Friday, April 22, 2011

Just in: Sequels to All Your Favorite Paranormal Books! (and one stand-alone)

All Just Glass by Atwater-Rhodes, sequel to Shattered Mirror

Tempestuous by Livingston, Wondrous Strange Series #3

Entice by Jones, Need Series #3

Awakened by Cast, Cast, House of Night Series #8

Afterlife by Gray, Evernight Series #4

Gemini Bites by Ryan

Friday, April 8, 2011

Two Great Realistic Fiction Books

Pick-up Game: A Full Day of Full Court edited by Marc Aronson & Charles R. Smith Jr.

It’s one steamy July day at the West 4th Street Court in NYC, otherwise known as The Cage. Hotshot ESPN is wooing the scouts, Boo is struggling to guard the weird new guy named Waco, a Spike Lee wannabe has video rolling, and virgin Irene is sizing up six-foot-eightand-a-half-inch Chester. Nine of YA literature’s top writers, including Walter Dean Myers, Rita Williams-Garcia, Adam Rapp, Joseph Bruchac, and Sharon Flake reveal how it all goes down in a searing collection of short stories, in which each one picks up where the previous one ends.

Nothing by Janne Teller

"Nothing matters."
"From the moment you are born, you start to die."
"The Earth is 4.6 billion years old. You'll live to be a maximum of one hundred. Life isn't worth the bother!"

So says Pierre Anthon when he decides that there is no meaning to life, leaves the classroom, climbs a plum tree, and stays there. His friends and classmates cannot get him to come down, not even by pelting him with rocks. So to prove to him that there is a meaning to life, they set out to build a heap of meaning in an abandoned sawmill. But it soon becomes obvious that each person cannot give up what is most meaningful, so they begin to decide for one another what the others must give up. The pile is started with a lifetime's collection of Dungeons & Dragons books, a fishing rod, a pair of green sandals, a pet hamster — but then, as each demand becomes more extreme, things start taking a very morbid twist, and the kids become ever more desperate to get Pierre Anthon down. And what if, after all these sacrifices, the pile is not meaningful enough?

Need Some New Paranormal Books To Read?

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak. Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else. With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

Set in New Zealand, Ellie's main concerns at her boarding school are hanging out with her best friend Kevin, her crush on the mysterious Mark, and her paper deadline. That is, until a mysterious older woman seems to set her sights on Kevin, who is Maori, and has more than just romantic plans for him. In an effort to save him, Ellie is thrown into the world of Maori lore, and eventually finds herself in an all-out war with mist dwelling Maori fairy people called the patupaiarehe who need human lives to gain immortality.

Elixir by Hilary Duff

17 –year-old Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life.  But after Clea’s renowned father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea begins to notice eerie, shadowy images in her photos of a strange and beautiful young man –a man she has never seen before.  As she is drawn deep inito the mystery behind her father’s disappearance, she discovers the centuries-old truth behind her intense bond with the mysterious man.  They must race against time to unravel their past in order to save their lives –and their futures.

Publish Your Poem on the Westwood Library’s New Poetry Blog

words If you’re in grade 3 – 12, you can see your poem published on our poetry blog!  Follow the poetry bits link on the right under Westwood Library links.  Send us your poem by email: include your first name, grade and school, and we’ll put your poem up for everyone to read.  Family friendly language only.