcasm, suspense, and even a few pretty gross moments, so there’s something for everyone.    

What I liked most were the little details about life as a vampire.  Did you know that a guinea pig a day keeps that craving for human blood away?  Have you ever thought about how a vampire can take a road trip without being exposed to sunlight?  And why can’t vamps take cab rides? 

The Reformed Vampire Support Group is by Catherine Jinks, who also wrote Evil Genius and Genius Squad, so if you read and liked those, you should give this book a try. 

The Reformed Vampire Support Group is on the shelf now.

Katie

New books (This one’s for the guys)

Carter Finally Gets It  (YA FIC CRAWFORD)

“Here are five things you should know about Will Carter: 1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons. 2. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day. Unless he gets distracted. 3. He’s a virgin, mostly because he’s no good at talking to girls (see number 1) . 4. He’s about to start high school. 5. He’s totally not ready.”

 
The Devil’s Paintbox  (YA FIC MCKERNAN)

“In 1865, fifteen-year-old Aiden and his thirteen-year-old sister Maddy, penniless orphans, leave drought-stricken Kansas on a wagon train hoping for a better life in Seattle, but find there are still many hardships to be faced.” 

 Read the first chapter here. 

 

 Bloodline  (YA FIC MORAN)

“While traveling through early seventh-century Britain trying to stop an impending war, Essa, who bears the blood of native British tribes and of the invading Anglish, makes discoveries that divide his loyalties.” 

 Read an excerpt here.

 

 The Lab  (YA FIC HEATH)

“When Agent Six, a member of The Deck, a group fighting against their corrupt society, discovers that he is the product of an illegal experiment by the evil Lab, he takes dangerous steps to discover the truth about himself.” 
  

 

 The Guardian (YA FIC SWEENEY)

“When Hunter, struggling to deal with a harsh, money-grubbing foster mother, three foster sisters, and a school bully, returns to his childhood faith and prays to St. Gabriel, he becomes aware that he does, indeed, have a guardian.  But when he  learns the truth about his ‘angel,’ he’ll have to decide whether it’s the best thing that ever happened to him or the worst.” 

  

 Slathbog’s Gold by M.L. Forman

“When fifteen-year-old orphan Alex Taylor sees an odd sign in a shop window and goes inside to investigate, he is sent on a quest to defeat an evil dragon, and in the process he confronts his fears and learns about his future and his past. ”  

 

Reality Check  (YA FIC ABRAHAMS)

“After a knee injury destroys sixteen-year-old Cody’s college hopes, he drops out of high school and gets a job in his small Montana town, but when his ex-girlfriend disappears from her Vermont boarding school, Cody travels cross-country to join the search.”

Read an excerpt here.

Orientation

Gunnerkrigg Court is not your average British boarding school.   Antimony Carver doesn’t just have to deal with classes and making friends at a new school, she  has to deal with robots, demons, gods, and mythical creatures running around the grounds. 

Follow Antimony as she finds a new home for her newly acquired second shadow, gets homework help from the mythical Minotaur, and tries to find out more about her mysterious new school.

Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 1: Orientation is a compilation of the first 14 chapters of the web comic of the same name.  Check it out here, then check out the book, now available at the library.

Katie