2010 Printz Awards Announced

The Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for teens were announced . . .

Going Bovine written by Libba Bray is the 2010 Printz Award winner.

Four Printz Honor Books also were named:

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman,

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

Tales of the Madman Underground: An Historical

Romance, 1973 by John Barnes

Awesome Read - The Hunger Games

What would you do if you were chosen to participate in a fight to the death? The Hunger Games is the first book in an awesome trilogy set in the future. In the future, the U.S. has completely collapsed and has been replaced by Panem, a country divided into 12 districts. Each year, 2 people from each district are brought in and forced to participate in Gladiator type games - a fight to the death. Katniss and Peeta, teenagers just like you, are chosen to represent their district and must fight stronger competition who have trained to be gladiators their entire lives. This is an exciting, action packed read that you will not be able to put down.

Book 2 in the series is called Catching Fire. And book 3 is scheduled to come out in August. You can click here for a countdown clock and fun and games based on the popular books (http://www.scholastic.com/thehungergames/).

The Teen Scene on Twitter

Look to your left and what do you see? That's right - we're on Twitter now. I am just twitterpated. I am not, however, a twit. Ha. But I guess that means I will have to tweet. Lots of bird lingo involved her. And I got all techno savvy and put the Twitter feeds right here on the blog. I looked up how to do it, that's what we librarians do - look things up. So now I guess the Teen Scene is all caught up technology wise. Until, you know, 5 minutes from now when the next big technology wave comes out. Actually, it probably will literally be a wave - Google Wave that is.

Speaking of Google, go to google.com and put in Chuck Norris. Now hit "I'm feeling lucky". Go ahead, I'll wait. Funny isn't it? Thanks Foz for pointing out that bit of Google fun for me.

Anyhow, if you want to follow the Teen Scene on twitter we are TeenServicesMPL. Or just keep checking back here - you can get the latest Twitter updates, book reviews, movie news and happenings here at MPL.

Resolve to Read

January is the time to make new year's resolutions - and this year you
should Resolve to Read!!!! And we're going to help you. For every 15
minutes you read in January, you can fill out a prize entry ballot and place
it in the prize drawing box at the library. Each week we will be giving away a $20.00 gift certificate. You know you want a free and easy 20 bucks. Plus, it's snowy and cold out there - it's a great time to read.

Read whatever you want: Horror, Romance, Inspirational, Mysteries . . .
It doesn't matter what you read. Heck, you can read the newspaper or magazine. Just spend 15 minutes reading and get a ballot turned in.

Check this space next week for great reading suggestions and our first prize winner.

The End of the Year is For Countdowns

After everyone has opened their presents and overeaten, a new countdown will begin: the countdown to January 1st. My favorite part about the end of the year is all the year end lists which highlight the best of the best . . .

The best movies:
Stark Trek - Seriously, it was awesome.
The Vampire's Assistant - I loved how campy fun this movie was
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - Appealed to this Sci Fi fan girl

New Moon does not make my list . . . but it was an improvement over Twilight. Sorry Twihards.

The best books:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- What would you do if you were forced to compete in a competition where you must quite literally take out your opponent?

Fallen by Kate Lauren - Suspected in the death of her boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Luce is sent to a Savannah, Georgia, reform school where she meets two intriguing boys and learns the truth about the strange shadows that have always haunted her.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia - Ethan Wate meets the girls of his dreams, literally - she has been haunting his nightmares for months.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman - Kind of like The Lovely Bones, Mia finds herself outside of her body after a terrible car accident where she must examine her life and decide if she is going to fight to live.

Shiver by Maggie Steifvater - Twilight brought us vampires, and shiver bring us werewolves. Grace is fascinated by a wolf that has saved her from being attacked by his pack. Sam is that wolf. Soon Sam may lose the ability to turn human again, just as Grace is falling in love.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - First off, Westerfeld is one of my favorite authors. If you are not reading his stuff, you should start. ASAP. This is the story of World War I, but re-imagined by this great sci fi/fantasy author. Enemy lines become blurred, teens are involved in epic conflict, a war machine that walks on two legs and a girl who is hoping it is not discovered that she is, in fact, a girl.

Other books to look into . . .
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X

Here are some links to other Best of 2009 Teen Fiction Lists:
NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121173632
Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&plgroup=1&docId=1000446581

Tell me, what are your picks for the best teen books of 2009?

Book Buzz: When You Reach Me

Have you ever read the book The Time Traveler's Wife? Or maybe you
saw the ads for the movie? When You Reach Me may remind you of this. It is the story of Miranda - named after the Miranda rights by her mom who wanted to be a lawyer. One day Miranda mysteriously gets a note - which turns out to be the first of four - that asks her to write a letter giving specific information. As the story progresses, Miranda loses a friend, gains some friends, gets a job . . . and learns that the future can affect the present and the present can affect the future. In the end, she will discover what the mysterious notes mean and help save a friend's life.

I loved loved loved this book. (Thanks Kim for recommending it). This is a great read for Middle School students.

The Teen Scene on Facebook

The Teen Scene @ Marion Public Library now has a Facebook page and you can become a FAN!! Get the latest news on upcoming programs, contests, books and more. You can also participate in discussions. This month's discussion: What do you think of the Twilight series?

In other news, there are only 3 more Teen CoffeeHOuses left in 2009 - we'll see you on December 1, 8 and 15 from 3:00-4:30 PM.