GreenBeanTeenQueen

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Genre: Historical Release Date: 5/1/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: It's 1962 and 11-year-old Franny and the rest of the US are living in fear of bombs being dropped and practicing their duck and cover plans. For Franny, things at home are just as confusing. Her younger brother is a perfect saint, her older sister keeps disappearing with her thinking friends at college, the neighborhood thinks her World World Two hero uncle is crazy, and Franny's best friend just might not be her best friend anymore. Told in a documentary style, with song lyrics, photos, quotes and news clippings, Franny's story weaves with the bigger story of a country in crisis in an engaging new way. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I really think Countdown might be in the running for the Newbery award this year-that's how impressed I was with this book. Even though the setting is 1962, Franny and her family are relateable to any tween today and I fell in love with her voice. The ...

My library is hosting it's first teen author event next Saturday June 5. Teen Book Mania will be held at 2pm and features four YA authors: Brent Crawford, Jenny B Jones, Brian Katcher and Holly Schindler. There will be Q&A session as well as a book signing. If you're in SW MO (or want to drive!) and would like more info on the event, send me an e-mail and I'll give you more info. I'm also looking for good author questions to ask for our author Q&A, so if you have any favorite author panel questions, let me know!

So you all know how exited I am for the premiere of Pretty Little Liars which starts June 8 on ABC Family. So of course I jumped at the chance to participate in a contest and play a Pretty Little Liars game for a chance to have the cast answer one of my questions! It all started Monday afternoon with a mysterious box and a message from 'A.' The black box says Pretty Little Liars on top and "never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret" on the side. When I opened it up, there was a message from 'A' that said "some secrets you have to dig for"-and dig I did-through a box of dirt to discover more messages from 'A' and a phone that had text messages from 'A' threatening to reveal my secrets. I'm playing the game as Emily and I have tasks to complete or else 'A' will let my dirt slip! I've completed two tasks already, but they're getting harder, so I'll need your help! I'll blog about the game, but I'...

Kristi at The Story Siren wrote a post recently about books that just didn't work for her and I asked her if I could do the same and use her idea-and she's so sweet she said yes! Even though I'm a librarian and I know there's a reader for every book, there are some books that just aren't for me-even when reading as a librarian. I tell my teens to not waste their time with books they aren't enjoying and I think I should follow my own advice. I do branch out and read outside of my typical genres, but sometimes I'm just not into a book and I can't bring myself to finish it. My teens love when they can debate with me over a book and argue why they love it! So just because I didn't like these books doesn't mean you won't! (Actually all three of these have rave reviews around the blogosphere, so I guess I'm the weird one!) The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea Campbell -The premise sounded unique-the son of a supervillain finds out he's also...

Since I'm unable to head to BEA this year, I'm participating in Armchair BEA ! I'm an avid book lover and reader as well as a librarian, so it only makes sense that I have a collection of signed books. My collection of signed books has grown over the past few years and I have the entire top shelf of my bookshelf dedicated to my signed books. I've been to book fairs, author events, and last year at ALA I came back with tons of signed books! I'm working on my list of authors to visit at this year's conference. Since author signings are one of the best parts of book conferences, I thought I'd share some of my favorite signed books. The Midnight Mystery by Betty Ren Wright -I got this book signed at a big author festival I attended in 5th grade. I remember being so excited to meet the authors and this was the first book I ever met the author and got signed, so it holds a very special place in my collection. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs ...

