Mandy's Book of the Week (5/7)

Howdy!  I was on vacation last week and, while I was there, I spent a lot of time with my feet buried in the sand reading a good book.  It was great!

This week's book is a bit older but it is a new addition (within the last 6 months) to our library.

This book follows three best friends (Maddie, Zoe, and Angela) through the beginning of their sophomore year in high school.  It is formatted totally in chat mode (through IM), which is a neat twist.

Each girl has something going on that is either pulling her away from her friends or pushing her back toward them.  Angela is a bit boy crazy and lands several boyfriends.  Zoe is being hit on by a teacher (which she doesn't realize) and discovering religion.  And Maddie makes an epic mistake that gets forwarded to the entire school.

This is the first book of three and is one of the most challenged books in the country.  It frequently ends up on a Banned Books Week list.  It is a fun and quick read and waiting on you here at the library!

Mandy's Book of the Week (4/23)

Hello all!  Today I present you with a graphic novel.  I don't think I've ever highlighted one of these before, so I'm happy to have found one so awesome!

I'm not a visual learner, so graphic novels, in and of themselves, haven't ever had too strong of a draw for me.  This one, however, is great.

American Born Chinese is essentially three stories wrapped in to one.  First you have the old Chinese tale of the Monkey King.  Then, the story of Danny and his cousin Chin Kee.  And last, the story of Jin Wang, a boy whose parents immigrated from China and who really just wants to fit in.

I'm not going to get much into the tale of the Monkey King because I'd give too much away.  Just know that there is a monkey who rules over a mountain but that's not enough for him: he wants to be a god.

Danny is a white boy with a Chinese cousin.  This Chinese cousin, Chin Kee, comes to visit him every year and he is THE WORST.  He is basically every stereotype about the Chinese all rolled up in to one person.  Every year that he comes to visit, something so embarrassing happens that Danny is forced to transfer schools.

Jin Wang spends his first 9 years living in Chinatown, so he grows up with his parents' customs and other kids who look like him.  When he's 9, he moves to a suburb and is one of the only non-white kids at his school.  His whole world changes and he experiences racism for the first time.  He befriends a boy who has recently moved from Taiwan, but there is more to this boy than Jin knows.

At the end of the book, these three stories are linked together through some truly masterful storytelling.

Between the story, which is amazing, and the artwork, which is also incredible, you'd be hard pressed to find a better graphic novel in our collection.  Enjoy!

Mandy's Book of the Week (3/26)

Did everyone have a great spring break?  I ended mine by seeing The Hunger Games, so I'm a happy girl!

In the spirit of The Hunger Games, I'm offering up another book that is a serious mind trip.

This book is set about two generations (50ish years) in the future.  Some time in that 50 years, there was a war, called the Heartland War.  This war took place over abortion.  The pro-life side wanted life to be held sacred from conception while the pro-choice side wanted abortions to be available during the entire pregnancy.  Both sides got so worked up that a war broke out between them.

Eventually, they reached a compromise: life is held sacred from conception to the age of 13.  Between the ages of 13 and 18, if an abortion is still wanted, the parents can put an Unwind order on the child.  All parts (or, actually, 99.4%) of the child must still be living after s/he is unwound.  Basically, they divide you into pieces and give you to people who need new arms or hearts or eyes.  Terrifying, no?

If you would've had an abortion and really can't take care of your child, you can "stork" the baby.  Basically, you can leave it on someone's doorstep.  That person, when they find the baby, is then legally obligated to raise it.  If you get caught "storking" your baby, you have to keep it.

So twisted.

The story follows three teens who are set to be unwound: Risa, Connor, and Lev. 

Connor is one of those teens that just exasperate his parents.  He's not a bad kid, just difficult.  He gets in a lot of fights and isn't the best student, but he can still be thoughful and get good grades when he wants to.  Basically, he's a typical teen.  Connor stumbled across his Unwind Order by accident.  He was looking for something in his dad's desk and found it, along with three tickets to the Bahamas (one for mom, dad, and his little brother) for the day after he was to be unwound.

Risa is a ward of the state.  She is bright, gets good grades, and is a very talented piano player.  Unfortunately there have been some budget cuts and, since she isn't the next Mozart, they schedule her to be unwound to make room for someone else.

Lev is a tithe.  He is the 10th child in his family and, because 10% of everything is supposed to be given to God, he was designated to be that 10%.  He's being unwound for religious reasons.

The way in which these three stumble upon each other is a wild ride.  And this book will make you think while horrifying you at the same time.

The sequel, UnWholly, will be out in August.

Mandy's Book of the Week (3/12)

I dig dystopia.  The whole "big bad awful future" stuff is among my favorite thing to read right now, so, of course, I loved this book.

In Beatrice's world, there are four factions: Dauntless, for the brave, Amity, for the peaceful, Candor, for the honest, Erudite, the intelligent, and Abnegation, for the selfless.  The society deems that you must live with your faction of birth until the age of 16.  At that point, you get to decide your faction. Many choose to stay with their faction of birth ("faction before blood" is the motto, so you don't see much of your family if you go into a different one), but many also choose to change factions.

