GreenBeanTeenQueen

Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan has a goal to read more YA-yay! So here he his with his review of the first YA he read this year! You can also check out his blog: http://writingmyselfcrazy.blogspot.com/ if you want to see what else he is up to when he is not doing guest posts for me. Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Release Date: October 6, 2009 Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Add to Goodreads Well, I am back with another review. This book has been on my TBR pile for quite a while but I could never quite bring myself to dive into it. Finally, after months of listening to the recommendations of GreenBeanTeenQueen and her library teens that I read it, I finally gave in and picked it back up. I just finished it yesterday so here are my thoughts. About the book : The story focuses on two main characters, the headstrong princess Raisa and a teenage former thief and gang leader named Han. Set in an area of the Seven Realms called The Fells and in its capitol Fellsmarch, Han must learn how to provide for ...

I'm an audiobook fan and I'm always trying to get others to discover the joys of listening to a book! Why should having a book read to you have to stop just because you can read on your own? I listened to audiobooks as a kid, but then stopped listening to them until a few years ago. My husband and I were taking a long road trip and we decided to get one of the Harry Potter books on CD. Since then I've been hooked on audiobooks! I listen to them in my car, on my iPhone, and on my computer. I can end up reading more books this way because I've got one to listen to and one I'm reading. But as much as I praise audiobooks, I still encounter readers who aren't quite sure about audio. So I'm going to help you out and give you a list of audiobooks and narrators that I think all readers should listen to! And the titles are linked to Audible, so you can get a preview of each one! - Katherine Kellgren -Katherine Kellgren is the audiobook queen! If you're shy about ...

Remember when I told you about my adult lit class? Well, there was enough interest so I'm going to begin reviewing the titles I read for my class here in a (hopefully) weekly feature! Rating: 3.75/5 Stars Genre: Cozy Mystery Release Date: 6/25/2007 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie is 34th in line for the throne and flat broke. Her brother the duke is economizing and Georgie has been cut off. When the queen tries to set her up with the horrible Prince Siegfried (aka fishface) Georgie runs from her Scotland castle to her family's London house under the pretense of helping a friend with a wedding. Georgie is hoping to make a new life for herself. She moonlights as a maid (the horror!) and befriends the handsome but also penniless Darcy O'Mara. When a blackmailing Frenchman winds up dead in her bathtub, Georgie has a new job-discover the killer. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I decided to read this book because my mom is a fan of Rhys Bowe...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Join the fun and leave your Tween Tuesday link below. I read a lot of MG/tween books because I think it's important to keep up. Even though I work primarily with teens, I have a lot of younger readers that want to start reading YA or are looking for something a little more advanced, so I try to keep up with MG as well. This isn't always easy though and can sometimes be a bit overwhelming! So I thought I'd ask you for tween suggestions! What books have been big hits with your tween readers? What did you read as a tween that you loved? What tween book should not be missed? Let me know and if it's one I haven't read yet, I'll read and review it on the blog. I'll also compile a list of all the suggestions!

Rating: 2.75/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 10/6/2009 Add to Goodreads About the Book: When thirteen-year-old Cassie moves to a new town, she wants to leave behind her smart good girl image. She finds herself drawn into a strange friendship with Alex and soon Cassie is in a world with drugs, sex, secrets and lies. Cassie's life spins in a downward spiral and she finds herself in a twisted friendship with Alex with now way out. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Beautiful is an interesting little book. It's very gritty and perfect for fans of Ellen Hopkins. I can see readers who love gritty realistic fiction devouring this one. But adults will see the many faults that are in the book. It's also a bit odd because the character is so young, but I don't know how many middle school libraries could really carry it and I don't know if older teens would read about the addictions of a 7th grader. So I don't know who the audience really is. I guess 7th and 8th grade ...

I've seen some fun things around this week and had to share: The Baby-sitters Club: Where Are They Now ? This post has a pretty funny description of what our favorite babysitters are doing these days. Thanks to my friend Brooke (via Facebook) Author James Kennedy has a great contest going: Newbery Winners in 90 seconds . I love this video for A Wrinkle In Time (I think I saw this first on A Fuse #8 ) And this I found today (thanks to Yahoo) where a girl reads Fox in Socks super fast-pretty impressive! (Although I wish it were a bit more enunciated-thank goodness there are subtitles on the screen!)

OK, so I wasn't going to participate in Bloggiesta this year. Honestly, I don't have a ton of time to devote to it this weekend. I worked last night, I have homework and reading to do, I have friends coming over, and there's a Chicago Bears playoffs game tomorrow! How did my weekend get so full? But I really want to work on a few things on my blog and bloggiesta really is the most perfect time to do it! I don't have a bunch of goals, but the ones I have I think are manageable in my limited time this weeked. For bloggiesta I'm going to: -Update my review list-I haven't added several months of reivews to my master list and it really needs updating! -Cross-post reviews on Amazon and Goodreads-I've been failing at this and need to do an update -Write up some program and librarian posts to use for a future date -Start putting together a reading challenge I've been thinking about for awhile I've got to share one tip I already learned from this event-F...

