GreenBeanTeenQueen

Happy Thanksgiving!! Will you be getting up to watch the Macy's Parade? I know I will-it's tradition! I love all the Broadway previews before the parade and I can't pass up a chance to see Sesame Street and the Muppets. I wanted to say a HUGE thank you today to all my readers-I'm amazed every day that people actually read this blog. Also, thank you to all the amazing young adult authors who write the greatest books out there. Without you, I wouldn't have a job as a teen librarian and I love promoting your books. I'm off to Chicago to spend the holiday with the in-laws and my family for our first combined family event since the wedding. And I'm going to try my hand at cooking-I'll be making spinach artichoke stuffing. Cross your fingers for me, because if you knew my cooking horror stories (like how I put too much baking soda in cupcakes, or how I burn pretty much everything I've ever made, or how I tried to make bacon and my husband came home to a v

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler Release Date: May 2010 About the Book: Terrified that her mother, a schizophrenic and an artist, is a mirror that reflects her own future, sixteen-year-old Aura struggles with her overwhelming desires to both chase artistic pursuits and keep madness at bay. As her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet keeps drawing Aura toward the depths of her own imagination—the shadows of make-believe that she finds frighteningly similar to her mother’s hallucinations. Convinced that creative equals crazy, Aura shuns her art, and her life unravels in the process. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: It's such a small world! A couple weeks ago, Holly e-mailed me and after chatting a bit, we discovered we're in the same town! I was thrilled! We never have local YA authors here! Today Holly stopped by the library and we got to talk and we're both very excited about planning some YA events. My teens have been a

Tween Tuesday is a meme where I feature great tween reads. Leave your Tween Tuesday link in the comments below. I thought I would feature some great picture books for tweens this week. This is just a short list-there are many many more, so I may try to feature picture books every few weeks. Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers, Illustrated by Christopher Myers - Looking Like Me is the story of a young boy and all the things he sees himself as when he looks in the mirror. Is he a brother, a writer, a runner? This collaboration between father and son is a great read. The text flows and has a wonderful rhythm and the illustrations are a mixture of paintings and photographs. Even though it does skew a little young, I could see it being used with fifth and sixth graders to make their own "who I am" poems and stories. I would also highly recommend Jazz by this father/son duo if you're looking for a great book of poetry to read aloud. Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester -Wo

Rating: 5/5 Stars (If I had a gold star award, I would give it to this book) Genre: Fantasy Release Date: 10/1/2009 About the Book: Do you remember your first kiss? Three supernatural tales of first love (or lust) and that first kiss that can change you or overpower you. In "Goblin Fruit" goblins prey on young girls-and not the pretty popular ones-the ones that want to be them. In "Spicy Little Curses" a young woman is cursed with a voice that will kill anyone who is nearby to hear it. Can she risk telling her love the one thing he wants to hear? In "Hatchling" a young girl finds her fate intertwined with demons and secrets kept by her mother. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Dark, dangerous, and delicious! This collection is an amazing work of fiction-and it's addicting. You won't want to put this one down! I don't always enjoy short stories, but this collection blew me away. Each story is wonderfully written and the characters are well developed.

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell will be released April 27, 2010. It tells the story of teenage Carrie Bradshaw before Sex and the City . I watched the show off and on in re-runs (didn't get HBO in college) and I have seen the Sex and the City movie. I have to admit I'm intrigued, but at the same time I'm nervous. This could either be great or fall flat. I do think it's a great way to bring in adult readers to YA who maybe haven't read YA recently. But is it going to be adult fans of the show that read this one or are teens going to pick it up? Today's teens were most likely not watching Sex and the City , but it is a big part of our culture, I'm sure most would know who Carrie Bradshaw is. So what do you think? Will you be reading it? And do you think teens will be picking it up?

I posted a few days ago about how I'm participating in the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge . Right now I have Ex-Mas by Kate Brian and The Gift by Cecelia Ahern on my list to read. I have some others on hold and I'm hoping they get to the library in time. Hold lists for holiday books start early!! I'd love your help making my Holiday Reading list. What is your favorite holiday read? Or what new release are you looking forward to?

So I had this great afternoon of reading planned for Monday afternoon. I had my books all lined up and ready to go. But then I discovered that the New Super Mario Brothers for Wii was released on Sunday! I have been so excited for this game, I of course ran out and bought it. And now I'm addicted. I can't stop playing!! The game plays like my Super Nintendo Super Mario Brothers game, which I loved. But this addiction is terrible because the end of the semester is coming up and I have reading and projects to work on and I have to have all my Gateway nomination ratings in by December 2! Sigh...I'll get it all done, but I'll be taking game breaks for sure! What distracts you from reading?

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme where I highlight some great tween reads! Post your own Tween Tuesday link in the Mister Linky below and share the fun! The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt -I recently bought the sequel to this one, Devon Delaney Should Totally Know Better , so I wanted to share with you how much I loved the first one. Devon has spent all summer telling her summer friend Lexi about how she's very popular at school and dating the hottest guy (so not true). So when Lexi ends up staying past summer and starts attending school with Devon, Devon scrambles to make her lies become truth. This is a fun read and one of the cutest tween romances ever! If you know any tween or middle school girls, this would be the perfect holiday gift. Shug by Jenny Han I reviewed Shug when I first started blogging, but it's so good it deserves to get mentioned on Tween Tuesday. Annemarie is crushing on her long time best friend, Mark, but he's not seeing her in

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Historical Release Date: 2003 (was also a 2004 Printz Honor book) About the Book: Sixteen-Year-Old Mattie is trying to hold her family together after her mother has passed away. Mattie struggles with her responsibility to her family and her passion for writing and wanting to escape the farm. When she gets a summer job at a lodge on Big Moose Lake, she meets a young woman named Grace Brown who tells Mattie to burn her letters. When Grace shows up dead in the lake, Mattie begins to read Grace's letters and pieces together not only Grace's murder, but her own life and what she must do. GreenBeanTeenQueen: Sometimes there are books that draw you in so completely to the story and the characters you don't want to let go. This was one of those reads. I loved this book. A Northern Light is a richly layered character driven novel that is a joy to read. The great thing about Jennifer Donnelly is that I never felt she bogged down in the details as some write

Remember how last week I bought Ex-Mas by Kate Brian and I was telling you all how much I love reading romances during the holidays? I found the best challenge today-it's the 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge. The goal is to read 1-5 holiday themed books between Nov. 20 andDec. 31. This is perfect because school is over for me in early December and I can catch up on my reading! The challenge is hosted by Nely at bookwormygirl . Be sure to check it out and enjoy some warm fuzzzy holiday reads!

I posted the other day about how much I loved Roswell High and Fingerprints by Melinda Metz when I was in high school and college. I thought it was Roswell High getting the re-prints, but now I believe it's actually Fingerprints . This is an amazing series and I can't wait to get my hands on it again. (I guess I could clean out my parents basement for my original copies...) Several of my teens are reading this series right now, so I'm sure it will do well in it's new packaging. I really hope they keep the shiny covers the original copies had-you could leave your fingerprints on the book series titled Fingerprints -such clever marketing! The series is about a girl who can hear the last thoughts someone had when she touches their fingerprints-and she discovers someone is out to kill her. The series ended a little abruptly for me, but I loved it anyway. I hope you can all discover Roswell High and Fingerprints and I hope Melinda Metz has many more great book

Thanks to the fabulous Betsy Bird at A Fuse #8 Production and her Harper Collins librarian preview recap, I found out that my favorite series from high school is being repackaged and republished in May 2010. I loved, loved, loved Roswell High by Melinda Metz. This was my Twilight . I picked up the books randomly in the bookstore and was addicted. I told all my friends to read them and we formed a Roswell High fan club. We waited (not so) patiently for each book to be released-there were ten in all. And then, when the TV show, Roswell , started we agonzied over the fact that each new book was being released with a new TV show tie in cover-but the series wasn't finished. So we had to wait for the tie-ins to come out first in the previously released books before we got anything new-it was torture. So why all the love? Well, in high school, my friends and I loved (and were obsessed) with Star Trek, X-Files , and pretty much anything with aliens. Add to that teenage aliens who were su

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 3/3/2005 About the Book: Friendless Miles is sent to a boarding school in Alabama. There he meets up with Alaska, a mysterious girl who Miles is immediatly drawn to. When tragedy strikes, Miles and friends learn about love and loss and what makes life worth living. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Warning! This review contains spoilers if you have not read Looking for Alaska !! I felt like such a bad teen librarian for not having read this one, so when it appeared on my children's lit reading list, I knew I had to read it. I'm so glad I did! The story pulled me in and I couldn't stop reading (or listening, since I listened to this one on CD). I already knew that Alaska died at some point in the book and once it started I knew that's what the "before" and "after" sections referred to. Even though I knew this, Alaska's death still shook me-I was still stunned when that happened, and felt like I was wi

Tween Tuesday is a weekly feature where I highlight great reads for tweens! Alcatraz Vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson About the Book: On his thirteenth birthday, Alcatraz Smedry receives an inheritance from his parents, who he thought were long gone. Then a mysterious and crazy old man shows up at his door, claiming to be his grandfather and that Alcatraz must help save his inheritance from the evil librarians who are ruling the world. And so beings Alcatraz's humorous and fun-filled adventure unlike anything else. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I don't normally do full reviews for Tween Tuesday, but I loved this book and I have to tell everyone about it! I'm so glad I picked this one up for my children's lit class-it's been one of my favorite reads all semester. Brandon Sanderson fills his book with lots of action, lots of humor and lots of snark, which makes this a perfect read for all ages. It's action-packed with the story really taking off in the

So you've read my thoughts on Hush, Hush and you know I enjoyed it. I feel like I've gotten to Becca a little bit since we had a goofy Facebook encounter many months ago and then I participated in the Barnes and Noble First Look for Hush, Hush . So I of course had to share with you how cool and funny she is! Here's my six questions: GreenBeanTeenQueen: Why fallen angels? Becca Fitzpatrick: When I started writing Hush, Hush, I knew I wanted Patch to be the ultimate bad boy...but with a twist. He hadn't always been bad. In fact, at one point, he'd been really good, and something had caused this big change. While pondering what had caused Patch's fall from grace, the metaphor of “falling” that I was carrying around in my head became something quite literal – a fallen angel. Since I already knew Patch was going to be the ultimate bad boy, this revelation seemed perfect – after all, fallen angels are the original bad boys. GreenBeanTeenQueen: If you were go

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Genre: Paranormal Romance/Mystery Release Date: 10/13/09 About the Book: Nora Grey's life is getting stranger. Someone is stalking her and she's not sure who she can trust. Patch is trying to get close to Nora, but he has some dark secrets he's hiding. Nora can't decide if Patch is someone to fall for or run away from. But something is drawing them together-and it could be deadly. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I can't believe I haven't blogged about this book yet because it's one I think everyone should be picking up. I know there have been mixed reviews out there, but I'm a Hush, Hush fan-so pardon me while I gush (and get a little soap boxy!) :) This book had a great blend of romance and mystery, which I loved. I felt the romance wasn't the central storyline and wasn't the driving force for the characters-there were bigger issues at stake that added to the mystery and kept the plot moving at a fast pace. The romance that was the

Rating: 3/5 Stars Genre: Historical Fiction Release Date: 10/13/09 About the Book: (From Amazon): In the grimy London of 1935, eleven-year-old Dominic Walker has lost his voice. His mother is sick and his father’s unemployed. Rescue comes in the form of his Uncle Roo, who arrives to take him and his young sister, Marlo, to Cornwall. There, in a boarding house populated by eccentric residents, Marlo, who keeps a death grip on her copy of The New Art of Cooking, and Dominic, armed with Incredible Adventures for Boys: Colonel Lawrence and the Revolt in the Desert , find a way of life unlike any they have known. Dominic’s passion for Lawrence of Arabia is tested when he finds himself embroiled in a village uprising against a band of travelers who face expulsion. In defending the vulnerable, Dominic learns what it truly means to have a voice. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Medina Hill is a cute historical read for tweens. The story may play out a little too conveniently for older readers, but f

I love the book blogging community and love that there are so many book lovers that I'm connected to. So I of course jumped at the chance to participate in this year's Book Blogger Holiday Swap. Sign up to be a book blogger's Secret Santa. Click on the button above to join the fun-and hurry, you only have until November 12 to sign up! Don't forget that books always make great gifts!

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater Release Date: 7/20/10-ACK-So Far Away!!! About the Book: It's the sequel to Shiver . Maggie says " it is about after. What happens after you discover there are werewolves in the wood, after you've fallen in love for the first time, after you've lost what you think you can't live without, after you've become someone you can't live with (and no, not all of these are talking about the characters you think they're talking about.)" Sneak Peak: (Thanks Maggie!) • grace • This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one. Just a few months ago, it was Sam who was the mythical creature. His was the disease we couldn’t cure. His was the good-bye that meant the most. He had the body that was a mystery, too strange and wonderful and terrifying to comprehend. But now it is spring. With the heat, the remaining wolves will soon be falling out of their wolf pelts and back into their human bodies. Sam

Rating: 2.75/5 Stars (This is really hard for this book-I have mixed feelings about it) Genre: Paranormal-but I really hesitate to call it that-I think Fantasy fits a little better -UPDATE: Dystopian fits perfectly-thanks Jana! Release Date: 3/10/09 About the Book: Mary lives in a small village surrounded by the Forest of Hands and Teeth, where one must never venture. The forest is where the unconsecrated live and the Sisterhood make sure the village stays protected. But Mary isn't happy in the village and she longs for the ocean. When she loose her family, she begins to uncover secrets the Sisterhood have been keeping and she's not sure who to trust. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I wanted to like this book-I really did, but it just fell flat for me in so many ways. Maybe I had read too much hype about it beforehand that I had very high expectations. The premise and the story were good, I just wish I had cared more for the characters. The beginning of the novel had a strange p