BREAKING NEWS: Harry Potter the Play!!!!

too excited. can't talk. can't capitalize. just read:

From BBC.com:

JK Rowling has announced her Harry Potter stage play will open in London's West End next year. 

Called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it will tell the "untold part" of the boy wizard's story, including the story of the lives of his murdered parents. 

However, the author said on Twitter the play was "not a prequel". 

It will run at the Palace Theatre in the summer of 2016, with tickets on sale this autumn. 

Rowling said she chose to make the announcement on Friday because it was "a very special day" - the 18th anniversary of when her debut book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was first published in the UK. 

But she was tight-lipped about the plot of the play, saying she did not "want to say too much more, because I don't want to spoil what I know will be a real treat for fans". 

She added: "To answer one inevitable (and reasonable!) question - why isn't Cursed Child a new novel? I am confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story." 

The play was first announced in December 2013, after the author said she had "received countless approaches" over the years "about turning Harry Potter into a theatrical production". 

Although the new story has not been written by Rowling, it is a collaboration between herself and writer Jack Thorne - who previously adapted Let The Right One In for the stage and won a Bafta for his work on Channel 4's This is England '88 - and John Tiffany, who will also direct the play. 

It will be produced by Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, and British singer Imogen Heap will provide the music.

The plot details might still be hazy, but there's little doubt Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will have a magical effect at the West End box office. 

It will be at the 1,400-seat Palace Theatre, which was home to theatrical blockbuster Les Miserables for a record 19 years. 

JK Rowling's success needs no introduction, but the new Harry Potter play reunites the creative dream team behind the stage adaptation of supernatural love story Let The Right One In. 

When it comes to West End hits, producer Sonia Friedman has a golden touch. Her biggest successes include Book of Mormon and Sunny Afternoon, while her musical Bend It Like Beckham kicked off to rave reviews this week. 

When it opens in summer 2016 the play is likely to spark the kind of Potter-mania that surrounded the release of the books and films. 

And it won't end there. The stage show will be closely followed by the Potter film spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in November 2016. 

Eddie Redmayne will star in a movie adaptation of Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 

"Jack, John and Sonia Friedman are a dream team," Rowling said. 

"It has been a huge pleasure to share with them (and soon, with you!) this untold part of Harry's story." 

Producers originally said the play would explore "the previously untold story of Harry's early years as an orphan and outcast". 

"Featuring some of our favourite characters from the Harry Potter books, this new work will offer a unique insight into the heart and mind of the now legendary young wizard," they said. 

The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye claimed The Cursed Child would "delve into what happened to Harry's parents before they were killed by Lord Voldemort, forcing an infant Harry to be raised in miserable circumstances by his mother's sister, Petunia, her horrid husband Vernon and their spoiled son Dudley". 

Rowling's seven Harry Potter best-sellers were adapted into eight blockbuster films starring Daniel Radcliffe as the boy wizard. 

The author is making her screenwriting debut on Potter spin-off film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, starring Eddie Redmayne, due in cinemas next November.

Song-Novel Adaptations, Please!!

Okay, this is totally something I would write, but I didn't! This article from The Booklist Reader takes three songs that would be perfect as YA novels, talks about how the lyrics would match the plot, and then gives some actual YA suggestions for you to read! Love it! 

What do you think? Are there any songs you can imagine as YA novels? What about YA books that seem like albums? (Look at our literary playlists for inspiration!) 

Comment with your suggestions and picks!

Cool Online Articles!!!

There have been TONS of book articles I've been saving up for you guys. Here they are!

