Ages 11-18
Blog Post
Meet 2016 “It’s All Write!” Judge #7: Kashmira Sheth!
by BugsAndSlugs
Kashmira Sheth is the author of two award winning teen novels Keeping Corner and Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet.
Before she began writing, Kashmira Sheth had many jobs, including working in a bakery, catching corn flea beetles, using microbiology to test food for bacterial counts and pathogens, choreographing and performing Indian dances and running a dance school. When asked what she would tell someone that wishes to become a writer, Ms. Sheth gave three pieces of advice:
- Read, read and read some more.
- Learn another language or two.
- Write something every day - even if it's just your thoughts.
For more about Kashmira Sheth, visit her webpage, and stay tuned for updates about the “It’s All Write!” Teen Short Story Contest Judges!
Blog Post
Loved the book? Check out the graphic novel!
by gulickb
Whenever a much beloved book is adapted into another form, whether it's a graphic novel or *gasp* a movie starring Brendan Fraser as your favorite character (and thus ruining the image you had of that character forever) there is always the temptation to scoff at the adaptation.
I mean how can it compare to the awesomeness that is the original book? The answer is, quite often that it can’t, and it shouldn’t.
While adaptations can often be enjoyed by those who are already fans, the idea behind them is often to appeal to a new audience, as well as the old.
So if you’re ready to take the plunge into new adaptations of some amazing books check out the following.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman follows Nobody Owens as he grows up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts.
The Infernal Devices adapted from the smash hit series by Cassandra Clare The Mortal Instruments.
Maximum Ride adapted into a Manga from James Pattersons hit fantasy series.
Vampire Academy is an adaptation of the wildly popular Vampire Academy series.
And last but no means least Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass has been adapted into a wonderful graphic novel, originally published in France. The art is breathtaking and worth reading if you’re a fan or not of the original series
Blog Post
Pain Medication Take-Back Event - May 7
by iralax
A prescription drug take-back event will happen on Saturday, May 7th from 10AM-2PM at the Pioneer High School Parking Lot, hosted by the Ann Arbor Police Department and the University of Michigan Division of Pain Research. They previously held events in August (collecting 25,000 pills) and October (collecting 42,000 pills).
Blog Post
Meet 2016 “It’s All Write!” Judge #6: Tracy Bilen!
by BugsAndSlugs
Tracy Bilen is the YA author of What She Left Behind, the story of sixteen-year-old Sara, whose mother goes missing before they can move to a new town to escape Sara's physically abusive father. Ms. Bilen is a high school French and Spanish teacher in Michigan, where she lives with her husband and children. Tracy studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and taught Spanish at a high school ski academy. She loves biking, traveling, and red velvet cake. When asked about her favorite word, Tracy declared, “Plethora. Because it’s the first fancy word I ever learned. I don’t ever say it out loud, but I THINK it a lot.”
Want to learn more about Tracy Bilen's favorite things and get some advice on starting out as a writer? Check out her blog and stay tuned for more information about the “It’s All Write!” Teen Short Story Contest Judges!
Blog Post
Meet “It’s All Write!” 2016 Judge #5: Kevin Emerson!
by BugsAndSlugs
Kevin Emerson is the author of twelve novels, including the Exile series books: Exile, Encore to an Empty Room and the series conclusion, coming in August 2016, Finding Abby Road.
School Library Journal declared that Emerson's Atlanteans series, "...reads like a combination of Star Trek, Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief, and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games... The plot twists around like a vine, blending mythology, technology, pandemics, violence, and excitement."
Kevin Emerson is a singer, drummer, and guitarist and has played in bands since high school. He has toured across the country and in Europe and the UK and now lives in Seattle, one of the best music cities in the world. Learn more about Kevin on his blog and stay tuned for more information about the 2016 “It’s All Write!” Teen Short Story Contest Judges!
Blog Post
Poetry on the Bus!
by muskrat
To celebrate National Poetry Month, AADL has joined with the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority for poetry on the bus!
In the spirit of the 2006 Poetry Bus and following in the footsteps of Vancouver's Poetry Moves and the Poetry Society of America's Poetry in Motion campaigns, AADL and AAATA have introduced two placards in each AATA bus with excerpts from great poems by John Keats, Li Po, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Claude McKay and others.
See if you can read them all! There are 8 placards and they will be up all month
Then head over to the library to check out more poetry!
Blog Post
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
by PizzaPuppy
With the new movie adaptation set to be released on September 30th, 2016, now is the perfect time to start reading (or finish catching up on) the popular Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children series. The three book series starts with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, in which we are introduced to our protagonist Jacob and the "peculiar" children who inhabit Miss Peregrine's home. These children have a myriad of special abilities (such as invisibility and super strength) and are actively hunted by mysterious creatures called hollowgast. Jacob finds that he is "peculiar" too, and has the secret ability to see the hollowgast, which are invisible to everyone else.
