If you love to read modern re-tellings of classic fairytales, I highly recommend the author, Shannon Hale. One of her more recent stories, Book of a Thousand Days combines elements of Rapunzel (with all of the grizzly details of what life locked in a tower might be like), Cyrano de Bergerac, a touch of Cinderella, and… a werewolf, just for good measure. I stayed up until 2:30 in the morning finishing this one! It’s a great book to cozy up with as the weather gets colder.
Other great modern fairytales you might enjoy:
Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley
November 10th, 2008
Carissa
Get in the football spirit and check out this fun collection of football-inspired short stories! Love, Football, and Other Contact Sports, by Alden R. Carter, introduces readers to a collection of students at Argyle West, a small Midwestern high school. Each story is told through a different student’s perspective, whether it be the tight end of the school football team or the designated school “geek”. While football is a common thread, this is a winning book for sports fans and non-fans alike. Chapters span the lives of Ken Bauer and his buddy Rollin Acres (yes, that really is his name!), both players on the school football team. We also meet other students like Sarah Landwehr, drama club member and editor of the Purple Cow Literary Magazine, and Rebecca “Becks” Campbell, rugby player and tough girl. Read about the fated meeting of Rollin Acres and Sandy Dunes; and, find out more about the dead deer that almost made it to the high school cross country meet. Many of the stories are laugh-out-loud funny. But don’t be fooled, this is not a fluffy book. The characters are genuine and well-drawn. They experience the ups and downs of being in high school and growing up. So check out Love, Football, and Other Contact Sports and cheer on the students at Argyle West!
Author Alden R. Carter is a Wisconsin native who currently lives in Marshfield, WI.
October 27th, 2008
Tracy
I read Beth Kanell’s debut YA historical fiction book The Darkness Under the Water. Why re-read good old Judy? Both Blume and Kanell will be part of this week’s Wisconsin Book Festival and I intend to see them both speak.
Many people associate Vermont with pleasant outdoor vacations and tubs of Ben and Jerry’s, but Kanell’s book introduces us to a time in Vermont’s past that wasn’t so idyllic. An unsettling part of our U.S. history, the eugenics movement, is fictionalized in The Darkness and will show young readers how an attempt at social Darwinism shaped a young girl’s town and life during the early years of the Depression.
Molly Ballou is part French-Canadian and part Native American (Abenaki tribe) and this poor, ethnically diverse teenager’s life is turned upside down when multiple tragedies define the summer she turns sixteen. Not only have state nurses come to town to evaluate children, but Waterford, VT is also dealing with a logging industry that is changing the river environment and beautiful Vermont landscape around them. On top of this, Molly is haunted by the ghost of her little sister Gratia who died years ago in a river accident, which lends a spiritual twist to this debut novel.
Much of the book is standard YA material; family tragedies, opposite sex relationships and lots of challenging life lessons to show you are ready for adulthood. Kanell’s book goes beyond this standard fare by also adding historical context throughout Molly’s story. My favorite history reference was when young Molly goes into the library and the librarian has the “new” Nancy Drew set aside for her. There was also a scene where Molly attends a dance for the first time and sees other young people trying out the new Charleston dance step. These historical tidbits were nice touches and made the book seem realistic. There were some parts to the story though where the narrator’s voice sounded alittle stiff and the ending seemed contrived, but overall this was a good YA debut for Kanell.
Besides a graphic home-birthing scene, the content of The Darkness is pretty non-violent and would be a good choice for fifth and sixth grade readers that have enjoyed the Dear America or Little House series. The book also touches on some important issues about race and families that would be great starting points for some mature conversations, ones that Judy Blume books were starting twenty years ago. Go ahead read Are you there God, It’s Me Margaret it will be bring back some memories and you will be amazed at how well Blume, the original YA guru, gets it done. See you at the Book Festival!
October 14th, 2008
Katharine
A young life, full of promise, ended much too soon. By suicide. Teen suicide. In the United States it’s the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15 to 24. A fact that makes it a topic worth exploring. Something Jay Asher does so painfully and honestly in Thirteen Reasons Why.
