When Chuck, Busby Memorial High's school bully forces Jack to turn over his Ritalin, Jack and the other members of Club Meds--those who visit the nurse's office daily for medications--band together to thwart Chuck's future schemes.
Book of the Day: Club Meds by Katherine Hall Page
When Chuck, Busby Memorial High's school bully forces Jack to turn over his Ritalin, Jack and the other members of Club Meds--those who visit the nurse's office daily for medications--band together to thwart Chuck's future schemes.
Book of the Day: --Or not by Brian Mandabach
Fourteen-year-old Cassie Sullivan refuses to go along with some of the things the majority embraces at her school and is surprised to find how much is made of her actions.
Book of the Day: The Book of Story Beginnings
by Kristin KladstrupOscar Martin was fourteen when he mysteriously disappeared from his Iowa farmhouse home in June 1914. His sister claimed Oscar had rowed out to sea - but how was that possible? There is no ocean in Iowa. When, nearly a century later, Lucy Martin and her parents move from their city apartment to that same farmhouse in Iowa, it is not long before Lucy discovers the strange and dangerous BOOK OF STORY BEGININGS. And it's not long before Oscar reappears in a bizarre turn of events that sends the two distant relatives on a perilous journey to save Lucy's father. This remarkable debut fantasy novel is a thrilling page turner as well as a tribute to the writer's craft.
Book of the Day: Something remains
By Inge Barth-GrozingerWhen the Nazi Party takes over the German government, 12-year-old Erich Levi notices that his once vibrant household has turned somber. "His mother hadn't laughed as often as usual, and his father's mischievous face suddenly looked gaunt." Things also change at school. Daily, Erich faces humiliations by cruel teachers and classmates, and Jews are excluded from extracurricular activities, including sports. The most painful development is that people who once spoke openly to his family now look the other way and refuse to do business with them. Erich's best friend, Kurt, joins the Jungvolk (the junior section of Hitler Youth) and no longer acknowledges Erich for fear of the consequences. Erich struggles to understand why Hitler hates Jews ("We're Germans ourselves!" the boy points out). Life continues year after year in the tranquil village of Ellwangen, but just below the surface brews a mixture of anger and hatred, making life for the few Jewish residents intolerable and dangerous. First-time author Bart-Grozinger wrote Erich's story after doing a research project with her students on the Jewish community in Ellwangen during the Nazi regime
Book of the Day: The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney
by Lauren Barnholdt"Mom says karma always comes around to get you, and I guess it's true. Because last summer I was a total liar, and now, right in the middle of Mr. Pritchard's third-period math class, my whole world is about to come crashing down. "
That's because while Devon was living with her grandmother for the summer, she told her "summer friend," Lexi, that she was really popular back home and dating Jared Bentley, only the most popular guy at school. Harmless lies, right? Wrong. Not when Lexi is standing at the front of Devon's class, having just moved to Devon's town. Uh-oh. Devon knows there's only one way to handle this -- she'll just have to become popular! But how is Devon supposed to accomplish that when she's never even talked to Jared, much less dated him?! And it seems the more Devon tries to keep up her "image," the more things go wrong. Her family thinks she's nuts, her best friend won't speak to her, and, as if it's not all complicated enough, Jared starts crushing on Lexi and Devon starts crushing on Jared's best friend, Luke. It all has Devon wondering -- who is the real Devon Delaney?
Book of the Day: After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
The day D Foster enters Neeka and her best friend’s lives, the world opens up for them. D comes from a world vastly different from their safe Queens neighborhood, and through her, the girls see another side of life that includes loss, foster families and an amount of freedom that makes the girls envious. Although all of them are crazy about Tupac Shakur’s rap music, D is the one who truly understands the place where he’s coming from, and through knowing D, Tupac’s lyrics become more personal for all of them.The girls are thirteen when D’s mom swoops in to reclaim D—and as magically as she appeared, she now disappears from their lives. Tupac is gone, too, after another shooting; this time fatal. As the narrator looks back, she sees lives suspended in time, and realizes that even all-too-brief connections can touch deeply.
This book won't be out until January 10, 2008 but it is going to be good! Jacqueline Woodson can't write a book without winning an award and anything involving Tupac has to be awesome!
