Home » Articles posted by Kirsten (Page 425)

Katherine Applegate Wins the Newbery Award!

If you grew up in the 1990s, chances are that you’ve read something by Katherine Applegate, known then as K.A. Applegate, author of the incredibly popularAnimorphs series for middle grade readers. Those books are still around, so if you work as a children’s librarian or have a kid of the right age, you might still be familiar with them.

That series isn’t what won her the Newbery, but you might get a kid who liked (or likes) the Animorphs books curious enough to take a look at the book that won her the Newbery, The One and Only Ivan, which is based on the true story of a gorilla that lived in a glass box for many years as an attraction at a circus themed mall. It’s written from the gorilla’s point of view, and just as with the Animorphs books, explores what it’s like to feel like an animal (here’s a link to a Q&A she did with Publisher’s Weekly around the time of its publication).

It’s difficult to break out of your comfort zone, and make the jump from one kind of writing to another, but aren’t you glad she did? Congratulations, Katherine!

Posted on January 30, 2013 by , Reply

The Top 10 Horror Stories: Stephen Jones’ Picks

There’s a short but very interesting article by Stephen Jones at Publisher’s Weekly. Jones, editor of the recently published anthology A Book of Horrors (which received an enthusiastic review from our own Dave Simms– you can read the review here). Jones named his top ten picks for horror stories, and I’m going to link to his list here. See if you agree!

The authors he mentions are well-known in the genre, and if you don’t know exactly where you can find the stories he mentions, most of them have collections or longer works that might already be in your library. Some of the choices are ones you might not expect, like Ray Bradbury, who’s frequently defined as a science fiction writer, so it’s a great opportunity to market the horror genre to a new audience. You could do a great display bringing some of these to light!

Posted on January 23, 2013 by , Reply

School Bites: Teen Vampires Go To School

Some of the most popular searches leading people to our site involve the words “teen” and “vampire”. Vampire fiction for teens isn’t something I’ve written about much lately.We have a blog, Reading Bites, that covers that topic, so mostly I don’t.

But with such high demand for YA vampire titles and series, and the release of  Gates of Paradise, the last book in Melissa de la Cruz’s Blue Bloods series (and the extremely cool graphic novel of the original book), I thought I’d offer up some titles. Christmas vacation is now well and truly over, and spring break seems far away… this is really the doldrums of the school year. Vampires turned as teens don’t really ever get a break– their appearance forces them to live through middle school and high school again and again to avoid suspicion, since every kid is required to go to school (unless their parents homeschool them– a strategy I don’t think I’ve seen yet). You really never know who could be sitting next to you in algebra class. So MonsterLibrarian.com presents to you a list of books and series about teen vampires who spend their days (or nights) attending school. Some we’ve reviewed, and some we haven’t. I’m sure many of them are already familiar to librarians– knowledge of them is practically a requirement these days, just to answer the question “Now that I’ve finished Twilight, what do I read next?” But I think there may also be some surprises– not every vampire book or series is a paranormal romance, targeted to girls, or aimed at ages 15 and up. Check them out to find out what school is like in a vampire’s world!

 

School Bites: Teen Vampire Fiction

 

Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer

The Morganville Vampires  series by Rachel Caine

House of Night series by P.C. and Kristen Cast

Notes from a Totally Lame Vampire: Because the Undead Have Feelings Too by Tim Collins

Prince of Dorkness: More Notes from a Totally Lame Vampire by Tim Collins

High School Bites by Liza Conrad

Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz

Vamped and ReVamped by Lucienne Diver

Oliver Nocturne series by Kevin Emerson

Evernight series by Claudia Gray

Alex van Helsing series by Jason Henderson

Infinite Days by Rebecca Maizel

Blood Coven series by Mari Mancusi

Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead

Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead

Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore

Sucks to be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe) by Kimberly Pauley

Still Sucks to be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire by Kimberly Pauley

Vampire High and Vampire High: Sophomore Year by Douglas Rees

 

Note: Not all books on this list are appropriate for all teens. As always, MonsterLibrarian.com cautions you to make sure the book is in the right hands!

Posted on January 17, 2013 by , Comments off
First « 423424425426427 » Last