One Crazy Summer Book Review

It's 1968 and Delphine and her two youngers sisters are flying from Brooklyn to Oakland, California to spend a month with their mother, Cecile, who abandoned them years ago. Until now, all Delphine has known of her mother is the brief flashes she remembers and the negative things her grandmother and uncle have told her. Nothing can prepare Delphine for what she encounters when she arrives in California. Cecile's dislike and disinterest for her children is shocking to the girls. Instead of a summer at Disneyland and meeting glamorous movie stars, Delphine and her sisters are forced to spend their days out of Cecile's house and at a community center run by the Black Panthers. The summer turns out to be memorable and eye opening for both Delphine and the reader. A must-read!

Voice Your Choice

Got a favorite book? Then let your voice be heard and take part in YALSA'S Teens' Top Ten 2010. Here's the deal, click on this link and vote for up to 3 of your favorite titles. The winners will be announced September 17 (and posted here).

Just to recap, last year's winners were:

10. Graceling by Kristin Cashore, 9. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart, 8. Untamed by PC and Kristin Cast, 7. Wake by Lisa McMann, 6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, 5. Identical by Ellen Hopkins 4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare 3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins 2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, 1. Paper Towns by John Green.

Hunger Games Apparel

One of the librarians (thanks Jen!) just told me that Hot Topic sells Hunger Games shirts! They even sell a different style shirts. This would be the perfect thing to wear while reading Mockingjay in 12 days (yes, we are counting!)

The Scorch Trials

If you haven't read The Maze Runner by James Dashner you have about 59 days until book 2 comes out. The Scorch Trials will pick up where The Maze Runner left off -- let's just say Thomas was in a very harrowing situation and we are dying to find out what will happen. If you're a fan of The Hunger Games and The Adoration of Jenna Fox, then this book is for you.

The Countdown Begins...

Mockingjay comes out August 24!

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Stephenie Meyer has announced that she will be releasing a novella in June. Titled The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, this 192-page work will detail the life of Bree, a newborn vampire introduced in Eclipse. The story tells of Victoria's newborn army and their attempts to find Bella and Edward. The best part is you can purchase the book for $13.99 or read it for free from June 7-July 5 at www.breetanner.com

Book News

I just read that the sequel to Beautiful Creatures by Kemi Garcia and Margaret Stohl will be called Beautiful Darkness and will be released October 26, just in time for Halloween. I know I'm in the vast minority here, but I just could not get into Beautiful Creatures. I love books with a strong sense of place so I thought I'd really like it since it takes place in South Carolina. Instead, I felt like it needed some editing and similar to the Twilight series it really bothered me that the characters immediately bought into the supernatural scenarios with no hesitation. I think I'm just over supernatural for the time being.

We've put The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell on order. The Carrie Diaries is basically the prequel to Sex in the City. It's Carrie's life as a teen. With the Sex in the City movie sequel coming out, it'll definitely be a big hit. While I've heard that there are discrepancies between some aspects of Carrie's life in the book versus what we've learned about her on the show, I'm definitely excited to read it.

New Fiction

We love getting new books and yesterday we got a stack of 'em:

They are: The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk; Out of the Blue by S.L. Rottman; Goldstrike by Matt Whyman (book 2); The Shadow Project by Herbie Brennan; Numbers by Rachel Ward; Wish by Alexandra Bullen; Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson (book 2), Duplikate by Cherry Cheva; and Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman.

I'm reading Numbers and I'm looking forward to reading Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Material. The author wrote Queen Bees and Wannabes, which is the book that Mean Girls is based on. (It's one of my favorite movies!)