GreenBeanTeenQueen

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary/Historical Release Date: 10/12/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book : Andi Alpers is living life just going through the motions. She's angry at her father for leaving, upset that her mother can't handle her emotions, and depressed and wracked with grief over the tragic accident that killed her younger brother. With the threat of failing out of school looming, Andi's father decides to take her to Paris with him on a research project so Andi can do some research on her final project. While there, Andi discovers a diary belonging to a Alex, a girl who lived in Paris two centuries ago. As Andi begins to read Alex's diary, she begins to recognize herself in Alex's words and the girls lives intersect in ways Andi never could have imagined. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I had high hopes for Revolution after loving Ms. Donnelly's previous YA novel, A Northern Light , and I'm happy to report that Revolution did not let me down...

Rating: somewhere between 2.75-3/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 10/26/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: While wandering the stacks in The Strand, Dash discovers a red moleskin notebook with a list of clues. And so beings Dash and Lily's adventures across New York through a red notebook. Each one leaving messages and clues to the other and sending each other on various dares. But are Dash and Lily destined to meet in real life or is there relationship for the notebook only? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: OK, I really, really, really wanted to like this one-honestly I did. But it just fell flat for me. I loved the idea of trading a notebook back and forth and getting to know each other, but the execution just wasn't what I wanted. First off, I found Lily to be an annoying character. She was immature and just so ridiculously goofy that I had a hard time taking her seriously. She took quirky to a whole new level! As I was reading, I figured out that Lily reminded me a lot...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens! Join the fun and add your own Tween Tuesday posts below. Here are a few 2011 MG debuts I'm looking forward to reading in 2011. What 2011 tween releases are you excited about? Vanished by Sheela Chari From Goodreads: How does a beloved Indian instrument vanish from the hands of a late, renowned musician and end up in the possession of a potato-chip-eating, perpetually tardy eleven-year-old girl? This is what Neela Krishnan, Arlington's budding veena player, must figure out if she wants her instrument back after it vanishes one day from a church. What she soon discovers is that her veena's "vanishing" is no accident but part of a bizarre chain of disappearances involving a missing, retired minister, a kooky church sextant guarding a dragon teakettle, and Lynne, the new girl at school with a huge wad of cash and a mysterious connection to the dead musician. Hot on ...

Last year I posted my Reading Resolutions for the year: 2010 Resolutions 1. Read 200 books in the year. - I didn't quite make it to 200-depending on how much I read the rest of this week, I'll be about ten books away from 200. I can count all the picture books I read to up my total to 200, right?;) 2. Read review books faster.- I fell behind a bit due to school and committee work again, but I think I made progress on this one this year. 3. Post my reviews on Amazon, GoodReads, etc. more often -I'm happy to report I did keep up with this one!! 4. Read the books that win the ALA Youth Media Awards if I haven't read them already- I totally failed on this one-I only ended up reading about half of them. The ones I haven't read are still sitting in my TBR pile...sigh... So what are my reading and blogging resolutions for 2011? 1. Read 200 (or more) books in the year. I was so close this year I know I can do it next year! Plus, we're having a reading challenge for...

I've decided that I'm going to take a blogging break this week so I can spend my time off reading! I'll be back Monday December 27. Have a great Christmas-I hope everyone gets lots of books!!

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 9/1/2009 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Five months ago, Valerie's boyfriend Nick opened fire on their classmates and then turned the gun on himself. As Valerie was trying to stop him, she managed to get shot in the leg and saved the life of one of her classmates Nick was trying to shoot. All at once she being called an accomplice and a hero. Valerie had started a "hate list" which Nick used to choose the people he would go after. Valerie never meant for anyone to get hurt, but she's faced with anger and resentment as she returns to school. Navigating a school year where no one wants her around, her family falling apart in the midst of tragedy, and haunted by memories of Nick, Valerie must come to terms with the tragedy that changed her life and learn how to make amends and move on. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I've had the ARC of this one sitting in my TBR pile since I picked it up at ALA last year and kept meanin...

It's your turn to give me book suggestions! Next semester I'm taking an Adult Reading Materials course. I hardly read adult books and if I do, I read it my typical women's fiction/chick lit/romance genre. So I need your help. I have to read adult titles in various genres and I want to know what you think I should read! Here's the genres I'll be reading in: Mystery Western Thriller Multicultural Fiction Romance Graphic Novels Inspirational/Christian Fiction Historical Fiction Horror Science Fiction Fantasy So please suggest away!!

