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By: Becca Fowler (PivotBookReviews),
on 6/14/2015
From Becca HOLD ME LIKE A BREATH Once Upon A Crime Family #1 by Tiffany Schmidt Hardcover: 400 pages Publisher: Bloomsbury (May 19th, 2015) Language: English Goodreads | Amazon Penelope Landlow has grown up with the knowledge that almost anything can be bought or sold—including body parts. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families that control the black market for organ
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 5/17/2015
From Becca CONSPIRACY OF BLOOD AND SMOKEPrisoner of Night and Fog #2by Anne BlankmanFile Size: 808 KBPrint Length: 416 pagesPublisher: Balzer + Bray (April 21, 2015) Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers Goodreads | Amazon The girl known as Gretchen Whitestone has a secret: She used to be part of Adolf Hitler's inner circle. More than a year after she made an enemy of her old family friend and
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 5/15/2015
Review by Meghann Title: Nil Unlocked Series: Nil #2Author: Lynne MatsonPublisher: Henry Holt and Co., an imprint of MacmillanGenre: Young Adult Fiction - Science Fiction, DystopianRelease Date: May 12, 2015Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and my own. On the island of Nil, the rules are set. You have exactly 365 days to escape—or you die. Rives is now the
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 5/14/2015
Reviewed by Krista SISTERS OF BLOOD AND SPIRITby Kady CrossSeries: Sisters of Blood and Spirit (Book 1)Hardcover: 288 pagesPublisher: Harlequin Teen (March 31, 2015)Goodreads | Amazon Wren Noble is dead—she was born that way. Vibrant, unlike other dead things, she craves those rare moments when her twin sister allows her to step inside her body and experience the world of the living. Lark
By: Rea Rea,
on 5/12/2015
Teen Review by Reagan THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND by Kasie West Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: HarperTeen (May 5, 2015) Goodreads | Amazon When Gia Montgomery's boyfriend, Bradley, dumps her in the parking lot of her high school prom, she has to think fast. After all, she'd been telling her friends about him for months now. This was supposed to be the night she proved he existed. So when she
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 5/11/2015
by Andye THE WITCH HUNTERThe Witch Hunter #1by Virginia BoeckerHardcover: 368 pagesPublisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (June 2, 2015)Language: EnglishGoodreads | Amazon Your greatest enemy isn't what you fight, but what you fear. Elizabeth Grey is one of the king's best witch hunters, devoted to rooting out witchcraft and doling out justice. But when she's accused of being a
By: Beth,
on 4/23/2015
When the email got sent around the bloggers about doing a 30 days of programming, my mind instantly went blank. I’m just a librarian-in-training and haven’t done a lot of hands-on programming with teens. What could I bring to the conversation?
Then I remembered I did have a program. A hypothetical one that is. I’m currently taking a Media Literacy for Youth class which has been amazing. One of our assignments was to create either a lesson or program plan about a media literacy topic. It could be targeted to any age group and should last 2-3 hours. We had to write about outcomes, lay out all the activities, essentially plan it so some librarian could do it with the kids they work with.
I’ll lay out my idea and then want your feedback. Is this program realistic? Would it work with the teens you work with? And if it’s not realistic, what needs to be changed?
So…here I go!
As a twenty-something, I would say I’m pretty well-connected in social media. If someone asked what my favorite social media platform is, I would say it’s Twitter. There something exciting about Twitter when you think about it like a cocktail party (shout out to blogger Dave Charest for this analogy) — there are hundreds of conversations going on around you and you decide which ones to tap into. And our teens are using it so why not have a program that challenges them to think about not only how they use Twitter, but how others use Twitter?
The program would stretch over several sessions, with each session being around an hour. I wanted to design a program that could be amended to fit the library and the teens. So each session has a big idea and it was my hope that librarians could pick and choose which sessions to do. Here’s a brief run-down of the sessions:
So…what do you think? If you want to know more about each individual session, you can check out my online portfolio where the whole plan is (it’s the first link on the page), including references for more information. Looking forward to hearing your comments!