Book of the Day: The Chicken Dance by Jacques Couvillon
When eleven-year-old Don Schmidt wins a chicken-judging contest in his small town of Horse Island, Louisiana and goes from outcast to instant celebrity, even his neglectful mother occasionally takes notice of him and eventually he discovers some shocking family secrets.
Book of the Day: What They Found: love on 145th Street
Fifteen interrelated stories explore different aspects of love, such as a dying father's determination to help start a family business--a beauty salon--and the relationship of two teens who plan to remain celibate until they marry.
The Pod Cast has arrived!
Well, not the actual podcast itself, but the icon. It is over there--> Just click on it and hear the first episode!
Uh but not yet, because it isn't there yet...but it will be today!
Uh but not yet, because it isn't there yet...but it will be today!
Book of the Day: The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden
Looking for something dangerous to do?
Book of the Day: Cover Up: Mystery at the Super Bowl by John Feinstein
Fledgling fourteen-year-old sports reporters Susan Carol and Stevie investigate suspicious activities at the Super Bowl after Stevie gets fired from his co-anchor job on a ground-breaking teen sports show.Book of the Day: Before I Die by Jenny Downham
A terminally ill teenaged girl makes and carries out a list of things to do before she dies.
THE PODCAST IS COMING!
Yes! This week! Bethel Park Library Teens Podcast! Subscribe via iTunes, or the pod page (link not up yet-- but this week, as promised!)
Book and movie reviews!
Ramblings!
Interviews!
Do YOU want to be on podcast?
If so, email Ing @ kalchthaleri@einetwork.net and put PODCAST ME! in the subject line!
Book of the Day: 1,000 reasons never to kiss a boy / Martha Freeman.
After her first boyfriend cheats on her, sixteen-year-old Jane vows to never kiss another boy.
The boyfriend list : (15 guys, 11 shrink appointments, 4 ceramic frogs and me, Ruby Oliver) by E. Lockhart.
A Seattle fifteen-year-old explains some of the reasons for her recent panic attacks, including breaking up with her boyfriend, losing all her girlfriends, tensions between her performance-artist mother and her father, and more.
Book of the Day: What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Sophie describes her relationships with a series of boys as she searches for Mr. Right.Follow this up with the sequel, What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know.
Book of the Day: What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Fourteen-year-old Robin Murphy is so unpopular at high school that his name is slang for "loser," and so when he begins dating the beautiful and popular Sophie her reputation plummets, but he finds acceptance as a student in a drawing class at Harvard. The sequel to What My Mother Doesn't Know.
CONTEST! WIN THIS BOOK OF THE DAY! The Lost Years of Merlin by T.A. Barron
A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales and finds his true name after a series of fantastic adventures.We have SEVEN copies of this book! New copies! If you want to have your own of The Lost Years of Merlin simply email Ing at kalchthaleri@einetwork.net and put GIVE ME MY BOOK PLEASE in the subject heading. The first SEVEN folks to do so get their own copy of the book!
Happy Holidays folks!
Book of the Day: Willie the Scrub by James McEwan
Willy and his friends have just started 5th grade and they want to be part of the 'in' crowd, the jocks. The fall football season leaves Willy a benchwarmer, or scrub, but he goes out for wrestling in the winter and things begin to change.The Podcast
We're starting a podcast! Hooray!Listen each week a new episode!
Right now we have NOTHING!
But check out the site anyway!
Remember, there's NOTHING to listen to-- yet!
Looking for Holiday Reads?
Last year I posted a holiday-themed book for every day in Decemember up through the 25th. Scroll down to Blog Archives, pick December (36) from the drop-down menu and there ya go!
Enjoy!
And be sure to look over there --------------------------------->>>>>>>>>
at the Winter/Spring program line-up!
Book of the Day: Who Will Tell My Brother by Marlene Carvell
During his lonely crusade to remove offensive mascots from his high school, a Native American teenager learns more about his heritage, his ancestors, and his place in the world.Book of the Day: Absolutely, Positively Not...by David LaRochelle
In this hilarioius book, sixteen-year-old 
Steven tries very hard to fit in at his Minnesota high school by becoming a macho, girl-loving, "Playboy" pinup-displaying heterosexual.
