Miley Cyrus to Star in Wake by Lisa McMann

From the back cover . . .

She is floating. Not the falling dream again, she thinks. She is sick to death of the falling dream.

The scene changes immediately. Now Janie is outside. It’s dark. She’s alone, behind a shed, but she can hear muffled voices. She’s never been alone before, and she doesn’t know how people can have dreams that they are not in. She is curious. She watches nervously, hoping this isn’t somebody’s nightmare about to explode through the wall of the shed, or from behind the bushes…

Wake is the story of Janie, who is drawn into other people's dreams. It has just been announced that this series (which includes both Fade and Gone) is being made into a movie which will star Miley Cyrus (http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/06/17/miley-cyrus-wake/)

Perfect 10s

A boy pushes someone off of a cliff (Freefall)
Valerie's boyfriend open fires on his school (Hate List)
Jessica learns that she is a vampire princess (Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side)
What do these books have in common?
They all received a perfect ten score. Kind of like getting a perfect 10 on Dancing With the Stars or at The Olympics. You can see the full list of 18 titles here . . .
http://www.voya.com/2010/05/28/voyas-perfect-tens/

You Don't Really Want to Sleep Tonight . . . Do You?

"These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years. The one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me."

Will, age 12, is an orphan and assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. This doctor's specialty is monstrumology, the study of monsters. A grave robber comes visiting in the middle of the night and brings them both the deadliest case they have ever seen. And the nightmares will never end . . .

The reviews say:
"This gothic thriller will appeal to kids who like scary with high brow Dickensian writing...Yancey builds the action towards the climactic cemetery scene while also deftly handling the changing interpersonal dynamic between the doctor and Will. Readers who enjoyed Yancey's Alfred Kropp* series...won't want to miss this one. Recommended."--Library Media Connection

"Yancey takes...gore and violence...to thrilling new levels in this sophisticated tale."--School Library Journal

"This story is gothic horror at its finest and most disturbing. A cross between Mary Shelley and Stephen King, the tale will force readers to stay up late to finish and then remain awake, afraid to shut off the lights...The richness of the language, the strain of wry humor, and the perfectly drawn characters make it a marvelous read...This book is perfect for readers who want their nightmares in a literary package."--VOYA

"This has all the elements of the best Victorian mystery and horror...Readers who like their horror truly horrible and yet archly distant and peppered with ecstatic Victorian-scented comments on the woes of the human condition will jump right in and not emerge until the last relieved gasp."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

And a grandma says . . . "I'll probably have nightmares for a long time over this, with the cold mist of the fog over cobblestone streets and unthinkable things that go bump in the night." (amazon.com)

*Also, do try the Alfred Kropp series, which mingles modern day life with Arthurian legends and super spy stories.

Now Watch This . . .

Cool Female Authors for Cool Chicks

Today we can read a wide variety of books by female authors. There are even some teen ones, like Amelia Atwater Rhodes. But did you know that S. E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders which you have probably had to read in class, was a woman? She published under her initials so that no one would know she was. And she was still a teenager when she did it.

Many of the classics that we read today (such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott) were published in a time when it was harder to be a female author. Today, some of the biggest and best selling authors are women: Mary Higgins Clark, Janet Evanovich, Patricia Cornwell and Rachel Vincent (one of many who write both adult and teen series).

I tell you all of this just so I can show you this: An awesome video that spoofs the fight that the Bronte Sisters may have had trying to get their books published. (Side note: Jane Eyre is one of my favorites, not so much the other two.)



P.S. - The S. E. stands for Susan Eloise. She went on to write other popular titles like That Was Then, This is Now and Tex.

Cool Female Authors to Try:
Laurie Halse Andersen
Holly Black (Fairies!)
Melody Carlson (Inspirational Fiction)
Sarah Dessen (One of my all time favorites)
Lois Duncan (Horror!)
Louise Rennison (Hysterical)
Nancy Werlin (Mysteries)
Ellen Wittlinger
Ellen Schreiber (Vampires!!)

Teen Summer Reading Club Promo #2

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It's Coming . . .

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