Staff Pick: Mothership by Martin Leicht and Isla Neal

From Amazon:

Elvie Nara was doing just fine in the year 2074. She had a great best friend, a dad she adored, and bright future working on the Ares Project on Mars. But then she had to get involved with sweet, gorgeous, dumb-as-a-brick Cole—and now she’s pregnant.

     Getting shipped off to the Hanover School for Expecting Teen Mothers was not how Elvie imagined spending her junior year, but she can go with the flow. That is, until a team of hot commandos hijacks the ship—and one of them turns out to be Cole. She hasn’t seen him since she told him she’s pregnant, and now he’s bursting into her new home to tell her that her teachers are aliens and want to use her unborn baby to repopulate their species? Nice try, buddy. You could have just called.

     So fine, finding a way off this ship is priority number one, but first Elvie has to figure out how Cole ended up as a commando, work together with her arch-nemesis, and figure out if she even wants to be a mother—assuming they get back to Earth in one piece. 

Pick it: for the snarky narrator Elvie, whose ability to be sardonic without ever sounding bitter or cruel reminds us a lot of another famous fictitious pregnant teen, Juno MacGuff.

Skip it: if you can't get on board (see what we did there?) with the far-fetched premise. To fully enjoy being in Elvie's world, you have to be able to suspend your disbelief.

Pair with: The Pregnancy Project: a memoir by Gaby Rodriguez, a teenage "pregnancy" story that is almost as outrageous as Mothership but 100% true.

Reviewed by: Melissa

It Came from the Library short story contest

CHPL TEENS & Teen Read Week 2012 Present:

IT CAME FROM THE LIBRARY...

...a horror-themed short fiction contest

 

Like to write? Want to be published? Submit a gruesome tale for a chance to be published in Bridges, our literary 'zine and win other prizes!

RULES & GUIDELINES:

1. Entries must be between 500-1,000 words.

2. Include your name, age, phone number and email address with your submission.

3. Submit your entry at the Youth Services Desk at the Cherry Hill Public Library -or-
    e-mail JHarmon@chplnj.org (please use subject line: "TRW 2012")

4. Contest deadline is October 17, 2012.

One high school winner and one middle school winner will be revealed on
October 20, 2012
at our It Came From the Library Party
(open to all students grades 6-12.)



GOOD LUCK......BWUAHAHAAHA

Teen Activity Board: Now Accepting Applications!

Are you interested in becoming more involved in your community? Meeting new people? Earning volunteer hours?

Apply to be a member of the CHPL Teen Activity Board (TAB for short), where you'll help plan and promote teen and children's events at the library! We have two separate Boards, one for middle school and one for high school. Here's how to apply:

1) Download an application by clicking here, or pick one up next time you're at the library.

2) Carefully read the "Duties and Guidelines" portion of the application. Being a TAB member is a year-long commitment -- make sure you have enough time in your schedule for meetings and other library events!  

3) After you've filled out both sides of the application, bring it to the Youth Services Desk at the Library on or before Friday, October 12th.

Questions? Concerns? Email Ms. Jaclyn or Ms. Michelle, or call the Youth Services desk at 856.903.1229.

Staff Pick: The Year of the Beasts

From goodreads:
Every summer the trucks roll in, bringing the carnival and its infinite possibilities to town. This year Tessa and her younger sister Lulu are un-chaperoned and want to be first in line to experience the rides, the food... and the boys. Except this summer, jealousy will invade their relationship for the first time, setting in motion a course of events that can only end in tragedy, putting everyone's love and friendship to the test.

Pick it: For its unique format (the chapters alternate between traditional prose and graphic novel) and for its fresh take on the "summer romance" novel.

Skip it: If you are looking for a typical summer romance novel! This one goes to dark, sad, and twisty places, so if you're in the mood for a Nick Sparks read-alike, this is not the book for you.

Pair with: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, another book about betrayal and tragedy, set in a different season.

Reviewed by: Melissa

Teen Writing: Genre Mashups!

