Annotated Abraham Lincoln Nominees(IPart 3)

This week I am posting part three of a series of posts about the 2013-14 Abraham Lincoln Nominees. When we are done, we will have a complete list of annotated titles for students and teachers. There are some great books this year. So, please, read on!
------------------

Across the universe by Beth Revis 
Amy didn't want to go at first, but staying meant she would never see her parents again. All she had to do was be cryogenically frozen. She and her parents were to wake up 300 years later where they would help colonize a new planet, but 50 years early she is woken up and it was no accident. She is now living among the crew of the ship and one of them is trying to kill off the frozen colonists. One by one.


Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
It begins with a camping trip. Alex is taking one last adventure into the woods before the terminal brain cancer she has been diagnosed with ends her life. When an electromagnetic pulse blasts across the U.S. knocking out all electronic devices, the world is suddenly changed. She finds out that some adolescents have become the Changed, flesh-eating beasts (yep, zombies). She and two other survivors form a makeshift family who do their best to survive this new world.


Five flavors of dumb by Antony John 
A deaf girl would probably not be your first choice to manage your garage band. But then again, Dumb, the most recent winner of Seattle’s Battle of the Bands contest, wouldn't be Piper’s choice of a band to manage either. The band members are a bunch of misfits who can barely get along. But if Piper can get them a paying gig in the next month and hold the band together at the same time, she may be able to earn enough to cover college tuition and actually have the future of her dreams.


How to save a life by Sara Zarr 
Jill has been running away from her life ever since her dad died. In her grief, she has pushed away her mom, her boyfriend and her friends for a year. Mandy is trying to start her life over by
giving her unborn baby up for adoption.The two girls couldn't be more different. When Jill’s mom has offered to adopt the baby, Jill thinks it’s end of the world, but could it be the key to healing them all?

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
Felton Reinstein has never had it easy. Just look at his name--Felton. Even worse than this is nickname, Squirrel Nut. Felton has always been kind of nervous, skinny and socially awkward. It could be because of his dysfunctional family. His mom is mentally ill, his younger brother is a needy, insecure piano prodigy.And his dad committed suicide when Felton was five. Felton was the one who found the body. But for some reason, in his sophomore year of high school, puberty practically steamrolls him. He shoots to over six feet tall and becomes super fast. He is now a star football player and sprinter with tons of friends and hot new girl who wants to date him. God help the stupid fast, but clueless kid.

Abe Lincoln 2013 Winners and Nominees for 2014

Announcing the 2012-2013 Abraham Lincoln Award Winners

During the month of February schools across Illinois voted for their favorite Abe Nominee. Congratulations to the 1st Place Winner - Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher followed by 2nd Place - Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare and

3rd Place - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Continuing Part 2 of a series of posts introducing the new Abe Lincoln Nominees for 2013-2014 announced in April. We thought you would like to know more about some of the nominees. More titles to come in the next couple of weeks.

Divergent - Veronica Roth (2011)
In the future our society has been replaced with five factions all responsible for the end of the world as we know it. At the age of 16, Beatrice Prior and all the other sixteen year olds from all five factions must take a test to determine where they will train, work, and live for the rest of their lives. Wanting to remain with her family but anxious to explore a more exciting faction Beatrice takes the test. When her assessment results are analyzed the tester tells Beatrice she doesn’t fit into just one faction but is “Divergent and to keep this a secret even from her family, but why?

Everyday by David Levithan (2012)
Every morning “A “ wakes up in a different person's body. Either gender but always a day older. “A” develops a set of rules that have always made sense until the day he meets Rhiannon. Everyday a different body, every day a different place, now everyday the same love for Rhiannon, will "A" make this work?

Purple Heart by Patricia McCormick (2009)Matt Duffy an 18 year old soldier wakes up in a Baghdad hospital with a traumatic brain injury and very little memory of what happened. He was given a Purple Heart but struggles to regain his memory of what happened to him and his young Iraqi friend.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor (2012)
Seventeen-year-old Karou, a lovely and mysterious art student living in a Prague boarding school loves hanging out with her friends but also loves her underworld family of monsters. Karou is sent on missions to pick up teeth for her family and in return is granted wishes for her work. She is haunted by a beautiful stranger and black handprints begin to appear on doorways. This beautiful stranger somehow seems familiar to her as her past begins to unveil.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012)Sixteen-year old Hazel is in remission from Stage IV of thyroid cancer. Tied to an oxygen tank Hazel is ready to abandon life when she meets a very cute guy named Guz in a cancer support group. Together they explore love, life and letting go the one we love.

Abe Lincoln Nominees 2014: Some More Information, Part 1

The new Abe Lincoln Nominees were announced a few months ago. We thought you would like to know more about some of the nominees. This is part 1. More titles to come in the next few weeks.

Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Cinder lives with her cruel stepmother and stepsisters in a small apartment. She has to do most of the chores and most of her income goes to help pay the rent. There is a royal ball happening soon and Cinder’s sisters are eager to go. Sound familiar? It is, sort of. Cinder is not a typical teenage girl. She lives in New Beijing in a time after the third world war. She is a gifted mechanic who can fix any machine, and by the way, she is a cyborg. When Prince Kai asks for help with his personal robot, little does she know that she may be the only girl / machine who can save  the world from intergalactic war.

I hunt killers - Barry Lyga

Jazz Dent’s dad was one of the world’s most notorious serial killers. And even though his dad is in jail now, the memories of his past still haunt Jazz on a daily basis. And if that isn’t bad enough, everyone in town thinks, “like father, like son.”  They could be right. Billy Dent taught his son everything he knew, every grisly detail.  And now, with a new serial killer in town that is mimicking his dad’s crime, Jazz is obsessed with proving to everyone in town (including himself) that genes don’t determine your destiny.

Legend - Marie Lu

In the distant future, the two halves of the USA are separate countries that are constantly at war. June is the youngest soldier in the Army. Day is a young criminal who is trying to take down the Republic Government one terrorist attack at a time. They were sworn enemies until the day they found each other, and the truth.

The pregnancy project : a memoir - Gaby Rodriguez

Gaby Rodriguez never wanted to be a stereotype. Even though she is the daughter and sister of teen moms, nobody that knows her could imagine her being one herself. But she wondered, how would people react if she did get pregnant? She decided to find out. For her Senior year project, she made a decision that would change the lives of everyone in her school. She decided to fake a pregnancy. At the end of the year, she would reveal the truth to the whole school. Her story has been featured on Good Morning America and was even made into a Lifetime movie.  .

Ready player one- Ernest Cline

It is 2044 and the world is kind of a mess. To cope, everyone escapes into the world of the OASIS, a virtual world where they work, play, learn and even find love. When the creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves a huge fortune to the person who can solve a series of clues and puzzles that will take the players all over the thousands of planets in the virtual world. For five years, none of the thousands of players around the world can crack even one clue. And then Wade Watts, a poor teenager from Oklohama solves the first clue. The race is on.

2014 Abraham Lincoln Award Nominees

The new Abraham Lincoln Award nominees have been announced and we are trying to get enough copies in the LRC as quickly as possible. If you are not familiar with the whole Abe Lincoln Award thing, check out our web page on the yearly award. Trust me, it's awesome.



Here is the whole list:

Across the universe by Beth Revis
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Daughter of smoke and bone by Lani Taylor
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Every day by  David Levithan
Everybody sees the ants by A.S. King
The fault in our stars by John Green
Five flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Hate list by Jennifer Brown
How to save a life by Sara Zarr
I hunt killers by Barry Lyga
Legend by Marie Lu
Marcelo in the real world by Francisco Stork
The night circus: a novel by  Erin Morgenstern
The Pregnancy project: a memoir by  Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer
Purple heart by Patricia McCormick
Ready player one by Ernest Cline
Room by Emma Donoghue
Shadow and bone by Leigh Bardugo
Stupid fast by Geoff Herbach
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

And here are some other ways of looking at the nominees:

If you liked The Hunger Games....
Across the universe by Beth Revis
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Legend by Marie Lu
Shadow and bone by Leigh Bardugo

If you like a little magic or little bit of the supernatural with your romance...
Daughter of smoke and bone by Lani Taylor
The night circus: a novel by  Erin Morgenstern

How about an element of mystery?
Across the universe by Beth Revis
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
I hunt killers by Barry Lyga

It could happen to you (or someone you know)...
Everybody sees the ants by A.S. King
The fault in our stars by John Green
Five flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Hate list by Jennifer Brown
How to save a life by Sara Zarr
The pregnancy project: a memoir by  Gaby Rodriguez with Jenna Glatzer
Purple heart by Patricia McCormick
Stupid fast by Geoff Herbach
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Happening now in an alternate universe or in the future...
Across the universe by Beth Revis
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Daughter of smoke and bone by Lani Taylor
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Legend by Marie Lu
The night circus: a novel by  Erin Morgenstern
Ready player one by Ernest Cline
Shadow and bone by Leigh Bardugo

A dude's point of view...
Everybody sees the ants by A.S. King
I hunt killers by Barry Lyga
Purple heart by Patricia McCormick
Ready player one by Ernest Cline
Stupid fast by Geoff Herbach

A different point of view...
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Every day by  David Levithan
Five flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Marcelo in the real world by Francisco Stork
Room by Emma Donoghue

Most likely to make you think of Dexter or Hannibal Lecter...
I hunt killers by Barry Lyga

Most likely to make you laugh....
Stupid fast by Geoff Herbach

If you liked Thirteen Reasons Why...
The fault in our stars by John Green
Hate list by Jennifer Brown
How to save a life by Sara Zarr
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Author Spotlight: Chris Crutcher

Chris Crutcher has been working with kids and writing about them for a really long time. He has been a teacher, school principal, a child and family therapist, and of course a writer, since the 1970's.

