Writing for Teen Readers

Authors John Grisham, Kathy Reichs and Candace Bushnell Writing for Teen Readers

If you’re a successful adult writer with a child that dislikes reading, you join the recent trend of popular novelists writing books for teen readers.  John Grisham, Kathy Reichs and Candace Bushnell have moved into this new market.  These page turners expose teens to good writing and will appeal to adult fans as well.

The following titles are available in the NHTI Library:

Grisham, John. Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer. PZ7.G88788 T436 2010

Grisham brings high intensity drama for a new generation of readers by introducing Theodore Boone who dreams of being a great trial lawyer. The only child of two lawyers, Theo gets his chance when he is pulled into the middle of a sensational murder trial. Only Boone knows the truth as a cold-blooded killer is about to be set free.

Grisham, John. Theodore Boone: the Abduction. PZ7 .G8878 T43 2011

Theodore’s best friend, April, disappears in the middle of the night and the police are hitting dead ends in the investigation. Her parents have split up and April is the only child left at home.  It’s up to Theo and his legal knowledge and investigative skills to chase the truth and save April.

Reichs, Kathy. Virals. PS3568 .E476345 V57 2011

The author of the Temperance Brennan series and the inspiration for TV’s series Bones, has created a new series featuring Tempe’s niece Tory Brennan.  Adventure is in Tory’s blood and after moving to Morris Island, South Carolina, she meets a group of kids know as the “Sci-Phile” science geeks who enjoy exploring the backwoods of the island.  They end up rescuing a wolf dog pup from a top-secret lab and they are exposed to a rare virus. With heightened senses and quick reflexes they have to solve a cold case murder that’s become very hot.

Bushnell, Candace. Summer and the City: a Carrie Diaries Novel. PS3552 .U8229 S86 2011

This story in the Carrie Diaries series reveals how Carrie Bradshaw met Samantha and Miranda and how a small-town girl turns into one of New York City’s most unforgettable icons.

New DVDs

• American Pickers  Season 1   DVD NH1133.25 .A44 2010
• American Teacher   DVD LB1775.2 .A44 2011
• Art of the Western World (Box set)   DVD N5300 .A78 2011
• Frozen Planet   DVD G590 .F76 2012
• Great Expectations   DVD PN1992.77 .G74 2012
• John Steinbeck    DVD PS3537 .T3234 G74 2006
• Kinshasa Symphony   DVD ML1251 .C668 K56 2011
• Macbeth   DVD PR2823 .A2 W45 1992
• Meth Madness: Teenage Methamphetamine Abuse DVD HV5822 .A5 M48 2002
• Million Dollar Leg$   DVD PN1997 .M555 M555 1998
• Silence of the Bees   DVD QL568 .A6 S55 2007
• Who Do You Think You Are? Season 1   DVD CS69 .W46 2011
• The Wizard of Oz (Blu-ray)   DVD PN1997 .W59 2009
• YERT: Your Environmental Road Trip   DVD GE195.7 .Y47 2011

Getting Close to Graduation?

 It’s time to write resumes and practice interview skills.   Whatever your goal, Learning Express Library's resources will help you succeed. Each of the Learning Centers offers practice tests, exercises, skill-building courses, eBooks, and information you need to achieve the results you want—at school, at work, or in life.

Looking to land a job? You'll find an entire Learning Center dedicated to helping you get the one that's right for you.  Use the free registration to help keep track of your progress. Head over to the Library’s Databases page to find the Learning Express Library.  

Also helpful for seeking jobs is the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2012-2013 Edition www.bls.gov/ooh/  The OOH is a nationally recognized source of career information, designed to provide valuable assistance to people making decisions about their future work lives. For hundreds of different types of jobs, the OOH tells you:

• Training and education needed
• Earnings
• Expected job prospects
• What workers do on the job
• Working conditions

In addition, the Handbook gives you job search tips and links to information about the job market in each State.

Book Review- American Sniper

Chris Kyle, retired Navy SEAL sniper, offers the inside story of what it’s like to be in war, fighting on the front lines, as he supports American troops in Baghdad, Fallujah and Ramadi. In a quick and interesting read, Kyle gives an account of his childhood weekend hunting trips and his time as a champion saddle –bronc rider that ended in a serious accident. He writes about his Navy SEAL training and the missions he took with other troops. Because he had become a Naval Special Warfare sniper, he went ahead of combat troops to scout locations and gave cover as Army and Marine Corp units searched for insurgents during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He draws a picture of the enemy, people living in a dark, twisted rule-free society, who sacrifice their children and themselves in their fight against Americans. He characterized them as “cowards who routinely used drugs to stoke their courage.” U.S. troops fought terrorists and gangs, who attacked them in the streets and urban environments, while the religiously extremist al Qaeda fighters confronted convoys. He writes about the weapons he used and the training he brought to other troops in house-to-house search missions.  The enemy named him “Devil of Ramadi” and placed a $20,000 bounty on his head because he had over 150 confirmed kills.

Kyle’s wife, Taya, adds her recollections as a military wife and mother of two small children living in California. Chris relates stories of various assaults, his injuries, ties to his friends and his post traumatic stress to give the reader a front line account of Americans in combat.  Following his release from the military, he established a firm that provides military and law enforcement sniper training and volunteers to help wounded warriors. 

Kyle, Chris. American Sniper: the Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History. NY: Harper Collins, 2012.  DS 79.76 .K95 2012

New DVDs

• The Amish   DVD BX8129 .A5 A44 2012
• Black Beauty   DVD PN1997.2 .B533 B533 2010
• Bringing Out the Dead   DVD PN1997 .B755 B755 2000
• Crossed Over   DVD PN1992.77 .C76 2008
• The Descendants   DVD PN1997.2 .D47 2012
• The English Novel  OVS DVD PR821 .E64 2006
• The Help   DVD PN1997.2 .H456 H456 2011
• Horror Classics   DVD PN1997.5 H677 H677 2005
• House of Usher  DVD PN1997.2 .H687464 2010
• How to Train Your Dragon  DVD PN1997.2 .H688 2010
• Hugo   DVD PN1997.2 .H84 2012
• Iron Man   DVD PN1997.2 .I766 2008
• Iron Man 2   DVD PN1997.2 .I76 2010
• Mr. and Mrs. Bridge   DVD PN1997 .M7 2011
• Mr. Bean   DVD PN1992.77 .M834 2008
• Midnight in Paris    DVD PN 1995.9 .C55 M536 2011
• Pushing Daisies (Season 1)  DVD  PN1992.77 .P87 2008
• Pushing Daisies (Season 2)   DVD PN1992.77 .P87 2009
• Puss in Boots   DVD PN1997.2 .P877 2012
• Visual Acoustics  DVD TR140 .S58 V57 2010  
• The West   DVD E591 .W44 2004

Titanic

As the 100^th anniversary of the Titanic’s collision with an iceberg approaches, the loss of more than 1500 lives in the ocean near Halifax still stands as one of the most horrifying maritime disasters of this century.

The White Star Line built the Titanic, Olympic and Britannic to compete with the Cunard luxury liners crossing the Atlantic. The Titanic was built for show, mimicking the space and amenities of the best hotels; the ship included multiple dining areas, a squash court, gym and a swimming bath . It left on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on April 10, 1912 and was lost at sea April 15. A nearby ship, the Carpathia, rescued survivors and arrived at New York April 18. 

Here’s an article from the Ebsco database,” Shadow of the Titanic”, that offers a new explanation of the disaster.  

http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=70fb8616-e459-44ce-bf04-cfff6476b1d0%40sessionmgr104&vid=4&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=fth&AN=72165528

The NHTI Library has new books about the Titanic disaster:

• Lost Voices from the Titanic: the Definitive Oral History.  G530 .T6 B4975 2010
• Shadow of the Titanic: the Extraordinary Stories of those who Survived.  G530 .T6 W56 2012
• Titanic: the Tragedy that Shook the World: One Century Later.   G530 .T6 T587 2012
• Titanic Tragedy: a New Look at the Lost Liner.  G530. T6 M366 2012
• Voyagers of the Titanic: Passengers, Sailors, Shipbuilders, Aristocrats and the Worlds They Came From.G530 .T6 D35 2012

Book Review- A Ball for Daisy

2012 Caldecott Medal Winner

A Ball for Daisy

Written and illustrated by Chris Raschka

It’s a wordless story of a little dog, who takes her favorite red ball to the park, only to see another dog destroy it.  Raschka’s paintings in watercolor, gouache and ink are deceptively simple, but very moving, and these illustrations capture Daisy’s tale of loss, recovery and friendship.  Wordless books build a foundation for literacy because they give a very young child a sense of reading plus the sequence of illustrations tells the story as the child turns the pages.  While developing a child’s vocabulary and comprehension skills, the wordless book allows the child to narrate a new story at each reading and learn that stories have a beginning, middle and end.                            

A panel of U.S. librarians and book experts read thousands of picture books published each year in the United States and award the Caldecott Medal to the artist or illustrator of the most distinguished book.  For more detailed information and criteria used to make the selection for the Caldecott Medal see Credo reference article:

www.credoreference.com/entry/kidlit/caldecott_medal

For more information about Randolph Caldecott, the man for whom the medal was created, see:

Marcus, Leonard S. "Medal Man: Randolph Caldecott and the Art of the Picture Book." Horn Book Magazine 77.2 (2001): 155-170. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.

The article provides information on the children's book illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Caldecott's name is well-known from the award created in his honor, but his books are largely forgotten. Caldecott earned instant praise for "The House That Jack Built" and "The Diverting History of John Gilpin," both published in 1878.

A Ball for Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka. JUV PZ7 .R1814 B355 2011