What to Read Next?

Here is a cool website I stumbled upon recently.
When you finish a book, and you don't know what to read next:
What Shoud I Read Next?
Give it a shot!

Talking to the Author

On Tuesday I finished a book called YOU by Charles Benoit. I was reading it aloud to my classes. It was a great book, but there were things that were not wrapped up nicely at the end. SO, my seniors encouraged me to send the author a message. Here is what I wrote:

I just finished reading YOU as a read aloud to my 4 classes. My seniors especially are beside themselves with how the book ended. They are especially concerned with what happened to Zach. They want to know if you are going to write a second book...which I told them probably not.
Can you offer them anything further about the end of the book?
Thank you in advance!
P.S.
We LOVED this book. SO well written...and it so captured the mind of a high school student.
ALSO...the point of view....fascinating!!!

Well, imagine my surprise when I received an email from the author that same day. Here is what he wrote:

Thanks so much for the note - it really made my day. This is the first time that I've heard from a teacher/class that did the book as a read aloud. How'd that go? What was the tone you took with the voice? I always saw it as a sort of matter-of-fact narration, like a voice-over in a documentary, rather cool and detached. But that's just me. The folks that did the audio version took a different approach...can't say I'm a big fan but that was their decision.


Ah, the ending! When I started out writing the book, I knew I wanted a WTF ending (wild, thrilling finish...obviously) and I like to hear when it worked. And what I think happens to Zack is unimportant - it's what you think happens that really matters. But since you've all probably discussed what you think happens (without me there to hear, by the way), here's what I think happens to Zack:


Nothing.


Sure, he's got some explaining to do, but he's so smooth it'll all roll off him. As he predicted earlier, he'll get bored at Midlands or, even better for his reputation and ego, he'll be asked to leave. He'll start off at yet another school, doing what he's always done, using people for his own enjoyment. There is no redemption, no guilt, no justice.


One of the first schools I spoke at when the book came out was in Austin, Texas. It was a public school with a Middle School Honors program and the teacher told me that the students had some tough questions about the book. I remember thinking, 'Middle School Honors? Right. How hard is this going to be?' Then I got the first question from a student. "Given his unusually suave demeanor, his vast reading background and his innate ability to manipulate the actions of others, is it fair to say that Zack is the devil incarnate?" I mumbled something about metaphors and similes ( which I got confused and had to be corrected by another student), but the truth is I had never thought of anything like that. However, I like that idea so much that I'm now telling folks that yes, yes indeed, that was my intention all along. (Unless you've got something better.) So if Zack is Satan--and I know a Middle School Honors student who says he is--I guess that he keeps going on, collecting souls and keeping the Buffalo Bills from having a winning season again in my lifetime.


As for another book, yup, it's in the works. It's not in second person and it's not quite as dark. It's a YA romantic comedy caper novel meaning the book is about our protagonists planning and committing a big crime, in this case it's stealing a painting from an art gallery. And even though it's a ro-co, let's just say I plan on a dark, noir-ish ending. I've got three chapters left to go and should be working on it right now, so thanks for the chance to procrastinate! I've attached the first chapter for your reading pleasure. The working title is Fall From Grace. [Kari - Please simply read it to the class - my editor would freak if she knew you printed copies and passed them out]


So thanks again for the note and keep reading.


Cheers,
Charles

My students were so excited by this!! This was our little brush with fame!

Best Books

Readers' Choice: Best Books of 2010
Web exclusiveFeature by Editors of BookPage

In November we asked readers to tell us their favorite book of 2010. More than 2,600 readers responded, and the results span genres from literary thriller to YA phenomenon to historical epic. Several of these books overlap with our own Best of 2010 picks. The results are in order of votes.



1. The Passage by Justin Cronin
2. Room by Emma Donoghue
3. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
5. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
7. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
8. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
9. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
10. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
11. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny
12. Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
13. Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
14. 61 Hours by Lee Child
15. A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
16. Ape House by Sara Gruen
17. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
18. House Rules by Jodi Picoult
19. Faithful Place by Tana French
20. Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Note: Although our Readers' Choice "Best of 2010" picks were limited to books published in 2010, several older books received a significant number of votes. The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay remain especially popular with BookPage readers.

The Demon's Lexicon

Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.
Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.

Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.

This is the Demon's Lexicon. Turn the page.

2010 Top Books to Read

1. Brennan, Sarah Rees. Demon's Lexicon. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing/Margaret K. McElderry. 2009.
2. Griffin, Paul. The Orange Houses. Penguin/Dial Books. 2009.
3. Herlong, M.H. The Great Wide Sea. Penguin/Viking. 2008.
4. Jinks, Catherine. The Reformed Vampire Support Group. Harcourt/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2009.
5. Napoli, Donna Jo. Alligator Bayou. Random House / Knopf. 2009.
6. Small, David. Stitches: A Memoir. W.W. Norton & Co. 2009.
7. Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. Random House / Wendy Lamb Books. 2009.
8. Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books. 2009.
9. Taylor, Laini. Lips Touch: Three Times. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine. 2009.
10. Walker, Sally M. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. Lerner/Carolrhoda Books. 2009.

Meet an Author

On Wednesday, October 6, the Dakota County Library welcomes Frank Beddor, author of the popular teen trilogy Looking Glass Wars, and the Hatter M graphic novels.

Frank grew up a ski champion in Excelsior, MN but now resides in Los Angeles where he has been a film producer (There’s Something About Mary), and a stunt man before he began writing novels for teens. He is currently CEO of Automatic Pictures, a film, television and interactive game production company.
His Looking Glass Wars trilogy takes the classic 19th century children’s tale of Alice in Wonderland off into a truly unexpected literary territory – the battlefields of epic fantasy. The fantasy-based intrigue and dimension-hopping may remind some readers of another little-girl trilogy, His Dark Materials, but there’s also a sci-fi layer over the tale that syncs up with the The Matrix, a different story with key touches of Carroll imagery. The Looking Glass Wars unabashedly challenges our Wonderland assumptions of mad tea parties, sleepy dormice, and a curious little blonde girl to reveal an epic battle in the endless war for Imagination.
On Wednesday, October 6, come and meet the author who created the heroic, passionate, monstrous, vengeful denizens of this parallel world as they battle each other with AD-52's and orb generators, navigate the Crystal Continuum, bet on jabberwock fights and travel across the Chessboard Desert. He’ll be at the Robert Trail Library from 3:00-4:30 p.m., and the Galaxie Library from 7:00-8:15 p.m.

You can find more about Frank at http://www.lookingglasswars.com/about-folder/FBbio.pdf
Call 651-450-2941 for more information.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Here is a book that looks worth reading.
The book is

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Click here to watch the video!!

2010-2011

It's the start of a new year!
I have a whole new group of students.
I still think of those of you I have had before....
I hope you are STILL reading!!
I am reading Mockingjay!
Let me know if you have read it!

I Can Hardly Wait

http://www.hungergamestrilogy.net/2010/02/mockingjay-the-final-book-of-the-hunger-games-trilogy/

The Hunger Games

I am currently reading this book with my book club at school.
Looking for a good read?

Check this out.
It's AMAZING!!!

Author Catherine Jinks

Check out this link for a new author. Her name is Catherine Jinks! She Is the author of some great young adult books, as well as some books for adults.
Catherine Jinks: The Reformed Vampire Support Group.

13 Reasons Why

I am reading this book as a read aloud to a couple of my classes!

It's really good!!!

http://www.thirteenreasonswhy.com/book.php

Time to Post

Oh my goodness!!
It's DEFINITELY time to write a new post!
I think there is SO much to write about.
I've got an idea.
I will post short stories, poems, book reviews, or anything else you want.
I will post them with your name if you want, or anonymously if you want.
Just write what you want in the comments....and I will transfer them as posts.
If you don't want your name included....that's cool. Just don't leave your name on there.
It's possible to leave comments anonymously.
Let's see what we can come up with.
I LOVE what you guys write about!!!

Come On Girls...

Start to leave the names of the books that you recommend the most.
I want to make a summer reading post.
Post your suggestions on this post, and I will make a Girls Summer Reading Post.
Have a great weekend!

Ideas

I will talk to you all about this on Tuesday,
but we had a visitor on here
who was asking about books for 12 year old BOYS.
SO...any of you who have read books
that boys especially would like....
I want you to write up little mini-reviews
of your favorite books....
Then, I will make them into blog posts
so that everybody can read
what books are really good for boys.
Are you up for the challenge?
Just write the name of the book,
the author if you know it, and what
you liked about it.
Can't wait to see what you come up with.
You guys are the best!
Ms. S

The Beginning of the Blog

Hey you guys!
Hard to believe that the summer is almost here.
I want to get this up and running!
What do you think?
Can we talk about what books we've read on here....
and comment on our summer reading?
Send me a comment and I will post it for everybody to see!
Deal?
Let's see how we feel it works.
I'll try to customize it so it will feel like our blog!
I look forward to you guys visiting here.
Ms. S