YALSA Photo Contest!

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), as well as libraries, bookstores, publishers and schools across the country, will celebrate Teen Read Week™ October 16 - 22. As part of this event, we’re challenging you to create a visual version of your favorite book’s title. You can learn more at www.ala.org/teenread.

Best-selling author and 2011 Teen Read Week spokesperson, Jay Asher, will judge the contest entries and select three finalists and one winner. Entries will be judged on 1) creativity, 2) how well the image articulates and encapsulates the book’s title and 3) whether or not all of the guidelines stated in this document have been followed.

Five photos selected as finalists will be linked to from YALSA’s website, www.ala.org/teenread. Each of the five finalists will receive gift bags from Penguin Books for Young Readers that include signed copies of Jay Asher’s 13 Reasons Why as well as Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler’s The Future of Us.

The creator of the winning photo will receive an e-reader pre-loaded with great teen titles, and will be interviewed for YALSA’s blog and a press release. The winning photo may be used by YALSA in marketing and promotional materials related to Teen Read Week. The e-reader and e-books have been generously donated by Penguin Books for Young Readers.

Your Profile Picture on a Book Cover!

Lerner Publishing Group has a neat contest opportunity!  

From their blog: http://lernerbooks.blogspot.com

"Are you a teen with a great profile pic? We want to use you avatar on the cover of one of a Spring 2012 book that is all about social media! All you need to do is email an uncropped, high quality .jpeg of your picture to publicityinfo@lernerbooks.com by August 15, 2011. If your picture is selected, we'll send you a free copy of the book next spring!

*If your picture is selected, we will email you a photo release form which needs to be signed and returned. All minors must have the form signed by a parent or legal guardian."

A.D. : New Orleans after the Deluge by Josh Neufeld

Author and cartoonist, Josh Neufeld, follows the experience of seven individuals whose lives were completely altered in the destruction and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  In 2006, it was predicted that Katrina's path would run straight through New Orleans, Louisiana.  Based on past experiences with hurricanes, or driven by loyalty to their homes, or frightened and heedful of the warnings to evacuate the nearby cities, some residents chose to ride out the storm at home, and some choose to seek solace elsewhere.  Some individuals were rich, many others were poor; some were flanked by family or materials, and others had next to nothing to lose.  All were greatly traumatized by the resulting storm.  By the government's response.  By the conditions of support, or lack there of.  And by the efforts to rebuild.

Denise, The Doctor, Abbas and Darnell, Kwame, Leo and Michelle tell Josh Neufeld of their real life experiences living through Hurricane Katrina and the resulting flooding and destruction of a famous city.  Through words and pictures, the impact of these stories is heavy without being overwhelming.  The author is able to present these lives in a way that invokes understanding and a true emotional connection.  I found myself crying over comic books, but rallying in support of those who are still struggling to regain their sense of home.  Recommended for absolutely everyone.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

The title of this novel holds no secrets about its content.  Four individuals whose lives intersect tell their own stories of the difficulties immersed in striving for perfect, and the pain that underlies the desperate, unrelenting need for it.  Cara's parents expect the absolute best from their children, and one of those children has already attempted suicide as a result of the pressure mounting at home.  Cara's almost-loving relationship with Sean doesn't help to support her in her journey towards figuring out who she really is and what really makes her happy.  Sean doesn't think he can live without Cara, but he's convinced that it's really baseball and his ultimate athletic success that makes him who he is.  Kendra is in constant pursuit of the perfect body and the perfect face to allow her modeling career to soar, no matter the price.  And Andre has his heart set on a certain career and a certain girl, neither of which really fall into the plan that his parents' have created for him.

Ellen Hopkins never fails to deliver the real deal.  With powerful word selection and nothing short of stark honesty, Hopkins' characters are true depictions of the hopes, dreams, torment, and struggles that fill up lots of the nooks and crannies that make us all human.  Recommended to all high school readers.  (Release date for this title is September 13, 2011.)

Also discussed on this blog are Burned and Identical.  Her most known novel is Crank, the story of Kristina Gregory's journey with the "monster" of drugs and addiction that claimed control over most of her life (continued in two sequels), but all of Hopkins' novels in verse are powerful explorations of the mixture of light and dark found within individuals across the globe.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

If this story starts to hit too close to home, then you should definitely make sure you read it through.  You can't understand the power of another's control over you unless you've been there, but Alex, Cole, and Zack pave a pathway to understanding.

Alex has always felt a little bit lost.  Her mother died in a car crash when she was very young and all she really knows is that her parents didn't have the happiest marriage and her mom was supposedly trying to escape for a more inspirational life in Colorado.  All Alex has left of her mom is a dream-catcher charm that she wears around her neck, a broken father, and a handful of pictures.  But Alex also has her friends, and she lives a pretty happy "typical" high school life.  Until Cole shows up as the new boy at school.  The new hot boy.  The new hot boy that actually seems to be interested in her!  But as Alex begins to spend more time with Cole and less time with her friends, more time lying and less time smiling, more time covering up and less time being herself, there is clearly something wrong.

This is a story of physical and emotional abuse, a story that affects many relationships - even at the very barest of levels.  Adults and teens should find this story uncomfortable and challenging, but will find even greater strength in the end.  (For more from author Jennifer Brown, check out Hate List.)

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

Numbers by Rachel Ward

Jem's had it pretty rough.  She was only six years old when she found her mother dead from a heroin overdose.  She had always known that her mother's addiction was more important than love and family, but it was only this moment that Jem learned something new: She could see the date of her mother's death in her eyes.  She has always seen a string of 8 numbers when she looks at people, and for a while, she thought that everyone could.  Now she knows that she must keep the numbers a secret.

Until she meets and gets close to Spider.  After living the last of her 16 years in and out of foster situations, Spider is the first person she allows herself to connect with.  Spider is laid back, adventurous, thoughtful, and just as damaged in a lot of ways as she is.  Spider also only has three months left to live.  When an unpredictable event takes place and Spider and Jem are accused of being involved with a terrorist attack, they decide that the only way to live their lives is to escape to a better place.  But, as Jem knows, the outcomes of their lives can't always be controlled.

Recommended to all adventurous readers, and in particular to those intrigued by mystery, romance, and the unknown.  The sequel, Numbers: The Chaos, is available, and coming soon is the third in the series, Numbers: Infinity.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.

family by Micol Ostow

Melinda Jensen left home at seventeen to make her way to San Francisco, the city of freedom and acceptance.  What she found was a bench on the street to sleep on, and that's where Henry finds her.  Henry is able to offer Mel the one thing she craves the most deeply.  She's never had a real family, only a mom who wasn't all that interested in being a mom, and her mom's boyfriend who molested and berated her most of her life.  Henry takes her in, brings her to his home, introduces her to her new "sisters," one of which becomes her confidant, her comfort, and her legs to stand on.  How would Mel survive without them?

But Henry has more grand powerful plans in this world than just being a father, brother, and lover to Mel and her sisters.  And when Mel is included in on a murderous plan, she becomes more and more confused about what it means to be part of a family. 

The language of family is gorgeous, and the book is based loosely on the Manson Family murders of 1969.  The story is told in episodic verse, tying in elements of poetry with pure emotion, and the characters are purely original.  The format and the topic are sure to draw in the interests of a broad variety of high school readers.

Reviewed by kate the librarian.