Kirkus Reviews: Best Teen Books of 2011

Do you enjoy reading teen fiction?  Are you looking for something new to read?  Take a look at the best teen books as deemed by Kirkus Reviews.  I've put about eight more books on my to-read list after a coworker sent an email about the list!  If teen fiction isn't your fancy, there are also lists for best adult fiction and best children's books.  Happy reading!

Book Review: "Beauty and the Werewolf"

Beauty and the Werewolf

by Mercedes Lackey

 

Summary: The eldest daughter is often doomed in fairy tales. But Bella— Isabella Beauchamps, daughter of a wealthy merchant—vows to escape the usual pitfalls.  Anxious to avoid the Traditional path, Bella dons a red cloak and ventures into the forbidden forest to consult with "Granny," the local wisewoman.  But on the way home she's attacked by a wolf—who turns out to be a cursed nobleman! Secluded in his castle, Bella is torn between her family and this strange man who creates marvelous inventions and makes her laugh—when he isn't howling at the moon.  Breaking spells is never easy. But a determined beauty, a wizard (after all, he's only an occasional werewolf) and a little godmotherly interference might just be able to bring about a happy ending...

Review: I think if I hadn't read the first few books of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdom series, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. Unfortunately, for me, the latest installment in her series was quite disappointing. I'll start out with what I did like: the combination of the tales "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Beauty and the Beast", the reappearance of Godmother Elena (from the first book), and the plucky but slightly manipulative Bella. Here's what I didn't like: the fact that the villain was apparent from the beginning, yet supposedly neither Bella nor the Godmother was able to figure it out until the ending, the uninspired characterization of Sebastian (he was so dull!), and the lackluster romance that developed between Sebastian and Bella (it was probably the most boring romance that I've read in a while).  Overall, I felt that the book wasn't very exciting at all, and while Bella was spunky, she wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the book.

Rating: 2.5/5

Thanksgiving Day Songs

I found these too late to use for my storytime this year, but hopefully I'll remember them in time to use them next year!  Here are some fun songs for Thanksgiving that you can use in storytime or to just sing to your child:

Albuquerque Turkey

(to the tune of Clementine)

Albuquerque, he's my turkey

And he's feathered and he's fine

And he wobbles and he gobbles

And I'm awfully glad he's mine.

He's the best pet you could ever get

Better than a cat or dog

Albuquerque, he's my turkey

And I'm awfully glad of that.

Albuquerque, he's my turkey

He's so cozy in his bed

'Cuz for our Thanksgiving dinner

We had scrambled eggs instead!

I'm a Little Turkey

(to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot)

 

I'm a little turkey,

My name is Ted.

Here are my feathers,

Here is my head.

Gobble, gobble, gobble

Is what I say,

Quick! Run!  It's Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Dinner

(to the tune of Frere Jacques)

Turkey dinner, turkey dinner

Gather 'round, gather 'round

Who will get the drumstick?

Yummy yummy drumstick,

All sit down, all sit down.

Cornbread muffins, chestnut stuffing,

Puddin' pie, one foot high,

All of us were thinner,

Until we came to dinner,

Me oh my! Me oh my!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Storytime Book: "Thanksgiving Cats"

Thanksgiving Cats

by Jean Marzollo

Summary: A family of cats celebrate Thanksgiving by growing lots of vegetables, raising turkeys, making pies, preparing a feast, giving thanks and enjoying the holiday meal.

Thoughts: I used this for my baby storytime yesterday because the book I had planned to use (Thank You, Thanksgiving) was checked out.  It was simple enough to use for the babies, but it was rather uninspiring.  The rhyming pattern didn't seem to flow very well, and it was hard to make the book exciting.  It worked well enough to use as a backup book, but I probably wouldn't use it again unless I had to.  

Craft Idea: Turkey Bookmarks

If you're looking for a last minute craft idea to keep the kids occupied while making dinner, try having them make a turkey page corner bookmark! It's relatively simple, cute, and serves as a bookmark for all their reading needs.

I adapted the monster page corner bookmark from this blog.  It's the same idea, except instead of teeth, I added feathers and a triangle for the beak.  Here's a template from the blog that will allow you to make the body of the turkey (ignore the teeth and body insert if you want).  For the beak, I actually used one triangle from the monster teeth, and I drew my own template for the feathers.  I'm not sure if this is scaled to the right size, but here's my template that I adapted from the original to make the bookmarks.  I used this as a craft for an after school program at the library for older kids, and they had a blast making them.  I hope you do too!

 

Storytime Book: "Dogs"

Dogs

by Emily Gravett

Summary: Canines of every shape, size, and color are bounding through this irresistible book from renowned author and illustrator Emily Gravett! Can you choose one dog to love best of all? With delightfully playful pencil and watercolor illustrations, readers will long to bark along with the Chihuahua and tickle the Dalmatian’s tummy. The juxtaposition of large and small dogs will teach children about opposites, and the twist at the tail end will leave everyone laughing!

Thoughts: I might be a bit biased because I already loved Emily Gravett, but "Dogs" is a wonderfully, delightful book.  Not only are the pictures beautiful, but there is some great vocabulary in the book for babies and toddlers.  I tried this very simple story during my baby storytime last week, and it was a hit in both sessions (in fact, a mom asked to check it out because her daughter absolutely loves dogs!).  The book is probably too simple for older kids but it's perfect for the younger ones.

Storytime Book: "Thank You, Thanksgiving"

Thank You, Thanksgiving

by David Milgrim

Summary: In this exuberant Thanksgiving story, a little girl goes on a last-minute errand for her mother. Along the way, she thanks all the familiar things she loves: her warm boots, the song of the birds, the pretty clouds in the November sky. And when she gets home from her errand, her family thanks her for what she has brought.

Thoughts: This is a great book for baby/toddler storytime!  The text and pictures are both simple and cute, and convey the great message of giving thanks to everything and everyone during this time of year.  Very sweet and charming!

Book Review: "A Discovery of Witches"

A Discovery of Witches

by Deborah Harkness

Summary: Sometimes scholars should be more careful: Youthful researcher Diana Bishop briefly consults an medieval alchemical manuscript; then, after jotting down a few notes, sends it back to its prison in the stacks. Unfortunately for Diana, her quick dabbling has unleashed a long suppressed curse—and now only she can break the spell. Carefully researched, this debut novel will appeal to fans of historical novel infused with strong paranormal elements.

Review: I waited for three months on the library's waiting list before getting my hands on this book (and before that, I had been monitoring how long the waiting list was for at least six months to see if it would get shorter!).  Because of the wait, I had very high expectations for this book that unfortunately were not all met.  Ultimately, I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed it. I loved the interactions between Diana and Matthew; their romance was very intense and passionate, and the author was able to express that very well. The book is also very smart too, in that it doesn't try to dumb down any of the plot points. The side characters are also all very well described and written; Harkness was able to make them all unique from one another in a way that really brought them to l     I had a lot of mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed it. I loved the interactions between Diana and Matthew; their romance was very intense and passionate, and the author was able to express that very well. The book is also very smart too, in that it doesn't try to dumb down any of the plot points. The side characters are also all very well described and written; Harkness was able to make them all unique from one another in a way that really brought them to life.

On the other hand, however, there were some things about the book that I really did not like. The book really could have been trimmed down from 500 to 400, maybe even 300 pages. While I enjoyed all the details that brought the characters and the world to life, some details and parts of the book seemed extraneous. Also, there were too many plot lines that Harkness was trying to bring together in one book. It was a bit much for an introductory book in a trilogy. Like another reviewer mentioned, I felt that the book would have been much better if Harkness had an editor that helped trimmed off the excess descriptions and side stories.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. I just feel that it could have been better. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to the next book.

Rating: 3/5 

Hello, my name is Jennifer and I'm a librarian

Hello world!

So, first things first: who am I?  My name is Jennifer and I'm a Youth Services librarian in a fairly large library somewhere in the Southwest.  What do I do, you ask?  I answer questions in different areas of the library, such as the Youth room, Teen room, and the regular Information desk.  I do programs for kids of all ages, from the tiny ones to the teenagers.  Some of my other duties include maintaining and updating a Parenting collection at my branch to help parents of young children find books in all different topics for parenting.  Recently, I have also helped with an outreach program called Family Read Aloud Nights where we have been going to Title I schools in my area and promoting the services of the library.  It's a great program because not only do we get to share books with families, but we were able to get funds to give each child a free book.

Now, what's the purpose of this blog?  Well, I hope to review books that I read here as well as share good picture books for story times, ideas for programs, and my experiences as a budding librarian!