Rootless by Chris Howard

Book discussion on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 at 3pm

17-year-old Banyan is a tree builder. Using scrap metal and salvaged junk, he creates forests for rich patrons who seek a reprieve from the desolate landscape. Although Banyan’s never seen a real tree—they were destroyed more than a century ago—his father used to tell him stories about the Old World. But that was before his father was taken . . .

Everything changes when Banyan meets a woman with a strange tattoo—a clue to the whereabouts of the last living trees on earth, and he sets off across a wasteland from which few return. Those who make it past the pirates and poachers can’t escape the locusts—the locusts that now feed on human flesh.

But Banyan isn’t the only one looking for the trees, and he’s running out of time. Unsure of whom to trust, he’s forced to make an uneasy alliance with Alpha, an alluring, dangerous pirate with an agenda of her own. As they race towards a promised land that might only be a myth, Banyan makes shocking discoveries about his family, his past, and how far people will go to bring back the trees.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Book discussion on Tuesday, February 4, 2014 at 3pm

Incarceron — a futuristic prison, sealed from view, where the descendants of the original prisoners live in a dark world torn by rivalry and savagery. It is a terrifying mix of high technology — a living building which pervades the novel as an ever-watchful, ever-vengeful character, and a typical medieval torture chamber — chains, great halls, dungeons. A young prisoner, Finn, has haunting visions of an earlier life, and cannot believe he was born here and has always been here. In the outer world, Claudia, daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, is trapped in her own form of prison — a futuristic world constructed beautifully to look like a past era, an imminent marriage she dreads. She knows nothing of Incarceron, except that it exists. But there comes a moment when Finn, inside Incarceron, and Claudia, outside, simultaneously find a device — a crystal key, through which they can talk to each other. And so the plan for Finn’s escape is born …

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

Book discussion on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 3pm

A gifted illusionist, Anna assists her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums, and mentalists in 1920’s New York. As the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini—or so Marguerite claims—sleight of hand illusions have never been a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her own gifts secret from her opportunistic mother. Because while Marguerite’s own powers may be a sham, Anna possesses a true ability to sense people’s feelings and foretell the future.

But as Anna’s powers intensify, she begins to experience frightening visions of her mother in peril, which leads her to explore the powers she’s tried so long to hide. And when a mysterious young man named Cole moves into the flat downstairs, introducing Anna to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, she is forced to confront her past and rethink everything she’s ever known. Is her mother truly in danger, or are Anna’s visions merely illusion? And could the great Houdini really be her father, or is it just another of Marguerite’s tricks?

Push by Sapphire

Book discussion on Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 3pm

Relentless, remorseless, and inspirational, this “horrific, hope-filled story” (Newsday) is certain to haunt a generation of readers. Precious Jones, 16 years old and pregnant by her father with her second child, meets a determined and highly radical teacher who takes her on a journey of transformation and redemption.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks

Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

This is the story of real vampires. They don’t sparkle. They don’t run fast. They don’t have superhuman strength. They’re just not cool. Instead, they’re constantly sick. They throw up a lot. They’re weak. They must avoid sunlight and drink the blood of guinea pigs to keep themselves going.

Sounds glamorous doesn’t it? But what happens when one of their own is killed and the slaying leads to an illegal werewolf fighting ring? Wait… werewolves exist? Yep. They change shape with the full moon and don’t have any health hangups. Lucky them.  So now it’s up to a bunch of weak vampires to travel a far distance, in daylight, to save the life of a werewolf and capture the humans believed to have slayed a vampire.

For those of you who might remember, I actually read the sequel to this book first several months ago, which focused on the werewolves, rather than the vampires. I have to say, I enjoyed The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group much better than this one. This was good, but it took me about ten chapters to get into it. I needed to see some action, and with sick characters who can barely do anything, it took awhile for anything to actually happen. That was my biggest problem with the book. Once the story got going and the pace picked up, it was a very enjoyable read.  

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

Grace was bitten by werewolves when she was a child. But she never turned into a wolf. Instead, as a teenager, she keeps an eye on the wolf pack that roam the woods just outside her house, especially on the one wolf with the yellow eyes who saved her life the day she was bitten. But when another teenager is attacked and killed, the men of the small town go on a hunting spree in order to kill the nuisance wolves. Grace arrives home to find a boy on her deck, bleeding out from a gun shot wound which heals almost instantly. She recognizes his yellow eyes as that of the wolf who’s been watching her for years from the woods. His name is Sam and he’s a werewolf struggling to hold onto his human body just so he can be with Grace. However, the colder it gets outside, the more his body wants to shift to keep him warm. Then all hell breaks loose when he learns how he was picked to be bitten as a child, as more and more teens are becoming werewolves and the older wolves are making their final shift into their wolf form for the rest of their lives. Is there a cure for Sam and the other newly changed humans? Can they even find the new wolves before they wreck havoc on the town and its inhabitants? And what will happen to the love between Sam and Grace if Sam makes his final shift into wolf forever?

