FINALLY! Illinois: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Review via Amazon. In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

SPOILERS BE AHEAD! Finally! I have read Divergent, the Illinois selection from the United States of YA via Epic Reads. I read it in the course of three days, pretty much devouring it.  It was as good as everyone said it would be and is the perfect series for all you Hunger Games fans. A strong female character, dystopian America, crazy government conspiracy, and a weird theme of teenagers beating off one another are just some of the themes going on.

I first want to talk about Beatrice.  Oh the relatability. The faction decision is extremely relevant to teenagers. Where will you go? Who will you become? Where will you fit in? These questions constantly plague teenagers and in Divergent those questions come quite literally as Beatrice decides her faction/future. Whatever you choose it is for life and not only that, but you must leave your family behind and assimilate to the characteristics of that faction.

After weighing the five options that contain many of these questions, Beatrice leaves her family of selflessness to join the faction of bravery, Dauntless. To become an integral part of the faction, Beatrice (now Tris) goes through combat training and mental simulations to turn her into a badass mindless soldier.  The thing about Tris is that she is Divergent, meaning she fits in or doesn’t quite fit in with all factions and can easily manipulate the simulations.  Tris’ obstacles are easy to relate to, especially in the initiation stage, which is pretty much a high school/college setting. She is discovering who her friends are and falling for boys, as well as finding herself. In addition, she is going through training and competing with students for top ranks. That is pretty much high school right?

Still, forewarn this is a solid YA book, which means there are some eye rolls in the cheese department. (SPOILER) The fact that one of Tris’ seven greatest fears is intimacy or sex with Four made me laugh and eye roll at the same time.  It also made me laugh how she decided to get over her fear, which was to pretty much just have sex with Four.  Other little things like that made me realize that this book was not necessarily targeted to my age demographic.  That being said, all libraries with a YA collection will/should get this series. It has a movie coming out and is part of the hot genre-of-the-moment dystopia/survival stories.

The only problem is that I have to wait to read Insurgent for a little bit. I have a few more books I need to read first. Plus, if I read Insurgent now, I would have to wait til October for Allegiant and that could be way too long, so I better space this out ;)

Well that is 13 down, 37 more to go!

Audiobook Awesomeness: Zombies VS Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

It’s time to decide: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn? A must-have anthology with contributions from bestselling YA authors is now available in paperback!

It’s a question as old as time itself: Which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? This all-original, tongue-in-cheek anthology edited by Holly Black (Team Unicorn) and Justine Larbalestier (Team Zombie), makes strong arguments for both sides in the form of  spectacular short stories. Contributors include bestselling authors Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan.

Discover how unicorns use their powers for evil, why zombies aren’t always the enemy, and much more in this creative, laugh-out-loud collection that will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

I have to admit that when I stumbled upon this audiobook in my local library, I laughed at how incredibly cheesy it would be.  I was picturing in my mind a story much like Freddy vs. Jason or Alien vs. Predator, two urban legend beings fighting it out in horrible movie plot fashion. Before choosing it as my next audiobook, I researched it and found that it was developed as an anthology or short story collection.

The two authors, Black and Larbalestier, have had this argument for years about which creature is better. Through this anthology their goal is to persuade the audience to choose which creature is dominant in literature. To do this, they have brought on board several prominent YA authors to write stories for each favorite creature.

After considering a collection of short stories as an audiobook, I decided to borrow it (ah what the hell, let’s do it). After listening to the 10 discs and 11 stories, I have to say I rather enjoyed the stories. There were stories of strange unicorn powers and stories of the ultimate post zombie-apocalypse. Even each narrator performed excellently to the written story. My one complaint is that there was not a story where we had a battle of brain-eating zombies and magical unicorns.

I do think that this anthology should be considered with caution. There were definite language (not something I particularly notice or care, even for teens) and sexual situations. The sexual situations are what could be a concern to most libraries. There was bestiality, sexual overture, and multiple homosexual situations and though this would not bother adults, I know a lot of parents who would not want their young teen reading or listening to these situations.  This one is clearly for high schoolers.

