What to read if you enjoyed "The Fault in Our Stars"

Whether you already read The Fault in Our Stars or are currently on the hold list for a copy, here are some other books you may be interested in checking out. Find the list on BiblioCommons here (click on the printer icon for a clean printable copy!). Come back to the blog later this week when I'll have another reading list for fans of John Green!

	This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl by Esther Earl (new) TEEN BIOGRAPHY EARL A memoir told through the journals, letters, and stories of young cancer patient Esther Earl.
	Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews TEEN ANDREWS Seventeen-year-old Greg has managed to become part of every social group at his Pittsburgh high school without having any friends, but his life changes when his mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl he once knew in Hebrew school who has leukemia.
	Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden RANDALL OAKS TEEN BLAGDEN Irreverent, foul-mouthed, seventeen-year-old Cricket Cherpin, living under the watchful eye of Mother Mary at a Catholic boys' home in Maine, has such bleak prospects he is considering suicide when Wynona Bidaban steps into his world.
	Deadline by Chris Crutcher TEEN CRUTCHER Given the medical diagnosis of one year to live, high school senior Ben Wolf decides to fulfill his greatest fantasies, ponders his life's purpose and legacy, and converses through dreams with a spiritual guide known as "Hey-Soos."
	Before I Die by Jenny Downham TEEN DOWNHAM A terminally ill teenaged girl makes and carries out a list of things to do before she dies.
	Looking for Alaska by John Green TEEN GREEN RANDALL OAKS TEEN GREEN Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
	I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler TEEN GURTLER Brainy Tess Smith is the younger sibling of the beautiful, popular, volleyball-scholarship-bound Kristina. When Kristina is diagnosed with bone cancer, it drastically changes both sisters' lives. Sometimes the things that annoy us the most about our siblings are the ones we'd miss the most if we lost them.
	Catcher, Caught by Sarah Collins Honenberger FICTION HONENBERGER A few months after doctors tell him he has only a year to live, a precocious fifteen-year-old from a small town in Virginia has an intense reaction to The Catcher in the Rye. Deriving inspiration from J. D. Salinger's narrative, Daniel Landon begins to question the intentions and authority of those around him in his own search for identity in the face of death.
	Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern (new) TEEN MCGOVERN Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions. Plagued by obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, neurotic rituals, and crippling fear. Both in desperate need of someone to help them reach out to the world, Amy and Matthew are more alike than either ever realized. When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her in her senior year at Coral Hills High School, these two teens are thrust into each other's lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.
	Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy (new) TEEN MURPHY Alice is ready to go out in a blaze of glory, but then she discovers she's in remission from cancer and she must deal with all of the mistakes she's made and the people she's hurt.
	Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell TEEN ROWELL RANDALL OAKS TEEN ROWELL Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.
	The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider TEEN SCHNEIDER Star athlete and prom king Ezra Faulkner's life is irreparably transformed by a tragic accident and the arrival of eccentric new girl Cassidy Thorpe.
	Somebody Up There Hates You by Hollis Seamon TEEN SEAMON Dying of cancer in a hospice, seventeen-year-old prankster Richard has big plans for his final days.
	After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick JUV FICTION SONNENBLICK RANDALL OAKS JUV FICTION SONNENBLICK Although Jeff and Tad, encouraged by a new friend, Lindsey, make a deal to help one another overcome aftereffects of their cancer treatments in preparation for eighth-grade graduation, Jeff still craves advice from his older brother Stephen, who is studying drums in Africa.
	Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick TEEN SONNENBLICK JUV FICTION SONNENBLICK When his younger brother is diagnosed with leukemia, thirteen-year-old Steven tries to deal with his complicated emotions, his school life, and his desire to support his family.
	How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford RANDALL OAKS TEEN STANDIFORD After moving to Baltimore and enrolling in a private school, high school senior Beatrice befriends a quiet loner with a troubled family history.
	The Last Summer of the Death Warriors by Francisco X. Stork TEEN STORK RANDALL OAKS TEEN STORK Seventeen-year-old Pancho is bent on avenging the senseless death of his sister, but after he meets D.Q, who is dying of cancer, and Marisol, one of D.Q.'s caregivers, both boys find their lives changed by their interactions.
	The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen TEEN VAN  When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.
	Noggin by John Corey Whaley After dying at age sixteen, Travis Coates' head was removed and frozen for five years before being attached to another body, and now the old Travis and the new must find a way to coexist while figuring out changes in his relationships.

Book Bite: "The Fault in Our Stars"

"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books like An Imperial Affliction, which you can't tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like a betrayal."

- The Fault in Our Stars (2012) by John Green

Okay? Okay: Discuss TFiOS on Tuesday, June 10

Nerdfighters, John Green fans, and anyone who will be first in line to see The Fault in Our Stars movie...

...come to our Fault in Our Stars Book and Movie Discussion next Tuesday, June 10 at 3 p.m. Answer trivia questions, discuss TFiOS and other John Green books with fellow fans, and win prizes. Click on the link to register, or call the Information Desk (847-428-3661, press 3). Hope to see you there!