This is the first book in a series. The second is titled Linger, and a third is on its way to the printing presses. I enjoyed every moment of this book! It was a fast read with the chapters flipping the point of view between Sam and Grace. Most of the chapters were short, which seemed to make the book go by that much faster. I loved the way she treated the werewolf myths, that instead of shifting on a full moon, they shifted when it got cold out. They are humans during the late sprint, summer, and early fall, before shifting to wolf to keep warm. This was a richly built world you can step into as if you were going through the closet to Narnia. A fantastic read I would highly recommend!

Have you read any of these books? What are you favorites? Do you think they should have been banned or challenged?

For information about Banned Books Week and Celebrating our Freedom to Read, check out http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek or http://bannedbooksweek.org/.

The American Library Association has also created an interactive timeline to highlight some of the books that have been challenged or banned in the past 3o years. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/timeline30-years-liberating-literature

If you are interested in reading any of the books, visit your local branch library or request them with your Boston Public Library card (or OneCards or any Massachusetts library cards registered at the Boston Public Library) on the online BPL Catalog.

Celebrate your freedom to read what you want to read!! Yay!!

As soon as I’ve finished reading a book, I’ll post a review of it here in the blog so you can check out my progress and see what I thought of each book.

 What am I reading this summer? Here’s my Summer Reading List:

 FICTION

 The following are on, or are related to, books on the BPS Summer Reading List for Grades 9-12.

 -Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clark (Sci-Fi/Fantasy list)

The Overlords came to Earth and brought peace and prosperity with them… but then they began to take the children away from their heritage in the first step to eliminate the human race!

 This is a classic science-fiction novel that I’ve been told all sci-fi writers need to read. Thus, it makes sense that even those who don’t write sci-fi, but love to read it, should read this book too. I’ve never read anything by this author before, but occasionally I like to dabble in writing sci-fi stories, so I’d like to check it out, and hopefully improve my writing by enjoying a good book.

 -Doomwyte by Brian Jacques (Sci-Fi/Fantasy list)

A young mouse, Bisky, and his friends seek a fabled Redwall treasure: the jeweled eyes of the Great Doomwyte Idol, which leads them to the realm of the fearsome Korvus Skurr, the black-feathered raven…

 This is book 20 in the classic fantasy series Redwall. Brian Jacques is my favorite children’s/YA author, and the prequel to this series,  Mossflower, is the book on the official Summer Reading list. It is also my favorite, and most read, book in the entire Redwall series. As I have yet to read Doomwyte, I’ve chosen it for my summer list. When reading this series, there are a total of 22 books, and it does not matter in what order you read them!

 -Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey (Sci-Fi/Fantasy list)

Chosen by the Companion Rolan, a mystical horse-like being with powers beyond imagining, Talia, once a runaway, has now become a trainee Herald, destined to become one of the Queen’s own elite guard. For Talia has certain awakening talents of the mind that only a Companion like Rolan can truly sense. But a conspiracy is brewing in Valdemar against the Queen by unknown forces. Talia must protect her and the heir, before danger can strike!

 The official reading list includes Magic’s Pawn, the first book in The Last Herald Mage trilogy by the same author, which I read and loved immensely.  Arrows of the Queen is the first book in her trilogy The Heralds of Valdemar, and while only a few of the characters are the same, it is set in the same kingdom of Valemar as The Last Herald Mage trilogy. I’ve been curious to see if it’s as good as the other, which is why I’ve chosen this book.  

 -Odd Hours by Dean Koontz (Mystery/Suspense list)

Odd Thomas is a young man with a faithful companion in his dog named Boo. Though they are anything but ordinary. Odd can see the spirits of dead people who are reluctant to move on from this world. And Boo is one such spirit. In the past he has been haunted by nightmares that have come true. In the small California town where he’s currently living, he’s been having the same repeat nightmare. Will it lead to someone’s death? Or will Odd be able to save another’s life?

 The Mystery/Suspense list includes Odd Thomas, the first book in the Odd series about a 19-year-old boy who can see dead people. Odd Hours is the fourth book which I have yet to read, thus, it is one of my reading choices this summer.

 NON-FICTION

 Three of the non-fiction titles I’ve chosen were on a Summer Reading List in 2011 when they caught my eye. Since then, I’ve been looking for an excuse to dive into them, even though they are no longer required reading for school. Those books are:

-A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo

A memoir of the Vietnam War.

-Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden

A minute-by-minute account of the first sustained firefight involving American troops since the Vietnam War in 1993.

 -Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

This is a true tale of survival, adventure, and the most incredible rescue mission of World War II.