The adventures continue in sequels Hollow City and Library of Souls. These books thrive on a fantasy/sci-fi style plot, complete with time loops/time travel, people with special powers, a creepy and dark tone, and the inclusion of unusual old photographs interspersed with the text of the novel (the cover of each book provides an example of these strange pictures).
Not into long novels? Give Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel a try!
The upcoming movie adaptation will be directed by Tim Burton, known for directing movies such as Edward Scissorhands and Corpse Bride. The first trailer for the movie has just been released, and is available to view here.
Blog Post
Meet “It’s All Write!” 2016 Judge #4: Todd Strasser!
by BugsAndSlugs
Todd Strasser is the author of more than 140 books for teens and middle graders including the best-selling Help! I’m Trapped In series, and numerous award-winning YA novels including The Wave, Give A Boy A Gun, Wish You Were Dead, Blood on my Hands, Kill You Last, No Place, , Boot Camp, If I Grow Up and Fallout .
Several of Todd's books have been adapted for television, and his novels The Wave and How I Created My Perfect Prom Date became feature films. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he has also written for television, newspapers such as The New York Times, and magazines such as The New Yorker and Esquire .
Learn more about Todd Strasser by reading his blog and don't forget to stay tuned for more information about the 2016 “It’s All Write!” Teen Short Story Contest Judges!
Blog Post
New teen fiction: The Smell of Other People's Houses
by eapearce
In her new book, author Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock throws readers into a little-considered time and place: 1970s Fairbanks, Alaska. The Smell of Other People’s Houses intertwines the lives of four teens all growing up in Fairbanks, which isn’t much like growing up anywhere else. Alaska has only been a state for a decade, and growing up poor there is tougher than growing up poor in warmer climates or in more developed cities. Ruth and her younger sister are raised by their grimly devout grandmother, who offers little warmth or practical life advice. Dora, an Inupiat, is relieved to be adopted by a kind family, but still fears her abusive, alcoholic father even though he is behind bars. Alyce lives with her mother in Fairbanks and dreams of applying to college dance programs, but knows doing so will disappoint her father, with whom she fishes in the wilderness every summer. And, trying to escape a troubled home, Hank and his brothers stowaway on a southbound ferry hoping to be taken somewhere--anywhere--better.
The images that Hitchcock evokes in this book are not often seen in fiction these days, teen or otherwise. She writes of trying to find winter clothes warm enough at a picked-over Goodwill and describes the beauty and unique lifestyle of a summer fishing camp along the Yukon River. Her eye for detail allows readers to become truly immersed in the stories of Ruth, Dora, Alyce and Hank, hoping with the teens themselves that they are able to achieve survival and salvation.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #589 "And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” ~ Roald Dahl
by muffy
First in a projected series, The Last Days of Magic is the debut novel by published poet and the founder of The Aspen Writers’ Network Mark Tompkins; which Geraldine Brooks called "a fantasy adventure with the shifting perspectives of dreamscape. A novel rich and strange."
A frantic warning from her grandmother alerts Sara Hill to secrets hidden in the books of mythology given to her as a child.The undamaged versions of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the binding point to evidence of Nephilim, whose existence the Vatican wishes to suppress. When Sara's body washes up on a beach, the scene shifts to late 14th-century Ireland where a centuries-old status quo is in jeopardy.
Medieval Ireland is protected by a powerful goddess known as the Morrígna, a female trinity with one aspect in the spirit realm and two human aspects, born again and again as the twins Anya, the sage, and Aisling, the warrior, who stands between warring clans of Celts, Vikings, and darkly magical otherworldly beings. With Anya’s death, forces are massing to attack the weakened island - the most dangerous being the Vatican which is hell bent on exterminating magical creatures and converting new lands.
At the helm is Jordan, a Vatican commander and clandestine student of forbidden magic who is secretly torn between duty and desire when he meets Najia, an enchantress and his slave. Loyalties are tested and betrayals sown, yet the coming battle is not to be the last.
In this epic novel of magic and mysticism, Celts and faeries, mad kings and Druids, stalwart warriors and the goddess, Tompkins combines deft characterization with treachery, battle, magic, and hints of Dan Brown.
Read-alikes: Danielle Trussoni's Angelology; Lev Grossman's The Magicians; and Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches. Will also appeal to fans of Diana Gabaldon; Jasper Fforde; and Patrick Rothfuss.