Almost time for Summer and long, lazy days…made for reading!

I compiled this list of great reads for your summertime.

Good Reads to Gobble Up!

What am I reading?   Five books at the same time!  Here’s a snapshot of my bookshelf:

The Whisper by Emma Clayton—Just finished this sequel to The Roar and it’s action-packed adventure as the twins fight the evil empire.

Entwined by Heather Dixon–a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, but this time the princesses must outwit the curse to find true love.

Claim to Fame by Margaret Peterson Haddix gives you insight into having ESP and how one famous child actress learns to control her gift.

Glory B. by Augusta Scattergood gives us a glimpse into the past when prejudice and segregation threatens to close down a small town’s swimming pool.  Glory shows courage and strength to stand up for what she believes in and gets support from her family in this southern flavored tale.

Wildwood by Colin Melot presents the story of a missing child, who has been carried off into the Impassable Wilderness and his sister must rescue him…no matter what happens to her!

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN

My new favorite book: THE ONE AND ONLY IVANby Katherine Applegate.  If you love animals and want to read a book that will touch your heart, then this is the book for you. Ivan is a silverback gorilla, stuck in a mall-theme park and losing hope. His only friends are Stella, an aging elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. The custodian’s daughter, Julia, takes pity on him and gives him crayons. Ivan discovers that he has an artist’s eye, which he uses to dream about the world outside the mall. When a recent addition of a baby elephant, changes Ivan’s ideas about living in captivity, he takes action to save her. This novel uses a first person narrative about a gorilla in captivity, loosely based on an actual event, and builds a story about compassion, empathy and standing up for your principles. With some tears at the beginning, but an ending to cheer for, the author delivers a new classic that will enchant generations.

ONE AND ONLY IVAN

Digital Learning Day

Digital Learning Day

Plug in at your library for Digital Learning Day and discover all the ways you can interact with the world.  Whether visiting a favorite website, blog, watching book trailers or creating your own website, our students can use technology to learn about a variety of topics–whether assigned or for fun.  Our students love to grab the flip cameras and create mini-movies or try out the scratch software and make up their own websites. Our library becomes a bee hive of activity before school, during lunch and after school.

The YALSA Non-fiction Award for 2012

I have been working with my esteemed committee members to determine what the 2012 YALSA  Award for Excellence in Non-fiction for Young Adults.  Our top five finalists will be posted this week on the YALSA website here.   I will tell you more about my favorites after the winner is announced in January 2012.  Try one of these non-fiction books for a roller coaster of a read!

Historical Fiction = History Up Close

I made this Voicethread to show off some wonderful historical fiction books.

Genre book lists

If you need a book for your assignment of independent reading or just for the joy of reading, take a look at this list for a thumping good read.  I’ve grouped the books by genre to help you.

Realistic:

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

The Steps by Rachel Cohn

Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen

Cupcake Queen by Hepler

White Water by PJ Petersen

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Frindle by Andrew Clements

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech

Masters of Disaster by Gary Paulsen

Things I Did for Love by Conford

Diamond Willow By Helen Frost

Fantasy:

Summer Reading is Killing Me by J. Scieszka

A Fate Totally Worse than Death by Fleischman

Princess of the Midnight Ball by George

Out of Sight, Out of Mind by Kaye

Bunnicula by Howe

Jade Green by Phyllis Naylor

Princess Tales by Gail Carson Levine

False Princess by Eilis O’Neal

Princess for Hire by Leavitt

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

Sci-Fi:

Time Hacker’s by Gary Paulsen

Killer Pizza by G. Taylor

Rewind by Sleator

Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

Historical fiction:

Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins by Myers

Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen

The Rifle by Gary Paulsen

A Boy at War by Paul Mazer

The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett

The Season by S. MacLean

T4 a Novel in Verse by A. Lazotte

Witness by Karen Hesse

Non-fiction:

Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton

Knuckleheads by J. Scieszka

My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen

How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary Paulsen

Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming

Ghosts in the Fog by Samantha Seiple

Trapped by Marc Aronson

Welcome back to school!

This summer I read lots of non-fiction for this committee I’m participating on and it made me realize what great non-fiction does for your brain.  It’s like learning something by accident, you discover you remember what you read and enjoyed reading about real people and places.  For example,  Terezin is a photographic and pictorial collection of artifacts from the Nazi holding camp by the same name.  The authors trace eye-witness accounts of how the Nazis fooled the Red Cross into thinking that the prisoners were well-fed and taken care of in the camps.  Amelia Lost chronicles the search for Amelia Earhart and her rise to fame in an early publicity program for the famous flyer.  How Sugar Changed the World  made me realize that a simple type of food that I take for granted has a complex, important history to the world.  How Sugar Changed the World follows the development of sugarcane as a crop, the increasing growth of the slave trade to harvest the crop, the political and economic impact on the world, scientific discoveries and modern day sugar plantations. I also enjoyed The Many Faces of George Washington because it brought forensic science into the study of George Washington’s life as the Mount Vernon museum attempted to recreate three life-like statues of the famous president.

Summer Reading anyone?

Do you get excited about the summer?  I do.  It means sleeping late, trips to the pool, vacation and most of all–reading anything you want.

I have a few suggestions for you from my recent and all time favorites.  Here’s a short book trailer of my recent favorites animoto_videosummer readingMs. Fink.

Extra, extra, read all about it!

Teen Read Week and Teen Tech Week book

Extra!  Extra!  Read all about it–librarian edits book!  I am thrilled to announce that my book for teen libraries has recently been published by YALSA.  Teen Read Week and Teen Tech Week: Tips and Resources for YALSA’s Initiatives is the title and it gives librarians ideas and information for marketing, promotion, programming and outreach to teens.  Liz Burns gave a nice review for the book, also, on her blog.  Note: I am also featured in the anthology as a writer, since the book pulls together articles from the last couple years that were published in YALS magazine, a journal of YALSA.