A Busy Beginning

It has been a busy beginning in the S9 Library-Media Center!  We have celebrated Banned Books Week and Teen Read Week.  Both weeks were full of sharing, learning, and lots of art work and decorations from our teachers and students.

This new batch of 9th graders was really interested in Banned Books Week and what it really means to have the Freedom to Read.  The library display was definitely a conversation starter.

It Came from the Library! #trw12

Classes celebrated all things creepy by Zombifying their classroom doors.  Doors featured books and movies about Zombies and other things that go bump in the night.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Zombicorns by John Green

Frankenweenie

Students also wrote Twaikus that were posted on the school's twitter page.

A shriek in the night

The smell of rotting dead flesh

The living dead rise

Death walked among us

Killing everyone it sees

Having no mercy

They came in the dark

And ate lots of people's brains

Not a very good day

Three 2012 Books I Cannot Wait to Get My Hands on.

I have read so many wonderful books during 2011, and many of them have sequels coming out in 2012.  Here is a short list of titles that I just cannot wait to get my hands on!


In no particular order...

Insurgent by Veronica Roth.  Release date:  May 1, 2012
Book 2 in the Divergent series.


Summary from BarnesandNoble.com
One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you.  But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.


Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors.  War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows.  And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful.  Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins.  Release date:  March 13, 2012
Book 3 in the Hex Hall series
*I absolutely cannot wait to read this book!  Rachel is absolutely fabulous and just happens to be a (former) teacher friend of mine. :)


Summary from Amazon.com
Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away.  Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies--the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium.  Or at least that's what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery.  The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending.  But without her magic, Sophie isn't as confident.

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver.  Release date:  February 28, 2012
Book 2 in the Delirium series


Short "blurb" from BarnesandNoble.com
Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium.  This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

On the Road Again...Blood Red Road

Blood Red Road by Moira Young
ISBN:  9781442429987
Publisher:  Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2011

Format:  eBook purchased via my Kindle.

Summary from Barnes and Noble.com

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms.  The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from.  That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around.  But when four cloaked horsemen capture Lugh, Saba's world is shattered, and she embarks on a quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the outside world, Saba discovers she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent.  Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba's unrelenting search for Lugh stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.


What I think...


Another post-apocalyptic extension to the Dystopia genre, Blood Read Road proves to be a solid addition to those already occupying the YA shelves (i.e. The Hunger Games, Divergent, Shatter Me).



This book was highly recommend by several on GoodReads.com, so I thought I would give it a try.  Overall I really enjoyed the book.  It brings a lot to the table.  And I especially liked the physical and mental journey that Saba treks through...her quest to find her brother wraps around all of the characters,  the setting, everything.  Saba is really a fascinating character, and she sets the book up for numerous "girl power" moments that are, well, really powerful!


Blood Red Road is written in a southern-backwoods dialect with no quotation marks around the dialogue.  I had to adjust to this writing style and ended up really liking it.  The dialect compliments the book's setting - a ruined, desert land, stripped of food, nourishment, and technology - a world gone rogue. The setting reminded me a lot of the Mad Max movie circa 1979 with Mel Gibson.  If you are not a fan of the Mad Max movies, well please do not let my comparison turn you away from this book.  Young really makes the whole desert dystopian thing work.


I definitely recommend this book to dystopian fans, or any avid reader.  It has something for everyone: battles, fighting, romance, girls kicking butt and taking names.