Literary Playlist: If I Stay

 In If I Stay, Mia and Adam meet at a special high school for musically talented teens. Mia is a cello ingenue, and Adam is the front of a band. They bond over music and fall in love, but their relationship is tested when Mia is involved in a car accident that puts her in a coma. She can see everything her friends, family, and even Adam say to her. But she has to decide: Will she wake up from the coma or not?

Author Gayle Forman made a list of all the songs mentioned in the book--mostly classical and rock, with a little Bette Midler and Bob Marley thrown in. We put them all on a handy playlist for you. Hit play and enjoy.
[NOTE: This is a playlist of songs the author mentioned in the book. 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.]

Bonus Post: Calling All Writers!

The Virginia Festival of the Book is coming up! After our YA Author Panel here in Harrisonburg on March 19, Charlottesville will be packed with authors from March 17-22. One of the very cool panels will be for teen writers. Submit a short story and get feedback from three authors! One of the authors is Jodi Meadows, who will be at our YA Author Panel. (How many times can I promote our YA Author Panel in one post??)

Here's the information about submitting a story: 

StoryFest & Pub Day: First Pages for Teen Writers

Sat. March 21, 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Village School

215 E High Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902

Hosted by: Charlottesville-Albemarle creative writing teachers and Young Writers Workshop of the University of Virginia

A StoryFest and Pub Day Event! Are you a teen (13 to 18) who likes to write? Teen writers may each submit one page (no horror or erotica) to receive anonymous feedback from authors Jen Karetnick, Jeff Martin, and Jodi Meadows. Priority will be given to pages submitted to VABookTeenWriters@gmail.com by March 16. You may bring a page to the panel, but we cannot guarantee that it will be discussed. 

Important! To make sure that we have time for as many entries as possible, each page must be no longer than 250 words AND properly formatted. (Se example here: Teen 1st pages submission format.) We will return improperly formatted submissions.

Why Should You Attend?

You will have a terrific opportunity to learn from the authors' feedback, but only if you submit!

Adaptation Newzzz!!

• In case you haven't heard, The Duff is out in theaters this weekend! It's based on the YA novel The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger. The movie's got a crazy good cast, and the trailers look pretty promising.
  
  Unfortunately we don't have The Duff in our library collection, BUT you can always request that we purchase an item you want to check out! We love to hear what people want to read. We may not purchase the book, but if we do, we'll put you on the holds list and you can check it out as soon as we get it in! You can get a purchase request form at your local library branch. Check out the synopsis from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. 
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. 

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

• Remember when we talked about TV adaptations? Cindy Callaghan's YA book Just Add Magic is going to become a TV series! It will be available to watch through Amazon. Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Take three friends. Add an old cookbook. Combine with cute boys and a pinch of magic…and see what kind of chaos ensues! When Kelly Quinn and her two BFFs discover a dusty old cookbook while cleaning out the attic, the girls decide to try a few of the mysterious and supposedly magical recipes that are inside. To their surprise, the Keep ’Em Quiet Cobbler actually silences Kelly’s pesky little brother and the Hexberry Tart puts a curse on mean girl Charlotte. Is it possible that the recipes really are magic? Who wrote them and where did they come from? And most importantly of all, when boys get involved, what kind of trouble are the girls stirring up for themselves?

This is another book we don't currently have in our collection, so if you'd like to read the book before you watch the show, be sure to request it!

via Deadline.com

Bonus Post: ANTI-VALENTINE'S BLACKLIGHT PARTY!!!!

Do you have plans for Valentine's Day, or are you thinking of boycotting the holiday? How about doing both! We're having an Anti-Valentine's Blacklight Party! Come to the Main branch (Downtown Harrisonburg) on Saturday, February 14 from 1-2:30 PM and dance in the dark! We'll have glow-in-the-dark everything, heart (pinata) breaking, sock volleyball, hi-liter t-shirt signing, and more! It's going to be da bomb dot com. (Do kids still say that? I guess only the cool ones do.)

Here are the full deets: 

Anti-Valentine's Blacklight Party @ Main Library

2/14/2015

Join us for a non-Valentine's Day glow party from 1-2:30pm! We'll have dancing with glowsticks, highlighter t-shirt signing, and blacklights! You could even win one of the books from Amy Kathleen Ryan's Sky Chasers series (Glow, Spark, or Flame).

Ages 11-17

Location: 

Main Library - downtown Harrisonburg

"Books! The best weapons in the world!"

As the Doctor said, "Books. People never really stop loving books. Fifty-first century. By now you've got holovids, direct-to-brain downloads, fiction mist. But you need the smell. The smell of books."

While we don't have direct-to-brain downloads (yet), we still love books!

A photographer named Reinier Gerritsen photographed people on the NYC Subway reading--you guessed it--books! Real, paper-filled, non-digital books! So even though we're an increasingly technology-obsessed culture, at least books aren't going out of style any time soon.

© reiniergerritsen

Check out Reinier's whole project. Photos are listed by the author's last name. 

And to the people reading YA books, you're not alone...

© nateswinehart

February Book Club Post!

Title: This Song Will Save Your Life

Author: Leila Sales

Copyright: 2013

Call Number: YA Fiction SALES

Everyone hates Elise Dembowski. After her failed suicide attempt, she's a complete loner in school. Her dad doesn't know what to do with her. Her mom and step-dad are afraid of her. The only person she feels comfortable with is her younger sister. So Elise relaxes the best way she knows how--through music. At night, she sneaks out of her dad's house and wanders the streets with her trusty iPod. One night, two girls wave her down and tell her she's going the wrong way. How can she be going the wrong way when she has nowhere to go? Like Alice, she tumbles into a hidden, underground world and ends up in the middle of a warehouse party. There she falls in love with the idea of becoming a DJ. 

In This Song Will Save Your Life, follow Elise through the ups and downs of becoming a DJ. She meets an interesting group of people from the club: Char, the mysterious DJ who teaches her the ropes; Pippa, the Char-obsessed British drama magnet; Mel, the bouncer who looks out for Elise; and Vicky, the confident band member who takes Elise under her wing. While her social life gets undoubtedly more active, her family life starts to suffer. She also has to deal with bullies from school when her secret life as a DJ is discovered. How will Elise juggle high school, friends, drama, family, and everything else? 

Great musical references allow you to see (and hear) Elise in her world. Check out our literary playlist for TSWSYL:



This Song Will Save Your Life has also been optioned for the stage and screen, so we may see a Glee-style revolution in the coming years.

Literary Playlist: Since You've Been Gone

Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson is the perfect summer-themed pick-me-up in this dreary winter. It's about Emily, whose best friend Sloane vanished but left her a list of things she needed to do that summer without her. The list is difficult to manage because shy, reserved Emily would never dream of kissing a stranger or picking apples at night. She manages to make an unlikely friend in Frank Porter, a super popular guy from her school. He helps her with her list while she helps teach him how to be a long-distance runner.

In a well-ordered universe, you would hit play on this compilation of Emily and Frank's running jams.
[NOTE: This is a playlist of songs the author mentioned in the book. 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.]


*Note: We have the audiobook version of Since You've Been Gone available for online checkout! See this post for more deets.

Harry Potter Illustrated Books - Sneak Peek!!!

This year, Bloomsbury, a British publisher, will release a fully illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone! Some images surfaced on the Internet, and they're superawesomecoolfantasticbeautifulmouthwateringlydelightful! Here are a few sneak peeks, courtesy hypable.com:

via hypable.com

via hypable.com

via hypable.com

via hypable.com

via hypable.com

via hypable.com

What scene are you looking forward to seeing illustrated? Comment below!

Reading Challenges for 2015 + MRL YA Book Club!!

I'm sure you guys know about monthly challenges. They're personal goals you set for yourself. Really the challenge checklists are just suggestions. You can also get a little creative and use them to fit your schedule. Of course, we're obsessed with monthly/yearly book challenges. You can search for one online, or check out these cool ones (click to enlarge):

via books-cupcakes.tumblr.com

via PopSugar.com

You could also join our online YA Book Club!!! Once a month, we'll post a review of a book. Check it out and enjoy! And don't forget--you can always submit your own book review and/or suggestion for the Book Club.


January's Book Club Read:

Title: Monument 14

Author: Emmy Laybourne

Copyright: 2012

Call Number: YA Fiction LAYBO

Dean is riding the bus to school one morning when his world changes. His bus and the one in front of him, holding his younger brother Alex, start dodging beach ball-sized chunks of hail. Cars are swerving, people are screaming, and his classmates are freaking out. Alex's bus driver crashes into the front of a Greenway (think: Wal-Mart). Dean's bus is heading for the school bus-shaped hole in the building when their driver is hit by hail. The bus flips to its side, seats are flying off, and thick, black smoke is filling the air and Dean's lungs.

Want to know what happens next? Read the page-turner Monument 14 series by Emmy Laybourne. Monument 14 is the first book in the series, and documents how Dean and his classmates try to survive living on their own. Everything in their world has changed. The Network (Internet/phone service) is down, and the air turns black when a nearby weapons facility releases toxins that affect people different based on their blood type. They are separated from their parents, but they still encounter frightening adult strangers from the outside world.

Even though they are facing life-threatening new elements, they're still kids--six high school students and some younger children. The older guys have problems with group leadership and desperate love triangles, and the younger kids are scared out of their minds. How will they manage to stay alive when it seems like everything (the toxins in the air, manic outsiders, and their own disruptive hormones) is out to get them?




Also on Goodreads:

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First posted on the MRL Youth Blog as the YA Book Club's January Read.

Dean is riding the bus to school one morning when his world changes. His bus and the one in front of him, holding his younger brother Alex, start dodging beach ball-sized chunks of hail. Cars are swerving, people are screaming, and his classmates are freaking out. Alex's bus driver crashes into the front of a Greenway (think: Wal-Mart). Dean's bus is heading for the school bus-shaped hole in the building when their driver is hit by hail. The bus flips to its side, seats are flying off, and thick, black smoke is filling the air and Dean's lungs.

(Read more...)

(View all my reviews)

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.