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 4/22/2015
by Leydy THE LAST GOOD DAY OF THE YEARby Jessica WarmanHardcover: 288 pagesPublisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (May 19, 2015)Language: EnglishGoodreads | Amazon Ten years ago, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor Remy watched helplessly as Sam's little sister was kidnapped. Later, Remy and Sam identified the man and he was sent to prison.Now, Sam's shattered family is returning
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 4/6/2015
Review by Bri The Queen of Bright and Shiny ThingsAnn AguirrePublished: 7th April, 2015Feiwel & FriendsGenre: Contemporary, RomanceAge: Young AdultFrom: Publisher ARC Sage Czinski is trying really hard to be perfect. If she manages it, people won’t peer beyond the surface, or ask hard questions about her past. She’s learned to substitute causes for relationships, and it’s working just fine…
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 3/24/2015
by Emily What if, after spending a lifetime deceiving everyone around you, you discovered the biggest lies were the ones you've told yourself? Grace Fontaine has everything: beauty, money, confidence, and the perfect family. But it’s all a lie. Grace has been adopted into a family of thieves who con affluent people out of money, jewelry, art, and anything else of value. Grace has never
By: bookkm,
on 3/21/2015
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 3/18/2015
Review by Leydy WATCH THE SKYby Kirsten HubbardAge Range: 8 - 12 yearsGrade Level: 3 - 7Hardcover: 272 pagesPublisher: Disney-Hyperion (April 7, 2015)Goodreads | Amazon The signs are everywhere, Jory's stepfather, Caleb, says. Red leaves in the springtime. Pages torn from a library book. All the fish in an aquarium facing the same way. A cracked egg with twin yolks. Everywhere and anywhere.
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 3/3/2015
by Andye THE WINNER'S CRIMEThe Winner's Trilogy #2by Marie RutkoskiAge Range: 12 - 18 yearsHardcover: 416 pagesPublisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (March 3, 2015)Audiobook Narrated By Justine Eyre Length: 10 hrs Publisher: Listening LibraryGoodreads | Amazon | Audible Following your heart can be a crime A royal wedding is what most girls dream about. It means one celebration after
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 2/19/2015
"Review my books" Review by Natalie In case you're wondering, this is not a love story. My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very
By: Rea Rea,
on 2/12/2015
Review by Reagan GEEK GIRL by Holly Smale Series: Geek Girl (Book 1) Hardcover: 384 pagesPublisher: HarperTeen (January 27, 2015) Goodreads | Amazon Geek + runway = a runaway UK hit! Geek Girl is the first book in a hilarious, internationally bestselling series that's perfect for fans of Louise Rennison and The Princess Diaries. Harriet Manners is a geek. She always has been, and she
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 2/11/2015
Review by Paola SHUTTERby Courtney AlamedaHardcover: 384 pagesPublisher: Feiwel & Friends (February 3, 2015)Language: EnglishGoodreads | Amazon Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat -- a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 2/10/2015
Reviews by Andye RED QUEENRed Queen #1by Victoria AveyardHardcover: 400 pagesPublisher: HarperTeen (February 10, 2015)Language: EnglishGoodreads | Amazon Mare Barrow's world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver- blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her
Kat Spears debut novel is, quite simply, a delight. It has all the ingredients for an engaging and witty read, laced with honesty and insight that’s refreshingly real.
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By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 2/8/2015
INVADEDAlienated #2by Melissa LandersAge Range: 12 - 18 yearsGrade Level: 7 - 12Series: AlienatedHardcover: 368 pagesPublisher: Disney-Hyperion (February 3, 2015)Goodreads | Amazon Cara always knew life on planet L'eihr would be an adjustment. With Aelyx, her L'eihr boyfriend, back on Earth, working to mend the broken alliance between their two planets, Cara is left to fend for herself at a
With so many strong novels on this list, all but one young adult novel, John Green's Paper Towns, remains the same on our hand-picked list from the Best Selling Young Adult list.
