Archives for teen books

Dive into Diversity: YA Humor

Dive into Diversity: YA Humor

In 2021, my Dive into Diversity posts about young adult books will focus on a different genre each month. I’ll highlight books with characters that represent a range of experiences and identities. I’ll also feature authors who share an aspect of their characters’ identity as much as possible. This month I've collected humorous YA books, from romantic comedy to dark humor. YA is not typically known for its comedies, so this was a bit of a challenge. While not all of the books below will be entirely positive or uplifting, all contain an aspect of humor. This month I read
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November 15, 2021 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, staff picks, staff recommendations, teen books, teen literature, and YA humor.

Dive into Diversity: YA Books in Verse

Dive into Diversity: YA Books in Verse

In 2021, my Dive into Diversity posts about young adult books will focus on a different genre each month. I’ll highlight books with characters that represent a range of experiences and identities. I’ll also feature #ownvoices authors, or authors who share an aspect of their characters’ identity, as much as possible. This month, in preparation for Poetry Month, I’m highlighting novels (and one memoir) in verse. I love reading books written in this format. In addition to being quick reads, they’re often beautifully written and convey emotion in a unique way. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo Grades 10
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March 23, 2021 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, national poetry month, novels in verse, Observances and Celebrations, Poetry Month, staff picks, staff recommendations, teen books, and YA books.

Dive into Diversity: YA Romance

Dive into Diversity: YA Romance

In 2021, my Dive into Diversity posts about young adult books will focus on a different genre each month. I’ll highlight books with characters that represent a range of experiences and identities. I’ll also feature #ownvoices authors, or authors who share an aspect of their characters’ identity, as much as possible. Predictably, the February edition highlights books that feature romance as a central plot element. Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon Grades 9 and up OverDrive; Library Catalog I was excited to read David Yoon's next book after loving Frankly in Love when I read it in 2019, and
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February 23, 2021 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, romance, staff picks, staff recommendations, teen books, YA books, and YA Fiction.

Announcing the 2021 Project LIT Book List

Announcing the 2021 Project LIT Book List

Since becoming a Project LIT chapter last summer, we’ve enjoyed reading and discussing Project LIT books with kids and teens. Last month, we were thrilled to see the announcements of new titles in the 2021 Project LIT book list. We’re excited to share the list with you!  You can find the new Project LIT book lists for Middle Grade and Young Adult, as well as the lists from previous years, on our Reading Lists page. Highlighted below are a couple titles from the new selections that are of particular interest to our librarians. Stay tuned for future book discussions and
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January 23, 2021 4:43 pm | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Kids, Homepage Teens, Kids, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: children's books, Project Lit, Project Lit Chapter, Project Lit Community, and teen books.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: YA Books

International Day of Persons with Disabilities: YA Books

The United Nations recognizes December 3rd as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I put together a list of YA books featuring a variety of characters living with some type of disability. I read A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman, about a dancer in India who has part of one leg amputated after an accident. Since childhood, Veda has been focused entirely on dancing. The book opens just as she wins a particularly sweet victory at a dance competition. On the way home, however, her dance troupe’s van is in a serious accident, and Veda is so severely
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December 1, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Observances and Celebrations, Observances and Holidays, staff picks, staff recommendations, teen books, and YA books.

National Native American Heritage Month: YA Fiction

National Native American Heritage Month: YA Fiction

November is National Native American Heritage Month. I wanted to focus on a book that depicts Native people in the present day; too often, the image of Native people in popular culture is stuck in the past. In our reading, we can become more familiar with the lives and experiences of Native people today. For more books that offer insight into the many aspects of life as a Native teen, check out this blog by Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo; Reese is a noted scholar on the subject of Native peoples’ representation in children and YA books, and her blog
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October 27, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: Dive into Diversity, National Native American Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, Observances and Celebrations, staff picks, staff recommendations, and teen books.

Mental Illness Awareness Week: YA Fiction

Mental Illness Awareness Week: YA Fiction

The National Alliance on Mental Illness honors Mental Illness Awareness Week during the first week in October. To mark the occasion, I'm highlighting some of the many characters in YA fiction who deal with mental health challenges. I first read I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sanchez, a couple of years ago. I considered it when working on last month’s post, and decided to listen to a little bit of the audiobook to refresh my memory… and just kept listening as the story hooked me in all over again. The audiobook was excellent. The narrator really
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September 24, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: books, Dive into Diversity, Mental Illness Awareness Week, Observances and Celebrations, staff picks, staff recommendations, and teen books.

Hispanic Heritage Month: YA Fiction

Hispanic Heritage Month: YA Fiction

Hispanic Heritage Month is observed between September 15th and October 15th. To celebrate, I had fun putting together a list of books by Hispanic authors. This month, I read American Road Trip by Patrick Flores-Scott. Surprisingly, the road trip itself is a fairly minor part of the storyline, which contains so many layers that it’s difficult to write a spoiler-free summary, but here goes… Teodoro Avila puts no effort into academics, and his family life is tense due to the absence of his older brother Manny, stationed in Iraq. In preparation for Manny’s return, Teodoro and his sister, Xochitl, make
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September 15, 2020 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: books, Dive into Diversity, Hispanic Heritage Month, Observances and Celebrations, staff picks, staff recommendations, and teen books.

July & August Teen Book Clubs

July & August Teen Book Clubs

Virtual book club sessions have been the highlight of spring for librarians Lauren and Kat. We are looking forward to four more sessions this summer, this time with the theme of summer reading. Each month, one book club meeting will feature one title from a Highlands Middle School recommended reading list, and the other will feature a title from the White Plains High School recommended reading list. All four books are available with unlimited copies on Hoopla, and multiple copies on OverDrive. While these books are on recommended reading lists for various grade levels, the book clubs are open to
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June 11, 2020 12:02 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books and Library News.
Tags: book club, book discussion, diverse reads, teen book club, teen books, YA books, and YA Fiction.

Dive Into Diversity: Black History for Teens

Dive Into Diversity: Black History for Teens

White Plains is a wonderfully diverse community! Parents, children and teens have expressed an interest in titles that reflect the diversity in the community, and Ashley, Kathlyn, and Raquel's “Dive Into Diversity” column will spotlight noteworthy children's and teen titles that are inclusive, diverse and multicultural to fulfill that interest. Kathlyn‘s portion is aimed at readers in grades 7-12. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America, edited by Ibi Zoboi Grades 9 and up “No collection could represent the entire spectrum of blackness, however, the presence of trans, Afro-Latinx, and physically disabled characters is missed: a clarion
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February 14, 2020 2:26 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Homepage Teens, Library News, and Teens.
Tags: black history month, Dive into Diversity, Observances and Celebrations, teen books, and young adult fiction.

Come Participate in Mock Book Awards for Youth Literature of 2014

Come Participate in Mock Book Awards for Youth Literature of 2014

WLA/WLS Mock Book Awards Thursday, January 15 at 6:00 p.m. Calling all adults! Start the new year with a conversation about some of the best children’s and young adult books of 2014. The Westchester Library Association (WLA) and the Westchester Library System (WLS) are co-hosting a discussion of potentially award-winning books published in the past year. This is a great opportunity to meet other readers and deepen your knowledge of youth literature. Breakout groups will consider mock nominees for the Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz awards. Adult community members interested in children’s and young adult literature, librarians, teachers, and publishers are
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January 14, 2015 6:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Events and Library News.
Tags: adults, awards, children's books, reading, and teen books.