Some Kind of Wonderful is written by J. Minter and is part of the Inside Girl series. This series would appeal to a reader who likes some teenage angst mixed with lighthearted fun. The story follows the life of Flan Flood as she tries to lead a normal life and deal with normal teenage troubles while at the same time existing as a New York socialite. In Some Kind of Wonderful, Flan is escaping the business of school for a holiday vacation. The only problem is that her ex-best friend is also vacationing and shows up at the same vacation spot that Flan went to. If you want a quick read for the Thanksgiving vacation, this might be it.
One thing that I've noticed when ordering Young Adult books is that authors seldom write books that are set within the confines of a holiday. There are lots of children's holiday books; and some adult authors write a new holiday book each year. So, I decided to search our catalog using the term 'Thanksgiving.' I really didn't expect to find much, but there was one book. It is part of a series and not in a genre that I normally read, but here it is.
Some Kind of Wonderful is written by J. Minter and is part of the Inside Girl series. This series would appeal to a reader who likes some teenage angst mixed with lighthearted fun. The story follows the life of Flan Flood as she tries to lead a normal life and deal with normal teenage troubles while at the same time existing as a New York socialite. In Some Kind of Wonderful, Flan is escaping the business of school for a holiday vacation. The only problem is that her ex-best friend is also vacationing and shows up at the same vacation spot that Flan went to. If you want a quick read for the Thanksgiving vacation, this might be it.
0 Comments
Graphic Novels and Manga have an extremely devoted group of readers. They devour series that may have hundreds of volumes and anxiously await the next volume. So, it shouldn't be a surprise when a book that is already on the shelf as a novel, is adapted to the graphic format. It also shouldn't be a surprise when a popular author brings a storyline from one of their series and turns it graphic. That's the case with the books I want to highlight today.
James Patterson is a popular author for a wide range of ages. A series that has been popular as a novel is Maximum Ride. It maintains that popularity in Graphic Novel format. The story follows a group of young people who are trying to survive. They are just like any other young people, except that they have wings. This makes them targets and when the youngest member of their group is kidnapped, they must work to rescue her. Another popular series written by Marissa Meyer is The Lunar Chronicles. This series follows the story of Cinderella and several other fairy tale characters as they work together to see the rightful heir to the throne take her place. So, the Graphic Novel is an extension of the story as Wires and Nerve is written from the viewpoint of Iko, Cinder's android friend, and her role in creating a safe and fair reign under Seline's rule. Scott Westerfeld has several well known books on the Young Adult shelves, and he has moved into the Graphic Novel genre with Spill Zone. We don't have to work very hard to imagine a world dealing with nuclear disaster. But, what happens within the spill zone? How much goes on that no one will ever see or hear about? That is the start of the story about Addison who lives within the outer fence of the Spill Zone. We are surrounded by language. Some words are encouraging, some are hurtful, some have lost their meaning. In a time in our culture where the use of words is constantly being analyzed, I decided to write about two books that find their story in the use of words.
The List by Patricia Forde is not on our Young Adult shelf, it is on our Junior shelf, but the story intrigues me. Can you imagine having your vocabulary limited to a list of 500 words? Can you imagine being the one who is tasked with choosing which 500 words are allowed to be used? That is the basis of The List. Letta has been entrusted with knowing all of the words, and choosing which words are allowed. What should she do with words such as; freedom, and music which are not included on the list? How does limiting the list affect how people think and act? Lots of interesting things to consider with this book. The second book I want to mention is Literally by Lucy Keating. What type of story would you write if you knew that the character would be real? That's what happens in Literally. Annabelle's life is a creation of Lucy Keating's imagination. But, what happens when a make believe character wants to make choices of their own? How can a made-up character create a life for themselves? You might want to read it and find out. |
Categories
All
AuthorHi! I'm Sonya, the Young Adult Librarian at Algona Public Library. I'll be sharing about YA books - old and new. Archives
June 2022
|