Book Review Form

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

New Books for November!

Look for these new teen reads coming soon to Riverdale Public Library!


Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall:  When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero’s journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico.  But returning home to Texas turns into an incredible.  With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters travel a tough road to their long-lost grandmother’s house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity: a wily warlock, a coven of vicious half-human barn owls, and bloodthirsty livestock-hunting chupacabras. Can these fantastic trials prepare Odilia and her sisters for what happens when they face their final test, returning home to the real world, where goddesses and ghosts can no longer help them?

Eighth Grade is Making Me Sick:  Ginny Davis's Year in Stuff: by Jennifer L. Holm:  Ginny has big plans for eighth grade. She's going to try out for cheerleading, join Virtual Vampire Vixens, and maybe even fall in love. But middle school is more of a roller-coaster ride than Ginny could have ever predicted. Her family has just moved into a fancy new house when Ginny's stepdad loses his job. (Can worrying about money make you sick?) Ginny's big brother keeps getting into trouble. And there's a new baby on the way. (Living proof that Ginny's mom and stepdad are having sex. Just what she needs.) Filled with Post-its, journal entries, grocery lists, hand-drawn comic strips, report cards, IMs, notes, and more, Eighth Grade Is Making Me Sick is the sometimes poignant, often hilarious, always relatable look at a year in the life of one girl, told entirely through her stuff. Part graphic novel, part scrapbook and altogether original.


Drama by Raina Telgemeier:  Callie loves theater.  And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of "Moon Over Mississippi," she's a terrible singer. Instead she's the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget.  But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen and two cute brothers enter the picture.  Featuring a diverse set of characters, this graphic novel humorously explores friendship, crushes, and all-around drama!


Look for these books or put them on hold here.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Hunger Games Party

Calling all Katniss lovers:  It's not too late to sign up for the Hunger Games Party next Thursday, November 29 from 4-5 p.m.   We'll play Hunger Games trivia for chances to win prizes, make a cool craft, and eat a (non) poisonous berry dessert (this isn't the Capitol, after all). 

You can sign up in person, by phone at 973-835-2175, by email at RiverdaleLibraryKids@nac.net or by clicking on Teens at www.riverdalelibrary.org

So whether you're Team Peeta or Team Gale, come on down to Panem and volunteer as Tribute!

Friday, November 16, 2012

New Books for October!

Look for these new books coming soon to Riverdale Public Library!


Game Change by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Athletics are everything for eighth-grader KT Sutton. She’s a softball star, and she’s on track to get a college scholarship and achieve international fame. Then one day during a championship game—in the middle of an important play—she suddenly blacks out.  When she wakes up, she’s in a different world. One where school is class after class of athletic drills, and after-school sports are replaced by popular academic competitions. One where KT is despised for her talent, and where her parents are fixated on her brother’s future mathletics career rather than KT’s softball hopes.  KT is desperate to get back to reality as she knew it, but bits and pieces of disturbing memories and dreams make her wonder if something truly awful happened there. What if she’s lost something a lot more important than a softball game?


 Skylark by Megan Spooner

Vis in magia, in vita vi. In magic there is power, and in power, life. For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley waited for the day when her Resource would be harvested and she would finally be an adult. After the harvest she expected a small role in the regular, orderly operation of the City within the Wall. She expected to do her part to maintain the refuge for the last survivors of the Wars. She expected to be a tiny cog in the larger clockwork of the city.  Lark did not expect to become the City's power supply. For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she's ever known...or face a fate more unimaginable than death.  Part 1 in the Skylark Trilogy.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she's ever known...or face a fate more unimaginable than death.
For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she's ever known...or face a fate more unimaginable than death. Part 1 in the Skylark Trilogy. 

Lark did not expect to become the City's power supply.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she's ever known...or face a fate more unimaginable than death. 




The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten—these aren’t the winning lottery numbers but rather the known surviving members of an alien race who continue to battle the dastardly Mogadorians in the series that began with I Am Number Four. The sequel, The Power of Six, divided itself into two first-person POVs, and this one continues the trend. Two characters emerge as especially interesting: Nine, the arrogant but capable rich kid traveling alongside stalwart Four; and Eight, who is tracked down in India, where locals believe him to be a reincarnated Vishnu.  And just in case you thought this was a trilogy, stay tuned—there’s more on the way! 




The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

On a cold night every spring, sixteen-year-old Blue and her psychic mother wait in a churchyard for the dead to arrive. Her mother is usually the one who sees the spirits of people who will die within the next twelve months, but this year, Blue herself is startled by the sad, desperate sight of a boy named Gansey falling to his knees before her.  "There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark's Eve, Blue. Either you're his true love...or you killed him."  With those chilling words, Blue is caught up in a mystery she never expected involving the privileged Raven Boys from Aglionby Academy. She must guard her heart closely, however, because Blue's always been told that she's destined to kill her true love with a kiss.  Book 1 in the Raven Cycle.


The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente

In this sequel to The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, September is 13 years old and in possession of a teenage heart that is “raw and new, fast and fierce.”  It is this heart that guides her sophomore trip to Fairyland.  When she literally stumbles into the magical realm, September finds that the inhabitants of Fairyland Above have been losing their shadows—sucked Below by the Alleyman, a floating red-feathered hat—and, along with them, their magic. As Fairyland Above becomes depleted, the underworld becomes a stronger, darker, increasingly renegade place under the rule of Halloween, September’s shadow.   Can September return the shadows and reset the equilibrium in Fairyland?


You can look for these books or put them on hold here.