Doctor Who! Post by McKenzie

So psyched to introduce our first post by an APL teen blogger!  Be on the lookout for more teen posts here on the APL Teen Zone Blog!

Recently I've finished series seven part two of Doctor Who. Part two, in my opinion, it was the absolute best of the series, you had a new companion known as the "impossible girl" as well as old foes like the Cybermen.

The most amazing episode of this series (and im sure you will agree) was the Name of the Doctor. This episode gave us insight into new and old characters, an amazing plot line that involved the doctor having to go and visit his own grave, and random silliness between Strax (the potato one), Vastra( the lizard one), and Jenny (the human one). 

You all know as well as I do that the Doctor visiting his own grave could potentially create a paradox, so it was interesting to see how it all play out. In conclusion this episode went above and beyond the normal standards and really did give surprises, if you don't know what doctor who is and you think this completely strange, then I suggest you watch a few episodes, it's a great summer activity.

-- Blog post by McKenzie

Calling It for the Printz: "Winger" by Andrew Smith

I will absolutely get to the comments you guys have posted over the past several days, put up your book reviews, AND welcome our new blogger(s) (by the way, did I mention we have new bloggers! so awesome!), but right now I just want to direct everyone's attention to this book ------------>

It's Winger by Andrew Smith, and I'm calling this one now: it's definitely my pick for the 2014 Printz award (honoring what the judges consider to be the past year's best YA book).  To sum it up quick and dirty, it's about 14-year-old Ryan Dean West, a junior (yes that's right, he's a 14-year-old junior) at a northwestern elite private school for rich kids.  Ryan is pretty much a normal teenage dude: he's in love with a "smoking hot" girl (his best friend, who's 16 and thinks of Ryan Dean as a little kid), gets into fights with jerks, plays sports (rugby, which I never found particularly interesting until Winger), and he's navigating that tricky terrain between constantly feeling like a loser and not actually being a loser.  Oh, and he's constantly thinking about the stuff that pretty much all teenage boys think about (I won't say anything more about that other than wink wink).

It's an incredibly funny book that chronicles the everyday misadventures of Ryan Dean West (there's all kinds of comics scattered throughout the store), but ultimately Winger (named after Ryan Dean's position on the rugby team, which is also his nickname) is a tragicomedy.  I won't say anything more, other than that something pretty life-changing--no, very life-changing--happens at Pine Mountain that....Well, that changes Ryan Dean's life (hence, you know, the life-changing thing).

It's hard to say a lot about this book without giving away major plot points, but I will say it's one of my top reads of 2013 so far.  I'd strongly recommend it, especially for anyone 14+, but please be aware that Winger contains graphic language and semi-graphic themes (you know, the whole wink wink and all).  In other words, it contains the kinds of language you'd probably hear kids saying in most high schools; it contains the kind of words you'll probably hear (and probably already do hear) in real life.

Winger is a fairly mature read that may not be for everyone.

Go read it.*



*Unless you don't want to.  Or wait a couple of years, and then read it.  It's worth the wait!

The Desolation of Smaug

So here it is, the trailer (well, one of many more trailers to come, I'm sure) for the second part of the Hobbit movies.  The Hobbit is one of my favorite books, so I'm slightly bummed that the fim version doesn't follow that storyline very closely, but I get that the movies are supposed to sort of encompass the entire LOTR universe.  That's cool, I guess.  I can get on board.

So, I don't know about anyone else, but I think Bilbo Baggins is pretty crush-worthy.  First of all, despite the hairy feet, he's kind of adorable (why yes, I will happily admit that Martin Freeman, the actor who plays Bilbo, happens to be one of my few celebrity crushes.  I mean, he's been in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie, Sherlock the tv show, Hot Fuzz (one of my favorite movies), AND he's Bilbo?  Who DOESN'T love this guy?!).  Second, Bilbo is a seriously badass and epic hero.  Yes, he starts out wanting to sit around in his little* hobbit hole drinking tea and eating biscuits and making nice floral arrangements (okay I don't know if he actually does this, but arranging flowers seems like a hobbit-y type of thing to do).  He's not into the whole adventure scene, going out and fighting scary things and slaying dragons and rescuing looted treasures and stuff.  But that's sort of exactly what makes him a freakingly awesome hero.  Right? Because anyone who's INTO that kind of stuff can go out and do it and maybe be pretty good at adventuring and all that; but you kind of have to admire Bilbo because he's terrified and uncomfortable and doing something so far beyond what he ever imagined he would or could do in his  life--and THAT takes some serious guts.  THAT, I think, is what being a hero is about--being ballsy and sticking up for and rescuing your friends and standing up against the bad guys, even when you're terrified.

