Tales from a Loud Librarian

On Tuesday, the students met in the commons area during lunch to participate in two more battles in our Mock BOB. The first book up was Doll Bones by Holly Black. I was concerned about this particular title because one student had started the book, but returned it with an explanation that she did not care for it so she could not finish it. Did the mean that Julian felt the same and would not be able to champion it? However, he wowed me when he arrived with his speech printed out and ready to go. He stepped up to the microphone and belted out his reasons for why his classmates should select his book as the best. One of the students who was to defend Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell pulled out, so I stepped up. The students have to present twice at high school lunch and middle school lunch, so that meant that I had to do the same. I was able to speak eloquently the first time around, but I sort of botched it the second time. Oh well, it isn't about me...

Check out author, Lauren Oliver's post on Good Reads . She has a fun give-a-way for Valentine's Day. Also, you can now find Bookmarked, the library book group, on Good Reads . The group is private, but you can see what we are reading and reviewing. You can also read any discussion posts. We hope to use Good Reads to keep up with all the books that we receive for YALSA's Teen's Top Ten YA Galley Program . Since we get the books before they are published, you can read the students' reviews to help you decide if you want to purchase a book or look for it in your library. .

Happy New Year one and all. I have been spending my day (in between going to parties) creating the tenth episode of Get Reading: digital booktalks for teens who love to read. In this edition, I highlight two new dystopian series: Divergent by Veronica Roth and Delirium by Lauren Oliver . Watch the video to find out more.

When I was at the AASL conference in October, I talked to a university professor who is on YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee. She explained to me that she reads a book a day. Wow! I did know that all members of the BFYA committee are expected to read over 300 books a year, but I just couldn't finish a book every day. I love to read. I love reading YA titles, but I just don't think that I have the time to read that much. I average 50 titles a year. I admit that some days I just don't feel like reading. Other days I read for several hours. I am going to start reviewing books for Library Media Connection and School Library Journal. I hope that I can meet their deadlines. This is the time of the year when everyone seems to be making best of and worst of lists. I tried to avoid it because I did not want to be cliche, but I like to reflect. Even though I probably mentioned some of these titles in this blog over the year, I want to give another plug to some of ...