• According to this article from CBC News, a girl in Canada was forbidden from reading while riding the bus! 
• Have you ever read a contemporary YA book and thought the story just wasn't realistic? This article from Mic.com wonders what YA book plots would be like if they accurately reflected teens' real lives. 
• Remember how great it was to get a brand-new coloring book? The whole book was like a fresh canvas, and you felt like da Vinci, van Gogh, or Pollock, depending on your mood. Well now you can get that same feeling again, without buying a Shrek 3 coloring book that you secretly hid from your college roommate (or was that just me?). There are now coloring books for adults (or teens)! This article from the Washington Post explains why adult coloring books are so popular.
• Are there too many books in the world?? This article from The New York Review of Books wonders if we have too many literary options available to us.
• This article from Barron's calms our fears about eBooks vs. printed books. (It's okay! Books are still getting printed!) Apparently eBooks aren't getting more popular, and printed books aren't getting obsolete! 
• Speaking of eBooks and printed books, which do you think is the greener option? According to this Q&A on Grist.com, the best way to help the environment by reading is by visiting the library! Check out books from the library and share the literary love!
• For anyone who was severely underwhelmed by the Insurgent movie adaptation, check out this article from Buzzfeed. Maybe we should have been underwhelmed by the book itself?
• Neil Gaiman waxing poetic about Douglas Adams? Yes, please!
• This article from Buzzfeed shows some awesome book-themed infographics and charts. They range from what book to read next, to how long it would take you to read a certain book, to how being a reader is good for your health! Seriously, can we get these as posters??
• Need bookshelf suggestions? This article (another one from Buzzfeed; I have a problem) shows you 27 new ways to display your books!

MRL is not responsible for nor does it endorse the content of non-MRL websites. Users should use critical judgment in relying on information found in these websites and determine what information is appropriate to their needs.

May Book Club Post!

Title: The Ghosts of Heaven

Author: Marcus Sedgwick

Copyright: 2015

Call Number: YA Fiction SED (at North River)

You'll notice the patterns appear in Marcus Sedgwick's The Ghosts of Heaven. The story is told in four parts, the characters strewn throughout Earth's history, but the stories are strikingly similar. 

First there is the Girl, who dreams of drawing on the cave walls like the Storyteller. Next there is Anna, whose village believes she is a witch. Then we meet Charles Dexter, a once-successful poet who now resides in a mental institution in the 1920's. Finally, we experience the life of Keir Bowman, an astronaut who wakes every 10 years to maintain the massive spaceship on which he resides, travelling to form a new habitat for the 510 Earthlings on board.

There are mixed reactions about this book. Many readers appreciate the beautiful way in which it is written. Each story is unique in its own way. They are all told from different perspectives, with different narration styles. The characters are dynamic but lonely. There is an appealing mix of introspection, madness, and danger in each of them. But the stories can be a lot to get through. This article (SPOILER ALERT!!!) defines the book as "ambitious, intriguing and frustrating." If you don't think the stories sound interesting, at least read The Ghosts of Heaven to be a part of the discussion.

Why Do You Read YA?

This article says that YA experiences are universal and timeless; people will be writing and reading YA books for a long time.

What do you think? Will you continue to read YA after you're out of the age group? Or is it dependent on the book, not the genre?

And for that matter, why do you read YA? Is it about the characters or the subject? Take the poll below!

Why do you read YA?

To relate to a teen character

Because I'm 16-25 years old

It's all about the author

I'm into a genre where the books are mainly YA

I'm an adult but I like to go back to those times

I'm just reading today's popular books

I'm a parent, and I want to read what my kids read

I read everything

pollcode.com free polls

Get Better Sleep - Read a Book!

via Wikipedia

Do you have trouble sleeping but don't know why? One answer may be that you spend too much time in front of a screen before bed. Scientists say that people who read a book on a computer/tablet/phone screen before bed get worse sleep than people who read a "printed book." They even give this advice:

“The message for parents and children is to reduce the use and brightness of screens in the hours preceding bedtime,” Lauren Hale, a sleep researcher at Stony Brook University, said in an e-mail. “Of course, this recommendation is much easier said than done.”

Check out this article from the Boston Globe for more information.

UPDATE: This article from the Washington Post also says that it's more difficult for us to concentrate to books on a screen vs. printed books.

Random News!

Ready for a bunch of cool news and links? Here we go:

via ScreenRant.com

• In case you haven't already seen them, here are some amazing new pictures from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. How awesome does Cressida look? And Katniss looks completely different from Catching Fire, doesn't she?
• CNN made a list of 40 new YA books released this fall that you should read! The list includes Rick Yancey's The Infinite Sea (sequel to The 5th Wave), Afterworlds by Scott Westerfield (author of the Uglies series), and On A Clear Day by the late Walter Dean Myers.
  
