Staff Pick of the Week: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

This week's pick is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie (YA ALEXIE).

Junior's life has never been easy - born with brain damage, he's always been the target for teasing due to his strange looks, stutter, and lisp. But Junior isn't stupid - he's actually very smart, and knows after the first day of high school that it's time to get off the rez - the Spokane Indian reservation he's lived on his whole life. When he decides to go to the all-white school in a nearby town the entire reservation (except for his family but including his best friend) turns on him, and the kids at his new school don't really like him either. Still, things are working out better than Junior expected and he starts to hope that he will make it in the outside world, until tragedy strikes - not once but several times. Will Junior be able to work through his pain and continue to keep hoping?

Reminder: Teens & Tweens Book Club this Thursday!

Don't forget: Teens & Tweens Book Club this Thursday, November 1st @ 7:00 PM! For this meeting we're reading two different books: When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt & Say Yes by Audrey Couloumbis. Copies are available for you to pick up at the circulation desk. Choose which book you'd like to read and come prepared to snack, discuss, and have fun!

New Books!

Check out these new books & audiobooks in the Teens & Tweens Space:

Ask CosmoGirl! About Your Body (613.04243 ASK)
Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson (YA-V PATT MR)
Ranger's Apprentice Book Two: The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan (YA FLANAGAN)
Unforgettable: an It Girl Novel by Cecily Von Ziegesar (YA VON ZIEGESAR)
Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon (YA-V BUCK UPS)

Check out these books recommended by the Teen Read Week challenge winners!

Here are some recommendations from the Teen Read Week challenge participants:

The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart (YA LOCKHART): "Ruby Oliver had a few panic attacks because of her terrible week at school. Her mom makes her see a shrink."

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (J ROWLING): "One favorite part was when Norbert (the dragon baby) hatched."

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (YA HESSE): "Billie Jo Kelby suffers through the Dust Bowl."

Stay With Me by Garret Freymann-Weyr: "A girl searches for the answer to her sister's suicide."

Witch's Sister by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor: "It was terrifying."


Thanks to everyone who participated in the Teen Read Week challenge! If you submitted an entry, please stop by the Youth Services department to pick up your prize!

Staff Pick of the Week: The Whole Sky Full of Stars

This week's pick is The Whole Sky Full of Stars by Rene Saldana, Jr. (YA SALDANA).

When you're in trouble, who do you turn to? Your best friend, of course. Barry and Alby have been best friends for forever, so when Alby owes more than a little too much money to Ciro, the high school poker champ, he turns to Barry for help. But Barry has troubles of his own - his father died recently of cancer and his mom is having a hard time making ends meet. And Alby doesn't want to admit to Barry why he needs cash, so instead he tries to get to enter the Man O'Might competition with the promise of plenty of prize money for both of them. At first Barry isn't sure this is the right way to go, but the though of being able to help his mom takes precedence and he agrees to fight. But when the day of the competition arrives, will everything go as planned?

New Book Display: Fantasy Books!

Can't wait for the release of The Golden Compass movie? Check this selection of fantasy books out while you're waiting!

Black, Holly
Tithe: 16-year old Kay has always known her life is a bit different - she spends a lot of time looking after an alcoholic rock star mom and counts among her childhood friends several fairies. Things really become strange, however, when Kaye and her mother move to her grandmother's house in New Jersey to escape a murderous boyfriend.
YA BLACK

Dale, Anna
Whispering to Witches: Joe knows his Christmas is going to be anything but merry - his father has to go away and Joe has to spend the holidays with his mom, stepdad, and half sister Esme. On the way to meet his family, Joe somehow gets off at the wrong train station, and before he realizes what is happening lands himself in a witches' coven and is wrapped up in an otherworldly conspiracy.
YA DALE

Dunkle, Clare B.
By These Ten Bones: When the young wood carver first appears in Maddie's village with the old man, he refuses to speak to anyone. But Maddie finds out Paul can speak, and soon after she learns his terrible secret. Will Maddie be able to save Paul from himself?
YA DUNKLE

Gardner, Sally
I, Coriander: Coriander lives a life of happiness and wonder until the horrible day her mother is suddenly stricken ill. Pressured by well-meaning friends, her father marries a "good" Puritan woman, only to discover she is anything but. Will Coriander be able to find the magic locked inside her and save herself from both an evil fairy queen and an extremely wicked stepmother?
YA GARDNER

Marr, Melissa
Wicked Lovely: 17-year old Aislinn knows faeries are real - unlike the majority of teenagers, she sees them everywhere she goes. But until the Summer King notices her and decides she must be Queen, life has been somewhat normal. Now Aislinn must choose between "normal" and the end of the world as she knows it.
YA MARR

Pratchett, Terry
Wintersmith: Almost 13-year old Tiffany Aching is training to be a witch when she catches the eye (if he has one, that is) of the Wintersmith - the element that creates winter. Sonn the Wintersmith is convinced he is in love with Tiffany, and won't let winter end until she becomes his. What is a witch to do?
YA PRATCHETT

Pullman, Phillip
The Golden Compass: Lyra Belacqua lives in an alternate universe where all humans have daemons, animals who are extensions of their humans' personalities. Raised by the Scholars at Jordan College at Oxfrord, Lyra is not overly studious but is extremely curious. When her best friend disappears and her uncle Lord Asriel is imprisoned in the far north, Lyra decides to run away and discovers the horrible experiments that are being done on children in the arctic wasteland.
YA PULLMAN

Sherman, Delia
Changeling: Neef is a teenaged changeling living in New York Between with her fairy godmother Astris. Neef lives a fairly normal life (for a changeling), until the day she breaks a Fairy Law. In order to survive Neef must accomplish the tasks set for her by the Green Lady. Is Neef up to it?
YA SHERMAN

Thompson, Kate
The New Policeman: 15-year old J.J. Liddy knows that there's never enough time - time to practice his music, get his homework done, live his life. But when he discovers that time is actually being leached away from our world to that of the fairies, he realizes he must stop it and at the same time get to the bottom of his family's secrets.
YA THOMPSON

Wooding, Chris
Poison: When 16-year old Poison's sister is kidnapped by the phaeries and a changeling is put in her place, Poison takes matters into her own hands and leaves the marsh she's lived in her entire life to find her. Along the way she collects a band of followers and finds what her strengths truly are.
YA WOODING

Staff Pick of the Week: Dream Factory

This week's pick is Dream Factory by Brad Barkley & Heather Hepler (YA BARKLEY).

Disney World is supposedly the "happiest place on Earth," but as Luke and Ella soon find out, it is anything but. Hired for the summer to replace striking Disney cast members, Ella as Cinderella and Luke as Dale (as in Chip and Dale), the two teenagers grow tired of marrying Prince Charming every day (in Ella's case) and hanging out with Chip (in Luke's case). But Chip is played by Cassie, Luke's current girlfriend, and Prince Charming is Mark (or was it Matt?), a totally cute and completely forgettable Disney devotee. For the moment, it appears Luke and Ella are stuck in their respective roles. But management has devised a way to boost the summer replacement cast's increasingly sagging morale - a scavenger hunt of all things Disney. Cassie is determined to win and immediately choose Disney worshipper Mark to be her partner, which leaves Ella and Luke free to work with each other. Will Luke be able to see beyond Cassie's blonde and beautiful perfection? Will Ella be able to tell Luke what's really going on in her life? Find out in Dream Factory.