Sara’s Face by Melvin Burgess

Fame, beauty, and face transplants. Seventeen-year-old Sara wants so much to be famous that when a legendary, plastic-surgery-addicted rock star offers to take her under his wing and pay for her to have surgery too, she jumps at the chance despite her misgivings. But beauty comes with a hidden price tag. Is Sara willing to pay?

If that’s not creepy enough, Melvin Burgess has taken his latest novel and added another element… vlogs — fictional video blogs (think Lonely Girl 15). Since the main character in the book, Sara Carter uses a video blog, Burgess thought it would be a unique way to bring readers into Sara’s world. The series can be viewed here.

Reader Recommendation

Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Callum is a naught, a second-class citizen in a society ruled by Crosses. Sephy is a Cross and the daughter of the man slated to become prime minister. They played together when they were children and still think of each other as best friends-maybe more-but society’s rules are pressing down. In a world where white naughts and black Crosses simply do not mix, can the two find a way to be together?

Interested? Find it in our catalog.

Happy New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a very happy, safe and healthy New Year!

Looking back on 2007 (oh, how very reminiscent) there have been some amazing books published… let’s review a couple, shall we?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Beastly by Alex Flinn
Handsome and charming Kyle has it all until he is turned into a beast by a witch.

Boot Camp by Todd Strasser
After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Garrett is sent to Lake Harmony, a boot camp that uses unorthodox and brutal methods to train students to obey their parents.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Bella’s love triangle with vampire Edward and werewolf Jacob continues in this third installment of the Twilight series.

Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
After a nasty fall, Naomi tries to piece together the last four years of her life. She has a boyfriend and best friend she can’t remember — and oh yeah, divorced parents. Will Naomi ever get her life back?

What They Found: Love on 145th Street by Walter Dean Myers
Fifteen interrelated stories explore different aspects of love for Harlem teens.

This is just a very small sampling of some of the books we got in 2007. If you’re interested in any of these (or others you may not see here), check out our catalog.

Flamingnet

Weird name? Yes. But Flamingnet.com is a site for teen books reviewed by teens and it was (surprise) created by a teen! As a matter of fact, we’re talking about a local Baltimore boy who put together this web site.

So, if you’re looking for some more recommendations of things to read, make sure you check this site out. They also have giveaways and a monthly newsletter you can sign up for. AND, if you’re interested in becoming a reviewer, there is an application form. If you are under 18, you will need an adult sponsor and have to pay a one-time fee of $10. OR, you can review books for the Library (on this blog) for FREE!

2007 Teens’ Top Ten Winners

Okay, I promised that I would post the winning books from the Teens’ Top Ten list - remember, this is the list of books that is voted on by teens. There is no surprise that Stephenie Meyer made the number one spot. For some reason, we just can’t get enough of Edward and Bella.

The library owns all of the books on the list except for All Hollow’s Eve, but if you guys are interested in getting that, let us know. Don’t forget to check the catalog or ask a librarian for help in getting one of these titles.

1. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
2. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
3. How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles
4. Maximum Ride: School’s Out — Forever by James Patterson
5. Firegirl by Tony Abbott
6. All Hallow’s Eve (13 Stories) by Vivian Vande Velde
7. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
8. River Secrets by Shannon Hale
9. Bad Kitty by Michele Jaffe
10. Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks