GreenBeanTeenQueen

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Join the fun and add your link below. Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Historical Release Date: 1/10/2012 Add to Goodreads About the Book: May has been sent to a neighbor's homestead to help out. It's only for a few months and it's a way her family can earn some extra money. Plus, it's not like she's doing much in school anyway-she's having trouble reading, so why does she need school? The neighbor's new bride isn't liking life on the Kansas prairie and she needs help cooking and cleaning. But when a tragedy leaves May alone as winter approaches, May must rely on her wits to survive. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says:  May B  is a book that appeals to my tween self. If I had read this as a tween, I would have devoured and loved. I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder and living on the frontier (of course it was much more glamorous in my mind!) so this boo

Over the weekend, there was lots of discussion about drama at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. I feel as though my thoughts wouldn't add anything new, especially when two bloggers/librarians have written excellent posts. If you haven't already, read Kelly from Stacked   and Jennie from Biblio File  posts. I think a discussion needs to happen about conference etiquette and the fine line between bloggers and librarians. I find this discussion fascinating, since I'm a blogger and a librarian. And be sure to comment-both have great discussions happening! I did want to talk a bit about what I did at ALA Midwinter Meeting (and yes, it was a meeting for me-I had so many meetings it was crazy! One day I had meetings and publisher events from 7AM to 10PM! It's a lot of work, but it's a ton of fun and totally worth it!) This January, I finished up my second term on Fabulous Films for Young Adults (FFYA). I can't tell you how many times over the course of my two years on thi

Monday morning bright and early. ALA announced the youth Media Awards. I was at ALA so I was up early and part of the crowd there to hear the annoucements live! Of course, my predictions were pretty much wrong, which is part of the fun! I'm sure if you follow kidlit and YA, you've already read about the winners, but I wanted to share my thoughts and hear yours! The Newbery Winner: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos -I have not read this book and honestly, it wasn't really on my radar before the Newbery. Of course I'm on hold for it now at my library! If you're read it, I'd love to know what you thought! Newbery Honors: - Inside Out and Back Again by Thannhha Lai-I've read this one and I really liked it a lot! I also really love seeing award love for verse novels! - Breaking Stalin's Nose by Euguene Yelchin-Another one I'd heard of but was hardly on my radar. Caldecott Winner: A Ball For Daisy by Chris Raschka -I'm a big dog lover, so o

A Wrinkle In Time Facebook Page 50 Years, 50 Days, 50 Blogs Tour I can't believe that one of my alltime favorite books, A Wrinkle In Time , is celebrating it's 50th Anniversary! To celebrate, Macmillan Books has 50 blogs writing about the book and I'm honored to be participating! Macmillan Books is excited too-so much so they released an amazing new edition of the book: And it's not just a pretty cover. There are lots of features included that make it a great choice for longtime fans: The 50th Anniversary Commemorative edition features: •       Frontispiece photo*† •       Photo scrapbook with approximately 10 photos*† •       Manuscript pages*† •       Letter from 1963 Caldecott winner, Ezra Jack Keats*† •       New introduction by Katherine Paterson, US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature  † •       New afterword by Madeleine L’Engle’s granddaughter Charlotte Voiklis including six never-before-seen photos † •       Murry-O’Keefe family tree

For toddler storytimes we decided to start the new storytime season off with concepts. The first concept storytime I did was colors. Here's what I planned: Opening Song: We always open toddler storytime with Finger Poppin by Georgiana Stewart. It's a bit annoying, but the kids love it and I see them walk into storytime popping their fingers, so I can never get rid of it! Literacy Skill: We recently rebranded and renamed our early literacy program, so our skill was Talk and Read (or vocab, if you're on the old Every Child Ready to Read language) Book: Freight Train by Donald Crewes-my library has a big book copy of this one, which makes it more fun to read. The toddlers love the big books and the simple text and colors of this one make it perfect for this age group. Song: These Are My Glasses by Laurie Berkner-I sing this every week and it's so fun to watch the kids learn it! "These are my glasses"-(make circles with your hands around eyes) "A

When I took my new position as Youth Services Manager in May, one of my new roles was to take on storytime. I'll admit I was a bit nervous to do storytime, especially for toddlers. I was used to teens and I wasn't sure I could make the transition to working with very young kids. But once I got going, I found that I really enjoy stoyrtime. This week I decided to feature a couple of my storytime staples. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean - Pete the Cat is a fantastic read aloud for storytime for all ages! Pete walks along singing his song but oh no! Pete has stepped in something that will change the color of his shoes! Toddlers might not be able to catch the color changes as well as older readers, but the book has lots of repitition and has a catchy song that's fun to sing along to. It's a great storytime read and I have fun every time I read it. The kids at my preschool outreach ask for this book every time I come! I love

It's that time of year again! Bright and early Monday morning, librarians will gather in a Dallas ballroom and hear the announcements about this year's book awards. Last year was my first year I was able to attend the announcements live and it was so much fun! Being in a room as the winners are unveiled and sharing in the gasps of shock and cheers of happiness adds to the fun. Of course, it's always fun to predict what books will win, so here's the titles I think we'll be hearing called out on Monday morning. Printz-Who I Think Will Win: Chime has been my front runner since I read it back in March (I still need to review it, I know!) Fantastic world building and rich characters and an original story that's a bit historical, a bit magical, and all around amazing. I think it's the book to beat. Printz Dark Horse: I have three dark horse books that I suspect we may hear announced on Monday: and   Both Scorpio Races and Daughter of Smoke and Bone  have

