Audiobook Awesomeness: The Host

Hello my peeps! I still haven't caught up on my reading challenge so it may still be some time before you see a posting about Hex Hall from Georgia. Additionally, I am hosting the next month's book club and I think I am going to introduce my group to some YA Literature (heehee excellent). I will probably base my choices for book club on this NPR article. The article goes into details about the choices being the public selection and that an expert panel decided if some of the classics were not actually young adult. It was very interesting. I will have to think about my 5 selections. Ah it will be fun!

What I want to talk about today is a medium of reading that is helpful to the reluctant readers audience...the audiobook. In my new position, I have roughly a 40 minute commute to work. I thought that audiobooks would be a great way to not only give me an interesting car ride, but to get involved in a medium that most librarians and teachers claim to help reluctant readers.

In terms of choosing an audiobook, I chose a YA Author that makes some librarians scowl and fans rejoice. This is not a YA book, but has a lot of qualities that I would consider young adult. The two main characters share a body that is 17 and the romance triangle plot is very...uh...juvenile I would say. Ah wait, very Twilight would be a better description. For a general synopsis of plot see below:

Synopsis via Amazon.com. Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love. Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

 I thought the premise was amazeballs. I was looking forward to reading/listening it and since a movie is coming out (using Imagine Dragons as trailer music), I felt another perfect opportunity for reluctant reader investigation. Books that get turned into popular movies bring in readers. After listening to...oh dear lord...20 discs, which took 3 1/2 weeks I have to say it was not too bad and didn't go as I expected. I liked the premise and expected an action-packed, science fiction adventure. It was really more a dramatic romance with a shy, self sacrificing alien who only cares about others and not herself. She also just wants to be with one of these two guys who she loves and loves for completely different reasons...oh holy shit! Its friggin' Twilight, but with aliens instead of vampires and werewolves. KNEW IT!

Here is the thing. I dont think I could have read it ever, but listening to it was great. The narrator did an excellent job, though when the male characters said anything romantic her voice made me giggle. There were parts that I had to push through because they were toooooo overwhelming in the high school girl emotions. Sometimes it was just painful.

All this being said, I enjoyed the audiobook and feel that audiobooks can have a great impact on reluctant readers. If you have a great narrator that can keep listeners engaged then you could potentially lead readers to more ambitious novels and plots. Remember teens are one of the most reluctant reader populations. If we as librarians, teachers, or parents can help them find a medium of information absorption that suits them, then we can improve their ability to achieve.

Preschool Story Time: Pets

I did my first preschool storytime today and I think it went rather well. This week’s theme was Pets. Since I started at the new job, I have been following a slew of storytime blogs. For this one, I used recommendations from several websites.  They had a good reception, but the kids had a big case of the wiggles. Luckily, I had a lot of motion songs for them to do in between books. My storytime guide is below.

Welcome:  Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes. We did this three times, getting faster each time. They loved it and very much needed it.

Book: What Pet to Get by Emma Dodd.  The reaction on this one was…muted. I couldn’t tell if they liked it or were silenced by its awesomeness. I am also rather new to this, so maybe I unconsciously rushed because of first time jitters? The illustrations were adorbs and the conversation between and Jack and his mom were cute. If you have relatively calm kids, this could be a good one to use again.

Song/Motion:  “I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee”

I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee.

Won’t my mommy be so proud of me?

I’m bringing home a baby bumblebee.

Ouch! It stung me!

…Squishing up/Eew! It’s all over me!

…Wiping off/Look! All clean!

Book: Pet Shop Lullaby byMary Ann Fraser.  I had the most fun reading this one. This one I used to start a discussion of pets that keep us up at night and how that can influence our decisions on pets. There were lots of sounds on the pages that I got to act out.  I really got the chance to act animated and make up my own voices. I would love to do this one again and the kids seemed to like it.

Song/Motion:  “Puppy dog, puppy dog turn around”

                Puppy dog, puppy dog turn around.

