YA Movie News

I may be busy with committee work and reading, but I can't leave you without your YA Movie News-especially since there are so many exciting things happening!:)

-Nathan Fillion has been cast as Hermes in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters. This news made my nerd heart so happy! Anytime you can cast Nathan Fillion, I'm all for it! I hope the second movie stays closer to the books than the first film did though.

-Jeremy Irons has joined the cast of Beautiful Creatures as Uncle Macon. Anyone else think this movie cast is getting epically awesome??

-The Mortal Instruments movie seems to be heading in a good direction as Constantin Films has hired a director, Harald Zwart. According to MTV, production on the film is set to begin August 15.

-The CW has added to the cast of The Selection filling out the love triangle on the show with William Singer.

-The CW also added a cast member to The Carrie Diaries-adding actress Chloe Bridges as Carrie's nemesis Donna Ladonna.

 -Are fairy tales the next big thing? Not only is there a Beauty and the Beast TV show for The CW, but ABC has a Beauty and the Beast retelling in the works as well. Plus with shows like Once Upon a Time and Grimm and two Snow White movies out this year, fairy tales seem to be staying popular.

-Entertainment Weekly has a slideshow featuring the cast of Ender's Game.

-Frank Portman's novel, King Dork, is making it's way to the big screen.


A new Hunger Games clip has been released-featuring the evil President Snow!

YA Movie News

-The Hunger Games is almost here!! Are you getting excited? A new clip was released featuring Cinna and Katniss:



If you're a huge Hunger Games fan, you'll want to know that you can log onto Yahoo! Movies on Monday March 12 at 5:30 PT to watch the red carpet premire!!

-Have you checked out the Hunger Games Official Illustrated Movie Companion? I just got it from my library and I'm loving the outfits of the capitol!!

-And the Catching Fire movie is gearing up! The screenplay is finished and Suzanne Collins is looking it over. The movie is set to be in theaters November 2013.

-Austin Butler is set to play the male lead, Sebastain Kydd, in The CW's The Carrie Diaries. Thanks to Shelf Awareness for the news!

-According to IMDB, The Twilight: Breaking Dawn Teaser Trailer is set to debut with the Hunger Games.

-YA Novel Before I Die by Jenny Downham has a big screen adaptation coming-at least in the UK. The title has been changed to Now Is Good. Hopefully a US release is coming soon!



-Did you see this spoof of The Hunger Games to promote the release of The Muppets DVD? I just love The Muppets!!

Nominate for a YALSA Award-Including Printz!!!

Look at that shiny Printz seal!! Isn't it so pretty?? Wouldn't you love to see some of your favorite books of the year get some award love? You can help!

Did you know that anyone can nominate a title for the YALSA Book and Media Awards? (Ok, well not publishers or authors-but anyone else!) You can nominate your favorite survival films for Fabulous Films for Young Adults, or nominate your favorite 2012 read for Best Fiction for Young Adults, or nominate the best audiobook you listen to this year for Amazing Audiobooks. Did you know you can even nominate a title for the Printz Award? Yep, field nominations from anyone are encouraged for all these awards and more!! And it's easy to nominate a title-just fill out the form on the YALSA website, tell a little about the book you're nominating-and that's it-your nomination is off to the committee!! You don't want your favorite books being overlooked by a committee and not getting some award love come January, do you? Kelly at Stacked has a great post about what happens when we fail  to do our part in field nominations-and remember-anyone can nominate a title !!

And speaking of committees, bear with me this year as my blogging gets a bit light, OK? I'm very busy with committee work, but I promise to blog about library programs, librarians musings, and of course books! Maybe just not as often as I have in the past. And I really want you to be part of my committee experience-so nominate away!!! :)

Embrace Tour: Guest Post by Jessica Shirvington PLUS Giveaway

As a librarian, of course I love libraries! But I really love hearing from other readers and authors about why libraries are important to them. Today I'm happy to introduce you all to debut author Jessica Shirvington. Jessica is the author of Embrace. As an author, Jessica is no stranger to libraries-yay! Not only do I get to host Jessica talking about libraries, but today is the release date for Embrace! Send your congrats to Jessica and keep an eye out for Embrace at your library or bookstore! Happy release day Jessica-and thanks for loving the library!!

