Three YA titles from New Imprint of Alloy Entertainment

Official Press Release about Alloy Entertainment's new imprint and the release of its first three books. 

Every Ugly Word by Aimee L. Salter

Every Ugly Word follows 17 year old Ashley who is relentlessly bullied at her high school and by her own mother, and is helplessly in love with her best friend, Matt, who is bullied by his father.

She seeks help by looking to her future self, “Older Me” who supports her through it all and teaches her to love herself. But is she really seeking “Older Me” or is she looking within herself for the answers?

When Ashley looks in the mirror she can see and talk to her future self. “Older Me” has been her support system through her relentless tormentor’s bullying, her unstable mother at home, and her forlorn love for her longtime best friend. But when Ashley discovers “Older Me’s” betrayal, she is targeted in the worst way and impends her last chance with Matt. She’s done with hearing every ugly word.

A digital ARC of Every Ugly Word is available for librarians through NetGalley. 

Author Aimee L. Salter

Imitation by Heather Hildenbrand

Everyone is exactly like me.

There is no one like me.

The rough fabric of my cotton nightgown chafes so I lie very still. They say my discomfort comes from being built like one accustomed to niceties. How is that fair when I myself have never experienced anything but copies of the real thing?

My entire life is an imitation.

I am an Imitation.

I’ve been here five years. Training. Preparing. Waiting.

And now I have a letter.

My assignment has begun.

I am a prisoner.

I am not Raven Rogen.

I am here to die.

Ven is an Imitation, a clone of a wealthy girl named Raven. Imitations only leave their home, Twig City, when they are needed by their Authentics- to replace them in any situation, to serve as organ donors, or, as in Ven's case, to become bait when her Authentic's life has been threatened. Ven must pretend to be Raven even as she experiences the sights, sounds, and feelings of the real world for the first time. But real life is more dangerous than she ever imagined. The attacks begin the second she replaces her Authentic, and Ven is quickly caught in a game of cat-and-mouse with her assailants.

Author Heather Hildenbrand

A digital ARC of Imitation is available to librarians through NetGalley. 

Rebel Wing by Tracy Banghart

There are two things in the world that Aris truly loves: flying in her wingjet above Atalanta, and Calix, the boy that she is about to be promised to after the selection.

Just before the selection happens, a mysterious military officer named Theo presents her with a job alternative in his sector she never thought possible: to fly.  But from all the information that Aris has ever known, women are not allowed in the Military sector of the Five Dominions. What could he possibly have in mind?

With the war between the Five Dominions and Safara becoming increasingly dire, Theo also shares with Aris that there will be an increase in military recruits assigned at the selection and Calix will likely be on that list – allowing Aris to truly consider the job offer.

She could save lives, maybe even Calix’s.

In a society where conflict has overtaken, relationships are tested through the most dangerous of situations: war. REBEL WING will test the limits of love and explore how far people will go for the ones they truly care about. But even with Aris stepping up, high up in the backbone of the Five Dominions reside the wards of each sector, those in charge, and they truly have all the power. 

Author Tracy Banghart

A digital ARC of Rebel Wing is available for librarians through NetGalley. 

The Five Stones Summer Reading Blog Tour: Collect all four and seek the fifth!

Source: Goodreads

Move over, Narnia. The journey to Ayda has begun.

The journey to Ayda begins when five children sneak out for a quick boat ride on a summer day. Engulfed in a curtain of dense, powerful fog, they are transported from the rocky Maine coast to the mysterious island of Ayda. Rescued by Seaborne, a machete-toting wayfarer of few words, the children suddenly find themselves at the center of a centuries-old battle between Dankar, the ruler of Exor, and three siblings that rule the other realms of Ayda. 

At stake are the four stones of power and the elusive Fifth Stone that connects them all. When 9-year-old Frankie is kidnapped by Dankar, her older sister Evelyn and the three Thompson brothers must learn to harness the powers of the daylights, ancient forces of earth, fire, water, and air, in order to navigate their way through the realms of Ayda, save her, and find a way home

THE FOG OF FORGETTING will appeal to a wide audience from middle grade to YA readers who love action, adventure, and intrigue. And although you’ll forget time while reading this novel, the story reminds us that family is one thing that can never be forgotten.

