Warning Creepy Notebooks May Be Dangerous

Gone Too Far
Natalie D. Richards
Release date: January 6th 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Keeping secrets ruined her life. But the truth might just kill her.

Piper Woods can't wait for the purgatory of senior year to end. She skirts the fringes of high school like a pro until the morning she finds a notebook with mutilated photographs and a list of student sins. She's sure the book is too gruesome to be true, until pretty, popular Stella dies after a sex-tape goes viral. Everyone's sure it's suicide, but Piper remembers Stella's name from the book and begins to suspect something much worse.

Drowning in secrets she doesn't want to keep, Piper's fears are confirmed when she receives an anonymous text message daring her to make things right. All she needs to do is choose a name, the name of someone who deserves to be punished...

Gone Too Far is a really good book. I found it to be thrilling and a real page turner. Piper Woods was a very compelling character and I felt like I knew her really well by the end of the book. While Piper grappled with many issues that teens usually do, this novel touches on the deeper ways that teens can bully each other. Piper doesn't realize that if you don't stick up for those that are being bullied, terrible things can happen. When she finds a creepy notebook with strange code names for her fellow classmates she has no idea what she has stumbled upon. After looking through the notebook, she realizes that one of her classmates has transcribed tons of horrible transactions between her classmates. She even finds herself in the notebook, not wanting to believe that someone could be watching everyone at the school so closely. Things heat up when a tragic accident occurs and Piper thinks that she should avenge the girl that has died. This is where the tables start to turn and things get pretty crazy. I didn't want to believe that there was someone out there terrorizing their very own classmates, but in this story that is exactly what is going on. What I did believe about Piper and her character is that she really did care what happened to others and that maybe she didn't really know the people that she was closest to after all and that includes her own parents. I wanted to keep reading this book and never put it down. I read it in one day and found the author to be a very compelling writer. I just couldn't stop reading chapter after chapter. I would recommend this book to all teens and think that it could possibly open up their eyes to what might be going on right in front of their eyes. And, also to never fall for a blackmailer's tricks ever!

Happy Reading to You!

Mrs. Librarian Lady

Reality Scoop - I love Realistic Fiction!

Reality Scoop by Kimberli Buckley

I love Realistic Fiction!
This month I want to take a look at something totally different. Think about this… YA books can actually save lives! Yes, this is an ode to Realistic Fiction that shows us teen tragedy and hard luck circumstances. Whether or not you are someone with excellent grades and no drug record, chances are you know of someone who has struggled in school, struggled with friends and grades, probably smoked, maybe they experimented, maybe they even took risks. And if you didn’t know someone in real life, you knew a fictional character that experienced all of that, and it opened your eyes to hardships in life. That’s right, YA books teach us a lot and they say to us “You’re not alone,” you could also say that YA books mirror reality. And it’s because of this terrifyingly perfect, realistic depiction of teen tragedy that some of the best realistic YA books have been banned.

Realistic Fiction is not only for escapism, but also a place of comfort, a home for those who feel they have nowhere to turn, that no one understands. Many YA authors are successful because their readers respond to realistic depictions of teen issues, such as death, sickness, abuse, or drugs. These kinds of stories aren’t a one-size-fits-all teens, but it can provide a powerful presence for the teens that have experienced some of life’s more difficult events.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48% of teen deaths are caused by unintentional injuries, and 73% of those injuries were from vehicle accidents. 11% of deaths are from suicide, and 6% are from cancer. Through realistic fiction, YA literature allows readers to sympathize with the girl or boy in the back of the classroom, silent and misunderstood, holing up their problems and blaming themselves for sad events that have happened to them. If we can learn about hardship and suffering through a book, then maybe we can begin to understand what it’s like for those that have difficult lives.

Here are a few YA books that respect the intelligence of the reader, move the reader, and accurately portray teen tragedy.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira - When Laurel starts writing letters to dead people for a school assignment she begins to spill about her sister's mysterious death, her mother's departure.

Looking for Alaska by John Green - Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at a private school in Alabama is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.

The Tragedy Paper by Elizabeth LaBan - Duncan gets wrapped up in the tragic tale of Tim Macbeth, a former student who had a clandestine relationship with the wrong girl, and his own ill-fated romance with Daisy.

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley - Cullen's summer is marked by his cousin's death by overdose and his younger brother's sudden disappearance.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher - Sixteen-year-old Gemma is abducted while on vacation with her parents and taken to the Australian outback, where she soon realizes that escape attempts are futile.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - high school student Clay Jenkins receives thirteen cassette tapes recorded from his friend Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night recounting the events leading up to her death.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor - Twelve-year-old Addie tries to cope with her mother's erratic behavior when she and her mother go to live in a small trailer by the railroad tracks

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - A traumatic event near the end of the summer has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak - Ed Kennedy begins receiving mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky - A tale of adolescence whose hero is Charlie, a high school freshman in Pennsylvania. The novel follows Charlie as he is introduced to love, literature and friendships.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton - The struggle of three brothers to stay together after their parent's death and their quest for identity among the conflicting values of their adolescent society.

