Blog Posts by Subject: Teen and Young Adult Literature

Lia lives in a world highlighted by food. Never mind her parent's divorce, or her friend Cassie's death of a ruptured esophagus for binging too much. None of that is important if she can control her food intake; hopefully, she will not pass out again at the wheel of a moving vehicle. Only problem is... her parents keep hospitalizing her. When she does not have enough energy to get medication for her sister; her stepmother shoves a gigantic oatmeal cookie in her face and tells her to stop being so selfish.

Okay, you're probably busy putting the finishing touches on your wizard's robe and/or brushing the hair on your furry hobbit's feet so that you will be as stylish as possible when you arrive at the movie theater to catch a midnight showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey later this month.

A is sixteen years old, and has never been the same person twice. Every morning, A wakes up in the body of a different sixteen-year-old: a boy, a girl, an athlete, an addict, a star student, a burnout. Then A falls in love, and things get REALLY complicated.

I'm sure you've heard of blockbuster movies, but have you read a blockbuster book? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary online, a blockbuster is one that is notably expensive, effective, successful, large or extravagant. For example, the Harry Potter series of books and movies were blockbusters. Other blockbusters from the past include The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer and The Lightning Thief and other Percy Jackson and the Olympians books by Rick Riordan.

Shelter by Harlan Coben, 2011

Sniper by Theodore Taylor, 2007

Imagine lions and tigers in your backyard and a house cheetah to guard your family. Thanks to an endowment from a wealthy widow his parents met in Africa, this is Ben's home.

Part photography program. Part exploration of personal history. All teenagers. The American Teenager Project has combined photographic portraits with oral histories of hundreds of teenagers over the last several years, and now is the chance for YOU to participate in this unique program at the Kingsbridge Library in the Bronx.

Cas Lowood uses his father's blade to send ghosts out of this world and back to where they belong. Cas used to help his father with this task, but now his father is dead, murdered by one of those evil spirits. Cas has battled with many ghosts in his time, but when he meets a ghost named Anna, his unusual life takes an even more dangerous turn.

Booktalking Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff by Walter Dean Myers, 1975

Somehow he became known as "Stuff." Anyhow, one of the funniest things he ever observed was Cool Clyde, aka "Claudette" jiving with Fast Sam, who was "getting into his thing" on the dance floor in a competition. One by one, couples were asked to sit down by the announcer jovially saying, "Hey, hey. Let's give a big hand to..." and then he announced the couple's names. The pace of dancing would rise to a frenetic pace in the few seconds before the announcement, each couple throwing a few more daring moves in fervent hope that it would not be them to drop next. As 

A few years ago, I put together a list of my favorite back to school books. It was a list of fun books to read after all of the mandatory summer reading that you had to do. Over the last two years, I've read some more really great books with a common theme: transformation.

The Cruisers: Checkmate by Walter Dean Myers, 2011

Alexander, "Zander" for short, is a student at the elite Da Vinci Academy for the Gifted and Talented. There, he belongs to a club known as the Cruisers that publishes an alternative newspaper, The Palette. Each member of the Cruisers has a special talent. Kambui, Zander's best friend, is into photography. LaShonda designs clothing, Bobbi is fascinated with numbers, and Zander wants to be a writer.

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it still make a sound? If somebody insults Will Halpin and he isn’t reading that person’s lips, does it still count as an insult?

Once again the dog days of summer are here, and what better way to cool off than at your local library. Our summer reading kickoff is a memory where a good time was had by all. We are really fortunate to have such talented branch supporters who helped us with the festivities. Thanks to Celeste, a local artist, balloon animals were given to each child who registered for summer reading. In addition, an awesome college student and former teen advisory member, Laura, was a huge hit with some fabulous face painting.

Talullah Casey is off to change her life in a very different environment. She’s going to be taking classes at a performing arts college. She will be living on the dramatic, damp, and windswept Yorkshire Dales where she can pretend to be Cathy looking for her Heathcliff. And yes, there will be snogging involved.

Let's keep the momentum of NYC's 2012 Gay Pride Parade going with a list of LGBTQ-themed books for young adults. New and old, NYPL has titles your teens are going to love, if they don't already. Please feel free to add recommendations or additions in the comments.

I started summer 2012 seeing One Direction, not once but TWICE in concert! Let me just say this: they were AWESOME! I could go on and on (and on, just ask my friends) about my favorite four British boys and one Irish boy, but I won’t. I could talk loads about Harry’s accent, Niall’s laugh and Louis’s trousers but I will stop myself and instead mention that NYPL has bought their journal memoir Dare to Dream! As we wait patiently for it to arrive and listen to Up All Night on replay, here are some novels filled with charming, brooding, floppy haired British and Irish boys. 

Anya moved from Russia to America years ago, but even though she lost weight and lost her accent, she still has a lot of trouble making friends.  And then one day she has an accident that changes her life.  That’s the day she meets the ghost of a girl named Emily.

We were lucky enough to have a game show and discussions with teen authors about dystopias and apocalypses and whether or not we would have the strength to survive them. The event was held at the Margaret Berger Forum in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library. It was hosted by Chris Shoemaker, Young Adult Programming Specialist for NYPL. Refreshments were served afterwards, and teens signed up to participate in the games ahead of time. Music entertained the audience prior to the event. Many people showed up to try their luck at a game show and hear from the teen authors.

Black Storm Comin'  by Diane Lee Wilson, 2005 

12-year-old Colton first becomes entranced by the Pony Express when travelling in the 1860 westward expansion on a wagon train. A horse and clinging boy sped past him and did not look back. Got him to wonderin' what kind of excitement it would be to taste that speed and urgency. So, he tries his luck and gets hired (even tho' the manager would have preferred if he were 14 years old). And to prove his meddle, he tames a black demon. But that demon ends up waking Colton up when he was 'bout to die of hypothermia. Horse wasn't much to look at, but Colton says the following about