Best Non-Fiction for Teens

Winter is the season for book awards, and nominees are starting to be announced. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has announced the nominees for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. (Whew! That's a mouthful!) The Mahomet Public Library owns copies of all five nominees:

• Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science, by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos. YA/664/ARO
• Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition, by Karen Blumenthal. YA/363.4/BLU
• Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way),by Sue Macy. J/796.6082/MAC
• Music Was It: Young Leonard Bernstein, by Susan Goldman Rubin. JB/BER
• The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery, by Steve Sheinkin. J/973.3/SHE

These were all written not just to be a resource for writing reports, but to be interesting reads for fun. What do you think? Have you read any of the titles? Do you read any non-fiction for fun?

Vote for the 2011 Teen's Top Ten

Nominations for the 2011 Teens' Top Ten are here! The Teens' Top Ten is a readers' choice award sponsored by YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association. Readers ages twevle to eighteen can read the nominees and vote online anytime until September 16. Check out the list of nominees, most of which are available from the Mahomet Public Library. When you're ready, you can vote online.

Calling all Teen SRP participants!

If you participated in the Teen Summer Reading Program by turning in at least one entry form, you have a participation prize waiting for you! Stop by the library's circulation desk any time to pick up your prize.

Teen Review: My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

Reviewed by Rachel R.

"The book My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is a great book about a 13-year-old named Anna and her 16-year-old sister named Kate. Kate has leukemia. Anna is Kate's donor and gives Kate platelets, bone marrow, and now a kidney. But Anna doesn't want to keep giving Kate all of these organs and bone marrow. So she goes to Campbell, an attorney. She convinces him to be her attorney and now that her parents know, she is going to court. Will she win her kidney back, or what will happen? Read My Sister's Keeper to find out!"

You can find My Sister's Keeper in the Adult Fiction section of the library with the call number PIC.

Want to have a review published? Pick up a Summer Reading Review Form at the library, or email a review to rachel@mahometpubliclibrary.org. For each review, you'll get an extra entry in the Summer Reading Prize Drawing!

Teen Review: Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan

Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan, by John Flanagan

Reviewed by Toby F.

"Ranger's Apprentice is about a ward named Will. Will's life is hard till he is chosen to be a ranger's apprentice. He becomes friends with his teacher, Halt, and a battle school apprentice, Horace. I loved it."

You can find Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan at the library with the call number J/FLA or J/PBK/FLA/.

Want to have a review published? Pick up a Summer Reading Review Form at the library, or email a review to rachel@mahometpubliclibrary.org. For each review, you'll get an extra entry in the Summer Reading Prize Drawing!

Teen Review: Holes

Holes, by Louis Sachar

Reviewed by Toby F.

"Holes is a good book and keeps you on your toes. I like it because even in hard times there is friendship. It's also about the two friends surviving and teaching each other."

You can find Holes at the library with the call number J/SAC.

Want to have a review published? Pick up a Summer Reading Review Form at the library, or email a review to rachel@mahometpubliclibrary.org. You'll get an extra entry in the Summer Reading Prize Drawing!

Teen Review: The Death-Defying Pepper Roux

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux, by Geraldine McCaughrean

Reviewed by Matthew C.

"I enjoyed The Death-Defying Pepper Roux because of its quick pace and funny plot. The story develops very well and the author puts many twists into the story along the line. It also describes many of the good and horrible things in the world."

You can find The Death-Defying Pepper Roux at the library with the call number J/MCC.

Want to have a review published? Pick up a Summer Reading Review Form at the library, or email a review to rachel@mahometpubliclibrary.org. You'll get an extra entry in the Summer Reading Prize Drawing!

Teen Summer Reading Program

Forms are now available for the Teen Summer Reading Program. The program runs from Monday, June 6 to Friday, July 22 and is for teens entering grades 6-12 next year.

Here's how it works:

Read whatever you like: books, comics, magazines, newspapers. For every 15 minutes that you read, cross off a box on your Reading Form. When you cross off the 12th box, you'll have read for 3 hours. Bring your form to the library to enter the Grand Prize Drawing, and grab another form to start all over again!

Get extra entries by writing a book review for this blog! Your review will be published here with your first name and last initial. Write your review on a review form from the library, or email it to rachel@mahometpubliclibrary.org. You can review any book, as long as it is owned by the Mahomet Public Library. Reviews should be at least 3 sentences long and should say what you did or didn't like about the book.

5 winners will receive $10 gift cards for area businesses and restaurants. Everyone who reads for at least 3 hours will also receive a participation prize.

Remember, the program doesn't start until Monday, but you can pick up an entry form whenever you visit the library.

Mahomet Library Teen Scene on Shelfari

If you want to see some of the new and upcoming books in the Mahomet Public Library's Young Adult collection, you can now follow us on Shelfari! Our user name is mahometlibraryteenscene.

As we order new items, we'll add them to our Shelfari shelf. It's another place where you can let us know what you thought of a book, or tell us if there's something you think we're missing.

Teen Scene blog is back!

After a long hiatus, the Mahomet Public Library is bringing back the Teen Scene blog! Watch this space for book reviews, information about the Teen Summer Reading Program, and whatever else we find in town or on the web that might interest teens in Mahomet.

We want you to tell us what you want to see, so if you have any suggestions, leave a comment here or send an email to rachel@mahometpubliclibrary.org