I wasn't able to go to BEA this year, so I'm participating in Armchair BEA ! As part of Armchair BEA, I was paired up with another blogger for an interview and I got to meet Molly from My Cozy Book Nook . Get to know a little bit about Molly and be sure to check out her blog! 1. You're an English teacher. What book has been the most fun to teach? This is so incredibly tough to answer as I love to teach almost every one. I would say that Tale of Two Cities is probably the most fun in my British Literature class (this year especially --- the students really got into the symbolism and foreshadowing). In 9th grade it is a toss between Fahrenheit 451 and To Kill a Mockingbird; in 8th grade we study A Midsummer Night's Dream the entire year and that has really been a blast; and in 7th grade I would say I really enjoy teaching The Hobbit (although Tuck Everlasting runs a close second place) 2. What got you interested in blogging? I am not sure how I found my first book blog ...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme to highlight great reads for tweens! Join in the fun, post your Tween Tuesday review and leave the link the comments! Rating: 3/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 3/15/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Eddy knows a lot about science and can spend hours building and inventing. When the local school crossing guard's job is cut, Eddy worries that the intersection will be too dangerous and comes up with an invention to make it safer for the students. His inventions also help him meet new students and discover what it is to be a friend and stand up for himself against school bullies. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Although it's never mentioned in the book, I would guess that Eddy would be a student who is somewhere along the autism spectrum. He has difficulties deciphering social clues, he doesn't like loud noises or crowds, and he is very smart when it comes to science and know lots of random facts in various scientific subjects. I tho...

May 25th is National Missing Children's Day and it's also the release of The Tension of Opposites by Kristina McBride. About the Book: The Tension of Opposites (Egmont USA) is set in McBride’s hometown of Centerville, Ohio and tells the story of Tessa’s best friend Noelle, who escapes captivity and comes home two years after being declared missing and presumed dead. Upon her return she’s not the same girl Tessa remembered. As Tessa struggles to revive their friendship, she has a hard time balancing her desire to protect Noelle and the need to live her own life. Check out the book trailer: And stop by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website and see how you can get involved this year in helping bring kids home.

Rating: 3/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 12/29/2009 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Four teens, all on vacation to a resort called Paradise, find their lives intersecting and connecting. Over the next four months, their stories are told and their lives change and come together in ways they never could have imagined. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: This book was good and I did enjoy it, but not as much as I had expected to. I've read other novels by Carolyn Mackler and loved them, but while Tangled was a good read, it didn't make me fall in love with it. It read more like four short stories than a complete novel, which was OK once I got used to the format. I did expect the characters lives to intersect more, but instead the way they came together reminded me of six-degrees of separation. Each one was a separate story and the other characters didn't play a big part-their actions did, but they weren't always present. I really did enjoy it though and even though it wa...

“I leave you alone for two minutes and the wolves descend.” Twilight YALSA’s Fabulous Films for Young Adults Committee, http://www.ala.org/yalsa/fabfilms , is seeking and watching nominations for what will become YALSA’s 2011 Fabulous Films for Young Adults list of recommended films. The theme is “Other Times/Other Places”. We are looking for films that are science fiction, fantasy and history and appeal to teens. All types of films are welcome from feature films and documentary to animé. Current nominated titles: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/booklistsawards/fabfilms/fabfilmnoms.cfm The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till Star Trek Journey to the Center of the Earth Push Bedtime Stories Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Terminator Salvation Twilight X-Men Origins: Wolverine I’ll bet you can think of several titles already. We would love to add movies your teens enjoy watching. Nominate films, http://yalsa.ala.org/forms/fabfilm.php , for review by the selection committee. ...

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine . I don't normally post Waiting on Wednesday's unless there's a book that I'm very excited about! Matched by Ally Condie Release Date: 11/30/2010 From Goodreads: In the novel, a 17-year-old girl, who has waited her entire life to be told by a group known as “the Society” who her soul mate is, has her world upended when she discovers she’s in love with someone other than the group’s pick. Don Weisberg, president of Penguin Young Readers Group, along with Lauri Hornik, president and publisher of Dutton Children’s Books, and Julie Strauss-Gabel, associate publisher of Dutton Children’s, all worked on the deal, which is for North American rights. Gabel, who will edit the book, said that it “will make readers crave the passion of uncertainty and cherish the power of the written word.” And Reamer, expectedly perhaps, drew the Meyer parallel, saying reading Matched reminded her of the first time she re...

So, I've been wanting to get pink hair ever since I was little and rented the Mario Paint game and there was a girl with pink hair. But growing up I wasn't allowed to dye my hair crazy colors and I never knew how well it would since I have very dark hair. But I found out this year that there was nothing in the library policy about hair color, so I decided to ask my friend who's also my hair stylist to help me go pink. I thought it would be a great way to stand out during my Summer Reading Program school visits-and so far all the teens have loved it so I think it's a success! So I had to share my new pink hair! (Aren't teen librarians so cool?) I'm planning on keeping it for awhile, so if you're at ALA, y ou can find me-I'll be the girl with the pink streaks in her hair!:)

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme to highlight great reads for Tweens! Leave your own Tween Tuesday post link in the comments below! Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary/Comic Book Release Date: 5/4/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Vita decides she wants to form a band, but first she needs members-and they have to learn to play instruments. Vita recruits band members at her school and they decide to put on a concert. When the band learns that fellow member, Tanya, has leukemia, the band decides to change their concert to a fundraiser for cancer research. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: The good thing about Zebrafish is that it’s never overly preachy about doing good. The characters are diverse and I’m sure readers will find someone to relate to. Tanya’s illness is touched on, but this is not a cancer book. This is more a story about finding friends and putting your talents to work for a good cause. Because there are a lot of main characters, you never really get to fully know each cha...

Here are past winners of contests on GreenBeanTeenQueen : Morpheus Road Winner: Jessica L. Blogoversary Winners: 1st place- April C , 2 nd place- Nely , 3rd place- Kate P Runaway Prize Pack Winner-Jennifer (notes from the library) All winners have been contacted and should receive their prizes shortly. Congrats and thanks for entering!

Hello Everyone, Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan here, and I will be your host for this guest post. Unfortunately our beloved GreenBeanTeenQueen has fallen ill (nothing serious, but I told her to get some sleep and I would do a guest blog for her) and so I will try my best to fill in for her. I know I have some pretty "big", cute little pink shoes to fill but I will try my best! Rating 4 out of 5 Genre: Fantasy Release Date: Various, 1-3 out now. Book 4 comes out May 25th 2010 Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Books for Young Adults About the book : The three titles already released in this series are: The Alchemyst (2007), The Magician (2008), and The Sorceress (2009). This series is a contemporary fantasy that travels the globe. Have you ever wondered why almost every different belief system and mythology have similiar circumstances, similiar monsters, and similiar heroes?. And have you ever wondered what it would be like if those heroes, monsters, and other legends still lived in sec...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 4/6/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: One Chicago night two teens meet-both named Will Grayson . One gay, one straight, one moody and depressed, one feeling somewhat lost and left out, but both questioning life and love. After their fateful meeting, their lives begin to intertwine and their lives take them places they never expected. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I had pretty high hopes for this one-two huge YA authors, a great premise, and possibly the most entertaining musical ever written. I've read John Green's books before, I've never read anything by David Levithan , but I had a good idea their writing styles would blend nicely. And they did. I listened to this one on audio because I'm a big fan of one of the narrators (Nick Podehl ) so the writing seemed more seamless to me. In the print copy one Will Grayson is written in capital letters and one is not, but that doesn't come through on audio, so the book ...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme that highlights great reads for tweens! Join the fun and leave the link to your Tween Tuesday post in the comments! One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams Garcia Rating: 5/5 Stars (I gave this one a Gold Star Award on TeensReadToo.com) Genre: Historical Release Date: 2/1/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: It’s 1968 and Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, are being sent to California to visit the mother that abandoned them soon after Fern was born. The girl’s have grand ideas about a mother who will hug them and take them to Disneyland. Instead their mother Cecile doesn’t want anything to do with them, cares more about her poetry, and sends them out for Chinese take-out every night. She’s more concerned about her work and sends to girls to a Blank Panther run summer camp during the day. The girls learn about revolution and family in a summer they will never forget. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I really fell hard for this book-I reviewed it for...

Rating: 3/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 10/13/2009 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Cat is in the toughest science class-and she's determined to have a winning project this year. When she's given a picture of an early human on which she has to base her science project, Cat decides to experiment on herself. She will live-and eat-the early hominids. As Cat starts eating healthier and walking most places, she finds her weight dropping-and guys noticing her more. But the boy that matters is the only one who doesn't. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I really liked Robin Brande's first novel, Evolution, Me and Other Freaks of Nature and I wasn't sure if I would like this one-the premise sounded more science heavy than her first book. Even though this one has more science, I never felt lost or bored. I really loved Cat and found her likeable. Her self-consciousness about her weight is something I think any girl can relate to as well as her struggle to not always see he...