Summer reading starts today!

Today is the first day to sign up for the teen summer reading program Paws to Read. This year you may set your own reading goal, or stick to the goals used in past summers (900 minutes or 15 hours for grades 6-8; 1500 minutes or 25 hours for grades 9-12). If you meet your reading goal you will receive a paperbook! Some of the titles available as prizes this year include:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Legend by Marie Lu
Ripper by Stefan Petrucha
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson
Lockdown: Escape from Furnace by Alexander Gordon Smith
Origin by Jessica Khoury
2013 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition

... and that's just a small selection!

Plus, fill out Recommended Read entries to share books you've enjoyed reading throughout the summer. Each one you turn in will enter you in the weekly drawings for $10 Target gift cards.

Be sure to turn any Recommended Read entries you complete in by Saturday, July 26, the last day of summer reading.

Summer reading titles for Dundee Crown and Jacobs students

Summer break is just around the corner and District 300 teachers have already passed out summer reading assignments in preparation for the 2013-14 school year. At the Dundee Library students will be able to find the required reading titles on a purple cart near the Information Services desk. If all the copies of a particular title are checked out, you can always place a hold. The books will check out for three weeks.

Dundee Crown:

Freshmen (200 level): The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Freshmen (300-400 level): The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Sophomores: Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Juniors: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Seniors: choose one of the following:

Food Matters by Mark Bittman
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Thank You For Your Service by David Finkel
The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us by Tanya Lee Stone

AP Language
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

AP Literature
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster
Atonement by Ian McEwan

Jacobs

Grade 9: Legend by Marie Lu

Grade 10: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Grade 11: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Grade 12: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Teen review of "Unravel Me" by Tahereh Mafi

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

I, like many others, absolutely loved Shatter Me. When Ignite Me came out just a few weeks ago, I knew it was time to dive back into the series. However, I was afraid that had taken too much time in between both books (2 years) and Unravel Me wouldn’t live up to my expectations or I would forget everything that had happened, etc. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I had no trouble remembering events and, overall, Unravel Me surpassed my expectations. The first thing I would like to address is the writing. Why is Tahereh Mafi so amazing? I mean, can her writing not be anymore beautiful and poetic? I just absolutely love the use of strike outs and how the syntax isn’t grammatically correct. The sentences are occasionally fractured, run ons, and formatted like poetry. She uses actual numbers instead of writing them out. And the whole of that is because that is how Juliette thinks and writes. Mafi takes the act of writing in first person to a whole new level.

That being said, I kind of felt that Unravel Me was a different story from Shatter Me (but still as excellent). It’s a continuation of course, but while we see into Juliette’s past in book one and follow her on a journey to discover her powers and potential, book two is more about their preparation for war. We still follow Juliette and see her discoveries of what she can do, but it’s in a whole new setting that we only get a glimpse of at the end of Shatter Me. I feel that she was constantly on the run in the first book, which really held my attention, but book two is much more about character interactions then action. Which, in many ways, I loved. The dialogue and the conversations between the characters were the absolute best part.

Now, on the topic of the love triangle, I don’t know what to think. Reading Shatter Me, I was a strong member of Team Adam. When I started hearing all these things about Warner and seeing the huge amount of supporters he has, I didn’t get it. He was so much of a villain in Shatter Me. But now… I get it. Tahereh Mafi does such an excellent job of crafting each character and showing the good and bad sides of each, and how each of those sides kind of blur together. I really don’t know what to think. Right now, it really could go either way.

Now, let’s take a moment to talk about chapter 62.

I think I was the only one who was actually bored. I’m really not one for romance and it takes a lot for me to really get into scenes like that. (Sweet Evil is the only book so far that has really gotten me to feel those kinds of feels.) So was I skimming a bit through the first half of the chapter? Yup. But the second half? That’s when it got really good.

Overall, Unravel Me was just as addictive as the first book. I ended up binge reading the whole book over a three day weekend, which is not surprising since I ended up binge reading Shatter Me as well. I was a bit hesitant since I haven’t read the novellas, but you really didn’t need to. Those are extra bits that don’t affect the story if you take them out. I’m so glad I don’t have to wait for Ignite Me to be released because I’ll definitely be needing that soon.

- Caroline
Originally posted on The Attic blog

Celebrate Teen Literature Day!

Today is Celebrate Teen Literature Day, and the nominations for the Teens' Top 10 have just been announced. The Teens' Top 10 is a list voted on by teens about their favorite books of the previous year. Voting for the top 10 begins August 15 and runs through Teen Read Week in October. Readers ages 12-18 may vote at www.ala.org/yalsa/reads4teens. Download a PDF copy of the nominees here, or check out the list below:

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett
Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for "magickind," sixteen-year-old Destiny Everhart feeds on the dreams of others, working with a handsome human student to find a killer.