  [Is there anything on the list that you want to read but we don't have? You can request a book purchase! Pick up a form at the Circulation Desk or in the Children's Section.]
• Are you excited for JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie? CinemaBlend came up with some possible spoilers and theories related to the characters. News also broke that Fantastic Beasts is going to be a trilogy! The three films are set to be released in 2016, 2018, and 2020. And HP director David Yates is back for Fantastic Beasts!
  
  [If you like this, be sure to see our post about Queen Jo's Fantastic Beasts Twitter hint! (Small spoiler alert for the link.)]
• In other JK Rowling news, she's planning on building Hagrid's hut on her property! Here are the plans and more information. I mean, come on--who wouldn't love a perfect replica of Hagrid's hut in their backyard?
• Want to read awesome YA book reviews? Check out Reading Rants! It includes reviews of awesome new books, book trailers, movie adaptation trailers, interviews, and more.
  
  [If you want to write a review for this blog, email it to ecorrea@mrlib.org]
• Do you need Halloween costume ideas? Check out these YA costume ideas from BuzzFeed, Teen.com, Read Breathe Relax, and Forever Young Adult.
• And finally, have you been looking forward to The Office writer BJ Novak's new children's book, The Book With No Pictures? Well, here's your chance to see him read it to an enthusiastic group of kids! It's definitely a use-your-imagination-and-a-silly-voice kind of book.

Robot Librarians!!!

You guys, I just found my new best friends. They are short, they work in a library, and they happen to be robots. No, I'm not talking about the Nodes from the Doctor Who episode "Silence in the Library" (although I love those guys).

via the Tardis Wikia

I'm talking about actual robots! The Westport Library in Connecticut purchased two robots. They teach patrons to code, but they can also play soccer, practice tai chi, and pick themselves up when they fall!

Aren't they the cutest little things you've ever seen?! I want one to be the Johnny Five to my Ally Sheedy! (That was an 80's movie reference. It might be before your time, but that's okay. If you haven't seen Short Circuit and the somehow superior Short Circuit 2, watch them now!)

We also found a cool illustration and description of the Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago. Most of the library is underground, full of millions of books. You can request a book from the card catalog, and the bin the book is in will rise to the main level, allowing you to retrieve it! The librarians can also put them back with ease. They hardly ever misshelve or lose a book. How cool is that?!

That makes us wonder--in your dream library, what would a robot librarian do? Comment with your take!

"Can You Get Too Old For YA Novels?"

The Denver Post published an article called "More Adults Than Youths Are Reading Young Adult Fiction." If so many adults are reading YA, that makes us wonder why they're interested in books targeted toward a younger audience.

Here are some reasons we've compiled as to why adults are reading YA:

• Young adult author John Green wrote an article for Cosmopolitan--yeah, you read that right--about the YA phenomenon across age groups. Green contends that the YA genre is so appealing to other age groups because the books contain "unironic emotional honesty."
• Alyssa Rosenberg wrote in the Washington Post that some adults are "highly engaged readers, and are simply adding YA novels to other categories of books they read."
• Rosenberg also believes that even YA novels with unhappy endings prepare us for the blow better than adult novels.
• Others believe YA books are popular because it's a chance for adults to recapture their glory days.
• Another reason could be that YA books are more abundant, popular, and relatable today than before. Even though YA pioneers like Judy Blume, Madeleine L'Engle, and even Mark Twain did wonders for teen lit, the YA genre is booming now.
• A staff member here believes it's a form of escapism; adults like to forget their adult-ish problems and focus on a YA character.
• Some parents also like to read what their YA children are reading as a way of connecting to them. (Remember that episode of Parks and Rec about the dad who reads Twilight with his daughter?)
• In the comment section of this CNN article, one reader sums it up: "A good book is a good book regardless of its intended audience."

What do you think? If you're a young adult, why do you believe adults love the genre more than ever before? If you're an adult, why do you love to read YA books? Comment with your opinion!

Audiobook Dream Narrator?

