Sunday, August 16, 2015
Monday, March 23, 2015
The Monarch Reading Challenge recognized by High School's that Work!
http://publications.sreb.org/2013/13v06w.pdf
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Hey all!
I thought I'd update the list of popular authors/ titles here at Monarch as of last year.
Do you have any we need to add?
John Green: Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns (filming is under way as we speak), Fault In Our Stars, Will Greyson/ Will Greyson
EVERYONE LOVES JOHN GREEN- most popular author out there writing about real teens.
Veronica Roth
series- Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant
Think Hunger Games world. I did like the characters, but I have to say that I haven't seen that many REALLY upset readers as I have when they read book #3.
(Similar to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series, Allyson Condie's Matched series)
A.S. King
Ask the Passengers, , The Dust of 100 dogs, Monica Never Shuts Up, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, Reality Boy
She's smart and it comes across in her writing- the books really resonates with teens. Kids say they feel like characters that anyone would know in their own school and the dialogue is realistic. Many say she's the new John Green. We met her at last year's Colorado Teen Lit Conference and after that we wanted to read everything that's out now and all the ideas she talked about for her future books. If I had to pick my two favorites, I'd say Please Ignore Vera Dietz and Reality Boy. RB is interesting because the narrator was a child on one of those Nanny 911 reality shows and the experience made his already dysfunctional family even worse. Now it's ten years later and he's one unhappy, angry, strong young man who is ready to right some wrongs and live his life.
Simone Elkeles
She has lots of books with basically the same plot: girl and boy from two different worlds meet, hate each other then fall completely in love, but the world is still completely against them. Can their love survive?
Perfect Chemistry series, Leaving Paradise series, Better Than Perfect, Rules of Attraction, Wild Cards, How to Ruin a Summer Vacation
Jonathan Maberry
series- Rot & Ruin series, Dead of Night (stand alone)
Sure these books have zombies, but what makes them great is its much more about the people trying to live in a world full of zombies than about the actual zombies. The books are grounded in reality in such a way you can imagine living in this world yourself. The people left after a virus wipes out 99% of the world's population have come to the conclusion that God was punishing them for too much technology and their modern ways, so people have reverted to living pretty much like they did a hundred years- no cell phones, computers, cars, etc. But with vast amounts of land (the Rot & Ruin) just being inhabited by zombies, bounty hunters are sent out to kill zombies and try to reclaim the land for the survivors. You come to find out that zombies are definitely NOT the worse things you'll find out there. Plenty of people are taking advantage of no law, no justice, no limits and it's not pretty.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
When students come in and say they need a history book to read, but they hate to read, this is the first book I show them. The true story of the creation of the Chicago's world fair AND the serial killer who operated there at the same time. Remarkably, it's true. The murder takes advantage of the fact that so many people are coming to the fair that its not unheard of people deciding not to come back. He got away with it for far longer than you'd think. The author pieces the story together using genuine court records and you can see that in all the details - pretty grim, so not for everyone.
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Brilliant, disturbing- definitely not for everyone- but an amazing book full of so many unexpected details that I had to go back and re-read parts when I was done to catch the clues I missed the first time. It opens with a woman arrested for murder in Las Vegas and the police questioning why she did it. She responds that she's part of this top secret government organization that takes out the trash that regular law enforcement can get enough evidence to prosecute. You find yourself asking the entire time: is she crazy or is it possible she really does work for such an organization???
Ready Player One by Earnest Cline
Even if you are not a gamer, pretty much everyone who has picked up this quick, fast paced novel has really enjoyed it. You won't know until the last few pages who actually ends up winning control of the world wide web, but by the end I was more invested in how the characters were changing as the story played out.
I thought I'd update the list of popular authors/ titles here at Monarch as of last year.
Do you have any we need to add?
John Green: Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns (filming is under way as we speak), Fault In Our Stars, Will Greyson/ Will Greyson
EVERYONE LOVES JOHN GREEN- most popular author out there writing about real teens.
Veronica Roth
series- Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant
Think Hunger Games world. I did like the characters, but I have to say that I haven't seen that many REALLY upset readers as I have when they read book #3.
(Similar to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series, Allyson Condie's Matched series)
A.S. King
Ask the Passengers, , The Dust of 100 dogs, Monica Never Shuts Up, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, Reality Boy
She's smart and it comes across in her writing- the books really resonates with teens. Kids say they feel like characters that anyone would know in their own school and the dialogue is realistic. Many say she's the new John Green. We met her at last year's Colorado Teen Lit Conference and after that we wanted to read everything that's out now and all the ideas she talked about for her future books. If I had to pick my two favorites, I'd say Please Ignore Vera Dietz and Reality Boy. RB is interesting because the narrator was a child on one of those Nanny 911 reality shows and the experience made his already dysfunctional family even worse. Now it's ten years later and he's one unhappy, angry, strong young man who is ready to right some wrongs and live his life.
Simone Elkeles
She has lots of books with basically the same plot: girl and boy from two different worlds meet, hate each other then fall completely in love, but the world is still completely against them. Can their love survive?
Perfect Chemistry series, Leaving Paradise series, Better Than Perfect, Rules of Attraction, Wild Cards, How to Ruin a Summer Vacation
Jonathan Maberry
series- Rot & Ruin series, Dead of Night (stand alone)
Sure these books have zombies, but what makes them great is its much more about the people trying to live in a world full of zombies than about the actual zombies. The books are grounded in reality in such a way you can imagine living in this world yourself. The people left after a virus wipes out 99% of the world's population have come to the conclusion that God was punishing them for too much technology and their modern ways, so people have reverted to living pretty much like they did a hundred years- no cell phones, computers, cars, etc. But with vast amounts of land (the Rot & Ruin) just being inhabited by zombies, bounty hunters are sent out to kill zombies and try to reclaim the land for the survivors. You come to find out that zombies are definitely NOT the worse things you'll find out there. Plenty of people are taking advantage of no law, no justice, no limits and it's not pretty.
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
When students come in and say they need a history book to read, but they hate to read, this is the first book I show them. The true story of the creation of the Chicago's world fair AND the serial killer who operated there at the same time. Remarkably, it's true. The murder takes advantage of the fact that so many people are coming to the fair that its not unheard of people deciding not to come back. He got away with it for far longer than you'd think. The author pieces the story together using genuine court records and you can see that in all the details - pretty grim, so not for everyone.
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Brilliant, disturbing- definitely not for everyone- but an amazing book full of so many unexpected details that I had to go back and re-read parts when I was done to catch the clues I missed the first time. It opens with a woman arrested for murder in Las Vegas and the police questioning why she did it. She responds that she's part of this top secret government organization that takes out the trash that regular law enforcement can get enough evidence to prosecute. You find yourself asking the entire time: is she crazy or is it possible she really does work for such an organization???
Ready Player One by Earnest Cline
Even if you are not a gamer, pretty much everyone who has picked up this quick, fast paced novel has really enjoyed it. You won't know until the last few pages who actually ends up winning control of the world wide web, but by the end I was more invested in how the characters were changing as the story played out.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
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