Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

It's been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents' divorce--or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she's been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

(booktalk by the Bookscreening Team)

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

The moon reflects on the ocean, waves gently wash onto the shore, and at 2:00am in a sleepy beach town Auden is wide awake. It is the summer before she starts college and in addition to dealing with her parents' divorce and her father's new life which includes a new wife and baby, Auden struggles with her own sense of self. Being raised by parents who focused on intelligence and could not connect with one another, Auden's main coping skill of getting perfect grades and isolating suddenly doesn't work anymore. And while wandering the beach town streets at night she meets another insomniac, Eli. Not only is he very attractive to her but he is also dealing with his own issues of love and loss. Together they forge a friendship that could be something more if Auden's heart will relax enough to allow her to let go. Just like how riding a bicycle takes a balance of letting go and making decisions, she tries to learn how to trust herself and others. But will she be able to learn before the summer, and possibly her chance at love, is over?

(booktalk by Kathleen Dunbar, Cleveland High School Library)


Check out the book trailer created by the Palos Verdes Library District staff.


2002 Evergreen Trailer

History of the Evergreen Young Adult Book Award

The Evergreen Young Adult Award, formerly known as the WashYARG [Washington Young Adult Materials Review Group] Young Adult Reader's Choice Award is sponsored by WashYARG. This review group, consisting of young adults' librarians from the state of Washington began the award in an effort to give teens in the state a voice in deciding the best literature aimed at their age group.The response from young adults in middle and in high schools has steadily increased each year.

Each year, from suggestions made by school librarians and by teens themselves, from lists of awards such the American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults, the Evergreen Award Nominating Committee selects ten titles that represent a mix of teen-appealing titles. The Nominating Committee meets immediately after the quarterly meeting of WashYARG at the King County Library System service center in Issaquah, Washington.

The nominated titles are returned to the young people of Washington State to read and to vote on and a Nominee Ballot is published by WASHYARG for their use. As more teachers and librarians use the list as a source of popular reading and to help their students fulfill required outside reading assignments as pleasurably as possible, we hope that more and more teens will discover their opportunity to voice their opinion to librarians and to publishers.

The deadline to vote on the nominees is March 15th of each year. After the ballots are counted, the winner is announced. Readers may vote on their favorite title by returning a ballot to their closest library, or mailing it in by this deadline.

Welcome to the WashYARG Blog-The WashBLOG!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with WashYARG
The Washington State Young Adult Review Group (WashYARG) is a regional reviewing organization of school and public librarians and other individuals interested in books, magazines, films, cassettes, videos, and other materials appropriate for adolescent use and intent.

Members pay $25 per school year and are entitled to review books and receive The Washrag, the quarterly compilation of written reviews plus the annual index. Meetings are held at the King County Library System's Service Center, 960 Newport Way NW, Issaquah from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. 


Visit us for updates on about WashYARG and the Evergreen Young Adult Book Award.

Malice by Chris Wooding

Malice by Chris Wooding



Seth and Kady sit with Luke as he does the "Tall Jake" ritual: some hair from a cat, a tear (don't ask how he got that) and several other things that are put in a pot and burned while you say 5 times, "Tall Jake, come take me away." [Note: just imagine what a good booktalk this is. With voices as if you were involved in this!] And then nothing happens. Luke does this just to show his friends how silly it is, even though it is in the comic book he shows them.

Then the next day he disappears. His friends know in their hearts what has happened. They look for the comic book, but it is perfectly blank. [Prop idea: music please!] They even break into the comic book store to find the next issue, to redo the ritual, to get into this place called "Malice." At this point the book becomes a comic/graphic novel. [Prop note: have some blown up pages to show the students.] This is a horrid world that is half horror, half steam punk.

Interspersed graphic novel and prose, this is a great read--and of course the sequel is out, with the next in the series coming soon!



Booktalk by Mary Jo Heller, Teacher-Librarian emeritus





Malice
by Chris Wooding



[This works as an impromptu reader's theater. Print out three copies of the script below. Highlight Jake & Heather's lines in different colors: yellow for Heather, blue for Jake, etc. Leave the narrator's lines un-highlighted: these will be yours. Ask for two volunteers.]



Narrator: There were once two kids named Heather and Luke. Luke had found a comic book. It was kind of a famous comic book; if you knew the stories about it. [Show the copy of Malice and hand it to Luke.]



Luke: "Hey, I have to show you something."



Heather: "What is it?"

Luke: "Malice." [Hold up the book]



Heather: "Huh?"



Luke: "Are you scared of a little book? Come on Heather--get real! It's not like the rumors are real. Look. I'll prove it."



Heather: "Luke, don't! He's gonna--"



Luke: "Chill, Heather. It's just a myth. See: here's the feather; the twig; the cat fur, the tear drop, and the lock of hair."



Heather: "Luke. Are...are you sure?!"



Luke: "It's just a story. A rumor. Watch me; I'll say the chant and nothing will happen. Tall Jake take me away. Tall Jake take me away. Tall Jake take me away. Tall Jake take me away. TALL JAKE TAKE ME AWAY!"

Narrator: That's the last anyone saw of either Jake or Heather for a long, long time. So, Dear Readers. Do you think you have the courage to come into tall Jake's world? Are you ready to sacrifice your life in his realm? Are you ready to give up everything you have for ... [Hold up the novel] ... Malice? You'll never know unless you try. Like Luke. Or Heather. It's not going to be tall Jake's fault, if you decide to test your luck, test your wits against him.



Heather: Tall Jake take me away!



Luke: Tall Jake take me away!



Narrator: He'll be waiting for you...



Booktalk by Kirsten Edwards, Teen Librarian

King County Library System


Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan
 by Scott Westerfeld


Europe at war! The battle between steam driven mechanical technology and DNA-altered, fabricated animal technology has finally come to a head. It's 1914 and the Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is dead – assassinated. His son, and heir, Alek, is fleeing from his own people in a clanker, called a Cyklop Stormwalker, with a few loyal men. On the other side of the ocean, a girl named Deryn hides her gender and signs on as a midshipman on the huge British battle beast, the Leviathan. But when a battle with the Germans causes Leviathan to crash near Alek's hideout, the two cross paths and find that they must work together to survive.



Booktalk by Jocelyn Rydel, Teen Librarian

Sno-Isle Regional Library System

Watch a snazzy book trailer here

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Ever since the yellow-eyed wolf saved her, Grace has been fascinated with him. She watches as the wolf visits the woods behind her house every winter. But not everyone shares her view. When wolves attack a boy from her school, the town sets up a wolf hunt. And she stops them, because her wolf might be in danger. Then she finds a crumpled form in her back yard. She thinks it's a wolf, but it's a boy. A boy with her wolf's yellow eyes...



Booktalk by Jocelyn Rydel, Teen Librarian

Sno-Isle Regional Library System





Random House has a shiver-ready first person book-talk ready trailer here

Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater

As a small girl, Grace survived being attacked by the wolves that haunt the woods behind her parents' house. She would have been badly hurt and probably killed had not a yellow-eyed wolf come to her rescue.

Ever since then, Grace has watched the woods, trying to catch a glimpse of the animal.

But when a high school student is killed in a wolf attack, the town mobilizes and sends hunters into the woods to flush out the murderous beasts. Fearing for the safety of her special wolf, Grace stops the hunt, claiming that a friend of hers is taking photographs in the woods.

As she arrives at home, a captivating boy with eerily familiar eyes appears at her doorstep. She feels a strong bond with Sam even though she realizes that he has a terrible secret: as the temperature drops every fall, he transforms from a boy into a werewolf. Every spring, he stays in his wolf form later and later, and this may be his final season as a human.

Grace and Sam can be together only if they discover a cure for his condition. Time isn't on their side, especially when they must also deal jealous wolves and other obstacles.

Obstacles which include a student who may not have died in that wolf attack after all.



Booktalk by mackinbooktalk.com


Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Forest of Hands and Teeth 
by Carrie Ryan



For as long as anyone in Mary's village can remember, the Sisterhood has protected everyone from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. The village is bordered by fences to keep out the Unconsecrated and their hunger for human flesh. Guardians patrol the forest and mend the fences. No one recalls what life was like before the Return, but Mary's mother has told her stories: of the ocean, a place where there is nothing but water as far as the eye can see and where they can be safe from the Unconsecrated. When a breach in the fence occurs and the village is attacked, Mary and a few other survivors must leave the only place they have ever known and venture into the forest.