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted here at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Join the fun and add your link below! Rating: 3/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary Release Date: 1/1/2012 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Kara Mcallister has noticed something in her middle school. All the girls have had boyfriends except her. Inspired by the scientific method, Kara decides to observe all the boys and figure out what it takes to get a boyfriend. But Kara's plan isn't that simple. In middle school, people and friendships can change daily, observations can take a turn, and an embarassing moment in the boys bathroom can ruin your reputation. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Ah, middle school. That crazy time when friendships change, relationships of true love last a day, and repuations mean everything. Middle school can be a very tough time and Kami Kinard captures that middle school voice and angst perfectly. Sure, Kara is a bit whiny about superficial things, but

The Woods by Paul Hoppe -I discovered this book earlier this year and decided to use it for a pajama time storytime. It's a great book for storytime. The text is simple and the illustrations are bright and colorful and perfect for a larger crowd. The story is about a young boy who is about to go to bed, but can't find his rabbit. He decides he must venture into the woods. Along the way he comes across several scary things-a bear, giants, and a three headed dragon-only to discover that they're not scary at all. Instead they need the boys help in some way. This is a great read about conquering your fears and using your imagination. It was lots of fun to read in storytime and I recommend it as a read aloud! Where's Walrus by Stephen Savage -Where's Walrus is a wordless picture book about a Walrus who goes on an adventure around town and the zookeeper who tries to catch him. The illustrations have a retro feel, which I love. Walrus's adventures are hilari

As a kid, I thought this was excatly what happend in a bookstore or library when the lights went out! I love this video from indie bookstore Type in Toronto.

I love book trailers! I especially love them when they look like a movie. But I've never seen dueling book trailers. (OK, they're not really dueling book trailers-I just like saying that). Amanda Hocking's books were originally self-published and now they're getting major publication. But instead of having one book trailer, there's a US trailer and a UK trailer. I've seen different covers before, but like I said, this is the first time I've come across UK and US book trailers. It's the same book, same series, but it's interesting to see how the two market the books in different ways. US Trailer: UK Trailer: I like both and I don't. I think the US trailer has blah acting and looks overly dramatic and angsty. I think the UK trailer doesn't tell enough about the book. But I do like the movie-style of both and I love that Tonks is in the UK trailer!:) Which one do you prefer? Have you seen dueling trailers before?

It's the start to a new year and one of my blogging resolutions is to comment more on the blogs I read. So of course I had to sign up for Mother Reader and Lee Wind's Comment Challenge 2012. The goal of the challenge is to leave at least 5 comments between today (January 5) and January 25 and to read 100 comments by the end. Each Wednesday we'll check in and post our updates. I'm going to try and keep track of comments on this post so I have an easy tallying system. So won't you join in? It's the perfect way to make that new goal and get into the commenting habit in the new year! 1/7-7 comments 1/9-7 comments 1/12-14 comments

I'm a bit late in posting my list this year (I always try to post on New Years Eve) but making a best list is hard! This is my personal best of of the year list. I limited it to books released in 2011, but have another list for "older" books. These are my personal favorites of the year: Best Books of 2011 10. Recovery Road by Blake Nelson-A realistic and heartbreaking (and still hopeful) look at life after rehab. This was a read in one sitting book for me. The characters stuck with me and I was investing in Maddie's recovery. 9. Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker -This is a story about faith, first love, and searching written in a wonderfully realistic way. I was impressed with the story and the characters and again, it's a book that stuck with me.I wish all books featuring religion were this balanced. 8. Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt -Blending humor, romance and serious family drama, this was a book that I read, then immediately booktalk

I'm terrible at making New Year's Resolutions for myself. I find it easier to make reading and blogging resolutions! Last year I made resolutions and did OK-here's where I ended up: 2011 Resolutions 1. Read 200 (or more) books in the year.- If you count all the picture books I read, I made this goal and surpassed it with 446 books total. But if you count only chapter books, graphic novels, audiobooks, etc. I only made it to 163. Finishing grad school and taking a new job really took a toll on my reading! But hey, 163 books in one year isn't bad! 2. Read the ALA Youth Media Award books- I was closer this year than I have been other years! I read all the Caldecotts, only missed Heart of a Samurai for Newbery, and didn’t read Nothing from the Printz list-it just sounds so depressing, I can't bring myself to read it. 3. Post more blog posts that encourage discussion -I think I did an OK job on this one and I’m going to try and keep it up next year. 4. Write my rev

I'm participating in Frankie Daine Mallis's 3rd Annual No Kiss Blogfest ! Here's what the No Kiss Blogfest is all about: "The No Kiss Blogfest! This is when you get to write a scene or post one from your favorite books, movies, or tv shows that show the almost kiss -- the rising, crushing, excruciating, longing, tension that comes when two characters get oh-so-close to kissing that you can just feel it, want it, NEED it....and then...they don't!" I wasn't sure what to post for my No Kiss, but then Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan and I were listening to Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog  on our car trip and I thought "this would be perfect!" That moment when you really want Billy and Penny to kiss and you want them to realize that they would be adorable together and you want Penny to see that Billy has been crushing on her all along and then....they don't kiss! ARGH!! I could watch Dr. Horrible over and over (and I do!) and this scene always