Libraries – part of my daily life.

From the outset, I knew I wanted to write a book that was based on mythology and folklore, but I didn’t want to just choose any old tale and run. A lot of my research for Embrace concentrated on varying academic opinions, religious interpretation, and the broad debates on particular elements of retold history. It is here that I believe many great ideas are discovered.

I was lucky enough to have extremely knowledgeable parents-in-law in many aspects of theology, so my first port of call was to them. They loaded me up with books by various scholars and theologians who explored different views on the role of angels and their capacity within the universe. It was the perfect place to start. But the thing about research is once you start, you quickly discover, it only helps to have as much knowledge on the subject as possible.

Naturally, I hit the internet. It’s a great place to start looking for references, but the truth is there is just so much out there on angels (including a lot of misleading information) that the Internet can become more of a hazard than anything else. Often the best comments and opinions I have found are only small sections in much larger books covering a range of different topics. So inevitably I find myself at the library more often than not.

For some reason the second I enter the front doors, I gain a little more clarity, a little more studious dedication and before I know it, somewhere between exploring the stacks of books for something that might jump out at me and scanning for the books on my prepared list of references, the day has swiftly left me behind. Sometimes I’m happy to visit my local library where I know my way around and where I like to sit (yes, I have a spot). Other times, I need more range and I find the big university libraries are the best for this – huge places to navigate, but the range is brilliant.

It doesn’t matter how much is at the press of a finger on the internet, nothing compares to the vast amount of books and the simplicity in being able to pick them up, skim through them, and move on to the next. A day at the library is always a success – mind you, I often get so sidetracked that I leave with material I never went in there looking for. But that’s part of the charm as well.

I know just what she means-I always end up with handfuls of books after browsing the library shelves! Check out your local library for a copy of Embrace and follow the tour on Facebook!



Want to win a copy? Fill out the form below! Good luck!!
-Ages 13+
-US Address Only
-One entry per person
-Contest Ends Sunday March 11 at midnight, central time

YA Movie News

Did you see the first clip from The Hunger Games?? I can't wait!! Suzanne Collins also posted a letter to fans saying she's "really happy" with the film!



-My favorite news of the week: Fox 200 has hired Brian Percival of Downton Abbey director fame (and many other Masterpiece episodes!) to direct a film version of The Book Thief. I think this is perfect-anyone else?? Thanks to Shelf-Awareness for the news!

-Remember how the Harry Potter DVDs went in the vault and can't be purchased? Well that's about to change with the release of the Harry Potter Wizards Collection. No news on what's inside, but it better be cool-the set costs $500!

-Emmy Rossum is in final negotiations to play Ridley in Beautiful Creatures! I think this would be a great casting job and I'm getting very excited for this movie!

-The CW has a pilot based on the novel The Carrie Diaries and cast AnnaSophia Robb as young Carrie. Thanks to Cynopsis for the news!

-The CW also has a pilot based on the novel The Selection. They recently cast Ethan Peck as the Prince and Sean Patrick Thomas as an advisor to the Queen. Thanks to Cynopsis for the news!

-Sherlock Holmes seems to be a big draw right now, and CBS is jumping on the bandwagon. They have an updated Sherlock Holmes starring Johnny Lee Miller as Sherlock and Lucy Liu as Watson-yep, a female Watson! I'm not sure if this can compete with the BBC's Sherlock, but I'm willing to give it a try. Thanks to Shelf-Awareness for the news.

-In other Hunger Games news, there's a game coming to Facebook and the poster was released this week. I don't play Facebook games, but I'll play this one!

-Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume is getting the big screen treatment and Entertainment Weekly has your first look. This movie was directed by Blume's son, and the two worked together to co-write a script. This is the first big screen version on any of Blume's novels.