Most of the time his fiction has two common elements. Dudes with issues and sports. His main characters have had to deal with anger, abuse, racism, dying young and whole range of other seemingly impossible situations. Sports helps most of them deal with their issues.The stories are intense page turners that don't pull punches when talking about tough issues or portraying teenagers just like they are. But most of his writing has an element of humor as well.

In an interview with School Library Journal, Crutcher was asked why he writes about teenagers. His answer was:

"Adolescence is often the first time people see that they have some influence over their world.... And that's a natural place to tell the story because, in my own memory, the heat was really turned up then. One of the reasons I write about older teenagers is that they're on the edge of having to live their lives themselves. Those initial decisions they make are really important. In my history I was lied to about what came next. I heard too many fairy tales" (SLJ, 2000)

Crutcher is also a tireless champion in fighting against censorship, often speaking out about the issue.

His new book Period 8 is coming out at the end of March. In the meantime, here is a list of titles we currently have in the LRC.

Novels

F Crutcher,C Angry management : three novellas.
F Crutcher,C Chinese handcuffs.
F Crutcher,C The crazy horse electric game.
F Crutcher,C Deadline.
F Crutcher,C Ironman
F Crutcher,C Running loose.
F Crutcher,C The sledding hill.
F Crutcher,C Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes.
F Crutcher,C Stotan!
F Crutcher,C Whale talk.

Non-fiction

 B Crutcher,C  King of the mild frontier : an ill-advised autobiography.

Short Stories

F Crutcher,C   Athletic shorts : six short stories.

SC Connections    Connections : short stories by outstanding writers for young adults.  

SC Dirty    Dirty laundry : stories about family secrets.  

SC On   On the fringe.  

SC Owning     Owning it : stories about teens with disabilities.  

SC Sports Pages     The sports pages.  

SC Time  Time capsule : short stories about teenagers throughout the twentieth century.  

SC Ultimate    Ultimate sports : short stories by outstanding writers for young adults.  

Blog Book Reviews

Did you know that we have over 500 book reviews from students on our LRC blog?

We have reviews of books from a wide range of genres (humor, science fiction, romance, etc.). Most are submitted as part of a class assignment, but we often get reviews from students who, on their own, are inspired to let everyone know about a particularly good (or bad book).

Finding Book Reviews

There are two ways to search for reviews. The first is to use the blog search bar at the top left corner of the screen. This works best if you know of a particular author or title For instance, if you want to see all the reviews of Stephen King books that other students have posted, can search for Stephen King or a book like Carrie.

If you are looking for a certain type of book (e.g. a certain genre or one that has certain characteristics – a funny book, for instance), you can use labels. All of our blog post reviews have labels that help us to organize them according to the type of book reviewed. A book that is a fictional romance with lots of funny moments would probably have labels like: romance, fiction, funny (or humor). You can find a directory of these labels in the bottom left corner of the blog.

Just click on a label and you will get all book review posts with that label.

Submitting Your Own Book Review

If you would like to submit your own book review, go to the top menu bar of the blog and click on the Submit a Book Review link. Fill in the information in the book review submission form. Done.

The review gets sent to the LRC staff. We edit and then post the reviews to the blog. It can sometimes take us a while to get to it. So, if it has been a few days or longer, please feel free to stop by and check with us. We might be able to speed it along for you.

Best of the Best Books for 2012 (so far...)

Every year about this time, about a bazillion (yep, you read it correctly) publications, including blogs, magazines, newspapers and others start to publish their best of the year lists. Of course, these lists include plenty of books in every category. Some of the lists won't be published until next year, but others are already here. Listed below are a sampling of these lists just in time for the holiday break.

There will probably be more lists after the new year and I am sure I missed quite a few lists. Please feel free to make other list suggestions in the comments section.

Books for Teenagers

Did you now there are tons of books written for teenagers every year. According to American Libraries magazine, at least 5,028 were published in 2009 and 4,939 in 2010. Here are some of the best from 2012.