Of Triton by Anna Banks
When her mother's reappearance in the Syrena world turns the two kingdoms -- Poseidon and Triton -- against one another, Emma must risk everything she loves and reveal herself -- and her Gift -- to save a people she's never known.

Siege and Storm by Leah Bardugo
Hunted across the True Sea and haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret.

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block
After a devastating earthquake destroys the West Coast, causing seventeen-year-old Penelope to lose her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother, she navigates a dark world, holding hope and love in her hands and refusing to be defeated.

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
Sixteen-year-old Malencia (Cia) Vale is chosen to participate in The Testing to attend the University; however, Cia is fearful when she figures out her friends who do not pass The Testing are disappearing.

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
Michael is a skilled internet gamer in a world of advanced technology. When a cyber-terrorist begins to threaten players, Michael is called upon to seek him and his secrets out.

Earth Girl by Janet Edwards
Only the disabled are living on Earth in 2788. Eighteen-year-old Jarra decides she wants to prove to the norms that she is the same as they are.

The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason
In 1889 London young women are turning up dead, and Evaline Stoker, relative of Bram, and Mina Holmes, niece of Sherlock, are summoned to investigate the clue of the not-so-ancient Egyptian scarabs--but where does a time traveler fit in?

Maybe I Will by Laurie Gray
The story describes how one secret act of violence can change everything: how best friends can vanish when needed most; how the parents, teachers, counselors, and police officers who are supposed to help may prove skeptical; how difficult it is to know who to trust and how easy it is to slip into drinking, stealing, and lying; how the choice may come down to ending it all or starting over. Throughout it all, the gender of the protagonist remains ambiguous, emphasizing that so many of these acts of violence aren't about gender or sex.

The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die by April Henry
She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her. And that she must run. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

Splintered by A.G. Howard
A descendant of the inspiration for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, sixteen-year-old Alyssa Gardner fears she is mentally ill like her mother until she finds that Wonderland is real and, if she passes a series of tests to fix Alice's mistakes, she may save her family from their curse.

Teardrop by Lauren Kate
Since Eureka's mother drowned, she wishes she were dead too, but after discovering that an ancient book is more than a story Eureka begins to believe that Ander is right about her being involved in strange things--and in grave danger.

Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
Tired of being known as "the gay kid", Rafe Goldberg decides to assume a new persona when he goes east and enters an elite Massachusetts prep school--but trying to deny his identity has both complications and unexpected consequences.

Monument 14: Sky on Fire by Emmy Laybourne
A group of survivors, originally trapped together in a superstore by a series of escalating disasters, has split in two--one group heading to Denver airport on a repaired school bus, the other remaining in the Sanctuary trying to rebuild the community they lost. But the world outside is dark and filled with dangerous chemicals that turn people into bloodthirsty monsters.

Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards
Chloe didn't think about it much when she nodded off in study hall on that sleepy summer day. But when she wakes up, snow is on the ground and she can't remember the last six months of her life. Before, she'd been a mediocre student. Now, she's on track for valedictorian and being recruited by Ivy League schools. Before, she never had a chance with super jock Blake. Now he's her boyfriend. Before, she and Maggie were inseparable. Now her best friend won't speak to her. What happened to her? And why can't she remember?

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Nearly a year after a failed suicide attempt, sixteen-year-old Elise discovers that she has the passion, and the talent, to be a disc jockey.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
At age eight, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, and now, ten years later, he joins the Reckoners--the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny.

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
As Wild Chalklings threaten the American Isles and Rithmatists are humanity's only defense, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice.

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
Perfect strangers Graham Larkin and Ellie O'Neill meet online when Graham accidentally sends Ellie an e-mail about his pet pig, Wilbur. The two 17-year-olds strike up an e-mail relationship from opposite sides of the country and don't even know each other's first names. What's more, Ellie doesn't know Graham is a famous actor, and Graham doesn't know about the big secret in Ellie's family tree. When the relationship goes from online to in-person, they find out whether their relationship can be the real thing.

Winger by Andrew Smith
Two years younger than his classmates at a prestigious boarding school, fourteen-year-old Ryan Dean West grapples with living in the dorm for troublemakers, falling for his female best friend who thinks of him as just a kid, and playing wing on the Varsity rugby team with some of his frightening new dorm-mates.

A Midsummer Night's Scream by R.L. Stine
Decades after the filming of a horror movie is halted in the wake of three actor deaths and rumors about a haunted set, Claire, the daughter of a failing studio head, helps with a production on the same site.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April TucholkeViolet is in love with River, a mysterious seventeen-year-old stranger renting the guest house behind the rotting seaside mansion where Violet lives, but when eerie, grim events begin to happen, Violet recalls her grandmother's frequent warnings about the devil and wonders if River is evil.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
In San Diego in 1918, as deadly influenza and World War I take their toll, sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort and, despite her scientific leanings, must consider if ghosts are real when her first love, killed in battle, returns.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Cassie Sullivan, the survivor of an alien invasion, must rescue her young brother from the enemy with help from a boy who may be one of them.