                Puppy dog, puppy dog claw the ground.

                Puppy dog, puppy dog wag your tail.

                Puppy dog, puppy dog let out a wail (AAAAWWWOOOO!)

Book: Hieronymus Betts and his Unusual Pets by MP Robertson. This one had the best reaction. The kids loved the mystery of what pet could be slimier, noisier, greedier, and stranger than the crazy pets that were mentioned. I also loved reading this one and it was the easiest for me to have the words down pat. I highly recommend this one.

Song/ Motion: “If you’re a pet and you know it…”

                If you’re a dog and you know it, talk like this WOOF WOOF.

                If you’re a dog and you know it, talk like this WOOF WOOF.

                If you’re a dog and you know it and you really want to show it,

                If you’re a dog and you know it, talk like this WOOF WOOF.

                …kitty/meow and bird/tweet.

Craft: For this craft, I showed the kids how to do simple origami dogs and cats. The parents are also very hands-on and helped kids in the trickier parts. I connected this craft to the book Hieronymus Betts and his Unusual Pets and allowed kids to choose whatever colors, eyes, or markers they wanted. They had lots of fun showing me their creations when they left the room. There was one kid who didn’t want a dog or cat, so his mom did an impromptu origami bird.

Supplies:

Multiple sheets of square paper in a variety of colors.

Sticky eyes

Markers

All in all, a very successful first storytime with many more to come!

Florida: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Book review via barnesandnoble.com. After Mara survives the traumatizing accident at the old asylum, it makes sense that she has issues. She lost her best friend, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s sister, and as if that weren’t enough to cope with, her family moves to a new state in order to give her a fresh start. But that fresh start is quickly filled with hallucinations—or are they premonitions?—and then corpses, and the boundary between reality and nightmare is wavering. At school, there’s Noah, a devastatingly handsome charmer who seems determined to help Mara piece together what’s real, what’s imagined—and what’s very, very dangerous.

This fast-paced psychological—or is it paranormal?—thriller will leave you breathless for its sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer.

So, I know I said I would read my book club reading before this book, but then I read the synopsis and decided to just get started at least. Well, that led to an entire Saturday night and Sunday afternoon reading the book. That’s alright though, because I still have time to read the book and discuss. Alif the Unseen is 300 and something pages, while Hodkin’s thriller was close to 500. The only distraction I see coming up is the fact that it’s MARCH MADNESS! I have Friday off and though I should spend that time reading, I will not be. It’s my favorite sports month of the year y’all!

Now for Florida of the YA reading challenge.  So, my husband says that my main problem with reading     (and stories in general) is that I do not have the “suspension of disbelief” gene. It’s true, I have issues with it. I feel if stories are written with a style in the realistic fiction genre then they should feel realistic. It’s why The Splendor Falls caused me some problems.  With that, Hodkin has a great fast-paced thriller here. I tried my best to suspend my skeptic thoughts and just read the story.

The book went by quick and was very action-packed. Mara’s hallucinations and PTSD is disturbing and detailed…in a good way.  The type of trauma that we later learn the details would provide some of these horrific incidents that she experiences.  We are meant to sympathize with Mara. Technically someone with these abilities, we would be more fearful rather than sympathetic, but I like that Mara is written that way. Sometimes I like a disturbed character written in a likeable manner, like Snape in Harry Potter. The story is suspenseful and has many twists and turns.

In addition to the paranormal suspense, there is the realistic high school problems aspect of the novel to discuss. Being the new student is used in so many YA novels that it almost seems boring sometimes.  When I noticed that Hodkin was obviously going this route, I kind of rolled my eyes thinking ‘yeah, yeah Mara is new and misunderstood, blah blah’.

It is done a lot you have to admit. I mean out of the books I have read for this blog? Let’s see there was Sylvie Davis moving to Alabama for the summer dealing with new surroundings. Then Alaska in some ways when Julie/Miyak moved around the tribal groups, but this was muted. With Everybody Sees the Ants, Lucky spends the rest of the summer in Arizona, a new surrounding and meeting local teens. Arkansas is the first one where I can’t find that “new student” aspect.  Then there is Bloodlines by Richelle Mead.  This very much addressed the “new student” genre with not just Sydney, but also with Jill, the vampire girl she is protecting. This felt more prominent with Jill, than Sydney.  With the rest of the books I read, the story reflected with characters who were already established in their community. So out of nine I have read, five discussed the new student jitters. Yeah boring…just like the paragraph I just wrote.

To wrap up, this book ended with a cliffhanger and I wish I didn’t have to wait a year to read yet another great YA series.  Mara is a relatable and sympathetic character and this book is a page-turner. I would vote getting it for your library’s YA Fic section as there is nothing like a thriller with more books on the way. That’s nine down, 41 more to go. Now I need to read the book club novel!

What I've been working on and other musings

Good evening my peeps! So I know I have been quiet and haven't written much. I had a stomach virus this past week and it has left me feeling weak and very, very, very lazy. This means I have not been reading my books from the YA Challenge. I also have a book club meeting coming up in about a week and that reading is very different from the books in the challenge. We are reading Alif the Unseen which I have included a synopsis below:

In an unnamed Middle Eastern security state, a young Arab-Indian hacker shields his clients—dissidents, outlaws, Islamists, and other watched groups—from surveillance and tries to stay out of trouble. He goes by Alif—the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and a convenient handle to hide behind. The aristocratic woman Alif loves has jilted him for a prince chosen by her parents, and his computer has just been breached by the State’s electronic security force, putting his clients and his own neck on the line. Then it turns out his lover’s new fiancé is the head of State security, and his henchmen come after Alif, driving him underground. When Alif discovers The Thousand and One Days, the secret book of the jinn, which both he and the Hand suspect may unleash a new level of information technology, the stakes are raised and Alif must struggle for life or death, aided by forces seen and unseen.

I am only 30 pages into it and it is so far not bad, but of course 30 pages is nothing. This does mean that my reading challenge is on hold for just a week or so. Up next is Florida with The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. It seems pretty paranormal fantasy.

What I really wanted to do with this post was to share with you what I am up to at work and my Baby Fun Times! Unfortunately, I couldn't do my first Baby Fun Time this week as the stomach virus I had on Monday was pretty horrific and probably contagious, so....for the best really.

March's theme was "Colors" so we did a lot of basic board books with the infants and lots of nursery rhymes. I am hoping to do a Springtime theme for April, where one week I do a Rain themed Baby Fun Time. I saw a great book on a storytime blog title Rain Drop Plop by Wendy Lewison that I want to use. It is a counting and rhyme book that uses a rainy day as the scene.

Back to March, this is my plan for next Tuesday:

Welcome: The More We Get Together
Motion/Fingerplay: Open Shut Them
Bouncing Rhyme: Acka Backa Soda Cracker
Song: Mary Had a Little Lamb
Book: The Splendid Spotted Snake by Betty Schwartz and Alexander Wilensky
Flannel Board: Three Green and Speckled Frogs
Motion: Baby Hokey Pokey
Rhythm Shakers: Zip A Dee Doo Dah
Closing: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I am excited for this, my actual first Baby Fun Time. Mainly, I am looking forward to the motion songs like Baby Hokey Pokey and Acka Backa Soda Cracker. I have observed other Baby Fun Times to prepare and it seems that the little ones LOVE the motion songs. I am hoping to keep them engrossed in the book and flannel board stories. I will keep you posted on my Preschool Storytime. I have one coming up where the theme is Pets and it's going to be epic! Stay tuned.

