GreenBeanTeenQueen

Rating: 5/5 Genre: Adventure Release Date: 9/10/2013 Add to Goodreads About the Book:  Hilary Westfield has always dreamed of being a pirate. But when her application to The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates is rejected because she's a girl and Hilary discovers that her parents will be sending her off to Miss Pimm's Finishing School to become a proper lady, Hilary knows she must do something! When she sees an ad for a pirate crew, Hilary knows she must apply! Hilary and her talking gargoyle set out on an adventure on the high seas looking for treasure and encounter a terrible villain of the high seas! GreenBeanTeenQueen Says : I love a good rollicking fun filled adventure and The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates  is the start to an adventurous series that is sure to delight middle grade readers. Hilary is a spunky main character-just the sort of girl you would expect to sneak her way out of finishing school and join up with pirates. She's joined b

Why I Love Middle Grade Romance By R.J. Anderson   R.J. (Rebecca) Anderson is a UK-bestselling author for children and teens, including the Knife and Swift series of faery books for age 11 and up. Her latest book is Nomad (Orchard Books UK, January 2014), which may or may not include kissing. Visit her website (http://www.rj-anderson.com) or follow her on Twitter (@rj_anderson). A few years ago, someone asked me whether I read romance novels. Well, I have read a few, and even enjoyed some of them. But I wouldn't consider myself a regular reader of the romance genre, so what I said was, "I don't read romances. I read mysteries for the romance." What I forgot to add was that I read Middle Grade novels for the romance, too. I can hear some of my audience sputtering already. Romance, in stories for 8-12 year olds? Inconceivable! Everybody knows that readers of this age deplore "kissing books". They want action, adventure, stories about pets and fr

It's that time of year for book awards! Of course, the ALA Youth Media Awards were announced last month, but there have been some other exciting award announcements in the book world recently. I was lucky enough to be part of the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Second Round for the Cybils this year. Our winning title was Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud . It's a delightfully fun-and sometimes chilling-read that I'm sure middle grade readers who love ghost stories, mysteries and adventure will enjoy. The Audies are an award for audiobooks and I've never been disappointed by any of the titles chosen on the list. There are so many categories to choose from. The shortlists were recently announced and they are full of wonderful titles to listen to!

Rating : 5 / 5 Stars Genre: Contemporary   Release   Date : 9 / 24 / 2013 About   the Book : Flora loves to read The Amazing Incandesto comics and she knows a lot about superheroes. But she never thought she'd encounter a superhero squirrel. Yet that's exactly whet happens when her neighbors new vacuum cleaner sucks up a squirrel-Ulysses the superhero squirrel is born. Not everyone loves Ulysses and he finds an arch-enemy in Flora's mother. Good thing Flora has read every issue of Terrible Things Can Happen To You. She's prepared to help Ulysses and along the way this self-described cynic might just discover new friends, poetry, and the love of a  capacious heart.  GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: First off, let me say props to the Newbery Committee for choosing this delightfully quirky tale-what a great pick! Flora And Ulysses is a classic Kate DiCamillo story-and if you've never read any of her books, remedy that right now because you are missing out. No one

So … you want to read middle grade. Probably you should start by knowing what it is, right? Only problem is, there’s no one simple definition of it. Middle grade is the literature for those in the middle: the middle of so many changes and the middle of their school careers. But middle school can be different grades by districts and middle grade titles can appeal to ages 9-14. That’s a pretty broad range and that makes middle grade, almost by definition, ephemeral. So, where can you begin then?  Where can you, as a librarian, a writer, a reader, where can you start if you want to explore this genre, come to understand what it means and its impact? There are so many places you could dig in...but why not start with the best? To me, the genre best example of middle grade fiction comes from Gary Schmidt; the writer who brings structure, definition, and yes beauty to all that is ephemeral about this genre. In a handful of novels (several well-known and a few not-as w

I am so excited to be showing off the cover of Holly Schindler's upcoming YA novel, Feral . Holly is a local author-yay!- and I can't wait for her latest release. What's Feral about? It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew. But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena die

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Genre: Graphic Novel/Humor Release Date: 3/25/2014 Add to Goodreads About the Book: The Glorkian Warrior received a phone call that was destiny-a pizza order! And it's the Glorkian Warrior's job to deliver that pizza. But where does the pizza belong? And what will he do with encounters with a giant, a spaceship, and a baby alien?  And will he eat the pizza along the way? GreenBeanTeenQueen Says:  One of the fun things we do at our library youth services meetings is host a round robin for reader's advisory. During our graphic novel discussion, a co-worker recommended James Kochalka and I've been meaning to read one of his graphic novels ever since.  The Glorkian Warrior Delivers A Pizza  is a hilarious madcap adventure. The Glorkian Warrior is a silly alien who thinks he's knows everything, but is often mistaken and finds himself in crazy situations. It's a good thing he has his trusty Super Backpack around to

Baby GreenBean is now a month old and I'm finally getting into more a routine, so I'm back to blogging! I'll be posting here and there and hopefully get back to a regular posting schedule soon. Thank you all for sticking with me through my blogging break. Now enjoy some adorable photos of Baby GreenBean: