Teen Tech Week

For Teen Tech Week (March 10-17) we invited teens to write a blog post about their favorite books or genres. One teen couldn't think of what to write, so he shared this poem instead:

I like pie, and I don’t know why

My favorite color is red

I don’t have a favorite book and I don’t know why

I do not like the ticking of clocks and I don’t know why

I like myself and I don’t know why

I don’t have a good word choice 

I like the sound of trains

I like the touch of pillows

-Adam

Georgia Peach Award Winners

Congratulations to the Georgia Peach Award Winners! The Georgia Peach Award is given annually to the best books in young adult literature. The award is unique because the winners are chosen by teens who vote for their favorites. Check out this year's winners:

Winner:

Divergent by Veronica Roth

In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomoly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all. 

Honor Books:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

When Anna's romance-novelist father sends her to an elite American boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school, she reluctantly goes, and meets an amazing boy who becomes her best friend, in spite of the fact that they both want something more. 

 Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

In 1941, fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet guards and sent to Siberia, where her father is sentenced to death in a prison camp while she fights for her life, vowing to honor her family and the thousands like hers by burying her story in a jar on Lithuanian soil. Based on the author's family.

Staff Picks

One of the most talked about books at FCPL this year is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  This very twisted mystery is revealed from the perspectives of both partners in a fatally flawed marriage.  What fascinates me is that their stories couldn’t be more different.

The page-turning story begins when Amy Dunne goes missing exactly five years to the date from the couple’s wedding day.  Instantly, Amy’s husband Nick becomes the prime suspect.  He’s implicated further when her journal comes to light.   Clues to a romantic scavenger hunt -- Amy's anniversary surprise for Nick -- raise the stakes of the story and raise more suspicions.

Nick’s definitely no angel but he’s not the only tormentor in this nasty psychological thriller.   If you enjoy a diabolical plot and characters you love to hate, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn will keep you guessing until the very last twist!


Another book that’s been a topic of much discussion at FCPL is Defending Jacob by William Landay. 

Assistant District Attorney, Andy Barber walks a fine line between protecting his family and keeping his integrity when his only son Jacob is accused of the senseless murder of a classmate.  Parents of middle school students will find this legal thriller especially gut-wrenching as long-held secrets come to light and relationships, careers and four parents’ hopes and dreams for their sons are tragically altered.

Defending Jacob is a compelling story of very hard choices and a recent selection of FCPL's Book Sleuths book club.

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist