The weather outside is…pretty gross, let’s be honest. It’s the perfect time to snuggle up with a great mystery! We focus a lot on new and upcoming titles (because they’re EXCITING!) but our library shelves are filled up with backlist. Let’s take a look at some charming and fun mysteries that your tweens will be mad about. Theo is delighted when she finds a beautiful painting hidden underneath an other painting at her grandfather’s home–she’s trying to find money to save their family house. But her grandfather had been a security guard at the art museum. Could the painting be stolen? Being an Inquisitor is not a job for a nice Jewish boy, but once the police get wind of the fact that Sacha can see witches, he’s apprenticed anyway. This alternate history of early 20th century New York–with magic–is delightful. If your tweens love it, no worries! There’s a sequel….
Author: YALSA Blogger
Tween App Review Roundup
Did your tweens and teens get new tablets/devices during the winter holidays? If they haven’t already come into your library asking for advice about apps, they might be soon! Here are some already curated app reviews perfect for teens and tweens. This way you’ll be able to help your young patrons find exactly what they need for their new device! Photo App: Reviewed by Karen Jensen, Teen Librarian Toolbox Review Excerpt: “FotoRus is an app that does multiple things. You can create a collage, add a sticker or edit like a pro using the pro edit feature. My two favorite things about FotoRus are the Mag Library feature (InstaMag) and the PIP (photo in a photo) feature.” Storytelling App: Reviewed by Joyce Valenza, Neverending Search Review Excerpt: ” Plotagon encourages users to script a story–selecting locations; building dialogue; adding emotions, attitudes and postures; responding to characters; choosing sound effects and…
Comics Gift Guide
‘Tis the season for winter holidays! Does the tween in your life or your library love comics? Here are a few that need to be on your radar and will make your kids go absolutely nuts. Peppi Torres is just trying to survive her first days middle school. Suddenly she finds herself being both the teased and the teaser, and in the middle of a club war! Can she figure out how to make middle school bearable for both herself and those around her? Do your kids love PrinceLess? Well, let’s not forget about Angoisse, the oft-forgotten middle Ashe sister. What’s she been up to lately? Wellllll, it seems that the swamp surrounding her tower is inhabited by monsters and goblins and vampires! Not to worry, though, because her sister Adrienne and friend Bedelia don’t think twice about helping Angoisse rescue herself! The PrinceLess books are all fantastic and volume 4…
Not SCARY Scary (again)
Last year, I wrote a post about books for kids that have creep appeal but aren’t downright terrifying. I’ll make my shameful confession again: I’m a wuss. And because of that, Halloween isn’t really my jam. I hate being scared!! I DO, however, enjoy some good creepiness or eeriness, and some good suspense. So here are some more titles (all of these are out in 2015) for you to share with your patrons. Good luck with your Halloween/Fall Festival/Harvest programs, librarians! Happy October! Pram can see ghosts. She’s always been able to. And it’s never mattered much that she doesn’t have many friends that are actually alive, but then her aunts put her in school and she makes a friend who has lost a parent and is looking for answers. This adventure takes them from spiritualists to haunted houses and they definitely land in more trouble than they bargained for….
Middle Grade and Young Adult: Another Author Interview
Back in November, I did an interview with two authors who have written both middle grade and young adult books. It was fascinating to see their different and similar experiences in writing for two audiences. Today, I’m interviewing Corey Ann Haydu, the YA writer of three books. Her first first middle-grade novel, Rules for Stealing Stars, is in stores today! Books: OCD Love Story (2013), Young Adult Life by Committee (2014), Young Adult Making Pretty (2015), Young Adult Rules for Stealing Stars (2015), Middle Grade ALLY: Are you in a different mindset when writing MG and YA? How do you think differently about your audience? Corey: I’ve found there’s a bit of a mysterious, lovely thing that happens in my brain when I’m writing MG. It opens up a new little pocket of imagination for me that has its own life and really took me by surprise. It’s reflexive– writing MG loosens up my mind…
Resources for Youth Services
Summer Reading is over! Many schools have already cranked up, and more will be getting going in the next couple of weeks. Fall, to me, means planning. I love doing long-term planning and reading materials that inspire me. I’ve compiled a list here of a few more non-traditional resources that we could all benefit from. I hope one or all of these sparks your creative ideas for the fall! Think Outside the Stacks – This is a TinyLetter newsletter written by Beth Saxon, also known as BethReads. Beth uses this newsletter to compile information that is relevant is YS librarians from outside the usual library sources–family blogs, news sources, museums, craft sites, educators. The title is apt. We have a lot to learn from people who aren’t librarians that also have interest in serving children and family, and Beth beautifully curates current, pertinent information. Fairy Dust Teaching Blog – Fairy Dust…
Comics for back to school!
I know, I KNOW. It’s July 29th. It doesn’t feel like it’s time to go back to school. And for lots of districts, it’s not. But for huge swatches of the South and the Midwest, it’s happening this week or next week. It’s so early, it’s so hot. The kids are so cranky (I would be, too, if I had to go back to school so soon!) What’s the solution? COMICS. Here’s some great, recent comics/graphic novels to give to your kids. Throw these up on a display, handsell them, or stealthily slide them across your circ counter. Your tweens will thank you. Gotham Academy Volume 1. Do your kids love Batman? This comic is set in a prestigious prep school right in the heart of Gotham. With great supporting characters, secrets, and possibly a ghost, this hits all the superhero buttons. The mysterious Wayne family might even make an…
Unconventional heroes
Summer Reading is underway for most everyone at this point. And everyone using CSLP is knee-deep in superheroes! Here are a few comics for your kids that involve heroes that might be a bit…unusual. Nimona might be the epitome of a nontraditional hero. She’s actually…a villain. I know! But this medievalish epic has it all–science, symbolism, monsters? And hilarity. Originally a webcomic, this one will appeal to everyone. You might remember energetic and fun Claudette and her pals from Giants Beware, which came out a few years ago. But now she’s determined to get the dragon who ate her brave and beloved father’s legs years ago. Volume 1 of Gotham Academy collects issues 1-6 of the DC comic, and it’s a delight. Set at Gotham’s most prestigious prep school, the secrets are everywhere! Why is Olive acting so weird? What’s her beef with Batman? Bonus: an EXCELLENT character named Maps,…