Friday, September 28, 2012

Louisiana Teen Readers' Choice, Grades 9-12, 2013

It's time for the Louisiana Teen Readers' Choice 2013 program!


What to do: 

1. Start now by reading at least 2 books on the list.
2. Starting in November you'll be able to submit your vote for your favorite by February 1, 2013 at http://www.state.lib.la.us/literacy-and-reading/louisiana-young-readers-choice/


This year's  Teen Readers' Choice books are listed below.


1.      Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Mean girl Samantha dies in a car crash but she is given chances to rewrite history and save herself. What she discovers about her life and who she is forever alters reality. IL: UG - BL: 5.4 - AR Pts: 18.0
           
2.      Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Tessa Gray, a 16-year-old orphan, travels from American to London to meet her brother. She gets wrapped up in a Steampunk adventure involving vampires, werewolves, clockwork people and other supernatural beings. This exciting first book in a new series is being marketed as a prequel to Clare’s “Mortal Instruments” series. IL: UG - BL: 5.6 - AR Pts: 21.0
           
3.      Coming Back Stronger : Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity by Drew Brees. This is a behind the scenes look at the 2010 NFL Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints’ quarterback. At one point in his professional football career, Drew Brees, wondered if he would ever be able to play again due a severe shoulder injury which caused him to have to relearn how to throw a ball. After Hurricane Katrina, the Saints had to play every game on the road until the Superdome was repaired. This is Drew’s encouraging and inspirational story of how each challenge has made him stronger. No AR Test available.

4.      Matched by Ally Condie. The Society has always been responsible for matching their citizens at a matching ceremony. When Cassia sees her best friend Xander on screen as her ideal mate, she’s thrilled until Ky Markham’s face flashes for an instant and the screen turns black. The Society claims it’s a glitch, but now that the seed of doubt has been planted, Cassia can’t stop thinking about Ky. As Cassia begins to fall for Ky and doubt the Society, she must decide between Xander and the life she knows or Ky and the mysteries of the unknown. IL: UG - BL: 4.8 - AR Pts: 13.0

5.      Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. Nailer, a teenager living on the Louisiana gulf coast in the distant future, lives in poverty and works as a ship breaker, a person who scavenges wrecked ships. He finds an abandoned ship filled with valuables, including a potentially valuable girl who may or may not be who she says she is. Will Nailer sell the girl for some quick cash or risk trying to help her get home? IL: MG+ - BL: 4.4 - AR Pts: 11.0 Printz Award Winner

6.      Somebody Everybody Listens To by Suzanne Supplee. After graduation, 18 year-old Rhetta Lee Jones says farewell to her job at the local Starling, Tennessee diner and heads for Nashville with her guitar, an old car, $500 and a plan to succeed. After she is mugged, Rhetta is reduced to sleeping in her car until she finds a job as a secretary for a local tow-truck owner. Staying true to dreams, she continues to write music, sing at a local hotel, and find her own voice while trying to earn herself a big break. IL: UG - BL: 5.3 - AR Pts: 9.0

7.      Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick. Having been kicked out of their apartment by her mother’s latest boyfriend, Amber, her doggie Bobby Big Boy and her mother are currently living in her mother’s school bus, a.k.a. Hello Yello. No matter what Amber is going through, she finds time to help others in her community with humor, an optimistic attitude and great friends. IL: MG+ - BL: 5.4 - AR Pts: 10.0

8.      Split by Swati Avasthi. After being beaten up by his father and kicked out of his home, 16-year-old Jace drives cross country to find his estranged brother and a tries to start new life. All the while Jace deals with guilt over leaving his mother behind and not being there to protect her. Together the brothers must overcome emotional scars in order not to become their father.  IL: UG - BL: 4.1 - AR Pts: 10.0
           
9.      White Cat: Curse Workers Book 1 by Holly Black. All the members of Cassel’s family are curse workers, they have the power to affect people with just a touch. Cassel feels like an outcast because he doesn’t seem to have a magic touch and he lives with a horrible secret: he killed his best friend Lila, but doesn’t remember doing it. As Cassel struggles to fit in, he uncovers more family secrets that may help him discover the person he really is. IL: MG+ - BL: 4.5 - AR Pts: 11.0

10.  Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri. Illustrated by Randy DuBurke. Yummy named after his love of candy is hiding out from the police. This book, based on a true account, tells the true story of a gang member Robert “Yummy” Sandifer. Everyone knows Yummy killed Shavon, a teen from the neighborhood when he was aiming at a rival gang member. Yummy’s days are numbered now that the police and his own gang members are looking for him. IL: UG - BL: 3.4 - AR Pts: 1.0 Coretta Scott Honor

Louisiana Young Readers' Choice, Grades 6-8, 2013

It's time for the Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award 2013 program!

What to do: 

1. Start now by reading at least 3 books on the list.
2. Starting in November you'll be able to submit your vote for your favorite by February 1, 2013 at http://www.state.lib.la.us/literacy-and-reading/louisiana-young-readers-choice/


This year's books for grades 6-8 are listed below.  


1.      The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham. Teddy is the new kid in town. He makes some very strange friends but eventually realizes that these boys are actually dead. The sycamore tree, which seems to have received its powers from nuclear waste, is the master villain, using its branches to grab its victims. Teddy must try to save himself and the other boys, but will he make it? This horror story will keep you reading but you might not want to read it at night!  IL: MG - BL: 5.3 - AR Pts: 5.0

2.      Heist Society by Ally Carter. Kat’s friend, Hale, arranges to have her kicked out of her exclusive boarding school where she was attempting to lead a normal life away from her international jewel and art thieving family. It seems that Kat’s father needs saving from an Italian Mobster who thinks that her father stole his paintings.  Book 2 in the series is Uncommon Criminals. IL: MG+ - BL: 5.5 - AR Pts: 9.0

3.      Hide and Seek by Katy Grant. When 14-year-old Chase finds hidden “treasure” in the mountains near his family’s store in Arizona, he discovers a mysterious note in a geocache. Chase encounters two small boys who “need food” and when he tries to help them he gets involved in a dangerous fight for his life. Will he find his way home and get help for himself and the boys or will they all be lost? IL: MG - BL: 4.5 - AR Pts: 9.0

4.      How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart. Eleven-year-old David Greenberg creates Talk Time videos starring his pet hamster, Hammy, and uploads them to YouTube. He is dealing with a lot of family and school drama and the videos are his outlet. David is popular online but not in school. With the growing popularity of his videos there may even be a television airing in his future. Fans of the “Wimpy Kid” books will enjoy this one. IL: MG - BL: 3.9 - AR Pts: 6.0

5.      The Limit by Kristen Landon. In this dystopian adventure, thirteen year-old Matt is forced into a federal workhouse after his family goes over their debt limit. While there, Matt discovers that things are not as they seem. IL: MG - BL: 4.4 - AR Pts: 9.0

6.      Little Blog on the Prairie by Cathleen Davitt Bell. In an effort to bring their family closer, 13-year-old Gen’s mother signs them up for a whole summer of “Frontier Camp”, which means no iPods, no cell phones, not even electricity! When Gen sneaks her cell phone into camp and begins to send secret texts back to her friends, they start a blog and Gen’s stories get national attention. Add in a little romance with a fellow camper and a jealous girl and Gen’s summer turns out to be a lot more interesting than she ever anticipated.  IL: MG+ - BL: 5.1 - AR Pts: 11.0

7.      The Magnificent 12: The Call (Book 1) by Michael Grant. Mack MacAvoy, a very ordinary twelve-year-old, has his life turned upside down when a three-thousand-year-old man appears to inform him that he must battle an evil force set to destroy the world. Mack’s mission is to travel the world to discover eleven other twelve-year-olds, all of whom are members of the Magnificent Twelve and save the world. This reluctant hero embarks on a fast-paced, hilarious adventure that will keep readers wanting more. Book two is The Magnificent 12: The Trap. IL: MG - BL: 4.7 - AR Pts: 6.0

8.      Max Cassidy: Escape From Shadow Island by Paul Adam. Only 14 years old, Max is the world’s foremost escape artist. By following in his father’s footsteps he’s learned there is nothing he can’t get himself out of. But with his father presumed dead and his mother imprisoned for his murder, he is tested to his limit when he is visited by a mysterious man claiming that Max’s father is still alive. Left with an eight digit clue, Max leaves London for Santo Domingo and the impenetrable fortress of Shadow Island for his greatest escape act yet. IL: MG - BL: 4.9 - AR Pts: 9.0

9.      Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes. This story of Hurricane Katrina is told through the eyes of 12-year-old Lanesha. She lives in the ninth Ward with Mama Ya-Ya who is a seer and also the midwife who delivered Lanesha. Mama Ya-Ya took her in and raised Lanesha since her mother died when she was born. Lanesha can see and speak to spirits and as the water rises, she uses her special gifts to escape and even rescue others.  IL: MG - BL: 3.3 - AR Pts: 4.0

10.  The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. Tommy and some of his fellow sixth graders keep a journal about Dwight, the class loser, and his talking finger puppet. Is it the seemingly inept Dwight spouting this sage advice or is Origami Yoda real?  IL: MG - BL: 4.7 - AR Pts: 3.0

11.  Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham. Theodore has been around judges, lawyers and policemen all of his life and his parents are attorneys. When any of his friends need advice they often turn to Theo because of his interest and knowledge of legal matters. There is a highly publicized murder trial going on and Theo gets more involved than he had ever planned. The student he has been tutoring explains that his cousin is a key witness in this trial but afraid to say anything. Book 2 is The Abduction. IL: MG - BL: 5.2 - AR Pts: 8.0

12.  Smile by Raina Telgemeier. In this light-hearted graphic account, 11-year-old Raina is taken through a three year dental rollercoaster of retainers, braces and corrective surgeries following an accident involving her two front teeth, all the while having to navigate middle school, boys, changing friendships and a Major Earthquake.  IL: MG - BL: 2.6 - AR Pts: 1.0

CD Art @ the Aulds Library


Turn CDs into Art
When: Thurs. Oct 25, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Where: Aulds Library
Who: Teens (ages 13-18)



Contact: Amanda at 742-2337