Back in 2012, Flavorwire made a list of their ideal celeb narrators for classic and modern novels, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt for The Catcher in the Rye. Which got us thinking...

• What is your favorite book?
• Who would your ideal narrator be?
• Would you include sound effects/music or just stick to the narrator's voice?

A lot of movies (many of them based on books) have main characters that narrate the action. But what actor would you love to narrate your favorite audiobook?

Comment with your audiobook dreamcast!

PS don't forget that you can download audiobooks for FREE! All you need is your library card! Here's the link to the downloadable media page through our library (OneClick is for audiobooks), and here's a list of all the supported devices.
You guys, I use these services all the time. They're supercool.

Children's/YA Movie Adaptations!! (Masterpost)

There are so many YA movie adaptations hitting screens. Before we begin, I'll just say: SPOILER ALERT. Now, let's break it up by book:

The Giver - in theaters now!

• Lois Lowry did an interview...check it out!
• This article from Slate talks about things you might have missed in The Giver book. **Spoiler alert!

If I Stay - in theaters now!

• Here are some observations about If I Stay and why it did/didn't work. **Spoiler alert!

The Maze Runner - release date: September 19, 2014

• Check out this featurette explaining "the rules."

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 - release date: November 21, 2014

• The director of Mockingjay Part 1 talked to Entertainment Weekly and spilled tons of info about the final two movies in the series. Apparently the new movies will break from literary canon and include scenes we never see in the book. The one thing that will stay the same? The love triangle between Katniss/Peeta/Gale.  **Spoiler alert!
• Lorde is in charge of the soundtrack for Mockingjay Part 1! She'll be picking songs for the album and will also be writing a single. She talks about the movies/soundtrack with Billboard.
• There are new posters, and they're fantastic. Mockingjay.net compiled a list of all the posters and where you can find them.

Movies in production:

• The 5th Wave
• A Great and Terrible Beauty
• The Alchemyst
• Aliens on Vacation: The Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast Series
• The Amulet of Samarkand: Bartimaeus Trilogy
• Anna Dressed in Blood
• Angelfall
• Artemis Fowl
• Assassin's Creed
• A Tale Dark & Grimm 
• Attack on Titan
• Before I Fall
• Blackbird
• Blood of Eden series 
• Blood Red Road
• Catherine, Called Birdy
• Children of Paranoia
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair (in the juvenile section)
• Chronicles of Nick
• Half-Blood
• Dark Hunter series
• The Darkest Minds series
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone
• DC movies, + Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice + Justice League + Suicide Squad
• Delirium
• Divergent Series (Insurgent, Allegiant - Part 1, Allegiant - Part 2)
• The Diviners 
• Down a Dark Hall
• The DUFF
• Dumplin'
• Eleanor & Park
• Elusion
• An Ember in the Ashes
• Embrace
• Endgame
• Fae
• Fallen
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (screenplay by Queen Jo!)
• The Fire Sermon
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth
• The Finisher
• Firelight
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth
• Frankenstein (starring Daniel Radcliffe!) 
• Goosebumps
• Graceling
• Grasshopper Jungle
• The Graveyard Book
• Heist Society
• The Here and Now
• Hourglass
• House of Night series
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 
• Incarceron
• The Immortal Rules
• The Iron Trail (Magisterium series)
• The Jungle Book
• The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking trilogy)
• The Last Apprentice
• Legend
• Let It Snow
• Leven Thumps
• Lockwood and Co.
• Looking for Alaska
• Looking Glass Wars
• The Lost Books of Merlin
• Lux series
• Madman's Daughter
• Marvel movies, + Deadpool + Fantastic Four reboot
• Matched
• Maximum Ride
• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
• A Monster Calls
• Monument 14
• Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes 
• Nerve
• The Night Circus
• Olivia Kidney
• On the Jellicoe Road
• Origin
• The Outliers
• The Paladin Prophecy
• Pan
• Panic
• Paper Towns
• Paranormalcy
• Peter and the Starcatchers
• Pure  
• The Queen of Tearling (with producer/star Emma Watson!)
• The Raven Boys 
• Red Rising
• The Red Queen
• The Last Apprentice series
• The Selection
• Septmius Heap: Magyk
• Shadow and Bone
• Shadow Falls series
• Shatter Me
• Significance
• Soulkeepers
• The Scorpio Races
• Shiver
• Tempest
• The Testing
• This Song Will Save Your Life - also optioned for the stage
• Tiger's Curse
• The Traveler: Fourth Realm Trilogy
• Trylle Trilogy
• Tunnels
• Uglies
• Under the Never Sky  
• Unearthly 
• Unremembered
• Unwind
• Wake
• We Were Liars
• Wicked Lovely
• Wildwood
• Wings
• Wither 
• The Scorch Trials
• If The Maze Runner does well enough, they're going to make the second book in the series into a movie, too! They want to see how much money the movie makes, then maybe start shooting this fall.
• Frostbite: A Vampire Academy Film - maybe in the works?
•  Producers started a crowdfunding campaign to get a second Vampire Academy movie made. You can pick a package and donate toward production. But the deadline is September 5, and they've only raised 15% of their goal.
• Thirteen Reasons Why - maybe in the works?

