Year: 2011

Twilight Targeted by Hackers

| Tasha

 

According to Mashable, Twilight fans are being targeted by hackers who are looking to infect your computer with malware.  They are targeting Twilight-related searches by adding in links that will infect your computer.

Some of the search terms are:

  • Nude pictures of Taylor Lautner
  • Robert and Kristin kissing
  • Twilight true love

This isn’t the first time Twilight fans have been targeted by hackers.  But as the release date nears, Twilight fans should definitely be aware of the dangerous bite of malware.

New Hunger Games Trailer

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Check out the new Hunger Games trailer only available on iTunes.  It gets your heart racing and blood pounding!

Then let me know what you think of it!

USA Network Blogs about Teen Lit

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character approved blog

USA Network’s blog has a feature article on Great Voices in Young Adult Fiction.  And they have picked some great ones.  Their focus is on books with crossover appeal for adults.

All the Earth Thrown to the Sky by Joe R. Lansdale

   

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Every You, Every Me by David Levithan

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

Review: Lexie by Audrey Couloumbis

| Tasha

lexie

Lexie by Audrey Couloumbis

The shore has always been one of ten-year-old Lexie’s favorite places in the world.  She would spend the summer there with her parents, playing on the beach, finding treasures in the sand, and reading picture books.  Now though, her parents are divorced.  So her mother isn’t going to be going to the shore at all.  Lexie is spending a week there with just her dad.  Or so she thinks!  On the way there, her father announces that his new girlfriend will be joining them, and her two sons too.  Lexie is pushed out of her usual bedroom into one that is as tiny as a closet.  Teenage Ben is also not enthusiastic about being stuck together.  Little Harris is messy and doesn’t even want to head outside at first.  As the two families try to live together, Lexie discovers that connections can be created over the smallest things and that there is still room for everyone even if the house is a lot more crowded.

This is a book that takes a moment in time, a week at the shore, and creates a world out of it.  Couloumbis writes with a voice that celebrates the small things, yet doesn’t wander.  The characters are real, each written with an honesty that is surprising.  The adults have faults, make mistakes.  The young people are struggling with this new situation, facing it with various emotions that all read as true.

Lexie is child who can see past her love for her father and see him through the others’ eyes.  At the same time though, she has to spend time with the others to understand them as deeply.  It all works well as the reader is also learning about these characters.  When truths are revealed is a crux of the story.  Throughout the book, honesty is explored.  Lexie struggles with trying to be kind and then finding herself in situations where it may have been better all along to tell the truth.  The situation with the adults mirrors this as well.

This is a radiant read that explores deep issues of divroce and truth while never losing the sunshine of the shore.  It would make an intriguing pairing with Junonia by Kevin Henkes which is for a similar age and also is set on the beach. Appropriate for ages 8-11.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

Also reviewed by:

Review: The Parrot Tico Tango by Anna Witte

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parrot tico tango

The Parrot Tico Tango by Anna Witte

Parrot Tico Tango is a naughty bird!  He has his own mango, but as he soars through the jungle, he steals fruit from other animals.  There is the sloth’s lemon, the monkey’s fig, the snake’s cherry, the frog’s grapes and more.  Eventually, it gets to be too much to carry and he crashes.  Now Tico Tango is left with nothing, not even his own mango.  But the others offered him a slice of mango in exchange for him dancing the tango.  And dance he did!

This is a colorful book that merrily teaches colors and fruits along the way.  The rhyme is jazzy and great fun to read aloud.  The text is written in a cumulative style, so each new fruit is added to the list that is repeated with each new addition.  This adds a lot of style and emphasizes the greed of Tico Tango.  While the book teaches colors, what it would work best for in a classroom is a discussion of adjectives.  Each new fruit is talked about in detailed adjectives that are used in different sentence structures.  It would make a very approachable and fun lesson.

Witte’s art is bright and bold, a winning combination of collage and paint.  The animals themselves are bright colored, especially Tico Tango who lights up each page in his own rainbow of colors.  The fruit also adds a lot of color and then it all pops against the green of jungle and the varying colors of the sky.

This is a simple book that will be enjoyed by toddlers learning their colors on one level and then by elementary students learning adjectives on another.  Appropriate for ages 2-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Barefoot Books.

Review: Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking by Philippe Coudray

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benjamin bear in fuzzy thinking

Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking by Philippe Coudray

This is another winner from Toon Books.  Their graphic novel line up for elementary aged children manages to be funny, smart and perfectly age appropriate.  Originally published in France, this graphic novel has a certain elegance and style.  Each comic in the book ranges from three to six panels, telling small stories in a quick, simple way.  The humor ranges from a quiet contemplative joke about friendship to a physical slap-stick style.  Coudray has woven those styles together so the book moves from one level to another seamlessly, creating a dynamic and surprising reading effect. 

Coudray’s humor is multi-faceted and great fun to read.  The book moves from one sort of humor to another with great ease.  The illustrations are colorful but in a more sophisticated palette than many children’s books.  A lot of the humor is physical, so the illustrations convey much of it.  Even in the broadest of slapstick, there is a feel of style that makes it a unique read.

The book is laugh-out-loud funny and also great fun to share aloud with children.  This is a graphic novel that belongs in all public libraries, because it is a great hook for reluctant readers.  Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Pink Me.

Review: Brother Sun, Sister Moon by Katherine Paterson

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brother sun sister moon

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures by Katherine Paterson, illustrated by Pamela Dalton

Acclaimed author, Katherine Paterson has reworked a hymn of praise first said by Saint Francis of Assisi.  It praises God for our Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and Sister Stars.  Brother Wind and Brother Air are praised for being both harsh and mild.  Sister Water is thanked for being life-giving and Brother Fire is thanked for both warmth and playfulness.  The song of praise moves through Death as well, thanking God for the days we are given and the love that we are ushered into at death.  It is a universal prayer made joyous through Paterson’s changes to Saint Francis’ original version, which is included at the end of the book.

The delicacy of Paterson’s writing is not apparent until her words are compared with the original.  She has carefully teased deeper meaning from his words.  At the same times she has made them more appropriate for young readers and listeners.  The hymn of praise sings as she has written it, endowed with a new grace thanks to her skill.

Dalton’s illustrations are simply exquisite.  Using a cut paper technique that involves delicate knife work, watercolor painting, and then a process of being steeped in coffee, the result is luminous yet rustic.  It suits this subject matter perfectly, managing to be beautiful but not too lofty.

This is a magnificent selection for libraries’ religious shelves, one that will speak to people of many faiths and is phenomenally appealing and beautiful.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Also reviewed by:

You can see Dalton create her art in the video below:

Review: The Money We’ll Save by Brock Cole

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money well save

The Money We’ll Save by Brock Cole

When Ma is forced to send Pa to the store for eggs and flour, she warns him to just buy those two items.  But Pa is talked into purchasing a turkey poult at the market because of the money he’ll save.  They plan on having the turkey for Christmas dinner after feeding it on scraps and letting it live in a box by the stove.  But their nineteenth century apartment was definitely not designed to raise poultry.  Alfred, the turkey, grew and grew and soon started to eat much more than table scraps.  The family started to get creative with where they could house Alfred but there wasn’t much they could do with the limited space.  As Christmas neared, the mess and stink of a turkey was getting to be too much.  Though he may be messy, the children started to love Alfred.  What happened when Alfred became more of a pet than a meal?

The setting here is brilliantly done.  The depiction of the tenement building, the attitudes of the hard-working family, and the frugality of their family life all are vividly depicted.  The 19th century time period works well for a Christmas story, one that focuses more on family than on expense and presents.  This is an old-fashioned Christmas tale with lots of heart and character.

Cole’s art also captures the day-to-day life of this family.  The clothes and home immediately let readers know that they are not reading about today.  The illustrations are a jumble of family life, turkey mess, and a small space packed with furniture.  The illustrations have a real heart to them, filled with familial love and busyness.

Highly recommended, this book is a great one to add to Christmas traditions.  It is sure to have smiles beaming from all ages and will inspire the sharing of your family’s holiday memories.  Add this one to Christmas story times too as a break from Santa Claus and presents.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Legend by Marie Lu

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legend

Legend by Marie Lu

This dystopian fantasy is set in what used to be the western United States and now is The Republic.  The rising waters have caused issues with power, large slums, and lawlessness.  June is the only person to ever get a perfect score in the Trials, marking her as a prodigy.  She lives a live of luxury with her older brother, who has raised her after her parents’ accidental deaths.  Trained as a soldier, she is about to claim her destiny as the ideal warrior.  Day is the most wanted criminal in The Republic.  From the slums, he has managed several amazing feats of defiance but worries most about his family and the plague that is in their neighborhood.  The two of them would never have met, but then June’s brother is killed and it looks like Day is the culprit.

Lu takes the dystopian genre and weaves a story that both hearkens back to the heart of the genre yet creates something new and amazing.  The setting of a decaying United States at war with itself is slowly revealed through the story.  The results of that war are shown rather than told in details that bring the entire world to life.  From the luxury of June’s life through the squalor and danger of the slums, the setting is a pivotal piece of the tale.

The two compelling main characters add the action, the style and even the romance to this book.  June is trained to be a lethal weapon, yet she questions orders and thinks deeply about the ramifications of what she is doing.  Day is a dystopian Robin Hood with plenty of moxie and appeal.  Both of them wonder at their world, the truth of The Republic.  They also both see themselves as people who are able to make a difference.

The writing here is crisp and clean.  The story is vibrant, fast moving, and stellar.  This is one outstanding dystopian fantasy.  It is sure to appeal to fans of The Hunger Games and will leave many fans eager for the next book in the series.  Appropriate for ages 14-16.

Reviewed from ARC received from Penguin.

Also reviewed by: