Book Bag: Friendswood Youth Services Blog

If you look to the right side of this blog --> You'll see that I have a few fun or informational things for you to look at/use. There is first of all, a cute picture from the Christmas party (post-snowball fight!), then there is a list of our up-coming events and the dates they'll take place on, after that is a list of interesting blog's of YA authors or book reviews--if you're ever stuck wondering what to read next these are excellent places to look! Then I've got some useful links to fun websites like freerice.com and Teen Ink- a magazine that has only articles and work written by teens. Then there's a little About Sti thing, because I know you need to know more :P and there's also a few random selections from My Bookshelf so you can see what books I've been reading and enjoyed! Okay, here's where the prizes come in! If you have time, explore a few of the links I've put up and tell me which you've liked best or give me a suggestion of a ...

for some first class freaking out-- Sti Style! Guess who won the Newbery Medal this year?! That's right, the author I spend the majority of my time talking about: NEIL GAIMAN! For his awesome book The Graveyard Book . Oh lordy I am soooo excited you can not believe it, I don't know if I'll get any real work done today because of this! If you haven't read The Graveyard Book yet, what are you waiting for? :) Well, it could be that it's checked out right now but don't let that stop you! After you've put it on hold you can watch/listen to the author read it right here: http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx The other Newbery Honors go to: The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle Savvy by Ingrid Law After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson Okay, now off to do happy dances around the library! :) DFTBA, Sti

Here's the best trailer for Coraline so far. And it's actually Neil Gaiman's (he wrote the book) favorite! The movie comes out February 6th and I'll definitely be seeing it that weekend, so if you want to see it with me let me know and we can get a group of people to see it together! I know Kathleen and Mallory are already on board! dftba, Sti

I just realized I haven't given anything away for a while, and I have tons of cool prizes to give away!! Sooooo, the first 3 people to post comments with their favorite cheesy joke (you know how much I love them!) will get to choose from a selection of awesome candy or a book from my collection of book prizes! And here are some zombie lolcats for your Friday! DFTBA! Sti

On the day of an important music competition, talented but painfully introverted and nervous Deirdre Monaghan is helped to perform by the compelling and enigmatic Luke Dillon and finds herself inexorably drawn into the mysteries and dangers of the faerieworld. I've been reading about this book for several weeks/months and I was so excited when it came in that I put it in my bag to read while I was in St. Louis last weekend. Turns out it was an excellent choice, this book was full of romance, suspense, magic, best friends, some seriously scary faeries, and even some funny bits. Deirdre plays the harp (who plays the harp? Awesome), but she has horrible stage fright, right before a big competition she meets up with the mysterious and super-hot Luke and learns that she is a Clover Hand--someone who is able to see faeries. On top of this her awful aunt is in town and the Faerie Queen is out to get her. Deirdre is a great character, she's smart and funny and though she's overwhe...

I know I don't need them since I've always got a huge list of books waiting to be read, but when I found this website: http://novelchallenges.blogspot.com/ I was hooked. Hopefully I won't get sucked in too much, but there is at least one challenge I will be participating in, and that's the Neil Gaiman Challenge "The Dream King Challenge." Here are the rules: Neophyte : Read one work and watch one movie Acolyte : Read three works (from three different categories) and watch one movie Devotee : Read six works (from six different categories) and watch one movie Zealot : Read twelve works (from at least six different categories) and watch one movie There will also be mini-challenges (with prizes!) and other fun activities during the year. Re-reads are okay - I'm sure a lot of us have already read a few of Neil's books before. This challenge can (and will!) overlap with other challenges. I would suggest J. Kaye's Young Adult Reading Challenge and Laza...