Rating: I can't decide-somewhere between a 2.75 and a 3/5 Stars Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy Release Date: 1/3/2011 Add to Goodreads Traveling to Teens Website About the Book: One hundred years in the future, trees are dying. People are getting sick and Kelsa's father has recently passed away from a mysterious cancer that doctors and scientists can't explain. Then Kelsa meets a strange boy, Raven, who claims he knows what's going on and he needs her help. Raven says he's a mythological creature and magic is needed to stop the ecological disaster that is the world is facing. In Kelsa's high security world, magic isn't something anyone talks about. Raven might be crazy-or he might be telling the truth-and it's up to Kelsa to decide if she can really save the world. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Honestly, I'm not really sure what to think of this book. It's got a mix of a lot of things-there's some science fiction and dystopia, magic and fantasy, ...

Rating: 2.75/5 Stars Genre: Horror/Mystery Release Date: 2/8/2011 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Cryer's Cross is a small town in Montana (population 212). So when a freshman girl goes missing at the beginning of the summer, the town is thrown into a tailspin. The news especially upsets Kendall, who can't handle the worry with her OCD. When a second student goes missing and this time it's someone close to Kendall, Kendall isn't sure how she can handle it all. When she starts to hear the voices of the missing calling to her and notices messages scratched into a desk, she wonders if there's something dark at work in Cryer's Cross. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I may read a lot of books, but I don't do horror. Scary stories and Sarah do not mix. But I felt like I needed to give this book a shot for a couple of reasons: 1) I wasn't a fan of Ms. McMann's previous works ( Wake , Fade and Gone ) but really wanted to find something good this time around, and...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Join the fun and share the link to your Tween Tuesday post below. Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 3/9/2010 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory and remembers everything she ever sees or hears. She's incredibly smart, but no one knows it. Melody has cerebral palsy and can't talk-instead she kicks when she gets excited and drools when she's tired. She's stuck in the special needs class going over baby stuff with teachers who don't understand her. Melody dreams of the day she can voice what's in her head and with the help of a special computer she might get the chance. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I had been hearing things about this book for quite awhile and it kept showing up on mock award lists throughout the year. So I finally sat down and read Out of My Mind and I read it in one sitting! Melody...

I read Flash Burnout last year because it was shortlisted for our state high school book award list. (I'm glad to say it made the list!) I fell in love with Blake (yep, I've got a book crush on him), the story, the voice and wrote my praises in my review : "I LOVED Flash Burnout-like totally and completely fell head over heels for this book loved it. This book had everything I could want-a great narrator that I could relate to and an authentic male teen voice, a delicate dance of friendship and romance, a bit of mystery, fantastic character growth, and one of the best YA family's I've read about in a long time. Flash Burnout is a fantastic read. Blake's story is one that once you start, you won't want to stop. I wanted to finish it in one sitting but also wanted it to draw out so it wouldn't end. Seriously, if you haven't read this one, get your hands on it. This is a perfect example of how YA contemporary novels should be written." I've ...

Welcome and hello to those of you who have found my blog after meeting me at ALA Midwinter this past weekend! Take a look around, leave a comment and let me know what you think. I'm still unpacking (you should have seen my office at work today-it looked like a tornado came through!) and am back to a long to-do list (both at home and work) so I'll start up with reviews again bright and early Monday morning. As I mentioned earlier, I'm taking an Adult Lit class this semester so I'll be reading more adult fiction this year than I have in year's past. I'm thinking of making a weekly (or bi-weekly) feature to review these titles. I'm trying to read off the Alex Awards list so I can read adult titles with teen appeal. Should I post reviews or not? I want to know what you think!

Rating: 3/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary/Romance Release Date: 1/1/11 Add to Goodreads About the Book: (from publicist) Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn Academy on scholarship, isn't exactly interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be—especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London. Lizzie is happy about her friend's burgeoning romance, but less than impressed by Will Darcy, a pompous jerk who looks down on the middle class. So imagine Lizzie's surprise when Will asks her to the prom! Will Lizzie's pride and Will's prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making? From Elizabeth Eulberg comes a very funny, completely stylish prom season delight of Jane Austen proportions. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Prom and Prejudice is a cute, light retelling of the classic Pride and Prejudice . If you have readers who enjoyed the original, this will most likely circulate well among them. The book ...

It's a beautiful day in San Diego and I got to spend the morning at the ALA Youth Media Awards Announcements! I loved being there with the crowd and hearing the cheers and gasps of shock as the awards were announced. Here's what won the biggies: Printz Award Winner: Ship Breaker Paolo Bacigalupi-I've read this one, now I need to review it! I'm pretty happy with this win and I'm not that surprised. I also think it has a good amount of teen appeal which is nice when it comes to the awards! Printz Award Honors: Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King (my dark horse pick! It won an honor-so so thrilled!), Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick, and Nothing by Janne Teller. (I've got some reading to do!!) Newbery Award Winner: Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (big surprise and not a well known title) Newbery Award Honors: Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm, Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Paranormal Release Date: 1/4/2011 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Clara Gardner is part angel and part of being an angel blood means completing her purpose. Clara has just started having visions about a forest fire and saving a boy during the disaster and her mother knows this is to be Clara's purpose. So Clara's purpose makes her family move to a new town and start a new life. Clara meets Christian, who is the boy from her visions, and she tries to get closer to him and figure out what her visions are telling her. But annoying Tucker keeps getting in the way and Clara finds herself torn between love and duty and discovers there's a dark side even when it comes to angels. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Another YA paranormal about angels? I have to admit that angels are my favorite aspect of the paranormal genre and I can happily say Unearthly stands out in the genre. Clara is the one with powers which I always find refreshing when it comes to par...

Please welcome author Alexandra Bullen to GreenBeanTeenQueen! Alex is so lucky because she gets to live on Martha's Vineyard year round! (I spent a semester there and it was wonderful!) Today she's sharing about her little island library-and if this post doesn't make you want to go visit a library, I don't know what will!:) Library Love I live on an island. It’s a fairly big island, but the winter population is so tiny and close-knit that every time I leave the house, I’m certain to bump into somebody I know. This is especially true if I’m headed to the library – and more often than not, I am. I have always loved the quiet of libraries. It’s the quality of the quiet that I love most– focused, reverent, curious, calm. But it wasn’t until I moved here, to this island, and found my way to the local public library, that I began to understand how encompassing a space a library can be. Here, the library is the center of town. It’s a bus stop after school. It’s meeting new fri...

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary with a touch of fantasy/magic Release Date: 1/1/11 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Hazel has never had a mother. Adopted as a baby, her adoptive mother died shortly after and Hazel was shuffled from relative to relative growing up without a true home. So when Hazel is granted a gift of magic dresses with the power to make wishes come true, Hazel wishes she had gotten the chance to know her birth mother. Now she's transported to a time where she can make everything right. But will her journey to the past forever change her future? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Wishful Thinking is a lovely magical book. The story has the feel of a fairy tale and it's a quick read-perfect for a blustery winter day when you want to curl up with a magic tale. It's a quite book-there's not a ton of action, but there's magic and a sweet romance and readers are sure to enjoy it. Hazel is a character that you can easily like-she could be a depressing charac...

Well, ALA is almost here and I'm getting read to go! And on Monday we'll get the big book announcement of who will take home the top prizes for Caldecott, Newbery and Printz and the other ALA Youth Media Awards. It's always fun to make predictions so here's are my predictions. It's a bit of a mix of what I want to win, what I think will win (luckily this year that fits most my choices) as well as my dark horse candidates that might surprise us all. Caldecott Award My favorite picture book of the year, The Quiet Book, can't win because the illustrator is from Canada. Which leaves me without any other picks that I really really love for the top spot. So I'm going to go ahead and put David Wiesner's Art & Max in the top spot. I don't think it's his best picture book, but it's still fantastic and he' a librarian golden boy-seriously, we librarians gush over his books. Caldecott Honors: A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Steed, ill...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens! Join the fun and add your Tween Tuesday link below! Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 1/4/2011 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Clara Lee is wondering if she has what it takes to become Little Miss Apple Pie. If she was chosen she'd get to ride on a float in the parade, wear a tiara and sash and help Miss Apple Pie toss candy to the crowd. But in order to be chosen, Clara Lee would have to give a speech in front the whole school, which sounds too nerve wracking! After Clara Lee has a bad dream and tells her grandpa, who learned to interpret dreams in Korea, about the dream, Grandpa says it's not scary, but instead means Clara Lee has good luck coming her way! Could good luck bring Clara Lee her apple pie dream? And is she even American as apple pie enough to be Little Miss Apple Pie? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I'm a big fan of Jenny Han, especially her first...

It's a new year and what's better than starting out the new year with some new books? I'm going to help you out with your reading resolutions with a giveaway as part of the New Year's Reading Resolutions Giveaway Hop hosted by Candace's Book Blog ! I loved the idea behind this contest-seriously, every reader needs some resolution with books included, right? There are a ton of blogs participating, so be sure to check out all the contests! Because I love my readers and this blog would be nothing without you, I'm making this contest international !! Here's how it works: -One winner will recieve a shopping spree of $25 (US dollars) at The Book Depository -You must live where Book Depository ships (otherwise I can't ship the books to you) -Must be 13+ -Contest ends January 9 at midnight central time -Fill out form below to enter: Loading...

I wanted to get this list up sooner, but the internet did not want to cooperate! So after much debating and list making, here's my top ten reads of 2010 (to make it easier on myself I limited my list to 2010 releases instead of everything I read in 2010.) This is also my personal list and I made this from the books that I loved and personally were my favorite reads. 10. Hush by Eishes Chayil -a heartbreakingly beautiful look into a strict religious community-this book is a haunting read and will stick with you long after you read it. I'm thrilled that it made the Morris list this year! 9. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins -Just when I think paranormal is the same ol' thing, Hex Hall comes out and manages to combine boarding schools, paranormal and humor into a book that has just the right mix of laughs and mystery for my liking! 8. Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder -I think this is Lisa's best book so far. It's an amazing novel in verse that takes the reader on a...