Musings from a Library Lady: September 2010

~Twilight Readalikes~

If you liked Twilight, check out one of these:

Author Ellen Hopkins is a HUGE hit @ our library. Check out her interview here, including steps in her writing process.

Ever wonder what Mockingjay is "supposed" to sound like when you're reading it? Check it out!

Get ready for the movie!! HUNGER GAMES

Th1rteen R3asons Why by: Jay Asher

Summary: When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.

This is one of those books that you cannot simply judge solely by its cover. Clay Jenkins is bewildered when he receives Hannah's cassette tapes because he barely knows her. Readers are quickly pulled into this story and will feel that they are side by side going through the town with Clay as he tries to figure out why he has received the tapes. Although this emotionally charged, fast paced book was published in 2007, it is one that remains on our library district's reserve list and is hardly ever found on one of our library's shelves. A YALSA "Best Book" nominee in 2008, Th1rteen R3asons Why is one of those books that will have an impact on a reader for years to come.

I “really liked” this book and would give it a 5 out of 5 stars.

***If you like this book, you might like one of these...***

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead By: Julie Ann Peters
Love You, Hate You, Miss You By: Elizabeth Scptt
Wintergirls By: Laurie Halse Anderson

Unwind by: Neal Shusterman

Summary: In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.

Can you imagine that, if you made one wrong choice in your life or got in trouble just one time, once you turn thirteen your parents could choose to, in so many terms, just get rid of you. Also, if a set of parents decide they no longer want their child when it's born, they can just put it on someone else's porch and those people, like it or not, have to take care of the child or else they get punished! It's crazy!

Although I am not an avid science-fiction reader, this book caught my attention from the very first chapter all the way through until the end of the book. Shusterman writes with such intensity that Unwind will appeal to a wide range of teens, not just science-fiction readers.

I “really liked” this book and would give it a 5 out of 5 stars.

If you like this book, you might like one of these:

The Adoration of Jenna Fox By: Mary Pearson
Uglies By: Scott Westerfeld
The City of Ember By: Jeanne DuPrau