Book Bag: Friendswood Youth Services Blog

Yesterday, a couple other librarians and I went to a workshop where the new (to YA, anyway) author Sophie Jordan shared her thoughts and insights about writing, the awesomeness that is YA literature, PTAs (she thinks they're like the mafia--and I don't blame her), selling your book to a movie studio before it's even released, how much YA writers make in advances (advances=the $ you make when you sell your book), and more. She was lovely and we would have happily listened and talked to her for another hour. Which means, of course I'm really excited about her book Firelight, which comes out in September (I've already put in an order for it for the library, hopefully we'll get it quickly!)! Here's a quick summary: Descended from dragons, the draki's ability to appear human protects them from hunters. Jacinda lives with her pride in the Cascades, but she chafes under her special status as the only fire-breather in hundreds of years. Recklessly breaking th...

The American Library Association's (ALA) annual Teens' Top Ten has started! You can vote everyday until September 17 Vote here: Teens' Top Ten And then tell me what you voted for in the comments!

Okay, maybe you're getting tired of me talking about my Purple-Over, but I wanted to share the newest developments! Lisa has posted the video of the first version on youtube, so you can see just how adorable I am (when I watch this I vacillate between thinking how cute I am and being really embarrassed...) And here are some pictures of the second version that happened over the weekend: Before I'm a unicorn! I hope this comes out right! The sink we used to wash out my hair was tiny! Aaand the after picture! Hope y'all like it! DFTBA, Sti

Okay, the video made by Lisa is done and I will post it here as soon as she puts it up on youtube! Also, since the poll seems to be leaning toward my hair needing to be darker/brighter/more obvious purple, Merritt and Angelica are coming to the library today to go to work and make it so! Stay tuned for new pictures!

If you visit this blog on any sort of regular basis, you may have noted a few changes I've made today. Hopefully this will make it easier to navigate and read. I hope you enjoy it!

Okay, if you were a fan of our March Madness showdown of YA books, you're going to love Heather Zundell's YA Fantasy Showdown . Male and female characters from our favorite YA fantasy novels will duke it out to see who the ultimate Fantasy character is! Each round consists of photos and info about each of the combatants as well the showdown's creator's idea of how the fight would go down. Vote for your favorite and see who wins! DFTBA, Sti

Okay, confession time. But first, an obvious fact: there are a lot of books at the library. And here's the confession: I haven't read all of them. Shocking, I know Anyway, one series of books that I haven't read and haven't even thought to read was the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky . But now that I've seen the trailer for the movie, I might want to.... "Deep in the Forest of Tyto the adventure takes wing! Soren is born in a forest kingdom where Barn Owls have lived in peace for eons. But evil now lurks in the owl world, an evil that will shatter Tyto's peace and change Soren's life forever. In the first four books of this popular series Soren and his band make their way to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree where they will join with like-minded owls - honest, brave, wise and true - to boldly face danger and be tested in ways they never imagined." - amazon.com Sounds cool now! Here's the trailer. It's in 3-D (the movie,...

Hair Update: I know I promised a video of my hair dyeing would be up last week, but there were a few obstacles in the editing process so it's still under construction. But when it's done I will post it here!! The whole process was a lot of fun, Lisa and I went to the salon together and laughed and talked while Julie bleached and then dyed 7 strips of my hair. I like the finished product, but it came out much more subtle then I expected. Though a professional salon is probably not going to be in the practice of doing completely Crayola-fantastic dye jobs, and I have naturally dark brown hair so I don't hold it against Julie's talent. Overall I'm very happy with it. Who knows, maybe I'll keep them forever? What do y'all think? Answer in the comments and/or the poll on the right. DFTBA, Sti