Story Time Fridays: Boys + Books = Awesome!

Since I’m actually not doing story time this week because I’m at Dragon*Con (YAY!), I can’t really do a story time review. Shame on me, I know, but one of my awesome co-workers is doing it instead on cookies. Yes. Cookies. Not fair. The kids are never going to want me and my cookie-less story times ever again... Anyways, I still wanted to post something about story times, so I thought about what possible story times I could do in the future. The particular story time that I came up with would be good for a group of boys, rowdy, “tough,” funny boys. Girls can definitely enjoy these books, too, they’re not gender exclusive, but they have a particular appeal to boys.

Spotlight On: YA Lit at Dragon*Con

 

That’s right, it’s that time of year again! It’s that weekend when every die-hard geek/nerd/techhead on the East Coast (and from places far beyond) makes their yearly pilgrimage to Atlanta, Georgia, for Labor Day Weekend, aka Dragon*Con. There are costume contests, panels with authors/actors/writers/scientists/artists and more, expositions, art displays, vendor stalls galore and general all-around geekery.

Some use D*C as a weekend to party, others use it as a time to meet friends, still others use it as a chance to get updated on the sci-fi/fantasy/nerd culture in general. Personally, I use it as a weekend to get those coveted updates, fangirl over my favorite actors and shows and books and a chance to learn new things, like book information or crafting techniques.

One neat track (events in the same genre or subject) is the Young Adult Literature track. This track is all about YA books and basically everything that surrounds them. So. Awesome. If you’re a lover of teen novels, this is the track for you at D*C! There is going to focuses on current popular books, such as The Hunger Games—From Page to Screen panel at 5:30 pm on Friday, as well as less mainstream panels, like Under the Covers, a panel on cover art at 11:30 am on Saturday. 

YA authors will be there at some of panels; these authors include Diana Peterfreund (Rampant and For Darkness Shows the Stars), Jonathan Maberry (Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay) and C.J. Redwine (Defiance). Used to love Reading Rainbow? LeVar Burton, the host of Reading Rainbow, is going to be there on Sunday at 2:30 pm to talk about it! The YA Lit track is also throwing their annual Yule Ball (a nod to Harry Potter) on Sunday at 8:30 pm. If you’re going to Dragon*Con and have a smidge of interest in YA, definitely check out one of the YA track panels.

For more information and updates, check out the links below:

Dragon*Con YA Lit Blurb

YA Lit Dragon*Con Blog

Dragon*Con Pocket Program

Looking Forward to: Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Title: Defiance

Author: C.J. Redwine
Publisher:  Balzer + Bray

ISBN: 9780062117182

Amazon Link: HERE

PUBLISHING DATE: August 28, 2012

So, I am super stoked for C.J. Redwine’s upcoming novel, Defiance. If you haven’t red the summary yet, go forth to Amazon or yabookscentral.com and find it. It seems like the oppressive, male-dominated regime has women stuck in domestic roles, but at least one girl, Rachel Adams, isn’t having any of it. In secret, she’s learned survival and combat skills and seems set up to be a fantastic heroine. Oh, and there’s this guy named Logan…already excited about him. The cover art is gorgeous, and it definitely caught my eye while I was surfing Amazon for new titles for the library a month or so ago.

Redwine is an awesome reviewer on the Young Adult Books Central website, and early reviews of the book have me itching to get my hands on a copy. So keep an eye out for Defiance in bookstores and on online retail sites, I think it’s going to be a new winner in the YA fiction world! It’s on order for the Moore County Library, and it should be coming in soon. Hopefully this week. Please, mail service?

Story Time Fridays: Crazy Critters Doing Silly Stuff

I guess you could say that story time today was a very early introduction to personification. The theme today was basically “Animals Doing Crazy Things,” meaning animals doing things that animals don’t normally do. Yes, I know, I was sort of stretching it, but I liked the there books I picked out, and that was the common theme between the three of them.