Available now:

• The Fault in Our Stars
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
• Divergent
• Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters
• How I Live Now
• THG & Catching Fire
• Beautiful Creatures
• The Book Thief
• The Spectacular Now
• Where the Red Ferns Grow
• The Golden Compass
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (in the Juvenile section)
• Old Yeller (in the Juvenile section)
• White Fang (in the Juvenile section)
• Treasure Island (in the Juvenile section)
• The Percy Jackson movies
• The Host
• Inkheart (in the Juvenile section)
• Jumanji (in the Easy section)
• The Polar Express (in the Easy section)
• Shrek (in the Easy section)
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (in the Easy section)
• Madeline (in the Easy section)
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower
• The Neverending Story
• How I Live Now
• Mary Poppins (in the Juvenile section)
• The Borrowers (in the Juvenile section)
• The Seeker
• Tuck Everlasting
• Matilda (in the Juvenile section)
• James and the Giant Peach (in the Juvenile section)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (in the Juvenile section)
• The Witches (in the Juvenile section)
• The Wizard of Oz (in the Juvenile section)
• The Lord of the Flies
• Tiger Eyes
• The Outsiders
• Coraline
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (in the Juvenile section)
• Around the World in 80 Days (in the Juvenile section)
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (in the Juvenile section)
• I Am Number Four
• The Hobbit movies (in the Juvenile section)
• The Lord of the Rings series
  
• A Series of Unfortunate Events (in the Juvenile section)
• The Twilight series
• Youth in Revolt
• The Adventures of Tin-Tin (in the Juvenile section)
• City of Ember
• Stardust
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
• Bridge to Terabithia (in the Juvenile section)
• A Little Princess (in the Juvenile section)
• The Secret Garden (in the Juvenile section)
• Little Women (in the Juvenile section)
• Spiderwick
• Charlotte's Web (in the Juvenile section)
• Howl's Moving Castle
• The Indian in the Cupboard (in the Juvenile section)
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies
• Eragon
• The Princess Diaries movies
• I Know What You Did Last Summer
• The Neverending Story
• Marvel movies
• DC Comics movies
• The Harry Potter series (in the Juvenile section)
• Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (in the Juvenile section)
• The Chronicles of Narnia movies (in the Juvenile section)
• ...and tons more! Check out the books, then watch the movies!

Also, check out this list of YA books that should be turned into movies! What are your thoughts? Want to see your fave YA book on the big screen? Comment with your suggestions!

LAST TFIOS Movie Entry, Okay?? (...Okay.)

This is it, you guys. The TFIOS movie is coming out this week. My expectations are so high, they are going to come crashing to the ground if it isn't perfect. But as John Green said in his vlog, he doesn't get a cut from the movie, and if he didn't like it he would say so, and he loves it, so that's a good sign.

