GreenBeanTeenQueen

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Release Date: 12/22/09 About the Book: Nimira is a girl from a distant world trying to make her way in a music troupe. When a wealthy gentleman, Hollin Parry, offers her an opportunity to sing with a life size automaton he has acquired, Nimira takes the chance and hopes it will be the start of something better. Mr. Parry's world is very different than the one she has known and soon Nimira is surrounded by magic, rumors of ghosts, and sorcerers-good and bad. Nimira discovers a fairy is trapped inside the automaton. As their relationship grows, she determines to break the curse-at all costs. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: This is such a fun read! The storyline is very creative and addicting and it has a refreshing romance. It reminded me in some ways of Beauty and the Beast (forbidden parts of the castle, a huge library, and a girl exploring a way to break a curse) mixed with a classic Victorian tale. It's a short quick read and I would have read it i

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Paranormal Romance Release Date: December 1. 2009 About the Book: Ethan Wate lives in a small Southern town where everyone knows everyone's business. When Lena Duchannes, niece of the town recluse Macon Ravenwood, arrives, she is immediately an outcast. Ethan is drawn to Lena and realizes she's the girl that has been haunting his dreams. Lena wants Ethan to stay away-she's a caster and on her 16th birthday she will be claimed-either light or dark. Together they fight for their fate in a battle against light and dark, good and evil and past and present. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Beautiful Creatures is a welcome addition to the paranormal romance genre. This is a beautiful Gothic supernatural romance and a epic southern tale. The setting of Gatlin is so richly described you come away from Beautiful Creatures feeling as though you've visited the South. Gatlin is so detailed in the book the setting is practically a character in itself. I can't s

Here's the cover of Alyson Noel's newest series- This is the spin-off from The Immortals series featuring Ever's sister Riley. It'll be marketed to middle grade and I can't wait to read it! You can read the summary here . The book will be released August 31, 2010. What do you think-will you read it?

Well, the dictionary has been put back into the fourth and fifth grade classrooms it was banned from. But students have to get a permission slip in order to use it. Seriously? These parents do realize that Merriam Webster is available online and that students don't need a permission slip to google? I can't believe it was ever challenged in the first place.

-First off, my exciting news of the day: I wrote an article for VOYA and it was published in the February 2010 issue. The article is about blogging books and generating buzz through social media. VOYA is the best resource for teen librarians out there and I was thrilled to get the chance to write about book blogs. -The cover art for Dark Flame by Alyson Noel was released. I think this is my favorite of all the covers so far. The model looks just like how I picture Ever to look and I'm glad to see full faces on the cover this time instead of faces being blocked by some mystical object. I don't want to post the synopsis in case you haven't read the other books in the series, but be sure to check them out. What do you think of this cover? -First Bloomsbury said they would change the cover of Magic Under Glass and now Little Brown is changing the covers of the Mysterious Benedict Society . The Mysterious Benedict Society featured a dark skinned character on the inside illu

Tween Tuesday is a weekly feature where I highlight great tween reads. Join in the fun and leave your link to your Tween Tuesday post in the Mr. Linky below. The Blue Shoe: A Tale of Thievery, Villiany, Sorcery and Shoes by Roderick Townley Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Release Date: 10/13/09 About the Book: One evening in a small town called Aplanap a mysterious stranger approaches the shoemaker Grel to make a blue shoe entirely out of strange blue gems. The shoe must never be sold or damaged. When Hap, the shoemaker’s apprentice, steals a gem from the blue shoe to save a poor beggar girl, he is sentenced to the mountain Xexnax. There he finds a race of people called Auki’s working in the mines. Aplanap’s mayor and his wife are after the biggest blue gem of all. But a rebellion is underway and it’s up to Hap to lead the fight and save his friends and the town of Aplanap. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: With a title that includes “thievery, villainy, sorcery and shoes”, you know you can

