Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
by Kaitlin May 17th, 2012 | Fiction, Young Adults
When I recently saw a preview for Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, I thought it had to be a joke. Perhaps The Onion had infiltrated actual movie theaters? Nope, apparently it’s an actual movie, set to release on June 22. But people make weird movies all the time, so really, should I be that surprised? (And um, Tim Burton is on board for this project so… enough said.) Well, more surprise was in order, when I discovered that not only is the movie based on a book by the same name, it is actually listed as one of the bestselling
Author Profile: Andrew Clements
by Kaitlin April 20th, 2012 | Authors, Young Adults
When encouraging a love of books in young readers, sometimes it can be hard to get them excited about the stories. Series like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games help captivate young audiences with tales of adventure and magic, but sometimes they can be too dark for young readers, and they are also a lengthy commitment. I discovered Andrew Clements back when I was in his target audience age range, and found his one-shot novels to be light, fun reads that, despite the lack of supernatural or overbearing themes, can still connect to young readers.
The characters in Clements' novels are pretty normal
The characters in Clements' novels are pretty normal
Young Adult Mystery Greats
by Louise April 13th, 2012 | Classics, Fiction, Young Adults
During grade school, I loved to read mystery novels. The Hardy boys, Nancy Drew, and Encyclopedia Brown were my heroes. I'd recommend them all for young readers looking for some mystery (and perhaps a bit of suspense as well). The three different series bring a lot to the table:
- The Hardy Boys. Frank and Joe Hardy are a couple of teenage amateur detectives. They have a father who is a real detective and sometimes asks them for help on a case, but the boys often stumble upon clues and villains (that happen to be connected to a case that their
Lord of the Flies
by Kaitlin February 24th, 2012 | Classics, Fiction, Young Adults
The other day, I made an off-hand reference to William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The response? Deafening silence. My high school English teacher would have been appalled. She considered Sir William Golding her literary boyfriend, and her enthusiasm for his most famous novel was contagious. I'm about to seriously dig myself into a hole of geekdom here, but I'll say it anyway -- one of my favorite assignments in high school was an essay I wrote on the symbolism in Lord of the Flies. Yes, not only did I have assignments I enjoyed, but one of them was on
The Hunger Games Trilogy
by Louise February 17th, 2012 | Fiction, Young Adults
Looking for a book (or three) that will keep any teen or tween flipping pages instead of clicking a mouse? The Hunger Games trilogy, a young adult series written by Suzanne Collins, is guaranteed to do just that.
The first installment, The Hunger Games, was published on September 14, 2008. The next two installments, Catching Fire and Mockingjay came in 2009 and 2010, respectively. They are written in first person from the perspective of the sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in District 12 of Panem, a post-apocalyptic world that exists where North America once was. Panem and its 12 districts
The first installment, The Hunger Games, was published on September 14, 2008. The next two installments, Catching Fire and Mockingjay came in 2009 and 2010, respectively. They are written in first person from the perspective of the sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in District 12 of Panem, a post-apocalyptic world that exists where North America once was. Panem and its 12 districts