To finish up this audiobook awesomeness, I think a great idea would be to compare my favorites in a list here. Am I Team Zombie or Team Unicorn? I can't answer that just yet.

Unicorn Stories

• My favorite out of the unicorn stories was The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn by Diana Peterfreund. This story kept me engaged throughout my 40 minute car ride. A young teen adopts a baby unicorn, which in this universe eats humans (hmmm zombie-unicorn mix). Even though a unicorn killed her cousins, she begins to love her unicorn like a pet. It was cheesy, loveable, and all sorts of fun. I even appreciated Peterfreund’s explanation of the return of the unicorn through DNA cloning, otherwise known as the Jurassic Park method.  
• The next favorite was Meg Cabot’s Princess Prettypants. I don’t even know why, in theory, this story is way too silly that I could have thought it interesting. Yet, I enjoyed it. The main character receives a gift unicorn on her birthday which leads to a night full of shenanigans (main character’s name is escaping me, crap!). She was relatable and I found her connection with her pet unicorn to be hilarious.

 Zombie Stories

• Out of the zombie stories, I enjoyed Alaya Dawn Johnson’s Love Will Tear Us Apart the most. Love through the eyes of a zombie, which is practically Warm Bodies. I know parents would be afraid of the boy-boy relationship, but I thought it was endearing and beautifully written. Also, I want to know what happens to the couple after the escape from Jack’s dad.
• The other zombie story I enjoyed was The Children of the Revolution by Maureen Johnson. A young college girl works abroad in England on a farm that turns out to be a major slave labor operation. She is desperate to leave so she takes a nanny job for an actress with “odd” children. I for some reason could not help but laugh at this story. The actress’ “religion” clearly references Scientology and the writing at the end done in a zombie voice made me laugh.

Preschool Storytime: Me and My Teddy Bear

This was a special storytime. I asked all the children and parents to remember to bring teddy bears or a favorite toy to share with during storytime. I used a bear puppet for my companion and I held it while reading and singing with the kids. They seemed to enjoy this. This was a lot of fun to do and I can’t wait to do it again! The children and parents had a great time singing and were happy to snuggle up while we watched a movie.

Opening: The more we get together

Just a nice opening. I felt everyone would enjoy a little song with their teddy bears.

Book: Teddy Bear’s Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy

I actually went through and memorized the words to this one. Then once everyone was settled, I sang it the entire time. It has been in my head for weeks as a result. The kids were respectful and let me sing through the entire book.

Fingerplay: A bear eats honey

A bear eats honey (pretend to eat)

He thinks it’s yummy

In his tummy (rub tummy)

But the bees don’t think it’s funny!

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz! (make buzzing noise)

This was fun to do. The kids loved buzzing around like bees and acting like they were eating honey. I am going to try this one with the baby class and see if they like it too.

Book: Bears on Chairs by Shirley Parenteau

I felt this one was rather long, but had a great moral lesson about sharing. Luckily, the kids were respectful and listened to the story. They enjoyed the big brown bear at the end getting allowed to sit on the chairs.

Song: Teddy Bear Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, reach up high

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the sky

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, jump up now!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, take a bow

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, find your nose

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, grab your toes

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch your knees

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, sit down please

This one was fun. I held my puppet bear and did all the moves and the kids joined in with their bears. It was also the perfect lead in to read the next story

Book: Best Bear by Emma Dodd.

I LOVE this book! I love Emma Dodd in general. The kids also liked this book and were very attentive.

Motion: If you're a bear and you know it
If you’re a panda and you know it clap your paws. If you're a panda and you know it clap your paws. If you're a panda and you know it and you really want to show it. If you're a panda and you know it clap your paws.
...If you’re a polar bear and you know it show your teeth, 
...If you’re a grizzly and you know it growl like this

The kids loved the growling. We made lots of noise, hopefully not disturbing other patrons outside the storytime room.

Movie: Goldilocks and the Three Bears (James Marshall version) 8 minutes

A great movie to show and have fun sharing with our bears. I watched with them and sat with my bear too.

Idaho: Deadline by Chris Crutcher

How can a pint-sized, smart-ass eighteen-year-old make his mark on the world from Nowheresville, Idaho—especially when he only has one year left to do it? When Ben Wolf learns his senior year of high school will be his last year, period, he is determined to go out in a blaze of glory.

That means not letting anyone know about his diagnosis. It means trying out for the football team. It means giving his close-minded civics teacher a daily migraine. It means going for the amazingly perfect, fascinating Dallas Suzuki.

But living with a secret isn't easy . . . What will Ben do when he realizes he isn't the only person who's keeping one?

It is time for Idaho on the Reading Across America challenge. Honestly, I have mixed feelings on the book. With these feelings I decided to scope out Goodreads for some reviews to see what other readers thought. On the most part, readers enjoyed the book, but there were some mixed reviews as well.

Some of the reviews said the book was geared too much towards teenage boys or that the book was too preachy. I agree that the book is geared pretty heavily towards boys as the football scenes were detailed and just a little too lengthy. What I don’t understand is why that is a bad thing? The reviewer clearly meant that to be a negative point of the book.  Presently, most fiction in the young adult genre is written for teenage girls. Twilight, Matched series, and paranormal romances in general are very much geared towards teenage girls. Why is a book geared towards boys bad? That being said as a female, Deadline really didn’t feel like it worked for me on a personal reading level.

BUT, I am not reading these books just for personal enjoyment. This is to become more familiar and knowledgeable with young adult reads.  You know, be a better children’s librarian! This will require to read things that I may not personally relate to or enjoy.  The best thing I think I could do to continue this book’s particular discussion is to do a good and bad list.

Good:

• Main character, Ben Wolf, had great development and is a protagonist you could really go for. His thought process dealing with death and his change of heart in regards to his brother, Cody, and crush, Dallas Suzuki. Ben is one that readers will cheer for. A diminutive, smart ass 18 year old with nothing to lose? Dangerously awesome sauce.
• Relatability. If I were faced with the situation that is presented to Ben, I would probably have a similar sentiment.  Live my life to the fullest extent? Check. Confess my love for my crush? Check. Find a way to leave my legacy? Check.  This situation is not pleasant of course, but a character being relatable despite imminent death is pretty impressive.
• The writing.  Funny and witty, perfect voice of our smart ass hero!

Bad:

• Secondary characters were rather flat. The town drunk, Rudy McCoy, was the closest to being well developed, but he ended up just being disturbing instead.  The brother, Cody, seemed a little too cool about his brother dying.  In fact, besides Dallas and his mother, I think everyone seemed a little too cool about Ben dying.  
• The football talk did seem a little overdone. Most of the first half of the book seemed obsessed with discussing football strategy and giving play-by-plays of the big game. I get it Crutcher, you love your sports and athletic short stories, but those shouldn’t take up most of the book, when there is so much more to discuss.
• Definitely preachy in some respects. This was made apparent when Ben combated his teacher. Now I am not saying the teacher was in the right, in fact the teacher was portrayed as a real D-Bag. Racism and bigorty, sadly enough, are still relevant to current events, but Malcolm X is not. What's sad is that there are other examples of bigorty that are far more current. That being said, the whole Malcolm X plot just felt like it was getting out of hand.
• The ending felt rushed. Even though Dallas clearly had issues with Ben. She just seemed to magically resolve her issues to say good bye.  It just felt like everything else was secondary to the plot after football season.

Well that is 12 down, 38 more to go!

Audiobook Awesomeness: Persuasion and Wuthering Heights

Ah 18^th Century classics. Most students will come across these authors in their academic tenure as both authors have cult followings as well as haters. I love Jane Austen’s works, but Wuthering Heights always caused me problems. I would try to read it (and have tried several times), but for some reason about 30 pages into it I could not continue. If you haven’t yet, please check out my post on chronic non-finishing.

Now in terms of an audiobook, I loved listening to both these classics. The narrators did an excellent job with the expressions, especially Wuthering Heights. Her version of Heathcliff was evil and ferocious and I loved it. I found myself laughing at little jokes and appalled by Catherine and Heathcliff’s antics.

I am happy that I have accomplished the story of Wuthering Heights, but I do not see the obsession. I took a class titled “Victorian Couples” my freshman year of college and many of my colleagues loved the Brontes. They always raved about their love story. I can now officially say...I don't understand why. Heathcliff and Catherine are awful people and pretty much destroy everyone’s lives around them. The embarrassing moments of Heathcliff’s childhood and constant humiliation would lead him to do the crazy, twisted things he did understandably. However, his revenge just had no end.  At some point he just needed to build a bridge and get over it. Everyone who had ruined Heathcliff’s childhood died and he still continued his d-bag ways.

On to Persuasion. The audiobook was done quite well, though I think I would have preferred a female narrator. For some reason a lady narrator does a better job at male voices, whereas the male narrator of Persuasion sounded hilarious doing female characters. If you ever get a chance, you all should listen to the Harry Potter series on audiobook. Jim Dale's Hermione is quite laughable. 

I feel that audiobooks can assist reluctant readers, especially teens. I know I said this in my previous Audiobook Awesomeness post.  This can easily be connected with teens and classics. Let’s face it, most teens (again probably none of us who read this blog) can’t stand the books our English teachers force us to read in school. Kafka was my nemesis and I still cannot tell you the point of Heart of Darkness. Suck it Conrad! Perhaps my readings of these classics would have been better if I could have listened to them as audiobooks.

If time permits, I would love to explore graphic novels as a medium for academic study. Some of us need more visual stimulation and graphic novels can provide a complex storyline and keep teens engaged.

Preschool Storytime: It’s the Final Countdown!

I know two posts in one day, what’s going on here?! I had my storytime this week and I went with the theme of counting. Just to jump ahead, this was the most successful storytime I have ever had. Kids friggin love counting. If you are ever stuck with coming up with a theme, just do numbers. I was afraid the kids would get so sick if numbers by the end, but no problem at all. They were quiet and attentive as well as participatory in my songs. Here is the guide I used for my storytime!

Opening Motion: Inside the Space Shuttle (squat down to the ground)

                Just enough room (squeeze self closer)

                Here comes the countdown

                5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (hold up fingers and kids count with you) 
                …ZOOM (jump straight up)
This was a lot of fun to do. It was a great way to start off the counting storytime and everyone loved shooting up into the air.

Book: Ten in the Bed

This book was fun to read, especially if you know the song. The kids thought the different animal characters were a little strange. When the book says "The ballerina fell out of the bed" they all had confused looks. That being said, they were reading with me and were perfectly attentive.

Flannel board: 5 green and speckled frogs

Kids love counting. I will say it again; LOVE counting. The board was a lot of fun to use, so I am glad they enjoyed it. 

Book: One Duck Stuck

This book was rather long, but the kids enjoyed it. 

Song: This old man (1-5)

Easy Peezy, the kids did this one with me and had no problems learning the motions. I kept to just doing 1-5 as 1-10 is just too long for some of the kids.

Motion: 5 Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree

The winner of the session was this song. The kids LOVED snatching the monkey out of the tree. They were clapping throughout the rest of storytime.

Book: Big Fat Hen

I love this book and I used it as a way to lead into actually singing 1,2 Buckle My Shoe. I told the children to guess what song we would be doing next. They got it right away. Perfectly done!

Song: 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe with actions

The book was a perfect lead in to this song.

Movie: Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 (6 mins.)

All I had to ask was, “Has anyone heard of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom?” and the kids watched the whole thing no problems. In fact they were mad when they went to our ABC-123 shelf and neither book was there. 

My next storytime is in two weeks and it will be a special one. I can't wait to tell you guys all about it! Be on the look out for my post on Audiobook Awesomeness in the next few days.