Children's Choice Book Awards

Nominate Your Favorite Books of 2010 for the Children's Book Council's Teen Choice Book of the Year

In association with the Children’s Book Council (CBC), Teenreads.com is giving you a very special opportunity to let your voices be heard by telling us your five favorite books of 2010. The five titles that receive the most votes will serve as the finalists for the CBC’s 2011 Teen Choice Book of the Year. Once the five finalists have been determined, we will tell you where you can go vote for them. The winner will be announced in May 2011.

All you have to do is fill out this form between now and January 31, 2011. Your top five selections may come from the list we’ve provided below, or you can vote for titles not on the list. Important Note: If you choose to add a title for nomination that is not on our list, please be sure that the book(s) released for the first time in 2010; this means that paperbacks originally published as hardcovers will not be accepted. If you’re uncertain about a book’s release date, we suggest you search for that title on Amazon.com.


And please share the following link with your friends, teachers, librarians, and school media specialists --- the more feedback we get, the better:


http://www.teenreads.com/features/ccba_nominees_2011.asp

Teen Read Week Review Results

Unwind by Neil Shusterman

Recommended by: Daniel Nasta

Reaction by: Catherine Berntsen, Librarian

Here's the official summary from the library catalog:
In a future world where those between the ages of 13 and 18 can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs- and, perhaps, save their own lives. 

Here are my thoughts:

With subject descriptions such as: genetic engineering, revolutionaries, survival, abortion, bioethics, terrorism, organ harvesting, and dystopia--  I knew from the start that the book Unwind was going to be thought-provoking… and, boy, was I right!  This book puts a face to the concept of medical progress and makes you examine at what point are we are crossing the line into scary territory. 

Extremely deep and at times unnerving, this book is not at all for the faint of heart.  There are some heavy-hitting and horrifying concepts presented here- one scene in particular (where we witness an “unwinding”) I know will stay with me for a very long time.   But even though the story is deep, there is an overall feeling of hope as well. 

It made me think about the complexity of life: how there is always two sides to every story or issue and how we all are capable of even having two sides within ourselves.   All of the classic story-telling devices are here:  Good vs. evil; monster vs. hero; right vs. wrong; theory vs. practice; myth vs. reality- but I think I enjoyed this book in particular because the questions are not presented in an overbearing way.   I always appreciate a book that makes me explore what I believe in and/or where I stand on issues, whether they are current or in the not-too-distant future.    All of this was wrapped up in a suspenseful plot with well-drawn characters.  I highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of science fiction.

Thank you, Daniel, for recommending this book…  I’m so glad I read it.  

Funny Vintage Computer Ads

What kind of man owns his own computer? The ad above is from 1980 and describes the idea of owning a computer as being "rather revolutionary."

Click here to read article in The Huffington Post called "13 Vintage Computer Ads Show How Far We've Come."