Starting TODAY, you can register to win one of the five necklaces mentioned in The Fog of Forgetting. Use the Rafflecopter form below the image to register. Giveaway ends at midnight, July 23rd. 

Please be sure to visit the author's website  for more information about the book. 

Exor necklace

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 7-7-2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (IMWAYR) is a weekly challenge begun by Sheila at Book Journey to encourage others to share the books they are reading each week. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers added the "From Picture Books to YA" element to Sheila's idea. Many thanks to these four women for creating a fun way to share our reading lists. Please be sure to visit their blogs and see what they've read over the past week. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 6-23-2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (IMWAYR) is a weekly challenge begun by Sheila at Book Journey to encourage others to share the books they are reading each week. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers added the "From Picture Books to YA" element to Sheila's idea. Many thanks to these four women for creating a fun way to share our reading lists. Please be sure to visit their blogs and see what they've read over the past week. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4-21-2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (IMWAYR) is a weekly challenge begun by Sheila at Book Journey to encourage others to share the books they are reading each week. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers added the "From Picture Books to YA" element to Sheila's idea. Many thanks to these four women for creating a fun way to share our reading lists. Please be sure to visit their blogs and see what they've read over the past week. 

Librarians as Leaders in Interactive Educational Apps

One of the weekly Twitter chats I enjoy participating in when time permits is the #storyappchat on Sundays This chat has given me the chance to connect with app developers, authors and illustrators, and talented librarians. It's also provided me with the opportunity to learn about identifying quality educational apps for children and finding ways to use them as a supplemental tool in school libraries and classrooms.

In the most recent #storyappchat, hosted by Heather Shugar from the Diapered Daze and Knights blog (@DiaperedKnights on Twitter), we discussed how to bring more attention to interactive educational apps. If you go back through the entire chat archive which was curated by Brooks Jones (@brooks_jones), you will see that both authors/content creators and librarians are concerned with separating the "fluff" apps from those that truly provide an interactive learning experience while promoting literacy. Another concern is finding ways to reach out to educators and assisting them in using interactive educational apps to enhance the learning experience.

The Ninja Librarians Recon Team Week 5

It's Week 5 of The Ninja Librarians Recon Team as we continue working to promote Jen Swann Downey's brilliant book - The Ninja Librarians: The Accidental Keyhand. For those of you who might not be familiar with the book, it (finally) came out four days ago. Yes, I called a middle grade book for children "brilliant" because there's an important lesson in the book: censorship. The motif of The Ninja Librarians is making sure mankind continues to progress through creative thinking by rescuing historical figures who are in danger for challenging the status quo. For more information about this motif, please read my original book review of The Ninja Librarians. 

In any case, a new week with The Ninja Librarians Recon Team means a new topic. Here are the questions for week 5: 

Which historical figure would you like to be an apprentice for?  What would you like to learn from them (or get from them, since clearly Marcus has no intention of learning gardening….)?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4-14-2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (IMWAYR) is a weekly challenge begun by Sheila at Book Journey to encourage others to share the books they are reading each week. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki over at Unleashing Readers took Sheila's idea and added "From Picture Books to YA," spreading the IMWAYR concept to a much wider audience.  

Yes, I know I've been slacking off big time with IMWAYR lately. In my defense, I've been occupied with administering STAAR and preparing for the TLA conference. Now I'm ready to get back on track. 

When I wasn't administering the state test, working on my poster presentation, or preparing for a road trip with another librarian from my school district, I've been mostly reading professional development books to improve my library program. 

Tellagami Tutorial

Piggybacking on Dr. Subramaniam's presentation at TLA, which I shared in my previous blog post, I'm sharing an introductory tutorial that I created for the Tellagami app. My hope is that librarians will be more confident in experimenting with Tellagami and share it with teachers.

Dr. Mega Subramaniam's Presentation at 2014 TLA Conference

Dr. Mega Subramaniam (@mmsubram) from the University of Maryland presented to librarians at the TLA conference in San Antonio. Her session, titled "Shifting Sands of School Librarianship: Math Phobic to Math Enthusiast," provided a list of suggestions for school librarians who want to assist teachers in helping students improve in mathematics. As a person who is math challenged, I chose to attend this session in order to be able to better support my teachers.