Young Adult books

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Readergirlz – The Website I Recommend to Every Mother of a Teenage Reader Girl

February 2, 2010 in young adult by Kim | 9 comments

My daughter is a voracious reader.   Feeding her books is a Herculean task – she reads quickly and constantly.  She wiped out her elementary school library and is methodically working her way through the upper and middle school library.  Within two weeks of starting at her new school, I wondered if the librarians knew her better than any of the new girls she met at school.  As for buying books, if I opened up her college account for the purchase of new books, she would wipe it out before summer.

Whenever I visit a bookstore, I’m looking for new and unique books for me and for Kelsey.  For as much as I read, it’s fairly easy to point me towards a book I’ve never heard of.  I feel sorry for the bookseller who is trying to find a book for Kelsey.  It’s usually one suggestion after another followed by me responding,”she’s already read that.”  [The main exception being Jessica at Latitude 33.]

Then came readergirlz.  I first heard of readergirlz when they won the Innovations in Reading Prize sponsored by the National Book Foundation.  I knew then I would love the site and after watching my daughter use it, I was right.  Followers of this blog know that what makes a book truly meaningful to me is what it sparks in my life.  Readergirlz creates a beyond the book experience for each monthly selection.  Most importantly, Kelsey had read only a quarter of the suggestions.  Which is why I love readergirlz.  Here is what is included with every book recommendation:

  • Author interview
  • Author live chat – Kelsey squealed when E. Lockhart answered her question during last month’s live chat
  • Music playlist hand picked by the author – it’s my hope that listening to the music will slow Kelsey down
  • Discussion questions
  • Party suggestions from food, decorations and attire themed to the book
  • Suggested further reading – such a relief that someone else is helping to supply her with book recommendations
  • A community service activity themed to the book or current events – this is my favorite part!

In addition to the monthly community service activity, readergirlz is sponsoring a Teen Book Drop on April 15th.  Readergirlz is challenging teens everywhere to drop a YA book in a public place on April 15th.  We’re already planning our drop, we’re considering taking Kelsey out of school early and dropping her choices to the public bus stop that is mobbed with high school kids everyday.

Our house rule is that I will pay for any readergirlz book.  Last weekend, we visited  Village Books and Kelsey compiled long book wish.  When the bookseller asked if she could help, Kelsey showed her the list and said “the ones with stars are from readergirlz.”   The bookseller hadn’t heard of readergirlz.   She was excited to find a new place for recommendations.  Kelsey walked out with seven books.  On the way to the car, she said “this should keep me busy for a week.”  I stopped dead in my tracks, “a week?  Have you considered reading slower?”

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Best Gifts for Readers – Young Adult Books

December 21, 2009 in childrens, gifts, graphic novels, recommended reading, young adult by Kim | 6 comments

Here is the list my daughter has been clapping her hands in anticipation for:  a YA list from Jessica, the pied piper of young literature from Latitude 33 in Laguna Beach, CA.  Last summer, Kelsey and I visited Latitude 33 and Jessica spent a long time talking books with Kelsey – they were reading soul mates.  Luckily for the rest of us, she just started her own blog about children’s and young adult books, Read Schmead:  Tales from the Book.  We asked Jessica for some favorite YA books that any reader would love to receive as a gift and here are her thoughts:

A Non-Definitive List of Great Books for Young Adults

This list, like all lists, is incomplete.  Also, it is definitely not definitive.  My fiancee, Nōn, and myself have compiled this list because we love young adult books.  Enjoy.

 Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke – Igraine the Brave, from the author of the Inkheart trilogy, is absolutely delightful.  Igraine wants nothing more than to be a Knight, but little excitement comes to her Pimpernel’s castle, until one day when all craziness breaks loose and Igraine—with some help—must fight against the evil sorcerer.  I listened to the audiobook version and found Xanthe Elbrick’s voices perfect for all of the characters.

 The Maze Runner by James Dashner – Suspense, action, creepy crawlers, The Maze Runner has it all.  Thomas awakes in an elevator shaft in a place called the Glade unable to remember anything of his life, only his name.  He soon discovers that he and the other boys living in the Glade must stay there until they figure out the ever-changing maze, but it’s not that easy because after dark the Grievers come out.  I was utterly captivated by the world Dashner creates and I can’t wait for the next book (this is the first in a trilogy)!  For the first time in a while I found myself unable to put the book down and actually used my cell phone to light the page when I was reading late at night.  [Kim - check out  the book trailer on Jessica's blog.]

 Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Easily the best young adult book in the last few years!  This book is the first in a series about Katniss, a sixteen-year-old girl, living in what used to be America and is now called Panem.  She is forced to participate in the “Hunger Games;” a government orchestrated game in which a boy and a girl from each district is forced to fight until there is only one survivor.  I definitely recommend this book to everyone over the age of twelve, adults included!  If you have not read Hunger Games yet then it is a must buy for the holidays! 

 If I Stay by Gayle Forman – A touching novel, If I Stay left me weepy, but I never felt manipulated. Seventeen-year-old Mia is involved in a terrible car accident leaving her in critical condition and her mother, father Read the rest of this entry »

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Looking for Summer Reading Suggestions for Kids?

May 18, 2009 in childrens, young adult by Kim | 2 comments

Once my kids start middle school, I give them a summer reading list that must be complete by the end of the summer.  In exchange, I don’t nag them if they spend a whole day watching TV or IMing or playing some silly computer game.  Well, I try really hard not to nag, I probably succumb too frequently to saying “remember your reading list.”  I spend a bit of time devising the reading list, it’s part a compilation of the school’s suggestions, where we’re going on vacation, a couple of books from the Bible, and a book or two that might talk about something the kids will study the next year in school.  Sometimes I give them a list of great choices and ask them to pick a few, that way they have some say in what they are reading.  Most of the books are fun and a couple are a stretch.  Now I have new source of inspiration, Twenty by Jenny.

Twenty by Jenny suggests books for four age groups:  Up to three years, four to seven, eight to twelve, and teens.  Each month Jenny recommends a new book, but what I found most interesting were the twenty classics she recommended for each age group.  Don’t let the term “classics” scare you, it doesn’t mean Charles Dickens (even I let my kids English teacher assign Dickens, I love him, but frequently part of reading Dickens as a teenager is complaining about it).  At Twenty by Jenny, teenage classics includes Are You There, God?  It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (how to get any women all gushy, just mention this book) and the more recent Book Thiefby Markus Zukas.

Jenny is more than qualified to recommend children’s books.  She worked a stint as a children’s book editor at HarperCollins and Pleasant Company, and for ten years was children’s reviews editor at Publishers Weekly.  Now, when she isn’t working on Twenty by Jenny, she writes for School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.  Plus, she’s children’s editor of Shelf Awareness, my favorite e-newsletter.

I always love a person who pitches her favorite bookstores, and Jenny does just that on her about page.  Now, if we could only get other book people to do the same.

Kids do need fun in the summer, but fun can include reading, check out Jenny’s list of suggestions and encourage your child to curl up with a book this summer.

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