So to get you psyched for the premiere, here are some links you may want to check out:

• In case you're lucky enough to traverse far and wide, you can see TFIOS tonight instead of Friday! It's called The Night Before Our Stars, and it includes a simulcast with the cast/crew/author, live performances by Birdy and Nat & Alex Wolff, and gifts, such as a charm bracelet and poster. Attendees will also get to see John Green's cameo, which was famously cut from the film. (Or some theaters, like the Harrisonburg Regal 14, are doing "midnight" showings at around 9:00 PM, without all the fancy stuff. Still! The movie!)
• BuzzFeed has been obsessed with TFIOS. Here are 8 cool facts about the book/movie that you may not have known! (For example, did you know the "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once" line was inspired by Hemingway?)
• Ansel, Shai, and John drew what they thought love looked like, and the results are adorkable.



• John Green was recently featured in The New Yorker. The article is long because it follows him around as he does a lot of what he does in his life--and he has a lot going on, obviously--but if you read anything, skip to the bottom and read from the giant O to the end. It describes a video chat that John has with a group of kids who happen to have cancer. I don't want to tell you much about it, except that they have questions you might have about the book/movie and he answers them, so you might get some resolution (or not).
• This movie reviewer from the Chicago Sun-Times says Shailene Woodley should get an Oscar for TFIOS. Wow.
• Finally, after you watch TFIOS and want some more books to read this summer (because, you know, you need to get your hours in for the SUMMER READING GAMES), here's a suggested list of 17 books you may also like!

TFIOS (again) + X-MEN!!

For those of you who can't wait to see X-Men: Days of Future Past this weekend, but don't know where the characters stand, don't worry! This article from the Huffington Post will catch you up.

And did you honestly think I was going to make a blog post without mentioning TFIOS? This other article from HuffPost compares The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack to The Breakfast Club, in terms of defining a generation. What do you think?? Does the newly released TFIOS soundtrack define Gen Y/Z? Comment below!

EDIT: Also, Brilliance Audio is having a great John Green sale. All books by him (+ This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl, the real-life inspiration for TFIOS's protagonist, Hazel Grace Lancaster) for only $9.99!

NPR's 100 Must-Read Books (Ages 9-14) + SUMMER READING PROGRAM!

It's almost that time! Are you ready? Are you stoked? Do you even know what I'm talking about?

It's almost time for the Summer Reading Program!

Here's more information about that, but let's just say it's totally awesome and if you participate you get free stuff just for reading. That's it. All you have to do is read. Ridiculous, right?

To give you inspiration for what to read, here's NPR's list of 100 books 9-14 year-olds should read. (Although honestly, anyone should read them! Some of them I want to check out again!) Here's the link, but I'm going to post the list in full, just to make it easy on you.

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
2. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
3. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
4. The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. A Long Way from Chicago series by Richard Peck
7. Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
8. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
9. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
10. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
11. All-Of-A-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor
12. The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
13. Watership Down by Richard Adams
14. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
15. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
16. Poppy by Avi
17. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
18. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
19. Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery by Deborah and James Howe
20. The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
21. The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
22. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
23. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
24. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden and Garth Williams
25. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
26. The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming
27. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
28. Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman
29. Bomb: The Race to Build - and Steal - The World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Steinkin
30. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
31. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
32. Half Magic by Edward Eager
33. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
34. The Borrowers by Mary Norton
35. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
36. A Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket
37. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers
38. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
39. The Ramona series by Beverly Cleary
40. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
41. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963: A Novel by Christopher Paul Curtis
42. Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
43. Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
44. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
45. Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
46. The Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery
47. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
48. The Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander
49. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
50. The Oz series by L. Frank Baum
51. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
52. The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau
53. The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards
54. The Earthsea Cycle series by Ursula K. Le Guin
55. The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
56. The Giver by Lois Lowry
57. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
58. His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman
59. The Hobbit: Or There And Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
60. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger
61. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
62. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
63. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
64. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
65. Wonder by R.J. Palacio
66. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson
67. Holes by Louis Sachar
68. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt
69. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
70. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
71. Matilda by Roald Dahl
72. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer
73. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
74. The Bone series by Jeff Smith
75. The Arrival by Shaun Tan
76. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
77. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
78. The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs
79. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
80. The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
81. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
82. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
83. The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper
84. D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
85. The Little Prince by Antoine de Sant-Exupery
86. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
87. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
88. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
89. The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar
90. The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
91. Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
92. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
93. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
94. A Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L'Engle
95. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
96. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
97. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
98. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
99. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
100. The Twenty-one Balloons by William Pene Du Bois

We even have almost all of them at the library for you to check out! (All but one. We have 99 books on this list and The Annotated Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar isn't one. But we have other fairy tales, so it's okay.)