A Little Big Life by Dean Koontz

This was a last-minute addition to the list in place of The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding, which is not in print in the states yet. This book is a “Memoir of a Joyful Dog” and is written by the author of one of the fiction books I’m also reading, so I thought it would be fitting to read this joyful little tome.

So, in total, I have chosen to read 8 titles this summer between June 1^st and August 31^st. I’m not sure how far I’ll get, or in what order I’ll be reading them, but check back here for any reviews I post to see where I am in this list and what I have left to go.

This graph was created by the website www.Goodreads.com. This shows the popularity of dystopian books such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Suzane Collins’ The Hunger Games. Bet you didn’t realize dystopian books were popular back in 1920 when your great grandparents or grandparents were children, did you? But back then they were written with adults in mind, rather than children or even teens.

Want to check out the rest of the graph? Yep… there’s more! This graph is huge, and awesomely packed with info just waiting for you to gobble it down, including the most popular dystopian titles over the years. Check it out here: Dystopian Popularity Graph.

These book covers are FREE and can be found here: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/free-customized-go-away-im-reading-book-covers_b48341 Simply download the ones you want, send them to your local Staples or other office supply store and have them printed out on thick paper. The printing is what will cost you some money, or if you have your own printer and paper that’s long enough, you can print them off yourself. On their website there is a video tutorial explaining how to fold them around your book once you get them printed.

Who knew you could learn some History while reading comics. In Kate Beaton’s Hark! A Vagrant, that’s exactly what you experience.  Sure, you’re thinking, learning while reading comics? I think I’ll skip this one.  But trust me when I tell you that this book will have you laughing out loud.  Beaton leaves no moment of History untouched with her witty comic strips; which range from history to literature to just plain random and hilarious observations. For example did you ever wonder how to spot a wise owl? Well obviously it’s the one with a beard.

I’ll admit though, there were moments were I had no idea who she was referring to in certain comics, but a quick browse through Wikipedia and I knew exactly who that person was and look at that, I learned something new. Sneaky Beaton! The author also adds some commentary to explain why she created certain comics, and at times a little brief description of the historical person she is referring to in her comic.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading comics, but also those who enjoy their history with a side of humor.

To get a taste of what’s in the book, you can visit Beaton’s website where she posts comics frequently.

Hark! A Vagrant

YALSA Teens’ Top Ten.

The number one teen pick of 2011 was Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare! Below is her acceptance video. Check it out!

Can’t view the video above?  Here’s the top ten list:

1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster)
2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
3. Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Simon & Schuster)
4. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (HarperCollins)
5. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin)
6. Matched by Ally Condie (Penguin)
7. Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson (Little, Brown & Company)
8. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (HarperCollins)
9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins)
10. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Penguin)

For more information on YALSA and the Teen’s Top Ten, check them out here: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/teenstopten/teenstopten.cfm

How old do you think they are?

Think one paper airplane is the same as the next?

Check out this article on Yahoo! to read about the possible history of the paper device, follow the videos to create your own, and then check out your local branch library to check out books on the subject! We definitely have a few here at Copley in the Teen Room!

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/high-fliers-5-great-paper-airplane-designs-211731336.html

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

This book is crazy and insane all at once. It’s the story of a boy who finds himself kidnapped after getting drunk at his friend’s party and attempting to walk home alone. Going to England for a few weeks to see if he wants to attend a boarding school, he’s given a pair of glasses from a stranger. These glasses show him a war-torn world where he’s forced to fight against his best friend.

In short, this book is one insane ride. It’s like getting hooked on drugs… but without the drugs. You’ll find yourself sucked into the world of Marbury, and unable to leave, similar to the characters in the book. I highly recommend it.

Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen

Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

Do you like fancy parties, flappers, stage performances, rich dresses, a little side romance, along with a dish of violence?  Then this is the series for you. This book, the first in a new series, was a truly fantastic read set in 1920′s New York City. It’s the story of two young girls who move to the city to find themselves and make a name for themselves. Set in a time when it was illegal to sell or drink alcohol, these girls find their way into the speakeasies of the city and into the homes of the greatest alcohol sellers of the time. What they find there, both surprises and scares them. It’s a truly great read, a page turner that’s garunteed to keep you reading late into the night!

The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group by Catherine Jinx

Read by: Anna/Copley Teen Room

This book is the sequel to The Reformed Vampire Support Group also written by Catherine Jinx. Not having read the first book, I didn’t feel out of place at all. In fact, I rather enjoyed this book. It wasn’t cheesy, and the only mention of “mates” was because it was set in Austraila where everyone calls each other “mate”. It was funny, some parts were scary, his mother was annoying in that way that only a mother can be, and his friends, new and old were pretty cool. I would love to recommend this book to anyone looking for a werewolf book that’s a little out of the ordinary. My favorite quote from the book?

“Barry can’t be the first vampire who’s fanged a werewolf. And the whole ideas of zombies must have come from somewhere.” -The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group