My Savior

. . .is NoveList K-8.  The original NoveList also has a section for tween and teen literature.  It's a great place to go to search for books when a patron asks for books based on a general theme, or when they like a certain book and want other books from a similar genre.  This is also a great place to go for "If You Like This Title Try These Books . . ." lists.  It's also helpful for staying current on the most recent titles and trends shaking up the YA literature world.  One of my favorite parts in the Awards category, where different book awards are listed from every state.  This is a fun way to find books that have received recognition, but may be a little more under the radar than books receiving national book awards.  If you don't want to be bombarded with the price listings and commercialism of the big box book store websites, NoveList is the place to receive the same information, plus much more.

Many public library websites offer NoveList K-8 and NoveList for anyone with a library card number for that particular library system.

Lions and Dinosaurs and Sharks, Oi Vey!

Encyclopedia Prehistorica series (Dinosaurs; Mega-Beasts; Sharks and Other Sea Monsters) by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart.  Candlewick.  2006.

Pop-up books are a major reason why printed text is still relevant.  I mean, my blog can do many things, play music, link to other websites, show film footage, let anyone with a computer and internet connection know my thoughts about tween literature, but it cannot do what the image above demonstrates, not yet at least.  Really, is there anything better than the sound of cardboard scratching together to create a paper sculpture when you open the page of a pop-up book?  A lot of tweens who come into the Children's Room absolutely love it.  It's the one time I hear older tween squeal with delight, that and when they get to watch a Justin Bieber video after a long day at school.

The first time a couple of sixth graders asked me about our pop-up book collection I was pleasantly surprised and a little confused.  Weren't pop-up books for little kids?  After handing over one of the Enclopedia Prehistoria books and watching these tweens go off to a corner to entertain themselves with 3D illustrations of seemingly mythical creatures that happen to actually be real (much better than the second grader who wanted books on dragons the other day; when I showed him the dragon section explained that he wanted photographs of dragons, and was not satisfied with the dinosaur section or my status as a nonbeliever) I realized that my concept of pop-up books being for small children was messed up.  Little kids rip up pop-up books.  Tweens appreciate the tangible object of something that took time and energy and is tucked away under a book cover like a secret.

I love the discreet covers for the books in this series, like field journals from the Victorian era.  It's a way for a tween to tote around their own personal natural history museum.

Appropriate for tweens of all ages.
Not listed on the AR website.  

Cuddle Up; Review: The Cupid Chronicles

The Cupid Chronicles (The Wedding Planner's Daughter #2) by Coleen Murtagh Paratore.  Aladdin.
2008.

The Cupid Chronicles the second book in The Wedding Planner's Daughter series feels like the tween cozy mystery, minus the mystery.  I want to visit Cape Cod and hang out with these people with a few weeks, and in some ways, isn't a book that accomplishes that desire even better?  I don't have to pack or spend the money, I just open the book and am transported to Bramble.

Thirteen year old Willa, the series's main character, does have her share of problems-her crush on Joey, trying to save the town library (I loved that part!), and getting along with her new dad, but she's a problem solver and is good at asking for advice in order to formulate successful plans.  In this book, the story revolves around trying to save the library and the Midwinter's Night Ball that takes place in a barn, yes a barn, rather than your typical stinky gym.  The sense of community fostered throughout the story sends a message about the importance of altruism without being preachy.  The Shakespeare quotes at the start of each chapter are fun.  Also, this is the only book from the series I have read.  It's the second book, but I didn't feel lost in terms of plot line and characters.  I look forward to reading the other books from the series.

Appropriate for middle school girls.
ATOS book level: 3.8
AR Book Points: 5.0

Holding My Enemies Closer

A Spoon Full of Sugar

Okay, Accelerated Reader isn't my enemy exactly, but it does make me cringe when I watch kids put down an AMAZING book because it doesn't fall within their AR or Lexile score (even though I have to admit, I get all fluttery inside when I select the "Librarian" option on the AR site's main page, it's like a confirmation, "Why yes, I am a librarian.  It makes something inside me sing).  There are also the parents who come into the library for their kids and ask me where the "2nd grade books are" and are annoyed/bemused/confussed that the Children's Room doesn't divide the children's collection up by grade level.  I know they want the best for their kids, understandable, but can't we foster the love of reading for the sake of reading rather than for the sake of a grade?  I guess no.  The kids who like to read are going to read anyway and everyone else feels judged based on their AR score.