Book Award Season is almost here! YALSA has announced the shortlists for the William C Morris Debut Author Award and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction . I geek out about Book Award Season. But one thing I've noticed lately in talking with friends and co-workers is that not a lot people either know what the award books are or they don't make it a point to read them. I work in a library, so I'll admit I was a bit shocked when I found out several of my co-workers don't obsessively keep track of mock lists and book buzz. Several of my library co-workers didn't even know what the Printz Award was! OK, so I know not everyone is going to wake up early on announcement day and check their Twitter feed for results. But I like to think that I'm not the only one who knows about these awards and tries to keep up. Isn't it our job to keep up with current literature and wouldn't that mean award books included? I think most people-either working in a...

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Genre: Paranormal/Mystery Release Date: 12/21/2010 Add to Goodreads The Drake Chronicles Facebook Page Alyxandra Harvey's Facebook Page About the Book: Hunter Wild comes from a long line of vampire hunters and is studying at the Helios-Ra Academy. Thanks to her friendship with Kieran Black, Hunter is invited along to Helena Drake's coronation and Hunter begins to see that alliances between vampires and humans can be a good thing-especially when cute vampire Quinn Drake is involved. When students at the Helios-Ra Academy begin to fall ill mysteriously, Hunter knows it's more than the flu and is bound to find out what's going on. Hunter suspects that the Helios-Ra are under attack from within and the only person it turns out she can trust is a vampire. If only he wasn't so gorgeous... GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Oh, those Drake brothers are just yummy! Each time I meet a new one, I have a new crush. Out for Blood has everything that makes The Drake C...

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine ! So the new year is almost here, so I've been going through various publisher catalogs and making my 2011 wish lists. There are so many awesome books coming out in 2011 but I had to share a few that made me do a little happy dance in my office. The Girl is Murder by Kathryn Miller Haines -Release Date: July 2011 From Goodreads : It’s the Fall of 1942 and Iris’s world is rapidly changing. Her Pop is back from the war with a missing leg, limiting his ability to do the physically grueling part of his detective work. Iris is dying to help, especially when she discovers that one of Pop’s cases involves a boy at her school. Now, instead of sitting at home watching Deanna Durbin movies, Iris is sneaking out of the house, double crossing her friends, and dancing at the Savoy till all hours of the night. There’s certainly never a dull moment in the private eye business. OMG-I WANT I WANT I WANT!!! When the catalog copy describe...

Please welcome author Kathi Appelt to GreenBeanTeenQueen! I love her post about her childhood memories of her library. I think we all can relate! Hoofbeats in the Park Place Branch Library The year is 1962. It’s the summer between first and second grades, and the Houston heat is bearing down on me. My sisters and I are staying with my grandmother in her house on Ithaca Street where there is no air-conditioning. We are melting. But only two blocks away is the Park Place Branch Library. My grandmother makes us hold hands as we march down the street. The heat shimmers above the asphalt, an invisible ghost. Sweat drips from my temples and straight into my mouth. After what seems like the longest march of my life, we walk through the heavy glass doors of the Library and we are saved. The cool air wraps its chilly fingers around us and we shiver. This is heaven I think. And to make it even more heavenly, there is a display of horse books in the children’s section. And smack in the middle: Bl...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Post the link to your own Tween Tuesday post and join in the fun! Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary with some fantasy mixed in Release Date: 5/4/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Keeper is out in a boat on a blue moon night hoping to find her mermaid mother. You see, Keeper needs her mermaid mother's help. The perfect blue moon day has gone terribly wrong and Keeper needs to right all the wrongs that happened. So she sets out to find the mermaid mother that left her seven years ago. With BD (Best Dog) and Captain (a seagull), Keeper travels into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But will she find what she's looking for? Will the terrible day be fixed? And can magic really save the day? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Keeper is a quite beautifully written and lyrical book. Although the book comes in at 400 pages, the chapters are short and the pages read quickly, so the boo...