The movie comes out in December!  Can't wait.

Put the first movie, The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey, on hold at APL or
find the book in our catalog

*I say "little," but let's be honest, that hobbit hole is HUGE and pretty freaking luxurious.  I'd trade my tiny little apartment for Bilbo's hobbit hole any day.

Books, please!

Anyone read a great book recently?  I just finished the graphic novel Cardboard, and I'm looking for something new to read.  Heck, I'll even take a "just okay" book!

Edit (6/15/13): A few of the books you recommended for me.  Can't wait to get to them!

YA Book Review: "The Probability of Miracles" by Wendy Wunder

So this book was recommended to me by TAG's own Caitlyn* and yes, she assured me, Wendy Wunder IS the author's real name (I totally didn't believe it was her real name, because doesn't it sound like a superhero name or like, a bad stripper name?).

Anyway, The Probability of Miracles is a book about cancer, and nothing says fun summer read like YA books about teens with cancer!  But really, sort of like John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, this book is actually incredibly witty and lots of fun, though obviously yes, there are terrible, incredibly heartbreaking moments as well (because, you know, CANCER).

Campbell Cooper is 15, lives in Disney in Florida with her mom and younger sister, and she has cancer; she's also completely sick of being dragged around from hospital to hospital and healer to healer to find something, anything that will help make her better.  She's slowly dying from her illness, and there's probably pretty much nothing that's going to change that.

Except....Except Cam's mom hears of a town in Maine that's nearly impossible to find but supposedly possesses healing powers, and so the family packs up and heads north for the summer in Cam's little car and a U-Haul to lovely, beach-y Promise, Maine (which they do find, but barely, after picking up some milkshakes and whoopie pies from a Dunkin Donuts which, by the way, is one of my most favorite places ever).

Soon Cam is noticing all kinds of things -- flamingos nesting in Maine (if you've never been to the northeast, I guarantee you you'll never see a flamingo up there that isn't in a cage), the astonishing reappearance of something that'd been missing, the fact that is, in fact, feeling so much better -- things that her mother and sister swear are miracles, but which Cam just writes off as coincidences.  The thing is, Cam doesn't believe she can afford to have hope.  How can she hope for a miracle when she's pretty sure she won't live to see her 18th birthday?

Enter a guy (an adorable guy named Asher); old friends (well, really just one old friend**); a cast of new friends; and the "Flamingo List," Cam's list of stuff she'd like to do before she dies, like have an awkward moment with her best friend's boyfriend--all of which change Cam's life in ways she never thought possible.

Seriously, I love Cam's sarcasm, her little sister's funny way of being both weirdly mature for an 11-year-old but also adorably young (she has this ridiculous theory on why unicorns obviously exist), and Asher's sweet naivety.   Despite the heavy topic, I think this actually is a great summer read, and I'm really glad Caity recommended it to me.  Two thumbs up.

Find "The Probability of Miracles" at APL

*Spelling fixed, thanks!**That is, someone Cam's been friends with for awhile, not someone she's friends with who's like, a hundred years old.  Just clarifyin'.

"House of Hades" Book Cover!

Here it is!!!!  As I'm sure many of you already know, the official House of Hades book cover was revealed on May 31st, just a few days ago.  What's going on on the cover?  Well, it looks like Percy half-holding, half-dragging Annabeth through "the house of Hades."  Annabeth also appears to be wearing some kind of weird, fish-looking outfit, though I'm assuming it's actually just armor.

SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK.

Here's the info that's on Rick Riordan's website:

*** WARNING!  Contains mild spoilers if you haven't read the first three books in the Heroes of Olympus series! ***

Heroes of Olympus, Book Four

Coming October 8, 2013

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy’s instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea’s forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. But, Leo wonders, if the Doors are sealed, how will Percy and Annabeth be able to escape?
They have no choice. If the demigods don’t succeed, Gaea’s armies will never die. They have no time. In about a month, the Romans will march on Camp Half-Blood. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

Did I mention that I am SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK?!  Also, why is every amazing- book-release-that-I-am-anticipating-more-than-other-book-releases (like Allegiance, the last "Divergent" book!) happening in October?  Must practice my speed reading skills....