What do you think of the list? Are there any books you would add? Comment with your suggestions!

"How Author G. Neri and Librarian Kimberly DeFusco Changed a Life"

Have you ever been hit hard by a book? Not physically, I mean emotionally. Check out this awesome article about how one book made a profound difference in Raequon's life.

Source: School Library Journal

April's Most Popular Books

It's that time again--were you waiting with bated breath?--time to find out what the most popular YA books of the month were.

1. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
2. Divergent by Veronica Roth
3. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• It's no surprise that after the March release of the movie version of Divergent, people were interested in what happened next. Let's hope they weren't too disappointed. (In other news, movie execs have announced that, like THG, we can expect a 4-movie run from Divergent. Good news/bad news? Comment with your opinion!
4. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• THG is aaaalll the way at the bottom of the list, but the rest of the trilogy is still thriving in checkouts! This is the time to make a note that sound recordings are quite popular in the YA section. In fact, we have a whole wall of books on CD at the Main branch. (It's a small wall, but still!) Also, don't forget about our downloadable media! We have a nice selection of audiobooks, ebooks, and magazines for you to enjoy on-the-go, and all you need is your library card.
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Is anyone else counting down the days 'til June 6? After the release of the extended trailer, I'm about to start a countdown clock on my phone. ...Oh, you didn't see it? Don't worry, I've got you covered. Be sure to grab some tissues first. Okay? Okay.
7. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
8. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Book Thief continues to be popular, too. Why? Because it's incredibly unique and unlike anything else on this list. (You can say the same for some other works on this list, but...) If you haven't picked it up yet, I suggest you try it out sometime. Plus Markus Zusak is super inspiring. You might see some more from him on this blog in the near future.
9. Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama, translated and adapted by Shelton Drzka, lettered by Steve Wands
• As the first manga we've seen on the list in a while, this must be good. It's also going to be turned into a movie (shooting begins this summer), but I'm a little skeptical as to how they're going to adapt such crazy-good illustrations onto live-action film. For the time being, just check out the book and bask in its gory glory.
10. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
• This guy never strays far from the top of the list. His books are ridiculously popular. And so is he. According to this article, someone drove her son five hours to see him (and four other extremely popular authors). Would you?

As always, let us know what you think! Comment below with your thoughts about the list. And be sure to keep checking out books!

Eleanor & Park Movie!

Wow, you must think all I care about are YA-movie adaptations. You aren't 100% wrong.

But OMG GUYZZ!!! Rainbow Rowell's unbelievable YA novel Eleanor & Park is being turned into a movie!!! I'm sorry I can't contain my unbiased and overly enthusiastic opinion, but here are the reasons why this adaptation is cool beans:

1. Rainbow herself is writing the screenplay. ("I have never written a screenplay! Suckers!" she said, laughing. "But I had never written a book before I wrote a book. I'm going to do my best.")
2. She wants virtually unknown actors to be in it. Why? "They are unusual people to be in movies and to star in movies. There's not a lot of chubby redheads and 16-year-old Korean guys who star in movies."
3. Even the studio bigwigs felt a connection with the book. (Holly Bario, DreamWorks president of production, admitted: "It reminded all of us of our own sort of awkwardness, or family dysfunction.")
4. Rainbow wants to get The Mountain Goats to do the music for the movie. ("I listened to them pretty much constantly while I was writing the book.")
5. She also wants a female director for the film. ("I would love it if it were a director who could make it her own.")
6. This quote hints to maybe some special effects--perhaps like a comic book??

"The book is uniquely structured in that one chapter is told by Eleanor and one chapter is told from Park’s perspective, and they alternate,” Bario points out. “So we’re trying to figure out how to do that in a movie. There are all storts of groovy stylistic things you could do with voice over, or words on the screen, but we want something that’s real Rainbow."

