Mock Printz Countdown – Final Title!!!

This is it! Mock Printz takes place tomorrow, Saturday 1/26 and this is the final installment in the series of book reviews covering each title.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina, as her name suggests, has the musical talent of an angel. She avoids sharing her gifts with the others at court because she doesn’t want to attract attention to herself. Seraphina is not just a gifted musician…she also has a terrible secret. With the approaching celebration of the 40-year peace between the Goreddi, Seraphina’s people, and the dragons, she finds herself drawn increasingly more into the limelight. Torn between loyalty to her human peers and her close dragon acquaintances, Seraphina struggles as war looms and she learns more and more about her lineage, with all the unique abilities – and burdens – it brings with it. Can she help bridge the centuries-old grudges between the two species? Can she save her family and herself? Can she find love…and possibly even earn love in return?

This gripping story is set in a unique, rich world with complex characters, including a host of very intriguing dragons, and will keep you hanging on until you find out what happens next.

Mock Printz Countdown – The Drowned Cities

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi

War. Suspense. Violence. Terror. And all told in a distressingly believable way, in a world not too unlike our own.

This is not your run-of-the-mill dystopia. It’s an intense battlefield of survival set in a futuristic America. The story follows two friends, Mahlia and Mouse, through this world as they fight off violent, ruthless soldier boys. Mahlia and Mouse flee to the jungles, only to encounter Tool, a genetically engineered killer, part animal and part human, wounded, dangerous, and hunted by the boy soldiers. The two friends are separated – one captured and one facing horrible decisions about what to do next…and who to save.

In a world ravaged by climate change, disparate warring factions, and unending violence, it’s hard enough to survive, let alone hang onto your own humanity and try to save others. Bacigalupi creates an incredible, if not horrifying, world where he develops heart-wrenching moral dilemmas for his characters to face. And through it all, you’re glued to your seat, unable to tear away from the awfulness of it…hoping for a sliver of light at the end of the chaotic tunnel. A companion to the Printz Award title from 2011, Ship Breaker.

Mock Printz Countdown – Ask the Passengers

Ask the Passengers by AS King

Astrid Jones is a senior at Unity Valley High in a gossip-ridden small town filled with even smaller-minded people.

They say: Why does perfect Kristina Houck hang around that weird girl?

They say: How could anyone be friends with someone as strange as Astrid Jones?

As if the town’s rejection isn’t hard enough, Astrid lives with her caustically critical mother, her socially paranoid, reputation-obsessed sister, and her new-to-stonerhood dad. There is no love for Astrid at home, at school, or in town. So, she takes up a solitary hobby – staring at planes flying overhead and sending her love (and huge, finding-herself questions) to the passengers. And, she finds herself facing bigger and bigger questions as she discovers who she is as a person – someone who loves other girls – and realizes that there is no room in the hearts of her townspeople for someone like her.

Little does Astrid know, though, the very real impact her streams of love have on the passengers who receive them. Just as she is figuring out her own life by sending her love away, so is she changing others’ lives forever in significant ways.

— Just a reminder – Mock Printz is this Saturday, Jan 26 from 12-4pm! If you’re participating in person or remotely, check your email for agendas and details. Got questions? Contact workshop coordinator Susan Smallsreed at susansm@multcolib.org.

Mock Printz Countdown – Code Name Verity

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

I have told the truth. I have told the truth. I have told the truth…

So claims captured British spy, Verity, as she writes her confession of war information in a trade with the Nazi Gestapo guards for more time to live. Brought to Occupied France in WWII by her best friend and pilot, Maddie (code name Kittyhawk), Verity is captured almost immediately and detained for weeks of tortuous interrogation. She promises to provide her captors with valuable information about British war strategies in exchange for time; the first half of this harrowing tale is Verity’s account of her friendship with Maddie and their joint efforts in the Allied Forces.

The second half of the story is told by Kittyhawk, filling in the blanks of how they came to France and her efforts to locate Verity while assisting the French Resistance who are hiding her from the Nazis. From Kittyhawk’s narrative, you will learn the strength of her friendship with Verity, the lengths they will go to save each other and defeat the Nazi forces. And, if you are able to set this book down without wondering about what happens next, or can finish the story without any sadness or tears, then you just might have even greater resolve than these two extraordinary young women.

Mock Printz Countdown – The Brides of Rollrock Island

The Brides of Rollrock Island
by Margo Lanagan

“There’s something about those Rollrock women, isn’t there?”

This is the story of Rollrock Island, told through the eyes and voices of various isle inhabitants. It’s the tale of the red-headed, seafaring dads; the mysterious, svelte, dark-haired mams; and a village filled only with sons. And of course, the sea witch, Misskaella. As well as the reason that no one comes to the island unless they live there…Rollrock men pull their wives, like their livelihoods, from the sea. Theirs are seal-wives, split magically from their seal bodies by Misskaella for a hefty sum. Rollrock mams bear and keep sons – the daughters they birth are not so lucky. And those sons grow up, learning from their dads all the ways they will try, and fail, to keep their mams and future wives happy on land when they belong to the sea.

It seems an unbreakable cycle…until young Daniel Mallet decides to take matters into his own hands, tired of all the oppressive unhappiness and suffering in his village and home. But, can one boy right the magically unnatural wrongs of generations? That’s for you to determine when you reach the end of this haunting, captivating story.

Mock Printz Countdown – Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily - Jodi Lynn Anderson

Pirates. Faeries. Dinosaurs. Lost boys. Peter Pan. Girls with hungry hearts and messy hair. Infinite youth with which to relive young love, heartache, and loss.

The dangers of Neverland are many. Watch your step – and your heart.

Told by the tempestuous faerie, Tinker Bell, this is the story of 15-year-old Tiger Lily, the before, during, and after of when she met infamous Peter Pan. Tiger Lily is, at times, regarded as tempting, dangerous, and cursed by the people in her village. An outcast in her close-knit tribe, they live in relative peace until Tiger Lily saves the life of a stranded, ship-wrecked Englander with the aging disease, and learns that she must marry the most lecherous and short-tempered man in her tribe. These two events send her life hurtling in a new direction…one that leads her to Peter Pan and the lost boys.

And that changes everything. As Tiger Lily’s wedding day nears, she finds herself spending more and more time on adventures with the lost boys and losing more and more of herself to their leader, Peter Pan. When tragedy strikes for Tiger Lily, her wild, hungry heart takes her down a dark path of death, betrayal, and heartbreak – a path that even always-loyal Tinker Bell might not follow.

This fantastical retelling is rich in characters, adventure, and complex relationships. Tiger Lily is an imperfect heroine  and yet, like Tinker Bell, you just may find yourself admiring, admonishing, and wanting to protect this fascinating leading lady.

Register Today for Mock Printz Workshop

There is still space for both teens and adults at the 2013 Mock Printz Workshop at Multnomah County Central Library on Saturday January 26 from 12-4pm. Register today for this free event by sending the name, library, and email address for each participant to Susan Smallsreed at susansm@multcolib.org.

As usual a short list of 10 of the best teen books of 2012 will be read, discussed, and then voted upon two days before the actual Printz Medal is announced at the ALA Annual meeting.  Here are the details of the Oregon event.

Date: January 26, 2013
Time: Noon – 4:00 p.m.
Location: US Bank Room, Central Library, Multnomah County Library
Address: 801 SW 10th Ave., Portland, OR 97205
Cost: FREE!
Food: Eat first or bring a lunch. Snacks & beverages available during the mid-afternoon break.
Maximum in-person audience: 40 adults, 20 teens – registrations available on a first-come basis

Mock Printz Nominees – Get Your Read On!

The Mock Printz nominee list has been finalized for OYAN’s Mock Printz Awards Workshop in January 2013. Not in the workshop? Not to worry! These are great titles to read for anyone who works with teens, loves beautifully-written books, or who is a teen.

So, go ahead…get your read on!

Mock Printz Nominees List

Save the Date: October 26 – Sex in the Library Workshop & OYAN Meeting

Save the date for Sex in the Library…workshop, that is!

Come to Tualatin Public Library Friday, October 26 from 10am-12pm for Sex in the Library, an OYAN workshop about how to help teens who want to learn more about sex and sexuality. Presenters from Planned Parenthood, SMYRC (Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center), and Jessica Duke, Program Coordinator, Adolescent Sexual Health Section, OHA, will teach you how to  get teens the information they need.

Can’t get enough OYAN goodness? Stay for the afternoon and attend the Fall OYAN meeting after the workshop!  The workshop runs from 10-12, and our meeting starts at 1pm!

See you there!

What I learned at ALA: Part 3 – Passive Programming That’s Anything But: Reaching Young Adults Subversively

Taught by Jackie Parker and Kelly Jensen, this workshop offered ideas for low cost programs that require little staff time or supervision.  Here’s the link to their Program Prezi.  The basic idea is that you leave things out or post online and let teens do it on their own time.  This involves things like contests, promotions, surveys, art projects, and etc.  Great for introverted, self-sufficient kids that don’t feel comfortable joining in the group stuff.

Steps

Plan – They suggest you put in some upfront time to generate ideas and a schedule for the mini-programs.  Maybe use your teen council to help with this?

Incentives – If you want, they can be low cost things like tickets & coupons, or free books, free printing, fine reductions, extra computer time, etc.

Publicize it – promote it with flyers in the library, facebook, twitter, outreach visits, etc.  Emphasize that teens can participate at any time.  Ask your teen council for advice.

Tip: “Allow yourself to fail.”  Good thing, ’cause I had NO teen involvement for the Shelftalking idea.  Shelftalks are brief reviews attached to the book shelf.  You see ‘em all the time at Powell’s.  I set out bookmarks that teens could write on and put in books.  Didn’t work for me, but then I don’t have a lot of teens that just hang out at the library.  Might work well in a larger, busier library.

Program ideas

In the library

• Spine poetry
• Games & puzzles
• Photography
• Scavenger Hunts
• Cover re-designs
• magnetic poetry
• origami
• secret cards
• “Guerilla Positivity” – leave out supplies for making pocket poems or heart cards that teens can leave around town for people to find.
• Creative displays
• Shelftalkers/tags

Using Technology

• QR code treasure hunts
• Book trailers
• Book playlists
• App reviews
• Facebook contests
• “Guess the book” contests – post the first line of a book or show a cover minus the title.
• 5 word book recommendations

Create kits or programs in a box they can check out

• shrinky dink bracelets
• window painting
• DIY scratch off cards (example on Pinterest)

Things to watch out for

• Make sure staff know what’s going on!
• Don’t put out anything you’ll miss if it gets taken.
• Offer both low and high tech activities.

That’s it!  Have fun!