This is the story of a nearly 18 year old city girl named Ronnie who, with her little brother, goes to live with her father on the beach of a small town for the summer.  Being pulled away from city living to spend the summer with a father that left her family Ronnie doesn’t want to be anywhere near her father. She hasn’t spoken to him in several years and now she has to live with him. But the summer is sure to bring more drama then she has ever had to deal with as there is a boy in town who has decided that she is his whether she knows it or not.Â
Nicholas Sparks is a master at making me cry. I only pick up his books when I need a good tear-jerker. This book is soon to be a movie so I thought I would read it before it cam out. I related to Ronnie in one way, we both had absent fathers that we looked up to.  I understood why she was always so mad at him, but that’s about the only thing we have in common. This book is so filled with teen anger and frustration that fireworks had to go off somewhere in it. The symbolism of it was spot on to what if feels like when a parent leaves you (at least that’s how it was for me). If you have ever had a parent leave or you just need a good cry then pick up this book.
-Hannah
Tags: Book Review, Hannah's Reviews, nicholas sparks, The last song
Percy Jackson is a normal middle school-er with dyslexia and ADHD and then he finds out that monsters are real and he is no longer the normal kid he thought himself (and apparently he has never been normal). His best friend has the legs of a goat and a giant bull walking on two legs is out to kill him. Camp Half-Blood is his only retreat away from things that want to kill him, but Percy has a problem, the three main Gods (Zeus, Poseidon, & Hades) are about to go to war because Zeus thinks that Percy stole his master lightning bolt for Poseidon. So now Percy has a little over a week to find the master bolt, that he didn’t steal, and return it to Mt. Olympus in order to clear his name. The major problem is that he has to travel to the Underworld to find out if Hades has it.Â
With the movie coming out soon I gave in and read The Lightning Thief and I am so glad I did. This book had me laughing out loud and I had to stop and read parts to my friends, because it was too great not to share. Moving on to book 2 the Sea of Monsters, hope it is as great as the first. If you want a fun read then this is one you should consider! Greek Mythology made funny with an action packed story. I just hope that Percy never changes who he is. I hope the movie can stand up to the book.Â
-Hannah
Tags: Book Review, Hannah's Reviews, Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
Lyn has grown up knowing only Glad culture. Her mother has tried to talk her into becoming a Glad wife like her, but Lyn doesn’t want to watch 7 husbands die in the arena. She is a pacifist and wants nothing more than to leave the Gladiator lifestyle behind her. But when her 7th gladiator father, Tommy,  is going into the arena against a foe he doesn’t think he can beat she gives her father her dowry bracelet. If you are a girl in the Glad life your father is the only one that is allowed to touch this bracelet. If another man does, you must marry him. So when her fathers killer, Uber, puts on the bracelet in front of the entire audience live and on t.v. she has a major choice to make. Does she marry the man who killed her father? Or does she find a different way out?  With her mother and her psychic little brother to think of she must decide if she is going to follow glad culture and give up her dreams to save what is left of her family or if she is going to make her own way out of all the drama.
This book was so awesome. With a mixture of old time charm and consumerism to the max this book is one I didn’t want to put down. Her little brother Thad won me over from his first appearancein the book. Paparazzi are on the level of insane stalkers throughout the whole book. It was a book that brought to life a lot of the ugly truths about our world while only showing what we could have been, or maybe still could be. If you are looking for a great book that ranks up there with the Hunger Games then check this one out. I bet you won’t be sorry you did.
Check out the authors site: http://www.lisehaines.com/
Tags: Book Review, girl in the arena, gladiator, Hannah's Reviews, lise haines
ATTENTION, Â ATTENTION!!!!Â
OUR BLOG NEEDS AN AWSOME BACKGROUND, AND WE NEED YOUR DESIGNS!!!!Â
If you would like to:
- see your artwork on our blog
- participate in an online contest where the teens of Aurora choose whose artwork rocks the hardest
- and possibly win the contest and have your design become the background for our blog for the next year
       then please submit your artwork to the Young Adult Librarian at any of the 4 Aurora Libraries. We will scan your artwork into the computer (if it isn’t already on the computer) and give your artwork back to you.  Fill out a little information so that we can give you credit on the actual blog.Â
We need :
1. your name
2. a Phone number so we can notify you if you win
3.what school you attend so we can give your school bragging rights
Voting will be in March. So get your designs turned in between Monday, February 1st 1010 and  Saturday, February 28th 2010!!!!
Tags: contests
Five kids across Europe disappear in one night, never to be heard from again. A few years, later five teenagers show up in New York at a party and will soon attend the best high school there. Their governess Madame Vileroy is not as she appears to the outside world. She gives the teens special abilities that raise them to the top of their class in different ways.  But for each “gift” she gives there is a cost. One teen “steals,” one “cheats,” one “hides,” one “is made beautiful,” and the last “lies;” however, these “gifts” are not as we would assume. Three Faust teens are keeping a big secret from the other two. Filled with intrigue, double dealing, and devilish acts, this book shows some historical figures as very naughty. The main question I asked myself was “who is Madame Vileroy” and about half way in my suspicions were confirmed, but I was hooked to the story and I’m so glad I finished it because I didn’t see part of the ending coming and can’t wait for the sequel.   If you like supernatural types of books this one is a must for you.Â
-Hannah
Check out the authors website: http://www.anotherfaust.com/site/
Tags: another faust, Book Review, Daniel & Dina Nayeri, Hannah's Reviews, supernatural
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I was reading one of my favorite authors blogs today and she was talking about a topic that I’ve been pondering about myself. There have been several books that I have started this year that I could only read about half-way in before I just couldn’t read anymore. It wasn’t that the books were bad, just that I couldn’t get into them. Kristin Cashore (author of Graceling and Fire) apparently has been having this same problem. She said, “About the books I abandon — I think my abandoning them is more a reflection on me than on the books. No book is for everyone. When you read, there’s something you’re looking for, and it’s not the book’s fault if it’s not there; it just means you need to keep looking.” I admire this statement. It reminded me about something I learned in Library School about a guy named Ranganathan who came up with 5 laws related to books. Two of them really make since to me. I’m paraphrasing: Rule 1=Every book has it’s reader. Rule 2= Every reader has his/her book. Basically I believe this means that even though we might not like a book, that doesn’t mean someone else wont love it. Plus I think there are some books that have to be read at a certain time in our lives to be appreciated. SO if you don’t like the book you are reading, its okay to put it down. There is a book out there that you will love you just have to find it, so don’t give up the search for that perfect book that has everything you are looking for.
If you want to read Kristin Cashore’s Blog post fully go to her blog site http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/ the post is called “Shaking up the Blog…” posted January 7, 2010.
Tags: abandoned books, ranting, unputdownable
ok, so there’s a 6th grade girl who reads everything(!) . her reading level is 11th grade, but her mom doesn’t want her reading stuff with certain subjects (you know what I’m talking about) in it. what kind of books do you think she would like?
post here or email me at ambaug@aurora.lib.il.us
thnx
 Picture used with permission from Arrowhead Library System
ESCAPE WITH A BOOK
January 11 – March 5
Escape the dreary winter with these reading activities!
It’s easy…
-
Pick up a winter reading log.
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Escape by completing 3 winter reading activities on a log card (3 cards per log)
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Turn in a log card (only 1 per week) for a chance to win a gift card.
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When all 3 cards are done pick up a new log.
 Prizes:
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First drawing ( week 4 ) $25 Best Buy gift card
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Second drawing ( week 8 ) $50 Border’s gift card
 The more you participate, the more chances to win!
Tags: Winter Reading
When Cody’s girlfriend gets shipped off to boarding school in New-England and he gets hurt playing football Cody decides there is no reason for him to be in school anymore and drops out. Soon after he finds out that his ex-girlfriend Clea has gone missing. Knowing that he still loves her he drives across country to discover the truth about what happened and see if he can find her. As he tries to blend in to the search efforts he learns more about what Clea meant in her last letter to him, not everyone in the town is trust worthy. But, while everyone else is giving up can Cody follow through and find Clea, dead or alive?
This mystery was good, but I figured out what was happening long before the end. That may have to do with the fact that I listened to it on audio. It was a good story and if you like mysteries then you should definitely try this one. This is a story of true love that surpasses the classes.
-Hannah
Check out the authors site: http://www.peterabrahams.com/
Tags: Book Review, Hannah's Reviews, Peter Abrahams, Reality Check
