TeenZone Blog

Suffering from post Valentine’s Day withdrawal? Recapture the romance of Valentine’s Day with a book from our Romantic Reads booklist.

Try one of our newer reads. They’re not on the list YET, but they could be soon:

The falconer’s knot by Mary Hoffman

Cupid : a tale of love and desire by Julius Lester

What they found: love on 145th street by Walter Dean Myers

Stay with me by Garret Freymann-Weyr

Had enough of romance or want to read a different kind of love story? Try something from the Love me not column. These books don’t end the way you think a love story should.

You can also try:

Playing in traffic by Gail Giles

Beating heart by A.M. Jenkins

Heart’s delight by Per Nilsson

Hard love by Ellen Wittlinger

Are we missing one of YOUR favorites? Leave a comment and let us know!

 The Michael L. Printz award is given to a book that “exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.” Are you thinking so what? A book that wins THAT kind of award must be totally boring, right? Not so, my friend. I picked up my first Printz a few years ago and learned that literary excellence doesn’t necessarily mean boring.

Past Printzes I have known and loved include:

Looking for Alaska by John Green
Miles (whose hobby is memorizing famous last words) learns about friendship and love during his first year at prep school. It’s not as lame as I make it sound–this book made me laugh and cry at the same time…not a pretty sight.

how i live now by Meg Rosoff
Daisy’s idyllic escape to her relatives in England is disrupted when war breaks out. A haunting story of survival and soul mates.

The first part last by Angela Johnson
Bobby steps up when he gets his girlfriend pregnant. This book is a heartrending portrait of Bobby as he reflects on life before and after the birth of his daughter.

As I was putting this list together I realized that all of these books had me bawling by the end! I guess that’s my measure of a really good book.  

If you’ve read any of these books or even any other Printz winners, what do you think? As you were reading that book did you think, “Gee, this book really exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature?” Or, did you think, “That book was awesome. Everyone should read it.” What makes a good book a REALLY good book in you book? Leave a comment to let us know!

Now that school is winding down for the holidays, and the cooler weather is FINALLY blowing in, why not take a moment or more to enjoy a good story?

Pick up A Christmas carol by Charles Dickens or Clement Clarke Moore’s The night before Christmas.

Or, if you’re looking for a change of pace, check out these twisted holiday tales:

Manga Claus by Nathaniel Marunas.
Santa is forced to break out his ancient samurai swords and assume the guise of Manga Claus in order to save the happiest time of the year from a disgruntled elf and a horde of possessed ninja teddy bears.

Herobear and the kid by Mike Kunkel.
After his beloved grandfather dies one Christmas, Tyler inherits a ragged stuffed bear and a broken watch. He finds out, however, that the bear and the watch aren’t what they seem and that he’s in for many surprises.

The stupidest angel by Christopher Moore.
Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. Sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead. Luckily, there’s an angel waiting in the wings. Unfortunately, this angel’s not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch.

Do you have a holiday favorite you want to tell everyone about? Leave a comment!