I am far too excited about this possible news of a new stop-motion Lemony Snicket movie, but can you blame me?
It would be so awesome!
Snicket news June 17, 2009
The Zombies are coming! June 5, 2009
In case you haven’t noticed, zombies are the new vampires in YA lit. So if you want to stay ahead of the curve, check out these brand new zombie books:
Phoebe Kendall is just your typical Goth girl with a crush. He’s strong and silent…and dead.
All over the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring. Some teenagers who die aren’t staying dead. But when they come back to life, they are no longer the same. Feared and misunderstood, they are doing their best to blend into a society that doesn’t want them.
Mary lives in a small village in the middle of the forest governed by the religious Sisterhood and bordered with a fence to keep out the Unconsecrated—a horde of the undead unleashed many generations ago by a mysterious and cataclysmic event. Life is simple but preordained; Mary fears her betrothal to a man she doesn’t love almost as much as the hungry jaws slavering at the fence links. Soon Mary and a small band of desperate survivors are thrown together to outwit the undead and work through their own weaknesses, suspicions, and jealousies. Grades 9-12. –Daniel Kraus (Booklist)
Times Square, New York City: The first ever mass séance is broadcasting live on the Sunrise morning show. If it works, the spirits of the departed on the other side will have a brief window — just a few minutes — to send a final message to their grieving loved ones.
The mediums slump over, slackjawed — catatonic. And in cemeteries surrounding Manhattan, fragments of old corpses dig themselves out of the ground….
But a disparate group of unlikely heroes — two headstrong college rivals, a troubled gang member, a teenage pop star and her bodyguard — is making its way to the center of the nightmare, fighting to protect their loved ones, fighting for their lives, and fighting to end the madness.
Megan Berry is a Zombie Settler by birth, which means she’s part-time shrink to a whole bunch of semi-dead people with killer issues. All Megan really wants is to go to homecoming, but when you’re trailed by a bunch of slobbering corpses whenever you leave the house, it’s kinda hard to score a date. Let’s just say Megan’s love life could use some major resuscitation.
Megan’s convinced her life can’t get any worse – until someone in school starts using black magic to turn average, angsty Undead into scary, hardcore flesh-eating Zombies. Now it’s up to Megan to stop the Zombie apocalypse. Her life – and more importantly, the homecoming dance – depends on it.
Teens on the lam May 7, 2009
rating: 4 of 5 stars
Quite frankly, I found a little sick pleasure in reading about a world where it’s illegal to get an abortion, but perfectly fine to have your unruly teen demolished for spare parts. That’s what working with the high school set on a daily basis will do for you, I guess. But I don’t think this book’s appeal is limited to the high school teachers and teen librarians of the world, quite the contrary. This sci-fi thriller set in in a future dystopia has a few twists and turns up its sleeve, which is a good thing – there are a lot of formulaic sci-fi novels out there that I’d just as soon not waste my reading time on. This book tells the story of three teens, scheduled to be “unwound” for three very different reasons, but are thrown together by circumstance, and must work together to try to make it to their 18th birthday (when it will once again be illegal to kill them). With an ending I didn’t see coming, I would definitely recommend this book to teens and adults alike.
My review
Boarding School for Vampires May 5, 2009
My review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Here’s the thing – fantasy writers writing anything within 10 years of Harry Potter really need to go out of their way to make different choices. I can totally believe that this book is not particularly Potter inspired (Rowling, after all, borrowed heavily from her predecessors too), but here are a great many similarities: 1)heroine leaves her ordinary life to attend a boarding school for the “special” (in this case vampires), 2)heroine is marked by an extraordinary mark on her forehead that means she has no chance of blending in, 3)on the first day our heroine meets both her instant enemy & roomate/best friend, 4)heroine has a teacher/mentor that she trusts and admires, yet does not confide in. You see what I mean?
That gripe aside, I did enjoy this story and will continue to read the series. A good series to recommend to Twilight admirers; it may even prove to be better written (but don’t tell the Twilight-heads I said that).
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Recycling beauty tips April 18, 2009
My Life in Pink & Green by Lisa Greenwald
My review
Lucy, age 12, lives with her grandmother and mom (her father moved to London when she was three) and together they run a family pharmacy. Unfortunately, the pharmacy hasn’t been doing well for a long time; no one orders sodas or snacks at the grill and most people fill their prescriptions at the big corporate pharmacies where they can also grocery shop. Lucy is optimistic, however, as she decides to pull out the stops to improve their prospects through makeovers and “going green.”
This book was a fun read, primarily because I enjoyed the pharmacy/family business aspect. Lucy’s a very likable character, and I was certainly rooting for her the whole time. Do I really believe a 12-year-old has more business sense than two previous generations? It’s a stretch, but I guess anything’s possible!
Raise the roof for a new New York librarian author!!
Naked violins aside April 18, 2009
The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way
My review
This graphic novel has a great look, awesome characters, and some fresh ideas. Unfortunately, with only one book, we get a taste for the Umbrella Academy world, and nothing else. I look forwad to a second volume to learn a little more about these character. I also hope we find out about some extraordinary children born at that fated second who weren’t brought to the Umbrella Academy.
rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Premise: Children around the world born at the same second have special powers of some sort. A handful of these newborns are gathered by an eccentric millionare to create the Umbrella Academy. These pint-size crime fighters grow apart until they are brought together by a new threat to the survival of the human race.
Happy National Library Week April 17, 2009
While I didn’t get the chocolates, gifts, and accolades I was expecting, at least I got a collection of library movie clips. I don’t like The Breakfast Club, but other than that, I did enjoy this:
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/04/checking-out-ou.html
I blame it on the stress April 15, 2009
I’ve been really stressed about work the last few weeks, and so that is where I place the blame for the fact that watching this video clip made me burst into tears – the good kind (kind of; I do generally make fun of my mom and sisters for this sort of crying).
Nevertheless, I had to share, in case you haven’t seen it yet.
Twilight funniness March 30, 2009
There’s so much great Twilight spoofiness available online that I don’t try to share it because it seriously never ends. HOWEVER, this one really cracked me up. Click here for an amazing synopsis (SPOILERS) of all four books in 16 panels:
