The Fairy Tale Reform School's mission is to turn wicked delinquents and former villains into future heroes. An interesting idea, and an unusual mission when you consider the staff is made up of some of the worst villains of all time. Have they changed enough to be good role models for the students that are sent to the Fairy Tale Reform School? Well, you might find out, if you read Flunked by Jen Calonita. Gilly has been sentenced to three months at the Reform School for being a pretty good thief, but getting caught. Will the school turn her into a super hero, or will they just teach her how to be a better thief? What is the real mission of the Fairy Tale Reform School? This series is a fun and entertaining look at the training of a fairy.
Have you ever wondered what happened to the bad guys in all the fairy tales? Where did the wicked stepmother disappear to? Are they locked up in some dungeon for the rest of their days? Well, this series of books may shed some light on those questions.
The Fairy Tale Reform School's mission is to turn wicked delinquents and former villains into future heroes. An interesting idea, and an unusual mission when you consider the staff is made up of some of the worst villains of all time. Have they changed enough to be good role models for the students that are sent to the Fairy Tale Reform School? Well, you might find out, if you read Flunked by Jen Calonita. Gilly has been sentenced to three months at the Reform School for being a pretty good thief, but getting caught. Will the school turn her into a super hero, or will they just teach her how to be a better thief? What is the real mission of the Fairy Tale Reform School? This series is a fun and entertaining look at the training of a fairy.
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We are a little over two weeks into the New Year and many of us have taken a few minutes to reflect on our lives and what we might want to change. This can be a really good thing as we evaluate and add positive changes. It can also be destructive if when we look at ourselves, all we are able to do is criticize what we see. That's part of the premise behind the two books that I want to introduce today.
Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green is the story of her life as she struggled with self-esteem and the journey of eating disorders. She is transparent in sharing the events and thoughts that contributed to how she though others saw her and how she saw herself. Katie Green has not only shared her life in words, but also in pictures as Lighter Than My Shadow is a graphic novel. This is an important addition to literature as the author presents a very personal subject in a format that opens the eyes of the reader. Another book about self-image is Someone to Love by Melissa de la Cruz. Liv Blakely has to be concerned about what people think about her. Or, at least, she thinks she does. Her father is running for governor and this has put her into the critical eye of everyone. So, when she looks at herself, she can't help but see herself through everyone else's eyes; and she finds herself falling far short of perfection. This is a book about learning to accept and love ourselves the way we are. Video games are here to stay. Whether it be Minecraft and kids playing together at the library, or Call of Duty played with someone across the world, video games will continue to have a following. So, it is not surprising to see gaming become a story line within literature.
Warcross by Marie Lu is an example of the virtual world taking a culture by storm. Warcross is the video game that everyone wants to play. It is the next step in virtual reality as the playing field is superimposed over the physical world. So, your own world is enhanced by the virtual world. Observers can also enter the game and watch the players, but the players can not see them. So, when Emika Chen reaches into a championship game and disrupts the play, her world is turned upside down. Another example of technology taking over is The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber. In Sofi's world, cameras watch every move. Everything you do is recorded and tracked. Sofi is one of those watching and monitoring the game. They claim to monitor the players for their protection, but Sofi knows that she is the only one who really cares about her brother. So, when there is an explosion, Sofi feels helpless to protect her brother. The Book Jumper by Mechthild Glaser sounds like a video game, but there is no video screen. A book jumper is someone who can jump into the story on the page. For Amy, this is a new power, and it is exciting to be able to interact with the characters in the book. This sounds like virtual reality, but for Amy, her adventures are real, and the dangers exist. As she jumps into books, she finds that someone is stealing from the stories and she is determined to uncover the culprit. We make history every day. Sometimes that history is just a part of our normal routine. Sometimes it is life changing. We have some new books on the non-fiction shelf about women who have made history. This was brought into the limelight by the book, and then the movie, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. The story continues in the book Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA by Sue Bradford Edwards. This was a part of history that I knew very little about. It is amazing what these women contributed to the early space programs.
Women's contributions to history are seen in other ways too. Women With Wings: Women Pilots of World War II by Shannon Baker Moore and The Belles of Baseball: The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League by Nel Yomtov are two examples of women influencing history. So, if you're looking for something different to read, and you love history, you might try one of these books. |
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AuthorHi! I'm Sonya, the Young Adult Librarian at Algona Public Library. I'll be sharing about YA books - old and new. Archives
June 2022
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