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By: Beth,
on 1/27/2015
In September 2014, YALSA blogger Jaina Lewis began a series on the Aspen Institute Task Force on Learning and the Internet 2014 report entitled Learner at the Center of a Networked World. Lewis’ post focused on 24/7 learning and how libraries and librarians can help keep the learning going outside the walls of school.
As Lewis says, the report is comprehensive, clocking in at 116 pages. This report is full of excellent resources and websites to explore. The Aspen Institute feels that our youth today need to be fully connected. In order to do that, we need to rethink our current models of education and technology infrastructure so that we create an environment of connected learning.
I particularly liked the definition of connected learning the report gave saying that “connected learning...is socially embedded, interest driven and oriented toward educational, economic or political opportunity” (34). In this definition, not only are we making sure the learner is at the center, but we are also taking into account the various things that surround our learners. In order to prepare youth for being smart, savvy, and critical citizens in our digital age, we have to remember the influences, histories, and cultural values that shape our youth.
As I read through the report, I was most drawn to the section on cultivating literacy skills. While the infrastructure is important, I believe in using technology as a tool and that people come before the tech. Not only do we want our youth to be both consumers and producers of media, but we also want to make sure they are critical thinkers and that these skills stay with them throughout their entire life. Of course, then the question becomes, how do we as libraries help to cultivate these attitudes? And do we as libraries have those critical thinking skills to make sure good consumers and producers of media and users of technology? Because while the report is about the learner, the youth, they look to us for guidance and support. We also have to feel empowered and confident about using technology to help us do “projects that matter” (connected learning that is interest driven). When we invest in using technology as a tool, we share a purpose with the youth we work with even though they are not our peers.
The report talks about youth being in a “whitewater learning” environment (27). This means that they acquire skills and learn new knowledge in the middle of practicing these skills as the technology environment changes around them. This is a type of learning we as librarians can also take. We can dive in, helping to create new knowledge to share with other librarians and expand our learning network. I believe by doing this, we give ourselves the agency we need to help the youth to our best ability.
This is a report that I will continue to mull over. My first read got me thinking about my role as a librarian in helping ensure our learners are at the center of their network. I hope in a future reading, my focus shifts and I can expand on this initial blog post. If you have a chance to skim the report, I recommend it; just seeing the various ways in which institutions across the United States in helping create exciting environments that use technology as a tool was exciting. The report gives you a lot to think about and I think this will continue to be a report we look at in 2015!
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 12/6/2014
Review by Reagan ALL FALL DOWNAn Embassy Row Novel #1by Ally CarterAge Range: 12 and up Grade Level: 7 and upSeries: Embassy Row (Book 1)Hardcover: 320 pagesPublisher: Scholastic Press; Signed edition (January 20, 2015) Grace Blakely is absolutely certain of three things: 1. She is not crazy. 2. Her mother was murdered. 3. Someday she is going to find the killer and make him pay. As certain
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 11/9/2014
Review by Becca CAPTIVEby Aimee Carter Series: The Blackcoat Rebellion (Book 2)Hardcover: 304 pagesPublisher: Harlequin HQN (November 25, 2014)Language: EnglishGoodreads | Amazon The truth can set her free For the past two months, Kitty Doe's life has been a lie. Forced to impersonate Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, in a hostile meritocracy on the verge of revolution, Kitty sees
By: Kit,
on 11/7/2014
Review by Kit THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING By Robyn Schneider Paperback: 352 pagesPublisher: Katherine Tegen Books Goodreads | Amazon Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver
By: Andye ReadingTeen,
on 11/6/2014
Review by Andye THE BOOK OF IVYThe Book of Ivy #1by Amy EngelAge Range: 12 - 18 yearsGrade Level: 7 - 12 Audiobook Publisher: Random House AudioPublisher: Entangled: Teen (November 11, 2014) Goodreads | Amazon | Audiobook What would you kill for? After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more
