Tag Archives: YA books

Bethany’s Report from Teen Lit Con 2019!

May 16, 2019 cmleguestblogger

This is a guest blog post written by Bethany Kauffman, CMLE Board Member and Media Specialist at Rogers High School. Need a mini grant to help fund a program for your community? Apply now!

What is the Teen Literature Convention?

“The Twin Cities Teen Lit Con is where authors, books, teens, & fun collide. There will be amazing authors, breakout sessions, & an action-packed Exhibit Hall (book arts, book signings, & much more). Teens have the opportunity to connect with their favorite authors, explore other aspects of being a part of a reading community, & attend workshops for writers.” (https://teenlitcon.org/faqs-2/)

We had another great day at Teen Lit Con on April 27, 2019. “We” is our group of three high schools that attended together through a grant from CMLE. Upsala High School, Sauk Rapids Rice High School and Rogers High School staff and students road one bus together to Henry Sibley High School in Mendota Heights for the big day!

The three high schools had 30 students attend and three adults which we considered a good turn out on a busy Saturday. The bus ride gave students and staff a chance to chat and get to know each other which was one of our goals in riding together. There aren’t enough opportunities for students from different areas of MN who share a love of reading and writing to meet each other. Thank you to CMLE for making this possible!

Once at Sibley High School, the fun began. We attended a panel discussion with the nationally known authors Lamar Giles, Tomi Adeyemi, Becky Albertalli and Jarrett Krosoczka. What an entertaining and informative group of authors! The attendees did a lot of cheering. You would have thought we were at a rock concert.

There were numerous sessions students could attend throughout the day including Book Fued, Writer’s Studio, Social Justice and Activism in YA Lit, Pie Club – Finding Your Next Book, Graphic Storytelling and more. Students also participated in a variety of exhibits and hands-on activities. Waiting in line to get the authors’ signatures was a part of the day for almost everyone, too.

We all arrived back at our individual school by late afternoon/early evening feeling really tired but happy. Thank you again CMLE for making this trip possible for our teens!

Books, Materials, Young Adults

Attn: YA Library People! Free Audio books!

May 15, 2019 Mary Jordan

(Yeah, that headline was not subtle.)

The AudioFile people have free audio books available for your YA patrons this summer! (It’s okay to download them for yourself too!)

What is SYNC?

What?

SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens 13+. Returning April 25, 2019, SYNC will give away two complete audiobook downloads a week – pairs of high interest titles, based on weekly themes. In 2018, 26 titles were given away over 13 weeks.

Why?

SYNC introduces a variety of audiobook experiences to teens to demonstrate that reading can be completed by listening.

Who?

SYNC is sponsored by AudioFile Magazine and titles are delivered through the OverDrive app. In advance of accessing the program, download the app in advance to whichever device you anticipate listening on and be ready to go!

How?

Sign-up to get notifications when the FREE audiobook downloads are available. You can receive alerts by text message, email newsletter, or by visiting www.audiobooksync.com. Titles change every Thursday at 7am ET when the program is running.

Please Note: Signing up for these alerts will not send you the titles. The alerts will only tell you when and where the title is available to download.

Download Details

Downloads are in MP3 format, hosted by OverDrive, and are Mac and Windows compatible.
Downloads will operate through the OverDrive app.
Most listening devices are supported.
Each SYNC audiobook will be available for download for a period of 7 days (only).
Titles, once downloaded, are yours to keep.

SYNC is Teen-Friendly Summer Fun

Why SYNC ?

Everyone

Listen on your mobile phone or any device that has internet access and allows downloads.
Expose yourself to rich vocabulary, correctly pronounced and used in context.
Multi-task! Read with your ears while you drive, do chores, exercise.

Reluctant readers

A great way to easily access the author’s words and structure of the text.
Know how long the book will take to enjoy.

Omnivorous readers

A different way to experience diverse authors from a variety of cultures.
Expand your reading time by listening in the car, around the house, waiting in line.

Listening Suggestions for Adults with Teens

Books

Book Suggestions: Everything, Everything

December 21, 2017 Angie

We love to read books, and to talk about books. Check out our entire series here! Need more book chatting and suggestions in your life? Listen to our Books and Beverages podcast!

I recently finished Nicola Yoon’s book The Sun is Also a Star and really enjoyed it, so I thought I’d read her first book, Everything, Everything. I’m about halfway through and enjoying this one, too! YA romance can be tricky and this one is definitely dramatic, but it’s hard not to admire Madeline’s need to experience life, no matter the risks! Plus, she loves books, so we know she’s a good one. :)The book has fun little illustrations throughout too, which add to the world of the story. It’s a quick read and I think I know how the story will end, but I’m excited to see if I’m right!

“My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.”

Advocacy, Books

District official ordered “Thirteen Reasons Why”removed

May 10, 2017 Mary Jordan

Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
(You can read the entire article here) By Erin McIntyre

A School District 51 official ordered school librarians to remove a controversial book from circulation last month, a move that circumvented the district’s traditional process for reviewing such materials and raised concerns about censorship.

“Due to recent events and media attention on the Netflix movie 13 Reasons Why, I am going to have this book temporarily removed from any kind of check out,” wrote Leigh Grasso, the district’s executive director of academic achievement and growth, in an email sent to librarians on April 28.

The order to remove the book “Thirteen Reasons Why,” which was the basis for the Netflix series, from circulation came even though no official challenges to the book were received. It was reversed later the same day after librarians urged administrators to follow the district’s process for considering challenged materials.

Grasso’s order came after at least seven district students have killed themselves since the beginning of the school year, most recently affecting Fruita Monument and Palisade high schools. According to emails obtained by The Daily Sentinel through a Colorado Open Records Act request, Grasso instructed the district’s cataloguing specialist to tell school librarians who had the book in their school libraries to remove it from circulation, which was met with opposition. Some of the librarians responded that they didn’t feel the action was appropriate, and they cited differences between the Netflix series and the book in their responses.

“There is a formal, board approved process to challenge books in our district, and I believe it is our duty to follow that process, because censorship is a slippery slope,” wrote one high school librarian, who also noted that the book has been popular since it was published in 2007 and many students had already read it long before the Netflix series debuted.

Continue reading District official ordered “Thirteen Reasons Why”removed →

Books, Children's services, Young Adults

Looking for book suggestions: Donor-conceived characters in YA or MG literature

April 20, 2017 Mary Jordan

CMLE members: this is a library person looking for suggestions. She found a few already, posted below; but if you have others, post them to the comments!

“Once a year I ask the collective wisdom if they’ve come across any donor-conceived characters in YA or MG literature in their past year of reading since one person (me) can’t possibly read everything!

I’m wondering if any of you have come across any more. Donor-conceived people are those conceived with sperm, egg, or embryo donation, usually to single mothers by choice, gay parents, or those with fertility struggles in heterosexual families who can’t use their own gametes to conceive. I am interested in how identity as a donor-conceived teen or tween is represented in YA or MG literature.

I curate a list on my YA Books for Door Offspring blog and I am always on the look out for more fiction on this topic.”

You’re Welcome, Universe / Whitney Gardner