The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary E. Pearson

Jenna doesn’t remember who she is.  She watches the discs of her life.  Each year, every seemingly significant and insignificant aspect of a life, yet she doesn’t remember any of it.  There had been an accident a year ago.  Two weeks ago she woke up.

She can’t eat normal food yet, she can only drink her nutrients.  She has learned how to smile.  The mechanics of smiling, anyway.  Soon she gets flashes of her memory.  She remembers two friends that she had before, and she wonders where they are.   She remembers details of her life that she shouldn’t be able to remember.  She remembers something that happened to her when she was two years old, and this something was not recorded on the discs of her life.

Before the accident, Jenna’s family had lived in Boston, but when she woke up she, her mother and her grandmother were living in California.  Her dad, a doctor and an inventor of some renown, remained in Boston.   Her mother doesn’t give her a good reason why they had moved.  She doesn’t give Jenna good reasons for many things that are happening.  Shortly, Jenna decides that it is time to go to school, because going to school is normal, even though she doesn’t feel normal.

Read about how far someone can go for love in The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks – E. Lockhart

Do you ever feel that you are being watched?  Do you alter your behavior because of that?  Or, do you feel that no one ever sees you?

Frankie is a sophomore at the Alabaster Preparatory Academy, a school where there is a secret society to which her father once belonged.    He speaks fondly of the Academy and talks about the old days with friends he still has from school.

The society is called the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds.  One day Frankie follows Matthew, a boy that she is dating, and discovers the all boy group.  They are planning a Halloween prank, but they need to think up a prank that will go down in history.

Frankie thinks back to her father’s dinner conversation, well, he and his pal’s dinner pledging, actually, and realizes that there is a hidden journal of past members and activities.  Frankie plans on finding that journal.  The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is the result.  The pranks she plans are complex and, it must be said, fantastic.  But, would anyone believe that it is Frankie who is planning them?

YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten list is in for 2008

1.   Stephenie Meyer. ECLIPSE. (Twilight, #3)
2.   J.K. Rowling. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS.
3.   Jeff Kinney. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: GREG HEFFLEY’S JOURNAL.
4.   Richelle Mead. VAMPIRE ACADEMY. (Vampire Academy, #1)
5.   James Patterson. SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS. (Maximum Ride, #3)
6.   Cassandra Clare. CITY OF BONES. (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
7.   Libba Bray. THE SWEET FAR THING. (Gemma Doyle Trilogy, #3)
8.   Scott Westerfeld. EXTRAS. (Uglies, #4)
9.   Jenny Downham. BEFORE I DIE.
10. Laurie Halse Anderson. TWISTED.

From ALA’s YALSA Teens’ Top Ten website.

Teen Read Week – Books With Bite

The Teen Read Week theme for 2008 is Books with Bite.

If you are thirsty for some good reads, check out our booklist.

I humbly apologize for the previous sentence. It was way too easy and I couldn’t figure out how else to fill all of the space between the jacket covers…

Look – it is almost full now… Happy reading!

Teens’ Top Ten Voting 2008

It is time once again to vote for the Teens’ Top Ten.  We are compiling the Duluth Teens’ Top Ten through the end of October – stop into one of the three library locations, the Main Library, Mount Royal Branch or West Duluth Branch, vote for your three favorites and we’ll give you stuff.

Everyone ages 12 to 18 can vote for the national Teens’ Top Ten during Teen Read Week – October 12 – 18, 2008.  Visit YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten and vote for your favorites!

I don’t have lovely pictures for all of the titles – but here is the list.  Please vote for your favorites on-line and in person!

Laurie Halse Anderson. TWISTED.
Holly Black. IRONSIDE: A MODERN FAERY’S TALE.
Libba Bray. THE SWEET FAR THING. (Gemma Doyle Trilogy, #3)
Meg Cabot. JINX.
P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. BETRAYED. (House of Night, #2)
Cassandra Clare. CITY OF BONES. (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
Jenny Downham. BEFORE I DIE.
Jessica Day George. SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW.
Anna Godberson. THE LUXE.
Ellen Hopkins. GLASS.
Catherine Jinks. EVIL GENIUS.
Jeff Kinney. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: GREG HEFFLEY’S JOURNAL.
Juliet Marillier. WILDWOOD DANCING.
Melissa Marr. WICKED LOVELY.
Richelle Mead. VAMPIRE ACADEMY. (Vampire Academy, #1)
Stephenie Meyer. ECLIPSE. (Twilight, #3)
Andrew Nance & Colin Polhemus, illus. DAEMON HALL.
William Nicholson. JANGO. (The Noble Warriors, #2)
Alyson Noël. SAVING ZOE.
James Patterson. SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS. (Maximum Ride, #3)
Mal Peet. TAMAR.
J.K. Rowling. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS.
Neal Shusterman. UNWIND.
Scott Westerfeld. EXTRAS. (Uglies, #4)

The Kayla Chronicles – Sherri Winston

Kayla’s friend Rosalie has a plan. Because Kayla is a fantastic dancer, she should try out for the high school’s dance team, The Royal Palm Academy’s Lady Lions, and prove that girls who have a small bra size aren’t good enough for the team no mater their dancing skills. Then Kayla, who is also a fantastic writer and is planning to be a journalist, is to write an article and expose the Lady Lions for only choosing members for “their measurements instead of their talents.”

Kayla has always wanted to try out for the Lady Lions, but she can’t tell Rosalie that she really wants to be on the team. Rosalie’s plan falls to pieces when Kayla makes the team. But now, can Kayla still be a feminist and be on the dance team? Find out in The Kayla Chronicles.