If You Liked The Hunger Games...

...you'll love this book. Yes, we've all been using that line a lot lately, and there are (fortunately) quite a few YA books that deserve the comparison. I've been compiling a list, but I just threw it away because I finished a book that REALLY, TRULY will appeal to the same students.

Article 5, by Kristen Simmons, is a mashup of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale (the U.S. is a totalitarian Fundamentalist theocracy), Neal Shusterman's Unwind (teens who don't comply are disposed of) and Cormac McCarthy's The Road (post-apocalyptic quest, where no one can be trusted), all wrapped up in a teen love/survival triangle à la The Hunger Games.

Ember Miller's mother does not accept the Moral Statutes that are enforced by a Taliban-style force known as the Moral Militia. As a single mother, she and Ember are in violation of Article 5 of those statutes, which means they can be targeted for "rehabilitation". Ember has absorbed enough of her mother's revolt to realize that she does not want to become a compliant, subservient "sister", so she looks for a way to escape. When all seems lost, an unlikely savior rescues her, and teaches her how to survive as they strike out to join a rumored Resistance.

Along the way, Ember must struggle with her panic over how her mother must be coping with the same kind of rehabilitation, her buried feelings for the boy-next-door that she misses, her conflicted feelings for the brutal, survival-savvy soldier who helps her, and whether she has the ability to take another's life if necessary to survive.

Like the first Hunger Games, this book ends with enough resolution to satisfy teen fans, yet enough loose ends to fuel sequels - and I sincerely hope they are in the works.

Last Minute News: I'm Presenting!

I'm presenting on QR codes at the ALA 2011 conference Sunday morning. Look for "Pecha Kucha: Teens and Technology" @ 10:30 in rm 394! Please come for a YALSA panel on various ways to use technology to serve teens in your libraries. Check the conference scheduler for all the presenters, topics, and presentations.

If you're interested in more information on using QR codes, there's also a link to my four handouts: QR Code Generators/Readers, Ideas for QR Codes in Libraries, Ideas for QR Codes in School, and Thanks to My PLN (a list of early adopters who have already been exploring creative use of QR's in their libraries).

Teen Read Week and Author

Had a wonderful conclusion to Teen Read Week today, Skyping with Paul Volponi during student lunch hours. Amazing how many students turned out to be writing something themselves!

Teen Read Week

October 17-23 is Teen Read Week. this year's theme: Books with Beat. We'll be holding contests and giving away books, then chatting with a YA author to finish up on Friday!

How to Say Goodbye in Robot

Finished another advance reader from ALA, by a new author, and loved it.

Beatrice claims to have no sense of peoples' feelings. Yet, her claims are sometimes disingenious, as she proceeds to make very empathetic observations. However, her reactions also seem true to teens' lack of understanding of their parents' feelings (even if it seems obvious to adults, reading her descriptions).  Loved it.

Looking for Student Essays

The International Society for Technology in Education's online magazine, Learning & Leading with Technology, is looking for 500-word essays by teens on student use of Facebook, MySpace, and other social networks:

• How important is Facebook/MySpace/texting to you?



• Are your friends on Facebook/MySpace the same as friends you see in person?



• Are you different to your friends when you text them vs. when you're talking in person?



• How does the time you spend texting, or on Facebook or MySpace, affect your development as a person?

ISTE: "Providing leadership and service to improve teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in education."