The flip side is the point made by Teri S. Lesesne in Naked Reading about reluctant readers enjoying magazines, and how magazines are a valid form of reading, that it's just important that these tweens are reading in the first place. 

Well, if giving good books that I review on this site AR scores will hypothetically make these titles more accessible to students who are reading to meet a quota, I might as well help them out with that by giving them book titles that are worth reading.

Then again, here's an essay I completely agree with. 

She's Just so Gosh Darn Cute, and She Rips

Photo by Steve Sherman

In a 2008 interview with Surfing magazine (that I can't seem to find online), a 20 year old Stephanie Gilmore talked about how parents would come up to her and thank her, usually because these parents' daughters had exchanged their Miley Cyrus posters for posters of Gilmore.  She also talked about all she had accomplished, and the opportunities surfing had given her, except there was one thing, she'd never been on a date.  Interviewer Travis Ferre (who is also the magazine's editor) decided to make the interview into a "date" so Gilmore could also knock that off her to-do list.



It was a cool interview, especially in a magazine that is, let's face it, totally sexist.  Also, Gilmore is a great role model.  She seems comfortable in her own skin while feeling out a world filled with fame a success.  She's the kind of girl you'd want to hang out in the lineup with.



Here's a newer interview with Gilmore.

Courtesy: AFP

Tween Knitter

Teen Knitting Club: Chill Out and Knit by Jennifer Wenger, Carol Abrams, and Maureen Lasher.  Photographs by Liz Banfield.  Artisan.  2004.

Got to love a good hobby.  A big part about learning how to knit is knowing your learning style.  Visual learners can look up how-to videos on YouTube:

Or if you're a more kinesthetic learner, there is nothing like a knowledgeable grandma, or a surrogate grandma at your local knitting club.  Also, knitting isn't just for girls.  In Sweden, everyone learns to knit, boys and girls, in the third grade.  Maybe they're onto something, teaching newly minted tweens how to make cool stuff out of yarn.

TKC is great because it demystifies knitting and provides patterns that are relevant to tweens and teens.  Nothing too difficult.  I think the headbands are a good place to start.  The project leads to faster results then the typical first project scarf, even though the there are plenty of scarf patterns in the book, too.  Trust me, when it comes to knitting, fast satisfaction is a great thing when you're first starting out.  There's actually a sweater pattern in the book I've been meaning to try, it's so hard to find a simple straight forward sweater pattern these days.

Also, the photographs are warm and friendly.  I want to make a cup of tea, grab my knitting bag and go sit with these tweens, ask them how their days were at school while I help them cast on and such.

Girls Who Play with Boys

Kathy Kohner, the real life Gidget

{Tomboy Style}

There has to be a paper written about the cultural significance of labels tweens are given today somewhere out there, right?  This post is going to keep it pretty surface level for now, just making some observations.

Ginger Rogers

Sometimes it's an identity a tween girl takes on by herself, or sometimes she finds herself labeled this cliche, or sometimes she just gets stuck with a bunch of boys- a lot.  You can't help it if you have brothers and rather play sports with the boys at recess because all that catch you played in the yard for years really shouldn't go to waste.  Not that having lots of male relatives is a prerequisite for being a tomboy, but there is a certain attitude many times taken by girls without sisters.  We look over the fence to households filled with girls and wonder what we're missing out on.  Articles like this one don't help, either.

Lee Miller, hanging out in Hitler's bathtub

Though, there's something to be said for tomboys.   A certain sixth grade girl with a bunch of boy cousins who frequent the library quite often comes to mind.  She is the exception when it comes to the double standard that tween boys are allowed to wander free of adult supervision in this neighborhood, but girls are always accompanied by an adult.  Instead, she gets a pack of boys.  She's quite fierce in a beautiful way; in her t-shirt and jeans, never a dress, since it's be harder to keep up with the pack.  She stands up a little straighter, speaks a little louder, and never giggles, but she will laugh out loud when one of her cousins tells a joke and be the first to tell them when they're being stupid.  She also likes to come up to the reference desk for girl talk, or just to sit and hang out while I work, cause you know, us tomboys need to stick together.

Chan Marshall being sassy on the Tomboy Style blog:

Cat Power Profile from WACO on Vimeo.