Author Archives: Sally Snyder

A Contest for the New Year!

YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) has an online literature blog, The Hub, and right now it has a fun contest you are invited to enter.  All you need to do is write a fabricated summary of a book title.  Choose from the list of titles and make up a plot that matches the title.  Submit your entry by January 20, 2012.  Go here for the titles and to enter the contest.  Good luck!  (And you may decide to look at The Hub regularly, it has book reviews, “Tweets of the Week,” interviews with authors, and more!)

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick is another amazing book in the vein of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  He tells the stories of two people in alternating sections: one is Rose, a girl who is deaf living in 1927 and her story is told completely in illustration.  The other story is told in text about Ben, a boy in 1977 who loses his hearing after being struck by lightning.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Letters About Literature due soon!

Please talk with the children or teens in your library about the possibility of one or more of them entering the Letters About Literature contest.  Your students or patrons must each choose a book that made a difference in his or her life, and think about how the book affected them.  Then they are ready to write a letter to the  author, letting him or her know about how reading it affected the child or teen.   There are three ages levels for the contest: Level I for young readers in grades 4-6, Level II for readers in grades 7-8, and Level III for readers in grades 9-12.  The deadline for submission  is January 6, 2012.  To learn more, visit the national website here
or take a look at the Nebraska website here.

 Not so long ago I read The Strange Case of Origama Yoda by Tom Angleberger, it is great fun!  It is a collection of stories about advice an origama Yoda gives to kids in the 6th grade at McQuarrie Middle School.  The stories are collected by Tommy, who is friends with the kind-of-weird kid, Dwight, who made Origama Yoda and walks around with it on his finger.  Tommy is collecting information because he wants to know if he should trust Origama Yoda with a very important question (about a girl) and he is puzzled that Origami Yoda gives such good advice when Dwight is rather clueless.  (a sequel is out now: Darth Paper Strikes Back.)

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.   After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library
Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

YALSA 2012 Literature Symposium, mark your calendar!

Plan now to attend “The Future of Young  Adult Literature: Hit Me With the Next Big Thing” scheduled for November 2 – 4,  2012.  It will be held in St. Louis, Missouri  – not too far from us!  There is not very  much information about the event yet, but go here for starters and keep an eye on the page since they will be adding a list of  participating authors as well as programs and presenters.

A favorite book from my “Best Youth Books of 2011” list is  Pika: Life in the Rocks by Tannis Bill, it took me back to the days I used to hike trails with my friends in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We did occasionally see pikas in the higher elevations, before they scurried away. The book is an introduction to the life of a pika living in the Rocky Mountains.  Lots of excellent photos add to the brief text, which contains one to five sentences per page.  It also includes some  interesting “Pika Facts” at the back of the book.  It is aimed at children in preschool through first grade (or so), but  anyone interested in these small, hardy animals will enjoy it.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

We are thrilled that Neal Shusterman, the author of our One Book for Nebraska Teens 2010-2011, Unwind, as well as many other books for teens, is visiting our state during the week of October 24-28, 2011.  Librarians, teachers, and other interested adults are welcome at each of the sites.  Please call the hosting library to be sure there will be room for you before you attend.  The schedule for his visit is:

Monday, Oct. 24:  starting at 8:50 am at the Scottsbluff High School auditorium, hosted by the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library.

Starting at 1:30 pm at the Alliance Middle School theater, hosted by the Alliance Public Library.

Tuesday, Oct. 25:  starting at 9:00 am at the Lexington Middle School, hosted by the Lexington Public Library.

Starting at 2:00 pm at the Doniphan-Trumbull Public Schools,  hosted by the school.

Wednesday, Oct. 26: starting at 9:18 am at the Columbus Middle School gym, hosted by the Columbus Public Library.

Starting at 1:00 pm at the Battle Creek High School library, hosted by the Lied Battle Creek Public Library.  (This one could be crowded.)

Thursday, Oct. 27: starting at 9:00 am at the Wayne High School, hosted by the school.

Starting at 2:00 pm at the South Sioux City Middle School, hosted by the South Sioux City Public Library.

Friday, Oct. 28: starting at 9:00 am (or a bit earlier) at the Blair Middle School, hosted by the Blair Public Library.

Starting at 1:45 pm at the Ralston High School theater, hosted by the school.

It should be a great week!

The tour is sponsored by the Nebraska Library Commission and Nebraska’s Regional Library Systems, funded in part by the Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Humanities Council, and Nebraska
Cultural Endowment.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of ALA announced the Teens’ Top 10 books for 2011.  The ten books were voted on by teens across the country from a list of 25 titles.  First held in 2003, this event has resulted in teens letting librarians know what they like.  This year’s titles are:

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)

To learn more about the Teens’ Top 10, go here.   (I just love that the book I Am Number Four is number four on the list.)

Teen Read Week is Oct. 16 – 22, 2011!

The theme this year is “Picture It @ your library” so there are plenty of different directions you can go with it.  A recent post on YALSA-BK by Rosemary Honnold offers several different websites to visit that have resources for you mix and match to create your program.   Thank you, Rosemary!  Here they are:

YALSA Teen Read Week page:

Teen Read Week Wiki: (add your titles and program ideas to the lists!) This link has “50 Ideas for Teen Read Week” by Pam Spencer Holley, a list of general ideas that will work for any year (link also included below).

Teen Read Week Facebook page:  This link has a video contest for grades 9-12, one of whom will win a $1,000 scholarship.

Teen Read Week Photo Contest for ages 13-18.

YALSA Blog postings about Teen Read Week every Thursday beginning September 1.

The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Reads.

Check out Pam Spencer Holley’s 50 Ideas for any Teen Read
Week:

And for “Ten Ideas for Teen Read Week without Having a Social Program,” check out this page on Rosemary’s See YA Around site.

In honor of preparing for Teen Read Week, I recently finished the book Firespell by Chloe Neill.  This looks like the start of a new teen series, “The Dark Elite” which seems likely to be connected to her adult series “Chicagoland Vampires” (Some
Girls Bite, etc.).  Lily is sent to boarding school in Chicago (from upstate New York) while her parents take a sabbatical to Germany.  A high school junior, Lily is not happy with this major change.  However, she soon learns one of her new
roommates is involved in something that keeps her out late at night… and is dangerous.  Lily follows her and is enmeshed in a conflict between two groups with magical abilities.  Lily has no such abilities but wants to help her roommate, Scout, and her group to protect others.  No vampires in this title, but good storytelling, action, a bit of romance, and good vs. evil.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Banned Books Week is September 24 – October 1, 2011

 Encourage your community to celebrate their freedom to read whatever they choose.  To learn more about Banned Books Week, go here.  For activity ideas on and suggestions for displays, go here and click on the appropriate link on the left side of the screen.   The links to the side also have free downloads of the 2011 clip art and badges to add to your website, just click on “Free Downloads.”  Let’s all read a challenged or banned book that week.

The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin is great fun.  J.J. is a retired rescue dog (it was not his idea to retire) – see the title page and dedication page for two of his exploits.  He is relaxing in his doghouse when a chicken enters with a desperate case: two of her chicks are missing.  J.J. takes the case, for a cheeseburger.  Humor, some twists, and a likable hero are a good combination by a well-known author.  This is her first novel, and is aimed at early chapter book readers with illustrations on most two-page spreads.  A sequel will be out next February: The Legend of Diamond Lil.

 (The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free, via the Regional Library Systems, to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

International Literacy Day is September 8.  Visit this site  and scroll down a bit to click on “Idea Starters.”  This PDF has a page full of ideas you can borrow to celebrate the day in your community.  It also has some links that could get you going in another direction.  The main page also has a fact sheet you could print out for your patrons to read on the eighth.  Take some time to celebrate literacy in your town this year.

 Blackout by John Rocco is beautifully illustrated and tells of a boy whose parents and older sister are too busy to play a board game with him.  Then the lights of the city go out and the family first climbs to the roof of their apartment house and wave their flashlights at others on roofs nearby.  Looking down they see many members of their neighborhood on the streets relaxing and talking and taking it easy.  When the lights come back on, the family turns theirs out and play the board game by candlelight.  Told in comic book format, mostly, the illustrations are still large enough to convey the dark atmosphere and feeling of camaraderie among the neighbors.  This picture book will go great with next summer’s reading program about nighttime: “Dream Big – Read.”

 (The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Karen Jensen, a member of the mail group YALSA-BK, is a young adult librarian and has a blog  covering all types of topics that relate to teens.  She generously offers her ideas to anyone who would like to use them.  Looking through her blog could spark some great new idea!  We all borrow, adapt, and share – it’s great to find another blog that makes it so easy to do!

 I borrowed Arbor Day Square by Kathryn O. Galbraith from the library recently.  This picture book is a gentle story about a newly settled prairie town (no state is named) whose residents want to continue to improve their town as it grows.  Katie helps her father mark out a section of the town square – the town is buying trees and what a difference it will make.  Katie is surprised the trees are so small when they arrive, but they will grow!  A one-page Author’s Note at the back of the book tells about Sterling Morton and that the first ever Arbor Day was in Nebraska.

 (The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

I attended the Norfolk Literature Festival last Saturday and it was great!  The three authors’ speeches were wonderful, Karen Drevo and Marci Retzlaff gave a delightful overview of all thirty nominees for 2011-2012, and there was time for autographs and chatting with librarians and a bit with the authors.  My favorite thing I learned was…Sarah Prineas, author of The Magic Thief, loves doing Skype visits!  Let me quote from her web site: “I do FREE Skype visits with reading groups and classrooms!” (lasting about 30 minutes)  I asked her if she would be angry with me if I mentioned this on our blog and she said, “I love it!”  So, if your group is looking for a magical book to read, The Magic Thief would be a fun choice, and then you can ask for a Skype visit from the author!

 I am reading Red Glove by Holly Black, Book 2 in the Curse Workers series.  If you haven’t read the first book, White Cat, stop here!  There will be spoilers!  Cassel Sharpe thought he had no magical power, but learned he was wrong in White Cat.  Now he is trying to decide what to do, join the Zacharov family (mobster-types) and use his curse working skills for them, or try to find some way to be “normal.”  Is that possible?

 (The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Diversify  Your Reading Challenge. 

Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo, authors of young adult fiction, have a blog  and a challenge for librarians: to highlight the diversity in your library collections.  All you need to do is create a display, book list, book club activity or something else you thought to do and send a photo or copy of the list and enter.  You could enter as a reader or blogger instead.  Just read some diverse teen titles and write a 500 word essay about them.  Your library could win a collection of young adult and middle school titles.   Visit here for the entry forms, other details and more information.

Speaking of diversity, I recently finished the third book in Nikki Grimes series about Dyamonde Daniel.  In Almost Zero, Dyamonde makes a big mistake in telling her mother she wants a brand new pair of red tennis shoes and it is her mother’s job to provide what she needs.  The next day after school, Dyamonde has no other clothes or shoes.  Her mom says she is providing what Dyamonde needs, but nothing more.  Dyamonde is mad and sad, until a school classmate’s family loses everything in a fire.  Then Dyamonde gets busy helping.  This early chapter book delivers a wonderful message in an easy-going way.  Large type, plenty of white space, and one or two illustrations per chapter will appeal to readers in grades one and two.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers.  After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

New YALSA Readers’ Choice Booklist Seeking Nominations.

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of ALA is seeking nominations of titles for their new annual booklist: Readers’ Choice List. It would be great if teens in Nebraska suggested their favorite titles. Visit this site for information and the nomination forms.

The purpose of this new list, according to the web site, is:
“YALSA’s Readers’ Choice list seeks to engage a wide audience of librarians, educators, teens and young adult literature enthusiasts in choosing the most popular teen titles in a given year, as organized by broad genres. The list will also provide librarians with a timely means of identifying popular teen titles on an ongoing basis. Nominations will be posted monthly, with a final vote taking place each November. Any individual, provided he/she is not the author or an employee of the publisher, or a current member of the Readers’ Choice List Committee may nominate a title via an online form, while only YALSA members are eligible to vote for the final ballot.”

You, your teens, teachers, almost anyone may nominate a title published between November 1, 2010 and October 31, 2011. This could be a great project for your teen group. You could also give them the monthly lists to see which titles they would choose for the overall list at the end of the year (after they are updated).

