All posts by Sharon
Taking Off by Jenny Moss
Annie Porter is in her senior year of high school in Clear Lake, Texas. She is content with the status quo–fun best friend, sweet boyfriend, nights spent watching TV and eating chips. Annie has no idea what to do when she graduates. She harbors a secret desire to become a poet, but doesn’t dare to consider that a viable option until she meets Christa McAuliffe. Annie is immediately taken with this gifted teacher who is training to go into space. Annie realizes that if Christa is able to realize such an immense dream then she can give herself permission to hope and work for more in own life.
Taking Off contains some of my favorite elements in teen literature–road trips, life-defining moments, and discovering the person you want to become.
Happy Reading!
~ Tricia is the teen librarian at CPL and is checking out some summer-themed books to keep her spirits up this snowy spring weekend.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz
Vera Dietz is a senior in high school who works full time as a pizza delivery driver and is being haunted by her dead best friend Charlie.
Vera and Charlie grew up together. Their friendship sustained them through the constant abuse in Charlie’s home and Vera’s abandonment by her mother. Before his death Charlie betrays Vera and they stop speaking. After his death Vera is the only one who can clear his name for a crime he didn’t commit. But how do you forgive the boy you spent years loving when he responds by cutting you out of his life and breaking your heart? Is it even possible?
Please Ignore Vera Dietz is an achingly real portrait of high school. Vera is a likable protagonist struggling with issues of alcoholism, abandonment, love and betrayal. Her relationships–with Charlie, with her dad, and with James–are all the more poignant because of their flaws. The mystery surrounding the circumstances of Charlie’s death helps to push the pace forward and adds a complicated layer that prevents this book from being a simple “slice-of-life” story.
Please Ignore Vera Dietz has my highest recommendation. It’s honest, unflinching and the writing is stellar–my favorite title of 2011.
~ Tricia is the teen services librarian at CPL. She is anxiously awaiting spring and is keeping cabin fever at bay by learning American Sign Language.
Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
Nailer is a ship breaker. In a future marked by devastating weather patterns and shortages of oil and other resources ship breakers scavenge empty vessels for anything that may be of value–copper, iron, oil, etc. After he almost drowns in the belly of a ship Nailer begins to view mortality differently–his own life and the lives of those around him have value. When he finds a destroyed clipper ship with a trapped rich girl, Nailer rescues her and loses the scavenge that would have changed his life. He goes on a perilous journey to return the girl to her family and is pursued by half-men, gangs and his sadistic, drug-addled father.
Claustrophobic opening scenes feed into a gut-wrenching journey that culminates with a high speed chase on the ocean. This book is fast, frenetic and fascinating. Highly recommended.
~ Tricia is CPL’s teen librarian. She hates squirrels and loves reading during her lunch break.
Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies)
Patty Ho is fifteen years old, half-Taiwanese and half white. She feels too Asian to blend in at her predominantly white high school, and too white to fit in with the “China Dolls” –daughters of her mom’s potluck group. With a “perfect” older brother and overbearing, distrusting mother Patty doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere, including her own home.
It isn’t until Patty is forced to go to summer math camp at Stanford that she finds her confidence and begins to see the beauty in being hapa. She also discovers that smart is sexy and being great at math is an asset not a liability.
I loved watching Patty transform as she found herself, learned about her family, and made some amazing and unexpected friends. This (like all of Justina Chen Headley’s books) is a beautifully written and tender story with a protagonist you can’t help but cheer on.
If watching Patty and her fellow SUMaCers work on problem sets makes you want to sharpen your own math skills, check out these books in Danica McKellar’s Math Doesn’t Suck series:
~ Tricia is the teen librarian at CPL. She is determined to build up her mathematics moxie after 15 wasted years of believing she was “bad” at math.
Let the Games Begin!
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins earned the most votes to become this year’s ONE BOOK CHELMSFORD. Yay! This means that we will be encouraging members of the community to read The Hunger Games and to attend various themed programs from February through June at the library. The kickoff for the One Book is the WinterFest Social which will be held on Friday, February 4th at 7pm in the library.
I NEED YOUR HELP! At the social there will be tables representing each of the 13 districts described in The Hunger Games. I need my stunningly creative, hardworking and all around brilliant teen volunteers to design those tables. There will be a planning meeting next Thursday (1/13) at 4pm–come armed with ideas and I will provide the food and design materials.
Hope to see you there!
~ Tricia is the teen librarian at CPL and is thrilled that a teen novel was chosen for this year’s One Book.
Let it Snow!