Steven tries very hard to fit in at his Minnesota high school by becoming a macho, girl-loving, "Playboy" pinup-displaying heterosexual. Book of the Day: Donorboy by Brendan Halpin
When Rosalind's two moms are killed in a tragic run-in with a Turducken, she moves in with her donor father, Sean, who has no clue how to raise a teenage daugther. Book of the Day: To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue
An editorial cartoonist who travel to Afghanistan during the recent American bombing campaign to document its effects on ordinary people shares what he experienced in this graphic journal. Book of the Day: What's in a Name by Ellen Wittlinger
Each of ten teenagers living in Scrub Harbor, Massachusetts, explores his or her identity at the same time that the local residents consider changing the name of their town.Book of the Day: The Big Nothing by Adrian Fogelin
A middle-schooler struggles to cope with major family problems, including a brother who might be heading for the Persian Gulf, but finds an escape in piano lessons and the dream of a romance with a popular girl.
Book of the Day: Blood on the river : James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone
Traveling to the New World in 1606 as the page to Captain John Smith, twelve-year-old orphan Samuel Collier settles in the new colony of James Town, where he must quickly learn to distinguish between friend and foe.Book of the Day: Big Fat Manifesto by Susan Vaught
Jamie is a senior in high school and, like so many kids her age, doing too much --- including trying to change the world --- and fighting for her rights as an overweight girl. And not quietly: she's writing a column every week in the paper with her thoughts, fears and gripes. As her column raises all kinds of questions, she must find her own private way in her world, with love popping up in an unexpected place and satisfaction in her size losing ground to real frustration.
Book of the Day: Breathe My Name by R. A. Nelson
Frances Robinson is in high school now. She lives a quiet, suburban life, far from her horrifying past. When she was a child, her birthmother smothered her three sisters. Through pure luck, Frances survived. Now her mother has just been released from prison and would like to see her.
Book of the Day: A Bridge to the Stars by Henning Mankell
Twelve-year-old Joel lives with his father in the cold northern part of Sweden. At night he often sneaks out of the house to look for a lonely dog he has seen from his window. On the bridge across the icy river he starts a secret society and has adventures. But one night he discovers that his father’s bed is also empty, and so he will have to come to terms with his father’s newfound love.
Book of the Day: The Ever-After Bird by Ann Rinaldi
Now that her father is no longer living, CeCe McGill is left to wonder why he risked his life for the ragged slaves who came to their door in the dead of night. When her uncle, an ornithologist, insists she accompany him to Georgia on an expedition in search of the rare scarlet ibis, CeCe is surprised to learn that there is a second reason for their journey: Along the way, Uncle Alex secretly points slaves north in the direction of the Underground Railroad.Book of the Day: Finding Daddy by Louise Plummer
Mira Kent is nearing her 16th birthday and wants to know more about her father, whom she doesn't remember. Her mother tells her she has all of his good qualities, but isn't specific. With nothing but a photo of her father, Mira wants more. She writes him imaginary notes:Daddy, darling, where are you? I need you in my life. Aren't you curious about me? About school? I have a boyfriend named Dylan. Mom says you both made the decision during the divorce that you wouldn't be part of my life. It was easier, she says. It hasn't been easier for me. Look for me, dearest Daddy, and I'll look for you. I'll look until I find you.
Book of the Day: The Lux by Anna Godbersen
Beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan's social scene. Or so it appears. When the girls discover their status among New York City's elite is far from secure, suddenly everyone --- from the backstabbing socialite Penelope Hayes, to the debonair bachelor Henry Schoonmaker, to the spiteful maid Lina Broud --- threatens Elizabeth's and Diana's golden future.Book of the Day: Omega Place by Graham Marks
Paul Hendry just wants to get away from his mother and annoying stepfather. But when he runs away, he finds that life on the streets is nothing like what he expected. By chance, he falls in with a radical action group called Omega Place, whose members are determined to let people know exactly how closely the government is watching them on closed-circuit TV cameras posted in public places. What are the ramifications of this kind of footage? Paul is about to find out.Book of the Day: The Outcasts by L.S. Matthews
Four of the Outcasts don't really participate in class, and all five could care less about a group activity. So the fact that all of them actually go on the field trip is something of a miracle. When reality splits, and they end up in another dimension, you can imagine how badly they'll all wish they'd stayed home. Five outcasts fall out of reality. How many will make it back to the world as they know it?Book of the Day: A Fate Totally Worse Than Death by Paul Fleischman
In this horror novel parody, three self-centered members of Cliffside High School's ruling clique, who are beginning to age rapidly, become convinced that the beautiful new exchange student is the ghost of the girl whose death they caused the year before.