7. Can you imagine the amazing 80's hair and makeup and clothes they're going to have?? Between Eleanor's mane of red hair and Park's mom's Avon makeup skillz and Eleanor's DIY clothes sitch and Tina's 'tude, it's going to be off tha hook! Look for every homecoming/party/prom to be 80's throwback themed.

Whew, I can't handle this, you guys. I'm going to be on an IV drip by the time the movie comes out.  Luckily DreamWorks is looking to start shooting by 2015, so I'll have plenty of time to prepare myself.

BTW, I almost don't want to ask, but any thoughts for a dreamcast? I know Rainbow wants unknowns for Eleanor and Park, but I couldn't keep Chloe Bridges (Donna LaDonna from The Carrie Diaries) out of my head as Tina.

via rtroncampus.com

She's the perfect example of cliquish mean girl with a few moments of genuine conscience.

What do you guys think? Comment with your suggestions!

Quotes from EW & MTV News

Paper Towns Movie!

Good news for John Green fans! His YA novel Paper Towns is finally being turned into a movie! I say finally because in 2008 he announced via his YouTube channel Vlogbrothers that the movie rights were bought by Mandate Pictures and Mr. Mudd (together they made Juno) and he wrote a screenplay, but then in 2010 he sounded pessimistic about the film moving forward. But on Monday he announced that the film rights were bought by 20th Century Fox and it would have the same "team" that is making The Fault in Our Stars. (That "team," by the way, consists of screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, producer Wyck Godfrey, and the same studio.) Oh, plus John Green's going to be an executive producer, too, and did I mention that Nat Wolff, who's playing Isacc in TFiOS, is playing Q in Paper Towns?!

via hypable.com

So what would the rest of your Paper Towns dreamcast look like? Would you keep it in the TFiOS family or get some new blood? Comment with your options for Margo, Ben, Radar, and Lacey!

Are Books Still Being Banned?

YA Author John Green posted on his Tumblr today about a teacher in Colorado who wants to start an elective course in YA literature for grades 10-12. The list of books on her curriculum has been challenged by a group of parents who consider the books to be "profane, pornographic, violent, criminal, crass, crude, vile, and will result in the irreparable erosion of my students’ moral character."

Here's a link to John Green's Tumblr post.

Here's the list of books:

1. Feed by M.T. Anderson
2. Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed
3. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
4. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
5. Taken by Erin Bowman
6. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
7. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
8. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
9. Will Grayson, will grayson by John Green and David Levithan
10. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
11. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
12. Paper Towns by John Green
13. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
14. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
15. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
16. Looking for Alaska by John Green
17. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
18. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
19. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Have you read any of these books? Could you compare them to any other books from any other banned book lists? Do you agree with the group of parents? Discuss!

UPDATE: John Green posted on his Twitter that the School Board has voted to allow the teacher to go ahead with the proposed list of books. He adds:

A HUGE thank you to the ALA, NCTE, and the 1100+ nerdfighters who wrote letters of support for the teachers at Strasburg High School, CO.
— John Green (@realjohngreen) April 17, 2014

Ms. Marvel + Guardians of the Galaxy

Since we missed last Thursday, enjoy this double-post about the new, exciting things happening in the Marvel universe this month.

First of all, the new Ms. Marvel was released, and if you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?! Kamala Khan is the perfect representation of the modern American teen girl. She's constantly struggling with where she fits in, between her parents and school. Oh, and she's a shape-shifter. As if high school wasn't difficult enough.

Here are two cool articles about why her character is so amazing:

Why does Marvel’s latest book succeed? Because its new Muslim teen superhero is ‘sweet, conflicted and immensely relatable’

The New Pakistani American Ms. Marvel And The Shifting American Narrative

And secondly, the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer is out, and it's incredible. It's got an amazing cast, and Chris Pratt already looks perfect as Star-Lord. If you have no other reason, see it for Rocket, a raccoon with OCD and laser pistols. Also Karen Gillan shaved her head for the role, so either she's nuts or it's good, or both.

Watch the trailer, then read all the comics, then see the movie, then read the comics again because the movie was so good.