High 
school student Hannah Baker is bright, attractive, someone you’d like to be around. Only she’s not there anymore. Though Hannah is gone, she’s left behind a little going-away present for some of those she’s left behind. A set of cassette tapes naming thirteen people who, in Hannah’s mind, played a part in her decision to end her life. Her tapes are heard by Clay, one of the thirteen people, who receives the tapes in the mail unexpectedly, and spends a torturous night listening to her voice and visiting places in their town where significant (to Hannah) events had transpired. Part of his motivation in listening to the tapes is fear, maybe shame? If he doesn’t listen to the tapes, then send them all on to the person whose “story” follows his, Hannah has arranged for another set of the tapes to be made public. Clay is also motivated to find out why Hannah feels he’s partly responsible for her decision to kill herself.
This was a pretty painful book to read. I kept having to put it down and go back to it later because it was just too much negativity to take in one sitting. Because Hannah’s tape recordings have turned her from an undeserving victim to a pitiless avenger, plotting cruel revenge, even at the cost of her life. And that’s much too high a price to pay.
There’s no question Hannah went through some pretty torturous stuff after transferring to her new school. Being the new kid is never easy. But telling her story in this manner can no longer save her. It can only hurt others. Her story is no longer a tragedy, it’s a revenge fantasy. And it’s a horrible thing she does to herself and to the others in her tragic tale, however deserving of blame they may be. Clay is also a victim here. His perspective of events is often at odds with what Hannah is relating. But he’ll get to find out something than Hannah will never know– that high school is something you can survive.
Also available on compact disc and as a downloadable audio file.
Reviewed by Dennis on MADreads on September 22, 2008.
September 24th, 2008
telias
Meet Manny Hernandez, a Chicano boy living in “the projects” of Central California. His life is full of bumps and bangs, but - despite everything - he is a survivor. Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida, by Victor Martinez, tells the story of Manny and his family as they struggle to “make it” in the face of poverty, racism, and a household of abuse. The very first line of the book gives readers a taste of what’s to come: “That summer, my brother . . . flipped through more jobs than a thumb through a deck of cards.” The plot is composed of many scenes strung together chronologically. Because of this, sometimes the text reads more like a play than typical fiction. The chapters follow Manny as he experiences family turmoil and personal tragedy: he is scorned by a white girl at school, he helps his mother care for his sister after she has an abortion, he picks pesticide-laced chili peppers in boiling temperatures, and he suffers the wrath of his abusive and alcoholic father. This is a powerful book that details the bitter realities of alcoholism, poverty, abuse, and racism. While its themes and issues are hard-hitting, the book is also beautifully written and often reads more like poetry than prose.
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida won the 1996 National Book Award for Young People’s Fiction and also won the 1998 Pura Belpre Award. Author Victor Martinez grew up in a Mexican-American family of twelve in Fresno, California.
September 21st, 2008
Tracy
If you like books with supernatural elements that are set in the modern everyday world, you might like The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. It follows two teens, fifteen year old twins Josh and Sophie, as the world they know comes crashing down around them. It starts when a monster attacks the bookstore Josh works, which happens to be across the street from the coffee shop where Sophie works. They discover that the nice bookstore owner at Josh’s bookstore is actually the famous alchemyst Nicholas Flamel, a man who’s been around for centuries using an elixir of immortality to keep him alive. The world they enter as they run from the forces who attacked the bookstore is peopled not only with alchemysts but with monsters, 
vampires, werewolves, and goddesses. Things get really interesting when they realize that it might not just be coincidence that they’ve been pulled into this new world — they find out that they’re mentioned in an age old prophecy that seems to be starting to come true.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Clary Fray suddenly discovers that she can see things that no one else can, then her mother disappears, and she gets pulled into the world of demons and demon hunters.
September 8th, 2008
Bridget
What would you do if your life wasn’t really your own? How would you cope with your parents making all of your life’s major decisions? Could you live like that, or would you be forced to take matters into your own hands?
