Official 2014 Teens’ Top Ten Titles Announced!

  1. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  2. Splintered by A.G. Howard 
  3. The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
  4. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
  5. Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne
  6. Earth Girl by Janet Edwards
  7. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
  8. Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
  9. Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
  10. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

You can see all of these titles, plus titles from other YALSA book awards and booklists, with the Teen Finder Book App! It’s free, and available for Android & iOS.

Dare To Be Scared! Horror Novels for Teens

We have a creeptastic selection of fantastic books. Here is a compilation of our horror novel selections from September 2014.

Aguirre, Ann. Mortal Danger. 2014. 376p. YA AGU

Baron, Ruth. Defriended. 2013. 248p. YA BAR

Bick, Ilsa J. White Space. 2014. 551p. YA BIC

Carroll, Emily. Through the Woods: Stories. 2014. YA GRAPHIC CAR

Chupeco, Rin. The Girl from the Well. 2014. 267p. YA CHU

Clare, Cassandra. City of Heavenly Fire. 2014. 725p. YA CLA

Garner, Em. Contaminated. 2013. 330p. YA GAR

Grant, Mira. Feed. 2010. 599p. YA GRA

Green, S.E. Killer Instinct. 2014. 257p. YA GRE

Hill, Joe. Locke & Key. 2008-2014. YA GRAPHIC HILL

Kooistra, Alison. The Night Wanderer: a graphic novel. 2013. 108p.  YA GRAPHIC KOO

Kraus, Daniel. Scowler. 2013. 289p. YA GRE

Lettrick, Robert. Frenzy. 2014. 298p. YA LET

May, Elizabeth. The Falconer. 2014. 378p. YA MAY

Ostow, Micol. Amity. 2014. 361p. YA OST

Snyder, Scott. American Vampire. Volume One. 2010. YA GRAPHIC AMERICAN VAMPIRE

Stolarz, Laurie Faria. Welcome to the Dark House. 2014. 357p. YA STO

Sullivan, Kiki. The Dolls. 2014. 371p. YA SUL

Vanhee, Jason. Engines of the Broken World. 2013. 262p. YA VAN

Vega, Danielle. The Merciless. 2014. 279p. YA VEG

New Book Friday: October 2014

All of a sudden, bam! The weather got cooler and chillier. Some of these books will help keep you warm (Hello, Knits for Nerds), while a few are guaranteed to give you chills (hello Amity, and Welcome to the Dark House). Don’t forget to stop by the library this month!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

   

   

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

New Audiobooks for September

We have six new books on CD! Check out audiobooks for long car rides, or check out with the physical book to read along! Great for auditory learners.

Anderson, Laurie Halse.Fever, 1793. 2007. Read by Emily Bergl. 5 CDs, 5 hours, 46 minutes.

Carleson, J.C. The Tyrant’s Daughter. 2014. Read by Meera Simhan. 7 CDs, 8.5 hours. Note: author J.C. Carleson is a former undercover CIA officer.

Herbach, Geoff. Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders. 2014. Read by Nick Podehl. 5 CDs, 6 hours, approximately.

Kraus, Daniel. Scowler. 2013. Read by Kirby Heyborne. 9 CDs, 11.5 hours. Note: winner of the 2014 Odyssey Award.

McCormick, Patricia. Sold. 2012. Read by Justine Eyre. 3 CDs, 3.5 hours. Note: Sold was on the 2014 summer reading list for the Cold Spring Harbor Junior/Senior High School.

Sheinkin, Steve. Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon. 2013. Read by Roy Samuelson. 6 CDs, 7 hours.

Most Popular Authors!

We’re going through all the book reviews submitted by teens this summer – and we’re proud to announce the most reviewed authors!

First place, with 8 reviews is Richelle Mead. Because of the amount of reviews, we will be ordering more copies of her teen books for the Young Adult section.

Second place, with 7 reviews is John Flanagan!

Third place is divided between two authors, who were each reviewed five times. Jennifer L. Armentrout and James Patterson. More of Ms. Armentrout’s books will be ordered for the Young Adult collection.

Fourth (and final place!) is appropriately divided between four authors, who were each reviewed FOUR TIMES! Nelson DeMille, John Green, Marie Lu, and Betty Smith were all read and reviewed.

 

Thanks to all of our participants in the Teen Summer Reading Club! Your book reviews were FANTASTIC! 🙂

Spark a Reaction Roundup

The 2014 Teen Summer Reading Club theme was “Spark a Reaction,” and did we spark a reaction!

66 teens signed up for the Summer Reading Club throughout the summer. Miss Kate, the Young Adult librarian, challenged the teens: if they collectively read more than 10,000 pages, she would dye her hair a wacky color. The teens read over 58,000 pages (total as of August 19: 59,765 pages). Next year the challenge will be upped to 70,000 pages!

Come to the library the first week of September — Miss Kate will have pink hair, all because of YOU!

Some of our best programs included Light Painting, Science EXPLOSION NIGHT!, and Silk Hoop Painting.

Silk Hoop Painting
Look at how high the soda went! Science EXPLOSION! Night
Light Painting!

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Really Scary Stories for Teens

Yeah, you’re going to want to sleep with the lights on. Enjoy these creepy when the sun is out!

Andrews, V.C. Flowers in the Attic. 2005, 1979.
Ensconced in the attic of their grandparents’ fabulous mansion by their abusive grandmother and dangerously selfish mother, Cathy, Chris, and their two younger siblings endure years of torment and become desperate to escape. You will not easily forget this story.

Barraclough, Lindsey. Long Lankin. 2012, 2011.
When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their great Auntie Ida in an isolated village in 1958, they discover that they are in danger from a centuries-old evil and, along with village boys Roger and Peter, strive to uncover the horrifying truth before it’s too late. Sleep with a nightlight on.

Beaudoin, Sean. The Infects. 2012.
Seventeen-year-old Nero is stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents on an “Inward Trek.” As if that weren’t bad enough, his counselors have turned into flesh-eating maniacs overnight and are now chowing down on his fellow miscreants. These kids have seen zombie movies. They know the rules. Unfortunately, knowing the rules isn’t going to be enough.

Bray, Libba. The Diviners. 2012.
Seventeen-year-old Evie O’Neill is thrilled when she is exiled from small-town Ohio to New York City in 1926, even when a rash of occult-based murders thrusts Evie and her uncle, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult, into the thick of the investigation. Make sure your calendar’s free – you won’t want to put this down.

Hale, Kathleen. No one else can have you. 2014.
When the homecoming queen of a quiet and peaceful Midwest community is found murdered, the victim’s best friend, Kippy, equips herself with her friend’s secret diary and rallies her own tenacious spirit to track down the killer. You won’t look at cornfields the same way again.

Kraus, Daniel. Scowler. 2013.
In the midst of a 1981 meteor shower in Iowa, a homicidal maniac escapes from prison and returns to the farm where his nineteen-year-old son, Ry, must summon three childhood toys, including one called Scowler, to protect himself, his eleven-year-old sister, Sarah, and their mother.

McNeal, Tom. Far Far Away. 2013.
When Jeremy Johnson Johnson’s strange ability to speak to the ghost of Jacob Grimm draws the interest of his classmate, Ginger Boltinghouse, the two find themselves at the center of a series of disappearances in their hometown.

McNeil, Gretchen. Possess. 2011.
Enlisted to help in dangerous cases of demonic possession, a teenaged exorcist discovers a race of part-demons intent on raising their forefathers to the earth in human form.

Sedgwick, Marcus. My swordhand is singing. 2006.
In the dangerous dark of winter in an Eastern European village during the early seventeenth century, Peter learns from a gypsy girl that the Shadow Queen is behind the recent murders and reanimations, and his father’s secret past may hold the key to stopping her.

Strand, Jeff. A Bad Day for Voodoo. 2012.
When your best friend is just a tiny bit psychotic, you should never actually believe him when he says, “Trust me. This is gonna be awesome.” This book will have you both cringing and cracking up.

 

Fairy Tales for Teens

Some are dark, some are chilling, some are a modern retelling of an old and familiar story. Curl up with one of these fairy tales today.

Carmody, Isobelle and Nan McNab. The Wilful Eye. 2013.
Inspired by such classic fairy tales as “Beauty and the Beast,” and “The Snow Queen,” collects six stories carrying universal themes of envy, desire, deception, courage, and sacrifice.

Cokal, Susann. The Kingdom of Little Wounds. 2013.
Seamstress Ava and royal nursemaid Midi find themselves at the center of an epic power struggle. On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the city prepares a fête. Yet a mysterious illness plagues the royal family, and a courtier’s hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion.

Cypess, Leah. Death Sworn. 2014.
When a young sorceress is exiled to teach magic to a clan of assassins, she will find that secrets can be even deadlier than swords.

Hahn, Rebecca. A Creature of Moonlight. 2014.
Marni, a young flower seller who has been living in exile, must choose between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants her dead, and a life with the father she has never known – a wild dragon.

Larson, Sara B. Defy. 2014.
Seventeen-year-old Alexa’s parents were killed by a sorcerer during a raid, so she has disguised herself as a boy, joined Antion’s army, and earned a place on Prince Damian’s guard – but Antion is ruled by an evil king, and “Alex” must find a way to defeat him and protect her prince.

McHugh, Maura. Twisted Fairy Tales: 20 Classic Stories with a Dark and Dangerous Heart. 2013.
Presents a collection of classic and lesser known fairy tales retold with sinister plot twists and macabre characters, including “Rapunzel,” “Molly Whupple,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “The Island of Skeletons.”

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder. 2012.
As plague ravages the overcrowded Earth, observed by a ruthless lunar people, Cinder, a gifted mechanic and cyborg, becomes involved with handsome Prince Kai and must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect the world in this futuristic take on the Cinderella story. Followed by Scarlet and Cress.

Moriarty, Jaclyn. A Corner of White. 2013.
Fourteen-year-old Madeleine of Cambridge, England, struggling to cope with poverty and her mother’s illness, and fifteen-year-old Elliot of the Kingdom of Cello in a parallel world where colors are villainous and his father is missing, begin exchanging notes through a crack between their worlds and find they can be of great help to each other.

Novgorodoff, Danica. The Undertaking of Lily Chen. 2014.
A hapless young man living in northern China is suddenly expelled from ordinary life when his brother dies in an accident. Holding Deshi responsible for his brother’s death, his parents send him on a mission to acquire a corpse bride to accompany his brother into the afterlife, in accordance with an ancient Chinese tradition.

Pearce, Jackson. Sisters Red. 2010.
After a werewolf killed their grandmother and almost killed him, sisters Scarlett and Rosie March devote themselves to hunting and killing the beasts that prey on teenaged girls, learning how to lure them with red cloaks and occasionally using the help of their old friend, Silas, the woodsman’s son.