What to read next: Divergent

Voting for the Rhode Island Teen Book Awards 2013 is drawing to a close. There were a great list of nominees this year. I definitely encourage you to check some of them out and see for yourself. I read quite a few of them and I can honestly say this is a great list of nominees! If you want a synopsis of some of the titles, or you're wondering where to find them in the library, check out our Pinterest board.

I'd like to recommend one title in particular (and one that has been super popular since it came out). Divergent by Veronica Roth takes place in dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. 

Divergent started out strong. I liked that it was set in a city that I knew. It set recognizable landmarks into a dystopian future. In this future society is divided by personality trait to avoid violent tendencies (this is becoming a theme in dystopian fiction; we need to change humanity to avoid warfare and violence). Our protagonist, Tris, chooses the hardest and toughest group thus going against her family. What feels like the entire middle of the book focuses on her training process. It didn't explore what it means to be Divergent (which Tris is - she tested into multiple groups) enough to my liking. In the end, a war begins between factions.

If you're looking for an exciting read that doesn't feel like every other dystopian novel, then Divergent is for you! 

Want to submit a review of your own? Use our handy online form.

Changes to the manga and graphic novels section

We're changing around the manga and graphic novels a bit. When you browse the shelves you may notice that they are being changed over so that they are organized by series title (versus by author as it was before). We're hoping that this makes it easier for people to find books in a series that they are currently reading, find a series they heard a friend talk about, or discover something new!

Have you ever noticed how many odd sounding titles there are in the manga section? Here are a few funny titles that I found:

Vote to bring a YA Author to Pawtucket

There's a contest going that you can vote in to bring a YA Librarian to Pawtucket!

http://ya2u.blogspot.com/p/contest-entry-form.html

That's the entry form. Feel free to vote for a second choice city as well (I recommend Providence). Happy voting!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Have you made your New Year's Resolutions yet? If you haven't, maybe consider to add "read more" to your goals for the year?

Or maybe you're like thousands of others who resolve not to make a resolution!

Anyway, I thought I'd mention some of the programs coming up this month at the library.

Anime Club is January 10th at 6pm. We've been watching a lot of great anime during the past couple of months. This month we'll be watching a live-action adaptation of a very well known anime!

Teen Trivia night is January 16th at 6pm. We'll be playing this Jeopardy style! Come win some prizes and show off all that knowledge you have.

Game Day is January 22 at 2pm. We have a new xbox! Come and check it out or play one of our board games.

Teen Advisory Board's first meeting will be January 29th at 3pm. Want to have a say in what goes on for teens here at the library? This is the place to help us out!

December Book Display

Still looking for a way to get into the Holiday spirit? Or maybe you're sick of the Holidays and you're looking for a good Christmas horror story? Well, I have the answer for you! Take a look at the books on display next to the Reference Desk. Some are naughty and some are nice!

You'll also notice that there is a binder up there filled with all sorts of other reading recommendations. Do you have a book you'd like to recommend to others? You'll want to submit a book review! 

We're on Pinterest!

I love Pinterest for how visual it is. That makes it perfect to put together lists of similar titles. So far I've put together boards for the 2012 Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominees, Strong Female Characters, Dystopias, Urban Fiction, and some other miscellaneous stuff I found over the site. I'll be adding to it regularly.

Click either the big P above, or the Pinterest button to the right. 

Have a book you love? Don't forget that you can submit a review through this website! 

Next Anime Club meeting is December 20th

I hope everyone that came to the first Teen Anime Club meeting had a great time! For those that couldn't make it, we watched 3 different shows: Bleach, Azumanga Diaoh, and Soul Eater. They are three very different shows, but all three were a lot of fun to watch. A lot of anime programs were first a manga series. Here at the library we own quite a number of volumes of Bleach.

The series follows Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a Soul Reaper (or, as it's called in Japanese, a Shinigami). He is basically like what we would call the Grim Reaper. His new powers allow him to protect humans from evil spirits as well as guiding souls into the after life. It's a pretty action-packed series. 

Bleach is still ongoing and has 51 volumes in English so far! Here at the library you'll find them shelved with the other manga under the letter "K".