Chosen by Professional Critics

Most of these lists are compiled by professional critics who review books for a living. Some are compiled by librarians who work with children and teenagers. The New York Times has a list of Notable Children's Books for 2012. It includes a Young Adult category.Librarian magazines Kirkus Reviews, Horn Book, School Library Journal and Booklists' end of the year best includes books for children and teens. Look at the suggested ages for suggestions. Both SLJ  and Booklist also published Best Adult Books for Teens lists as well. Blogger Jennifer Hubert Swan posts on the Reading Rants blog. She does a an awesome Top 10 list every year.

Chosen by Teens

There are also some lists that have been compiled from votes cast by teenagers. The Young Adult Library Services Association (an organization for librarians who mainly serve teens) publishes the Teens' Top Ten. The books were voted on by a select group of teens from around U.S. The Young Adults' Choice Reading List is from the International Reading Association. If you are a teenager and want to contribute to a similar list, go to the 2013 Teen Choice Book of the Year page on the TeenReads website. Finally, the user driven website Good Reads had members vote on the best books of the year in several categories. There is no guarantee that all the votes in the teen category were cast by teens, but it is still worth checking out. They have categories for Young Adult Fiction and Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Books for Staff Members (and Interested Students)

Many well known mainstream publications such as The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, Seattle Times publish either a single list or one in multiple categories. Online publications such as The Huffington Post and Slate have their own lists as well.

Librarian trade magazines also publish best of lists. Booklist publishes their Editor's Choice list, as well as the top of the list selections. Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews also publish their own lists. 

Finally, I don't want to forgot the lists from the National Public Radio and Good Reads websites. The NPR list is selected by critics and the Good Reads selections are voted on by site users. 

Recommended Reading: Hard Knock LIfe

Here are five true stories about teenagers who grew up in a world of gangs, drugs and violence. All eventually found their way out to a successful life away from the streets.

365.42 HEN
Henry, Nathan L. Good behavior.
In jail at 16 for armed robbery, tales of a rough life filled with guns, drugs, and violence, Henry reflects from jail on his life so far.

B DeLaCruz,J
De la Cruz, Jesse. Detoured : My Journey from Darkness to Light. 
Jesse De La Cruz grew up in the barrios of California leading a life that led to him to become a convict heroin addict and gang member. He eventually served about thirty years of his life in prison. He eventually enrolled in college and graduated with bachelors and masters degrees.


B McCall,N
McCall, Nathan. Makes Me Wanna Holler : A Young Black Man  in America. 
McCall’s story takes us through his troubled childhood, to prison and finally to a successful career as a journalist at the Washington Post.


B Rodriguez,L
Rodriguez, Luis J. Always Running : La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. 
By the time he was 12, Rodriguez was a veteran East L.A. gang member. He witnessed many shootings, beatings and arrests as he lost an ever greater number of family and friends. He eventually was able to break out of the gang life and become an award winning writer.


B Ruiz,M
Ruiz, Mona. Two Badges : The Lives of Mona Ruiz.
Ruiz has been a gang member, high school dropout, disowned by her family, an abused wife and a mother on welfare. But finally, she overcame all obstacles and became a police officer serving her community.

Finding Great Nonfiction Stories on the Web

Research shows that when people read on the Internet, they usually scan a page looking for information they need instead of reading the page word for word. There are a lot of possible reasons for this type of reading.  We tend to be in such a hurry these days, there are so many websites competing for our attention, reading computer screens puts strain on our eyes, among other reasons.

Sometimes we want to find something that will keep our attention and that we want to slow down and read, but we don't have the time or interest for a full length novel or nonfiction book. Longer, in-depth magazine and newspaper articles--also known as long form journalism--fit the bill,. But you have to, you know, put down your computer or phone to read those. So try the online equivalent! Long form journalism on the web.

But there are so many reprinted newspaper and magazine websites with articles, as well as original articles on websites, it can be hard to find the best ones to read. Lucky for you there are a number of sites that sift through these articles and point you to the best ones. Most of these sites are free and so are the articles they point to.Also, all of these sites either have editors or a community of readers who help to determine the list of articles.

Getting Started with the Best

To get started, try Longform. It has a simple interface that is searchable and easy to navigate. Byliner is similar, but it offers a little bit more. In addition to single articles, Byliner offers themed collections of articles on a topic. They call these Spotlights. They also have even longer original articles that are reasonably priced. For some more scholarly material, try the Arts & Letters Daily from The Chronicle of Higher Education. The A&L Daily has been around since 1998 and it is for the more discriminating reader. Another difference with A&L Daily doesn't just focus longform journalism, but all of the information is still handpicked.