Soul Screamers Giveaway! One (1) grand prize winner will receive: Books 1 & 2 in the Soul Screamers series: My Soul to Take and My Soul to Save Two (2 ) additional winners will receive: Book 2 in the Soul Screamers series: My Soul to Save About the Books: Book 1 of The Soul Screamers series -- My Soul to Take -- was released this past summer, and readers found out why Kaylee Cavanaugh screams bloody murder when someone’s about to die. In Book 2 – My Soul to Save – when teen pop star Eden croaks on stage and Kaylee doesn’t wail, she knows something is dead wrong. She can’t cry for someone who has no soul. The last thing Kaylee needs right now is to be skipping school, breaking her dad’s ironclad curfew and putting her too-hot-to-be-real boyfriend’s loyalty to the test. But starry-eyed teens are trading their souls for a flickering lifetime of fame and fortune in exchange for eternity in the Netherworld—a consequence they can’t possibly understand. Kaylee can’t let that happen,

Rating: 5/5 Stars (My first 5 Star of the year!) Genre: Paranormal Release Date: 1/5/2010 About the Book: Brooklyn's boyfriend Lucca died a year ago. And now her friend Gabe has died of an overdose. Brooklyn is loosing sleep and being haunted by Gabe in her dreams. Nico lost his brother Lucca and is trying to escape the pain. But when Lucca starts to leave him messages to help Brooklyn, Nico and Brooklyn find themselves being drawn to each other and having to face emotions that have been buried. They just need to learn to let each other in. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I LOVED IT!! I really enjoy novels in verse and I think Lisa Schroeder writes them beautifully, but she blew me away with Chasing Brooklyn . This is a book you'll want multiple copies of-one to keep and one to pass around to friends. The novel is told in alternating voices-Brooklyn and Nico's. I wasn't sure how this would work with a novel in verse, especially since each alternating part was short to start.

Just a reminder because I know many people are looking forward to it. Emma premires tonight on PBS and will run the next three Sundays. I just found out that Johnny Lee Miller is Mr. Knightly in this one-I had the biggest crush on him after I watched Hackers in middle school! There's also an Emma Twitter party happening during the show, so be sure to join in!

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary/Mystery Release Date: 11/10/2009 (paperback release, hardcover was out in 2008) About the Book: Claire Voyante (it's French) has always been having strange visions that lead her nowhere. But when her grandmother gives her a cameo necklace, Claire starts to have dreams she can't explain. When the dreams start to lead her to a mystery involving her new best friend, Claire becomes a detective, piecing the clues together in order to save her friend's life. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I love Claire!! This book was so much fun. Claire was a blast to read about. Dream Girl has some mystery elements, but they come into play later in the story that I hesitate to call this one a true mystery. Instead it strikes me as chick lit with some mystery in it-which makes it a little more fun. Even though I was expecting more mystery, I was so caught up in reading about Claire, her new school, her new friend Becca, and her eccentric grandmother Kik

Please welcome Alexandra Bullen, author of Wish . Check out my review of Wish . 1. What inspired you to write for teens? As much as I love that my writing has found an audience with teenagers, I wouldn’t say that I ever set out to write for teens. If the kinds of characters I like to write about are related to best by teens, that’s great. I think there’s something really special about the intensity with which books and characters are appreciated at that stage in a reader’s life. But if people of other ages find something in what I write, too, (and I hope that they do, since we were all teenagers, once…) then that’s even better. 2. I saw on your blog you live most of the year on Martha's Vineyard. What's your favorite thing about island life? There are so many things that I love about where I live, but very few of them have to do with the fact that it’s an island. The whole island situation is usually more annoying than anything else—travel takes on a whole new meaning when

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary/Fantasy Release Date: 1/12/2010 About the Book: Olivia's twin sister Violet died seven months ago. Violet was the outgoing one, the sister everyone loved and without her Olivia is fading into the background. Her family has moved to San Francisco and Olivia feels lost without her sister to guide her. When a magical gown shows up at Olivia's door and Olivia wishes her sister back, she suddenly finds Violet (or at least her ghost) by her side. With Violet back, Olivia feels like she can live again. The girls get two more dresses and two more wishes. If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I though Wish was a cute novel. It might not be the most literary novel or the deepest, but it's cute and sweet and that's ok with me. I really liked Olivia. I was happy to see a character who was shy and not immediately popular at school. She was struggling to move on after her sister's death and de

Doesn't this look so good? I can't wait for it's release! Luckily Kimberly Derting is hosting a contest where you would win an ARC of The Body Finder .

