50 Best Blogs for Teen Readers

This month I ran across a list of 50 Best Blogs for Teen Readers on the Website OnlineDegrees.net.  The list is divided into five categories: General, Book Reviews, Book Lists and Recommendations, Teen Readers, and Librarians.  Take a look and let me know which you like.

Kids Titles for Asian Pacific Heritage Month

Celebrated annually during the month of May, Asian Pacific Heritage Month recognizes the culture and traditions of those Americans who trace their ancestry to the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

In honor of Asian Pacific Heritage Month, a brief list of suggested titles for kids.

Buster Changes His Luck by Marc Brown
Chang’s Paper Pony by Eleanor Coerr
The Ch’i-Lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories retold by Linda Fang
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Laurence Yep
The Jade Dragon by Carolyn Marsden

Reading: A Family Affair

Renee and I at the Northern Virginia Literacy Council's annual event, Reading: A Family Affair.

Picture Books for National Library Week

National Library Week is an annual celebration that highlights the value of libraries and librarians. Join the 2010 celebration April 11 - 17 with a visit to your local library.  Here are ten picture books with a library theme to read with your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, or students.

Lola at the Library by Anna McQuinn
The Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris
Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen
The Shelf Elf by Jackie Hopkins
Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book by Alexander Stadler
Our Library by Eve Bunting
Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk
Bats at the Library by Brian Lies
Winston the Book Wolf  by Marni McGee

Emma and Jane

On Sunday, January 24, PBS will air part one of Masterpiece's new version of Jane Austen's novel Emma.  Parts two and three will follow the weeks of January 31 and February 1, respectively.  Beginning on Monday, January 25, the series will be available for viewing online.   

A highlight of the Emma debut on January 24 will be a live Twitter Party from 9 to 11 p.m. (EST).  Posts should be tagged with #emma_pbs, and can be viewed on TweetGrid (PBS' own aggregator) or an aggregator of your choice.

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, and lived in England until her death in 1817 at the age of only 42.  Her novels are:   

• Sense and Sensibility (1811)
• Pride and Prejudice (1813)
• Mansfield Park (1814)
• Emma (1815)
• Northanger Abbey (1817) (posthumous)
• Persuasion (1817) (posthumous)

Books Read in 2009

The complete list of the 31 books I read in 2009 is in the right column.  Six of the titles I listened to on CD while driving, but I do count these in my "reading" list.  My Sunday, May 3, 2009, post names the six books I started but stopped before completion this year.  No need to waste valuable time on books I don't like when there are more books to read than I'll be able to get to in my lifetime.  The book that will transition from 2009 into 2010, because I won't finish it before the stroke of midnight on December 31, is Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.  I read it once before, long ago.  Recently I read somewhere that we never really read the same book twice because when we re-read a book we bring to it the experiences we've had since last reading it.  How about  you?  At this time of year when lists and reviews are popular, which books have you read?  Which have you put aside?  Which do you plan to re-read?  Share with me in the comments section.

Book List Contributed to Iditarod

For almost two years librarian Cheryl Hannon and I worked from different states via e-mail to create an updated book list for the Iditarod Web site.  It is posted, and we are proud.  Take a look at Books About Iditarod and Alaska.  (Photo by Mcoughlin, used with CC permission.)

New Moon Rises Tonight

The Twilight Saga - New Moon opens in theaters at the magically appropriate midnight hour.  The movie is the second installment based on Stephenie Meyer's four book series.  The first book, Twilight, was rejected by 14 agents before finally being published in 2005.  Following in close order were New Moon (2006),   Eclipse (2007) and Breaking Dawn (2008).  As I put the books on hold for girl after girl coming to the library, I dismissed the series as teen girl silliness until my own daughter encouraged me to read it, and I couldn't put it down!   Now vampire romances have proliferated.  Have you read any of these 2009 releases?  (photo by Susan Larson)

Bite Me by Melissa Francis
Eternal by Cynthia Leitch Smith
The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire by Tricia Telep                
Fade Out by Rachel Caine
Royal Blood by Ellen Schreiber
Stargazer by Claudia Gray
Tempted: A House of Night Novel by P. C. Cast
Tenth Grade Bleeds by Heather Brewer
Vamped by Lucienne Diver
The Van Alen Legacy: A Blue Bloods Novel by Melissa De la Cruz

Hispanic Heritage Month Book List

Celebrated annually from September 15 – October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the culture and traditions of those Americans who trace their ancestry to Spain, Mexico, and the Spanish speaking countries of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.  In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, here is a brief list of suggested titles.

Books for Preschoolers

Diez Deditos = Ten Little Fingers and Other Play Rhymes and Action Songs from Latin America by Jose-Luis Orozco         

In English and Spanish, Orozco provides songs, rhymes and finger-plays with the actions explained for caregivers.

Dona Flor by Pat Mora

This is a tall tale about a giant woman with a big heart.

Frida by Jonah Winter

A whimsical introduction to the life of painter Frida Kahlo.

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Agra Deedy

As Martina interviews potential husbands, her grandmother gives her some shocking advice. 

Books for Kids

Baseball in April, and Other Stories by Gary Soto

Eleven contemporary short-stories tell of the lives of Mexican American families in California.  

Ellen Ochoa: The First Hispanic Woman Astronaut by Maritza Romero

A profile of the life of the first Hispanic woman astronaut.

I, Juan De Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino

Juan, who serves the great painter Velasquez, secretly teaches himself to paint, gaining respect and freedom.

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

Sixth-grader Tyler Paquette befriends a migrant Mexican family working on his family’s Vermont farm.

Books for Teens

Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa
Chicago high school student Violet Paz reluctantly prepares for her quinceanera.

Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez

Winner of the Pura Belpre Author Award, this is the story of fourteen-year-old Manny Hernandez and his search for respect.

Someone Like Summer by M. E. Kerr
An upper-middle-class white girl from Long Island and an immigrant worker from Colombia fall in love despite objections from their families.

The Tequila Worm by Viola Canales

Sofia discovers that her experiences as a scholarship student in Austin strengthen her ties to the family and friends she left behind in the barrio of McAllen.

Books for Adults

In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd by Ana Menendez

A collection of poignant and humorous interrelated short stories that tell the lives of Cuban immigrants in Miami.

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Three young wives in the Dominican Republic, assassinated after visiting their jailed husbands, become mythical figures in their country.

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos

Winner of the 1990 Pulitizer Prize for fiction, this is the story of brothers Cesar and Nestor Castillo who come to New York City from Cuba in 1949 with plans on becoming  mambo stars.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The history of the Buendia family is also the story of the rise and fall of their mythical town, Macondo.