Now that the weather is turning colder, I find myself reading stories set in the snow. Whether it’s this month’s Teen Book Club title, Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances, or something a little more menacing–like Marcus Sedgwick’s Revolver–I love curling up under a warm blanket and reading about winter storms and cold arctic air. Here are some recommended wintry titles to enjoy with a nice, hot cup of cocoa:
Let it Snow: Three Holiday Romances by John Green, Maureen 
Johnson and Lauren Myracle This wonderful book contains three funny and incredibly sweet novellas by a trio of phenomenal writers. Pick up a copy at the teen services desk and join us at this month’s Teen Book Club meeting on Tuesday December 21st at 4pm.
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick One fateful day, Sig finds his father dead on the ice; later he is held captive by a madman looking for the gold he swears Sig’s father stole from him.
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst A wonderful, modern
retelling of “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” with a strong and determined leading lady and the fascinating setting of an arctic research station.
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean Sym is a 14 year old girl who has a unique companion in the form of Titus Oates (the dead Antarctic explorer). He becomes an invaluable comfort to her when she finds herself stranded in Antarctica with her mentally unstable uncle.
You can find copies of these books (and other snowy fare) on the display shelves located next to the teen services desk.
Happy Reading!
~ Tricia is the teen services librarian at CPL. Reading these books has rekindled her decade-long obsession with the incredible true story of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance.
NaNoWriMo
National Novel Writing Month begins November 1st! The library’s Young Writers Group will be meeting every Monday of the month from 4 to 5:30pm. Come for advice, support and writing fuel (read: snacks, lots and lots of snacks). See you there!
Questions? Email Tricia at pmoore@mvlc.org
Scary Movie Afternoon
Save the date: Friday, October 29th from 4-5:30pm.
Pizza & snacks will be served.
See you there!
Don’t forget to RSVP for this fun, annual event!
Just email Tricia at: pmoore@mvlc.org
Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams
Lizzie and Hope are sisters who have taken care of each other their whole lives. With a deceased father and a neglectful mother who earns her living as a prostitute the girls were forced to watch out for one another from a young age. As the older sister, Lizzie has always protected and cared for Hope, but now Lizzie is in the midst of a deep depression which culminates in a suicide attempt. Hope tries to save Lizzie by solving the puzzle of her emotional decline, but who will protect Hope when she discovers the secrets behind her sister’s sadness.
This is a heart-wrenching/heart-racing novel told through poetry. I flew through this book. The reader is aware of what is going on before the lead which makes for an extremely tense reading experience. The writing is haunting and the characters remain with you long after you’ve finished reading. If you’re looking for a sad, beautiful, “on-edge” story this is it.
~ Tricia is the teen services librarian at CPL. She is beyond excited for this long weekend and all it contains—seeing a production of Cabaret, going to the movies, having dinner with neighbors, brunch with family and a whole day of doing nothing.
Banned Books Meme!
This week (September 25th — October 2nd) is Banned Books Week. Learn all about it HERE.
In honor of BBW here’s a fun meme (started by the amazingly talented author Jo Knowles):
1. Go find your favorite banned book.
2. Take a picture of yourself with said book.
3. Give that book some love by explaining why you think it is an important book.
4. Post it to your blog.
5. Spread the word!
Here I am holding a copy of my favorite banned book: Whale Talk. This is the copy I had autographed after hearing Chris Crutcher speak. It is one of my most prized posessions because of the memory I have of meeting him.
I read Whale Talk for the first time while I was in college. I picked it up because, as a high school student, I had been profoundly affected by another Chris Crutcher novel–Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes. Just thinking about either book elicits a visceral reaction in me. My eyes tear up and I feel both angry and joyful. I want to scream at the injustices visited upon the characters in each story while simultaneously cheering them on, willing them to keep up the fight in order to attain their personal victories.
I cannot imagine a world (or a library) where Chris Crutcher’s novels are absent (i.e. banned). Reading about teens in challenging, sometimes horrifying situations and seeing them rise above those hardships with strength and dignity is empowering to all teenagers (and adults) regardless of their own circumstances.
So, what is it about Whale Talk that made me choose it above all the other banned books I have read and loved?
The answer is: T.J. (The Tao) Jones. T.J. is fearless. Whenever I feel weak, scared, ineffectual or plain old put-upon I think of T.J. His strength and courage continues to impress and inspire me.
What is your favorite banned book?
~ Tricia is CPL’s teen services librarian. She has put her towering “to-be-read” pile on hold to revisit T.J. and the rest of the Cutter All Night Mermen in honor of Banned Books Week.