Now Check Out the Rest

Next, try the other guys. Longreads is similar to Longform. Like A&L Daily, The Browser curates more than just long form articles. It has articles, interviews, book recommendations and videos. Instapaper and Readability provide tools for your browser that allow you to create stored lists of articles to read later. They also can reformat webpages so that distracting ads and other content that might distract you from reading are removed. In addition, they also provide their own list of best articles that their readers are saving as well. Readability has a top reads section while Instapaper has The Feature site.

Mobile Reading

All of these sites have mobile apps, mobile browser versions and/or the ability to send the articles to your e-reader.Check out their sites for more information.

Recommended Reading: Kicking It Old Ghoul: Classic Horror Stories

Halloween just happened. So check out stories that used to scare you great grandparents.

F James,H
James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw.
A young governess is hired to take of care of two seemingly perfect children whose parents have died.  Soon after, the evil ghosts of the children’s former governess and a servant appear and the children appear to be hiding something.

F Shelley,M
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein .
After studying natural philosophy, chemistry and alchemy, Victor Frankenstein decides to try to bring a body made up of parts of human corpses back to life. He succeeds, but the monster resents him for creating him and he seeks revenge.

F Stevenson,RL
Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Dr. Jekyll, a respectable London doctor creates a potion that when he drinks it turns him into the evil and murderous Mr. Hyde.

F Stoker,B
Stoker, Bram.  Dracula.
A rich nobleman from Transylvania (Romania) named Count Dracula seeks the help of lawyer Jonathan Harker to help him purchase some real estate so that he can immigrate to England. Harker soon finds that he is trapped in Dracula’s castle. When he finally escapes to England, he doesn’t realize that Dracula has followed him.

F Wells,H
Wells, H. G. The Invisible Man.
A mysterious man arrives in a small town in England with his body completely covered in clothes, bandages and large goggles. The townspeople eventually find out that the man is invisible underneath all of the bandages and they chase him out of town. Driven insane by his inability to reverse the invisibility, he goes on a murderous rampage.

Recommended Reading: If you're done with the Twilight series...

Have you read all the Twilight books (twice) and seen all of the movies?   Or are you sick of vampire books? Either way, if you are looking for something new, you might like these series.

F Clare,C 
Clare, Cassandra. City of Bones. 
New Yorker Clary Fray just wanted to go have a good time at the Pandemonium club. She never expected to witness a murder committed by three other teenagers with strange tattoos and unusual weapons. Also, the three teenagers were invisible to everyone else and there was no body or even blood to report to the police. Clary later learns that the other teens were called Shadowhunters, a secret society dedicated to killing demons. In the next twenty-four hours, she is attacked by a demon herself and mother ends up missing. With the help of the gorgeous Shadowhunter Jace and his friends, she learns of a whole new world that has always co-existed with ours.

 F Marr,M 
Marr, Melissa. Wicked Lovely. 
Rules #1-3. Do not stare at invisible faeries, do not speak to them, and definitely don't draw their attention to you. Aislinn has always been able to see faeries, but these rules have always kept her safe, until now. Everything changes when Keenan, the Summer King, chooses her as his mate. She is now involved in the 900 year old struggle between Keenan and his mother, the Winter Queen. If Aislinn refuses him, summer will cease to exist and mortals and faeries will all die. If she accepts, she will lose her own humanity.

F Noel,A 
Noël, Alyson. Evermore.
 Since the car accident that killed her family but spared her, sixteen year old Ever can see other people's auras, hear their thoughts and know their life story by touching them. She goes out of her way to avoid contact with other people until she meets the mysterious. Damen Auguste. She feels an instant connection with him. When she is with him, the noise and chaos in her head subsides. He doesn't have an aura and he always seems to know what she is thinking. But she doesn't really know who, or what, he really is.

F Stiefvater,M 
Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver.
Grace has watched the wolves outside of her window every winter for years, but she had always been drawn to the mysterious yellow eyed one who seemed to take an interest in here too. What she doesn't know is that these wolves turn into their human form during the summer months. When she meets a boy with the same yellow eyes, she knows somehow that it is him, her wolf. As they start fall for each other, she learns when winter comes again, and with it the change, this could be last year as a human. He will lose Grace and himself forever.

F Taylor,L 
Taylor, Laini. Daughter of Smoke and Bone.
 Karou is a beautiful young art student in a Prague boarding school. Her natural bright blue hair and her sketchbook is filled with pictures of horrible monsters, drawings of the only family she has ever known, the Chimaera, She speaks many languages, not all of them human. She occasionally runs errands for the devil Brimstone, a wishmonger and father figure who has her collect teeth from around the world, especially human ones. You can understand why she doesn't know who she really is or where she came from. One fateful day she meets the seraphim Akiva with whom she feels an instant connection, she finally starts to get the answers she seeks, even if it means the end of her life as she knows it.

Recommended Reading: Escape!

Stories about teenagers held against their wills trying to escape before it's too late.

F Bodeen,S 
Bodeen, S. A. The Compound.
When a nuclear war starts, Eli's billionaire father rushes his family in into their underground compound. They have everything they need to survive until it is safe to go above ground again. But when things start to go wrong, Eli realizes the real danger is not just on the surface but within his own family.

F Dashner,J
Dashner, James. The Maze Runner.
When Thomas wakes up on the lift, all he can remember is his first name. When the doors open, he finds himself in a huge maze with stone walls called the Glade. He is surrounded by a group of boys his own age who have a similar story. Every 30 days a new boy arrives, but no one has ever escaped the Glades.

F Henry,A
Henry, April. Shock Point.
When Cassie finds out that her psychiatrist stepfather Rick has been illegally prescribing an experimental drug to teen patients who have then committed suicide. To silence her, Rick commits her to a sadistic boot camp for troubled teen in Mexico called Peaceful Cove.  Even if she can escape the brutal camp, she has to get through the Mexican desert and get back to Oregon. And even then, who will believe her story?

F Smith,A
Smith, Alexander Gordon. Lockdown: Escape from Furnace.
Furnace Penitentiary is the world's most secure youth prison. It is a mile underground and its inmates are all serving life sentences. The guards and the other inmates are sadistic, but they aren't the worst things about the prison. Alex Sawyer is a criminal, but he has been falsely imprisoned for murder. Together, with a group of other innocent kids and some cold blooded killers, Alex plans a dangerous escape.

 F Strasser,T
Strasser, Todd. Boot Camp.
Harmony Lake is a boot camp for troubled teens and supposedly a godsend for desperate parents.  Like all kids at the camp, Garrett is taken in the middle of the night. He knows that some of the kids deserve there, but when he is beaten and subjected to psychological abuse, he knows he has to try to escape at all costs before it is too late.

Reading Books in Your Lexile Range

What is a Lexile score and how is it predicted? Lexiles are strictly a unit of measure that analyzes both text and a reader's ability level. Lexiles work by first measuring a reader's level from a test or program. Books are analyzed by Metamatrix which measures word frequency and sentence length. Lexile scores are indicated with a capital L and range from L 200 (beginning readers) to L 1700 and above (advance readers)

Can knowing my Lexile score help me to become a better reader? Yes, selecting a book slightly above your Lexile score (50 points) can challenge you without losing your ability to comprehend the story. Reading with an advanced reader in tandem is a wonderful strategy for a beginning reader: The advanced reader reads a section of text aloud followed by the beginner reader reading the same text aloud. Also, each reader may take a turn reading a paragraph aloud. This helps a beginner reader develop prosody and speed.

How do I find books in my Lexile range? You can find book titles in your Lexile range and also find
a book in a genre that interest you by going to Lexile.com. Fill in your last Lexile score and check which genre interests you, an appropriate book list will follow.

During the summer months select books you'll enjoy reading, challenge yourself with a slightly higher Lexile range and you will return to school next fall a better reader.

Five Sites for Finding Cool Reads for Teens

Here are five of the best places on the web to find information about the coolest books written for teenagers. These sites are targeted for teenagers, but they are certainly adult friendly too.

Guys Lit Wire
http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/
Guys Lit Wire reviews and reccomends books for dudes, specifically teenage guy dudes. They explain their mission this way: "Guys Lit Wire exists solely to bring literary news and reviews to the attention of teenage boys and the people who care about them. We are more than happy to welcome female readers - but our main goal is to bring the attention of good books to guys who might have missed them." In addition to their reviews, you should also check out their Live Wires section for themed reading lists.

No Flying No Tights
http://noflyingnotights.com/
No Flying No tights reviews and reccomends graphic novels, manga and anime to all ages, but their main audience is teens. The creator of the site says " I decided to create a page devoted to graphic novel reviews specifically for those who read them the most — mainly teens — and for those who might be involved in distributing them to teens — namely teachers, librarians, and parents." For newbies, there is a Comics 101 section and a resource section for boring teacher and librarian types.

readergirlz
http://readergirlz.blogspot.com/
The readergirlz organization does more than just review books. Their mission includes being a "cutting-edge literacy and social media project for teens." They encourage reading and donate books too. Their blog, the place where they put their reviews,showcases "strong female protagonists while aiming to include: multicultural titles; various socioeconomic circumstances; the overlooked, quiet, literary works; and the commercial successes that everyone is excited about." They also help support Teen Lit Day with their Rock the Drop initiative.Good stuff.