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme to highlight great tween reads. Include your Tween Tuesday post in the comments below! The Naked Mole Rat Letters by Mary Amato Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary About the Book: When Frankie reads an e-mail sent to her widowed father from a woman he recently met and it appears there may have been kissing involved, Frankie decides to take matters into her own hands. She begins a correspondence with Ayanna, who is a zookeeper and caretaker of naked mole rats. Through the letters Frankie learns about growing up, family, and naked mole rats. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I read this book a few years ago when it was nominated for the Mark Twain Award (Missouri's grades 4-6 book award) and it became my favorite nominee. I recommended to every reader who was working through the Mark Twain list and I still find myself asking reader's if they've read this one. I love Frankie's voice! She's fresh and funny and made me laugh out loud. The book

Remember my review for The Lonely Hearts Club and guest blog by author Elizabeth Eulberg ? Check out this Twitter chat that will be happening! Join Lonely Hearts Club author Elizabeth Eulberg and Amy of MyFriendAmy for a Twitter party Wednesday, January 20, between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. EST! Be sure to follow Elizabeth @ ElizEulberg and Amy @ MyFriendAmy before the party! Join the fun! No one expects you or your tweets to be perfect; we’re just happy you made it to the party! Anyone who tweets during this hour using #LonelyHeartsClub is entered to win a limited edition Lonely Hearts Club t-shirt! Watch for questions from @MyFriendAmy and win awesome prizes including an iPod shuffle, $50 iTunes gift card or $25 VISA gift card! To join the party, you can use our official party tweetgrid or just search #LonelyHeartsClub on Twitter. Ask Elizabeth questions or chat with other partygoers about how excited you are to read LHC—just use the tag #LonelyHeartsClub in all of your party tweets! (T

I got up early (on my day off!) to watch the live Twitter feed of this year's ALA Youth Media Awards. I predicted a couple correctly, and was terribly off on others but it was fun to read the tweets from everyone-almost as good as being there!:) Here's what won: Caldecott Winner - The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney (predicted correctly!) Honors : All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee Red Sings From Treetops by Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarenski Newbery Winner: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (predicted correctly and not a surprise at all) Honors : Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M. Hoose The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin The Mostly True Adventures of Homor P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick Printz: Winner: Going Bovine by Libba Bray (totally shocked! I got this whole list wrong!) Honors : Charles and Emma: The Darwins Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman The Monstrumolog

Recently I had to chance to interview the awesome Shannon Hale about her new release, Calamity Jack . She is so super sweet and funny-I hope I get a chance to meet her in person someday. 1. Rapunzel's Ravenge and Calamity Jack are fairy tale retellings. What is your all time favorite fairy tale? SH: Growing up, The Goose Girl was always my favorite. My first published book was a retelling of that tale, which, for me, felt like I could reclaim something precious from my childhood. 2. If you could live inside a fairy tale world, which one would you pick? SH: Ooh, probably none! They’re scary worlds! Monsters and witches and sinister plots and bone-crunching giants. Are you trying to give me nightmares? But I like our version of Rapunzel. I wouldn’t mind stepping into her cowgirl boots. 3. You co-wrote Rapunzel's Ravenge and Calamity Jack with your husband, Dean. Is it easier to have a co-writer or is it easier to write books on your own? SH: Good question, Sarah Bean. It’s

I've never made official award predictions before, but since I read so much this year, I felt like I could try my hand at making them this year. I'm super bummed I'm not at ALA to attend the announcements, but I will be up early on Monday (even though I have the day off) and watching the live Twitter feed. So here's what I think will win (and I'm only doing the awards I feel I can predict): Newbery Award: What Will Win: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead What I Want to Win: I'm not really sure, since I haven't read too much new MG fiction, but I'd love to see The Year The Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice on the list somewhere. My Thoughts:- Even though I didn't love When You Reach Me , so many people did and the buzz hasn't died down. The fans of this book can be passionate about it, so I wouldn't be surprised if it won. Printz Award: What Will Win: Marcelo and the Real World by Francisco X. Stork What I Want to Win: Lips

I've been thinking a lot about how easy it is to contact authors. When I was a kid, authors were these mysterious celebrities who wrote magical books-and if you were lucky, they would respond to your letter. I remember writing to two authors in elementary school-Roald Dahl (who was no longer living, which I did not realize, so the publisher wrote me back and sent a bunch of swag) and Avi, who wrote me a wonderful letter back that I still have and still means a lot to me. I still feel very fangirly when I hear from or meet authors-even as an adult. They're still somewhat mysterious celebrities and I'm always amazed when they say they're excited to hear from me-I'm just a silly fangirl librarian!! Authors have a bigger presence in everyday life than they did when I was growing up-they're online, they comment back on their blogs, they Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail. So I've been thinking about how much interaction is too much and how do you deal with author let

Ratings: 4.5/5 Stars Genre: Paranormal Release Date: 12/22/09 About the Book: Three years ago Grace's childhood crush and family friend Daniel disappeared and Grace's brother Jude showed up on the front porch covered in blood. No one has talked about that night. But now Daniel is back and as much as Grace tries to stay away, she can't help but wonder what happened between Daniel and Jude. The closer Grace gets to Daniel, the more danger she finds herself in. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I've been feeling a little burnt out on paranormals, so I was wary of reading The Dark Divine . Luckily Bree Despain offers up a refreshing take and makes The Dark Divine an addicting read! The story is based on the parable of The Prodigal Son and Grace is a pastor's daughter, so there's an interesting mix of religion and paranormal which I really enjoyed. I felt it made this one stand out. That's not to say this is Christian Fiction or a book with a religious message, but the

Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale , Dean Hale and Nathan Hale Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Graphic Novel/Fairy Tale Re-telling, Adventure Release Date: 1/5/2010 About the Book: Jack has long been a trickster-he's just not had the best of luck. When a heist involving magic beans, a beanstalk, and giants goes wrong, Jack leaves town. After his adventures with Rapunzel (in Rapunzel's Revenge ) Jack returns home to Shyport only to discover that the giant Blunderboar is in charge, the city is in ruins thanks to a infestation of ant people, and his mother is being held captive by Blunderboar and in charge of baking bones into bread. It's up to Jack and Rapunzel to save the day! GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I'm often asked to give booktalks on great books for tweens and I always inlcude the Hale's first graphic novel outing, Rapunzel's Revenge. ( and now Calamity Jack !) Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack are a librarian's dream come true! The Hale's combine wit

It's no secret, I love books. I love to be surrounded by books and even though I work in a library and am with books all day long, I love visiting bookstores and building my personal library at home. But with a small one bedroom apartment, the start of my blog and book reviewing, and attending ALA, my bookshelves have become very crowded! My husband is always encouraging me to weed my book collection and get rid of books, but I have such a hard time doing it! But I love to buy books and it's an addiction I can't seem to stop! The shelves keep growing and getting fuller. My bookshelves were becoming so full I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed and I knew I had to do something about it. I made myself do some serious weeding on Saturday after yet another trip to Borders that brought back four new books. So I used the following as my criteria for keeping a book: - Is it something I read and enjoyed? How much did I love it? Will I re-read it? (I had to decide if it was

Does anyone know how to unsubscribe from a blog feed in GoogleReader? I've tried clicking on the unsubscribe tab under feed settings. I spent about an hour and a half working on cleaning out my feed reader last night, only to find out all the unsubscribed blogs are still there, just not showing up in any folders-my amount of blogs to read is still at a crazy number, even though my folder totals are smaller. Any advice?

I have to work tomorrow, but I decided to spend sometime working on my blog this weeknd and join in on the Bloggiesta, hosted by Maw Books. The goal of Bloggiesta is to spend time working on your blog. I'm not sure how much time I can devote because of work, but I'm going to try to work on my blog and read this weekend-we'll see how much I can get done. I'm planning on writing some long due reviews of books I read last year, clean up my reader, and I'll probably work on some of the mini-challenges. Have fun if you're taking part! Friday-4:30-7:00-Read through reader, 8:30-10:00-Finish up reading blogs and clean out reader and organize blogs Total time Friday: 4 hrs. Saturday-8:30-11:00-Work on blog postings, realized all my cleaning up of my reader yesterday didn't work, so cleaned reader again, I also did some mini challenges. I did the old challenge from Bookish Ruth about grading your blog, which was very cool! I also worked on the challenge from Jackie

Today is the start of the Comment Challenge 2010 brought to you by Mother Reader and Lee Wind . The goal is to stop lurking and comment on blogs from now until Jan. 28. Here's the details from Mother Reader: "Since it is said that it takes twenty-one days to form a new habit, we’re going to run the Comment Challenge for the next three weeks — starting Friday, January 8, and running through Thursday, January 28, 2010. The goal is to comment on at least five kidlitosphere blogs a day. Keep track of your numbers, and report in on Fridays with me or Lee. We’ll tell each other how we’re doing and keep each other fired up. On Thursday, January 28, we’ll have a final check-in post for the Comment Challenge. A prize package will be involved, drawing from among the bloggers who reach the 100 Comment Mark (five comments a day for twenty-one days with one day free of comment charge). It’s also pretty likely that we’ll award some random door prizes for trying. Every comment doesn’t have

Ok, so I wasn't going to join another one, but I read so much chick lit, this one should be easy! The rules are to read ten chick lit books in 2010! Here's my list so far: 1. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg 2. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles 3. Heist Society by Ally Carter 4. Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman 5. The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han 6. The Season by Sarah MacLean

2010 Debut Author Challenge-15 debut author books (this might go up as the year goes on) 1. The Secret Year by Jennifer Hubbard 2. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg 3. The Dark Divine by Bree Despain 4. Wish by Alexandra Bullen 5. Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore 6. A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee 7. Forget Her Nots by Amy Brecount White 8. Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials by Rosalind Wiseman 9. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson 10. Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken 11. The Naughty List by Suzanne Young 12. A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler 13. Mistwood by Leah Cypess 14. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White 15. Sea by Heidi Kling 16. Deception by Lee Nichols 17. Tell Me a Secret by Holly Cupala 18. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins 19. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore 20. Firelight by Sophie Jordan 21. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins 22. You by Charles Benoit 23. Bloodthirsty by Flynn Meaney 24. Hush by Eishes Chayil I

Rating: 2.75/5 Stars (Yep, it's really hard for me to give just a two or a three-and this one fell in between for me-sorry my ratings are so wacky!) Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 1/7/2010 About the Book: On Labor Day, Julia was killed in a car accident. People at school mourn Julia's loss, but Colt's mourning is much deeper-and a secret. For the past year, he and Julia have been sharing a secret relationship-meeting after dark and not telling anyone about it. When Colt discovers a journal kept by Julia which contains letters addressed to him, he can't seem to let go. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I'm not really sure what to say about this one. It was OK-I didn't think it was spectacular, but I didn't dislike it either. I did think the premise was more engaging than the book itself. Honestly, I found Colt to be an annoying character-I never really felt sympathy for him. I know I was supposed to care about his loss and his mourning for Julia, but I never did.

Please welcome Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club . Road Trips: I grew up spending two weeks in a van with my family each summer traveling to various landmarks across the country. One would think that such a traumatizing experience (I am the youngest of four kids) would turn me off from road trips, but I enjoy hitting the open road. Of course, I don’t think there is enough money to get me back in a van with my entire family… Since I live in the New York City area, I don’t have a car. However, I never back down on any chance I have to go on a road trip. This summer two good friends of mine were getting married (it always makes it extra special when you know both the bride and groom). I could’ve taken a quick plane trip or the train, but decided that it would be much more fun to rent a car and drive the few hours to the wedding. Especially with my hilarious friend Cindy along for the ride. When other people going to the wedding found out that Cindy and I were road trippi