The Librarian Writer

Yes, it's that time of the year where I take some time off from the blog. ALA Amazing ARC Giveaway books have been mailed to the winners, so if you received an email from me that you were a winner, check your mailboxes soon! I hope you enjoy the last days of summer. Happy reading!

Congratulations to the ALA Amazing ARC Giveaway Winners: Erin D. Tracy B.  Devera N. Look for an email from me requesting your address so I can mail your prize to you! Thanks to everyone else who entered! I hope you'll come by the blog often for book reviews and librarian writer musings.

Title: The Boys in the Boat Author: Daniel James Brown Publisher: Viking Publication Date: June 4, 2013 ISBN-13: 978-0670025817 416 pp. Reading copy via local library If you're looking for a historical nonfiction title that will appeal to teens as well as adults, then The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown is the one. Don't let the subtitle, "Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" fool you too much. The Olympics is the climax, but certainly not the whole book. The heart and soul of the book is the story of Joe Rantz, a mechanic's son who was abandoned by his family during The Great Depression. Joe is forced to survive in the rough-and-tumble backwoods of the Pacific Northwest, finally finding his way to the University of Washington. He tries out for crew only because it'll help him get a job on campus. But rowing ends up being so much more for him, and for the other boys in the boat. The book has ple...

Title: The Lost Planet Author: Rachel Searles Publisher: Feiwel & Friends Publication Date: January 28, 2014 ISBN- 13: 978-1250038791 384 pp. ARC provided by publisher The Lost Planet by Rachel Searles is a rollicking sci-fi adventure for middle grade readers. A boy wakes up with a blaster wound to the back of his head and no memory except the phrase, "Guide the star." He's told that his name is Chase and he's on the planet Trucon. Chase begins a search for who he is and what "Guide the star" means. Helping him are an orphan named Parker and his caretaker, Mina, who have secrets of their own. The action is virtually non-stop as the trio make their way across space, making friends and enemies along the way as an interstellar war looms. The stakes are high and the pacing keeps the reader turner pages. However, there is a lack of character development, especially in Chase. A lack of memory also makes him without much of personality. ...

Title: Pretty Deadly Volume 1 Author: Kelly Sue DeConnick Illustrated by: Emma Rios Publisher: Image Comics Publication Date: May 13, 2014 ISBN-13: 978-1607069621 120 pp. ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley Pretty Deadly Volume 1 collects the first five issues of the Pretty Deadly comic, which is an Eisner Award nominee. Kudos to Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios for creating such a complex series with intriguing, badass female characters. The framing device is a butterfly telling a story to a skeleton bunny (and we see the bunny getting killed very graphically) about a little girl named Sissy, who has two different colored eyes and wears a vulture costume. She and her guardian, a man named Fox, are being hunted by Death's handmaiden, Alice. So they end up joining forces with Death's daughter, Ginny, to try to conquer Death himself. To be honest, I found the beginning very confusing. But the mythology of this world is slowly teased out throughout the ...

I was fortunate enough to go to the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas this year. Loved the Printz Awards where Marcus Sedgwick became my new author crush. Loved the sessions, especially this one on reinventing summer reading programs. And, of course, loved the ARCs that publishers so willingly hand out to eager librarians. I have some of the bounty to share with you! I am giving away Advance Reading Copies to three lucky readers. The titles available are: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall Breathe, Annie, Breathe by Miranda Kenneally Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper by Elizabeth Kiem If You're Reading This by Trent Reedy The Fire Artist by Daisy Whitney I'm trying out Rafflecopter, and it looks pretty simple. You can enter simply by telling me your first and second choice in the comments, and don't forget to leave your email. If you want additional entries, you can follow me on Twitter (3 entries), tweet about the contest (3 entries), and subscr...

Title: The Leftovers Author: Tom Perrotta Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris Publisher: Macmillan Audio Publication Date: August 30, 2011 Listening copy via library This isn't YA by any means, although older teens might be interested in it because of the upcoming HBO television series . I was interested in it because I grew up in a house where the Rapture was a given and I wanted to see what Tom Perrotta did with it. What he did with it was to make it clear right away that it isn't the Rapture. Some people, readers as well as characters, may argue otherwise, but I think Perrotta wants this to be SOMETHING ELSE. SOMETHINGE ELSE is more challenging than the Rapture because there's no Biblical guideposts for what happens next, no Mark of the Beast, no Anti-Christ, no Apocalpyse. SOMETHING ELSE means life will go on, pretty much as before, if you can get over the loss. And that's what the story is really about. Loss. How people cope, or don't cope, w...