Happy to Reading to You!

Parkour & murder just how I like it

What We Saw At Night by Jacqueline Mitchard

They sleep during the day, avoiding their greatest enemy: sunlight. When the sun sets and darkness falls, they hit the town. The nighttime world belongs to them. They are Children of Darkness. No, this isn't another young adult novel featuring pointy toothed, blood-sucking teen vampires. Jacquelyn Mitchard's novel What We Saw at Night is about a group of teenagers who suffer from the real world genetic disorder Xeroderma Pigmentosum. XP is a fatal allergy to sunlight. Allie Kim, along with her best friends Rob and Juliet, live in a parallel universe compared to "daytimers," the name they've given to people who don't suffer from XP. Allie wakes up when most people are getting home from school or work. She eats dinner as her breakfast and does her school work from home in the wee hours. And she's in bed by sunrise.
Of course, suffering from XP doesn't mean that Allie and her friends don't go through the same growing pains and angst that other teens their age experience. Allie has had a crush on Rob for as long as she can remember. But Allie can also see that Rob only has eyes for Juliet. Unfortunately for Rob, Juliet clearly couldn't be less interested in him. This creates a typical love triangle among very atypical teens. Then everything changes when Juliet introduces Allie and Rob to Parkour, also known as Freerunning, a stunt-sport that features running and climbing off forest cliffs and tall buildings. It's during one of these nighttime Parkour stunts that Allie stumbles upon what looks like a murder. Or at least that's what she tries to convince Rob and Juliet, who didn't see anything. Did she imagine it? XP can sometimes lead to hallucinations in its more degenerative stages. Could Allie be losing her mind?

As Allie delves deeper into what she saw, she uncovers what might be a larger conspiracy, involving a member of the Tabor family. That's the family of doctors that founded and operate the Tabor Clinic. The clinic is the leading research and treatment center for patients with XP. It is the reason Allie, Rob and Juliet's families all moved to Iron Harbor and it's their best hope for finding a cure to the disease. Not only that, Allie begins to suspect that one of her best friends might be involved in the crime. This revelation could lead to Allie, Juliet and Rob to being in serious danger. What We Saw at Night is an engaging blend of real-world drama involving a life-and-death illness and a whodunit thriller. Imagine John Green's recent "The Fault in Our Stars" in a mashup with a Nancy Drew mystery. plus some amazingmroof jumping and wall scaling.

Mrs. Librarian Lady is a cool cat who loves to read YA books!

Finding Your Way Through Hard Times

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

This month I read the very amazing Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson. The title kind of throws you off a bit because maybe you are wondering what does the knife have to do with it and how does it affect the memory. Well, I can tell you all about that! Anderson is one of my favorite authors because he writes with such honesty and grit. She has bravely touched upon very sensitive topics such as rape, eating disorders, suicide and addiction. In doing so, she has helped build the current landscape of contemporary young adult literature. Anderson writes the hard truth, stirs up the debate and discussion among both fans and objectors, and ultimately has created the long overdue conversations about the real issues teenagers face every day.

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own. Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over?
The Impossible Knife of Memory portrays a growing, complex problem particularly relevant in the United States today: the devastating ripple effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. After five years of being home-schooled on the road with her truck-driver Dad, Andy, a veteran who is tormented by memories of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hayley Kincain finally has a home. But instead of finding a fresh new start her senior year at public school, Hayley is barely getting by. She feels lost and alone in the sea of “normal” students that she refers to as zombies, Hayley never knows if her Dad is having a good day or a bad day, unfortunately until it is too late. He has been drinking so heavily and so much that he goes into rages and then blacks out.
Hayley’s only friend, Gracie, knows Hayley is struggling, but she’s busy with her own problems —Then Hayley meets Finn, a sharp-witted boy who manages to bring out the smart, clever girl others don’t see. But Hayley doesn’t trust Finn enough to share her secrets. In fact, she doesn’t trust anyone — and that’s the problem.
Anderson’s portrayal of a family broken by war, death, divorce and addiction is very honest. “Killing people is easier than it should be but staying alive is even harder.” Andy tells a teen on Veteran’s Day. Despite the heavy subject matter, Anderson’s observations offer very realistic and emotional depth and validation to this story. At the heart of it is a tough yet fragile girl who lives in a world with a rocky foundation beneath her feet that is constantly shifting and the relentless challenge to keep balance has worn her out.
The Impossible Knife of Memory is a beautifully written book. I loved how Anderson describes memories and situations. The relationships are heartbreaking, yet there is hope, and I think that’s what makes this book so emotionally draining. There is so much love and yet there is the knowledge that it might not be enough. The supporting characters in this book are full of drama, and distraction, but ultimately help the story and Hayley to come to a place of peace.

