First Look: Hunger Games

Here is our first look at Katniss

Hunger Games: Jennifer, Liam and Josh

So, it's official: Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) will star as Katniss; Liam Hemsworth (Last Song) will play Gale; and Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right) will portray Peeta. Plenty of folks are torn over the casting, including a few teen librarians here at SCLS. What do you think? Are they the right actors for the roles? Who would you like to see cast?

All Will Be Revealed

Christopher Paolini plans to wrap up his popular fantasy series this fall. The fourth and final book in the series will be titled Inheritance and will be out Nov. 8. In a press release, Paolini said, "The burning questions asked by my fans around the world will be finally answered in this last installment. All will be revealed!" So, are you ready for closure?

Devoted

Singer Hillary Duff's first novel Elixir is rarely on our shelves. So, it comes as no surprise that the bestselling book will have a follow up. We hear her next book is titled Devoted and will come out in October.

Gossip Girl Mash-Up

Gossip Girl author Cecily Von Ziegesar is jumping on the mash-up bandwagon this fall. She is giving her popular series a new twist by making the main characters serial killers. Gossip Girl, Psycho Killer will be a tongue-in-cheek look at "beautiful, rich girls who supposedly have everything-but they go crazy, and sardonically, killing becomes a competition between them," according to the publisher. The new book will come out in October.

The Lying Game TV Series

For all of you Sara Shepard fans- good news! Her newest series The Lying Game will soon be a TV series on ABC Family on August 15.

Do you speed read?

March 2 is Read Across America day in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday.
In celebration of Dr. Seuss, reading, nonsense and fun I offer this video ...

Vampire Academy not entirely closed

Author Richelle Mead's popular "Vampire Academy" series ended with the final book in December. But wait ... there's more! The alchemist character, Sydney, will be the star of a spin-off book series to be called "Bloodlines". This time the setting will be a sunny California high school. Check out the first cover and look for it on shelves in late August.

If you thought the January snow storms were bad ...

try reading Michael Northrop's "Trapped" about a group of kids snowed in at school for a week! Coming out in February after the country's snowy-est January in decades - makes this a timely tale and quite the coincidence for the author. Read this new book someplace warm and let us know what you think.

2011 Garden State Teen Book Award Winners

The New Jersey Library Association has announced the winners of the 2011 Garden State Teen Book Award Winners! They are:


Fiction, Grades 6-8









The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman


Fiction, Grades 9-12









The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins


Non-Fiction









Eminem: The Way I Am by Eminem

The Mortal Instruments movie

There is good new fans of "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare. The movie version of the first book "The City of Bones" is currently in the works, with a release date of 2012. Lily Collins will be Clary Fray and Alex Pettyfer will be Jace.

Just announced- new sci fi series from Rachel Cohn

Just announced today, Rachel Cohn, author of Gingerbread and co-author of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist will be coming out with a new sci fi series starting in Fall 2012.

First book, called Beta will follow a girl and her clone on futuristic island where clones are servants. There, both girls fall in love with the same guy.

There will be four books in the series total. Let's hope it's a good one!

Save the Date

The movie adaptation of one our favorite books, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, will be released on March 23, 2012. Who do you think should star in it? Do you think it will be a fantastic film or a total flop?

Michael L. Printz Award- Winner and Honors Books

This month the winner Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature was announced, as well as the honor books.

Winner:




Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi








Honors:
Nothing by Janne Teller
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick
Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Title and covered released for Kane Chronicles, book 2!

Yesterday, the title and cover were released for Book 2 of the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. Throne of Fire will be released in May 2011.

Don't forget to vote!

The deadline to vote for the 2011 Garden State Teen Book Awards is Sat. January 8th!

Each year, New Jersey teens vote for their favorite books in three categories:

Fiction: Grades 6-8

Fiction: Grades 9-12

Non-Fiction: Grades 6-12

To check out this year's nominees and to vote for YOUR favorite, visit: http://www.bccls.org/gstba/2011/

New Year, New Stuff

Fans of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series have some good news for the new year. Four more books are being added to the series for a total of 12. The first new installment will be titled Twisted and will debut July 5.