Category Archives: Youth Services

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.)

Young readers in grades 4 – 12 are invited to write a personal letter to an author for Letters about Literature (LAL), a national reading and writing promotion program. The letter can be to any author (living or dead) from any genre—fiction or nonfiction, contemporary or classic—explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s view of the world. This reading and writing promotion is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, in partnership with Target. In Nebraska, Letters about Literature is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book and Nebraska Library Commission.

LAL awards prizes on both the state and national levels. The Nebraska Center for the Book has its own panel of judges who select the top letter writers in the state. Nebraska winners will be honored in a proclamation-signing ceremony at the state capitol during National Library Week in April 2012. State winners will receive $50 Target Gift Cards and additional prizes, and then advance to the national judging.

A panel of national judges for the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select six National Winners and twelve National Honorable Mention Winners. The National Winners will receive a $500 Target Gift Card, plus each will secure a $10,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant in their name for his or her community or school library so that others can experience personal relationships with authors and the stories they tell. The National Honorable Mention Winners will each receive a $100 Target Gift Card, plus each will secure a $1,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant in their name for his or her community or school library. The community or school library selected for the National Winners and National Honorable Mention Winners is at the Sponsor’s sole discretion.

Students compete in three grade levels: Level 1 for grades 4 – 6; Level 2 for grades 7 – 8; and Level 3 for grades 9 – 12. Teachers, librarians, and parents can download free teaching materials on reader response and reflective writing at www.lettersaboutliterature.org.  Submissions must be postmarked by January 6, 2012. State winners will be notified in March 2012 and national winners by mid-April. Nebraska-specific information (including letters from Nebraska winners of past contests) is available at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/LAL.html.

For more information contact  Mary Jo Ryan,
402-471-3434 or 800-307-2665.

The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and
scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.

As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services,
bringing together people and information. The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library Commission are always available on the Library Commission website, www.nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.

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.)

As a follow-up to the wonderful, informative, and sometimes unusual things Michael Sullivan talked about during his tour of Nebraska in April, I would like you to know the Library Commission has one copy each of two of his professional titles available for loan: Connecting Boys with Books: What Libraries Can Do and Connecting Boys with Books 2: Closing the Reading Gap. We also have a copy of Stephen Krashen’s book: The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. (I have that one checked out right now, but if you want it, I can finish it later.)

I am in the middle of reading The Vanishing Violin by Michael D. Beil, the second book in “The Red Blazer Girls” series. The four girls (in seventh grade) live in New York City and attend St. Veronica’s School, and are soon embroiled in several mysteries. This title also contains puzzles and codes to be solved while the team works on a mystery about a missing violin. Humor, a nasty classmate, some typical middle school issues, and (very) light romance will attract readers. Familiarity with the first book (The Ring of Rocamadour) will be helpful. The codes and puzzles add a fun dimension to the story, and the reader is challenged to solve them before the text reveals the answers.

(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.)

Congratulations to La Vista Public Library!

Lindsey Tomsu, Teen Coordinator for the La Vista Public Library, recently learned the library will receive one of twenty Summer Reading Program Grants from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Lindsey noted that teen participation at the library increased by 510% from the 2009 to the 2010 Summer Reading Program. Wow! The $1,000 grant will be used to provide cultural-related activities for this year’s summer reading program “You Are Here.” Way to go Lindsey!

I recently finished reading Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan. It takes place in India of 1919. Rosalind, 15, lives with her mother and has had quite a bit of freedom while her father has been away in the British military during World War I and after. She takes a couple of risks to help someone, as she struggles with the idea of a class system and why some people have so much and others so little. She is found out and sent “home” to England to live with aunts she doesn’t know. Gandhi and the possible freedom of India intrigue her. The book gives a good sense of the time and place and also gives readers some food for thought. Good for middle school readers.

(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.)

Kathy Schultz, Golden Sower Award Committee Chair, announced the 2011 Golden Sower Award winners and honor books. She also noted they were selected by a record-breaking 70,365 readers across Nebraska.

Primary Winner:
Titanicat by Marty Crisp; illustrated by Robert Papp

Primary Honor Books:
The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest; illustrated by Amy Bates
Duck Soup written and illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic

Intermediate Winner:
Stolen Children by Peg Kehret

Intermediate Honor Books:
Swindle by Gordon Korman
Savvy by Ingrid Law

Young Adult Winner:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Young Adult Honor Books:
Artichoke’s Heart by Suzanne Supplee
Fakie by Tony Varrato