Back in January I read and blogged about the newest Caldecott Medal winner, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, and found it fun. I finally had the opportunity to read the newest Newbery Medal winner, Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool, and greatly enjoyed it. Abilene Tucker (12) is sent to live in Manifest, Kansas, by her father, who is going to work for the railroad in Iowa. Over the summer of 1936 she learns a lot about the town and the people who have lived there, but never hears a mention of her father living there. Frequent flashbacks to 1917 & 1918, as told to Abilene by the local clairvoyant, recount stories of two friends: Jinx and Ned. This book covers a lot of topics with a gentle hand: prohibition, making moonshine, responsibility, labor rights, immigration and acceptance, con men, war, the 1918 flu epidemic, and family love.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Free Book Friday!

Doesn’t that sound great? Visit here to find out what teen book will be given away this coming Friday, and enter to possibly win. There is also this site which will direct you to the Teens page, Fiction (for adults), Romance, and/or Indie books. One or another of the categories may be closed for a while, but will reopen when books are available. It’s a quick, easy, and fun way to find out about some new titles.

I recently read Frankie Works the Night Shift by Lisa Westburg Peters. Frankie, a cat wearing an apron, “works” in a hardware store. The simple text and clever illustrations in this counting book reveal all of Frankie’s duties (he calls three meetings – with neighborhood cats and dogs). But when a mouse is on the scene, Frankie really gets to work. Kids will love the mess left behind, and the fact that Frankie “doesn’t do much of anything during the day.” Photos of real animals, tools, and furniture blend with drawings to give us a fun look at Frankie’s night. This picture book will work well (if you are planning ahead) for the 2012 Summer Reading Program about nighttime: Dream Big – Read!

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

Norfolk Public Library’s 17th Annual Literature Festival.

This July 30th is your chance to hear three authors of Golden Sower nominees speak at this Norfolk event. This could be your best chance to meet and listen to the newly named U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, author of Spot the Plot. Equally exciting will be the opportunity to hear Sarah Prineas, The Magic Thief, and Jen Bryant, Kaleidoscope Eyes. For more information, contact Norfolk Public Library, 402-844-2100. A day full of books and authors – should be great fun!

I recently finished Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith. It is his debut novel and the first book in the new “Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast” series. David, nicknamed Scrub, is sent from Florida, where he had all kinds of plans with his best friend, to Washington to stay with his grandmother for the summer before seventh grade. She has a bed and breakfast and he is certain a long boring summer is ahead. He soon learns his grandmother’s reputation as a “crazy lady” is well founded — her visitors are from other planets. Soon Scrub is helping new arrivals to touch up their disguises and trying to keep the prying sheriff, who knows something is off with the place, out of his grandmother’s hair. Humor, sympathetic aliens, and some tension about being discovered will keep readers involved. After all, everyone deserves a vacation, as grandma says. Clever touches, such as the descriptions of the many – very different – aliens add to the fun. Certain to appeal to reluctant readers, this looks like the beginning of a wonderful series.

(Note: I received an electronic galley copy of this book from Disney-Hyperion Books via netgalley. The Nebraska Library Commission also receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the print books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)

New Authors in 2011.

The Class of 2K11 is a web site with a blog, activities, and book giveaways from some authors whose first books come out this year. Visit their site to learn about them, and also to learn about BookFeast, their book giveaway. The first set of books have already been awarded, but they will also have a drawing on August 31st and December 30th. Visit their BookFeast site for all the details.

I recently finished Sophie Simon Solves Them All by Lisa Graff and it was great fun. Sophie is in third grade, is quite smart, and loves to read big, heavy books on difficult topics (like calculus). Her parents are quite a pair. They worry that she has no friends and call her names that escalate from “sugarplum” and “graham cracker” to “our little pudding pop” and “my darling lettuce wedge.” They want only the best for her. Three students in her class each have a problem, and Sophie may have the solutions. Readers will love how Sophie combines the problems and has an interesting resolution for each. This is an early chapter book with a couple of illustrations per chapter. It’s great to see it is not bad to be smart.

(The Nebraska Library Commission receives free copies of children’s and young adult books for review from a number of publishers. After review, the books are distributed free to Nebraska school and public libraries.)