Book of the Day: A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone
When a handsome senior boy enters their mix, friends Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva soon find themselves in questionable situations where each girl must make the right decision before their personal sacrifices become too great.Book of the Day: Books That Bite by Marianne Mancusi
Bitten by a vampire after being mistaken for her Goth twin sister, Rayne, sixteen-year-old Sunny is in a race against time as she tries to prevent herself from becoming a vampire permanently.Book of the Day: Heavy Metal and You by Christopher Krovatin
High schooler Sam begins losing himself when he falls for a preppy girl who wants him to give up getting wasted with his best friends and even his passion for heavy metal music in order to become a better person.Book of the Day: Evil Genius
By Catherine Jinks
With a series of breakneck twists and turns, Jinks's (the Pagan Chronicles) latest novel follows Cadel Piggott, a seven-year-old Australian boy with an incredible mind and a proclivity toward mischief: "He loved systems: phone systems, electrical systems, car engines, complicated traffic intersections." Following a string of disasters, which Cadel engineers (e.g., hacking into the city's power grid), his desperate adoptive parents take him to a psychologist, Dr. Thaddeus Roth. But instead of refocusing Cadel on more positive activities, Dr. Roth encourages the boy to develop increasingly destructive plans, such as orchestrating massive traffic jams and manipulating his classmates' emotions so that they turn on one another. Dr. Roth also stuns Cadel by revealing that he is employed by Cadel's birth father, Dr. Phineas Darkkon, a criminal mastermind serving a life sentence. From prison, Dr. Darkkon established the Axis Institute for the world's genetically talented and criminally inclined. Drs. Roth and Darkkon convince Cadel to join its small freshman class, and Cadel slowly uncovers a conspiracy of lies and betrayals that leave no aspect of his life untouched. Jinks has created an intricate, well-constructed and layered reality in this hefty novel, and as the complex deceptions that have shaped Cadel's life come to light, his emotional unraveling and awakening will likely engross readers
Book of the Day: He's With Me
By Tamara SummersLexie has always had a crush on Jake, her brother Colin's best friend. But she knows Jake thinks of her like a sister, and has never made a move. But when beautiful alpha girl Bree McKennis sets her sights on Jake, he has to come up with a plan to turn her down...without incurring the wrath of the most popular girl in school. That's when Colin comes up with the plan: Lexie can pretend to be Jake's girlfriend. But Lexie has never had a real boyfriend, let alone a pretend one! Can she manage to convince Jake that they're meant to be...and avoid getting killed by Bree McKennis?
Book of the Day: Habibi
By Naomi NyeThe day after Liyana got her first real kiss, her life changed forever. Not because of the kiss, but because it was the day her father announced that the family was moving from St. Louis all the way to Palestine. Though her father grew up there, Liyana knows very little about her family's Arab heritage. Her grandmother and the rest of her relatives who live in the West Bank are strangers, and speak a language she can't understand. It isn't until she meets Omer that her homesickness fades. But Omer is Jewish, and their friendship is silently forbidden in this land. How can they make their families understand? And how can Liyana ever learn to call this place home?