Beatrice loves her family, but she doesn't feel as selfless as the rest of them.  While they truly personify the meaning of the word, she feels more selfish and like she doesn't fit in with her faction.

Before you get to choose your faction, you are put through some mental tests to determine where you might fit the best.  The vast majority of people show a propensity for one faction very clearly.  Beatrice, however, does not.  She is a clear split in three equal directions.  This is known as being Divergent and is terribly dangerous.  Her test administrator tells her to keep this fact a secret because most people who are known Divergents end up dead.

On choosing day, Beatrice chooses to become Dauntless.  They are put through brutal and rigorous training at the Dauntless compound, but Tris, as she's now known, is coming out on top.  As they are nearing the end of their training, political upheaval begins and Tris, because she's a Divergent, is one of the only people who can save her blood family.

This book is simply amazing.  The sequel, Insurgent, is coming out in May.  I promise, you won't be able to put this one down!

Mandy's Book of the Week (3/5)

Happy Monday!

This week is Teen Tech Week and we're celebrating with a contest or artsy workshop after school each day.  For a full schedule of events, go to our website.

In honor of the technology geek in all of us, I present a tech book this week.

Mike and Lindsey are best friends and have been for a long time.  Mike falls for Lindsey.  Just as he's getting the courage to tell her, they have a disagreement, a total misunderstanding, and Lindsey leaves town for the summer.  When she comes back, she is suddenly very popular.  She doesn't even have the time of day for Mike anymore.

Then, at a party, Lindsey gets herself into a very...compromising...situation that is caught in its entirety on a cell phone camera and posted online.  The video goes viral and Lindsey feels as if her life is destroyed.  Mike has to decide if he is a big enough man to forgive Lindsey for everything she's done and be there for her in her time of need.

This book is a teensy little book, but it packs a big punch.  How terrifying, the thought of having something like that posted on the Internet!

Definitely a book for guys and girls, so come snag it today!

Mandy's Book of the Week (2/27)

Snow Day + Presidents' Day Holiday = 2 week hiatus

Glad to be back on this BEAUTIFUL Monday!

One of the great things about the class I'm taking in graduate school right now is that I'm being exposed to a lot of books that I wouldn't have read on my own.  This week's book is a prime example of that.  I'm not a big lover of historical fiction or books about revolution, but I could not put this book down once I picked it up.  (Actually, I read this on ebook, so I had to put it down on occasion because my phone died.)

This story is set in the 1960s in the Dominican Republic where they are ruled over by a dictator that has been in power for 30 years.  Anita is twelve and, as such, wrapped up in things that twelve year olds are wrapped up in.  She wants to be friends with her older sister, who is annoyed with her very existence.  She wants the boy next door to fall in love with her.  She wants to be older and more sophisticated.

Anita's father, however, is in the top ranks among the country's revolutionaries who aim to take down their dictator.  The rest of her family, from her grandparents to her cousins, have already fled to New York.  Once Anita learns of her father's involvement, she gets anxious.  Her sister even ends up having to flee the country because the dictator happened to notice her at a party and takes a special liking to her.

Eventually, the plan that the revolutionaries have been working on is played out, but something goes wrong and Anita and her mother end up having to go into hiding.

It is a small book, not even 200 pages long, but the content is big.  I found it hard to resist!

Mandy's Book of the Week (2/6)

Happy February!  I hope everyone had a great time watching the Super Bowl last night (or watching the commercials, perhaps).  Our Super Bowl party here at the library was super fun.

Every month generally has some sort of theme or celebration tied to it.  This month, we have our display shelving set up to celebrate Black History Month and our glass display case set up to acknowledge Teen Dating Violence Prevention Month.

This book is heart breaking and gut wrenching.  It is the story of Melinda, who was among the most popular girls in her junior high.  She's 15 now and getting ready to go to high school.  The summer before school begins, she and her friends are invited to their first high school party.  They are all super excited to be hanging out with the upperclassmen.  Melinda is pulled aside by one of the most popular senior boys and they go somewhere private and start to make-out.  Only he wants to take it too far and when Melinda says "no," he doesn't listen.

Melinda panics and calls the cops.  And of course because that is what you're supposed to do in the event of a rape.  There is a lot of alcohol at this party, however, so a lot of people get in trouble and, when the cops showed up Melinda was too freaked out to tell them what happened.  Now everyone thinks Melinda is a tattle tale and they make it their mission to see her suffer.

Melinda doesn't tell anyone what happens and spends most of the book not speaking at all.  Her grades drop, she loses weight, she stops washing her hair; basically she does everything she can to become invisible.

When Melinda's former best friend starts dating the rapist, she know something has to give.  Namely, she's going to have to speak.

This book isn't a big thick one, but it packs a huge punch.