For Shabanu, life in Pakistan has been wonderful. As a second daughter, her family has allowed her much more freedom in the desert than most girls her age would ever experience. Her older sister is about to be married, and things seem perfect. But, when tragedy strikes and her sister’s marriage prospects are ruined, her family’s hopes of a profitable match and high honor are placed on her shoulders. Can Shabanu give up her freedom and fulfill her family’s dreams, or will she risk disappointing them to live her own? You’ll have to read September’s Book of the Month, Shabanu by Suzanne Fisher Staples to find out. The September Book of the Month is on display at the Pinney Branch Library.
And, the story of Shabanu continues. Check out
Haveli by Suzanne Fisher Staples
The House of Djinn by Suzanne Fisher Staples
September 2nd, 2008
Krissy
If you signed up for the Summer Library Program, you already know that Prize #4 is a Noodles & Co. coupon and a free book. The last day to pick up your prizes for Summer Library Program is Saturday, August 30. But read the fine print! Your Noodles & Co. coupon expires Sunday, August 31. Go early, and beat the crowd!
August 26th, 2008
telias
Would you want to live within feet of the famous mobster, Al Capone? Moose Flannagan isn’t sure he wants to either. In Gennifer Choldenko’s book Al Capone Does My Shirts, Moose is living with his mom, dad, and sister, Natalie on Alcatraz. It is the mid-1930s and Moose’s father gets a job as an Alcatraz prison guard. Uprooted from his relatively normal life, Moose is not happy with his new life and strange surroundings. Plus, Moose’s mom gives him full responsibility for his sister, Natalie. Natalie is older than Moose but suffers from what we know today as autism. All Moose wants to do is find some friends and play baseball! Amidst watching out for Natalie and trying to find famous gangster-hit baseballs, Moose gets swept up in a couple of exciting but risky schemes concocted by the warden’s daughter, Piper. Find out what happens to Moose, Natalie, Piper and the rest of the kids living on Alcatraz and read Al Capone Does My Shirts! This book was a Newberry Honor book and New York Times bestseller.
Gennifer Choldenko has written a number of other books including: If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period and Notes from a Liar and Her Dog.
August 24th, 2008
Tracy
This summer more teens than ever voted for their favorite books from the 2008 Teen’s Choice Awards book list. We received online votes, paper ballots, and votes from the participants of the two Ballots & Bites events at the Alicia Ashman and Pinney branches. This year’s Teen’s Choice Award books are:
Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins. In this first book in The Underland Chronicles series, you will meet Gregor and his little sister, Boots, who fall through a ventilation duct into the Underland where they encounter giant cockroaches, rats and bats, meet the people of the Underland, and discover a prophecy to be fulfilled.
Stormbreaker, by Anthony Horowitz. Alex Rider begins his adventures as a teenage spy, complete with all the great gadgets, narrow escapes, and evil villains that make spy thrillers such great reading.
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916, by Mark Capuzzo. The shark attacks that happened on the New Jersey shoreline in 1916 formed the basis for the 1975 movie, Jaws. Capuzzo’s account of this true story is as riveting as any work of fiction, but is soberingly real.
To see the winnning books from previous years click here. Many voters also wrote in their suggestions for future Teen’s Choice Review book lists. If you have suggestions, you can let us know by leaving a comment. So far suggestions include:
Cirque du Freak: Vampire Mountain, by Darren Shan. The Clique, by Lisi Harrison. Naruto, by Masashi Kishimoto. Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney. Dunk, by David Lubar. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You, by Ally Carter. Redwall, by Brain Jacques. Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier. Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer. Princess on the Brink, by Meg Cabot. Sorcery and Cecelia, by Patricia Wrede. The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathon Stroud. Terrier, by Tamora Pierce. Both Eragon and The Lightning Thief were suggested, and both are already winners, Eragon in 2005, and The Lightning Thief in 2007. Thanks to everyone for reading and voting! The winning books all wear Teen’s Choice Award medals at all Madison Public Libraries.
August 18th, 2008
Karen
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