When I first started blogging, I reviewed books from the library and books I had at home. Then slowly, authors and publishers started contacting me asking me if I was interested in reviewing a book. At first I felt like I should accept them all, but I quickly learned to politely say no to those books that didn't interest me. Now that my blog has been around for a while, I've noticed something new-I've started getting random packages of books. These are books that I wasn't sent an inquiry about and just randomly were sent to me for review. Some of them come with a letter saying "I hope you will consider this book for review" and some don't have anything with them-just a package of books. I'm very excited to get these books, but I also find it overwhelming. I have a review schedule and a list of books to read and review this year and it's all organized by release date, when I got the book, how/why it was sent to me, etc. When I get these rando...

Sara Shepard, author of Pretty Little Liars , recently gave an interview about the upcoming ABC Family show based on the Pretty Little Liars series . Here's the transcript for all your Pretty Little Liars info! Moderator: I was wondering how much influence did you have in the casting process? S. Shepard: I did not have input into the casting process. That was all done on the other side of the country, so I didn’t know who they were going to cast, but when they did cast the girls I was very excited to see who they chose to be Ali, who they chose to be Aria, and Spencer and all of the rest. They don’t necessarily look like the girls that I described in the books but I think that’s okay because they really embody each of the characters and they do a great job playing. Spencer is a great Spencer; Emily is a great Emily; they might not look precisely like the dolls on the cover but they’re great representations of the girls. Moderator: How does it feel as an author to have your bo...

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 5/1/2010 Publisher: Flux Add to Goodreads About the Book: Aura Ambrose fear's she and her mother are just alike. Aura's mother is an artist and schizophrenic and is falling back into a pattern of hallucinations and schizophrenic outbursts which Aura alone is trying to handle. Aura believes that creativity equals crazy and fears that her own artistic talent means that her future is set and she too will suffer from mental illness. As Aura tries to shut out her art, she ends up shutting out the world around her and finds herself drowning. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I was so excited when I first heard about this book-because the premise sounded great and because I discovered that Ms. Schindler lives in the same town as me! No authors live where I live, so I was very excited to have a local YA author! But then came the problem of what if her book isn't any good-what would I do? Luckily, I don't have to worry, because...

Today I have a special guest blogger-my friend and co-worker Abby! Abby is an aspiring YA author and she recently said she was in a writing slump. So what better way than to get her back to writing than writing a guest post about her favorite kick-butt female characters! I can't wait until we all see Abby's writing in a bookstore someday! Hey all you GreenBean fans out there! I am very honored to be guest-posting on Sarah’s blog today. Or is it guest-blogging? I don’t have a blog (yet) so I am not very in on the blogosphere lingo just yet. But I love blogs, and I keep up with tons of them, so you’d think I would know all about it. Anyway, my name is Abby and I work with Sarah at the library. Incidentally, her husband, Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan, is my writing Critique Partner. When I became Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan’s Critique Partner, I was excited for several reasons. 1. He is writing a fantasy novel (and reads lots of YA too), and I am writing a YA fantasy novel so I can actually get s...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme to highlight great reads for tweens-because tweens need reading love too!:) Add your own Tween Tuesday's post link in the comments below. Half Magic by Edward Eager Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Release Date: First published in 1954 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha wish they could have an adventure like the ones they read about. The children find a coin that they soon discover grants their wishes-but only with half magic, which means the wish granter will receive half of what they wish for. Soon the children find themselves on all sorts of adventures! GreenBeanTeenQueen Says : I have to say thank you to Betsy Bird and her Top 100 Children's Book Poll for introducing me to this book. I wasn't familiar with this one, but the idea sounded cute and we had the audiobook at my library (and it was only 3 1/2 hours!). I was so charmed by this book! It's an older book that I can see why it's stood t...