GreenBeanTeenQueen

ALA is here!! Instead of trying to come up with new tips, I'm sharing a post I wrote back in June 2011 with my tips for ALA-they all still hold true! And if you're there, find me and say hi! :) ALA is my favorite event of the year! I get to hang out with my favorite people, meet other librarians, network like crazy, learn new things to take back to my library, and of course meet authors! As a librarian and book lover, what's not to love?? This year's ALA will be my fourth conference, so I thought I'd give some advice for conference newbies (or even conference oldies!) because it never hurts to hear someone's take on the massive event that is ALA! - Make a schedule, but don't be strict about sticking to it . There is a lot to do and there's no way you can do it all, so schedules help a lot. Even if you're not normally a schedule person it can be a lifesaver. It helps to make a schedule before you get to ALA and then look over the conference boo

I've been working my way through the state book award lists over the past few months and luckily by library has lots of the nominated titles on audiobook. Here are some of my recent favorites from the state list in audiobook format:                                   Variant by Robinson Wells   Rating: 4/5 Stars When Benson gets a full scholarship to Maxfield Academy, he doesn't think twice about it. But once he arrives he realizes this is no ordinary school. A strange boarding school, no adults, and weird rules? I was sold from the start. The narrator does a great job of building the suspense and the author excels at keeping the reader (or listener in this case) guessing. It's a twisty mystery that was a blast to listen to. And trust me, there's an ending you'll never see coming and when you get there, you'll be scrambling for the sequel right away.      The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson Rating: 4/5 Stars Rory moves to London, att

Welcome to a special series at GreenBeanTeenQueen, So You Want To Read Middle Grade ? Today's guest post is from author Holly Schindler.  Holly is the author of two YA novels, A Blue So Dark and Playing Hurt as well as the upcoming MG novel, The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky (Dial). You can catch up with Holly at her MG blog, Smack Dab in the Middle. SO YOU WANT TO READ MG (FOR PROSPECTIVE CHILDREN’S WRITERS) – HOLLY SCHINDLER Some backstory: I took the plunge into writing fulltime in ’01, after obtaining my master’s.  I began by writing work for adults.  Teaching music lessons to pay a few bills, though, helped me to realize how similar kids today are to the kids I grew up with—the fashion and technology changes, but the struggles don’t!  I knew I wanted to try my hand at writing for kids…and quickly realized that I also needed to reconnect with the MG genre.  Now with a MG—THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY—in development with Dial, I’ve got a few quick and dirty tips t

My library was chosen last year to be one of YALSA's Galley Groups, which means our teens get to read and review advanced copies of books to include in YALSA's Teens Top Ten. One of my galley group teens came into the library last week to pick out a new book to read. As she was browsing the shelves of ARCs, she asked me "where are all the kickbutt girls in YA without the romance? Every YA book has to have a romance plotline! Why can't the girls just be awesome?" She then picked up an advanced copy, read the cover copy, and sighed "See? This one would have been so good before it got to 'and then she meets boy' here." Her comments got me thinking-where are the awesome girls without romance? Now, I love a good romantic plot, but I also love when it doesn't overshadow the characters and the story. I got to thinking about some of my favorite kickbutt awesome girls, and they all have a romantic story to them. Alina (Shadow and Bone) -another

Matilda is turning 25 this year! Kind of unbelievable, right? How can it already be 25 years since this wonderfully witty, intelligent five-year-old sprang onto the literary scene, inspiring all of us to read more and fight the man with our powers of telekinesis (Er, or just wish we had powers of telekinesis)? We’re celebrating this milestone with an epic 25-stop blog tour! Follow along to find out how your favorite bloggers feel about Matilda, and for a chance to win a Matilda prize pack at each and every stop! This quote says it all:  “Matilda said, ‘I would like a really good one that grown-ups read. A famous one. I don’t know any names.’ Mrs. Phelps looked along the shelves, taking her time. She didn’t quite know what to bring out. How, she asked herself, does one choose a famous grown-up book for a four-year-old girl? Her first thought was to pick a young teenager’s romance of the kind that is written for fifteen-year-old schoolgirls, but for some reason she found herself w

I am very excited to introduce a new blog series here at GreenBeanTeenQueen! If you're a reader of this blog, you know I love reading and talking about middle grade. I recently did a post for my friend Kelly at Stacked for their series " So You Want to Read YA?"  We talked about doing a middle grade series along the same lines, and here it is! So be sure to check back for some great suggestions on what to read if you're looking for some great middle grade books! Here are some of my favorites to get you started: Shug by Jenny Han - Shug was one of the first "tween" books I read when I started working in the library and it rang so true with it's pitch perfect middle grade voice. I think it was one of the books that got me excited about working with this age group and wanting to do programming for the 8-12 year-old set. It's still one I love to recommend! A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban -Linda Urban is the queen

