Celebrate Your Freedom to Read!

Celebrate your freedom to read! Read one of the 10 most challenged books of 2007. Stop by the Loft and check out a book from our “banned books” display.   YA author John Green on banned books: The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson (Razorbill, 2004)

Cool Site of the Day

Wordia – a video dictionary! I. Think of a word that has a special meaning to you II. Record a video defining your word III. Upload your video

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

The movie, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, based on the young adult novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (Alfred Knopf, 2006), is coming soon to the movie theatres – October 3rd!   Read the book, create your own “infinite playlist,” and watch the trailer (with Michael Cera from Juno and Arrested Development).

The Possibilities of Sainthood

The Possibilities of Sainthood by Donna Freitas (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008 ) Antonia, a 15-year-old Italian Catholic girl, wants to become a saint – but without dying.  She writes endlessly funny letters to the Vatican about why she should be chosen for various possibilities, such as the patron saint of pasta.     Antonia keeps her book of saints [...]

Wii are back!

Wii are back with Friday afternoon gaming! Stop by the Loft for Guitar Hero and Wii open play this Friday, September 19, from 3:30-5:30 pm. For teens in middle or high school.

Mexican High

Mexican High, by Liza Monroy (Spiegel & Grau, 2008), is the story of a teenage girl’s coming-of-age.  She calls herself Mila even though her given name is Milagros, or Miracle, in Spanish.  She is propelled into the world of strata and class during her senior year at a private high school in Mexico City.  She comes to terms [...]

The Juliet Club

The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper (Greenwillow, 2008 ) You win a Shakespeare essay contest in high school. The prize? A month-long summer trip to Verona, Italy, to study Romeo and Juliet. But under the sporadic direction of Professoressa Francesca Marchese, this is no ordinary seminar spent annotating and dissecting Shakespearean text, to which Kate Sanderson is [...]

Hurricane Song: A Novel of New Orleans

As Hurricane Ike, following Gustav and Hannah, continues to unleash its fury over the Gulf Coast, the devastation wrought by hurricanes is front page news for some, and a life threatening reality for others. In his young adult novel, Hurricane Song (Viking, 2008), Paul Volponi takes the reader to New Orleans during and immediately following Hurricane [...]

The Order of Odd-Fish

Even writers as great as Shakespeare often “skimped” on their endings. However, The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy (Delacorte, 2008), is an interesting read from start to finish. The world of Eldritch City is enthralling as well as original. Many of the ideas, such as a talking digestive track, or the inconvenience, are all [...]