The book that holds the Guinness record for longest novel is The Remeberance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, at 1.5 million words over 13 volumes. I love to read, but I have to admit – that is just too long! So the next time your teacher tells you that you need to find a book that is 200 pages or more for a report, or in-class reading, remember, it could always be worse!

For those of you who like you books extra-skinny, here is a list of books from the teen collection, with page numbers:

Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson (180)

Cut by Patricia McCormick (168)

Stop Pretending by Sonya Sones (149)

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson (131)

Animal Farm by George Orwell (124)

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman (114)

The Long Night of Leo and Bree by Ellen Wittlinger (111)

When you think of a “How To” book, you think about…well, getting stuff done. Practical tips, helpful advice. But, with the new book How to Be Bad arriving soon at the library [including a possible visit from authors E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski (!)], we’ve noticed a “How To” trend that takes things to, well, extremes! Other books in this not-quite collection:

How to Deal by Sarah Dessen

How to be Popular by Meg Cabot

How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler

How to Get Suspended and Influence People by Adam Selzer

How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles

How to Deal by Sarah Dessen

How to D.J. by Tom Frederikse

How to Survive in Antarctica by Lucy Jane Bledsoe

and, my favorite…

How to Survive a Robot Uprising by Daniel H. Wilson

With the popularity of High School Musical, everyone seems to think they have what it takes to be a star…wanna find out if you do?

 Then take a look at some of these titles, about life on and off stage:

Better Off Famous? by Jane Mendle

Drama! series by Paul Ruditis

Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita

Dramarama! by E. Lockhart

Teen Idol by Meg Cabot

Bass Ackwards and Belly Up by Liz Craft

Diva by Alex Flinn

Confessions of a Backup Dancer by Tucker Shaw

Pop Princess by Rachel Cohn

As we are gearing up for our One Book, One Town program in March, we are focusing on exploring the themes of our town’s book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

As you may (or may not) know, Mortenson began his mission not as an educator or engineer, but as a mountain climber. So to celebrate the majesty of K2 and the other great mountains of the world, we are planning a special Teen program for March…check back soon for more on the Extreme Everest Adventure!

And just to get you in the mood, here are some books on what it takes to climb:

* Peak by Roland Smith

* Seven Summits edited by Steve Bell

* Touching the Void by Joe Simpson

* Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

On Monday, January 14, the American Library Association will announce the Printz Award, the highest honor in young adult literature, in addition to the Alex Awards, which represents the best books written for adults that also have immense teen appeal.

We don’t want to say which book is our choice for the award – last year we picked and got it wrong (although we love the winner – American Born Chinese) We have some favorites (see above) but we’ll keep them to ourselves -unless you really want to know!

If you think you know what the best book for teens in 2007 was, consider entering our Printz raffle at both library locations. If you pick the winner, you’ll be entered into a raffle for a $40 gift card!

There have been a lot of really terrific books written lately about princesses – not modern day fairy-tales like Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries, but novels written about historical and mythological princesses.

Our favorite of the bunch is Hush: An Irish Princess’ Tale by Donna Jo Napoli. It tells the story of Melkorka, a princess who is kidnapped by Vikings in the 10th century. In order to survive, she becomes silent. We promise – you’ve never read anything like this before!

Other notable princess books:

* The Lacemaker and the Princess (Marie Antoinette)

* Beware, Princess Elizabeth (Elizabeth I of England)

* Patience, Princess Catherine (Catherine of Aragon)

* Nobody’s Princess (Helen of Troy)

* Nightsong (Eurydice)

* The Moon Riders (Amazonian royals)

* Troy and Ithaka (Trojan royals) by Adele Geras

Every October, YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) conducts a poll to find out which books teens have loved the most from the previous year. The top ten list has some familiar titles, such as New Moon, Just Listen, and Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever, as well as some you’ve never heard of before.

I was thrilled to see one of our ‘Last Year’s Best Books’ selections make the national list: Sitting in seventh place is Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

This amazing novel imagines what would happen if a stray asteroid did the unthinkable: Knocked the moon out of it’s orbit and closer to the Earth. It is the diary of Miranda, who with her family, fights to survive the global catastrophe, complete with volcanoes erupting in Kansas and blizzards beginning in August.

This book is unforgettable, and will leave you breathless.

On a flight a few weeks ago (that’s right…I went to Disney World!) I finally picked up a book that everyone has been raving about: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. For those of you that don’t know, this Nutmeg 2008-nominee is the first in a series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

I really enjoyed this clever, funny book and I was happy that I recognized so many of the mythological elements. If you are waiting (im)patiently for the fourth, still-untitled book in the series to arrive, try these other myth-inspired tales:

*Nobody’s Princess by Esther Friesner

*The Game by Diana Wynne Jones

*Nightsong by Michael Cadnum

*The Moon Riders by Teresa Tomlinson

*Troy and Ithaka by Adele Geras

So, it’s about 80 days until the release of, as I am calling it, HP7. I have to speak in code, or else entire conversations about important library stuff get hijacked by discussions of will she or won’t she kill the Boy Who Lived. And that is just the grown ups! Forget about eager teens!

So, in the meantime, give this series a shot:

The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix. 

Arthur has asthma, but other than that, he lives an ordinary life as an adopted kid in a big family. After a bad attack that should have killed him he begins his adventures through various ‘Houses’ in the Kingdom, each ruled by a ‘trustee’ named for a different day of the week. Arthur must claim each houses’ key in order to rule that realm. 

There are still two books to come in the series, which begins with Mister Monday. You might just anticipate them with the same…er…zeal as HP7.
 

I know, football is a few months away, but there are a couple of really great football books out there to get you through the long, post-draft spring season:

If you are a fan of non-fiction, I highly recommend The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. It describes the way the game changed when Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Thiesman’s leg, and the left (blind) side tackle became one of the most important, if most overlooked, player on the field. It follows the life of Michael Oher, a young, massively underprivledged boy from urban Memphis, who because of his size and speed, becomes an instant national star at left tackle – despite having never played the game before. It is a really thought-provoking book, and highly recommended to high school readers. Other great football books:

• Crackback by John Coy

• Rash by Pete Hautman

• Damage by A.M. Jenkins

• Bleachers by John Grisham

It’s Coming…

The 2007 Summer Reading Game I DARE YOU…begins on Tuesday, June 25th. All Fairfield teens entering grades 6 through 12 are invited to join. There is no sign-ups, and you can read whatever you’d like. You just let us know what you’ve read by filling out a bookmark and putting in our ballot box, posting comments on this blog, or by emailing the Teen Librarian at nscherer@fplct.org.

We will have a weekly prize drawing. Last year, prizes included $25 gift certificates to EB Games, Borders, Starbuck, CVS, and stickerjunkie.com. We hope that this year will be even bigger and better. If you have suggestions on what we should have as prizes this year, please post a comment on the blog.

In addition to our weekly raffles, for every 100 pages you read and report to us, you will receive a raffle ticket for our grand prize drawing in August. Last year’s grand prize was an iPod…any suggestions for this year?

So make sure to start reporting your reading! Books for school Summer Reading count! You don’t have to be in Fairfield this summer to participate! There is no reason not to take you chance to win some really cool prizes!