Front and Center by Catherine Murdock

One of my favorite things to do for students at LVJH is to buy popular YA books the day they come out in the bookstores. Well, today I did better than that. I received an email from Catherine Murdock that her latest book in the Dairy Queen series, Front and Center, although not due out til October 19th, might already be in bookstores. So I headed to the Crossrorads Barnes & Noble, my favorite bookstore, and have Front & Center already! The author is going to be on Facebook, Monday October 19th at 6:00 pm CST (7:00 pm EST) for live conversations with her readers. Log on to ask questions and win free books. There's all kinds of information about Dairy Queen including playlists and recipes and author interviews on her website. What a great read!

Catching Fire an Exciting Read!

Nothing I have read recently has excited me like Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the sequel to Hunger Games. Science Fiction is my favorite genre and this is SciFi at its best with this futuristic and bloody reality TV show scenario (and a love story too!). Hunger Games is already being made into a movie with the screenplay being written by Ms. Collins and a blog at Ink Splot speculates which actors may play the various cast of characters. What do you think about Amy Poehler of Mean Girls and Juno playing the main character, Effie? I enjoyed an interview by Suzanne Collins about various aspects of the book and movie and viewed a book trailer about Catching Fire. As soon as I read Hunger Games last December, I knew this was going to be big, so there are extra copies of each title in the media center. Reserve your copy today for an exciting read.

Summer Reading

So what am I reading this summer? The Nebraska Golden Sower nominees for 2009-2010. What is my favorite so far? Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham. It is a first person narrative written in "novel in verse" style about how a young girl's life is changed by losing her arm below her elbow in a random shark attack. This is the author's first novel and she has a wonderful writing style that make Shark Girl hard to put down. My prediction is that it will be one of La Vista Junior High's favorite Golden Sowers this year.

Neal Shusterman visits La Vista Junior High

Neal Shusterman visited our school May 11th and it was awesome. The 23 students reading 10 or more of his books had lunch with him and he read the outline of the movie script he is writing for Everlost and a bit of his new novel in progress, Bruiser. Students had read hundreds of his books and were full of questions for him in the group presentations. His favorites at LVJH are Everlost, Unwind, and Full Tilt. He invited students to visit his webpage at http://storyman.com/ and his MySpace & Facebook accounts and his new Twitter account http://twitter.com/nealshusterman where he talks about his visit to the Omaha area.

How could a librarian type like me not read something titled The Book Thief before now? It is an amazing book by Markus Zusak about the Holocaust and a young illiterate girl who steals books. But more importantly, it shows the power of words in a very dramatic way. Many of the books about the Holocaust are told from a Jewish viewpoint and this is different as it shows how a typical German family was affected by the war as they tried to do the right thing. It has won a bunch of awards, including the Printz Award for books for young adults and is under consideration for being made into a movie. Oh, and did I say that the narrator of the book is Death?

Hunger Games will be a movie!

The rights for Hunger Games has been acquired by Lionsgate to be made into a movie. The second book in the trilogy, Catching Fire, will be coming out in September. This has been a popular books in the LVJH media center. Did you know it is also available to check out on an iPod. Ask at the Circ Desk how you can borrow an iPod for "reading."

39 Clues #3 is here!

The Sword Thief, book #3 in the 39 Clues series, is written by Peter Lerangis. Amy and Dan go to Tokyo this time and you can read the first 2 chapters on the official 39 Clues webpage.

Rick Riordan, author of the popular Percy Jackson series, wrote the first book and is overseeing the story arc. Borders has an exclusive interview with Riordan about The Sword Thief and the game cards, information about the Cahills and other 39 Clues characters, and a movie trailer.

Dairy Queen, the Trilogy

If you've read Dairy Queen and it's sequel,The Off Season, you will be glad to hear there's a third book on the way, Front and Center, coming out Oct.19th. In Front and Center, D.J. Schwenk returns to her home town high school to find herself the center of too much attention from college recruiters and romantic interest from an old friend. Visit the author's website and read the first chapter of the book. According to the author, Catherine Murdock (who emailed me with the news!), there are even rumors of a TV show based on Dairy Queen.

Great source for new books

There's an amazing new website for young adults called Hey Josh. Josh Shipp, who you might have seen on MTV's TRL, is a motivational speaker for teens with advice that is "in your face, but on your side." His new website includes honest advice, cool new internet trends, tech stuff, and what's new in movies and books for teens. Check out the head's up on "The Hunger Games" and let Josh know what you think!

Inkheart movie coming out January 23

If you're a fan of Inkheart (and its sequels, Inkspell & Inkdeath) you will want to see the movie coming out January 23rd. Meggie's father can "read" characters out of the pages of a book and as they are pursued by an evil villian who has escaped from the book, they are running for their lives. The cast includes Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Andy Serkis, Eliza Hope Bennett, Rafi Gavron. View the movie trailer, movie clips, and interviews with some of the stars on Borders website. LVJH media center has copies of all the books in the trilogy plus other titles by her like The Thief Lord and Dragonrider. Read about the author, Caroline Funke at the official website or check out this interview with her.

The Hunger Games have begun...

You think TV reality games are bad now? In a futuristic world of North America controlled by mercilous leaders, each of 12 districts is forced to send one boy and one girl to fight a gladiator-type battle to the death while the whole country watches. Sound grim? It is, but it will keep you on the edge of your seat as you follow Katniss in her fight for survival as she makes choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. When author, Suzanne Collins, asked where the idea for the book came from, she said "watching too many gladiator movies which dramatized the Romans' flair for turning executions into popular entertainment." Visit the author's website for more reviews. This title is also available on loaner iPods from the Media Center. See me if you're interested.

For Stephenie Meyer fans--life after Twilight

My favorite genre is science fiction, so I loved The Host by Stephenie Meyer. However, her website promotes it as "science fiction for people who don't like science fiction." The earth has been invaded by alien souls that take over human hosts, but the main character, Melanie, fights for control of her mind and convinces the alien, Wanderer, to take her to find her boyfriend and brother. For those of you who loved the Twilight saga, I am sorry to report that The Host does not have vampires, but it does have a great love triangle that keeps you hanging til the very end (leaving things wide open for another series!) Although this is not a Young Adult title, I think many of you will love the book as much as I did. Click here to read an excerpt from the Host or view a trailer. To learn more about Stephenie Meyer and plans for the upcoming New Moon movie, visit her official website or her MySpace (from home!).