GreenBeanTeenQueen

What do you think everyone? I think they look pretty good-although I think Gale should be a bit more built. And Peeta's such a cutie!:)

Please welcome Melissa Walker to the blog!! I have to admit, I geeked out at the chance to ask Melissa Walker some questions about her new book, Small Town Sinners . Melissa and I have exchanged tweets back and forth and we both have fun, vintagey creative weddings the same year, so I've also felt a cool authorly bond with Melissa. So of course I was thrilled when I got the chance to review her new book and pick her brain about writing. Hope you guys have as much fun reading our interview as I had participating in it! GreenBeanTeenQueen: Since the book features a Hell House, I'm sure you did some research into the topic. How many Hell Houses did you visit? What did you find most interesting about them? Melissa: I had heard about them through a friend's mom, and I only visited two before writing the book. One was actually a "Judgment House," which is a softer version that's less political. But the main one I went to was for an ELLEgirl article, and the most i...

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 7/19/2011 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Lacey Anne Byers has always been a good girl. She's grown up in the church, followed the rules, and she's never questioned anything. Lacey is excited to try out for a lead role in her church's Hell House production. When Ty Davis moves to town, Lacey befriends him. He's smart, funny, and Lacey likes him- a lot . Lacey can talk to Ty about her faith, something her friends have never discussed much. Ty asks questions that Lacey has never asked and she begins to doubt if everything is as black and white, right and wrong as she once believed. Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: I have been a longtime fan of Melissa Walker's and I think that Small Town Sinners is Melissa's standout book. She writes a story about faith, first love, and searching in a wonderfully realistic way. As a Christian myself, I'm often hesitant to read portrayals of faith and Christians ...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens! Join the fun and add your link below. I love wordless picture books and I've come across several since working in the children's department at my library. Wordless picture books are great for tweens-especially if they think they've grown out of picture books. (But really, who ever grows out of picture books?:) They can tell their own stories and tweens will look for details in the story that younger readers might not catch. Here are some of my favorite wordless picture books. Tuesday by David Wiesner -I loved this book when I was a tween. I would pour over the artwork on each page and look at every little thing. The pictures are beautiful and the story of frogs taking flight on lilypads was something my tween self thought was hilarious. (OK, my adult self thinks it's hilarious too!) I also love Wiesner's Flotsam . The Boys by Jeff Newman - The Boys is the story o...

Flash Reviews are short, quick, mini-reviews of multiple titles. More committee reading this time around, so here are my thoughts: Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson Rating: 5/5 Stars GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I love a good road trip novel and this one is pretty much perfect! I love Amy and Roger, their individual storylines and issues to work through as well as how their storylines connect and weave together. I loved how they ended up needing each other, and an epic detour road trip, to work through life, fears, and emotions. And of course, the romance is wonderful-I want them to stay together forever. They totally will, right?:) Suspect by Kristin Wolden Nitz Rating: 2.5/5 Stars GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: This one starts out with a great mystery premise-girl trying to find the truth about her long-missing mother during a murder mystery weekend hosted at her grandmother's bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, it quickly looses any of the mystery. The mystery falls flat, ...

Rating : 5/5 Stars Genre : Memoir/Graphic Memoir Release Date: 9/1/2011 Add to Goodreads About the Book: As a young boy, Allen wants to be a cartoonist. Will he be accepted and can he make his dreams come true? Caldecott Winner Allen Say writes a graphic memoir about growing up in Japan and being an apprentice to Noro Shinpei, a notable Japanese cartoonist. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I had received an advanced copy of this book and I thought, "hmm...this looks cool" and put it aside to read eventually. Well, then I went to ALA and heard Mr. Say talk about this book and I had read it immediately! I know there's still some time before this one officially hits shelves, but I had to post about it now so everyone heading back to school can add it to their buy for the new year list. Seriously, do yourself a favor and order this book now. What an amazing journey to become a cartoonist! Mr. Say was 12 when he got an apartment of his own. After reading about another boy traveling ...

I was browsing the shelves at Barnes and Noble recently and it got me thinking about what makes me pick up a book. There are some things that are instant "pick up this book right now" traits for me. These would be things mentioned on the book jacket or on the cover that make me want the book. I started talking to Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan about it and we have very different opinions on what attracts us to a book, so we decided to make this a co-post and discussion! So join in with your thoughts-we'd love to hear them! GreenBeanTeenQueen: I'm a sucker for pretty dresses. If a cover has a beautiful dress on it, I pick it up right away. Chances are I won't even really care what the book jacket says, I'm going to just stare at the dress and pet the book and come up with ways to make the dress mine. Pretty dresses mean I'm going to pick that book up for sure! GreenBeanSexyMan -No, no, no. No pretty dresses! I don't care who wrote it-it could even be Harry Potte...

