GreenBeanTeenQueen

Rating: 5/5 Stars Genre: Biography Release Date: 3/4/2014 Add to Goodreads About the Book: Award winning illustrator Lois Ehlert always knew she was meant to be an artist. She explains her artistic and creative process through her famous collage illustrations. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says:  I love biographies that I can give to the youngest of readers and The Scraps Book is my new perfect go to suggestion. Part biography, part instruction, and part inspiration, Lois Ehlert uses her art to tell readers why she became an artist and how she completes her work. The first part of the book is about Ms. Ehlert's childhood and growing up in a creative home with a family that encouraged her artistic ability. She includes photos and talks about where she first created her art. The second half of the book, and what takes up most of this short collection, is all about Ms. Ehlert's inspiration for her books. Where does she get her ideas for her stories? How did she create the pi

In the book world, you can never seem to escape the comments of a book being like this book meets that book. It helps build interest and when done well, it gives you a quick snapshot of what you might expect in the book. It can also backfire and make someone not want to read a book! Sometimes I wonder what exactly those marketing departments are thinking when they're creating some of these blurbs. Here are some recent ones I've come across: The Killing meets Game of Thrones (minus the fantasy elements) -Everything is like Game of Thrones! But is it really like Game of Thrones if you have to cut out the fantasy elements? And neither of these alikes are teen related. One of my staff members has seen this one also billed as Law and Order meets Game of Thrones . What?? Reckless first love meets Justified  -First of all, this cover makes me laugh every time I see it. It's just so dramatic! But really this is another question of are teens really watchi

Each day I walk into the library, I get to look forward to something new. While the general routine may be the same each day holds something different. I never know what questions I'm going to be asked and I love that! Here's what my day looked like today: 8:20- arrive at work, go through opening procedures for department  8:35-gather story time books and music  8:40-check in with M  about plan for the day, what needs to be done 8:45-set up story time. Since I was doing back to back story times, I decided to do all sings and dancing without any crafts or activities to make the set up easier 9:05-check email, respond to messages that need answers right away, email manager about an upcoming staff meeting 9:15-on desk, youth services coordinator visits department to get feedback about sumner reading program, branch manager stops by to get stickers fir an outreach visit, sign up for upcoming staff training 9:30-P arrives for shift. We talk about the May schedule and I make adjustme

Sarah Albee writes nonfiction for middle grade readers. She is the author of Poop Happened and Bugged. You can find her online at:   http://www.sarahalbeebooks.com/   I write nonfiction for middle graders, and my mission is to get kids who’ve been traumatized by deadly-dull social studies textbooks to unthink that they hate history. One tactic I use is to select a subject kids will be interested in—be it sanitation, insects, clothing, disease, poison—and trace it chronologically through history. I feel an obligation to entertain them, to astonish them, to make them laugh. After all, they could be reading fiction. I want them to see that history is full of conflict, tension, controversy, emotion, drama.  Humorous writing does not equal unserious writing. Some of my favorite adult writers – Mary Roach, May Berenbaum, Stephen Jay Gould--are serious scholars and hilarious writers. Most of my favorite middle school history writers are that, too. They understand that to s

I'm over at the ALSC Blog today talking about some of my favorite librarians in literature . Join me and tell me who some of your fictional librarians are!

I'm over at The Nerdy Book Club  talking about a few of my favorite middle grade reads! Come check it out!

I'm excited to reveal the cover of Shattered by Mari Mancusi, the sequel to Scorched. And check out Mari Mancusi's blog for a very special giveaway of a dragon egg pendant: http://www.rafflecopter.com/ rafl/share-code/ YWE1MTIzYTQ0NjBjNWU3OTkzOTliMz U0NWU0MTU1OjEx/ .

Rating: 4/5 Stars Genre: Contemporary/Greek Mythology Release Date: 3/11/2014 Add to Goodreads About the Book:  Haden Lord is a prince of the Underrealm-but he's a disgrace to his father and the court. It comes as a surprise when Haden is chosen by the oracle as the new Champion-the one to cross through Persephone's gate in order to bring back the latest boon. Only Haden's quest is different. His chosen girl, Daphne Raines, isn't an ordinary boon-she's the cypher and could be the key to restore immortality to the Underrealm. Haden goes undercover at Olympus Hills High School and has six months to return with Daphne. But fate has other plans as Daphne and Haden uncover more secrets about the Underrealm and their destiny. GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: I really love stories based on Greek Mythology, so when I first heard about Into the Dark  I was excited but wary. The Persephone myth seems like a popular trend right now in YA and I wasn't sure how yet anoth

I am so excited to be part of the tour of Bree Despain's new book, The Shadow Prince. This is the start to a great new series, Into rhe Dark, which is inspired by the Persephone myth. As a librarian, I always love to hear from authors about their library experiences. After reading about Bree's, I'm sure we're kindred spirits. I love her story of a remolded library and how far she'd go for the book she wanted!  And be sure to check out the other spots on the tour!  Today:  Bookaholics Anonymous   Thursday: Book Briefs Some of my fondest memories are of making new discoveries in libraries. One of my earliest childhood recollections is of the story-time room in my little local library. I remember getting to pick out my own carpet square and look at the rainbow colors on the walls while one of the librarians read from books like Chicken Soup With Rice and Where The Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak was always my favorite) and then begging m