Delaware: The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls by Julie Schumacher

Book review via Amazon.com. I'm Adrienne Haus, survivor of a mother-daughter book club. Most of us didn't want to join. My mother signed me up because I was stuck at home all summer, with my knee in a brace. CeeCee's parents forced her to join after cancelling her Paris trip because she bashed up their car. The members of "The Unbearable Book Club," CeeCee, Jill, Wallis, and I, were all going into eleventh grade A.P. English. But we weren't friends. We were literary prisoners, sweating, reading classics, and hanging out at the pool. If you want to find out how membership in a book club can end up with a person being dead, you can probably look us up under mother-daughter literary catastrophe. Or open this book and read my essay, which I'll turn in when I go back to school.

Oh man guys, it was my first full week at the new job and I am soooo wiped! I love it so much. It is kind of my dream to work with children and young adults. I have so many storytime and program ideas going through my head that I have several lists already on my computer. Library week in April is pretty much planned for my storytime and my Baby Fun Times for the whole month of March are planned and done. Sorry about this tangent!

Onward to Delaware for the YA reading challenge.  This book has an interesting concept, from someone who is in a book club (reminder to self to actually read the book for this month in between books). That said…uh…I don’t know what to think about this book. It seems to fall flat and the characters do not seem to really change or grow. Adrienne Haus, main protagonist, does not seem to change at all. She is just as crazy as a teenager, terrible with communication and lonely still as in the beginning. We don’t know if the girls at the end are even actual friends. It did not feel like so in the conclusion. Perhaps the girls have a better understanding of one another, but it definitely did not have The Breakfast Club ending I was hoping for.

Now is that bad? Not necessarily because not everything changes, I mean it worked for Seinfeld and Huckleberry Finn. It is probably my preference that characters grow or change. That’s how I get interested in stories. People don’t always change of course, even with the events that occurred.  I just felt that the characters were not real.  The characters seemed to be extremes in the stereotypical high school personas. CeeCee the popular girl was completely crazy and unruly, Jill as the overachiever, Wallis as the weird outsider, and Adrienne as the middle, blander persona. ALL were extreme. I wouldn’t say it was unrelatable, just didn’t feel…real.  I mean yes in my high school these personas existed, but not the degree that these girls.

This novel could be a good addition to a library’s young adult selection. It would be a good teen summer read or joke YA Book Club choice, but if you have budget woes, I wouldn’t. There are other summer books that did a better job at captivating the audience.

That’s eight down, 42 more to go!

Connecticut: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Book review via Amazon.com. “One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself? 

So, a quick note. I started this blog thinking I would be unemployed for an indefinite amount of time. Welp my peeps, I am now working again in Children’s Services at my local library and am super psyched. I get to read to babies and promote library services for children! What this means is that this blog could potentially be more sporadic than I would have hoped, but I will still do my best.

Now we travel to Connecticut for my YA reading challenge.  If you read my post on Colorado, then you know about my feelings on romance. I like it as an element or plot point, but not the central focus. As luck would have it, “My Life Next Door” just so happens to be very much a romance. There are other situations involved, such as family relations, college prep, friendships, soul searching, and even politics, but the romance between Jase and Samantha is pivotal.

Though my feelings on romance novels are strong, I will say that this was a good read. It was definitely realistic with teens and sex which is appreciated. Some teen romance novels tend to suppress this and not like to talk about it. Looking at you Stephanie Meyer, the only time I actually felt bad for Bella Swan. This is probably because there is potential for backlash and heavy criticism from the public in regards to teens and sex. It was just nice to see an author address feelings teens have and the uneasiness that comes in talking about sexual feelings. Samantha and Jase’s awkward discussion about virginity and the next step felt like….hmm what word…oh yeah relatable. Samantha’s feelings towards Jase were written well and the growth she experiences is refreshing.

I think I appreciate this romance because it reminds me of another favorite YA Author, Sarah Dessen. She will be my feature when I get to my home state of North Cakalakka (North Carolina). Dessen writes characters that experience very similar situations. Now, many of Dessen’s characters deal with additional problems than teen love, but in a good portion of them, girl and boy getting together always happens.

I have to admit the past few books have been a little too much with the romance and googly eyes. Maybe the next few will change up a bit. That’s seven down, 43 more to go!