-Amy Tintera used to work in Hollywood-and now her novel will be turned into a movie by Paradigm, the company she used to work for. Her debut novel, Reboot, sold to HarperTeen. Keep an eye out for it!

Wanderlove-Take a Virtual Vacation

Kirsten Hubbard is one cool author! Her new book, Wanderlove, is set Central America. So what better way to celebrate a backbacking novel than taking a trip herself? So Kirsten has set off on her own trip and she's blogging all about it. Readers can also post questions for Kirsten while she's traveling and post their own photos. Take a look at the site and you'll be in the mood for a vacation!! And if you submit a photo, you can be entered into a contest to win a signed and butterfly doodled hardcover of Wanderlove!

Here's more info from the publisher:

 Kirsten Hubbard’s new book, Wanderlove, is set in Central America. But not just in one location -- in over a dozen! Wanderlove settings range from bustling capital cities to dense rainforest to tiny Mayan villages to idyllic Caribbean islands, and each is special in its own way.

Most exist in real life; all are based on real life. We’re very excited to share these amazing places with you in the novel -- and on the brand new Wanderlove-themed Tumblr site.

www.wanderlove.com

The site is all about favorite places: in Wanderlove and beyond, Kirsten’s places and YOUR places. That's right. We want you to participate!

wanderlove is about celebrating our favorite places, and experiencing each other's. take a photo, or find a photo (one you’ve taken yourself & have the rights to) of your favorite place. it could be a place you’ve traveled to, long ago or recently; a special spot in your neighborhood, city or town; or even in your house or backyard. be as creative as you want. include a few sentences about why the place is special to you – why you *get* it, why it sticks in your heart. thank you!

You can also submit via email at wanderbooks (at) gmail (dot) com.

Everyone who submits an image and response between now and March 5th (the day she gets back from Central America) will be entered to win one of threesigned, annotated and butterfly-doodled hardcovers of Wanderlove. They'll be super-special, even if you've already pre-ordered the book (and I so so so hope you have)! The giveaway will be open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

If you participate, make sure you include your name and email address (don't worry, the latter is confidential and only for use if you win).

(Kirsten will host another HUGE giveaway March 13th, at http://kirstenhubbard.blogspot.com/ and YA Highway -- with prizes including Wanderlove art prints, bookmarks, and bracelets just like Rowan's.)

Kirsten will also be featuring all the destinations in Wanderlove, with photos she took herself over the years. She’ll cross-post her personal Wanderloveposts here as well as Tumblr, so you can follow along on Bria's journey in either spot.

You can also ask her questions about Wanderlove, backpacking, or writing, and she’ll do her best to answer them on the site -- or in video form from Central America, where she’s currently backpacking through Central America!

Follow! Reblog! Join in! And enjoy :)

Tween Tuesday: Popular Books in My Library

Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. I haven't posted a booklist in awhile, so I decided one was due!

When giving reader's advisory to library patrons, I have my go to authors and series that I always suggest. The tweens on the other hand have their go to authors and series. I was thinking about what the tweens ask for compared to what I suggest. Here is my (very unscientific) results of what is popular at my library:

Tween Go To Books:
 Margaret Peterson Haddix
Mary Downing Hahn
Carolyn Keene
Peg Kehert
Jeff Kinney
Rick Riordan

My Go To Books:
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows (for younger tweens)
Allie Finkle Series by Meg Cabot
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Herbert's Wormhole by Peter Nelson
Alcatraz Series Brandon Sanderson
Time Warp Trio by John Scieskza (for younger tweens)
Meanwhile by Jason Shiga
Sammy Keyes Mysteries by Wendelin Van Draanen


A lot of my go to books are readalikes for popular series that are usually checked out and I'm looking for something new to interest the tween readers. Others, like Anne, Mrs. Frankweiler, A Wrinkle in Time, and Catwings, are favorites from my childhood.

Sometimes I can sell the tweens on these books, other times it doesn't work as well. But I always give it a try because I love sharing my favorite books!

What books are popular with your tween readers and what books are popular as your suggestions?