Reading Rants
http://www.readingrants.org/
Reading Rants! Out of the Ordinary Booklists! is a collection of themed booklists from an awesome schoo librarian (yeah, I said it). She describes the purpose of the blog this way: "A group of booklists for teens out there who need a good read, but are wondering if there’s life after Judy Blume and Brian Jacques." The site is structured as a blog, so if you want to see all of the books in a category, click the tags at the bottom of the description or click on a list category on the left side under Reading Rants Lists.

Teenreads
http://www.teenreads.com/
Teenreads is part of the Book Report Network of websites. The site has reviews, feature articles, newsletters, interviews with authors and all kind of other information about books for teenagers.

"Sail into Reading" at the LRC Book Fair

When: May 14-16 (Monday-Wednesday)

Where: Commons during lunch hours

What: Books and free popcorn with purchase, plus a raffle ticket for each book purchased

Buy a book from among the many high interest nonfiction and fiction titles being offered. Included in the book fair will be the 22 Abraham Lincoln Award nominees and the summer required reading program titles, along with many others.

Cash, Checks or Credit cards accepted.

So join in the fun and "Sail into Reading" with WEGO

1st Prize Raffle: Beach pail filled with candy, beach items, and of course a good book
2nd Prize Raffle: $25 gift card from Starbucks donated by Mrs.Burkard (LRC)

Pictures of You: 5 Graphic Novels about the Lives of Teenagers

Don't like comic books and super hero movies? No problem. Here are 5 graphic novels that tell realistic stories about high school students trying to deal with life and all its complications.


G Anthony,J 
Anthony, Jessica. Chopsticks.
After her mother died, Glory's father raised her as a piano prodigy keeping her on a rigid practice schedule with big plans to sell out concert halls. Now a teenager, Glory has disappeared. The story flashes back to the events leading up to the disappearance and we see Glory falling for her next door neighbor Frank and her descent into madness.

G Castelluci,C 
Castellucci, Cecil. The Plain Janes.
After a bomb goes off in Metro City, Jane's parents decide to move to the suburbs. Jane thinks her life is over. But in the lunch room, she meets three outcasts named Jane. The girls decide to start a group called P.L.A.I.N. –People Loving Art In Neighborhoods. They pull a series of pranks that are meant to introduce art to the town (like putting wool caps on fire hydrants), but their plans backfire when the community gets in an uproar about the stunts.

G McKeever,S 
McKeever, Sean. The Waiting Place. Definitive ed.
High school senior Jeffry Dietz's parents move him from the suburbs to the podunk town of Northern Plains. It is a tiny, tourist trap town (population 972) where there is nothing to do. Jeffry struggles to make new friends and avoid new enemies as he and all the other teenagers try to escape the boredom and drama of high school in a small town.


G Novgorodoff,D 
Novgorodoff, Danica. Refresh Refresh : A Graphic Novel. 
Josh, Cody and Gordon are three best friends on the brink of graduating high school. Like many men in their small town, all three of their fathers have gone off to fight in Iraq. They worry about their fathers coming back home alive and about the big decisions facing them after graduation. They cope in different ways on their own, but together they form a type of fight club where they attempt to honor the sacrifices made by their fathers and to deal with their own unspoken pain.

G Thompson,C 
Thompson, Craig. Blankets : An Illustrated Novel. 
Blankets tells the artist's own story of growing up with a strict, evangelical family in a small town in Wisconsin. Life is tough for Craig and his younger brother. Their parents' behavior borders on abuse and their classmates bully them. As a teenager, Craig is a misfit and loner who mostly sticks to his art. Then he meets Raina and her friends at a church camp. Craig starts to question his parent's values and falls in love for the first time.

Creating Book Trailers

How often do we ask our students to read a book and then answer questions or write a book report?  A book trailer can be an alternative form of assessment while exciting and fun for you and your students. 

Today’s post is about using creativity and communicating information using multimedia formats; NETS and NCTE Standards for 21st Century Learners.

• First create a folder to store your copyright free images, music and video.

• Next create a story line for your book without giving away the ending. Make sure your book trailer focuses on the main character, setting, plot and theme.
• Now find pictures and music which captures the essence of the book. Remember, don’t give away the ending but entice your viewers into reading the book. Try these sites: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ www.freefoto.com/ or www.office.microsoft.com/EN-US/CLIPART/DEFAULT.ASPX and others
  
• Finally use a movie editor such as Windows Movie Maker, Photo Story, Prezi or Animoto to create your book trailer.

Here's an example of a book trailer that was fun to create. This book trailer features the Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

For more information or additional resources on creating book trailers visit the LRC

Abraham Lincoln Nominees: 5 Book Trailers

The nominees for the Abraham Lincoln Award for 2013 have been announced. So it's time to get down to business and start reading them. There are some great titles on the list--22 of them in fact. Information about the award and the title list can be found on our Abe Lincoln Award page. Here are book trailers for five of the nominees.


1. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld 



2.Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson



3. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey



4. Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta



5. Matched by Ally Condie

Author Spot Light: Nicholas Sparks

Did you know…Nicholas Sparks holds a black-belt in Tae Kwon Do and a track and field record at the Univesity of Notre Dame?

Did you know…After selling the rights to The Notebook, the first thing he bought was a new wedding ring for his wife?

Did you know…Nicholas Sparks and J.K. Rowling (of Harry Potter fame) are the only contemporary authors to have a novel spend more than a year on both the New York Times hardcover and paperback best-seller lists?

A jack of all trades, Nicholas Sparks has worked as a waiter, real estate appraiser. pharmaceutical rep and bought and restored homes. Above all he has mastered writing love stories with an unexpected twist. "All of my novels have a basis in my own life. I write love stories with roots to Greek tragedies. Only romance novels have a guaranteed happy ending. I write love stories."

The Note Book, 1996 *
Message in a Bottle, 1998 *
A Walk to Remember, 1999 *
A Bend in the Road, Warner Books, 2001.
Nights in Rodanthe, Warner Books, 2002. *
The Guardian, Warner Books, 2003.
The Wedding, Warner Books, 2003.
True Believer, Warner Books, 2005.
At First Sight, Warner Books, 2005.
Dear John, Warner Books, 2006. *
The Choice, Warner Books, 2007.
The Lucky One, Warner Books, 2008. *
The Last Song, Warner Books, 2009. *
Safe Haven, Warner Books, 2010.
Best of Me, Warner Books, 2011.
Memoir (With Micah Sparks) Three Weeks with My Brother, Warner Books, 2004.


This weekend why not rekindle the love in your life by checking out one of the above titles from the LRC. If you are in the mood for a movie try one of Nicholas Sparks inspired stories on DVD from your public library.

If You Liked Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Part 2)

You just finished the Hunger Games books or you can't seem to get a copy or you just saw the movie (or plan to) and you want more just like it. A few months ago, we posted a list of books that might help quiet that (ahem) hunger. But that wasn't enough!  Here are five more books that you might like if you enjoyed the Hunger Games trilogy (or the movie).

F Condie,A
Condie, Allyson Braithwaite. Matched.  The Society is there to make the right choices for you—what to read, what to watch, what to believe, who to date. At least that is what Cassia always thought. At her Matching ceremony where the Society picks your ideal mate, she expects only one face to appear on the screen and it does…until a second one flashes right before the screen goes black. The Society tells her it is a rare malfunction, but she starts to doubt what she has always believed. She now faces an impossible choice: do what she has always been told or make her own choice who to love.

F Hautman,P
Hautman, Pete. Rash.  It's 2074 and the U.S. has become the United Safer States of America (USSA), a nation obsessed with safety. Football, football, guns, large dogs, chainsaws and whole bunch of other things are illegal. 16 year old Bo Marsten is accused of causing a rash that spreads to his whole high school. When he loses his temper over the incident, he is shipped off to a manual labor prison camp in the Arctic Circle that is surrounded by polar bears. Bork, an artificial intelligence program he created for a science project tracks him down and offers to get his 5 year sentence reduced, but can he trust him?

F Oliver,L
Oliver, Lauren. Delirium. With only 95 days before her 18th birthday when she would undergo the procedure to prevent it, Lena Haloway develops a deadly strain of amor deliria nervosa, otherwise known as love. She has learned all her life that love causes suffering, pain, impulsiveness, anxiety and other problems. The procedure is a cure that will prevent the disease from taking hold. When she meets Alex, one of the fugitive Invalids, a tribe of people that is uncured and lives a life of passion and freedom, she has choose between Alex and the wishes of her family.

F Smith,A
Smith, Alexander Gordon. Lockdown : Escape From Furnace. Alex Sawyer is put in Furnace Penitentiary for a crime he didn't commit. Furnace is the most secure prison for young offenders in the world. It is buried a mile underground and is ruled by sadistic guards and brutal inmates who might drag you off in the middle of the night only to have you return weirdly altered. Alex faces life without parole unless he can escape with the help of a group of kids, some who have also been framed and others cold blooded killers.

F Stiefvater,M
Stiefvater, Maggie. The Scorpio Races.
Every November on the island of Thisby, the locals hold a deadly contest called the Scorpio Races. Contestants ride Capaill Uisce, man-eating water horses who rise from the autumn seas to terrorize the islanders. Some riders like Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick race to win or just to survive; others never make it to the finish line. Puck Connolly is the first girl ever to ride in the annual races. She is not prepared for what will happen next.