Hello, Sunshine by Leila Howland

What an amazing book! I thought this was going to be your typical, " I came to Hollywood to be a star," book and it surprised me to the end. I loved how Howland gave the readers many ups and downs about being a young adult in L.A with a twist of humor. Her characters were vivid and danced right off the pages.
The story:
Becca Harrington moves to L.A expecting everything to fall into place but she fumbles in many ways and must learn to stand on her own two feet. Her mother insists she apply to college before the fall term, yet it all seems too far from reach. Teen readers will cheer Becca on as she runs from her freaky neighbor, gets dissed and dismissed by a bunch of L.A agents, and tries to mend her broken heart.

Young adults and older teens will adore this book. While high school teens may find it a good read, I feel that teens that are on their own will find more content to connect with on this title.
I love Leila Howland. Her style is fresh, fun and vibrant!

#LeilaHowland
#LAteenreads

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

"Mink," as her father affectionately calls her moves to a new town near Big Sur to live with her dad on a beautiful restored home that has a Redwood right through the roof.
Before her drastic change, she had an online love interest named Alex who lives in the same town. They plan to meet at the ocean side film festival in his home town, although Mink never admits to him that she is moving near him.
As she transitions into her new life and new job at "The Cave Museum" she finds herself falling for her co-worker, the handsome surfer guy Porter. He annoys and tears at her heartstrings for most of the book. Mink has to learn to keep her emotions in tact and hide this love interest for her father who doesn't seem to approve. 
Everything catches up with her in the end and she has to figure out who she wants to be with, but first she must find out who Alex is before it's too late.

My Favorite Authors of 2019

I did a lot of reading this year with a total of 23 books read. The goal was to read 30, but with my new writing class, crafting a YA draft, and a busy schedule... time slipped away. I did come across and revisit two authors who not only do I enjoy their books, but I love reading their blogs and tips about writing as well.

Rachel Hollis: 
Teens and young adults will really get a kick out of this stellar lady. She writes fiction, but more importantly her website thechicsite.com is bomb!!! A great place for older teens to get some inspiration.

Melissa De La Cruz, is just as awesome. Her wild success with The Descendants series is only the tip of he iceberg. She writes about being, becoming, and thriving as an author and she tells a great story to boot...

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!!!
Here's to a new, fabulous decade!!!! 2020 ***********************************

Carols and Crushes Book Review

Carols and Crushes by Blitt

If you have a young teen or are a young teen  reader.. why not try The Wish Series books published by Scholastic?

 I just finished Carols and Crushes by Natalie Blitt and adored it!
Charlie Dickens loves Christmas, holidays, and singing in her school's choir. This winter she has to save the holiday concert from being cancelled; juggle family and friends; and learn to navigate her feelings on her crush as he seems to be interested in her bestie.
Can she make it through the holiday and align her heart in harmony?

If you love cute holiday scenes, sledding, caroling and the like... you will enjoy this fun read!


More Wish Titles to read:
Deep Down Popular by Phoebe Stone
Sealed with a Secret by Lisa Schroeder
Allie, First at Last by Angela Cervantes

Holiday Books and Ideas

This week I started a great teen read Kiss Me in New York by Catherine Rider. It chronicles a young adult who gets her heart broken by a new beau during her time as a foreign exchange student in New York. She gets caught up at the airport and flights are cancelled. She decides to befriend a young man, Anthony who is in the same boat. They explore New York City together for a day and see where the city takes them. The story is promising and humorous... More to come.

We also created these super cute stockings at the library with children of all ages. The tweens loved them as well. Comment below if you would like the template and instructions.

Holiday Crafts and Chapter Books for Tweens and Upper Elementary

Hi all!
Try some of these great reads for the holidays. The grade level of the books are listed below. Also, here's a fun and easy popsicle stick craft to create that I have tried in years past.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Robinson. 

