Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns)

This book is a collection of essays written by the adorable and honest Mindy Kaling. You might recognize her from The Office. She is a producer and writer, as well as actress.
Mindy talks about happy and innocuous issues like weight, fashion, and friendships. She tells the story of a recent photo shoot where the stylist brought her a bunch of outfits in size 0 and one ugly dress in her size. This caused her to break down in the bathroom, but she decided the photo shoot was going to go her way. She insisted that one of the small dresses be altered for her size and ended up feeling and looking great.
Mindy also talks about her journey to Hollywood and the people who helped her get there. It's an interesting look at how to become a Hollywood writer/actress without losing oneself. This is a cute and lighthearted read that will appeal to aspiring actors and writers.

Bad Island by Doug Tennapel

Bad Island is another fun graphic novel by Doug TenNapel, author of Ghostopolis. In Bad Island, we meet a family preparing to go on vacation. The son, Reese, would rather stay home than spend time boating with his parents and little sister Janie. Nonetheless, he joins the family and they have quite an adventure. A dangerous storm shipwrecks them on an island. The plants and animals are very foreign and unlike anything they have ever seen. The family keeps running into these mysterious stones with symbols on them. When strange creatures begin to attack them, they realize that they are safe when they are near these stones. The family also runs into a skeleton of a man who has a map. They try to decipher what the map may mean and where they are safe on the island.

There is another story in the book that details how these creatures came to the island and what their back story is. The story flashes back to a war between two factions and of course, the two stories intertwine and come to a satisfying conclusion.

The story was fascinating and the illustrations are fantastic. I love the artist's style. Very vibrant and expressive. This is recommended for fans of Amulet and Ghostopolis!

Dead is Not an Option

Dead is Not an Option is another great installment in the Dead is series by Marlene Perez. (and the last?) Daisy is nearing the end of Senior Year and something sinister is brewing in Nightshade. Tension is high between the Weres and Vamps and the Council cannot seem to keep it under control. Many weres and vamps have been found dead or injured and both blame the other side. This causes some tension within Daisy's family as well, because the sisters are dating both vamps and weres. To add to the stress, Daisy has not heard from any of the colleges to which she applied.
Of course, Daisy takes it upon herself to help Chief Mendez and Mr Bone solve the murders and attacks. She uses her detective and her psychic abilities to aid in the hunt.
As always, the characters are very real and likable. The story contains many twists and turns, with more than just one conflict to solve. Teens will love this fun and slightly dark series.

Bad Taste in Boys is about Kate Grable. Kate is a very intelligent girl who wants to be a doctor one day. In the meantime, she has been volunteering as the athletic trainer for her schools football team. One day, the coach asks Kate to inject some players with these syringes that he claims are filled with a vitamin. Of course, she refuses and suspects the vials actually contain steroids.
Later, she is at a party with a bunch of the players. One of them passes out and stops breathing. She starts to administer CPR and suddenly, he snaps up and smacks her on the butt. She still can't seem to find his pulse and he still looks very white and, well, dead. Having seen an injection site on him, she starts to worry that the coach injected him and this maybe some strange side effect. When she sees him again, he lunges at her and bites a big chunk out her lip. Very strange.
Soon, Kate starts noticing the crazy behavior from the coach and from other players. It seems that this shot has been turning people into zombies. And they are hungry.

This is a fun book that will appeal to both guy and girl readers and fans of zombie books. It is well written and not filled with a bunch of silly slang talk like some teen books. This is a clean read- parts of it are slightly gruesome, but nothing too graphic. There's also no cursing or mention of sex.

The Water Wars

The Water Wars is set in a future in which water is now more valuable than oil or gold. The author does not give much background on how this happened, just that most of United States is now like a desert, and millions have died from starvation or dehydration. Water is only used for drinking, and even then, only a small amount is rationed to each family. Of course, the water companies have become more powerful and corrupt than ever, and they often fight against each other, the government, and pirates for untapped springs.

The story follows two siblings, Will and Vera. This water deprived life is the only one they have ever known. As they are waiting for the school bus one day, they meet a boy named Kai. Kai is not worried about water in the least. He eventually tells them that he is a diviner, a person who can sense water. His father is a driller. Together they are very valuable for their talents. Kai is driven everywhere in a limo and is often accompanied by an armed bodyguard.

When Will and Vera don't hear from Kai, they get worried and stop by his house. They find it ransacked, and his bodyguard dead. Together, they decide that they need to rescue Kai and his father from whoever may have taken him. This leads them on a grand adventure across North America, involving pirates and evil terrorists, eventually leading to a showdown at a water plant off the east coast.

I thought this was a great book, filled with lots of action and adventure. The characters were likeable and well developed. It did remind me a bit of the Hunger Games because of the survival strategies and violence. Fans of that trilogy will enjoy The Water Wars as well.

SIGN UP FOR THE SUMMER READING PROGRAM TODAY!

Teens have from June 1st through July 31st to complete 10 hours of reading. Prizes are rewarded at the halfway point, and at the finish. We will also be raffling off gift cards and a Nook to a lucky finisher.

Join us on Friday, June 10th for a movie and pizza! Starts at 1 p.m.

Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

Shark Girl is similar to the story in the new movie Soul Surfer. It's a novel about Jane, who is attacked by a shark. She is pulled to shore by her brother, where she suffers shock and loses most memory of the incident. She awakes in the hospital days later, after being put in a coma to prevent brain injury. Lucky to be alive, Jane must now cope with having her entire arm amputated.
Jane isn't comfortable with the odd stares and sudden outpouring of emotion for her. She even starts to receive fan mail. She becomes very depressed as she can no longer draw and create art as well as she used to. Making matters worse, she is having trouble adapting to her prosthetic limb, and still feels phantom pain where her arm used to be. Will she ever be able to get her old life back?
This is a great read for boys and girls, ages 11+

BOOKS FOR BOYS 12+

SERIES

Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer YA BRE
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins YA COL
Maze Runner series by James Dashner YA DAS
Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney J DEL
Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan YA FLA
Tunnels series by Roderick Gordon J GOR
Various series by Margaret Haddix J HAD
Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz YA HOR
The Seems series by John Hulme J HUL
Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Land YA LAN
Dreamhouse Kings by Robert Liparulo YA LIP
FableHaven series by Brandon Mull YA MUL
Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix J NIX
Maximum Ride and Daniel X –James Patterson YA PAT
Kingdom Keepers series by Ridley Pearson YA PEA
Percy Jackson and other series by Rick Riordan J RIO
Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott YA SCO

AUTHORS

SA Bodeen YA BOD
Charlie Higson YA HIG
Will Hobbs YA HOB
Walter Dean Myers YA MYE
Gary Paulsen YA PAU
Roland Smith YA SMI
Will Weaver YA WEA

SPORTS AUTHORS

Jon Coy YA COY
Carl Deuker YA DEU
John Feinstein YA FEI
Tim Green J GRE
Mike Lupica J LUP
Rich Wallace YA WAL

Mix & Mash @ Your Library 2011

Girl, Stolen

Looking for an action packed book with a twist? Try Girl, Stolen by April Henry.

When the book begins, Cheyenne is sick and resting in the backseat of her stepmother's car. Her stepmother had just run into the pharmacy to pick up some medicine, so she left the car running. Suddenly, Cheyenne hears someone get in the car, but it's not her stepmother. She's trapped with two car thieves speeding down the road. Oh and one other thing, Cheyenne is blind.

This is a thrilling book full of twists and turns that you'll want to read to find out what happens to the Girl, Stolen.