Book of the Day: Walking up a Rainbow
By Theodore TaylorThe year is 1851. Susan Carlisle, a feisty 14-year-old who has recently been orphaned, would be well off if it weren't for G. B. Minzter. He has sued to take all she hashouse and moneyto cover a debt her late father incurred. Susan has one year to pay off the $15,000 she owes. She decides to sell her only possession4000 sheepto raise the money. In order to do so she faces a walk from Iowa to California, where hungry gold miners will pay high prices for the sheep. She lies, coaxes and finally persuades a drover to undertake the cross-country sheep-walk. The tale of their journey is colorful and exciting; details of Gold Rush America are accurate, and the frontier idiom is used consistently throughout. One jarring note is the lengthy section where Clay Carmer, the young drover Susan has set her sights on, takes over the narrationan obvious device to distance the reader from the trauma of an attempted rape that occurs here. But in general, the book's lighthearted, gun-toting tone is sustained at the cost of real character development
Book of the Day: Yellow Star
By Jennifer RoyIn February 1940, four-and-half-year-old Syvia (later Sylvia) Perlmutter, her mother, father and 12-year-old sister, Dora, were among the first of more than 250,000 Jews to be forced into Poland's Lodz Ghetto. When the Russians liberated the ghetto on January 19, 1945, the Perlmutters were among only 800 people left alive; Syvia, "one day shy of ten years old," was one of just 12 children to survive the ordeal. The novel is filled with searing incidents of cruelty and deprivation, love, luck and resilience. But what sets it apart is the lyricism of the narrative, and Syvia's credible childlike voice, maturing with each chapter, as she gains further understanding of the events around her. Roy, who is Syvia's niece, tells her aunt's story in first-person free verse. "February 1940" begins: "I am walking/ into the ghetto./ My sister holds my hand/ so that I don't/ get lost/ or trampled/ by the crowd of people/ wearing yellow stars,/ carrying possessions,/ moving into the ghetto." The rhythms, repetitions and the space around each verse enable readers to take in the experience of an ordinary child caught up in incomprehensible events: "I could be taken away/ on a train,/ .../ and delivered to Germans/ who say that nothing belongs to Jewish people any-/ more./ Not even their own children." Nearly every detail-a pear Syvia bravely plucks from a tree in the ghetto, a rag doll she makes when her family must sell her own beloved doll-underscores the wedded paradox of hope and fear, joy and pain.
Book of the Day: A Court for Owls
By Richard AdicksAdicks's debut novel set during and after the Civil War has all the ingredients of a first-rate historical thriller, yet never rises above a stale and flavorless sketch. Much of the problem stems from Adick's flat journalistic account of the events of the war and his inability to dramatize the story's conflicts. The protagonist, Lewis Powell, was the mysterious young man who assaulted Secretary of State William Seward on the night Lincoln was assassinated, and who was accused of complicity in the latter event. Not long after Lewis joins the Florida Jasper Blues in the heady early days of the Confederacy, he has a fateful encounter with John Wilkes Booth and is drawn into a plot to kidnap Lincoln. As portrayed by Adicks, Booth is so absurd and histrionic that his ability to mesmerize Lewis is scarcely credible. Lewis rides though the South creating havoc among the northern troops, visits a variety of whorehouses, is wounded at Gettysburg and conducts ill-fated romances with local belles. While Booth succeeds in ending Lincoln's life, Lewis bungles the attempt to murder Seward in a scene of unusual dullness. In fizzling succession, Lewis is captured, tried and executed and this lackluster novel mercifully comes to an end. (June)
Book of the Day: Ella Mental
By Amber Deckers
The Elemental Good Sense Guide is made up of basic observations I make about people and life, which I then turn into sayings. Elemental -- that's also my nickname, but it's actually more like "Ella Mental." You see: It changes the meaning entirely. Ella Watson is sensible to a fault. Thanks to the little nuggets of wisdom she collects in her Good Sense Guide, she's the perfect go-to girl for any friend in need. But when Ella has an argument with her best friend, Toby, her faithful guide falls short. Ella has been so focused on her friends that she's missed what's right in front of her face -- now she'll have to trade in sense for sensibility to mend her friendship
Book of the Day: The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
by Jaclyn MoriartyBindy Mackenzie believes herself to be the smartest, kindest girl at Ashbury High. Unfortunately, she is alone in that belief.
To prove her likeability, Bindy decides to document her life in transcripts, essays, and e-mails. What this reveals is a girl who's funny, passionate, hilariously self-righteous...and in danger.
Someone wants to kill Bindy Mackenzie. The clues are in the documents. The detectives are the very students who hate her most. And time is running out.
Enjoy this wickedly funny follow-up to The Year of Secret Assignments. It's a killer!