The Academy Awards of Teen Books!

Do you know what today was (besides Monday)?  It was the day the American Library Association announced (among a bunch of other fine awards) the winners of the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in YA literature and John Newbery Award for excellence in children's lit published in 2012--in the nerdy world of librarians, this is basically the equivalent of the Academy Awards, and authors, illustrators, and book lovers everywhere anticipate this day with eager, nervous, shivery excitement, much the way children look forward to Christmas and my cats look forward to getting fed every day (those pigs, you'd think I was starving them).  Winning one of these awards is huge.  H-U-G-E huge.  In terms of prestige and honor and recognition of one's inimitable talent, getting one of those shiny gold or silver seals stamped on to your book really is like winning an Oscar.

I really had "The Fault in Our Stars" pegged as, if not a gold winner (because let's face, John Green always wins awards, so why not let someone else have a moment in the Printz sun?), then at least a Printz honor book.  A story about two teenagers with cancer who fall in love--sign me up!  But seriously, who else but John Green could turn something so horrible and heartbreaking into something so poetic and--here's where his talent becomes obvious--so funny and actually readable and far more about life than death?  Um, teens with cancer.  Not particularly funny.  Not necessarily something I'd want to spend a lazy Saturday reading about.  John Green makes it not only bearable, but awesome.

So of course, John Green didn't win anything (well okay, TFiOS did get the Odyssey Award for best audio book but, while nice, that ain't no Printz).  Here ARE the winners of the Printz Award for the best YA books published in 2012 (since I know you're rolling on the floor in agonizing anticipation).  (Also, if you click on the book covers, you'll notice that APL owns each title except "The White Bicycle."  Hope to remedy that soon.)

& the gold winner, the numero uno Michael L. Printz winner of 2012:

"In Darkness" by Nick Lake.  Summary: "In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, fifteen-year-old Shorty, a poor gang member from the slums of Site Soleil, is trapped in the rubble of a ruined hospital, and as he grows weaker he has visions and memories of his life of violence, his lost twin sister, and of Toussaint L'Ouverture, who liberated Haiti from French rule in 1804."

I haven't read this book yet, but I do like the book cover.  Earthquakes?  Slums?  Poverty?  A slow death?  Sounds as fun as teens with cancer!  Can't wait to get to this book and see what makes it the best YA title of 2012 (at least according to a small panel  of random people).

Has anyone read any of these titles?  Are they worthy of their Printz win?  Anyone have a favorite book from last year, whether it was something published in 2012 or just something you read in the past year?

TAG Meeting Minutes, 1/19/13

TAG Minutes by Eunice Kong!
January 19, 2013
Attendance: Maria Freeman, Fletcher Perry, Jonas Ewing, Benji Perry, Eunice Kong, Caleb Kong, Ben Popken, Zoe Daniels, Caitlyn Chellew, Lauren Kessler, Angela Dunkin, Mya Gibbons, and Izanna Perry were all present.

Changes to TAG?

·      Meet more often and have games or fun things
·      Meet two times a month? Business matters for the first hour and games for the second half
·      Meet outside during the summer
·      Monthly game day (like monopoly)
·      Think outside the box! Program ideas, where to do the programs, other changes to TAG? Bring your ideas to the next TAG meeting!

This balmy day in Iowa

Hey guys and gals!  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to break out my bathing suit later today and enjoy this totally tropical 25-degree day.  Seriously!

The Weather Channel and Accuweather online are each telling me to gear up for the cold front that's going to come through tomorrow and last until this weekend, which makes me wonder--if the current "feels like 10" (not exaggerating; weather.com does, in fact, say that it feels like TEN degrees outside right now) doesn't constitute cold, what does?  Negative a thousand degrees?  I think my frozen bones just broke a little.

If you're looking for some top-quality books to snuggle up or get down and dirty with (whatever's your thing) during the frigid days ahead, I purchased a ton of new YA books for APL.  And when I say a ton, I mean this basically literally; there are so many new books that they no longer fit in the stacks and the newest of the new are currently occupying a shelving cart with a sign encouraging people to check them out--our veiled attempt at begging you to temporarily take them off our hands.**  Here are some possible contenders for coolest book currently sitting on the YA new books shelving cart (okay, not the most amazing accolade but hey, you take what you can get).  Click on any cover to see that book in the APL catalog:

Okay, I lied, some of these books aren't on the shelves yet, but they will be soon (and as I'm sure you know, you can place holds on them now if you want).  All I know is that if there were a new "Kiki Strike" book out and no one told me, I'd probably be pretty enraged.  "Perry's Killer Playlist" is a sequel to "Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick," a story about a high school guy whose family is hosting a frumpy Eastern European exchange student who turns out to be a leather mini-dress-wearing hot babe assassin (it sounds lame, but it's actually way fun).  "Kiss Me Again" (also a sequel) is about guys, girls, and that awkward moment when your crush becomes your step-brother; "Monument 14" is an apocalyptic survival story about a diverse group of teens who must create a refuge inside a superstore in order to survive the disasters raging outside; "Jepp" asks if it's possible to change our fate, features a boy, a love interest, the famous (real-life) astronomer Tycho Brahe, his group of scholars, and has received pretty much nothing but glowing reviews.  I haven't read "Zitface," but I'm guessing it's about.....Zits.  And faces.

I'll probably highlight some more of the new books next week, including one that--I'll be totally honest--I ordered solely because of its awesome book cover.  The librarian gods are going to smite me later...

**Too many books?!  Can too many books ever be a problem?