GreenBeanTeenQueen

Well, there are many reasons I love my job, but I love when I have moments that remind me of why I get up every morning and come to work. Today a mom stopped by my office and said her son had read the two Walter Sorrells novels I had given him and he was looking for more, but there weren't any more in that series. (He read Fake ID and Club Dread ). I had just checked in another Walter Sorrells mystery and even though it wasn't part of the series, the mom was so excited and said her son would be thrilled to know he'd written other books. She then asked for interesting and non-boring classics that would be of interest to her son and I suggested White Fang and Call of the Wild -because I enjoyed those in school-hopefully he likes them. I then gave her my card and told her to e-mail me if she needed more suggestions. As she was leaving, I overheard her tell her friend "I'm so glad she was here! I was really hoping she'd be her to help me find some more books...

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary/Humor Release Date: 4/7/09 Reviewed from audiobook recieved from library About the Book: Carter is a freshman. He'd like to find a girlfriend but he stutters around boobs and belly buttons. Carter will maneuver through a freshman year of sports, jocks, bullies, rivals, first love and finally getting it. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: This book is hilarious! Seriously, pick this one up!! Brent Crawford has captured the awkwardness of adolescence and made it a fun read. I couldn't stop laughing. I think this one would be a great read, but I loved the narrator for the audiobook. I had seen the book around, but a co-worker told me to listen to the audio and I'm so glad I did. The story goes through Carter's freshman year and the way narrator Nick Podehl captures Carter's voice is so perfect and makes this one a really fun listen. Check out the sample audio. Carter Finally Gets It is one of my new favorite audiobooks and must haves for...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Release Date: 10/6/09 Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Fairy Tale About the Book: Cassie has grown up on an Arctic research station in Alaska with her father. She’s been told stories of her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and is now imprisoned by trolls. Cassie is eighteen and does not believe in Polar Bear Kings or trolls anymore - it’s just a nice way of saying her mother died. But when she seeks out a polar bear that starts talking to her and promises he can return her mother if she would become his bride, Cassie starts to wonder if fairy tales really are true. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I enjoyed Sarah Beth Durst’s previous novels Into the Wild and Out of the Wild , and I was excited to see she’d keep writing about fairy tales. she's an awesome author names Sarah (and Sarah with an H and Sarah Beth at that!). But aside from her awesome name, She's also an author who excels are re-working a fairy tale and it's fun to see where she takes yo...

Since I was able to pick up a ton of 2009 releases at ALA, I feel silly posting a Want It Wednesday post on a book I already have. This past week I've been tracking down The Tenners on Facebook/Twitter/Blogs so I can start my wish list. So since I'm thinking ahead to 2010, here are my Tenner picks for this week: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting Release Date: 3/16/10 About the Book: A serial killer on the loose. A girl with a morbid ability. And the boy who would never let anything happen to her. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I've been following Kimberly's blog for awhile and with every post I'm getting more and more excited about this book. Violet, the main character, can sense dead bodies, which just sounds like a great twist on a murder mystery. It has mystery, suspense, romance-everything I love! And the cover is beautiful. A Most Improper Magick (The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson Book 1) by Stephanie Burgis (No cover yet) Release Date: 4/20/10 About th...

My weekend reading (and ranting) of The Vampire Diaries got me thinking about children's and YA books. I think there are some books that are still great reads when you read them again as adults ( Anne of Green Gables, A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver- for me) but there are other books that don't grow up with you. You may have loved them as a teen, but if you were to go back and re-read them, you would probably think "why did I ever like this and read it?" (And yes, please forgive the terrible lack of great YA books during my teen years. Why do you think I love reading YA now?) Gra nted, I don't think all books are meant to stand the test of time. I think there are lots of books that written just to encourage and develop a love of reading, but not really meant to be read again as an adult. My husband and I got to talking about childhood favorites that didn't age well for us, and here were some of our favorites that are better left in our younger years. (Co-blogged...

Rating: 2/5 Stars (I would have given it one, but I think tween/young teens getting started on vampire books might like it) Genre: Paranormal/Romance Release Date: Originally released in 1991, re-released in 2007 About the Book: Popular, beautiful Elena meets mysterious, devastatingly handsome and new to town Stefan. Teen angst and vampire brooding ensues. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: WARNING!! This review contains spoilers!! And it's long-I had a lot of venting to do! With a TV show coming this Fall and Vampire Lit the hot genre, this book has been consistently checked out at my library. A co-worker mentioned she had enjoyed them as a teen and my teen volunteer read it and loved it, so I thought I'd give it a try. I am so annoyed that I wasted my time. This is one example of when I think the TV Show might turn out better than the books. I never felt any true chemistry between Elena and Stefan, but the previews for the show seem to add more depth to their relationship. Elena is you...

Don't forget that Jessica Verday, author of The Hollow, is taking over Twitter today at 2pm Eastern. You can find her at @Leeaverday Come join the fun!

As you know, I work as a teen librarian. I work full time, but I split my time between the adult reference desk and the teen department. Next week the reference staff is having a big meeting and I get to talk about teen services (not very long though-I could do a whole meeting!) I'd like to give staff a list of upcoming and popular teen books that they should know about. I can't be at work every hour we're open and I hate it when a teen comes in and asks for a book and no one knows what they're talking about. So what books should staff have on their radar? (See, another great way bloggers and librarians can work together!)

I started reading The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith yesterday since one of my teen volunteers told me I had to read it before Monday (her next day in to volunteer) so we could talk about. She told me I'd like it and so I said I'd give it a try. I'm 150 pages and I honestly don't see the appeal. I think it's boring, Elena is obnoxious, snotty and somewhat a Mary Sue, although a more confident one. Basically all that happened in the first 100 pages of the book is that hot new guy Stefan shows up at school and popular beautiful Elena, who gets everything she wants and every boy she wants decides she must make Stefan hers, for no other reason than he's new and hot. And now, after weeks of ignoring her, they've kissed and she's now in love with him (she hasn't even talked to the guy-they've barely said three words to each other!) So if you've read it, does it get better? I wanted to read it before the TV show comes out this Fall, although ...

Thanks to Bookluver Carol for sending me the link. Check out the teaser trailer!

I'm addicted to blogging. I love reading blogs, posting on my own, and talking with other bloggers. I started using Google Reader at the beginning of the year and it's my best friend. But I stil had too many blogs to read. Then during the Bloggiesta! I got some tips on how to organize Google Reader, which has been great. But anytime I'm away from the internet or I can't catch up on blogs for a few days I start to feel overwhelmed. After being gone for almost a week at ALA I had a crazy amount of blog posts to read! And I have this problem where I feel like I need to read them all. It's really hard for me to press that "mark all as read" button when I haven't really scanned over all the pages. I guess I just feel like I'll miss something cool or some awesome new book will be talked about or I'll win a contest and I'll miss it. Sigh...it's a sad problem, I know. I'm getting better though! I finally decided there was no way I could ca...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: September 1, 2009 (re-print) About the Book: Anna Bloom has just been checked in to a mental hospital. Her parents think she's depressed, maybe even suicidal, and overweight. Anna doesn't really know why she's there, she's got a roommate with a fake baby doll baby, a demon-possessed teen in her group, and a cute boy she can't stop thinking about. Mental hospital's are not the place to make friends and find love...are they?? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: When I first started my job as a teen librarian one of my teens told me she had just read this book and enjoyed it. I always kept it in the back of my head as something to read, but never got around to it. When I found out Julie Halpern was going to be at ALA, I knew I had to read it before then! I'm so glad I picked it up. Anna gets through her mental hospital stay by writing letters to her friend, so you really get to see the whole experience through Anna'...

