When the Black Girl Sings- Wright

Beautifully written story about a young black girl, Lahni, who was adopted by a white couple as a baby. She is their only child and while she knows she is loved by both of her parents, she also knows that things are not going well in their marriage. Lahni attends an all girls prep school where she is one of a very few minority students. Lahni is nominated by her friend to participate in a singing contest at school. It is quite an honor but Lahni is not sure she wants to participate. She has way to many other things to think about right now like graduating from middle school, her parents situation, and this creepy guy who seems to be stalking her.

I love Lahni's sense of self in this story. The author includes events in the story that show how young adults can empower themselves. I will be looking for more books by this author.

Maximun Ride: The Angel Experiment-Patterson

This story is an interesting mix of Science Fiction and Adventure. A group of genetically enhanced kids who can fly and have other unique talents are on the run from part-human, part-wolf predators called Erasers. Maximum is the leader of this group and feels responsible for their safety. The only problem is that she hears a voice in her head that is leading her directly back into the place where all their troubles began. Following this group as they search for answers about their pasts and learning how it will affect their futures makes for interesting reading. It is not so high-tech that if you usually steer clear of science fiction you wouldn't enjoy the book. It might be a good book to use as a spring-board into new types of genres.

Missouri Book Award Winners!

Hello there you library lovers!



As you know, I’ve been at the Missouri Association of School Librarians conference the last few days. I attended lots of sessions and I'm excited about some of the new programs and ideas shared by other librarians. I was also very excited to meet Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series! He was a very gracious man. He used to teach middle school social studies which explains how he knows his readers so well. Check out his website

http://rickriordan.blogspot.com/



This conference is where Missouri Reader awards are announced and often the winners from the previous year are there to accept their awards in person.



Here are the 2009 winners (drum roll, please):


Mark Twain Award:
3rd Place - Rules (1,675 votes)

2nd Place - Million Dollar Putt (3,286 votes)

1st Place - Sea of Monsters (11,823 votes)
Rick Riordan won the award two years in a row! Pretty neat!






Truman Awards:

3rd Place-Rash (547 votes)

2nd Place-Runaway (598 votes)

1st Place Life As We Knew It (840 votes)





So what do you think of the results? Do you agree with them? Be sure to comment and share your thoughts.

The Graveyard Book-Gaiman

The Graveyard Book is somewhat of a modern day Jungle Book story. Instead of being raised by animals, our young boy is being raised in a graveyard by ghost parents. Nobody Owens learns lessons like fading, haunting, and how to open ghoul gates--skills that prove useful when the man who killed his biological family comes back to finish what he started.

The Hunger Games- Collins

This is a futuristic story where the rulers of Panem pit two young people from each of the twelve districts against one another annually in a televised survival competition. It is a fight to the death where only one person survives. The competitors really don't have a lot of say about whether or not they want to participate. The government requires that their name goes into the drawing every year once they turn 12 years old. They are not safe again until they turn 18.

The author as taken our society's fascination with Real TV and turned it into a story the is very engaging and thought provoking. The development of the main character, Katniss, is so wonderfully written that you can't help but cheer her on during her quest. I really hope this book shows up on a Missouri award list next year. It is a winner in my book!

P.S. It is slated to be a trilogy. I can't wait for the next one to come out.
Mrs. G

39 Clues: The Sword Thief - Lerangis

Dan and Amy collaborate for a brief time with Alistair Oh and the Kabras during the search for the third clue in the series. This time the clues and adventure lead them to parts of Asia. Peter Lerangis does a great job of weaving threads from the past two books into the third so the story flows smoothly and the suspense continues to build. I can't want for the next book to be released. I love the concept of many writers collaborating on one storyline. I hope you will share your thoughts about this as well.

Mrs. G.

The Year of Secret Assignments-Moriarty

Mr. Botherit's pen pal project has been assigned and the students at Ashbury are less than excited about having to communicate with a bunch of drug dealers and other criminals from Brookfield High. You see, Ashbury is a private school where most of the parents are rich professional like lawyers and such. Brookfield, on the other hand,.....well, you know. Anyway, this book follows the letters and adventures of three girls and three boys. The girls have been best friends since elementary school and have quite a bit of history together. We find out they are quite the pranksters and are willing to take some risks. They aren't too worried about the consequences because their parents are lawyers. The two of the young men from Brookfield become quite smitten by their pen pals. The third one is a jerk. It is well worth reading the book to find out how the group handles the "jerk".

Because of some of the content I would rate this one more for Mature Audiences.