I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that Gordon Korman is one of my favorite authors. His books are humorous and his Born to Rock was on My Favorite Books of 2006 list. His most recent book, Schooled, was fun to read. So, here are a few of his books, for your reading pleasure.

Schooled
Cap (actual name is Capricorn) was raised by his grandmother, Rain, on a commune inhabited only by them. His contact with the outside world was minimal. When Rain breaks her hip in a fall from a ladder, Cap is forced to live with his social worker (and former child commune member) and her unfriendly daughter and attend public middle school. He has extremely long hair, wears sandals and is clueless and becomes the butt of jokes. The question is: will he ever be taken seriously? Chapters are in the first person and alternate among Cap and some of his classmates–tormenters and friends. I think you’ll enjoy Schooled.
Born to Rock
Leo – president of the Young Republicans club, 4.0 GPA, future Harvard student – has his entire future perfectly planned out. That is, until the X factor. As in Marion X. McMurphy, aka King Maggot, the lead singer of Purge, the most popular, most destructive band punk rock has ever seen. As in the biological father Leo never knew. A great read.
Son of the Mob and Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustle
Seventeen-year-old Vince’s life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of the FBI agent investigating his father.
Kidnapped (the series: The Abduction, The Search, The Rescue)
As Aiden and his sister Meg are walking home from school one day, a van pulls over and Meg is kidnapped. There’s no way for Aiden to stop it from happening. He’s the only witness to his sister’s disappearance. Why has Meg been kidnapped? Is it for ransom? As a vendetta against Meg and Aiden’s parents? Or is there an even bigger conspiracy at work? While Meg fends off her kidnappers and plans an escape, Aiden must team up with the FBI to try to find her–tracking down clues only a brother could recognize.
Ed Goldberg
Teen Services Librarian

On January 14, the American Library Association announced the top books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, King, Newbery, Schneider Family and Printz awards.
The following is a list of all ALA Teen Awards for 2008:
John Newbery Medal (for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature):
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz, is the 2008 Newbery Medal winner.
Three Newbery Honor Books were named:
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson.
Michael L. Printz Award (for excellence in literature written for young adults):
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean is the 2008 Printz Award winner.
Four Printz Honor Books were named:
Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet by Elizabeth Knox
One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke
Repossessed by A. M. Jenkins
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath by Stephanie Hemphill.
Coretta Scott King Book Award (recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults):
Elijah of Buxton written by Christopher Paul Curtis, is the King Author Book winner.
Two King Honor Books were selected:
November Blues by Sharon M. Draper
Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier
Schneider Family Book Award (for books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences):
Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby is the winner in the teen category.
Alex Awards (for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences):
American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China by Matthew Polly
Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm by Jeff Lemire
Genghis: Birth of an Empire by Conn Iggulden
The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Night Birds by Thomas Maltman
The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz.
An annotated booklist will be available in TeenSpace soon.
Ed Goldberg
Teen Services Librarian

BEST OF 2007 AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Maureen Johnson
(source: Trashionista Blog: (http://www.trashionista.com/2008/01/best-of-2007-au.html)
Sarah chose Maureen Johnson’s Devilish as one of her favourite reads of last year and I loved The Bermudez Triangle, so we had to get her to answer our questions, didn’t we. And she did. In her own inimitable fashion…

Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer:
That would be Suite Scarlett, which comes out in May.
1 broke NYC hotel,
4 siblings,
2 boys on unicycles,
1 perma-guest,
15 actors,
1 ex-ferret,
1 con,
1 theft
1 suite,
and Scarlett
(Numbers don’t count, obviously!)
(Neither do things in parenthesis.)
Where do you like to write your books (in bed, a coffee shop, an office)?
Either at my desk or at a coffee shop with other writers. Never in bed. I think it is my fake Catholic upbringing that prevents me from reclining while working. But since I’m only fake Catholic, I’m okay with slumping.
Your favourite chick-lit book?
Persuasion, by Jane Austen.
Your favourite female heroine (if different from above!), and why?
Mame Dennis. No question.
What tips would you give to any of our readers who want to become writers?
I think with writing, you more or less teach yourself. The first is to read a lot. The second is to write a lot. Even in big, fancy writing programs . . . this is all you really do. After that, the advice gets a little looser. Expect (and delight in!) criticism. Keep learning. Wear a fabulous scarf or hat. Keep pet bees or raccoons or something similar to scare the neighbors. Violate at least one little-known local ordinance a day. Bamboozle, generally. Be nice to your editor and your editor’s assistant.
I know these are common pieces of advice, but they are worth repeating.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’m just about to start Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey, because everyone tells me it’s amazing. And I believe what I’m told.
What are you working on now? (If you can give us a hint!)
I can give you more than a hint! I’m working on the second Scarlett book. Writing a sequel is GREAT. Aside from my overall ideas on how the series would go, I accidentally wrote seventy pages of notes (really–I have no idea how that happened) for the future books as I worked on Suite Scarlett. Now I can just go on and on and on.
Since you haven’t read the first book, though . . . there isn’t a lot of point in me giving hints about what happens in this one. Which is annoying.
Do you have a theme song?
YES. But it changes all the time. Today’s is “National Express” by The Divine Comedy.
What question have you never been asked in an interview, but think you should have been? (Tell us the question and answer it too, if you like!)
Can you explain the circumstances of your most recent arrest?
Thanks, Maureen!
Ed Goldberg
Teen Services Librarian