Guest Post: Teen Advisory Board

Before everyone heads off to a glorious summer, here's some advice from Aicha...

*****

 

Why Everyone Should Watch Downton Abbey

OK, so, I am one of those crazy fanatics who love Downton Abbey, you know who you are, that British soap opera show, full of “old people”.  (It’s not actually, it follows a family from 1914 through 1920, through World War I.)


I know what you’re thinking, bla-bla-bla , history, who cares?


Guys, it’s actually a really great show and I’m here to tell you why everyone should watch it.

1. The Characters are so loveable!!

2. The set is beau-ti-ful and the clothes are absolutely ravishing!

3. The drama is intense and and many cliff hangers and shockers!

4. You will laugh and cry.

5. All people who love British stuff and/or just history in general, it’s a must see!  But you don’t have to like history, my sister hates history and loves this show!




So what are you are waiting for! Go watch it now!

Guest Post: Teen Advisory Board

Before everyone heads off to a glorious summer, here's some advice from Aicha...

*****

 

Why Everyone Should Watch Downton Abbey

OK, so, I am one of those crazy fanatics who love Downton Abbey, you know who you are, that British soap opera show, full of “old people”.  (It’s not actually, it follows a family from 1914 through 1920, through World War I.)


I know what you’re thinking, bla-bla-bla , history, who cares?


Guys, it’s actually a really great show and I’m here to tell you why everyone should watch it.

1. The Characters are so loveable!!

2. The set is beau-ti-ful and the clothes are absolutely ravishing!

3. The drama is intense and and many cliff hangers and shockers!

4. You will laugh and cry.

5. All people who love British stuff and/or just history in general, it’s a must see!  But you don’t have to like history, my sister hates history and loves this show!




So what are you are waiting for! Go watch it now!

Book trailer roundup -- historical fiction!

Poor historical fiction.  It can be a hard sell, trying to convince someone they'll enjoy reading about people hundreds of years ago.  But all you have to do is check out Kiera Knightly vamping it up in Anna Karenina to understand that there is passion and thrills and adventure to be found in those long ago times.

Here are some recent and upcoming historical fiction books that deserve your attention!

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepard



The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges.  And check out the sequel, The Unfailing Light.


Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

I'm not sure about climbing trees in those boots, but whatevs...

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Remember how I was complaining about supernatural-problem-solvers a little while back?  Well Libba Bray's new Diviners series is the exception to the rule.  Heck, she could write about baby seal clubbing and I would get behind it.  I LOVE YOU, LIBBA BRAY.

(Yow!  Will that come up in her Google alerts tomorrow?  I hope so.)

Evie O'Neill has a penchant for the spotlight and for getting into trouble, so of course her parents decide to send her from Ohio to New York City to stay with her Uncle Will.  Uncle Will runs a museum dedicated to folklore and the occult and shortly after Evie's arrival he is called in to assist in the investigation of a gruesome ritual murder.  Evie is determined to help, and she has a unique talent that may unmask the murderer...

If you hear historical fiction and want to punch something, this the book will change your mind.  Reminiscent of Se7en, the X-Files, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer it is still it's very own Truly Great Tale.  It doesn't hurt that The Diviners is set in the Roaring 20s, the best time period for fashion hands down.  Stop trying to bring back the poncho and flash back to this classy era, Garment Industry! 

Just take a squint:



BE WARNED: At 578 pages this book will give you a wrist cramp because once you begin reading you will be unable to set it down.  I knew this book would be witty and outrageous with character revelations, thrilling derring-do and speakeasies.  What I did not know is that it was going to be off the charts creepy.


Did I mention how much I love this woman?  Run, do not walk, to the library and get a copy of this book before they're all gone.  Then settle in with some candy corn -- after double checking that the doors are locked and that the weird sound in the basement is only the clothes dryer -- and get spooked.

Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper. One of the most famous (and mysterious) serial killers of all time. Now someone is saying (the way someone is always saying something) that this unidentified mad man lurking through dark shadows in 1888 London may have been a man woman. Hm.

For further rainy weather Jack the Ripper reading, check out one of these new(ish) gems.

Ruta Sepetys appearing Tuesday, April 3

The Teen Room is proud to be hosting Ruta Sepetys, author of the acclaimed debut novel, Between Shades of Gray! 

This event will be in the CPL lecture hall at 1:30PM -- if your class is going to be visiting, way to go -- I think it is going to be a moving and provocative presentation about a lesser known but devastating part of history.

The daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, Ms. Sepetys's debut novel is an account of Stalin's cleansing of the Baltic region as seen through the eyes of 15-year-old Lina. 

It is a difficult book to read.  Lina and her family endure horrific conditions; it is incredible that people survived these ordeals.  As the following video shows, it was also a difficult story to tell.

Ruta Sepetys discusses her upcoming novel, Between Shades of Gray from Penguin Young Readers Group on Vimeo.




Porter Square Books will have books available for purchase and autographing at the event.  See you there!

Four Books for Readers Who Feel They Were Born in the Wrong Era

Sometimes it's annoying when all the book covers start to look the same.











































Sometimes, though, it totally works.

All four of these: SWOON.