We challenged our Writer's Block members to imagine what happens when you play musical chairs with the biggest trends in YA Lit. After being given a random pairing of popular YA genres, the teens were instructed to write the summary that would be on the back of their hypothetical book. Here's just a sampling of what they came up with:

Coming of Age + Sherlock Holmes
Young Sherlocka Holmes just wants to be a normal teenage girl. However, she can't suppress her intense desire to solve mysteries! And after one too many run-ins with the police for investigating crimes, she's moving away. Away from her school, her friends, and everything she's ever know. However, when people begin mysteriously disappearing and ghosts are seen around her new town, it seems like Sherlocka just can't escape her detective side. And when questions arise about her family history, Sherlocka finally begins to uncover the mysteries behind the unusual town... and the mysteries within herself.
Written by Elizabeth P., age 15

Breakup novel + Outer space
Number 8376, known as Arsenie, has just about had it with her boyfriend. It's time to call it quits, but that's going to be difficult, considering they're about to embark on a three year journey through the universe, on a search for the last hope of saving their home planet. Three years. Together. On a spaceship. Not to mention she'll be dealing with asteroids, space creatures, and an annoying stowaway who just might have a crush on her would-be-ex-boyfriend. So a breakup isn't really in the cards right now. A story of adventure, discovery, and an arrogant fool who spends too much time looking in the mirror, Hormonal and Hopeless is a heart-warming tale of how much one girl can stand before pressing the self-eject button.
Written by Marissa C., age 16

Vampires + rural setting
Fifteen-year-old Abigail Perkins has just moved to Missouri after her parents' recent divorce. She is expecting small town life to be nothing like her glamorous one in New York City. She surely wasn't expecting to meet Damien, the mysterious boy who lives next door. Initially, she is intrigued by the strange things she notices about him. She wonders: why does she never see him during the day? Why did he refuse to accept her garlic bread on National Garlic Day? And why does he have a coffin in his house?! She's about to find out...
Written by Daria M., age 15

Fallen angels + High school dramedy
You know that singer with the "voice of an angel"? The popular starlet with an "angel face"? The charity founder with a seemingly "angelic" disposition? Well, heavenly attributes don't come free, and Shane wants his back. Kicked out of Heaven so that a rising celebrity could reach the height of their fame, Shane is miserable. Once a citizen of the sky, he has become just another pimply high school loser. He finds himself unable to bear life without his perfect hair, smooth skin, and angelic glow. Desperate, Shane uses the last of his heavenly abilities to enroll in the prestigious former high school of the wannabe star who stole his angel wings. Determined to reclaim what is rightfully his, he's about to find out that high school is hard -- but it's even harder when you're a fallen angel.
Written by Maya J, age 15

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Are you as blown away as we were? I'd totally read some of these books, if they were real! Join us for creative games, writer talk, and fun writing prompts like these at Writer's Block, the teen creative writing club. Check out our event calendar to register for this month's sessions!

Teen Review: Quarantine by Lex Thomas

When a virus that kills adult is quickly spread through a high school, a lockdown is enforced and students find themselves thrown into a fight for survival. Supplies are limited, and cliques quickly become gangs. The jocks rule the school, and the outcasts are left to fend for themselves. But if they work together, they just might be able to make it out alive.

Rating: 3 out of 5, "a good read"

Reviewed by: Marissa C., Age 16
 
**

This teen reviewer was able to read Quarantine months before it was released to the public, through Writer's Block ARC Review program!

ARCs (or Advance Reader Copies) are preview editions of soon-to-be-released books, which publishers send to libraries and reviewers to create buzz and entice them to order copies. At Writer's Block you can browse through the many ARCs we receive every month and even take one home as long as you agree to write a review! Writer's Block meets every other Wednesday from 6-7:30 PM. Register today!

Staff Pick: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

From goodreads:

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead.

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

Yet she spares Cas' life...

Pick It: For the jaw-dropping horror sequences! Anna’s story will haunt you (pun most certainly intended) for weeks after reading this book. She is one scary ghost – she truly earns her grisly nickname.

Skip it: If you don’t want to get caught up in another series. A sequel, Girl of Nightmares, comes out this summer.

Pair with: Carrie by Stephen King, another spine-tinglingly (yes, that’s a word) scary book about a girl dressed in blood.

Reviewed by: Melissa