So the trailer got leaked early, and most sites have taken it down. Even though I wasn't asked, I thought I'd better play it safe and re-schedule the post with the trailer for tomorrow, which is when it will debut. So check back!

Abby the Librarian , who I met at ALA and is super sweet, is giving away THREE copies of Catching Fire!!! Head on over to her blog-and hurry, her contest ends Monday! Good luck!

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl Release Date: December 1, 2009 About the Book: Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Southern Gothic-I am so there! I really can't wait to read this one! I saw this one at ALA, but it was only the display copy so I couldn't take it and I got to Little Brown late...

Thank you all for the comments on my post about the relationship between bloggers and librarians . I thought I'd share some of the comments and my thoughts-I'm really enjoying this discussion! I am sad to see that many people have mentioned that while they love the library, the library staff isn't friendly or they don't know about YA. I wish I had a magic library wand to make everyone love YA and make everyone love their job, but that's going to happen no matter how hard I try. I have to stand up for YA lit all the time and I work with book lovers! So to you bloggers -keep pushing YA! Stand up for teens (even if you're not a teen anymore) and seek out that person who will listen to you. Talk to librarians-ask for suggestions, give your own suggestions. Start a dialog with them. Even if your librarians seem mean and not friendly-I have to hope that you can find one person to connect with. The biggest suggestion I have to people looking at blogs is to find a blog...

Thanks to everyone for commenting on my Suite Scarlett contest! Here are the winners: *Heather* Lilibeth Ramos AmandaSue Kristi Jez Winners, you have been e-mailed and please send me the address you would like your books sent. I'll be posting a new contest soon, so check back!

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Graphic Novel Release Date: 4/28/2009 About the Book: A collection of three stories about the world we live in, told in a graphic novel. First up is a fantasy about a princess, a frog king, and the boy who sets out to defeat him. The second story is about a money scheming frog and a mysterious smile that appears in the sky. And finally, a tale about Janet, and her Nigerian Prince who wants her to send money and promises to send more to bank account if she only helps him out. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I really enjoyed American Born Chinese when I read it after it won the Printz award, so I was excited when I came across this one at my library. It combines Gene Leun Yang's storytelling with Derek Kirk Kim's artwork (who I know from his Minx comic, Good As Lily ). The result is a great collection of short comics that are fun to read. What I really like about Yang's writing is that there's always a little twist that I never see coming, bu...

So after sitting in on a panel discussion on blogs and hearing some murmurs about bloggers at ALA, I've been thinking about librarians and bloggers. As someone who is a librarian and also a book blogger, I feel like I have a good sense of both worlds. I was reading book blogs (and book review sites like TeensReadToo.com and TeenReads.com) before I started reviewing. But posting my reviews on a blog was an easy way to keep track of books I read throughout the year. This was amazingly helpful when I was trying to come up with great titles to booktalk for my summer reading school visits. But not all librarians blog, so how can bloggers embrace librarians and vise versa? How can we work together? For Librarians -Reading book blogs and book review sites can be an incredible resource for reader's advisory and collection management. Yes, we have review journals like VOYA and School Library Journal, but VOYA comes out bimonthly, and there are so many people at my library who s...

So I ended up with a good amount of signed books too! Here's what I got: 1.Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (for my niece) 2.Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (for my mom) 3. Hidden Talents by David Lubar (for my brother) 4.Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (for my mom) 5.A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Freze (for my dad) 6.Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer (for my mom) 7.Mortal Friends by Jan Stanton Hitchcock 8.Ash by Malinda Lo 9.Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler 10.Murder of a Royal Pain by Denise Swanson 11.Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (for my husband) 12.Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant 13.Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan 14.Finn the Half Great by Theo Caldwell 15.Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater 16.The Espressologist by Kristina Springer 17.Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson (ok, not really from ALA, but from her signing Saturday night) 18.Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen (same signing as LHA, but they were at ALA too!) 19.Saving Francesa by Melin...

