Stuff for the Teen Age

On the morning of January 25, 2012, the theater of the Dallas Convention Center was packed with literary professionals and enthusiasts who were awaiting the results of the YALSA Awards. The announcements started promptly at 7:45 a.m. If you showed up late, all the good seats were taken. You had to hoof it to the balcony. Of course, you could have watched the live web cast.

So it’s been a mild winter and maybe snow has only just fallen, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still imagine ourselves in a tropical paradise: sipping fruity drinks and dancing our faces off! But what thump, thump, techno beats would we be dancing to underneath the stars? Luckily, I have just returned from Mexico where I was doing just that, and here’s what the DJs were spinning:

Do you miss the Library's Stuff for the Teen Age list just as much as I do? Are you looking for a few good young adult books to read, but don't know what to check out from your local library? Then look no further! Here are 10 of my favorite books from last year. 

Do you like fantasy and science fiction? Are you ready for some armchair exploration? For your reading pleasure, check out these three new books that are set in alternate futures and alternate realities!

"Holmes, you insist upon seeing yourself as a machine... Even a masterpiece of impressionalism is to you nothing more than a piece of evidence to be used in the pursuit of a crime." — Dr. John Watson.

June and Day are part of the same nation: The Republic of America. They’re in the same city: Los Angeles, California. Their lives could not be more different.

Justin Tuck, who plays football for the New York Giants, is one of the top defensive linemen in the game and actually one of my favorite players. It's been a rough, injury plagued year for him on the football field, but the release of a children's book he wrote called Home-Field Advantage, illustrated by Leonardo Rodriguez, is one of the all-star moves he made this fall.

Every week the Teen Advisory groups from Jefferson Market Library and Muhlenberg Library take a photo of what's happening during their meeting. Here's last week's photos:

The teens in our Teen Advisory Group have been involved in several recent brainstorming sessions to pick out their favorite books, music, and movies that were released this year. Their selections included all kinds of stuff — funny, weird, and thought-provoking — even stuff that will make you want to dance. 

Every week, the Teen Advisory groups from Jefferson Market Library and Muhlenberg Library take a photo of what's happening during their meeting. Here's last week's photos:  

Find a Teen Advisory Group close to you and get involved in your library!  

Every week the Teen Advisory Groups from the Jefferson Market Library and the Muhlenberg Library take a photo of what's happening during their meeting. Here's last week's photos: 

Comedy makes us laugh, plain and simple. Whether it's standup, or a funny movie or your grandmother telling you funny stories from her youth. You know the one about her going to school with her nightgown on. Whatever, let's face it, the human condition is funny.

Get ready for one of the darkest books I've seen written for YA readers. 

Janne Teller's Nothing is the story of a group of eighth graders trying to find meaning in the world.  Sounds pleasant enough, right?

Benny Imura was appalled to learn that the Apocalypse came with homework.

Thus begins Jonathan Maberry's new teen novel Dust & Decay, the eagerly-anticipated sequel to his 2010 novel Rot & Ruin.

Thank you for all the readers and followers of the Reader's Den! I hope everyone enjoyed Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon and enjoyed Nick's adventure with Zombies, Dark-Hunters, and his own dark secret. The adventures continue in the next book of the series, Invincible. 

After reading or while reading Infinity — there are lots of questions that come to mind! I know I certainly had a few! What struck you as you were reading? Here are some questions to get the discussion started, but please don’t feel limited to answering only the questions below. Go ahead and add your own questions or comments.

When we last left off with our heroine Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) in the first season of The Vampire Diaries, she was walking into her home after her nefarious vampire doppelgänger Katherine had just brutally stabbed Uncle John. Elena’s arrival probably saves John's life, as she narrowly avoids meeting Katherine for the first time.

The Children's Literary Salon, previously known as the Children's Literary Cafe, began in 2007. In November 2008, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building ("the library with the lions") celebrated the opening of the Children's Center at 42nd Street. You can view "Women in Comics: Female Graphic Novelists Writing with Kids and Teens in Mind," a Children's Literary Salon program held at the Children's Center on April 3, 2010, by visiting the Library's website.

"I am what I have become because of the interference and secrets of one creature. Had things been done differently, my life would have been a whole other enchilada. I would not be where I am today and I would have had a life worth living instead of the nightmare my life has become.