One of the joys of being a librarian is introducing readers to books. I love when a young beginning reader comes into the library looking for a new book to read. When they tell me they want something realistic and funny, I always point them to the Clementine Series by Sara Pennypacker. In Clementine and the Spring Trip, Clementine is feeling a bit nervous about her upcoming class trip to Plimoth Plantation. She's hoping there is a lot of doing suff there, not just looking stuff. But Clementine is really worried about the eating sounds that her friend Margaret has warned her about-the fourth graders have a rule about making noise while you eat and Margaret won't even tell Clementine about what will happen if she makes noise! And there's a chance they might have to ride the smelliest bus on the field trip! What I love about the Clementine books is that just feel real. I feel like I know Clementine and her family and I love reading about them. Clementine's voice

I haven't posted a cover change post in awhile, so I thought I would post some recent cover changes I've come across. I asked Mr. GreenBeanSexyMan as we were browsing the aisles of Barnes & Noble if it was sad that I could recognize a cover change when I see the book on the shelf, and he replied, "if you have to ask me if it's sad, it is." :) I'm so immersed in book covers all the time because of my job (how many times as a librarian do we have to find a book based on what the cover looked like?) that I recognize cover changes right away. Some I like and some I don't. I'm not the only one who notices these changes when browsing online or in bookstores, right? What do you think of these: Beneath a Meth Moon  Hardcover: Paperback: -I really like how plain the hardcover is, but I think the paperback might have more appeal for teens looking for an obviously gritty read. Mister Death's Blue-Eyed Girls Hardcover: Paperba

Welcome to the STAR CURSED blog tour! STAR CURSED is the second book in The Cahill Witch Chronicles . Let me tell you a little bit about this series-it's the perfect summer read! It's an alternative history with witches-what's not to love? And yes, I know there's a love triangle, but I have to say, this is one love triangle where I was just as torn as the main character (although I do love Finn!!) I don't know who I would rather see Cate with and that makes reading the series even more fun. And oh my goodness, that cliffhanger ending-trust me-Jessica is brilliant and a bit mean for making us suffer! :) If you're looking for a fun historical series with a magic twist, be sure to follow along on the tour and have a chance to win a special ARC from Jessica! About the Book: With the Brotherhood persecuting witches like never before, a divided Sisterhood desperately needs Cate to come into her Prophesied powers. And after Cate's friend Sachi is arrested f

We have just finished our third week of summer reading!! The first week of June means that our programming is back full time, which means we're even more crazy busy than before! Here's what my Youth Services Department did this week: -We answered 692 reference questions , which averages out to 99 questions a day! -We told patrons about SRP/gave out SRP game boards & info 395 times -which averages out to 56 families  a day! We had 11 in house programs this week! (Crazy, I know!) -We hosted six storytimes (three birth-3 and three age 3-6) that had 188 kids and 107 adults . -I introduced a new Bookworms Early Reader storytime for ages 4-8 that had 6 kids and 4 adults . -Staff member S hosted a tween program that included a Gnome craft-they built adorable gnome houses-and a big screen showing of Gnomeo and Juliet for 8 kids and 3 adults . -Staff member M hosted a Pirate Treasure Hunt for ages 3-12 that brought in 49 kids and 36 adults. The highlight was hunting down

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Humor Release Date: 6/4/2013 About the Book: Louie wants nothing more than to be a stand up comedian. He has his own stage built in his closet and he practices his act in front of his clothes. He wants to be just like his late night hero, Lou Lafferman. But whenever Louie gets on stage, he gets stage fright. With the fifth-grade talent show coming up, Louie could get his big break. Will be the star of the show or will he be the chicken? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I love funny books and The Barftastic Life of Louie Burger is a perfect read to add to your list if you're looking for something to make you laugh out loud. It's perfect for readers looking for something along the lines of The Creature From My Closet or Origami Yoda series. I think the humor style will be exactly what those readers are looking for. While it's illustrated with several illustrations throughout, it's not as illustrated as the comic-style Wimpy Kid types, but I th

We're two weeks into our Summer Reading Program (SRP) which started May 18th and the library is buzzing with summer readers! We have been extremely busy passing out summer reading game boards and prizes and helping kids find books to read this summer. One of the most fun, and most frustrating, aspects of summer reading is that our bookshelves get raided so all those popular series titles kids want and parents are familiar with ( Harry Potter, Junie B. Jones, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Magic Tree House ) tend to be frequently checked out with few to no copies left on the shelf. This is frustrating for patrons who only want what is familiar but also can be fun for us as we get to jump into reader's advisory more and help these readers branch out and find something new (which can also be tricky as frequent go to readalikes tend to also be checked out!) So here's what we've been up to in our first two weeks of summer reading: -This year I did a kickoff party on the day SRP s