Ok, before you look at this super long list and think I'm a crazy obsessed book person (maybe a little) I DID NOT grab all of these books for me. The majority of these books are for work and for the teens on my teen library council to read and review or for me to read before I present my tween training in November. Some I picked up for me yes, but not everything. And I really highly doubt I'll be able to read ALL of these, but I will try my hardest! If it's an ARC, I've put the release month/year next to it. If it's a finished copy, there will be no date. I tried to do this with pictures, but my loot is in three different places right now. Maybe I'll change it later. P.S.-I'm not trying to gloat or brag at all, I'm posting this list for those who asked to see what books I picked up. And I don't know about you, but I like seeing what books were pushed because then I can keep those books on my radar. YA and MG Books: 1.Happyface by Stephen Emond-3/10 2...

Today was all in the exhibits. I was able to get a free exhibits only pass for my cousin-in-law who is a teen and loves books but today was the only day we could take her with us. I was nervous because I wasn't sure what would be left since a lot of booths seemed to run out of ARCs yesterday. But we lucked out and ended up finding a good amount of ARCs (again Egmont pulled through and was the greatest booth-they loaded her up!) and I was super thrilled to stop by Disney-Hyperion and find ARCs of The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima. I was at her signing yesterday and they were supposed to give out ARCs, but they said they'd run out. Then today they pulled a box out and said it was mislabeled so we got The Demon King, Psych Major Syndrome , and Karma for Beginners. We even came across an author signing for an adult historical, The Tory Widow , which was pretty cool-author Christine Blevins even gave us lavendar sachets to go with the books, so now the car smells great! We pi...

I spent today mostly in sessions. I started out in Sex in YA Lit, but ducked out early to get in line for Sarah Ockler's signing. She's super cute and sweet and I now have a signed copy of Twenty Boy Summer so be watching for a giveaway! I then walked around the exhibits and talked to Andrea (Awaiting Serenity). We went over to the Simon and Schuster booth to see if could snag a copy of The Hollow , but I was told they were all out. I walked by later in the day and what do I see on the counter but a lone copy of The Hollow just begging me to be it's new owner! I felt super lucky!! Then it was off to a session on self-censorship and collection management. It was a really good panel, but my library already carries the items they were talking about like YA movies, music, and comics, so I felt pretty good about that. I then got to Malindo Lo's signing for Ash (be watching for another giveaway!) and she was also super nice and sweet. Next I ran over to the Disney-...

The day started with my husband and I attending the YA Author Coffee Klatch. We moved to a table in the back when they announced there were tables without people where authors would be sitting and since our table only had four people, we were able to talk to the authors more one-on-one which was pretty cool. They announced the authors and then they came in. I saw a group of authors coming over and I recognized Sarah Dessen and Julie Halpern, and then an author I didn't recognize sat at our table. When she started talking, a lovely Australian accent came out and I realized I was sitting next to Melina Marchetta , this year's Printz award winner!! She was super sweet and talked about her Printz call and we congratulated her. (Later in the day I got a book signed by her and she remembered me from her table!) The other authors we met from the coffee klatch: - Michael Buckley -very funny and nice and he had an adorable son (we saw pictures) - Maggie Stiefvater -so charming and...

We drove in last night and got in at 2AM! Tonight I'm heading downtown to pick up my confernece booklit and then me, my husband, my bro-in-law and his girlfriend, and my cousins-in-law are heading to the Harry Potter Exhibit at Museum of Science and Industry . I'll try to read blogs and keep up with posting and let you all know about my trip. And did you know that Mo Willem's Pigeon is twittering about ALA?

So with ALA this weekend, there is talk brewing of YALSA disbanding the Best Books for Young Adults booklist in favor of a Reader's Choice award. Librarians are blogger and discussing like crazy today and you can find all sorts of blog posts about it. Check out Booklists and a response from YA author Alix Flinn for a good general idea of the discussion going on. For those of you not sure what BBYA is, it's a a committee of librarians who devote the year to reading every YA book that comes out that they can get their hands on-meaning they read 300+ books a year! From this the members vote on the best books that were released that year. This is a great tool for librarians when ordering books for the collection and also for reader's advisory (helping reader's find a new book to read) that I can't imagine not having this list. I would love to be able to read every YA book, but I can't, and it's great to know that someone is and it's someone looking at...

So I've been looking through my keyword searches again, and although most of them are full of book report questions and movie news (Nope, I do not have any idea when Percy Jackson/Hunger Games/Beastly/Fill in the Blank movie is casting or even if they will hold open casting calls and if I do find out I'll post it in the YA movie news!) but some are kind of fun. So here are some keyword searches I thought would be interesting to look at and answer: +1 updating and current e-mail addresses @yahoo.com @hotmail.com @gmail.com 2009 and +15 amanda gmail,email,aol,yahoo.com -That's a weird contest entry looking thing and 15 entries is a lot!! Not really sure what this was and how it even linked to me-hmm.... Green Bean Teen Queen Twitter -Yes I do Twitter, although I'm pretty bad at updating it and staying on for long. But find me at GreenBeanBlog Alyson Noel Blue Moon Blog -Alyson's blog can be found on her website: www.AlysonNoel.com , but she also just launched a site...

And this time right after I joined in on the tenners chat! :( So sorry to anyone who I randomly disappeared on yesterday. I also couldn't get any reviews up because of the weirdness of the internet, so I'm working on that too. And to anyone heading to ALA-I hope to see you there!!

My wish list for ALA Part Two! -Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani -Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr -Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld -Lips Touch by Laini Taylor -Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle -The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

So I was searching through my list of ARCs I hope to grab at ALA for my Want it Wednesday post and I came across two covers for Kristina Springer's book, The Espressologist . Which one do you like better? I like the new one because it looks more teen and I would most definitely pick that cover up and look at it over the cartoony one. Although the first cover was kind of cute. When I asked my teens about the original cover, they said they didn't like it at all, so maybe it's a good thing they changed it. Old Cover New Cover German Cover, which I also think is cute! Another old cover

Just a reminder that books I've reviewed in their ARC form are out now! Check out these new reads: Prada and Prejudice by Manda Hubbard - my review Blue Moon by Alyson Noel - my review Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev - my review

So I always forget about Teaser Tuesday until the day is almost over (and I'm catching up on my blog reading for the day) But every once in awhile, I remember early enough to post one. So here's my Teaser Tuesday! (This meme is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading ) Rules: *Grab your current read *Open to a random page *Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page *BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) *Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! " My expectations of reliving our joyous youth fizzles with every application of Bizza's extra-black eyeliner. I don't know how I could have thought that things could go back to stupid movies, karaoke, and Ouija board sessions. We're big girls now, and anything social must involve boys. Girl power be damned ."- Into ...

Rating: 5/5 Stars Release Date: 8/1/2009 Genre: Contemporary/Paranormal/Romance About the Book: Grace was attacked by wolves when she was 11, but was saved by a yellow-eyed wolf. Since then, Grace has had a fascination with the wolves, watching them in the winter, and waiting for them to return in the summer. And she’s always felt drawn to the yellow-eyed wolf. Sam leads a dual life. In warm weather he is human, in the winter he’s a wolf. But wolves won’t always change to be human forever, and Sam is at the end of his human life. When Grace meets Sam, she recognizes his yellow eyes and is immediately drawn to him. But Sam was shot in a hunt against the wolves in the winter and Sam doesn’t have much time. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I was excited but nervous to read this one. There’s so much buzz surrounding it and I didn’t want to be let down. I shouldn’t have been nervous-this book exceeded my expectations and I was drawn in to Sam and Grace’s story. Shiver is paranormal romance at it...