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 3/1/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book : Poncho is alone after loosing his mother, father and now his sister, so he finds his new home at St. Anthony's. Poncho isn't planning on staying long-he doesn't believe the reports that his sisters death was from natural causes and is bent on finding her killer. But while at St. Anthony's, Poncho is assigned to assist D.Q., a teen with cancer who is writing a "Death Warriors Manifesto" which will help him in his final days and maybe win the love of Marisol. As Poncho gets to know D.Q. more he finds himself caught between revenge or becoming a Death Warrior and embracing life. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: So I liked the author's first teen book Marcelo and the Real World well enough, but it wasn't my favorite and I didn't know how much teen appeal it really had. I ended up trying The Last Summer of Death Warriors on audiobook and it worked very well for me...

Are you going to San Diego for Midwinter? Are you a YA blogger librarian, a YA author, or publicist interested in hanging out with a bunch of your kin? You're in luck. We're having a party. We'll get together Friday night, starting at 8:30 p.m. Tentative plans have us at the Hilton Bay Front but depending on interest, we might move it somewhere else. That's why we ask if you're interested to shoot us an email at midwinteryabloggerfest@gmail.com. This is a super informal but fun way to meet one another, chat about our favorite books and authors, gossip over wine and screwdrivers, and relive our own teen years (Dream Phone and The Babysitter's Club game may be involved). And hey - we're librarians. We're into this whole skype thing. We'd love if anyone interested would dig phoning into our party to hang out for a while. Let's make this multimedia! Pass along our contact information to anyone you think may be interested. We'll send an email when...

You don't just have to give books for the holidays-you can give book lovers all sorts of bookish gifts. These are some of my favorites. Postertext posters are great for any booklover ! It's a poster that features a books text and made into very cool black and white artwork. If you don't see your favorite title listed you can make a suggestion-right now the focus in on classics. The hard part is figuring out which poster you want! Unshelved has lots of great library t-shirts, but I think this catalog one is my favorite ! Sure to make any librarian laugh! Cafe Press is one of my favorite places to look for bookish gifts. Search "librarian" for loads of gift ideas that are great for the librarian or library lover in your life. You can also search for " booklover " or " reading " for more great ideas. Journals Unlimited has a great reader's journal . I have one and I love it because it helps me make notes on books I've read that I ca...

I try to read adult books, but YA and MG take over my life and that ends up being most of what I read. So some of these are books I've read and others are books I've had suggested from friends, but all would make great gifts! If you have any other ideas for books for adults, I'd love to hear them-I'm always looking for ideas! Zombie Felties: How to Raise 16 Gruesome Felt Creatures from the Undead by Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate -I have friends who are very crafty so I can't wait to share this book with them! One of my co-workers was showing off the zombie baby she made recently and it was so cute! I may have to try my craft skills out just so I can try to make one too! Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen -This is a suggestion from my mom who loves mysteries. This series, set in the 1930's, has the kind of mystery solving main character that you'll fall in love with and lots of madcap adventures. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin -Some readers might s...

If you read my blog, you know YA is where my heart is! Here's the GreenBeanTeenQueen Gift Guide for teens! (And there are so many more I could add-if you need more suggestions just ask!) For the teen who wants to escape to other worlds The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima -If there's one fantasy series my library teens ask for, it's this series by Cinda Williams Chima. Books one and two are available now and teens will be eagerly awaiting more! For the teen who thinks they've outgrown YA The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X Stork -This book has so much cross-over appeal to adults that I think you could give it to them not telling them it's cataloged as YA and they wouldn't think twice about it being a "YA" book. The story is heartfelt and full of philosophy but in an accessible way. For the teen who wants to be swept off their feet Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins -Oh how I can't stop gushing about this book! If you...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted on GreenBeanTeenQueen. This week I'm posting my GreenBeanTeenQueen Holiday gift guide, so of course today I'll be posting books for tweens! Join the Tween Tuesday fun and add your link below. Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix -If you work with tweens, most likely you know the name Margaret Peterson Haddix. Found is book one of The Missing series and now that all three books are out, readers won't have to worry about the cliffhanger endings! This series is full of adventure and suspense-what more could you ask for? Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery -If you know a tween girl who hasn't been introduced to the Anne books, you need to do your book lover duty and get this series into her hands now! Even better, package it with the movie and be prepared to gush over Gilbert Blythe crushes! Anne of Green Gables is a timeless classic that always goes over well with tweens. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson -I...