Mrs. Librarian Lady is a cool cat who loves to read YA books!

Love, Laughter & Loss + Forgiveness = Real Life

The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker (named
after John Lennon), bookworm and band
geek, plays second clarinet and spends her
time tucked safely and happily in the shadow
of her fiery sister Bailey. But when Bailey
dies suddenly, Lennie is catapulted to center
stage of her own life—and, despite her
nonexistent history with boys, finds herself
struggling to balance two. Toby was
Bailey’s boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie’s
own. Joe is the new boy in town, a
transplant from Paris whose nearly magical
grin is matched only by his musical talent.
For Lennie, they’re the sun and the moon;
one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the
other comforts her in it. But just like their
celestial counterparts, they can’t collide
without the whole wide world exploding.
I can safely say The Sky is Everywhere
is one of my favorite books ever. I have never
finished a book and felt this emotional before,
last night when I turned the last page I felt like
crying, laughing, writing and running in a field
to nowhere in particular, and all at the same
time. It’s now been almost 12 hours and I can’t
stop thinking about this book!
I wasn’t really looking for a serious book I just
chose this one because it was sitting on the
shelf in the YA room looking a bit lonely. From
start to finish, my heart broke and got glued
back together more than once and I feel like
the cast of characters are now permanently
stuck to my life. The things from this book that
really stuck with me are how close Lennie and
her sister Bailey were, Joe’s eyelashes (bat,
bat, bat), Toby’s sad eyes and Gram’s
garden.

Beautifully written, The Sky is Everywhere
is about loss, grief, pain, healing, hoping and
love. The sudden death of Bailey a vibrant
nineteen-year-old is at the center of the story,
and her family’s struggle to cope is
heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same
time. Bailey and Lennie have been raised by
their grandmother and uncle, as their mother
abandoned them years before. The girls talk
about their mother as if she is on a journey
around the world and she’ll be back someday
to stay. The love stories in this book are
many and multi-layered. They include the
love between sisters, the mother-like love
between grandmother and granddaughter,
and breathtaking head-over-heels first love.
Music and poetry bring together the
instruments of healing for Lennie and her
family in this wonderful story about loss, love
and forgiveness.

Happy Reading To You!!!
Mrs. Librarian Lady

Best Anti-Love Movies According to Mrs. Librarian Lady

Best Anti-Love Movies - These movies will be sure to have you running away from love for sure!

I've been wanting to read this book for months! "No Safety in Numbers" by Dayna Lorentz. I read it yesterday (all in one day!) and it was amazing!! I mean totally off-the-hook-riveting-page turning-can't-put-it-down-amazing! On Dayna Lorentz' website the book was described as "Life As We Knew It meets Lord of the Flies in a mall that looks just like yours" Wow I would describe it as a majorly incredibly scary realistic fiction that keeps you reading because you have to know what happens at a the end! Here's the short of what happens. Someone finds a bomb in the the air filtering system of a huge mall and there is a lock down. The people start going crazy, some die, some fall in love, and there is a shocking discovery at the end! That's all I can say but you have to read this book. Get it from the library and read it today!!!! Here's a review from Kirkus, I get the heeby geebeez just thinking about it!! "When a strange device is discovered in the air ducts of a busy suburban mall, the entire complex is suddenly locked down. No one can leave. No one knows what is going on. At first, there's the novelty of being stuck in a mega mall with free food and a gift certificate. But with each passing day, it becomes harder to ignore the dwindling supplies, inadequate information, and mounting panic. Then people start getting sick. Told from the point of view of two guys and two girls, this is a harrowing look at what can happen under the worst of circumstances, when regular people are faced with impossible choices. Some rise to the occasion. Some don't."

Apocalyptic Dream Team

ALERT! I love this Book!! "Enclave" by Ann Aguirre 2011

"In Deuce’s world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed ‘brat’ has trained into one of three groups–Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.

As a Huntress, her purpose is clear—to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning.

Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn’t like following orders. At first she thinks he’s crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don’t always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling the truth. Her partner confuses her; she’s never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using his knives with feral grace.

As Deuce’s perception shifts, so does the balance in the constant battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat only due to their sheer numbers, show signs of cunning and strategy… but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. Despite imminent disaster, the enclave puts their faith in strictures and sacrifice instead. No matter how she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she’s ever known."

I think this book would be a great movie!

The Final Destiny of Love

“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous and majorly hot plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, "The Fault in Our Stars" is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love. I hear there is already talk of making this book into a movie. One of my recommendations is to make sure that you are reading this book that you have a whole box of tissues nearby because the last quarter of the book is super emotional. I recommend this book to lovers of realistic fiction. It gets the most points I can give it for being dark,emotional,hopeful and stirring. Way to go John Green you did it again!!