Scholastic recently launched an online community called This Is Teen to connect readers with their favorite YA authors and books. Visit their page on Facebook for all the latest news on Maggie Stiefvater and Forever. I'm a HUGE fan of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver Trilogy, so of course I'm thrilled to share with you this part of the tour. When I talk with readers about this series, I've learned that Isabel is a character that divides readers. Some people like her and some people really don't. I'm in the like Isabel camp. Ever since I was a teen, I loved reading about those somewhat ice-queen characters who maybe deep down have a bit of softness. I was a very emotional and dramatic teen, so I think I was drawn to these characters because there was a part of me that wanted to be strong and yes, even a bit icy like they were. Isabel might be difficult at times, but I still like her. She's proved to be a loyal friend to Sam and Grace even though she has every reaso...

I recently read Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson and I fell in love with Amy and Roger's stories. I didn't want the book to end! I was sucked into their story and when the book finished, I kept thinking that in my fictional world of what happens next is that Amy and Roger stay together forever-because I don't think I could handle it if they didn't! So it got me thinking about what other fictional couples I must have stay together forever. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good romance and when I find a great couple, I want them to stay together. Like, I might cry if they ever broke up forever. We all have those, right? (I hope so!) So here's my made up world forever together list: Side note: My list doesn't include couples who we know stay together (like Anne and Gilbert) but instead couples who stay together in my made up what happens next world. Katsa and Po in Graceling -OK, so I know they end the book with an open relationship and all a...

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens! Join the fun and add your post below. Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Historical Release Date: 2/29/2000 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Holling Hoodhood is a Presbyterian. Which means on Wednesday afternoons, Holling stays in school while everyone else attends religious education classes. But Holling is stuck and he thinks Mrs. Baker hates him-now she has to stay around and teach one student. So Mrs. Baker decides to teach Holling about Shakespeare. Holling is about to have a memorable year full of adventures he never could have imagined. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I wanted to read this book because Okay for Now is getting some Newbery buzz and while it's not a sequel, it's a companion book. I've heard so many rave reviews for this one, I knew I had to read it. But I kept putting it off because I had read another of Gary D. Schmidt's books and I wasn't a fan. It goes to...

This past weekend my library hosted our first Stuffed Animal Sleepover. It was a huge hit and we plan on making it an annual event. This wasn't an original idea-I actually got the program idea from the YALSA list-serv. But I thought I'd share how we ran it at my library. Friday evening kids brought in their stuffed animals. We started at 7, but I think next time I'd start earlier to give the teens more time for photos. We had about 25 kids bring in stuffed animals and we gathered in the storyhour room for a short storytime. Teens from the teen library council helped the kids fill out a permission slip for their animals with questions like "name of animal" "type of animal" and "animals favorite activities/hobbies". I then got the group together and we did a song with the animals-I used They Might Be Giants Clap Your Hands , which is fun and easy to do with the stuffed animals clapping hands, etc. but it is a bit short. I had some leftover crafts...

I've been doing a ton of reading lately, so instead of posting a lot of reviews, I decided to post another Flash Review post. Basically, these are mini reviews on lots of titles all in one post. And as always, they are in no way reflective of any committee I'm on, but are my opinion about the book. :) Bruiser by Neal Shusterman Rating: 4/5 Stars I'm a big fan of Neal Shusterman's books and I love how they always make you think. This is a hard one to talk about without giving away some of the plot twists. I really enjoyed it and I liked the varying points of view. It raises some interesting points about emotions, fear, and responsibility. I do wish there would have been some more explanation about Bruiser-everyone seemed to accept his story, no questions asked. I also hated that Cody's voice on the audiobook was narrated by a female when he's supposed to be a tween boy. To me, this made him sound even more childish. But other than that, a decent audiobook and a g...

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. I'm finally back to blogging! ALA was tons of fun but very busy and then summer reading has kept me busy at work. Of course, ALA gave me lots of books to book lust over. Maybe it's my Fabulous Films Committee theme of "Song and Dance" but I've been book lusting over these ballet books! Bunheads by Sophie Flack About the Book: As a dancer with the ultra-prestigious Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward juggles intense rehearsals, dazzling performances and complicated backstage relationships. Up until now, Hannah has happily devoted her entire life to ballet. But when she meets a handsome musician named Jacob, Hannah's universe begins to change, and she must decide if she wants to compete against the other "bunheads" in the company for a star soloist spot or strike out on her own in the real world. Does she dare give up the gilded confines of the ballet for t...