The Herdman children, who love to terrorize the other children, decide to take part in the Sunday School Christmas Pageant and learn some lessons along the way. The book is humorous and fun. 

Interest Level - Upper Elementary and Middle School

A.R Level 5.1
 What Light by Jay Asher 

Sierra and Caleb meet on her family's tree farm, as she splits her time between California and Oregon. Caleb is seeking forgiveness from those in town while Sierra is learning all about him and teaching him how to trust along the way. A delightful read for the winter season filled with young romance, friendship and paving your own path. 

A.R Level 4.5

Interest Level: Middle School +

The Ungrateful Dead by Cooper- Scary Stories for Tweens.

Hello all,
The Wacky Librarian is here to service all your spooky story needs for October. Check out this fun story about a tween named Annabel Cravel who just wants to be normal. This deems impossible because.... dead people text her! Keeping this secret from her stepsister proves to be a difficult task especially when a ghost girl named Harper begs Annabel to help her live again.
Do dead people text you?

Check out this wonderful story by Rose Cooper for humor and horror !

More fun reads:
Goosebumps: The Haunted Mask by R.L Stine
Ghost Dog Secrets by Kehret
The Beast of Baskerville by Annette and Gina Cascone
Ollie Osley and the Ghost Series by Schmid

Halloween crafts for kids

Create a fun and easy craft for Halloween. Use die cuts or a free template online to create this fun piece to decorate your home. Remember those cute paper chains we used to make for Christmas in the 80s? This is what inspired the center of the piece. All you need is:
1. Ghost and bat template. Find one on word
2. Foam or construction paper
3. Strips of purple, orange and black construction paper
4. Curling ribbon to hang your piece

What to do:
1. Hole punch the top and bottom of your desired piece.
2. Link and create the chains at the bottom of the first piece, then attach it to the second.
3. Decorate with ribbon, googly eyes, and fun festive pieces to create your desired look.

Read book like:
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Goosebumps Series  R.L Stine
Sleepy Hollow (various authors)
Fear Street by R.L Stine for teens to inspire you!

It Ain't So Awful Falafel and Other Funny Books

Looking for something humorous to read? Try these awesome humorous books for tweens/teens. Two of them are by my favorite author, Firoozeh Dumas whose books I received while working at East Whittier Middle School many moons ago!
Here's the list:
I, Funny by James Patterson
It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
Funny in Farsi, by Firoozeh Dumas
Body Swap by Katrina Kahler
Camp by Kayla Miller
Last Kids on Earth Series by Bralier



Enjoy!!

The Author Behind the Blog

Good morning readers! With the increase of traffic on my blog, I thought I would take the opportunity to tell you a bit more about my experience and how this blog came to be. I am a children's librarian in the Los Angeles area who works with tweens, toddlers, and school aged children. I have worked in public libraries for over 12 years,  been a children's librarian for seven years, and prior to that worked as a middle school librarian for ten years. The road has been fun.
This blog is all about inspiring you to help your tween or teen find the next fun read and also to give librarians ideas for programs. It started off as a hobby, and one day I hope it will highlight  my own fiction book that I am working on. Feel free to subscribe or comment.

Enjoy!

Teen Books I'm Dying to Read

What books are you dying to read? I got my hands on Guts by Raina Telgemeier and it was great! I have never read Drama or Sisters, so that will be on my next "to do" list.

Here's a couple of titles that have grabbed my interest...
Elizabeth Eulberg's " Just Another Girl," tells a tale of how we often hear the story of the "it" girl and want to pull our hair out. How do we mirror ourselves to be like her and/or avoid her at the same time? What is her life really like? This realistic fiction title seems like the perfect high school read:

Interference by Honeycomb

This book has all the fall feels as it discusses the popularity of football in a Texan town and a daughter of a politician who is trying to fit in even though her best asset is to not fit in... I started the audio book and it sounds promising. Enjoy!

#fallfeels
#realisticrfictionforteens